Disclaimer—I don't own Dragonball/Z/GT or anything associated with it. I just like fanfiction. :P
CHAPTER ONE
It took a couple of hours, but Bulma finally managed to stop crying. Now, as she sat motionless on the plush bench of her vanity, she resigned herself to emptiness. She was hallow, blank… mentally and emotionally unavailable.
This was the way she had to be—the only way she could think of to make it through the day. Her life was over. There would be no more joy. No more laughter. No more knowing glances full of love and desire from her most trusted friend and lover.
She was doomed to be emotionally alone and miserable—a fate that was chosen for her long before she had the ability to fight back.
Staring at her reflection, she saw the precise moment when she chose to give up. She saw it in the way her face went pallid, and in the way the light left her eyes. She didn't even blink when someone tapped lightly on her door, nor did she move to let them in. Instead, the door swung open from the other side and the blond cloud of happy that was her mother let herself in.
"Hello, dear. Are you feeling alright? You've been shut up in your room all day."
"I'm fine," she lied. She tried to force a smile onto her lips, but was unable to do it.
Bunny wasn't fooled. "I know something's the matter. You've always been a horrible liar." She studied her daughter closer, looking right at the tear tracks on her cheeks and the puffiness around her eyes. "Are you nervous about the wedding tomorrow?"
Nervous wasn't the word Bulma would have chosen. She would have went with something more along the lines of… disgusted. Repulsed. Absolutely horrified. Who wouldn't be if their future husband was Prince Yajirobe? She gave an involuntary shudder and said, "Yeah. A little."
Her mother smiled, flashing her dimples, and sat on the bed with her daughter. "Are you nervous about the wedding? Or the wedding night?"
Bulma managed to mask her wince, but her gag reflex was dangerously close to giving her away. Luckily, Bunny mistook her reaction for embarrassment instead of revulsion.
"It's alright, dear. I was nervous on my wedding night too. I'm sure Prince Yajirobe will be aware of your worries, just like your father was with mine."
"Ew, Mom!"
"Well you must have realized by now that your father and I have had se—"
"Mom! Mom I know. There's no need to discuss it." She said hurriedly. The truth was that the thought of having to sleep with Yajirobe was more disturbing than the thought of her parents doing the deed. It was something straight out of her nightmares.
"Well I think we should talk, Bulma. You need to know what to do."
"What to do?" she repeated, feeling the blood drain from face. "About what?"
Bunny threw up her hands in exasperation. "The wedding night, you silly girl. This isn't some bumpkin off of the streets. This is a prince! He'll have certain expectations."
"Please don't make me listen to this."
But it was too late. Bunny was already launching into her informal sex ed class and Bulma was stuck. She could have easily told her mom that she wasn't a virgin. She could have admitted that she and Yamcha began sleeping together when she was sixteen. But her parents would flip. Not only because she lost her virginity at such a young age, and not only because she lost it to Yamcha—one of the hired help meant to protect her—but because she was sworn to marry Prince Yajirobe ever since the day she was born. To hear that he would not be her one 'true love' would cause a panic among the people.
What if the prince found out and didn't want her anymore? It would be a blessing for Bulma, but the people would suffer.
The good prince and his family have been squandering food and valuable resources for as long as they've been in power. The people were growing weak and weary, dying of starvation and living in hovels. They saw it as a blessing when the daughter of their local scientist was accepted as a suitable queen. With her blue hair and fair skin, she was seen as a rarity, sure to catch the eye of the royal family—something that she did with flying colors.
Since then her father and mother took extra care to give her a proper upbringing. They exposed their daughter to the poor. She witnessed all of their pain and suffering. They did this on purpose so that she would know of their needs, and deliver them to salvation as their queen. She was to be their savior.
Still… Yajirobe?
She shuddered again.
"More meat!" Yajirobe bellowed to the servers.
They'd brought out every type of dish they could think of to appease the young prince's ever growing appetite, but the majority of them contained fruits and vegetables—something that Yajirobe was known to despise.
They scuttled in and carried the vegetables away, replacing them with chicken wings, briskets, and rib eyes. The royal family dug in, smearing grease across their faces and relishing in their gluttonous ways.
Unbeknownst to them, a line was forming from the back entrance of their kitchen. Men, women and children were accepting the discarded fruits and vegetables from the staff and disappearing into the night. They came as far as West City, taking food away in cart loads to feed the hungry along the way.
"Meat!" The king hollered, making them all jump. Two of the servers grabbed more trays and walked brusquely into the dining hall. When one tray was emptied, it was immediately replaced with a full one.
It was then, in the middle of their scurry, that the ground began to shake. At first it was brushed off as part of their erratic movements, but when the shaking evolved into a full blown earthquake, the staff slowed and looked skyward with confused expressions.
Of course, the royal family was so busy stuffing their faces that they didn't notice anything out of the norm until their platters and goblets began to fall to the ground. The queen yelped and pulled Yajirobe into her embrace while the King cowered under the table and spit out orders for their warriors to find the cause of the disturbance.
The guards snapped to attention and ran out the door in two, almost perfect lines.
No sooner had they exited, the ground stopped shaking and everything became very still. Yajirobe poked his nose over the edge of the table and cast his beady eyes around the room. "Is it over? Did they kill it?"
Silence.
Everyone got back to their feet and the royal family took their seats at the table.
Yajirobe had taken his first bit of steak when the dining hall doors bursts open and all of the royal guard flew in—literally. They were flying in… backwards. No, Yajirobe realized, not flying in. They were being thrown in!
They landed in awkward positions sprawled out on the ground. Two of them hit the table and the force behind the throw was enough to snap the gold encrusted oak in half.
The queen squealed and flung herself to the far wall, dragging her only son with her. Yajirobe was turning blue in the face from lack of air because of how tightly his mother held him.
When the dust cleared, the royal family came face to face with seven of the tallest, most well-built men they'd ever had the displeasure of meeting. The one on the far right cleared his throat and said, "All bow to his majesty, King Vegeta and his son, Prince Vegeta."
The king stared, his face ashen, for a solid thirty seconds before he could comprehend what the man had said. "What? You look here, you bunch of roid addicted freaks. I'm the only king around here!"
King Vegeta studied him closely with cold eyes. Stumpy legs, large mid-section, beady eyes and appalling personal hygiene. "You must be joking."
"Hey watch it," Yajirobe warned, waddling to his father's side. He opened his mouth to say more, but one of the larger men—the one with hair like a pineapple—was suddenly in his face, hauling him off of the ground by the throat.
"Never." He growled. "Talk. To. My. King. That. Way." He enunciated each word, bringing his face closer to Yajirobe's with each syllable.
King Vegeta chuckled. "Radditz, put him down. Didn't you hear? They're royalty." There was mock humor dripping from the last word.
All of them laughed. The smaller Vegeta hmphed, but said nothing else.
"My apologies sire," Radditz said with a bow of his head, then dropped Yajirobe as if he were nothing more than a sack of potatoes.
King Vegeta smiled at the Earth's royal family. "You'll have to forgive my warriors. They get a little sensitive sometimes. I am King Vegeta. This is my son. We're here seeking repairs for our ship."
"Your ship?" Yajirobe repeated. "What are you babbling about? We're nowhere near water."
They laughed again, none of them bothering to muffle their voices while poking fun at Yajirobe for his mental incompetence. Finally, the one named Radditz pointed out the window to a larger circular structure on the front lawn. It towered over the palace and looked to be made of some sort of metal.
"Is that," the queen began, shakily getting to her feet. "Is that a space ship?"
King Vegeta beamed. "It is. She's one of the finest ships in the north quadrant. Unfortunately we were forced to head straight through a meteor shower by… some unforeseen circumstances… and we've taken on damages. We require your assistance for repairs."
"What the Hell?" The king growled, bowing up in the chest. "You can't just barge in here and demand that we fix your piece of junk scrap metal. We've got better things to do than to worry about some space project gone wrong. And who's funding this project by the way. I know I certainly didn't sign off on it. Explain yourself."
The young prince had heard enough. Not only were these Earthlings alarmingly stupid, but they were disrespectful as well. "Enough," he said in a low whisper. Any other man would have been ignored. But Prince Vegeta was no man. He was a Saiyan. One of the most feared Saiyans in the universe at that. A sidelong glance from him was enough to silence even the strongest of races, and humans were no exception. "You will provide us with the help we need, or else this entire rock of a planet will be destroyed."
"Oh yeah?" Yajirobe countered. "That'll be a nice trick. And I suppose you'll be doing the destroying on your own, little man?"
The Saiyans took a collective breath and held it there, all eyes watching their prince.
"Little. Man?" He repeated. "Little man!"
Energy, fire hot and electric blue, shot out, engulfing his entire body. He clenched his fists, ground his teeth, and fought the beast inside that tempted him to squish Yajirobe like the bug he was. But somewhere in the back of his mind he knew that this act would displease his father. Not because it was bad for foreign relations, but because King Vegeta was trying to rally all of the support he could for the looming war against Frieza.
In the end, Vegeta's fury won out, and without thinking, he aimed his index finger at one of the random servants on the side wall and fired. A beam of energy streaked across the room and pierced the servants head like a hot knife through butter. It happened so quickly that the man remained standing for a few seconds while his body processed the fact that his brain was no longer intact, then he fell over.
With his anger appeased, Prince Vegeta slowly and deliberately moved his finger towards Yajirobe, taking careful aim. "My father has requested your assistance. Will you comply? Or do I need to set another example?"
Yajirobe swallowed the lump in his throat. He'd never seen anything like this before. Tall, muscular men who could shoot beams out of their fingers? "You're not human," he asked—more of an accusation than a question.
"No," the tallest of the seven answered. "We're Saiyan warriors, and you've pissed off the prince."
"Nappa," the king warned.
"Will you aid us or not?" Vegeta demanded, his temper flaring again.
A small blue light began to form at the tip of his finger and Yajirobe hurried to answer. "Yes, yes of course we will. Bulma will be here tomorrow. I'm sure she can fix your ship."
One of Vegeta's inky brows arched. "She? You're tasking a woman to repair our ship?"
"Yes. She's the daughter of one of the greatest scientists Earth has ever known. Some say she's smarter than her father. She's coming for our wedding tomorrow."
This caught Vegeta's interest. "You're to be married to this woman?"
"Yes." Yajirobe said. "Sir," he added as an afterthought.
Vegeta lowered his finger, mulling over Yajirobe's words. This new development could work out in their favor. Clearly, this human must have some sort of feelings for the woman if he was tying himself to her so early in life. She could prove to be a useful tool in making sure the job gets done right and in a timely manner. Finally, he said, "If she fails, I will kill her."
Yajirobe bowed. "Sounds fair to me."