Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Wherever You Will Go ❯ Ch 12 ( Chapter 12 )

Chapter 12

Vegeta's eyes snapped open and he quickly took in his new and yet familiar environment. The room was a sanitary white and he stared at the color for a long moment. After three decades of black, he found all this white disconcerting. Was he in Heaven?

The sudden entrance of a blue-haired head into his vision almost convinced him that it was so. But the fact that Bulma was no longer dressed in that white garment, and the fact of her still slightly beat-up appearance, made the doubt of his whereabouts linger.

"You're awake?" she giggled, "Of course you are. You lost a lot of blood. Had to do a blood transfusion."

Vegeta slowly rose to sit on the edge of the bed as Bulma backed away so he could do so, "Transfusion?"

"Yeah, you're lucky you and Trunks share the same blood type. I don't know what to call it though. It's certainly not like any human blood type."

Vegeta snorted, "That would be because I'm not human."

Bulma grinned and rolled her eyes, "I know that, silly!"

A lavender head poked through the door and Trunks stared at the man on the bed for a long, appraising moment, Vegeta returning his stare just as evenly. Trunks grunted softly and turned to his mother. "The conjunctions of the alpha and beta wires have been reasserted. Do you want to run the test now or wait for the coordinates of the parallel regions to come in?"

Vegeta blinked at the jargon that flowed easily from the boy's mouth and was even more confused when Bulma answered him easily, "Wait. I don't want the wires to fry the matrix because we didn't align them properly."

Trunks nodded, took one more look at Vegeta and pulled his head back out of the room, closing the door with a soft click behind him.

Vegeta raised a brow at Bulma and she smiled, "It's a project Trunks and I were working on before I…. It's a regeneration tank. I remembered you telling me about it and was able to fill in the gaps on my own. I started working on it right after the Androids were-taken care of," here she grinned wickedly, "but we're having problems with the fluid inside the tank. Can't figure out what exactly they used. Although I should be able to," she frowned in obvious frustration.

"Embryonic fluid."

"Huh?"

"Embryonic fluid was used." Vegeta repeated simply.

Bulma's face lit up, "Of course! Embryonic fluid has natural nutritional and healing properties. If concentrated enough, it would virtually heal any injuries!" She looked at Vegeta in part-awe. "Thanks!"

He shrugged uncomfortably, "If you were really grateful you'd fix me food instead of standing there using up my oxygen."

She mock-glowered at him before laughing easily and starting out the door, Vegeta on her heels. Thirty-five years could do some things to a man's appetite, like make it bigger.

* * *

Trunks entered the kitchen with a wary eye. He let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding; glad to see that the hole had indeed disappeared. He shook his head and chuckled. The weird stuff always happened to him.

First he'd gone back in time to see his younger mother and his recalcitrant father. Then he'd ended up fighting not two androids but five, not to mention Cell. Now he'd come back and, just as things had started to get back to normal, Vegeta and his mother came back from the dead looking as if they were both in their late twenties. He was older than they were!

Not that he was complaining. The house had become awfully quiet with his mother gone. Now, it was sure to be filled with the sounds he'd loved and missed.

He opened the fridge and shoved most of the healthier, bland tasting food his mom liked out of the way to get to the more tasty foods behind. Retreating out of the fridge with his hands laden with foods only a Saiyan would eat in one meal, Trunks paused and listened to the bickering that was floating down the stairs.

He raised a brow, still standing slightly in front of the fridge as Bulma and Vegeta entered the kitchen. Bulma's face was flushed with a look that Trunks remembered seeing on the other timeline's Bulma while Vegeta had a smirk on his face that said he was the reason for Trunks's mother's ire.

"You are going to explain why I have to do this, Vegeta, or so help me I'm not going to do anything!"

Vegeta stopped in front of Trunks, looking at the man up and down, before meeting the boy's; never mind Vegeta's age, Trunks was still a boy to him; hard, blue gaze. "You're making a big deal out of nothing, woman. A human could never understand the complexities of Saiyan culture," he calmly answered Bulma, though his eyes never wavered from Trunks's. "You're in my way," this to Trunks.

Trunks nodded and moved around the arrogant man, knowing from experience that standing between a Saiyan and food was suicidal. He put all the food he had in his hands on the table and carefully sorted through what he had chosen.

His mother sighed and snatched a four-pound package of ground beef from his hands, "I've told you about eating that raw!" She moved with the package to the stove and quickly pulled out a skillet, preparing the beef to be made into hamburgers. "Try me. I am a genius, you know."

Trunks grinned. Well maybe not all the sounds he'd loved and missed. This was certainly different. He sat down to watch the couple.

Vegeta stuck his head out of the fridge, munching on something, and stared at Bulma. He swallowed what was in his mouth and his hand reached into the fridge to grab more of the food as he continued to look at Bulma, "Fine. It has to do with the Tsuukagirei. To pass the Tsuukagirei you have to perform the MakiGari. Once performed correctly, a Saiyan is shown before the GiKai and, after deliberation of the tasks performed in the MakiGari, is permitted or denied his Tsuukagirei. But that's only half of it." He stopped and grinned wickedly at the blankly staring Bulma, who had momentarily forgotten the meat sizzling in the skittle to stare at Vegeta.

"Huh?"

Vegeta snorted, "Told you so."

Bulma slapped the spatula she had in her hand down on the meat hard, making grease fly out and splatter on the walls. She glared at the offending spots, "What in the world is the MakiGari?" She grasped onto the one word she could pronounce.

Trunks spoke up here, "It's the Hunt."

Vegeta whirled around and was in Trunks' face in a second, "How do you know that?" His hands twitched and Trunks knew he was fighting the urge to take him by the neck and slam him into the wall.

Acting as he would toward any rabid and unpredictable animal, Trunks held his hands out and grinned nervously, "You told me."

That set Vegeta back on his heels, which had been Trunks' intent. Vegeta looked at him, then glanced over at Bulma, who was staring at the two while biting her lower lip. He looked back at Trunks, "In case you've forgotten, brat, I've been dead these past thirty-six years."

"No." Trunks was quick to explain, "Not you! The other you."

Vegeta looked again at Bulma and raised a brow, "What have you done to him, woman? He's not even sane!"

Bulma couldn't help but laugh at Trunks' expression, "Vegeta, I think you better sit down. This is a long story. And if he's insane it isn't my fault. Everyone knows who he got his brains from. The other stuff's all yours. Well," she put on a thoughtful expression, "except for his looks. Those are probably mine too."

Vegeta glared, "Woman, if he got his looks from you I'd have killed him when he was an infant and saved the whole world a lot of misery!"

Bulma opened her mouth to protest but Trunks cut in, "Um, guys. I'm right here."

They both looked at him with slightly widened eyes and Trunks pinched the bridge of his nose with two fingers. Okay, maybe he should complain.

Vegeta shook his head at his decidedly weird offspring and turned, once again, to Bulma, "Woman, you will explain." It was, of course, an order.

Bulma shook her head and turned back to the food, "Trunks was there. He could tell it better than me."

Vegeta growled and sat down across from Trunks, "Well, brat? Speak up!"

Trunks nodded and went through the whole story, beginning sometime after his ascension to Super Saiyan and ending with the defeat of Cell. He left out quite a lot that concerned Vegeta. Some things, Vegeta did not need to know.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed. The boy was holding back. He'd told the whole tale without once mentioning when this 'Vegeta' had told him of the Hunt. The MakiGari wasn't something to be discussed lightly. "That doesn't answer my question, brat." By this time everyone, well Vegeta and Trunks, was on their sixth helping of food.

Trunks nodded as he took a huge bite of mashed potatoes, swallowing before speaking, "That part started in the Room of Time and Spirit. The room's reality was malleable by the people inside. You, or the other you," he frowned. If he wasn't careful he'd mistake one Vegeta for the other, "seemed to control the reality the most. Sometimes if would be fire, sometimes it would be ice. Always it was some force of nature.

"Then one day I awoke to a very drastic change of scenery," he looked pointedly at Vegeta, even though he had the Prince's undivided attention, "Red soil, red sky, two moons-"

Vegeta nodded suddenly in recognition, "Vegeta-sei."

"I asked you what it was, but you weren't very forthcoming. Took some wheedling on my part to get you to say more than two words to me." He looked at his mother as he decided what else to say. A glance at his father told him to not to go any further. "You explained it to me though. So that's how I know."

Vegeta leaned back in his chair, balancing it on the two back legs. Bulma grinned slyly beside him as she thought of tipping the chair the rest of the way. Vegeta spied the grin and quickly reset the chair, glaring at her for daring to think of such a thing, "What are you doing, woman? Don't you have a Gravity Room to get ready for me?"

Bulma glowered at him, "Well, your highness, I'm sorry to inform you that your son has been using it and keeping it up himself. You'll have to have him show you how it works now. He made some changes to it. Maybe if you ask nicely, he'll do it." She grinned wickedly at him.

Vegeta was never one to let anyone have the upper hand for long. He grinned back, and Bulma suddenly squealed and jumped in her chair, swatting at the offending hand that had pinched her bottom. She colored, "Vegeta!"

Vegeta rose from his seat and looked down at her pompously, "I know you want more, woman, but you'll just have to wait. Now is hardly the time."

Bulma rose herself and tried to smack Vegeta, but he was already heading out the door. She glared as he stopped at the doorway and looked back at Trunks, who was gaping at his openly teasing father, "Well, come on, brat. You're showing me the Gravity Room. I'll deem if it's fit enough for me to use."

Trunks nodded and got up, following Vegeta out of the room and to the Gravity Room. Yep, things were definitely going to be interesting now.

* * *

Trunks deftly blocked the roundhouse aimed for his head with hardly a thought. The flurry of punches was also easily turned away. Of course, Trunks wasn't really thinking at the time or he would've seen that Vegeta was powered up as high as he could without going Super Saiyan.

Vegeta was thinking however, and his son's casual defensive techniques were slowly driving him to a blind rage. Vegeta's rage decreased suddenly as he noticed Trunks' 'zoned-out' look. He smirked.

Trunks went to block an uppercut and stumbled forward as his block went right through Vegeta's afterimage. He stopped all movement, eyes darting everywhere yet seeing no Prince. An unseen enemy-

-could really do some damage. As Trunks soon found out when an elbow rammed into the side of his head with such force he was brought to his knees. He cursed so vividly that Vegeta's eyebrows rose as Trunks turned and faced his father. If he'd gone Super Saiyan, the blow wouldn't have felled him.

"I hope your mother doesn't hear that." Vegeta commented, amusement leaking into the gruff tone.

Trunks grinned, "Well, considering she taught me…"

Vegeta grinned back, "I knew that woman was listening too closely to me."

Trunks rolled his eyes and walked over to the side, where benches were set up with towels hanging on little metal racks right above them. Trunks grabbed one and threw the other back at Vegeta, which the Prince unerringly caught. Both men wiped most of the sweat off their faces and bodies.

Trunks was still drying off when he heard his father's voice in a questioning tone. He lowered the towel and glanced back at the older; ah, younger; Saiyan. "What?"

Vegeta irritably repeated, "I said, now you can continue filling in the large, gaping holes you left in your story."

Trunks turned fully around and sat down on the bench, his knees angled outwards, elbows resting on them and hands dangling between, slightly hunched forward. His father continued to stand, lazily draping the towel over his shoulder and leaning against a wall of the gravity room with his arms crossed. "Why didn't you want mom to know about it? I mean, what exactly were you guys talking about?"

Vegeta huffed, "I thought I just asked you a question?" Kakarott's brat had definitely trained the boy. The lack of brain cells must have passed from father to son to student.

Trunks frowned. His Vegeta was as stubborn as-the other one. "Well, like I said I awoke one day to find the landscape quite different. I left the little-I guess you could call it a room, and went looking for you. Mostly because every time the scenery changed it was because you'd changed it. I remember one time when-"

A warning growl caused him to look up. "You take too much after your mother, brat. Don't ramble!"

Trunks gulped and nodded his head. He furrowed his brow as he tried to remember where he had been.

"You were looking for-me."

"Yeah, right. I was looking for you. I found you in a valley, sitting on a pile of rocks. You knew I was there of course. You just ignored me.

"'Hey.' I said. No answer from you, of course. I tried several other methods of small talk before you finally asked what I wanted." Trunks smiled, finding the reminder of Vegeta's peevishness pleasant. "I asked where we were. That's when you finally turned to me." Trunks looked up at Vegeta, "Yup, it was that look right there."

Vegeta glared. Trunks merely smiled and continued. "Took you awhile to answer me but you finally did. 'Vegeta-sei,' you said. That's when I really took notice of everything. I mean, really. It wasn't every day I found myself on my home planet. Well, half of me's home planet."

Vegeta snorted.

"Then you got up and took off. I didn't follow you. I'd done that before and it was usually-painful," Trunks didn't have to look at see Vegeta's smirk, "I continued to train, and I think the added gravity must have helped. I went to bed that night thinking that Vegeta-sei would go away just like every other thing had gone away, but I woke up the next day to find the same scenery." Vegeta nodded sagely, the action telling Trunks to continue. "It wasn't until the third day of this that I finally got up enough nerve to go talk to you. You weren't exactly open, you know.

"You were in the same place, although this time, your appearance was different. I knew you could manipulate the environment, but you had managed to change the clothes you wore. You wore-"

"The royal arms of Vegeta-sei, complete with the royal medallion." Vegeta supplied, not wanting Trunks to go into detail.

Trunks nodded, understanding, "You looked like you were going to murder me if I said one thing, so I just sat down right where I was and waited."

"The human side must be the one with all the patience, because before the day was done you ended up talking. You told me first of the Hunt and how it was a rite of passage; a Tsuukagirei. It was given when the Saiyan child hit adolescence. You never got to go through it, so that's what you were doing now. You said it would give you added power. You must have thought you'd said enough, because you took off again. And that's all you told me about it. You said nothing about a GiKai." He trailed off, the last added as a plea for more information.

It looked for a while as if Vegeta wasn't going to tell him what he wanted as he turned around and made his way to the main console. He stood there a moment in silence, looking down at the panel without seeing it. So, his counterpart had wanted to perform the rituals. That was telling. "How do you set this thing up?"

Trunks sighed and got up to join his father, "You have to tell it which program to run. You can't just set the gravity and go anymore. That's too easy to sabotage. The programs are made individually and then given a code name. Once set up they can only be erased, not reprogrammed in any way."

At Vegeta's slightly curious look, Trunks explained, "The Androids liked to play with us. Before I set it up like this, they sabotaged it to explode when it was run. Mom was in here, working out some kinks. She started it up to check it. If I hadn't been there-" Trunks trailed off and looked out of the corner of his eyes at Vegeta. He expected and was not disappointed by the dark look in Vegeta's eyes.

Vegeta caught his blue eyes with his own black ones, "You never told me the results of my fight with the Androids."

Trunks looked back down at the console, fingers lightly tapping the keys without depressing them. He should've known his father would catch that. "You never told me why you don't want mom to know about the MakiGari."

Vegeta grunted. "Well, come on, brat. Start this thing up!"

Trunks nodded, frowning slightly. He'd have to start at the level he'd been at when he'd first gone Super Saiyan. From what his mother had told him, Vegeta was there. Trunks was past that, of course, but it was wiser not to let Vegeta know.

"Gohan program number twenty." Trunks called out.

"Complying." A female, monotone voice replied.

Vegeta raised a brow at the program's name, but brushed it aside as the red light, indicating a change in gravity, came on and a dozen round bots floated of hidden openings in the room's walls.

At the increase in pressure, Trunks immediately went Super Saiyan and Vegeta glanced at the small, rectangular screen that displayed the amount of G's. Two hundred? He has to go Super Saiyan in only two hundred?

He smirked but decided he'd keep up this little game for a while longer. He didn't move a muscle until he himself had gone Super Saiyan, though he couldn't go Super Saiyan with the ease Trunks had.

The bots circled them slowly, sizing up their opponents, if they could do that. Vegeta could already see several openings in their formation and stopped a snort from sounding. The brat obviously thought he was at the level he himself had been when he'd first gone Super Saiyan.

The bots split up, detecting two life forms, approximately the same power level. Trunks was suppressing his in order to spare his father's pride.

Vegeta smirked cruelly at the six bots that suddenly whirled down at him. Oh, he supposed he would act as if he was having trouble with them….

Trunks easily dodged the six that swooped at him, destroying two before they banked and came back for him. Really, the exercise was doing nothing for him. He supposed it must have been doing something for Vegeta. He was surely having trouble with his six.

Trunks grunted and tried to destroy his quicker.

Vegeta toyed not only with the bots but also with Trunks's perceptions, barely blocking shots thrown and moving only when the bots were almost on top of him. He felt like yawning though. He'd had more of a challenge in Hell.

He flicked a shot casually toward a bot, making it glance off the metal surface just enough to immobilize it. The other five, by this time, had ringed him in a tight circle, not that he couldn't have gotten out of it. Just that he was having too much fun pretending he couldn't. Too bad these weren't real opponents. There was nothing quite like showing an enemy that the one it had messed with had been messing with it.

Trunks's eyes widened at Vegeta's seeming predicament. His six bots now smoking piles on the floor, he leaped forward as the bots all fired at the same time, intent on blocking the blast from his father. There was no way Vegeta could-

He landed with a thud right back where he'd started as something flung him away. Small pieces of metal pelted him and a great cloud of smoke obscured his vision, but he could hear the mocking laughter coming from it. The smoke finally cleared by way of the vents, revealing a completely powered-down Vegeta smirking at him disdainfully.

Vegeta strutted toward the still downed Trunks with an ease Trunks couldn't have had in this gravity being normal. He left behind him five blackened circles on the floor.

He towered over Trunks, looking down at him with a sneer, "Boy, I was training in two-hundred G's when you were born. The next time you underestimate me, more than just your dignity will be hurting." He stepped back, allowing Trunks to shamefacedly get up.

Trunks didn't need his father's lecture. He was kicking himself enough as it was. As if he hadn't underestimated Vegeta in the other timeline enough, now here he was doing it again. He glared at the floor and stomped back to the console. He wanted a challenge, eh? "Vegeta program number thirteen," he snapped.

This time the name made Vegeta's eyebrows lower as the machine replied. What-?

The increase of gravity made Vegeta's knees buckle. He locked them with a grunt and glared at the display. Before transferring the glare to an equaling glaring, still Super Saiyan, Trunks.

"What? Can't handle three-hundred and fifty?"

Vegeta growled and pushed himself to Super Saiyan, the pressure only easing up slightly. He moved toward Trunks, the pulling of his muscles telling him he would be in pain in the morning. He reveled in it.

Trunks's glare faltered at the determined, almost insane, look on his father's face. He obviously had forgotten about his father's temper too, which was closely tied to his pride. He thought about shutting off the program and calling a truce, but decided if his father wanted a fight, he'd give him one. Besides, he hadn't had a good fight since Cell, and he doubted his father had ever called a truce.

Vegeta smiled wickedly as his son shifted into a fighting stance. Unlike Trunks, he'd just come from a battle and had been doing nothing but that since he was born. Trunks had almost a decade of peace since his last fight.

Though Trunks outdid his father on power, Vegeta outdid Trunks on tactics. It should have been a pretty even battle taking into account that information.

Vegeta stopped not ten paces from his son and smirked, "So, half-breed, think you deserve the Saiyan in you?"

Trunks blinked in confusion, "Do I think I deserve it? I guess."

"You guess?" Vegeta's smirk widened, "You're not even sure? I mean, how do I know you don't have more of that weak human blood in you than Saiyan?" His posture was relaxed.

Trunks's hands lowered a little. First his father looked like he wanted to kill him, now it was twenty questions? "Whatever human I have in me only makes the Saiyan better."

Vegeta's eyebrow rose, "Oh? Seems to me like all that human in you has softened the Saiyan instincts." Vegeta suddenly vanished and Trunks was pitched forward, nose grinding against the hard floor. "Otherwise you would have seen that coming."

Trunks pushed himself furiously off the ground, barely registering the blood flowing from his torn nose or the smirk on his father's face as he lunged at him, putting Vegeta immediately on the defensive.

Vegeta's smirk turned to a frown. He'd almost pushed the boy too far. He could feel Trunks on the edge of something. It was like he was right on the verge of something. Another level? His train of thought crashed when Trunks's fist connected with his face.

Vegeta broke off and wiped at his nose, hand coming back bloody. He grinned at Trunks, and Trunks stopped his charge to blink at his father. What? Did he like pain?

"I can't figure out if that temper is you mother's or mine."

Trunks stared blankly at his father. Had his father just acknowledged him as his? The easing of some heaviness in his chest surprised him. He hadn't realized that Vegeta not acknowledging him had upset him.

Vegeta, still grinning, moved around his shocked son and grabbed a towel, wiping off sweat and blood this time. He threw a towel at Trunks, who barely caught it before it sailed over his head, shaking himself from his pleased surprise. He walked over to the console and shut off the program. Both Vegeta and Trunks went normal as the red light changed to the phosphorescent lighting.

Vegeta inspected Trunks, motioning to his nose, "You better clean that up. I don't want that woman nagging at me all night. I have other plans."

Trunks colored slightly at the not-so-subtle reference, knowing that his reaction was exactly why Vegeta had said it.

Vegeta smirked and walked to the door, gracefully slipping out with the towel slung over his shoulder. His talk hadn't been all a show after all.

* * *

Bulma shrieked when a pair of strong arms wrapped themselves around her, pulling her away from the dishes she was doing and into a chest that vibrated with a chuckle.

Bulma tried to turn around to slap Vegeta, but the arms held her where she was, "Vegeta! Don't do that!"

"Hush, woman! You were so impatient earlier that I thought I'd get a head start on our schedule." He leaned in and nibbled at her ear.

Her eyes widened slightly. He'd never been so-playful before. At least, not in the kitchen, and with Trunks in the house too! "Vegeta! Trunks is…"

He suddenly spun her around to face him and had her in a kiss so deep that she wasn't sure if she was dizzy from the spin or the kiss. She almost melted in his arms and straightened her legs. Two could play this game.

She took his head in both her hands and slowly moved them down his back before leaning in toward his middle in a way that was anything but subtle. His almost immediate reaction made her grin against his mouth. It seemed his appetite for food wasn't the only thing that had grown.

A strangled sound from the door made Bulma break the contact and look past Vegeta, while Vegeta growled at the interruption. He glanced over his shoulder, not half as concerned as Bulma at who exactly had caught them.

It seemed Bulma's fears weren't unfounded. Trunks stood in the doorway looking as if he was finding the natural act of breathing rather difficult, his face almost the hue of his hair. "W-water," he managed to stammer and the still embraced couple couldn't tell whether he needed it after what he'd just seen or whether he needed to remind himself of his original intentions.

Vegeta smirked, "Sink's right there, brat." He inclined his head toward the object, his posture indicating that he was not moving.

Bulma, as red-faced as her son, was trying to extract herself from Vegeta's hold without success and Vegeta finally turned to regard her struggle with amusement. He leaned in and nipped her on the nose, "Bedroom."

Bulma frowned. He seemed awfully one-worded. But considering where his mind was-well, she doubted she would've been able to say much more either. That is, if she could ever bear to speak around her son again.

Vegeta let go of her and walked toward Trunks, smirking as the man moved around him quickly, not quite meeting his eyes.

Bulma's eyes followed Vegeta's movements, only blinking back to the present when she noticed an awkward Trunks in front of her, cup in hand. She smiled self-consciously at him, moving to the left. Trunks immediately filled up the glass and drained it one gulp, looking like he needed something much stronger after the sight he'd just had.

Bulma cleared her throat, watching him uncomfortably, "Well, I have to go-um, Vegeta, he's-"

Her son, composed enough to face his mother, turned and flashed a smile at her, "It's okay, mom. No kid likes to see it, but I'm sure almost everyone has. It's natural. I mean, you know. It's just disturbing seeing how I came about."

Bulma was hardly relieved by Trunks's ramble, "Um, yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to scar you for life. Can't say the same about your father though. You definitely got your modesty from me. Cause Vegeta has none." She became thoughtful, "In fact, Goku didn't have any either. Must be a Saiyan thing." She finally decided, before realizing that she was rambling also.

Mother and son looked at each for a moment for breaking out in identical grins. At least they were both embarrassed.

"You better not keep him waiting. He doesn't like that, in either timeline." Trunks turned and refilled his glass.

As his mother left the room, she called back, "Oh, and you're going to tell me what you guys talked about in the GR."

He turned around with a grimace to find her already gone. It figured she would catch onto that. It was something all three shared; brains.

Maybe I should be scarce till dinner. I definitely don't want to be overly imaginative about the sounds I'm going to hear. He blushed at his own thought, I'll just get dinner out.

With that thought in mind, he quickly made himself 'scarce'.

* * *

Bulma woke up the next morning and groaned as the clock ticked beside her bed to ten till noon. It figured that Vegeta would keep her up all night. He was already gone, of course. He seemed to thrive on little sleep, while she had to have nine hours a night.

She was a little surprised that he hadn't woken her up for breakfast, or lunch for that matter.

Vegeta appeared at the doorway then, and Bulma rolled her eyes as he gave her the customary stare that said 'Food. Now.'

She got up and scowled at him. If she weren't careful he would have her trained instead of the other way around. "What, Vegeta?"

"You know what, woman. Look at the clock!" He casually leaned against the doorframe.

"I know what time it is, Vegeta!" She sighed with aggravation when he stayed silent, "What happened to breakfast?"

He grimaced, "Your son cooked it. You didn't tell me he was as bad a cook as you! No. Wait. He's worse. That's why you're cooking lunch and every other meal for the rest of our lives!"

Bulma chuckled, "Yes, he does have the unique ability to burn boiling water. But I think that comes from you, Vegeta. I mean-"

"Nonsense, woman! Even I could cook better than that! Not that I ever did." He grinned toothily at Bulma's disgusted look.

"Um, mom? Hungry? Please?" Trunks's head peeked around the corner, looking at her from under Vegeta's elbow. Vegeta glanced down at his son with irritation.

Bulma giggled, wishing she had a camera, and both men glared at her, which caused her giggle to turn into a laugh. When both of them rolled their eyes identically, she doubled up from the laughter, tears leaking out of her eyes.

Vegeta stepped over to her and grabbed her shoulders, straightening her. "Woman, we don't have time for you to go insane. You need to fix my food, then you can go crazy."

"Hey! She needs to fix mine too!"

Vegeta turned to Trunks and snarled, "Brat!"

Trunks's eyes widened as he realized who he was speaking to and just how he had spoken to him. His head vanished from the door and the hurried sound of feet on the steps told Bulma where he'd gone.

Bulma shrugged herself out of Vegeta's grip, her hilarity reduced to giggles again, and wiped the tears from her eyes, "No, Vegeta. He's definitely yours!"

Vegeta sighed, "I don't want to argue with you, woman. I'd just waste time you could be spending fixing my lunch."

Bulma nodded and shooed his away from her with one, trying to affect an air of imperiousness. She was thwarted by Vegeta's smirk and made do with just scowling at him as she got together her clothes and stepped into the bathroom.

Before she closed the door, she thought she saw something in Vegeta's eyes. She frowned as she turned on the water and stepped in, allowing the water to wash away the sweat and dirt from the previous day.

He wasn't fooling her with his teasing. She remembered all too well everything that had happened with that last demon, the dragon, and was sure that he did too. He was purposely trying to act like everything was normal, but she knew him well enough from those three years they had spent before he had died to know when he was hiding something from not only others, but himself.

She tried to recall what he had said to her and the words came back in a rush, complete with cold and hateful infliction: "Why do you continue to cling to me? If I wanted it I'd get a dog…. I lied when I said I was going back! I don't want to go back with you…. It's been thirty-five years, woman. Things change…."

She thought about it. Okay, so the first two sentences were moot. They reminded her of what he'd said after their first night, and she knew from actions afterwards that those words had been a lie.

The last seemed the same, except for the 'things change' part. He had just said that knowing that she'd assume that he meant things had changed with him. In actuality he'd been referring to a conversation they'd had searching for the ninth level demon. He had thought things had changed in regard to her feelings toward him. She'd thought she'd proved that untrue, but maybe she hadn't done it enough.

She smiled as she leaned back to let the warm water wash the shampoo out of her hair. Easily fixed.

The middle statements were the hardest. He'd lied? Had he really? Or was he lying that he'd been lying for the benefit of the dragon? About the only thing that would help her there would be knowing what the dragon had said to Vegeta. She didn't know if she could even get that information out of him. It would surely be a challenge, and, like her Prince, she loved a challenge.

She stepped out the shower and quickly dried off, marveling that Vegeta hadn't come storming in to demand she hurry up. She remembered the last time he'd done that. Interesting results that. It had taken longer than if he'd just let her be.

She frowned as she made her way downstairs. He must really be bothered to not want to nag at her for taking her sweet time. She looked at his seated form as she got out the food Trunks and Vegeta seemed to like. He was here, for he scowled and snapped a surly question at her. But when she didn't answer, he merely continued to sit in silence. Yep, he wasn't really there.

Vegeta blinked and noticed the woman looking at him out the corner of her eye oddly. He grunted and rose. His silence was out of character for him. That meant he needed to get back in character.

"Woman, are you done with that food yet? Or are you drooling in it?"

Bulma chuckled, "What's wrong with my spit, Vegeta? You didn't complain last night."

Of course, Trunks walked in at that last statement. He stopped at the doorway for a second, blinking at him mom, while she suddenly found what was frying in the skillet quite interesting. Trunks sighed and continued on to the fridge, grabbing out a pop and making his way to the table to wait for dinner.

This required getting around Vegeta, who purposely blocked his way, "After lunch, training."

Trunks shrugged and moved around the man, who would've been shorter than him if not for his hair. They had, in fact, been training all morning, nothing but that either. If Trunks didn't know better, he'd have said that Vegeta was avoiding something; namely his thoughts. It helped that Trunks had spent that year with him in the other timeline.

Bulma shifted uncomfortably in her chair, picking at her food. The strained silence was driving her nuts, "Trunks, do you need anything from the store? I thought I'd go to the mall and get everything done in one trip."

Trunks looked up and smiled at his mother, "Some training clothes would be nice. I have a feeling I'll be going through them faster now."

A soft snort sounded from his right and Bulma turned to Vegeta with a sickly sweet smile, voice fitting the look perfectly, "I won't forget you, Vegeta. Kami knows you wouldn't last one day without your precious Twinkies."

Vegeta glowered at her while Trunks snickered lightly, getting the honor of having the glare transferred to him. He swallowed his laughter, trying to look serious despite the fact that it was quite surprising to find his father addicted to such an unhealthy food. He was always badgering Trunks on his own selection of innutritious cuisine.

Bulma grinned, "Oh, and I'll need you to come look at the regeneration tank afterwards."

Vegeta wrinkled his brow in confusion, "Why? I don't know enough of that stuff you dabble in to be of any use."

Bulma shrugged, "Probably so, but you're the only one here who's seen it and I'd hate to mess it up when you're available. You weren't available earlier, if you remember," she stated pointedly.

He grunted, "And what, praytell, would you have done if I wasn't 'available'? Especially since I'm not supposed to be now." Bulma glanced at him out of the corner of her eye as she sipped her coffee, and he stiffened, seeing the ploy, too late, for what it was. He growled low in his throat and quickly rose from the table, "Brat! Gravity room! Now!"

Trunks hurriedly shoveled the rest of his food in his mouth almost running to catch up with his father. He shot a questioning look at his mother as he exited the room. She answered with a shake of her head and he continued to the gravity room, wondering just what exactly he had missed.

Bulma sat at the table, tracing a circle around the rim of her cup. So, he didn't think he was supposed to be here. Yet, he obviously wanted to be here, or he wouldn't be here. She frowned and got up to put her cup in the sink. How was she supposed to find out if he'd lied or not if he didn't even know?

She sighed and made sure she had the right capsules on her. He was obviously avoiding confronting the issue. Did he think it would just go away?

She thought back briefly to information she gleaned from him after his first 'resurrection'. He'd thought then that he should've stayed dead. Of course, the need to become Super Saiyan and beat Goku had kept him going. But what would now? Her? Trunks? Vegeta was obviously bonding with his son, whether he would admit it or not, and she was still good for something, as evidenced last night.

She shook her head as she threw down the capsule and got in the yellow sports car that appeared. She'd get more information when she had him inspect the regeneration tank. It would be even more difficult now that he had his guard up, but she would keep pushing till she was satisfied. Yet another thing she shared in common with him, determination; or was that stubbornness?

* * *

Trunks grunted as a fist connected with his face, feeling a bit of anger rise up at Vegeta's smirk, which he quickly controlled. All he needed now was to go further than his father. That would just make this beating he was getting from his already irate father better. He shook his head, not only at the hit, but the sarcasm too. Sarcasm didn't work for him.

He held up a hand to halt his father, using the other one to massage his jaw, which was, surprisingly, still sore. If he hadn't known better, he would've said his father's power was increasing. But in this short of a time, it was unlikely.

Vegeta snorted and Trunks thought he heard a mumbled 'weakling' as his father shoved past him to get a towel. Trunks growled low in his throat, and Vegeta hid a grin. He was going to get the brat to reveal his true power if it took knocking the boy into next Tuesday.

Trunks came up beside him; anger carefully pushed down again, and stared intently at Vegeta. Vegeta grunted at the attention, wiping his face, but did not give any other indication that he noticed it. Trunks's Saiyan side must've been chief today, for he didn't feel like waiting on his father, "What's wrong with you?"

Vegeta stopped and motion and glared at the boy, "What do you mean what's wrong with me? I wasn't the one who let down my guard and got hit."

Trunks ignored the jab, "Well, when you and mom were talking at lunch everything was fine, then, all of a sudden, it's 'let's go beat on Trunks to vent'." At Vegeta's incredulous look Trunks smirked, a very Vegeta-like one, "The other you did it too. Usually when something bothered you."

Vegeta turned away disdainfully, going back to drying off, "Usually being the operative word here, boy. Besides, that 'Vegeta' obviously had problems."

Trunks couldn't contain his laughter but it was instantly choked off by the dark visage of his father inches from his face. He gulped back the rest of the laughter and smiled apologetically at the man who looked ready to kill, "Sorry. It's just weird hearing you talk about yourself like that."

Vegeta leaned back, slightly sated, "I'm hardly that-Saiyan in that other timeline."

Trunks refrained from pointing out the myriad number of things that the Vegetas did share. He supposed the whole in-Hell thing had veered their personalities a bit, but so much that they weren't the same person? He doubted that. "Still. Something's bugging you. Even mom's able to see that."

Vegeta growled low in his throat, threat clear, "What the woman sees or doesn't see does not concern you, boy! You should mind your own business and worry more about letting your guard down in the middle of a fight!"

Trunks sighed in defeat as his father stepped away from him to the console. As soon as he was sure his father had let down his guard, he aimed for the gut, "Will you at least tell me what the GiKai is?"

Vegeta turned around and looked at his son with the same intent stare that Trunks had given him but moments ago. Then he was the one sighing in defeat. He couldn't believe he had been bested in wits twice in one day, but no harm in telling him that much. "Fine. They are the counsel of elders that advise the royal family. They decided if the MakiGari has been performed correctly and the Saiyan is ready to go to the Tsuukagirei."

Trunks nodded, looking off in thought, "So, you want to do it for the boost in power. That's why you want to do it. But what does mom have to do with it?"

Vegeta snarled, "She has to make the program for it, brat! I hope you've finished your questions, cause I'm not answering any more."

Trunks shrugged, satisfied, for now.

Vegeta glared at the console in frustration, "I need to add new programs to this. I don't want to have to say either my or Kakarott's brat's name just to train."

Trunks grinned slightly and joined his father and began to set it up for a new program, going slowly without actually looking as if he was teaching Vegeta anything. He was surprised his father caught on so quickly and received a disdainful glare in answer.

Vegeta's head suddenly shot up and he looked to his right, seeming to stare right through the walls. "Where's that mall at, Trunks? The one she said she was going to."

Trunks's brow furrowed, "Um, well, it's in the-"

Vegeta turned to him with a snarl, "Never mind that! Just show me! Quick!"

Trunks nodded, eyes bewildered, and followed his father out the door and into the air, where he took the lead. He had to up his power a little to stay ahead of his father and was thankful Vegeta didn't seem to notice.

Vegeta stared straight ahead with a one-mindedness that made an unconscious shiver rack Trunks's body. He hoped he was never on the receiving end of that look.

* * *

Bulma hummed happily as she stepped out of the mall's elevator and entered the parking garage. She was on the first level of the garage. Being Capsule Corporation's heiress had it's benefits, although she'd posed as merely an employee there with top security entry. She was supposed to be dead after all.

She deftly juggled the five shopping bags in her arms as she reached into her purse for her keys. She managed to grab a hold of them without losing any of bags and was congratulating herself when a sharp voice rang out, "Woman!"

Such was her shock at the mind-voice that she lost the keys, and, in retrieving them, lost all the bags as well. That was when she was attacked.