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Always A First Time	By : debbiechan Category: Dragon Ball Z > Het - Male/Female Views: 9780 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own DragonballZ, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

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Always A First Time
by debbiechan
Disclaimer: I can make no claim to owning DBZ, yet I have a masochistic compulsion to tell this damn story.
A/N: Attention all nerds! I will need your help and cooperation with upcoming chapters as they begin to weave with the actual anime timeline. The spotting of any bloopers will be much appreciated. I will edit whatever you catch in order to keep my story canon.
Thanks to my beta LisaB. I learned to write better dialogue this year because of her! dchan 7.26.05

Chapter Twenty-six: The Future is Coming

"�by a mountain near the Northern Capitol. I heard a rumor of a cave that was remodeled to become a lab."�Bulma to Vegeta on the location of Dr. Gero�s lab, episode 132

Vegeta used the "I need armor" excuse to linger at Capsule Corporation for several days.
He shook the smelly chlorinated water out of his hair and lifted himself to sit on the pool�s edge. He did not raise his ki to dry himself. That act would risk the Yamcha creature sensing his energy and suspecting an increase in baseline power. The Earth warrior seemed as weak and clueless as ever, but who knew what psychic sensitivities he may have trained to develop while Vegeta was in space? Discretion required that Vegeta�s Super Saiyan status not be revealed before the actual confrontation with the androids.
Why am I still here?

There was really no urgency to train in space. Vegeta was Super and had trained as such for months; all opponents were as good as defeated in his view. Extra training would serve merely to whet his appetite for the upcoming contest with Kakkarot.
I could take the ship far far from all ki-detecting humans and train under 500 g�s wearing nothing at all. I don�t need armor yet.

A sense of being in limbo, much like what he had felt during his first months at Capsule Corporation, had overtaken him. There was everywhere else to go--and nowhere else, really. The grounds were familiar. He was treated royally here, and people stepped around him respectfully but without fear in a way that fascinated him. It was like being tethered to the compound of yellow domes by some bizarre spell.
The morning after their one encounter, Bulma had not emerged from the bedroom. Vegeta had swum laps and eaten meals prepared by Bulma�s mother, but he had not trained in the newly repaired gravity machine. He had spent that first day just� waiting.
Then, near nightfall, the old man had announced to him that the new mother was very tired. Bulma wanted Vegeta to know that configuring new armor would only take a few hours but if the Saiyan Prince didn�t mind inferior and less-than-consummate prototypes, she had a few "somewhere." When the old man said that Bulma couldn�t find these old suits because she hadn�t labeled the capsules, Vegeta considered going to her lab and decapsulating all her stores again the way he had done the night of the birthday party.
But he didn�t.
So Vegeta had waited another day.
And then the word was that Bulma had built a new chestplate but couldn�t find the fabric samples from Vegeta�s original army uniform. She would have to reconstruct Vegeta�s preferred alien stretch-wear from scratch, and she would need more time.
Vegeta had spent the next few days in the dinosaur sanctuary or in the rose garden, avoiding the Briefs but recuperating from the oppressive solitude of space travel with his own kind of planet-side solitude.
I am Super Saiyan. Armor is just for show �but when I appear in battle again, it be dressed as the warrior who came to this world to destroy it--the warrior they all feared!

Vegeta walked to one of the pool deck chairs and sat there. The wet prints his bare feet had made on the concrete evaporated in the noonday sun.
So, the Saiyan Prince is watching water evaporate?

Vegeta knew that he wanted Bulma to pay attention to him. He craved the woman the way he anticipated worthy combat. Was he really so base as to be waiting for another opportunity to press himself against her hands and mouth? Nappa and Raditz had been that type of Saiyan, unable to deny squalid desires. The Prince of Saiyans understood discipline, self-possession � patience.

Under the shade of a large striped umbrella, Vegeta tried to distract himself from the memory of Bulma�s dark nipples and intoxicating new roundness.
So, how much of this planet will be left when the battle is finished?

Vegeta imagined that he would be surgical about destroying the androids, wasting no energy in a showy display and saving his strength for defeating Kakkarot. Perhaps most of the planet would be spared. Cities would burn, and mountains would crumble, but chances were that this compound of domes would be left standing.
After he killed Kakkarot, no doubt Kakkarot�s son would challenge him, so Vegeta would have to kill the brat as well.
A shame. Such prodigious strength in that child.
A breeze blew through the palm trees. In that one idle moment, Vegeta remembered Nappa�s voice. Over the static of a pod communicator, the old Saiyan captain had once speculated about Kakkarot�s son and the potential of Saiyan-Earthling hybrids: "So if we spawn a flock of them ourselves, we could build another Saiyan empire?"

One corner of Vegeta�s mouth rose in amusement. Nappa would have had a good laugh at Vegeta�s own offspring with an Earth woman--no hair! The tiny thing was as bald as Nappa himself and toothless as a decrepit old man! Piteously human!
No, Nappa. There will be no more Saiyans. I will be the last one alive after I kill Kakkarot. Death begets death. Frieza killed the promise of a Saiyan empire ruling over the galaxy when he destroyed our planet, and now my line ends with me.

Vegeta�s gaze moved across the pool water. There was only so far he could imagine. At some point the future became blank--as blinding as the large rectangle of glaring white light on the water�s surface.
"Ve-geeee-tah!" trilled the blonde woman�s voice. She was walking across the patio with a beverage tray. "Bulma says she�s looking all over for a synthetic something or other. She�s going to make your--um, costume is it?--when the baby takes his next nap."
"She said that yesterday." Vegeta took a drink from the tray. Ice-cubes tinkled in the glass as he drank the sweet liquid.
"I know, dear. You�re being so wonderfully patient."
And he sat there, the pinnacle of Saiyan destiny, the strongest warrior in the galaxy, the secret Super Saiyan, in wet black shorts by a sparkling blue pool. Vegeta almost laughed outright at the situation.
"You look so relaxed, Vegeta," Bulma�s mother said. She set down the tray and refilled Vegeta�s glass with juice from the pitcher. "You�re so fit and strong already and here you are training away all hours of the day! That�s so like Goku, you know."
They all expect Kakkarot to deliver them from the androids.

"Dinner is in a half hour," the woman went on. "If you can�t make it--and I suppose I shouldn�t expect that tonight will be any different--I�ll leave you some wrapped dishes in the kitchen."

Vegeta downed another drink and stood up. There was no other way to escape the blonde woman�s chattering, so he dove back into the pool.
He could hear laughter as the woman was splashed. "There you go again! Training so hard!"
But it wasn�t training at all; it was more like moving meditation. The water blotted out noise and annoyances, and Vegeta swam, arms at his sides, in slow serpentine motions towards the bottom of the pool. He considered that maybe this break from physical rigor was necessary; he needed to exercise his mind, to plot tactics, to analyze opponents.
Besides Kakkarot and his son, who else would it be necessary to kill? The Boy from the Future had claimed to be Super Saiyan, but that was � pure rubbish. A Super Saiyan was supposed to be invincible. The boy himself had said that he could not conquer the androids. The boy was an imposter.
Still, Vegeta had sensed this imposter�s power on the plains. It had been extraordinary. Vegeta had watched the boy slice Frieza into shreds and then incinerate the lizard with a one-handed blast worthy of Vegetasei�s Elite Captains.
Hadn�t the Namek said that the Boy from the Future might return to participate in the imminent battle?

Good! Then the boy and Kakkarot both would watch as Vegeta crushed the androids. They would know who was truly the strongest. They would tremble before the majesty of the Legendary revealed!
**
Bulma adjusted the cap over her baby�s head as he slept in the bassinet. The silly things were too big and kept sliding off. Auntie Jane had sent several in different character shapes--this one was brown with round floppy ears. A bear cap? The bunny one had been off Trunks� head when Vegeta caught his first glimpse of his son--maybe if the cap had stayed on, Vegeta wouldn�t have looked so horrified by the baldness?
Maybe not. His son in a bunny cap might have been a more horrifying sight.
"You have to sleep now, Bulma," said Yamcha. He was standing at the balcony door, looking in the direction of Capsule 3.
"Can�t. Have to work on Vegeta�s battle suit."
Yamcha looked irritated. "Can�t you just give him the one you made for me?" He was obviously willing his voice to be calm. "You know that I don�t want to face the androids looking like an alien. I�m wearing the emblem of Roshi."
Bulma joined Yamcha at the balcony entrance and looked across the grounds at the spaceship. "I can�t believe he�s still here."
"He wants to mess with you, show you who�s boss. I don�t think Vegeta cares anything about you or the baby."
"Well, he really does need the armor. And I can�t give him the suits I made for you and Son-kun because I can�t find them." Bulma ran her hand through her hair. "I�m losing brain cells, Yamcha. This motherhood thing is more taxing than I thought it would be."
"You need to rest!" Yamcha put his arm around Bulma�s shoulders. She usually didn�t like his demonstrations of protectiveness, but she felt herself leaning into his embrace. "You and your baby should come first," Yamcha went on. "The battle with the androids shouldn�t be your business. Can�t your dad configure the fabric what-ever for Vegeta?"
Bulma�s comlink on her hip buzzed, and the vibration made Bulma and Yamcha step apart from one another.
"It�s Wolfie!" Bulma unclipped the phone from her jeans.
"What does that little nerd want?"
"Shh!" Bulma put the receiver to her ear. "Wolfie?" Her heart was in her throat; she had asked him to call her only if--
"Are you alone?" asked a gentle voice. "It�s not the news we were expecting, but I have made a significant discovery in your data."
"Oh yes, yes, motherhood suits me well!" Bulma affected a lilting, casual tone and walked away from Yamcha so he couldn�t overhear. "I�m up to my ears in diapers, so any shop talk would be a welcome break!" She faked a laugh. "Scored any new patents lately, Dr. Schroedinger?"
Yamcha sat in the rocking chair with folded arms and eyed Bulma with concern. He had been adamant about her not returning to work too soon.
"I�ll be brief," spoke the poised and quiet voice on the other end. "I noticed that the neuro-communicator kept landing on the same two government intelligence bots. It seems that Gero anticipated my trying to detect his progress and programmed his androids to deflect data to decoys. But I�ve defragmented his encryption and confirmed my hypothesis." Wolfgang paused for effect. "Bulma, both of Dr. Gero�s androids have been built and are in stasis somewhere."
"Oh?" Bulma sat on the edge of the bed. Her pulse was racing. "And just where do you plan on meeting this blind date? First impressions are so important, Wolfie darling."
"The data doesn�t reveal where the androids are. My best guess from the pattern of anti-particles is that Gero is working somewhere in an isolated wilderness. Could be anywhere in the mountain range outside North City."
"Damn! How long--?" Bulma caught herself before she slipped further out of character. The idea that Gero�s androids may have been built for months and that she, a genius, had been misinterpreting data on the communicator infuriated her. How much time had been wasted! "How long until you meet this nice young woman?" She made her voice sound carefree again. "You aren�t going to make her fret with anticipation while you try to work her into your busy schedule, are you?"
"Oh no need to worry. My guess is that Gero will take the androids out of stasis for testing sometime soon. I�ll catch their location when he does."
"Let me know, Wolfie, when the date happens. I want to know all about it."
"Of course," the calm voice replied. "I was hoping you would help me with the assassination strategy." And then the line clicked off.
Yamcha was still looking directly at Bulma. "So Wolfgang isn�t going out with your dad�s receptionist anymore?"
"Um, guess not." Bulma sat with the comlink in her lap and felt dazed. She could do it--she could forestall the whole battle with the androids!
"Well, that�s good," Yamcha said. He was rocking back and forth contentedly in Bulma�s nursing chair. "Miaka is very, very pretty."
Bulma snapped her head up and looked at Yamcha in surprise. "You�re thinking about asking her out?" Shit! She hoped she hadn�t messed things up between Wolfie and Miaka.
Yamcha smiled broadly. "Now, babe, don�t tell me you�re jealous! Don�t you want me to get back out into the dating game? I can�t go on being your nanny forever, you know." He winked. "Maybe Miaka and I can baby-sit for you sometime."
"Oh, I didn�t mean--I was thinking that you shouldn�t--" Bulma stood up, not knowing exactly where she was supposed to be doing next. Oh yes, she was going to her lab and Yamcha was supposed to watch the baby. "It�s just that I didn�t think Miaka was your type. She seems like such a serious, sensible girl. A little young for you, too."
Yamcha laughed. "You really are starting to sound like a mom, Bulma." He made a waving gesture with his hand. "Now go on. I know you�re itching to get back to your lab, and the sooner you build that damn armor suit for Vegeta, the sooner he�s out of here."
"Uh� alright." Bulma hesitated at the door. "Trunks should sleep for at least three hours. You�ll buzz me if wakes up, right?"
Yamcha already had his hand on the remote. "Let me guess," he said. "You�ve been watching the sports channel while you lie here nursing Trunks all day. That�s the life!"
Bulma smiled fondly, thanked her friend for watching her baby, and hurried to her lab. Her tiredness was all gone.
The future is coming, the future is coming, her mind chanted. In six months, the Boy from the Future said the androids would start their rampage. But maybe, just maybe, we really have a shot at keeping the terror from ever actually starting!

For the first time all week, Bulma was more than eager to be rid of Vegeta. Never mind the emotional havoc he caused her, having that wily Saiyan around when she and Wolfgang moved against Gero could be trouble.
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Always A First Time