Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Price You Pay ❯ Chapter Thirty-Seven ( Chapter 37 )

Insert standard disclaimer here.

 

The Price You Pay: Chapter Thirty-Seven

 

“How lovely to see your face again, Zarbon,” greeted the Ice-jin with what seemed like true pleasure.

 

“It has been quite sometime, Lord Freeza,” responded Zarbon with a coolly detached expression the Ice-jin had not expected from his former confidant.

 

“Really, Zarbon, no need to pout,” said Freeza with a smirk. Some people in the communications room shifted uncomfortably as Zarbon and the powerful Ice-jin conversed. Although Zarbon had sworn an oath of fealty to Vegeta-sei decades ago, many of the Saiya-jins still did not trust him. His casual conversation with their greatest adversary was doing nothing to assuage their fears.

 

Zarbon relaxed the slightest bit but his eyes hardened. “What is the nature of your visit to Vegeta-sei, your Majesty?” asked Zarbon, redirecting their conversation to the matter at hand. At this Freeza openly broke out into laughter.

 

“Don't even pretend to play coy with me, my pet,” warned the Ice-jin with a smile but barely concealed malice in his voice. “I have a few things I desire to discuss with a certain Saiya-jin King. I hear he's taken a mate. A human mate.”

 

“I'm afraid any questions you have about the King's personal matters will have to be answered by King Vegeta himself,” added Zarbon cryptically.

 

“Very well.” The displeasure in Freeza's voice was apparent. “Tell King Vegeta I expect a conference with him at his first convenience.” The screen went blank as all the men in the room turned to look at the green skinned man still staring at the comm screen. Coming back to reality, Zarbon turned away from the screen only to face the communications officers who were still very obviously staring at him.

 

“Don't you all have jobs to do or something?” questioned the creature as he glared at them all. He hated having to take such high profile calls in such a public place. There were already enough rumors about him in the capital.

 

Vegeta wasn't going to be happy but it wasn't like the situation was pleasant in the first place. Bulma's presence on Vegeta-sei had broken some very non-negotiable treaties and now the survival of not only the Saiya-jin species but also the existence of the planet was on the line. He'd hoped this day would never come and that the two rivaling empires could maintain some sort of peace regardless of the animosity between them. Keeping war at bay had been easy with the late Vegeta on the throne but his son had a strength of conviction his father couldn't have imagined.

 

Zarbon still didn't quite understand how Bulma had ended up in their dimension, but given Vegeta's protective nature toward her he dared not question his sire's authority. She was an asset and more than once had beaten him at a battle of the wits, but she was also a liability. Had she not shown up, they never would have been in this mess.

 

~~~~~<(((((|||)))))>~~~~~

 

Zarbon's premonition was correct, as confirmed by the med techs, Bulma was going to be a mother, and although the thought of a mixed blood heir was generally looked upon with disdain, many of the Saiya-jins were too occupied with the on coming war to pay the royal family much attention. This was their saving grace.

 

With Freeza's ship orbiting the planet, training the troops had become increasingly difficult. Everyone knew the Ice-jin had come for a war—or in the least Bulma's head—but to Freeza's knowledge the only war the Saiya-jins were actually preparing for was the one with Dokar-sei. Still, there was something to be said about Saiya-jin blood lust. Fulfillment of the prophecy was a little too close at hand for Freeza's liking and if the Saiya-jins thought they even had a chance at finding the Legendary, they would make the first move towards war. Freeza, more than anyone, was aware of this.

 

Vegeta had met with Freeza, at the Ice-jin's request, though both rulers had found the meeting less than fruitful. After expressing his displeasure regarding Vegeta's choice of a partner, the Ice-jin had practically demanded that the Saiya-jin King turn Bulma over to his custody. Flat out rejection was not something the Ice-jin had expected. The Saiya-jin King had said he was having far too much fun entertaining the onna to hand her over so soon.

 

Everything balanced on Freeza's not finding out about the heir. As long as he believed that Bulma was an unlikely find and that she was merely a fleeting distraction for the King, they were safe for a short time. After all, Freeza's patience was not limitless.

 

Envoys were sent to Dokar-sei in a last attempt to smooth things over and try to avoid war. Vegeta's father was the cause of their rather unfortunate entanglement with the small planet and Vegeta was hopeful that, if anything, they could turn the terms of battle in a direction a bit more civilized. Negotiations would undoubtedly be difficult considering how the new King had supported his late father's war endeavors before his death. He just hoped the Dokar-jin were forgiving. He hoped.

 

On a more personal level, getting along with Bulma was becoming trying as her personality became volatile at best. Her pregnancy was developing more rapidly than the techs had thought it would. It had been so long since any Saiya-jin female had gone through a natural birth that the rapid development of Saiya-jin fetuses was attributed more to the technology used than the natural growth rate of Saiya-jin children. Apparently Saiya-jins were fast developers.

Bulma frequently walked around rubbing her stomach, still mourning the loss of her perfectly flat abdomen. She was barely showing not two months into the pregnancy and now that several more months had elapsed, she was not only glowing with pregnancy, but bursting as well. Often before they retired for bed Vegeta could hear her cursing in the bathroom no doubt furtively smearing some sort of lotion all over the front of her body to prevent the dreaded stretch marks that filled her with such horror. Vegeta thought she looked good with the extra curves.

 

He was beginning to sense the child more strongly as the days rolled on. Waking in the middle of the night after feeling an unnaturally high flare of ki became something of a ritual. The first few times the little warrior made his presence known, Vegeta woke in a rush, ready to blow the would-be assassin that had somehow made it into their private chambers to hell. He'd been pleasantly surprised when he realized the true source of the outbursts. At its strongest, the ki burst ranged in the lower Elite level, but now whenever around Bulma, Vegeta always felt like he was in the presence of a third class warrior. After some time he'd managed to tune it out so that it felt like a gentle humming in the back of his mind. The tie to his son was remarkably strong.

 

To the surprise of the doctors, Bulma wasn't feeling the least bit taxed or drained of energy and was consuming food with a ravenous hunger that Vegeta had never expected to see from the slender Chikyuu-jin. Bulma also appeared physically stronger and often Vegeta found himself wondering if the ki signature he felt radiating from her was just coming from the baby. By all appearances, it seemed that just as her body nurtured the young Saiya-jin, the baby's blood was helping sustain his mother.

 

For the first time since he'd met the unbearably obstinate creature, Vegeta was wishing he could converse with Kakkarot's mate. Had she experienced these same changes? Was bedding a Saiya-jin and giving birth to his child part of the source of her super-human strength? Was a certain amount of power and longevity going to linger with Bulma as it did with Chi-chi?

 

Bulma rolled over and slithered one slender arm across Vegeta's mid section.

 

Still can't get used to her responding to my moods…

 

Numbly running his fingers through his mate's hair, Vegeta was woken from his reverie by a spike in ki and a loud crashing noise coming from somewhere down the hall. Gently, he extricated himself from Bulma's arms and gave her a kiss on the forehead. He'd become strangely attached to her lately; making catering to her moods and comfort his prerogative. He turned his attention back to the scuffle in the hallway. As idiotic as his guardsman might be, it wasn't worth waking her. The increased amount of stress had left her restless and, if possible, even more cranky than usual.

 

Leaving his quarters, Vegeta was instantly barraged with a slew of oaths as two warriors of substantial ki squabbled down the hallway.

 

“You will tell me…”

 

“Radditz, Nappa, what is the meaning of this rather loud act of stupidity at this time of night?” asked the King with scorn, secretly filled with curiosity. Fights among his guards were common enough but Radditz and Nappa had always seemed to act civilly.

 

Nappa's back straightened as he turned to look at his King with barely concealed shock. With notable effort, Nappa lowered Radditz back to the ground and regained his characteristic hard as nails composure.

 

“My apologies, sire,” Nappa uttered with a brisk bow but not before shooting a warning look at his unwilling partner in crime.

 

“Nappa, you are to leave immediately.”

 

“But, sire—“ Nappa began.

 

“No, if you can't behave like an Elite then I don't want to see you in this part of the palace again. As for you,” Vegeta said, turning to the other warrior, “you will remain here and be sure that nothing disturbs my mate.

 

“Leave, Nappa. Now. Have my instructions not been clear enough?” Vegeta ordered the larger man.

 

“No, sire, of course not.” Vegeta waited as Nappa quickly made his way down the hall.

 

~~~~~~~<(((((|||)))))>~~~~~~~

 

“I hate him.” Bulma growled out between her clenched teeth. “Vegeta, if you don't get your ass in here…” Her words cut off as her body was raked by another wave of contractions. “Fuck, you are never going to touch me again you filthy bastard of a monkey!” The words seemed to reverberate in the sterile make-shift birthing room and more than a few of the med techs flinched as their sensitive ears were accosted by endless streams of profanity.

 

“Eloquent as ever,” noted Zarbon as he turned to the Saiya-jin King. “Bulma told me about a month ago that this sort of response was normal on her planet, but I have to say, it's much more amusing experiencing it in real life.”

 

Vegeta grunted. He really wasn't worried about whether or not the onna was really swearing off of him. They both knew what the outcome of that situation would be.

 

“Stupid egotistical ogre of a monkey!” Really, it was impressive that the sound managed to make it through the walls so clearly.

 

“The prospect of battling with Freeza looks less frightening by the minute…” commented Zarbon with a short chuckle. Vegeta glared at him darkly before making his way toward the medical ward door.

 

“Vegeta,” Zarbon called, “cherish it. We only have so much time left.” But by the time he tried to make eye contact with the King, he was already gone.