Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Falling in Love the First Time ❯ Mother Son Talk ( Chapter 13 )

Falling In Love The First Time

Chapter 13 - Mother Son Talk

"He's dead."

The words sped through Bulma's mind in a rage of sadness and anger. "He's dead?" She repeated with a look of disbelief. "What do you mean he's dead?! Where the fuck were you?!" She shouted accusingly. "Or was this like when my air car was shot down by Dr. Gero? Was it simply too inconvenient for you to do a damn thing about it!?"

Vegeta was taken aback by her reaction. Never in all the years he had known her had she looked upon him with such anger and… disappointment? "We thought Cell was dead. His blast came too quickly; none of us could have reacted in time."

"I see," Bulma nodded with false belief, "and then let me guess; afterwards you went back to fighting like nothing happened. Like your own flesh and blood wasn't killed before your eyes. I mean, not that I should be surprised or anything. You said your son and I were never going to mean a damn thing to you. Isn't that right Vegeta? I mean Cell's dead, Goku's dead; I guess you'll go and blow up the planet now-Oh wait-" her anger suddenly switched to sarcasm. "That's right. The man you vowed to kill's eleven-year old son is stronger than you. So much for that destiny of yours."

Vegeta stood silent as she vented. To a point he admired her, unleashing her devastation over her offspring's death through anger as opposed to tears. Yet, her insults failed to fulfill the purpose for which he had originally come. He had expected the woman to fall into his arms weeping at the announcement of her son's death. Though he would never admit it, at that moment it's what he needed more than anything. For once in all his life he though he had someone to share his pain with, someone to console him under the veil of offering comfort. It seemed he was wrong.

"What's the matter?" Bulma asked coldly. "Nothing to say? I can only hope that the truth hurts, because Dende knows nothing else I say seems to mean a thing to you. My opinions, my feelings, my needs, let alone those of our son, are completely lost on you! You know what Vegeta?" Bulma turned her back to him and began to walk towards the stairs that lead to her bedroom. "I think you have long overstayed your welcome here. Your intentions are to take no interest in me or my son," she stopped as she reached the first step and turned slowly around to face him, "so why don't you just follow your plans and just go the hell away. In fact, why don't you go straight to Hell where you should have been left after Namek!"

Once the words let her lips she ascended the stairs and disappeared into her bedroom. Vegeta was willing to bet a million zeni that the moment she slammed the door behind her she collapsed into a fit of weeping. He couldn't blame her; hell, he had shamefully shed a few tears himself-but for his half-breed? That point scared him more than any other that afternoon. The pain he felt at the boy's death was like nothing he had ever suffered in all his life. A boy he had treated like less than dirt. A boy he ignored and attacked when it suited him. Yet even through all of the abuse the boy refused to give up on him, continually seeking his approval, and even saving his life on more than one occasion. Why?

Vegeta, as painful as it was for him to admit, knew why the boy had acted in such a way. Trunks was exactly like her, only with the physical strength to support the feelings. Yes, the boy from the future was the image of his mother; fierce, passionate, determined, and loyal. No matter how hard Vegeta shoved Trunks away, he came back with all of the need and fight for acceptance as he had before. Vegeta had to laugh at this. He was certain that such weakness for another would be a detriment on the battlefield, but the boy proved him wrong. His devotion pushed him to new strengths that even his own father failed to reach.

The thought that the boy would think him, the prince of all Saiya-jins, to be so naïve as to not realize he was being surpassed by his own flesh and blood in strength was insulting. But the achievement was no less impressive for his attempt to spare his father's ego. Vegeta knew. Even then he felt some pride in knowing that his son, half-breed or not, could achieve such levels of power.

But it seemed whatever pride he felt would shortly be fleeting, judging by the woman's reaction to his choices these past few days; he would never get the chance to see his own son's progress. But did he want to? The sad truth he knew was in fact, yes. The boy was, in all likelihood, the only offspring he would ever produce. He knew he would never waste the time laying with another woman; the emotional bullshit involved was too much to suffer through. At least that's what he had assumed. His few times invoked feelings in him that nearly ripped what was left of his soul apart. He would never go through that again.

'Shenron…' Vegeta's mind suddenly wandered to his son once again as he felt the awesome power of the dragon unleashed. 'The boy will be back soon enough.' He told himself before slowly following the same path Bulma had, only towards his room. He paused momentarily to listen for the sound of her weeping, but he heard nothing. He imagined she had forced sleep upon herself to avoid the harsh reality; a temporary fix, but one less painful to his ears.

Vegeta's eyes fell to the floor as he remembered the last time he had invoked tears in her. The day she had given birth to their son she had wept. Wept for what she had lost. Though she would never reach such icy a depth and admit it, she hated him for being the father of her child. Vegeta was sure of it. Not because he was once a murder of billions, not because on his best days he treated her like a servant, or on his worst days when he treated her like a cheap whore, and not even because the conception of the child was in such an unorthodox manner. The truth was simply this; Vegeta is the antithesis of everything he believes Bulma wants in a man.

He could remember her boasting about how badly she wanted her 'prince charming.' A man who was affectionate, caring, considerate, romantic and a slew of other things Vegeta never was and never would be. It was from this knowledge that he had refused her. He could barely make it through a day in a 'pleasant mood.' How the hell was he supposed to keep a woman under such a life style?

Vegeta shook his head as he continued moving to where his old room was. He slowly opened the door and entered, wanting nothing more than to rest. To his surprise however his bed was gone, replaced by-a crib? 'Oh no,' he thought as he slowly walked over and gazed upon the sleeping form of none other than his son. It seemed his former mate had already planned for his departure.

Vegeta quickly looked away as he walked past the child and to the window he had escaped out of so many nights before, needing solitude. He quietly opened the window and took to the air. Vegeta was not a fool. He always knew where he was not wanted, and this place clearly projected that image.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The moment Bulma was in her room she did exactly as Vegeta had expected. She collapsed into a mess on the floor. 'I hate him!' her mind screamed as she allowed the rivers of tears to escape her eyes. 'I hate him!' she repeated while her body shook in sickness. 'Oh Kami how could you have been so cruel as to weave my fate into this mess?' she asked the former guardian, knowing that answer would never grace her.

Bulma slowly stood and fumbled her way to her bed where she buried her face in her pillow, tightly wrapping her blankets around her body. She moaned painfully as she continued to ask herself why things had to be this way. Why her future son had to be killed, why she had to be a single mother when the father of her child was such an arrogant and selfish son of a bitch who she-Dende help her-was in love with.

Bulma pulled the covers more tightly around her as she admitted to herself that which she never had before. She loved him. Why? She didn't know. How? She wasn't certain. When? Time for her was all a blur. But she knew it was the truth. Every time he went out into battle she felt her heart beat faster. Originally she had told herself it was merely because of her future son, but her soul knew better. The thought of Vegeta being beaten or worse made new tears well in her eyes. He had once told her that he never wanted to see her in pain; she could never express how badly she wished the same of him.

When she was watching him on the television during the Cell Games all she wanted to do was reach through the screen and pull him protectively into her arms. Never releasing him, never letting him feel the pain that she knew he had long suffered in his past. When she saw him today all she wanted to do was embrace him with all of the love and need she had been hiding for so long. But she knew what the result would have been. Insults, curses, and being pushed to the ground as though her affections burned his skin. That was Vegeta, and she would not suffer under his 'holier than thou' attitude ever again.

No matter how badly she wanted him to stay, no matter how deeply her confusing feelings for him dwelt, he had to leave. He was hopeless. She knew that now. Yes, he had told her, but now she fully accepted it. As tightly as he held her heart she would never have his, and for that she wept. For the life of loneliness she knew he would embrace with his departure, she wept, and wept, and wept, until sleep blinded her pain.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mom?" The boy from the future knocked, though still a little nervous using the term for a woman who was not technically his mother. "Mom, are you in there?" Trunks asked again before slowly opening the door. His eyes quickly fell upon his young mother, lying wrapped up in the covers on her bed. Curious, Trunks walked closer to her. He stopped when he saw tear stains on her face. His protective nature immediately kicked in as he knelt beside the bed and gently nudged his mother. "Mom?"

At the sound of the boy's voice, Bulma's eyes fluttered open. "What?" She asked as she shot up from her bed, still a little jumpy after everything that had gone on. "Trunks?" Her eyes blinked as she tried to assess if the young man standing next to her was in fact her future son. "Trunks!" She cried once her questions were satisfied. She threw her arms around his neck, tears running down her cheeks once again, only this time in excitement. "You're alive! I was so worried."

"I had a feeling you would be," Trunks smiled sweetly. "That's why I came here first. Are you all right?" he asked while slowly pulling away from her and observing the saddened looked that appeared on her face.

"Of course I am," she lied beautifully. "You're alive! That's all that matters."

"You were crying before you woke. Was it because of me?" he spoke in a soft tone that made Bulma proud. She could not believe how different her son was in demeanor from his father.

"Yes, you might not be my actual son, but you are still my son-um-well, you know what I mean!" She found it difficult to use the right words for such a bizarre situation. "I'm just so glad you are all right!" she reiterated, planting a big kiss on the boy's cheek before pulling away. "You must be hungry. Why don't you go get a shower and change while I make you something to eat? How does that sound?"

"Sounds good," Trunks nodded several times at the mention of food. "But before I do either, I was hoping I could see Vegeta. Is he around?"

Bulma cringed slightly as she shook her head. "He just came to tell me that you were killed and left." Placing her hands on her son's cheeks, she attempted to off her apology in the matter. "I'm so sorry about all of this. I know it must be disappointing to wait your entire like to meet your father and then when you do he turns out to be someone who treats you like-well, like Vegeta." She sighed, giving her son another hug. "I know it's not much consolation, but even though Vegeta is still alive he's not going to be a part of chibi Trunks life. It's clear that you grew up better without his influence."

Trunks' eyes widened as he took a step back from his past mother. "You can't be serious? I mean I would kill to have my father back in my life. How could you choose otherwise in good conscience? I mean, does Vegeta know about this? He couldn't possibly like the idea of being shut out of my younger self's life!"

Bulma frowned, unable to believe he was still defending his past father. "Trunks, I know you don't want to hear this but Vegeta doesn't-"

"Mom, he does," Trunks stopped her before she could say the heartbreaking words. "I mean if he flipped out when I died, and I'm not even his present real son, then imagine how he would react if you or my younger self-"

"Flipped out?" Bulma repeated, completely confused. "Trunks what are you talking about?"

"He didn't tell you?" Trunks blinked, the surprise evident on his young face. "Yamcha said that after Vegeta watched me die he…well… flipped. He attacked Cell in a mad rage with everything he had. He apparently took a nasty beating from Cell for his troubles though; he would have been killed if Gohan hadn't saved him."

"He… He did?" Bulma could already feel the guilt rising within her.

"That's what I was told. Apparently he even helped Gohan kill Cell. He didn't tell you any of this?" Trunks watched his mother shake her head. "Wow… I never thought he'd be modest."

"More like ashamed," Bulma thought out loud, before her mind slipped into wonder and frustration. 'Maybe he didn't come to gloat or insult, maybe he really just wanted to see me, have my console after what happened. Ah, who am I kidding?! Vegeta wouldn't-'

"You know Mom misses him," Trunks added somberly, breaking through his past mother's thoughts of disbelief. "Now, I don't know how exactly you two got together. Mom told me it was more passion than love, and that Dad didn't really know how to love even if he wanted to; it just wasn't in him. I always took that as the truth, but after meeting him I have to wonder if… Well, if maybe she was wrong. Maybe Dad doesn't know how to love because he was never taught. I mean, I saw him at his worst. The arrogance he displayed before Cell was sickening; battle for him seems to be everything. It's all he was taught. I'm sure if I lived for so many years working for Freeza I'd be the same way. It's all he knows. Not that it excuses him, but maybe… Ah… Look I know this isn't my place, and maybe I'm way off the mark seeing as how I haven't really spent that much time talking with the man. But, from what I have observed, I think maybe there is still hope for him. Maybe having a family can be his new purpose. I mean, what else does he have left? Freeza is dead, Goku is dead, the androids are dead, and Cell is dead. If you leave him, what else is there for him to find meaning in?"

More tears had fallen down Bulma's cheeks throughout her son's poignant speech. Here she was ready to completely write the man off, while he was in fact changing, dare she say, for the better. "So knowing what you do about Vegeta, even with all his flaws… you would still want to grow up with him in your life?" She asked the question that would, in all truth, be the deciding factor for her. If her son wanted him in his life, who was she to say no?

"I can only speak for myself, but I would give anything to have my father back in my time. Whether he would want the same is another issue. I cannot be certain, but I don't think he would be a disappointment as a father. Maybe not like Goku and Gohan are father and son, but I think that on some level he is proud of me. Of course, these could just be my delusions." Trunks finished in a slightly disheartened tone.

"I don't think so," Bulma smiled as she wiped her eyes. "Vegeta is many things, but he is not a liar, at least not when it counts. He always told me the brutal truth, whether it would hurt me or not. I just don't see him allowing you to perceive things about him that weren't true."

"Then maybe you should talk to him," Trunks suggested. "I know my mother would jump at the chance just to see Dad again, let alone talk to him. I'd hate to know both of my mothers are unhappy." He finished in a soft tone before he walked past Bulma to the bathroom. "I'm going to take that shower now. Maybe we can talk more later…about father?"

Bulma smiled, she could imagine the subject was one he talked little of in the future. She would be more than happy to fill that void in his last few hours with her. And perhaps, even fill the one she was feeling at that moment. "Sure Trunks, I'd love to."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note: Hm? Will Trunks intervention change things for our couple? Or will a certain prince's pride keep them from happiness? Until next chapter…