Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The King and Queen Diaries ❯ Kibaru ( Chapter 9 )

Author's Note: Sorry that this is a little late! Unfortunately my monitor is screwed up and only works about every five days or so. I got this done as quickly as I could in spite of that, and I hope that you enjoy this chapter!

 

 

Chapter Nine: Kibaru (Strain)

 

 

“I love you.”

 

It was beautiful to wake up in the morning to hear those words whispered to you. To feel the sun warming your face from the open balcony doors, and to smell the sweet, fresh air blowing gracefully into the room. Paradise.

 

She smiled dreamily, and then lazily opened her bright blue eyes to see her husband facing her, lying on his side with his chin propped up in his hand. His hair was tousled and he had his typical lethargic morning smile on that he had on almost every morning.

 

She leaned into him, feeling his masculine strength ooze into her body. His warmth, his skin, his powerful muscles that had proven to her time and time again that he would always catch her when she fell.

 

“I love you, Vegeta,” she whispered, nuzzling her nose into the hard muscles of his chest. The smell of him when he first woke up invited her to breathe in deeply, and she did so with relish. He chuckled in amusement and pulled her closer to him.

 

They both laughed together when the large, pregnant stomach between them stopped them from being any closer.

 

His free hand landed gently on the growing curve. He kissed her softly on the lips, and watched as the glow on her face dimmed with worry.

 

“Do not be scared,” he said quietly, soothing her fears away just by those mere words. Tears grew in her eyes with both happiness and the feeling of relief.

 

“I might not be there with you, but I am here,” he said, fisting his hand over his heart in the same way that his soldiers did when honoring him.

 

“You are strong, Bulma. Do not give up.”

 

 

**********

 

 

In the days that followed, Bulma realized how gravely they had miscalculated what was happening.

 

As they passed through the destroyed towns and cities, horror dawned on every person present that thousands, possibly even millions, had already been killed.

 

Bulma felt an odd shadow curl tighter around her heart every time she saw the dark, billowing smoke hurling miles high into the sky from each demolished town. And as she saw the dead bodies lying in the streets, each of them in a different stage of agony stilled for all eternity, she could not help but be reminded of how many millions upon millions of Saiya-jin lives they had lost in the plague.

 

The pain that time brought back was soul-shattering. The loss of Hokora, the loss of Vegeta's father, the loss of so many helpless lives....

 

This time it was no different. People had been, and were dying. She had sat there and watched as her people had died around her, unable to do anything. Just like she was now.

 

No! This time she was not just going to sit there and accidentally find their salvation! This time she was going to search adamantly for it. She was going to fight and kill for them. She was going to go into battle and give her life this time, if she had to. She knew Vegeta would. She knew in her heart that was what he would do, and that was what was holding her together. That, and her dream this morning.

 

Her throat closed and she lost the ability to breathe for a few precious seconds before the hold lessened and she could finally draw in air. Her fingers unconsciously curled around her throat as they moved through a burned village, the bodies scattered around them ensnared in the sickening throes of death forever.

 

Bardock saw her pale face and her hand around her throat, and took it as she was about to be sick. He had remarked to Turles only that very day that she seemed to be having a very healthy pregnancy, for he had not once seen her sick from the child.

 

“Your highness, you look ill. Shall we stop?”

 

Bardock's fatherly concern snapped Bulma out of her reverie. She blinked, and then turned to look at him. “No. I am fine. I just...I could not breathe for a moment.”

 

He gave her a stern look. “We shall stop once we are out of this town.”

 

She nodded, not realizing that he had told her instead of asked. She needed a break...desperately. She did not know how much more of this death she could take.

 

Every town they had went through except one had been utterly and completely decimated. They had gone through every town, searching for anything they could find. Supplies, horses, wounded.

 

They had found one survivor.

 

The survivor was a man, a strong, honorable one from the looks of it. He seemed to be of an age with Vegeta, and had only survived because he had been out in the woods, hunting for dinner.

 

He had come back to find his entire family dead.

 

Bulma had learned that his name was Brolli. She had cried when she had found out that his four little daughters had been killed, and his wife raped and killed as well. He had looked at her, his intelligent eyes completely helpless, and had told her that they had been as beautiful as she was.

 

That was when he had pledged to her that he would fight to his death for her, and any cause that she might need his strength for. He had nothing else to live for.

 

Bulma placed Brolli beside Bardock and Turles in terms of authority. She let it be known that he was now her advisor. It gave him a reason to live.

 

Bardock and Turles had openly stared at her, shocked that she would place someone she hardly knew as practically her right-hand man. Then they had pouted and glared at each other because they had both lost the competition to see whom the Queen would come to first when it came to advice.

 

Bulma ordered camp to be set up outside the town, far enough away so they did not smell the smoke or the stench of the decomposing bodies. Once everything was settled, she ordered about fifty men to scour the town for survivors and supplies.

 

Their “group” was fast becoming an army. Bulma watched in awe as hundreds of tents flew up in a matter of minutes, turning the field of grass into a miniature city. There were the sounds of hundreds of horses tied to poles quickly pounded into the ground, of carts rumbling through the narrow alleys between the tents, distribution of food and water, and some men getting together so they could hunt for their dinner. The men were building fires, chopping down trees, laughing, and were in general good humor.

 

The one surviving town that they had gone through had been huddled against a lake and a large forest. It was so sheltered that they had nearly missed it. Only by the sheer luck of a farmer and his sons waving their army down frantically had they found them.

 

They had known, just like the last surviving town they had been through, that the planet was being attacked. They too had seen armies marching to the east, thousands of men with odd flying machines and weapons that shot fire. They had been lucky.

 

But Bulma had been even luckier. She could not believe the patriotism that these Saiya-jins felt when it came to their planet...to their King. The men in the town flocked to sign up for their army without even asking. Bulma had lines of men waiting just to join in a matter of hours once word of an army gathering to fight for their home started filtering through the streets.

 

“My Queen.”

 

Bulma was standing outside the front of her new towering tent, basking in the lovely sunset and enjoying a quiet moment for once. The last town they had gone through they had found an enormous white tent left behind, possibly from the enemy. It did not matter to her; it worked perfectly fine for her when she needed to talk to the loathsome generals.

 

She turned and smiled when she saw Brolli. He looked very handsome in clothing that was no longer burned and black. Standard-issue military clothing looked good on him. Just like it did on Vegeta....

 

She took his hands and squeezed tightly as they entered the tent. The blackness in his eyes dimmed some and he smiled faintly. She saw so much pain just in the way his body moved...the way it showed on his face when you looked closely enough was nearly unbearable. “May I help you with something, Brolli? I am at your service when it comes to such a wonderful advisor as you.”

 

He shook his head. He was large compared to her; he towered over her by two feet, but he was slim and muscular, just like Vegeta. Bulma felt tiny next to him, but she felt the same protectiveness from him as she felt from Vegeta. Gods, she just wished he were here...everything would be better right now.

 

“I was going to ask you, my Queen, if you need anything.” His face softened at her confused look. “I do not know if I am privy to this information, but I overheard Bardock, Turles, and some men talking...that you are with child. That you are carrying King Vegeta's only heir.”

 

Bulma felt a load of weight miraculously lift off her shoulders. She had no idea why, but now that Brolli knew, she felt like she could talk to him more. He was her advisor after all. She had just been so busy in the past few days with traveling and taking care of the men....

 

“Yes, I am pregnant. I am almost five months along.” Her fingers curled over the nearly hidden curve beneath her overly large shirt, making her progressing pregnancy painfully clear. She had been obvious almost two months ago, that is if you looked below her chest, which most men did not. But in the past month, her size had grown remarkably, as Bardock had commented on briefly to her the other day in private. She smiled in a way that could only be described as motherly, and looked up to see Brolli staring down at her in wonder.

 

“What is it?” she asked, feeling worried. She felt compelled to take care of this man now. He seemed almost like a lost little boy stuck in a man's body. She wondered if this was because he had just lost everything that had ever meant anything to him, or just the way he looked overall.

 

He blinked a few times, as if her words had snapped him out of a trance. He knelt down closer to her from his impressive height, his look shy, and asked, “May I?”

 

Bulma's face bloomed in an ecstatic smile. She had wanted more than anything to share her pregnancy with someone else who understood how she was feeling, and Brolli had helped delivered his four daughters, as he had told her two days ago. Most men were scared of the topic. It was hard enough getting something out of Bardock, who had two sons.

 

“Of course,” she said softly, watching as he bent down to his knees before her and placed both of his big hands on either side of her enlarged abdomen. He then pressed his ear against it.

 

A big, happy smile spread across his face as he glanced up at her and then went back to listening.

 

A full minute passed before he was rewarded with two kicks to the face. They both laughed.

 

“When was the last time you have been examined by a doctor, your highness?”

 

Bulma felt color bloom over her cheeks at what he meant. She rolled her eyes and flicked her hand through the air nonchalantly as she walked away from him, leaving him kneeling on the ground. “Oh, do not worry about it. I am sure he is fine.”

 

Brolli glared at her sternly as he stood to his impressive height. Bulma sighed dramatically. “All right...it has been a while. Why? Are you concerned?”

 

“Of course, your highness. My wife, Alayna, had difficulty birthing our twin girls. We would have had a doctor or midwife present, but our town was so far away from any cities, and we were poor. Our doctor had been sickly and had died recently, and I only had the help of an old woman. She almost died.”

 

“What does that have to do with—”

 

“Your highness!” Bardock burst through the tent flaps, and saw Bulma resting her hands on a makeshift table holding some papers, and Brolli standing several feet away from her. He cleared his throat.

 

“My Queen...I apologize for the intrusion,” he bowed several times hurriedly, “but we have found an amazing discovery in the town. Their weapons—the ones that shoot fire—we found one! It was apparently broken and tossed aside as useless. The men are bringing it back with them as soon as they return. We have found no survivors as of yet, I regret to inform you, your highness.”

 

Bulma looked away briefly, and then nodded. “Thank you, Bardock. Later, once the men have had their dinner, I wish to have a gathering of the generals. I want you and Turles there, please. I feel more relaxed in their presence when you are there with me. They stare at me as if I am inferior.”

 

Bardock chuckled. “Of course, you are female.”

 

He ducked just in time for the old boot that was tossed at his head. “I know you are just playing with me, Bardock, else you would be dead! You know how accurate I am with a knife!”

 

He bowed out of the tent. “My sincerest apologies, your highness.”

 

She pursed her lips and pointed to the tent flaps. “Get out, you old fool.”

 

“Hey, I am not old...” she heard him say as he walked away, and then the laughter of the men guarding her tent as they agreed with her.

 

“Old man! Gettin' told by the Queen!”

 

“Get goin' before her majesty whoops yer ass! You be knowin' she can!”

 

Bulma could not help but giggle. But when she looked up, she saw that Brolli was still staring her down. She sighed audibly and rubbed her forehead.

 

“All right, let us continue. You were saying, Brolli?”

 

“Your highness...I know that I am just a meager peasant in real life—“ He waved his hand when she went to object, “—but I am also experienced when it comes to women and childbirth. I am not a stupid man. Your highness, forgive me for being forward, but Alayna, when she was pregnant with my twin daughters, the sounds...of their heartbeats—it sounded just like yours.”

 

Brolli watched the blood drain from her face. “What are you saying?” she said quietly, stepping closer to him. “Are you saying that something is wrong with my baby?”

 

“No, your highness. I am saying that you need to be checked out, for the sake of your babies.”

 

 

**********

 

 

“The whole camp now knows that the Queen is with child. I do not think one man does not know now. It was obvious to any man who had brains and actually used them instead of their—“ Turles cleared his throat and inclined his head to his Queen in apology for what he had almost said in front of a lady. She flicked her hand, almost in an uncaring fashion. “Forgive me, my Queen. As I was saying...Bardock mentioned an aspect of her being with child quite loudly, and several men overheard it. Rumors had already started floating, so there is nothing we can do about it now. We were only keeping it secret as a safety precaution, but we knew that it was going to come out eventually. Her guard just needs to be increased now.”

 

General Tsurna nodded his head to the fourteen people around the table, including himself. There were ten generals, two Captains, the Queen's new advisor, Brolli, and the Queen herself. “The Queen has been showing for quite some time now. Your highness,” he said, looking directly at her, thankfully without any malice or unkindness, “Lord Brolli has informed all of us that you are in need of medical attention. Is this true?”

 

Bulma started at Brolli's title. Oh, I forgot. I practically placed him at my right hand. Of course he is a lord now.

 

“Your highness?”

 

She jumped again, and then flicked an angry, betrayed glance at Brolli. He gave her a nervous glance back. “I do not need any medical attention. I have no idea what you are talking about.” She was going to kill Brolli for making her look even weaker in front of these men. Some of them snickered in the background.

 

General Hiru frowned at the table of men and they all nodded at him. “Your highness, we all want you to know that your health and safety is top priority, and we need to know the status of your health at all times, especially if something is wrong. Lord Brolli has told us because he knew that you would not say anything. Please, tell us if you need anything. You are our Queen, the ruler of our people, and you carry our only salvation. You know his highness would not like knowing that something could happen to you. King Vegeta would be very stern about—“

 

She snapped and flung the nearest thing she could find. Her hair flew back in her face like a whip she chucked it with such force. She was sick of them bringing up Vegeta as if she was completely incompetent. “His highness is not here! If he were,” she yelled, “we would not be in such a dilemma!”

 

The men stared at her. She looked around the table frantically, shocked at her outburst, but knowing that there was nothing she could do about it now. She looked away, and then sat back down, not realizing until then that she had jumped out of her seat. If only....

 

“Excuse me, my lords,” she said timidly. “Please understand—”

 

“There is no apology necessary, your highness. You are a woman who is with child; you are expected to have fits of rage or temporary insanity. You are currently imbalanced, which is expected—”

 

The rage returned. Bulma sliced her hand through the air as she jumped back up again, glaring daggers at General Hiru. Every man in the room leaned back in fear. “Idiot! I could care less that I am with child! What is making me temporarily insane and imbalanced is you! You men look at me as if I am stupid just because I am a woman! Well guess what, gentlemen? Was it not me who saved every single one of you Saiya-jins from the plague, with my very own blood? Was it not me who saved the King from the brink of death? Is it not me who is going to be bringing forth the next generation of kings to lead you people? I have to have some brains in here somewhere, otherwise we would be nowhere! I could have just sat there and whimpered at the loss of my husband, who could very well be dead right now! You cannot tell me that any woman who valued her husband in any way would not be hysterical right now, especially when they are carrying his child! Would you like that? Would you like your Queen to openly wail in despair, while you watch helplessly? We could still be stuck in those woods, but I was strong! I was strong for all of you!” she cried, pointing at them in condemnation. “You only care about yourselves! You are horrible men, and I cannot understand why he would regard any of you so highly!”

 

Almost all at once, Bardock, Turles, and Brolli stood, and went to her side. She looked at them anxiously, and allowed them to lead her out of the tent. This, however, did not stop her from flinging more accusations towards the remaining ten generals in the tent.

 

Bulma had no idea where the three men were bringing her, but she did not fight them. Tears burned her eyes as she fought the urge to cry, to truly mourn the loss of her husband, but he had told her...he had told her just this morning, in her dream, that she was strong. By the gods, it had almost seemed like he had been there, holding her, smiling at her, kissing her. Telling her that he loved her and that she could do this because she was strong.

 

But she could not be strong. Not with these horrible men making her feel worthless just because she was a woman. The only things keeping her together at this point were her child and the three wonderful men helping her through the dark, muddy lanes between the pitched tents.

 

She wanted, more than anything in the world, just to give up. Just to curl up in a ball and die, because she was weak. She was a weak-willed woman, because she felt like she could do nothing without him. Because these men made her feel like she could do nothing without him.

 

The tears won. They fell, and she bit her lip painfully as her knees gave out on her. Turles and Brolli caught her effortlessly, and she surprised herself by fighting them. She did not want their help. She just wanted to be left alone, in her own misery. She was a Queen...she was supposed to be strong. But she was weak.

 

“Just let me go,” she whimpered, struggling futilely in their strong grips. They were still leading her deeper into the field of tents, away from her own. “Where are you taking me? Are you planning on putting me out of my misery?”

 

Turles chuckled and shook his head, forcing her to walk as both he and Brolli hauled her up to her feet. “We are taking you some place where you cannot mope about, your highness. You whine that you are not appreciated, so we are going to show you that you are.”

 

Bulma growled at him like a dog, her tears forgotten. “How dare you, Turles! Show me some more respect!”

 

Bardock laughed from in front of her. “But your highness, you cannot be respected unless you act like a Queen. Right now you are acting like a whipped dog.”

 

She kicked out at him, and he yelped as he moved out of the way just in time. Just then, they came upon a large group of men sitting around a giant bonfire, all laughing, eating, and drinking. Turles and Brolli nearly dropped her, and she regained her balance awkwardly, considering that her pregnancy left her a little wobbly in the first place.

 

A cheer went up the moment the group of men recognized her. She nearly jumped out of her skin from the enthusiastic yells and hoots, she was so surprised.

 

“Welcome, your highness! Comin' ta join us men for dinner?”

 

“There she is! I told you she was bloody beautiful!”

 

“There is the woman that is going to save us! Hail to the Queen!”

 

“Hail to the Queen!”

 

“Hail to the Queen!”

 

“Hail to the Queen!”

 

Bardock nudged her in the side as her hand lifted to her mouth in wonder.

 

“See, your highness. I told you that you were appreciated. Do not listen to those stupid generals. The men in your army adore you.”

 

Bulma almost did not hear Turles. She was nearly yanked into the group of men as several of them made an area for her to sit. A log was cleared and a thick wool blanket was placed up it. She was immediately ushered to sit down by three men (as gentlemanly as soldiers and peasants could), and surrounded by the entire group almost instantaneously.

 

“Would you like something ta eat, yer majesty?”

 

“Here, I've got me some good ale from me home town! Give this t' her!”

 

“She be pregnant, dumb ass! Give her the water from the spring!”

 

“Here be some boar, yer `ighness! Nice `n bloody!”

 

Bulma could not help but laugh as the men all but pushed food down her throat. Turles, Bardock, and Brolli stood close by, but they all knew that nothing would happen to her. She felt oddly safe among these men who were hanging on her every word.

 

Bulma surprised herself as she ate and listened to the men around her, each vying for her attention and trying to impress and awe her. She laughed so hard she nearly cried several times at their stories and jokes. They were crude, but they were wonderful.

 

It was growing late when Turles announced that she should leave. The men “awwwed” and complained, and she laughed as several of them got down on their hands and knees and begged her “prettiness” to stay.

 

Once she was in front of the crowd, her advisor and captains beside her, she shook her finger at all the whining men as if they were bad.

 

“All right, boys! If you want me to stay happy, then you have to be good! I have to go, for we all need our sleep! Tomorrow is a new day and we all have to wake up early!”

 

“Don't leave us!”

 

“You're so beautiful!”

 

“Let me tell you another story!”

 

“But we'll never see ya again!”

 

Bulma laughed again, oddly feeling carefree and young again, a feeling she had not had since...well, since he had been taken away from her.

 

She waved her arms in front of her, silencing the men. “All right! I will make a deal with you! I will be back tomorrow night if you are all good! No goofing off and no more fights in the middle of the night! Oh yeah,” she added with a mischievous wink, “and no more drinking!”

 

“But me home town ale!”

 

Everyone laughed, and Bulma waved goodnight as she left. The men all called to her in some way or another, and she left happier than she had been in a long time.

 

Turles smirked at her as they led her back to her tent for the night. “I told you I would show you that you were appreciated.”

 

Bulma nodded, her smile fading. Yes, she knew now that she was appreciated...but that did not stop the fact that she was still going to sleep in an empty bed.

 

 

**********

 

 

Author's Note: Well, Bulma is starting to feel the strain of the loss of her husband, and now she has to worry about the possibility of twins! What's a Queen to do without a doctor, hundreds of men to train, and an unknown enemy that could be anywhere? And what about Vegeta? Whatever happened to him? Stay tuned for the next chapter of The King and Queen Diaries!