Okay. I decided, after MUCH deliberation... to write a B/V story. What have I got to lose? If no one likes it, I'll delete it. If everyone loves it, I'll finish it. So, for the time being, I'm thinking of making it just in the 'unknown' 3 years before the Androids appear. If it's successful, maybe I'll continue it. Who knows? A few things YOU GUYS should know:

-I am NOT anti-Yamcha in any way, shape, or form. I think it's kind of amusing to poke fun at him, but if you're looking for a Yamcha-bashing fic, you've come to the wrong place.

-Future Trunks said Vegeta and Bulma came together and conceived Trunks out of passion and loneliness. Since I'm writing an IN CHARACTER fic, that's how it will be. Obviously they WILL fall in love- but please don't flame because it doesn't happen right away! Love grows (and what kinda story doesn't have love in it, anyway? I'd be stupid if I didn't end up putting it in, but I want it to be believable!)

-Though 'Bonding' was never actually mentioned in the series, I believe it is legit. Remember when Videl could 'feel' that Gohan was still alive somewhere, when no one else believed he was? Or when Bulma 'knew' Vegeta had died? I'll somewhat include it in this story, but it won't play a major role.

Okay, that's it. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Sadly, not mine. If it was, I would have been drawing up THIS story instead of GT. (Whoops! How did THAT slip out...? HAH!.)

"Servant Woman!"

Yes. In her mind, Bulma imagined that phrase capitalized, because apparently it was her new name. According to an insufferable 'prince', anyway. She turned to face the person- though the term 'person' was used loosely, seeing as how he was actually a space alien- and sighed. "What is it now, Vegeta?"

"What have you just placed in front of me?"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "They're pancakes, your highness, and don't even think about insulting me, because they're a pre-made box mix that all I did was add water to."

"It tastes like strange bread."

"Well, jeez! Add some butter or maple syrup, I don't know! You may or may not have realized that I already have too much on my To-Do list, and you constantly destroying the Gravity Room and eating my entire kitchen on a regular basis isn't exactly helping things along." He glared at her as he picked at his breakfast, unimpressed by her outburst. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going out. Your breakfast is done, the GR is up and running for the time being, and your training gear is clean and in your room. I'll be back by lunch."

"Why you willingly spend time with that buffoon of yours continues to astound me. You do realize that he is a pathetic, even for a human? And that's saying something."

Coming from him? Didn't she know it. "You know what Vegeta? At least I spend time with people. I know, I know. It's CRAZY that I have more fun hanging out my friends- including Yamcha- than beating up robots, but I honestly couldn't give a crap about your opinion. So leave me alone and eat your now-cold pancakes." It had been a serious mistake, inviting him to live with her. All he did was bitch and moan about how the Gravity Room wasn't strong enough, and when she finally upgraded it, it would just collapse on top of him and he would yell that it was badly made (when really, he just couldn't handle 300X gravity at the moment.)

"Hmph."

Well, that was sure a foreign noise coming from him. She gave him a good stare down before grabbing her bag and sunglasses and heading for the front door; she still locked it, because even with a Saiyan room mate inside, he would probably think a burglar wasn't worthy enough to be beaten up by royalty like him.

"Bulma!" She heard a familiar voice call from a convertible in her driveway. "I was just about to come inside! Come on, we're heading over to Goku's!" Good old Yamcha. She was always able to fall back on him.

But that was just the thing... she knew she could always come back to him. He wasn't new, or exciting, or someone she looked forward to being with forever. He was her on-again, off-again boyfriend that she would never be passionate about or fall head-over-heels in love with. He was an amazing person with a big heart and a cute smile that she'd spent many years with (and lost her virginity to- but that wasn't the point), but lately she was realizing that it was time to stop acting like a teenaged girl and time to start planning her life and acting like an adult. For Kami's sake, Goku was already happily married to his childhood sweetheart and had a son that was practically a teenager already! Little Goku, who had always been like her kid brother, was farther ahead than her. Bulma wanted a husband that would tell her he loved her and her own little blue-haired babies that ran around the house.

Yamcha wouldn't give her that. Hell, Yamcha was more immature than any of the Z fighters (though not as naive, thank god) combined. He wasn't ready to get married and settle down- he was still checking out 20 year old girls when they hung out, somewhat harmlessly flirting with women at clubs. She knew Yamcha would never actually cheat on her if they were together at that point in time, but she also knew he was a little fickle. He was no more in love with her than she was with him.

But she had to admit, was a great friend and was always able to make her laugh, so she jumped in the car and sang along to bad pop songs on their way to Goku and Chi Chi's place for breakfast.

..Z..

"So... how are things with you and Prince 'Charming'?" Chi Chi asked sarcastically, winking and nudging her in the side.

"Ugh. Vegeta's a pain in the ass. He yells at me, I yell back, he demands things, I call him an ungrateful bastard, he trains, I fume silently. The usual."

Chi Chi laughed. "The usual. If you ever need a place to stay, I hope you know the guest bedroom is always open. Think of it as your Anti-Vegeta sanctuary... that is, when he's not here fighting with my husband. Then we can go to your house for a ladies' night, and maybe I could teach you how to cook for a Saiyan!"

"Hah. Yeah, maybe he won't yell at me quite so much if I make something that doesn't taste like rocks." She scrubbed hard at a plate that had probably been clean for five minutes now.

"Well... I would say you don't have to put up with the annoying, beastly, obnoxious murderer for much longer, but I've always thought that 3 years seems like a long GOKU GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF THAT POT ROAST! That is your DINNER!"

"Sorry, Chi," she heard an innocent voice say sheepishly. "It just smells so good-"

"Well, between you, Gohan, Yamcha, and Krillin, I think you've eaten enough to feed all of West City for a year just for breakfast. Now, go help Gohan with his Studies for half an hour, then you have to fly him over to the dentist. I've already made the appointment and paid, so you just have to sit in the waiting room for a while. I've put some clothes out for you to wear, which is hanging in our closet. Gohan's is laying on his bed. Please remind him not to mess it up, because I just ironed it this morning. Lunch will be ready when you get back, so please don't buy Gohan any sugar afterward. Now, shoo! I'm talking to Bulma!"

Bulma blinked at her name. She had been so absorbed... it was eleven in the morning, and Chi Chi had already made up and ironed outfits for her husband and son, cooked breakfast, and set up an appointment for Gohan. She was planning on having lunch ready in an hour. Was being a wife and mother this time consuming? Goku had walked away looking disappointed, which just made her want to shake her long-time friend by his neck. Do you know how much this woman is doing for you? And not only don't you thank her, you actually are upset that you have to do one small thing today. You are almost as ungrateful as Vegeta!

Of course, she didn't say any of that. She just watched as Goku ruffled his son's hair and walked upstairs with him to do his homework. Chi Chi put away the last plate and stirred whatever what in the slow-cooker; pot roast, apparently.

Then, she followed her best friend around as she swept, vacuumed, and hollered for Goku to get moving for Gohan's dentist appointment. Then she walked upstairs to pick up her boys' discarded training gi's and throw their sheets in the wash. Then she started making lunch. Of course, they chatted throughout all this. Bulma wasn't just staring at Chi Chi for 40 minutes. But she noticed all of the things she did to keep her household in order while they were discussing the goings-on in their lives.

With a sigh, Bulma looked a the clock. 11:40. Time to get home and make lunch for her houseguest.

"I'd better head out," she mumbled, definitely not looking forward to what was waiting for her at home. "Yamcha! Time to go!"

Yamcha said his good-byes to Krillin, picked up his set of keys, and took Bulma's hand. With a final wave to her friends, they headed out to the car in the driveway and started the ride back to Capsule Corporation.

"Yamcha? Can we talk?" Bulma asked suddenly, after fifteen minutes of comfortable silence.

"Uh, sure. What's up?"

Bulma looked at the familiar scarred face, his dark eyes, the hair he'd finally cut. She took a deep breath. "I don't think... that... that..." She started over. "I don't know if we're technically together right now or not, but all of this breaking up and playing around... it's getting tiring."

Yamcha looked away from the road for a moment to smile sadly at her. "Haven't we been through this before?"

"Y-yeah, but..." she closed her eyes. "I want it over for real. Not like every other time I've said that and I've been throwing vases against walls and screaming at the top of my lungs. I'm going to be calm and adult about this." Her eyes opened, and when she spoke again, the words rang with finality. "It's time for us to go our separate ways."

He nodded slowly. "You really don't want to be with me anymore?" He whispered.

She looked down at their still entwined hands, and gently disentangled herself. "Not in that way. You're still one of my very closest friends, but I think we want different things now."

He pulled up to C.C. "So is this good bye, then?"

She laughed. "Of course not! Didn't I say that you were one of my best friends? We're still going to hang out and have fun."

"So, just like we've always acted together without the sex?"

She punched him in the arm. "Shut up. This is exactly why I'm breaking up with you!"

He laughed and kissed her on the cheek. "I know. I'm kidding. Relax. Now, go tend to his majesty before he blasts us out of the driveway; he knows we're here, and he's waiting for his food."

"Oh, the joys of being a maid."

"It's only for a week. Your parents are coming home next Sunday, and then Bunny will start hitting on him and making giant meals like she has been for the past four months."

She let out her breath. "Yeah, I know. Well, I'd better get in. See you around."

The house was quiet, the only noise the whirring of the GR outside. As soon as she opened the back door, the humming ceased, and Vegeta came walking out in all his sweaty glory. "Woman!" he barked. "What time is lunch to you humans? I was under the misinterpretation that it was twelve o'clock. It's at least ten minutes after that."

"Ooooh, ten minutes. That just won't do, will it? We wouldn't want the prince of all- how many are there, three? Saiyans to starve, would we? Goku and Gohan just wouldn't survive with you being so incredibly famished-"

"That will be quite enough, woman," Vegeta quipped.

"Don't you tell me when it's enough. I make your food and pay for everything you have here; I can say what I want."

"Well, I'd hardly call what you give me to eat food."

"Oh, really? That's a load off my shoulders. If you dislike my cooking so much, you can just make your own!"

"I could do that. Or I could just blast you into the next dimension. Take your pick," he sneered.

"You are the most annoying, pigheaded, arrogant, proud, asshole I've ever met in my life!" She shrieked.

"Why, thank you. Now get started on my meal."

"You little-" she muttered as she threw a frying pan in his general direction.

"Don't start fights you cannot win, human. Now," he gestured to a pile of ashes on the floor that used to be the frying pan, "you're going to have to find a new cooking device to make me food."

"Fine! I'll feed you if you shut the hell up and get out of the kitchen. How does that sound?"

"Forcing me not to be around you? That's hitting two birds with one stone. Lunch, and a few minutes of peace. Maybe this planet isn't quite so bad." And with that remark, he left to go get a half hour of extra training in.

"I'm going to make it bad, just you wait," she murmured as she grabbed a giant bag of hot peppers and six cans of beans. "You're eating mexican today. Can you do all your stupid training on the toilet?"

..Z..

"Oh, Veggie! Lunch time! We're eating enchiladas today," she called out the back window. Before she could blink, he was holding a plate and scooping steaming tortillas onto it.

"It's burning my tongue!" He yelled as he stuffed three into his mouth at once. "What is this garbage?"

"Oh, that's just the temperature that's doing that, silly! They just came out of the oven!" She turned around and grinned evilly to help herself to two not so spicy wraps that didn't have sixty million pounds of hot pepper and half as many beans. They were silent, the only sounds coming from Vegeta scarfing his lunch down.

"Woman, I've been eating for ten minutes and my tongue still feels as though it is engulfed in flames. What did you put in this?"

"Oh, the regular stuff. Red pepper, banana pepper, jalapeno, beans, beans, and more beans."

"Beans? I refuse to eat anything with such a ridiculous name!"

"Well, it's a little late for that. Finish up and go train. Your muscles are looking a little wimpy." She frowned at him.

"What? Don't ever suggest something so ridiculous again, or you will pay!"

"Oh, well that's fine. I have millions of Zenny, I should be able to cover it."

"You earthlings and your pathetic currency! A few pieces of paper or a square piece of plastic is worth practically anything."

"We got over the barter system a couple hundred years ago for a reason, Vegeta. Now hurry. It's almost one o'clock, and you still want to tone up those arms, don't you? Get a move on!"

He huffed. "You distracted me earlier with your incessant chatter, woman, but I was serious about what I said. Watch what you say."

Bulma pulled a serious face and saluted the man in front of her. "I'll be on my guard, sir."

Vegeta yelled out something unintelligible; neither of them really knew what it was, other than an exasperated outburst. He huffed. "I don't know why I shouldn't just blast you now! Your father can fix the GR and your stupid mother can feed me, so I hope you realize that when they come back, I won't be so lenient with what I let you do."

"What you let me do? Oh, wow. Get outside, Vegeta." She turned on her heel to dump their dishes into the sink and stick a couple chickens in the oven for the prince's afternoon snack.

All she heard was a door slam and then the Gravity Room start up, so she knew that he was out of her hair for a few hours. She decided to take a bath.

Going into the laundry room, she pulled out a giant fluffy towel and her robe, along with a hair elastic she found on top of the dryer. Dumping her clothes into the washing machine and starting a load, she slipped into her housecoat and jogged upstairs to her bathroom.

Filling the tub up with pink, soapy bubbles and lighting a few candles, Bulma tied her hair up on top of her head, letting a few strands inevitably fall around her shoulders. Since getting her perm undone- or rather, chemically straightening it OVER the perm (hair is a funny thing)- the haircut she'd had before that looked good curly didn't look so good straight, and Jean-Claude, the only hairdresser on earth she trusted- was on holidays for a year, only coming back next month. Hence the terrible perm she'd had; NEVER go to another hairdresser other than the one you know.

BEEP... BEEP... BEEP-

"What the hell?" Bulma muttered to herself after lying in there for Dende knows how long. "It sounds like the oven... OH!" The chicken! Afternoon snack! Right!

Pulling on her robe, she dashed downstairs to grab the chicken-

-and bumped right into a perfectly sculpted, bare, sweaty chest.

Gulp.

"Um... I was just... chicken... oven... timer... snack..." Bulma found it hard to form a coherent sentence while she was so close to the intimidating, albeit unnaturally good looking, man.

He grunted, and as she backed away, she saw him look up and down her body a second too long before going around and up the stairs- to his room, presumably, though she didn't know why. Not that she was going to ask- Vegeta and her didn't have many conversations, and she didn't care much, anyway.

It wasn't until she saw herself in the reflection of the chrome on the fridge did she understand why Vegeta gave her (or her body, but whatever) an actual nanosecond of his undivided attention. Her short red silk robe was barely tied around her hips, showing so much cleavage one of her... er, nipples was almost showing and a sleeve was falling off one shoulder altogether. Since she hadn't dried her body off before throwing it on, the material clung to every curve. Though the damage was already done, she still pulled the robe tighter around herself and fastened the belt more securely.

She bent over to get the chicken out (after turning off the crazy annoying beeping, of course) and heard a very, very, slight gasp from behind her. In fact, it was so quiet she wasn't even sure she heard anything, but she turned anyway. Only to see that stupid spiky haired man brush past her to get back outside. He now had a shirt on- probably the reason for going to his room in the first place.

Well, damn! She couldn't adjust the length of her robe. It's not like it was so short her butt was sticking out, or anything... well, it kind of was. It was a gift from Yamcha; what was she supposed to do, throw away a beautiful silk robe because her ex wasn't going to see it on her anymore? Hell no.

Whatever. He probably didn't even see her, and she was just blowing the whole thing out of proportion. She was just over-analyzing everything because she was feeling weird over her break up.

Thinking the chicken needed a little longer, she put it back in the oven and jogged back upstairs to hop into her bath to think more about the events of the day.

So, maybe she was the one to end things with Yamcha. It didn't mean she was completely, 100 percent FINE with it. He was her safety blanket, and not having someone you know will always take you back was... strange? She closed one chapter of her life, and was starting another. What would happen? Her thoughts drifted to perfect, loving guys she could end up with. Maybe a blond! He would be tanned, and not threatened by her genius. He would always wear jeans, unlike most of the men she hung out with. He probably wouldn't be a fighter, because really, he would just embarrass himself if he introduced himself as a UFC dude or whatever. He would be smart, though, and a great dad. Maybe a stay-at-home dad that took care of all the kids while she went to work, and was kind to her and wouldn't make fun of her for getting a bad haircut, like Vegeta did, and-

Oh, Crap. Vegeta. What would Vegeta say if she brought a man home? Not that she cared what the stupid Saiyan thought of her, but would he scare off her boyfriend? Make him think she lived in a psycho ward with some buff guy who threatened to blast people into the next dimension on a regular basis? He would ruin everything!

And even though three years didn't seem too long for some women to start a family, it was long to her. She didn't want to wait until after the androids came and were defeated. Who knew how long that would take? Weeks, months, years? It's not like she could start a relationship while her friends were out in a fight to the death battle. She would have to wait until AFTER that, and by then...

No. She looked good for her age, sure, but she wasn't getting any younger.

One thing she was certain of. She would find a guy who was cute, sensitive, respectful, great with kids, and not afraid to show his feelings.

She wouldn't settle for anything less.

A/N. So, admit it. You're laughing, right? You're not a true DBZ fan if you don't think what Bulma just said was the stupidest thing ever. Poor her, huh? You know what would probably make her feel better? Reviews!

So the big question... do you think Vegeta was really gasping at Bulma's buns-o-steel, or did he simply let out a breath? You decide- it could change the whole story! (Because either way, next chapter, she's gonna confront him- and either our boy Veggie's going to be in serious denial, or Bulma will look like the biggest idiot of all time.)

Oh, and something else. When Bulma meets a potential guy, what characteristics do you want him to have? What conversations do you want Vegeta to have with him to make him feel awkward, scared, disturbed, or a combination of the three? It's your choice here, people!

Review, Review, Review!

P.S.- By the way, most of the next chapter will be Vegeta in the bathroom, talking to Bulma through the door. Just wanted to let you know in advance.