Theme and Variation

Yamcha stared at the ruins of the gravity chamber, unable to accept what he had just seen.

Bulma.

All hope of making up with her vanished like the morning dew when he caught sight of Bulma cradling Vegita in her arms, her face etched with worry.

He drew in shuddering breath, his chest aching with a most uncomfortable sensation.

A sudden sound caught his attention, and he turned to see Nataku blast off into the sky.  Without thinking, he chased after her.  It was a full five minutes before his common sense caught up to him.

Hello, survival instinct to brain, this is a Saiyajin you’re chasing here, the same one that said it was such a shame to have to kill all of you and was going to destroy the Earth? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING?

But she didn’t kill me, Yamcha thought back, then shook his head.  Great, I’m arguing with myself.  I really must have gone crazy.

And yet, something else in his memory tugged at
him.  That expression on Nataku’s face when she shot into the sky was familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on why.  He searched until he found what he was looking for; she had looked like that when Vegita retreated without her, saying that she was not worthy to be called a warrior.

Yamcha was so absorbed in his thoughts that he didn’t notice when she came to an abrupt stop until he almost ran into her.

“Why’re you following me?” she asked.

“I–” Yamcha tried to come up with a reason.  ”I wanted to ask you what you were doing there.”

“Felt the explosion and went over to look.” Nataku crossed her arms.  ”What were you doing there?”

“Same reason.” A thought occurred to Yamcha.  ”You’re not staying at Capsule Corp. anymore?”

Nataku scowled slightly.  ”What’s it look like?”

“Well, where do you stay?”

“Wherever I can sleep.”

“So what do you do when it rains?”

Nataku shrugged.  ”I get wet.” she turned.  ”Well, bye.  Dinner doesn’t catch itself, you know.”

“Wait!” Yamcha called.

“What now?” she asked, not without some annoyance.

“You’re welcome to stay at my house,” he offered.  Then, seeing Nataku’s skeptical glance, he added, “that is, if you want to.”

Nataku scrutinized Yamcha for a while.  Then her eyes narrowed. “Wait a minute, I get it now.  You’re trying to make your girlfriend jealous.”

Yamcha felt his blood boil.  ”You really think so? It hasn’t occurred to you that maybe I think you shouldn’t be out in the rain, especially not at this time of year? I’m sorry, I guess you’re not used to the concept of decency or kindness.” Without giving Nataku a chance to react, Yamcha flew back towards his home and put the entire conversation at the back of his mind.

–Two weeks later–

Pooaru floated up near the ceiling to flip shut the wooden cover that otherwise sat over the window courtesy of a small hinge.  ”There.  That’s the last one.”

“Thanks,” Yamcha said as he brought out the large stone that would block the door.  Outside, thunder rolled in the distance, indicating the eminence of that year’s winter showers.  This was a welcome event in the desert, but Yamcha very much preferred to have the water stay outside.

Nataku poked her head into the entrance, causing Yamcha to almost drop the stone on his toes.  ”Nice little place you got here.  Very cute.”

“Oh, hi,” Yamcha greeted in the most nonchalant manner that he could.  ”Why don’t you come in?”

That was just what Nataku did.

–Two years later–

“Hey, guys!” Bulma greeted as Goku, Gohan, and Kuririn landed on the mountain she, Yamcha, and Piccolo were on.

“Cute kid,” Kuririn remarked, referring to the baby in Bulma’s arms.

“You and Yamcha got married?” Gohan wanted to know.

Yamcha shook his head.  ”No, Bulma and I broke up ages ago.  That’s Vegita’s kid.”

Gohan and Kuririn facefaulted.  ”EH???”

“Yup!” Bulma beamed.  ”His name is Trunks.”

“Speaking of Vegita, why hasn’t he shown yet?” Kuririn wondered.

“Not a clue,” Bulma replied, shrugging, and not without some annoyance.  ”But I’m sure he’ll be here sooner or later.”

“He wouldn’t miss this for the world,” Goku agreed.  ”By the way, where’s Nataku?”

Yamcha looked a bit sheepish.  ”In the hospital.”

“Oh, is she sick?” Goku asked worriedly.

Yamcha coughed and blushed slightly.  ”No, she’s having a baby.”

This time, almost everyone facefaulted; even Piccolo had a great deal of difficulty in concealing his shock.

“You never told me Nataku was pregnant!” Bulma exclaimed, a bit miffed.

“I didn’t find out myself until three months ago,” Yamcha explained, “and we decided to keep it a surprise.”

Goku was the first to recover.  ”Well, congratulations! Have you decided on a name yet?”

“Yeah.  Akane if it’s a girl, Kaneda if it’s a boy.”

“That sure was some surprise,” Kuririn mumbled, still not quite believing what he had heard.

Yamcha chuckled.  ”Tell me about it.”