the sad remains. Sad hanging flower heads, crushed buds, kinked stems were not exactly a hopeful sight.<br />
<br />
"Do you think they can be saved?" Asked Bulma hesitantly and carefully picked up the lump.
<br />
"Where there are healthy roots there is always hope," said her mother calmly. "Take them to the greenhouse and plant them on the edge of the pond. I guess they'll like it there."
<br />
<br />
Bulma nodded. With the root ball with the remnants of the stalk pressed to her heart, she hurried into the glass house. The earth at the pond was nice and damp. Bulma didn't go looking for gloves or a set of wood. She knelt down, carefully put down the flowers and with her hands dug a small hollow in the black, rich earth. Put in the root ball, heap some earth over it and carefully press it around the kinked stems - done.
<br />
<br />
She was supposed to go now and change her clothes, but instead, she stayed kneeling by the pond, thinking of Vegeta and his attempts to pull her out of her freeze. Why hadn't she answered, why had she treated him so coldly that he left without saying goodbye<br />
<br />
...
<br />
<br />
She didn't notice the tears until they dripped onto the battered flowers. Hot tears of anger at herself, at Safrano, at Vegeta (if he hadn't treated her so meanly on the ship, then ...), bitter tears of regret that she could no longer thank him for the flowers, painful ones Tears of loss because he was gone again and had left her alone ... They oozed more and more violently from Bulma's eyes, she wrapped her arms around her shoulders and shook all over her body. She was cold, so very cold without him.
<br />
<br />
“Well, my heart, let it out, let it all out.” Her mother gently pulled her up and hugged her.
<br />
<br />
Bulma was shaken with crying fits for almost ten minutes, then slowly calmed down. Finally she released herself from her mother's arms and wiped the tears from her face with her dirty sleeve. "Vegeta ... where is he now, where has he gone, mom?"<br />
<br />
"Actually, he just wanted to go to our new weekend house. But Dad says he hasn't received a call back from there, as it was actually agreed."
<br />
<br />
All at once, Bulma Safrano's malicious remarks came back to her mind. "Papa, where is he, I have to tell him something?"
<br />
<br />
"He's in the living room by the communications console. Why are you so excited?"
<br />
"I'll tell you later, I have to hurry!" Bulma ran back into the living area and yanked the door to the living room open "Papa!"
<br />
<br />
"Ah, Bulma! Your mother was right, you are yourself again," he beamed at her.
<br />
"I'm glad about that too, and I apologize for the grief I've caused you. Do you have contact with Vegeta?"
<br />
<br />
Her father shook his head. "No, it is as if there is simply no contact with the spaceship."
<br />
Bulma swallowed and repeated what Safrano had told her. "Could it be that he programmed the ship to self-destruct?"<br />
<br />
Prof. Briefs thought for a moment and then shook his head. "No, I built in too many safety barriers for that. With Vegeta you always have to expect all sorts of things and the only person apart from me who could bypass or break these barriers is you. But what he probably did is a new course It's good that Vegeta has plenty of supplies on board. "
<br />
<br />
"That's the smallest problem, papa. What if the course takes Vegeta into the middle of an asteroid field and he can't get out? He's not as good at manual control as I am."
<br />
<br />
"Hmm ...", Prof. Briefs rubbed his chin. "In order to enter a destination independently, Safrano would have to have a good knowledge of astronomy, does he?"
<br />
<br />
Bulma shake her head. "Not as far as I know."
<br />
<br />
"In this case he can only select already calculated targets that are contained in the computer. If he was so sure that you won't see Vegeta again, then he could ... could he ...", deep in thought and incomprehensible Mumbling stuff to himself, Bulma's father went into the workshop, started the computer and scanned the hard drive for a specific file.<br />
"Ahh ... here it is. There are the goals that I calculated on a trial basis and entered into the on-board computer. What do you think, which one could he have meant?"
<br />
<br />
Bulma propped herself on the backrest and leaned over her father's shoulder. Her eyebrows narrowed, she searched the blinking rows of numbers. Suddenly her gaze stopped and she pointed to a row at the bottom. "Is that what I suppose, Pop?"
<br />
<br />
Mr Briefs followed her finger and stopped short. "My goodness, I completely forgot."
<br />
<br />
"That ... that's a sun, isn't it? You calculated the course straight into a sun." Bulma swallowed. Her heart was like a leaden fist clutching her. "If Safrano found that and entered it ..." She didn't want to think about it. Vegeta. Was he dead already? Choked and burned in agony? Her knees buckled and she sank to the floor, trembling hands over her face. All because of her.Only because of her was Vegeta ...
<br />
<br />
"Bulma." She felt her father's warm, firm hand on her shoulder. "Don't always think the worst right away."
<br />
<br />
"Why not? Safrano can do anything."
<br />
<br />
"Sure, but you forgot who built this ship."
<br />
<br />
Amazed, she dropped her hands and looked up at him. Cautious hope glowed in her valley of despair. "What do you mean, dad?"
<br />
<br />
"With Vegeta you have to be prepared for the fact that he will demolish the controls during his training madness. In the event that the ship then takes a self-destructive course, I have built in an emergency circuit that lets the autopilot jump over to a target that is classified as safe . And to one in the immediate vicinity. In this case, too, this safety device should have jumped and diverted the ship in good time. "
<br />
<br />
Slowly, still unsure whether she could really hope with all her might, Bulma got up again."What goal could that be?"
<br />
<br />
The professor turned back to the screen. His gaze slid over the rows of numbers. "One of those four here," he said, tapping a block of four coordinates marked in green.
<br />
"That's quite a long way away," muttered Bulma. Her decision had long since been made. "I want to take your new spaceship and bring it back, Papa. How soon is it ready to go?"
<br />
<br />
Mr. Briefs sighed. He had seen it coming. "You don't give your poor parents a break either. As soon as we've got you back, you want to leave again."
<br />
<br />
Bulma's eyes welled up with tears. She wrapped her arms around him from behind and rested her cheek on his hair. "I'm sorry, papa, really. I don't want to cause you any trouble, you know that. But ... but Vegeta ..."
<br />
<br />
Her father reached back and stroked her hair. "Of course I know that. I used to be young and in love too."<br />
<br />
Bulma turned bright red. "Is it that obvious?" She asked quietly.
<br />
<br />
"For someone who knows you as well as I do." her father smiled, wriggled out of her embrace and stood up. "Then I'd better go straight to work and get the ship ready to go. It should be ready in about 10 hours."
<br />
<br />
Bulma knew her father well enough to be content with it, even if 10 hours sounded like an eternity. There was no point in rushing him, after all, she wanted to get to Vegeta safely. "I'm talking to mom about the supplies and stuff," she said and gave her father a peck on the cheek. "You are really the best, papa. Thank you!"
<br />
<br />
And she was gone. Mr Briefs sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I hope I haven't given her hope in vain," he muttered, closing the program. "I should rather run a simulation to be sure that the emergency circuit has also started in this case ..."<br />
<br />
Bulma's mother wasn't exactly pleased when she found out that Bulma was about to leave, but she gave in with a sigh and began to make a long shopping list. In the meantime, Bulma searched for and found the capsule with the second spaceship. At the exact point where the first ship had always been, she activated the capsule. It plopped and a shiny new spaceship stood in front of her. It was a third bigger than the old one. Curious, she opened the hatch and stepped inside. Her father clearly hadn't designed this spaceship for Vegeta. There was no gravitation converter, and the living area was much larger and more comfortable.
<br />
"I will still have to do a few things," said her father from behind her. "Above all, you need a better tracking system, new energy cells and ..."
<br />
<br />
"Whatever it is, papa, I'll lend a hand," Bulma said firmly.
<br />
She kept her word.
<br />
<br />
For the next few hours Bulma toiled like never before in her life.Her father was amazed at how quickly the general overhaul went. Bulma conscientiously checked every line and every switch, dragged the heavy energy cells into the spaceship and if Yamcha had not shown up, she would probably have twisted her back angrily.
<br />
<br />
Yamcha had a new girlfriend in the meantime, but he had kept a particularly warm feeling for Bulma in his heart and was very happy to find her so fit and energetic again.
<br />
<br />
When he heard what it was about, he was astonished for a moment, but quickly recovered. "I never thought that you and Vegeta would spark so quickly," he said. "He had me killed, but I'm long over it, because at least I owe him my time with Master Kaio and against the cyborgs we will need him more than ever, especially when Gokou really gets sick like the boy said . "
<br />
<br />
After this speech, Yamcha lend a hand and so the ship was ready to go faster than expected.However, Bulma looked like she was going to fall into bed half dead at any moment. She didn't want to admit that, not with