E-mail: MajinSakuko @ yahoo. de

A / N: "He" from chapter 21 is the devil - in case someone has not noticed - and has nothing to do with the now appearing "He".

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24th part

The green-haired woman stared at the dark night sky, trying to find a way to ... Why hadn't she thought of that possibility? How was she supposed to follow Vegeta into space without the space capsule needed? She couldn't just steal one and go after him. If she announced her presence, action would have to be taken immediately. The annoyance when she saw or recognized someone was inevitable. So it was first to wait and watch this ... woman. Whether and when Vegeta would return was literally in the stars.

"You're so funny, Mab!" She giggled at her own joke. "Mab ..." That abbreviation ... She really had to think hard to remember her real name. In her home environment there was no one left to call her.No one to talk to or just hang out with. Not a soul ...

Her son used to call her "Mum". She still knew that. And HE ... He addressed them as "subordinates" or "Mab".

What an irony. She was the subordinate of the one who had wiped out the entire breathing population of her planet and in order to finally escape this monster, she wanted to take revenge on the man who was ultimately to blame for the whole misery.

If Vegeta - that selfish bastard - hadn't left then. If he had only listened once.

Shaking her head, she looked at the now sleeping scientist. "Bulma ... what an ugly name."

* _ + _ * _ + _ * _ + _ *

The infinite emptiness of the universe seemed to engulf him in moments of weakness. Far and threatening it lay before him, but never close enough to replace the emptiness inside him.

Vegeta didn't take the time to think about Bulma's betrayal.He just cut himself off and trained more intensely than ever before. If the space capsule no longer held up to his Saiyan abilities, the cyborgs would have less to do ...

No, he couldn't allow such thoughts, otherwise he could dig a grave straight away.

The gravity was increased, the training continued. And there was no more room in Vegeta's head for other things, other people.

* _ + _ * _ + _ * _ + _ *

Bulma's understanding of the situation she had gotten herself into grew to the same extent as her waistline. She would not be able to hide her pregnancy for much longer and would have to tell her parents about it.

Thanks to her mood swings and her morning sickness, she could hardly wait, because the further the pregnancy progressed, the closer the due date came.

She had flirted with the idea of ​​aborting her child in order to regain her companion and his trust.But after the visit to the doctor, when the first ultrasound examination had been carried out and she could see her baby, this option was suddenly taboo.

The life she had begotten with Vegeta had a right to continue to exist.

Bulma sighed and saved her data.

Over the past four months, her anger at herself had grown smaller. And even if she had absolutely no contact with Vegeta during this time, she was sure that his anger had at least subsided a little.

On the way to the kitchen, Bulma tried to calm her stomach. Since the little one grew a certain size, she could eat all the time.

Steaming plates and bowls were ready on the dining table and Bunny was just about to put on the napkins.

"Have a seat, child."

All alarm sirens sounded in Bulma's head. She had called her 'child'. That was never a good sign."Where's Papa?" Asked the scientist hesitantly and sat down in her chair.

"He's coming soon."

Somewhat uncomfortably, Bulma reached for her spoon and dipped it into the soup. It was delicious, as always, and with the utmost control she managed to eat it reasonably slowly.

“So hungry?” Bunny opened her eyes, but despite her smile, Bulma could read the invitation to confess. Bunny waited patiently for her daughter to say something. For the longest moment they just looked each other in the eye.

"What ... is going on?", Bulma finally managed to halt. Your mother couldn't see clairvoyantly, couldn't she?

Sighing, Bunny sat down across from her. "You forget that I went through all this once ...", she said ambiguously, while Bulma almost choked on a piece of bread.

"What ... do you mean ... by that?"

“Look me in the eye!” Nothing was left of the usual easy-going naivete."I know you are pregnant. Your father and I have decided to give you time to come to us. But since you did not want to take advantage of this offer ..."

All the color had drained from Bulma's face. * How does she know ...? * - "I ...", she was only able to hold back the tears with difficulty, "... didn't want to ..."

"I know," Bunny smiled again. "Vegeta is the father, am I right?"

Bulma nodded, sniffing. "He has ..."

"I know, but he had every right to do that, don't you think?"

More and more tears made their way to the surface until Bulma slumped and sobbed uncontrollably. "I'm ... scared ..."

Bunny jumped up and hurried around the table to her daughter, who hugged her, rocked her back and forth and tried to comfort her with calming words. "It'll be all right. I ... promise," she added hesitantly.

* _ + _ * _ + _ * _ + _ *

Bulma was happy that the cat was finally out of the bag and that her parents now officially knew about their relationship and the baby with Vegeta.It was comforting that they didn't insist on a wedding.

With renewed strength, her work went well and with a little luck, she could start working on the xXx project the following week.

* _ + _ * _ + _ * _ + _ *

The space capsule entered the atmosphere and began to glow. Sparks flew and flew away in all directions.

Part of Vegeta wanted to flee as well, but the larger part was drawn back to earth. To where it all started ... and where it should end.

Vegeta leaned back and closed his eyes. He imagined how the fight against the cyborgs would end.

* Of course I will defeat them *, the Saiyan thought confidently. * I am stronger now than ever and stronger than Kakarott. *

The landing went smoothly as the legs extended and the capsule landed fairly gently. Vegeta got outside via the opening ramp and had been breathing earthly air again for more than fifteen months - and not this artificially fabricated oxygen / nitrogen mixture that he had to inhale on board the space capsule.

* Trunks would have to be around six months old if Bulma as a human can develop a Saiyan baby just as quickly as a Saiyan woman ... *

When Bulma tried to persuade him to stay, he had heard every word. It had been clear to him, too, that they would have a son. It was clear that he had fathered a son. A girl? No way!

A tremendous accumulation of energy caught his attention. *I am too late! * Vegeta thought horrified. * It has already started. *

* _ + _ * _ + _ * _ + _ *

Time passed particularly slowly for Mab. During the day she didn't have much more to do than wait. Only at night could she get out of her capsule and get something to eat. At some point the time had come. The cyborgs attacked. But she didn't want to see the fighting, so she limited her observations to places like God's Palace, the C.C. or remote areas where the senshi rested.

Mirai Trunks was among the fighters, too, and the blue of his eyes reminded Mab painfully of a person she was trying to forget: her son.

The strange boy was around twenty, her son was only a little older than he and what had previously come to an end as 'normal'.

"Is it you, my ... Ahh" Your question was drowned in one of the long omnipresent noises of pain. "My son ...?"

* _ + _ * _ + _ * _ + _ *

Shivering with fear and nervousness, Bulma stood in the hall in front of the kitchen door. She had been troubled by strange noises on the way from the living room to her room, and she had decided to check that it was all right. If the household robots weren't in the laboratory for maintenance, she would have sent them ahead to investigate, but so ...

She did not want to alert her parents, the police would take too long, she was the only one who stayed.

* Vegeta would be proud of me *, she thought confidently, silently counted to three and pushed the door open. "Hands up!"

Then everything went very fast. Sausage slices flew through the air in a high arc, a baguette landed on the floor next to the ketchup bottle.

Bulma's eyes widened first, then narrowed when she realized who had made the mess. * Just don't show weakness *, she admonished herself sternly. "So you're back again, Vegeta ..." It wasn't a question, but a careful statement, from which she kept any emotion out of her mind. Actually she wanted to fall around his neck and thank him, but he would hardly have liked that. Besides, it wasn't even clear whether he wanted to stay and not just get a free snack. Whether he wanted to stay ... After his appearance at Dr. Gero, when he hadn't lifted a finger to protect her and her son, she wouldn't have guessed that she would ever see him again. But given the fact that he'd secretly got in and ransacked the refrigerator, she might as well be wrong.

The light from the open refrigerator made the Saiyan seem almost unreal.He didn't say a word, just pierced her with his eyes.

"Did you see him?" Asked Bulma quietly, referring to Mirai Trunks. "Of course you ..."

"He's very strong," Vegeta finally replied. * I wouldn't have thought *, he added in his mind.

Was it some kind of pride she heard in his voice? "He had a lot of time to get so strong."

"I didn't