A short story, based on theme #1 from 30kisses from LiveJournal. Not an official member though, just saw it as a challenge.
Warning: Alternative Universe: Bulma is dead, killed earlier by Freeza. Vegeta never really met Bulma, but is training at earth nonetheless. Bulma's niece, Kristin, lives with him and her uncle and aunt.
Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of it's characters. Kristin is mine though..
Theme#1 Look at me
'Training, training, always training' she thought, blowing a strand of dark red hair out of her face. All he ever did was train. Well… train, sleep, eat and yell at everybody that would come near him. Kristin huffed impatiently. That good for nothing Saiyan. She still couldn't figure out why her uncle and aunt let him stay here.
Frowning a little bit she looked down at her work, there was still a lot to do. She leaned backwards in her chair, balancing it on two legs. They said something about being friendly and hospitality, but she got the feeling that all their good efforts were being thrown in a bottomless, thankless pit.
"Are you working again, woman? Women aren't supposed to work. All they have to do is cook, clean and carry the offspring of their mate!" A gruff voice behind her said, startling her so much she lost her balance and fell backwards.
"Gah! Vegeta! What are you doing here? Why aren't you training?" she asked angrily, while getting up again quickly. Vegeta simply scowled at her, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"I want your uncle to update the Gravity Room for me, I reached the limits of that stupid machine. Training at this same level is useless and a waste of my time. I demand you tell me where he is so I can continue my training."
Kristin raised her eyebrows at the degrading tone of his voice: "You demand? Well buster, you can demand all you want. I'm not planning on telling you anything until you ask me nicely." The minute she said that, she realized she'd made a mistake. Veins were throbbing in his forehead and his whole face was red. He wasn't too pleased with her little outburst.
"I don't have to ask you anything, you puny human! I am Prince Vegeta, not some worthless human male that might jump at your every whim. Now you are going to tell me where he is or I'll send you to the next dimension!" he growled, flexing his fingers in a threatening way.
Kristing quickly retaliated and smiled a brittle smile: "I'm sorry, I don't know. I'm sorry if I offended you. If you don't mind, I'd rather continue with my work. I suggest you seek out my uncle in his lab."
Vegeta glared at her, not answering. He grunted once and strode off, apparently not lowering himself any further by talking to her.
Kristin sighed and sat down on her chair again, relieved that she'd gotten off so easily. It went like this almost every day. He'd come stomping into the house, demanding something from her. Sometimes she obliged and he would yell at her because she didn't do it good enough to his liking. And sometimes she would refuse. Those times mostly ended in her running away from him lest he would kill her.
It irked her to no end. He simply saw her as a servant, not as a person. Well… she was going to change that, today.
That evening she went to the gravity room, wearing her training outfit. Her long, unruly hair was tied back in a ponytail, preventing it from getting in the way. From the corner of her eye she could see Vegeta sitting in a lawn chair, eating his dinner. But he wasn't paying any attention to her. Pouting a little because the first part of her plan had failed already, she opened the door to the GR. She looked over her shoulder one more time before getting inside the chamber. He still wasn't paying any attention to her or to what she was doing.
Once inside she looked around, observing her surroundings. She bit her lower lip in thought, but quickly disregarded the doubts she had and decided to start her training. Taking a deep breath she started doing a little workout; a few sit-ups, stretching and pushups. But after a little while she got bored, it was obvious that her little plan wasn't going to work. She was trying to impress him, show him that she could fight too. But what was the point if he wasn't even watching? Frowning she turned her attention to a punching bag and hit it one time. Surprisingly, it felt rather good. Smiling absently she punched it again, a little bit harder this time. Then another time, and another, and before she knew it she was venting all her anger at the bag. At one point she even imagined the bag was Vegeta himself.
After a little while she heard someone chuckling behind her. She gave a small yelp and turned around in surprise, seeing Vegeta standing in the door opening smirking at her. "So you're playing little missy tough now, are you? Do you really think you can get strong enough to beat even the weakest warrior on this lousy planet?" he scoffed.
Kristin was at a loss for words, her mouth just kept opening and closing. Vegeta frowned when he didn't get an answer to his insult: "Well little girl, playtime is over. Get out. I want to train."
Finally, Kristin found her voice: "G…get out? What? No! I am training, you just wait your turn!"
"Why are you training? You are a female! You are useless when it comes to battle!" Vegeta snapped, visibly irritated.
Swallowing with some difficulty, Kristin was thinking hard about her answer. 'Well... at least he finally notices you' she thought before she could feel the anger flooding through her body. Who was he to say such things to her? Why would he be any better than her? Well, apart from those muscles and his powerful Ki of course. She took a step forward, poking his chest with her finger: "Now you listen to me, Mister Almighty Saiyan! I could take you on anytime, anywhere! Women are just as good as men when it comes to fighting!"
Fast as lightning he grabbed her finger and pushed her backwards, away from him: "Perhaps some other time I will gladly accept your offer. I'm looking forward to pummeling you into non-existence. But not this time. Now… get out!"
Yanking her finger free from his grip, Kristin drew herself up a little higher and glared at him.
"No... I won't. You get out and wait your turn! I'm sick and tired of being your servant; you can't expect me to come running to your every whim whenever you want me to. I am a human being you know! Perhaps that doesn't mean much to you, but I won't take it anymore! I am going to train until I'm strong enough to beat you so you will finally acknowledge that I am equal to you… No… Until you will acknowledge that I am even better then you!" At this point she was standing on the tip of her toes, hissing every word and looking Vegeta square in the eye.
Not even blinking, Vegeta simply picked her up and slung her over his shoulder: "Now don't you ever tell me I'm not a very sympathetic fellow. It would've much easier for me to simply kill you" he said before dropping her just outside the GR. Kristin fall on the ground, for the second time that day.
For a few seconds, she just sat there… shocked. Then she jumped up again, preventing Vegeta from closing the door of the GR.
"I will not be treated this way!" she growled at him. "Now you are going to get out of that machine and let me finish my training or I will..." she was interrupted by the feeling of his lips pressed against hers.
The moment lasted only a few seconds before Vegeta broke contact, grabbing the opportunity to close the door. Kristin didn't even notice this. Gingerly she brushed her lips with her fingertips, almost pretending she could still feel his lips there. Groggily she shook her head, trying to snap out of it. She glared at the door and mumbled: "Yeah... well... this time you're off the hook easily" before turning around and walking back into the mansion with swaying legs and a dreamy smile on her face.