It took a long, long time before Bulma finally managed to calm her emotions.
Once she steadied herself, her thoughts immediately turned to the unconscious Son Gohan.
"By the way… Gohan will be alright, right? You said earlier that if he did not wake up, he might end up in a vegetative state," Bulma asked anxiously.
"He will be fine," Vegeta replied calmly. "These years of suffering filled that kid's heart with despair. With no support to lean on, now that he can finally rest, let him sleep for a few more days."
As he spoke, Vegeta glanced toward the room and continued, "No matter how beautiful a dream is, it is still just a dream. When he is ready to wake up, he will."
Hearing this, Bulma felt a deep resonance in her heart and nodded gently.
"That is good."
She understood how difficult Gohan's life had been.
For all these years, it had been Gohan alone, constantly outwitting and fighting Androids 17 and 18.
He had carried every burden by himself. He was exhausted.
It was only recently that they had finally reunited.
"Come on," Vegeta said. "Let us go for a walk. There are some things I want to talk to you about privately. You can also tell me what has happened over the years."
After soothing Bulma's emotions, Vegeta gestured and took the lead out the door.
Bulma understood immediately and followed.
They walked along the cliffside outside, taking in the scenery as they went.
Although the area was remote, the view was genuinely beautiful.
Bulma had chosen a good place.
Standing at the edge of the cliff, Vegeta began a deep discussion with this timeline's Bulma about the knowledge of time and space that he possessed.
After a long exchange, he showed her the research notes that the past Bulma had compiled on the time machine, as well as a letter that the past Bulma had written to her future self.
Vegeta had not read it.
Bulma had told him it was her secret.
Some words, she wanted only her future self to see, even if he was the man she loved.
Vegeta respected that choice.
What surprised Vegeta was how dramatically future Bulma changed after reading the letter.
She became more confident, and her outlook noticeably lighter.
Vegeta was puzzled, until future Bulma showed him what the past Bulma had written.
Most of the letter was emotional expression: comfort, encouragement, and hopes for the future.
But the final section was the most crucial.
The past Bulma had actually guessed that the future timeline might already be beyond saving. She had even anticipated what her future self might be facing, and had proactively invited future Bulma to return to the past and live there together.
"On the surface, based on test results and theories of time and space, even if we from the future travel to the past, it seems like we are only moving from one parallel timeline to another, without causing major impact.
But reality is not that simple.
I believe I underestimated the complexity of parallel timelines. Just because no drawbacks have been observed yet does not mean none exist.
For example, your past was altered because a future ultimate Android, Cell, traveled there, triggering a chain of events that changed your future, leading you to develop a new time machine and arrive in our future.
Based on my simulations over the years, if we were to travel again from this parallel timeline into another past parallel timeline, it could introduce an uncontrollable series of variables.
No matter how painful this timeline is, it is still our world, our home. It is not something that can be abandoned so easily.
To prevent further temporal chaos, cutting off time travel from our side may be the only way to restore balance to time itself."
As she reached this point, Bulma's emotions fluctuated intensely.
Vegeta could understand her. As someone who had crossed timelines himself, he knew the foundational rules of Dragon Ball's parallel worlds all too well.
"There is something you might not know," Vegeta said. "Our timeline did not change because future Cell traveled there. I already knew what would happen in the future, which is why I was able to turn things around, eliminate the threats early, and guide the past Bulma into developing the time machine that brought me here."
He spoke plainly.
The truth about transmigration could not be revealed, but foresight of the future was a convenient substitute.
Seeing the disbelief in Bulma's eyes, Vegeta explained his experiences and encounters.
Of course, he mixed lies with seven or eight parts truth, making the story far more convincing.
"This… it is unbelievable," future Bulma murmured. "Foresight of the future… And in the past timeline, it was not Goku who became a Super Saiyan to kill Frieza. It was you. You killed Frieza and changed so many things. But why? I cannot understand it."
Future Bulma was too intelligent and too composed.
With only a brief explanation from Vegeta, she had already begun constructing a new logical framework.
She believed there had to be more differences, otherwise two parallel worlds would not diverge so drastically.
Vegeta's actions were only part of it.
Seeing the heavy look on her face, Vegeta knew it was time to stop digging deeper.
He changed the topic.
"What surprises me most is that I should have gone to Cell's future timeline, yet ended up here instead. Maybe this is where time itself is most unstable. It could mean that even timelines sharing the same moment are not unique."
"I see…" Bulma said softly, feeling a sense of relief. "It seems my understanding of time and space is still incomplete. Could I examine the time machine you brought? Maybe I can gain new insights from it."
She was genuinely glad.
If this anomaly had not happened, she would never have seen Vegeta again.
"Of course," Vegeta replied. "Now that I am here, I will not leave until every threat is dealt with.
"I also promised Trunks that I would teach him some techniques.
"And Gohan, at the very least, I will wait until he wakes up before deciding when to leave."
One sentence after another flowed from Vegeta's mouth.
Bulma's joy only deepened.
That meant they would have time together.
"Thank you. That child has always worked so hard. It is wonderful that you are willing to teach him," Bulma said, her voice tinged with emotion.
Vegeta reached out and wrapped an arm around her.
Accepting this future Bulma, so what if she was already fifty?
Besides, though she looked more worn and tired, she had taken good care of herself. At most, she appeared a little over forty.
Vegeta himself was thirty two now. Add in the age from his previous life, and he was already well past fifty.
Future Bulma did not resist his gesture.
She too had long lacked an arm to lean on.
...
Three days passed like this.
During those three days, Vegeta brought Bulma and Trunks back to their old home in West City, along with Son Gohan.
At first, Bulma and Trunks tried to stop him.
The despair left behind by Androids 17 and 18 made them afraid to take risks.
But after Vegeta forcefully stated that Androids 17 and 18 were nothing to worry about, they finally accepted his decision.
After all, even future Cell had already been killed by Vegeta.
Once they returned to West City, the first task was reconstruction.
Fortunately, although West City had been reduced to ruins by the Androids, with many areas bombed into rubble, the house itself still stood.
With the intelligent robots Vegeta had brought, repairs were possible.
However, West City no longer had human residents.
To avoid further persecution by the Androids, most survivors had already moved their families to rural mountain regions.
In an apocalyptic world like this, everyone lived with the same thought.
Survive one day at a time.
~~~~~~
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