The following week, the woman returned from errands with her hair cropped off. She looked beautiful with it short, too, of course, but it sent a pang through Vegeta. Had their bath made her wish to be rid of it? Had the reminder that he'd loved before upset her? Or the way he'd behaved so cruelly at the end with Raditz? Or was it simply that she didn't want to deal with the constant straightening and maintenance that she felt it needed when it was longer? Vegeta didn't know and he didn't dare ask because there were too many answers he didn't want to hear.
He trained with Piccolo a few weeks after their camping trip and when Piccolo was cool and silent with him, he finally stopped sparring and said, "What is wrong? Did I fuck things up between you and Seventeen?"
"No," Piccolo grumbled and went back to fighting.
"Would you care to expand?" Vegeta hissed, dodging a cagey series of attacks.
"No."
"What the fuck, Piccolo? If I'm going to be the sort of pathetic creature that does double dates and has friends and—"
"He said no," Piccolo said, his big body collapsing like a popped balloon.
"What?!" Vegeta cried, "Why the fuck did he say no?"
"Because he thinks it's ridiculous to adhere to a foolish human custom when neither of us are human," Piccolo said and sat on the ground, holding his head in his hands.
"But…But he loves you? Then shouldn't he want to make you happy?"
Piccolo looked up miserably as Vegeta sat near him. "I don't know, Vegeta. I don't want to force him into a weird arrangement. Maybe you're right about marriage being…I dunno…not the way to go. You aren't going to marry Bulma?"
"Well that's just fucking nonsensical. It would be completely wrong for me to ask her that. It would shame me for one thing. But as the weaker of our pair, it has to be her that requests any sort of lifelong connection. But I've read rather a lot of Earthling romances and marriage is often an exchange of a pointless, but valuable, piece of jewelry for a guarantee of fidelity. I don't wish to belittle my relationship with the woman by giving her some bauble to keep her in my bed. I want her to be my mate. But the weaker party or the female must always do the asking. Just as you did with Seventeen. I confess I'm shocked your android didn't want to marry you. Panchy asked Dr. Briefs to marry her and she said there was no exchange of gifts, they were bound by the law, but she said that has more to do with his company than anything religious as some of the humans do."
Piccolo made a noise of despair and said, "I don't know, Vegeta. He said he wants to be with me, and that he wants to be with me forever, but that he doesn't want to 'participate' in anything human. He says he still loves me. Says he'll always love me."
"Do you want children with him?"
Piccolo's eyes widened. Vegeta had never been forthcoming that he knew more about Nameks than the average Earthling. Piccolo was secretive and reticent enough, resentful of the gender and sexuality norms of their new forced home-world that Vegeta didn't want to piss his best friend off. Piccolo grumbled, "You know about that?" Vegeta nodded. Piccolo continued, "Yeah, you know me. I'm a sap for kids. I'm kinda surprised you and Bulma haven't had more, because you're a pretty awesome dad."
"Oh. Thank you. It's not for lack of my wanting them. She was mad I took Goten as a ward. She's been so caught up in taking over Capsule Corp that she doesn't feel she has the energy. I wish I could carry it for her. But…ah well. Maybe later, when Trunks is an adult by Earthling standards."
Piccolo's brow furrowed. "Vegeta…you know human women are only fertile until they're forty or so, right?"
Vegeta's mouth fell open. As of late he had noticed that Bulma's heats were very irregular. She was forty-one. "What?! What do you mean? That's absurd. Why would they be fertile for such a short period of their lives?"
"Do…do you not know how long humans live?" Piccolo said, his brow ridges drooped at the corners and his ears fell out to the side.
"What do you mean? I assumed their lifespan was similar to Saiyans."
Piccolo shook his head very slowly. "No, Vegeta. I don't know what Saiyan lifespans are like when they aren't out in planetary warfare all the time, but humans, long-lived humans live about a hundred years, but most are lucky to make it to eighty or so."
Vegeta, to his horror, burst into tears. "Eighty!? But that can't be! I can't…She can't…No! That doesn't even make sense! I can't bear her going before me!"
Piccolo crushed Vegeta in a hug and said, "Oh fuck, Vegeta. I'm bringing you all kinds of bad news today. Sorry. I'm really sorry. It's half the reason I've never gotten involved with a human. I couldn't stand it. Nameks live to be really old. Like five or six hundred years. I guess it's longer if you merge…like I did…Twice."
"Saiyans regularly live three hundred! Fuck! Fuck!" Vegeta stood and paced. "The dragon balls though? They must…they—"
"No, they can't undo anything natural," Piccolo said, shaking his head again.
Vegeta's heart shattered. He'd barely had her. He couldn't fathom not sharing his whole long life with her. He could wish for her immortality. That would surely work. There had to be a way around this absurd fault in human genetics. Piccolo stood and dusted himself off. "Sorry, Vegeta. I didn't mean to drag you down with me."
"No, I…I'm glad I know. I'm sorry Seventeen won't marry you, if that's what you want."
Piccolo shrugged. "I guess I'll take whatever I can have with him. I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. You coming to the tournament?"
"What tournament?" Vegeta asked, but his mind was on the woman, how little of her he had left.
"The Worlds Martial Arts Tournament in a couple weeks?"
"I don't see why I should bother, just a bunch of idiot humans, I assume."
Piccolo looked thoughtful and said, "I heard there'd be an interesting contestant. There's prize money too. I don't need it, but it comes from Hercule Satan, that twat from the battle with Cell, so I wouldn't mind taking a million zeni off him."
Vegeta said, "Oh, perhaps we'll come watch. Maybe Trunks would enjoy it."
"I think there's a kids' division, so he could fight."
Vegeta nodded and absently bid Piccolo farewell, his mind already racing about the woman. About the dwindling clock on her fertility. About the fact that he might lose her so soon. Too soon. A whole lifetime was hardly enough when he thought it would be his lifetime. It never occurred to him that he might lose her to mortality rather than his own inferiority.
The next few days, Vegeta tried to find words to speak to the woman. He needed to know if she ever intended to tell him how short her life would be. If she even wanted another child with him or if she'd just been using biology to put him off until it was too late. The past couple years had been hard on Vegeta as both Trunks and Goten went off to school, not that he would admit such a thing out loud, but also because ChiChi demanded Goten return to living with her now that he was old enough to control his behavior and no longer needed to be picked up. Vegeta was basically childless except for the training he did with Trunks after school.
Vegeta finished training in the GR with Trunks that afternoon and the boy said, "Huh, wonder what Gohan is doing with Mom. Probably just being a nerd."
"Gohan?" Vegeta asked. He put out feelers and indeed the teenaged son of Kakarot was in the the woman's lab. That struck him as odd. "Let's go see, shall we?"
Vegeta managed to contain his disdain for Kakarot's elder brat despite his absurd costume, but Trunks couldn't. "You look like a complete doofus, Gohan. What are you even doing?"
"Honey, don't be rude. Gohan's trying to figure out how to participate in the World Martial Arts Tournament without being recognized because his girlfriend is going to be there."
"Whoa, ah, no, uh, no, Videl is, uh, she's…she's just a friend!" the whelp stammered, flailing around.
"Is this tournament actually a big deal, boy?"
"Oh, uh, I mean, I sure would like to be able to give the prize money to my mom. Things are pretty tight on the farm and Goten eats like—"
"He should still be here! He's my ward! I'm the Prince of All Fucking Saiyans and you don't just take the prince's ward!" Vegeta snapped.
The woman looked at him strangely and said, "Settle down, Vegeta. Gohan, if you ever need anything, just let me know. I certainly don't want you boys to go hungry. I can always send you with a capsule, okay?"
"Oh, uh, sure, Bulma, that's awfully nice of you. But I should be able to win the tournament no problem! Then we'll be set!"
"Piccolo said there would be an interesting contender. Have you even been training? What if one of the androids shows up?"
The boy's face, the part that showed under his oversized sunglasses paled. "Oh, uh, well, yeah. I could beat them. I beat Cell…"
"Years ago. I could kick your ass right this minute, boy. You let all that strength slip away to bury your nose in books. It's a disgrace."
Vegeta startled and assumed he was finally having some kind of mental break as he heard a familiar, maddening, jovial voice say, Hey guys, I'm gonna get to be in the tournament! I get a twenty-four hour pass to come back to Earth! So I'll get to see all of you!
"Kakarot?" Vegeta said, bewildered, "You're coming to Earth in corporeal form? To fight in a ridiculous tournament?"
Yep! And to see my friends of course! You'll be there, right, Bulma?
Vegeta watched the woman. Her eyes sparkled and she cried, "Hell yeah, Goku! I wouldn't miss it for anything! I can't wait to see you! Wow!"
Vegeta's mouth tried to drop open. Was it possible that all this time she still considered Kakarot a better potential mate? Even though he had the harpy? Vegeta couldn't believe that of her. She told him regularly that she loved him. She gave her body to him and he knew he brought her great pleasure. She swore she'd never fucked Kakarot and he believed her. So why did this sting? Why was he angry that she was so excited about seeing the clown?
Vegeta barked, "I'll be there to defeat you, Kakarot. We'll finally have a rematch."
That sounds great, Vegeta! I hope you've been training!
The nerve on that imbecile almost made Vegeta scream. His elder whelp left in a flurry and Trunks scampered off to tell Goten the exciting news. Vegeta stared at the woman and she grinned. "This is so exciting! Wow. Seven years, right? I can't believe I'll get to see him again. You aren't going to be weird are you?"
"What? Godsdamnit, he owes me a proper fight!"
"Oh great, this again. Okay, Vegeta. I'm pretty sure you and Goku will definitely be the championship fight, so you'll get your fight."
Vegeta softened, thinking about what he really wanted. Why he really came here. He tugged her close to him, kissed her. She met his mouth eagerly and rolled her hips against his. He murmured, "I want to have another baby. I want to do it right this time. To be with you through your pregnancy. To take care of you. To take care of the baby. Please?"
"What?! Where in the hell did that come from?"
Vegeta's brows crashed together. He hadn't expected her to be angry with him. "I've always wanted more. You always said it was too much with Trunks and Goten. But they're practically grown. And…And…According to Piccolo, we may be running out of time, yes?"
The woman looked livid. "I'm not that old, Vegeta! And this is not the kind of thing I'm just going to decide while you're trying to get me to think with my pussy!"
"I…Woman. That isn't what I was doing. I just…I didn't know. I didn't know until Piccolo mentioned it that humans' fertile years were so short."
She glared at him and said, "Why were you talking to Piccolo about my 'fertile years?'"
"What? No, not like that. I mentioned that you might be willing to have another child once Trunks was an adult and he said that wouldn't be possible."
"Fucking Piccolo," she grumbled.
"I don't understand, were you deliberately withholding that information from me?" Vegeta said, his chest aching, because it was clear that she had no intention of giving him another child.
She sighed and held him. She kissed him. After he didn't really reciprocate, she said, "No, not exactly. I can't…I can't decide what I want. I love Trunks so much. I'm just…I'm torn about it. I kind of want another one too, but not now. Can we get through the tournament and everything and revisit this?"
"Why the tournament?" Vegeta said, suspicious now in a way he hadn't been before.
"Because I just got the news that I'm going to see my best friend after seven fucking years, and I don't want that excitement to get bogged down in a really big decision, okay? I promise we can talk after the tournament. What's one more week, huh?"
Vegeta nodded, backing away from her. "Yes. Of course. Another week. I should go train." Vegeta left her lab, feeling her eyes following him. The old feeling of uselessness, of being a neutered, declawed, defanged pet came back to him. Another week. Another week. And another. What was his life but a series of weeks, each as pointless as the one before? He swallowed the tears that threatened, calculating how few weeks he had left with her. Another week. One week of their limited supply.
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