This is my first Dragonball Z fanfic, so go easy on me. I'm traditionally an Inuyasha fic writer so, I'm hoping I did the right thing by writing this. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.

Yearning

Chapter 1: A longing for power

"Sigh! I wish I could do that..." Bulma leaned against the railing with a look of longing on her face as she watched Vegeta train.

'If only I could attain that kind of power. I may be a genius but what's the use of being able to create anything my mind thinks of if I can get killed so easily.' She turned away from the sight of power and trudged through Capsule Corp to her office.

She sat down in her leather chair and thought for a while on this problem. She always did this when she had a problem that needed solving. It wasn't like she'd be able to do any work today anyways, so she might as well think. Thinking was the only thing she felt she was any good at. Holding a relationship together with Yamcha seemed impossible nowadays, going out appealed less and less to her, and now...now she was just feeling rather useless. Self-pity wasn't something she ever allowed herself to do, but right at this moment she welcomed it. Oh she wouldn't let it pull her down too much, but she actually liked being reminded that she had weaknesses. What didn't kill you only made you stronger right? Well, she was about to prove that the little saying was true entirely. The clock ticked on the wall on the far side of the room. Soon minutes turned into hours and she still didn't know what to do about her problem. Her mind had gone through all possibilities, but they were turned down just as quickly as they were thought up. Bulma was always a stubborn woman and now was no exception. She resolved that she wouldn't leave her office until she thought of the answer to how she could become powerful enough to help her over muscled friends. She always hated feeling weak and every time she saw her friends fight she was reminded of how weak she really was. So she would sit, she would think and she would wait for an answer to finally hit her.

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He snarled as he walked down the hall in search of the woman. Vegeta knew exactly where she was and he would have no delays in having his gravity machine fixed. It was ridiculous how long she had been in her office and knew she wasn't doing anything of importance, at least now in his eyes. He finally stopped in front of her office door and wasted no time in turning the knob and storming into the surprisingly dark room. His eyes found her figure immediately and stopped as he took in her still form. She was sitting perfectly still, hands folded on the desk, with her eyes shut. It looked almost as if she were meditating, which was exactly what she doing in a sense.

"Woman!" He tried, but frowned when he received no answer.

She was definitely concentrating on something if she hadn't heard him yell her name, or at least what her name was in his mind, when he was but a mere few feet away. The image perturbed him as all he could do was stand and stare at her. This was a waste of his time as it was becoming clearer and clearer that he wasn't going to be able to snap her out of her trance. When he meditated nothing could bring him out and he had a feeling that it would be the same deal for her as well. So he left, not bothering to control his temper as he slammed the door. He quickly searched out the old man's ki and headed for it with speed, he had already wasted enough time with the woman. Stopping quickly when he reached the lab, he stormed in. He managed to scare the old man shitless in the process, something he prided himself in. The thought of people still fearing him made him feel power and a little bit of respect, also it just amused him. What would life be like without a little humor in it after all? And humor he loved, only when it was Vegeta style of course.

He wasn't an idiot who laughed at anything such as a certain third class moron he had the displeasure of knowing after all.

"Old man!" He yelled as he snapped out of his thoughts.

"Hello Vegeta. Gravity machine broken again I trust?" Dr. Briefs managed to say as he collected his wits after Vegeta's surprising entrance.

'That boy's gonna scare me into a heart attack one day.' He adjusted his glasses and went to collect his tools.

"Yes it has and I expect it to be fixed quickly, so don't keep me waiting too long old man." Vegeta was about to leave when he suddenly stopped as he remembered the onna's peculiar behavior earlier.

"I went to the woman's office to have her fix it, but she wouldn't move. She just sat there. Does she always meditate like that?" He hated having to speak to this old coot as if he actually gave a shit, but he couldn't help himself.

"Ah, so Bulma's got another problem eh? She does that whenever she's got a problem she can't find the answer to immediately. Once she stayed in that office for two days straight until she thought of the solution to her problem. I wouldn't worry about her, I'm sure she'll figure things out eventually. Now let's go see what the problem with the gravity machine is, shall we?" Dr. Briefs walked out of his lab and made his way to the gravity machine, with Vegeta hot on his trail.

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3 Days later

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Dr. Briefs sat at the kitchen table reading his paper as he sipped coffee from his favorite mug. Mrs. Briefs scurried around the kitchen making breakfast for the irritable prince and her family, well more like just her husband.

"Is Bulma still in her office?" She flipped a pancake over on the pan as Vegeta entered the kitchen at that moment.

"Yes, surprisingly she is. She must be trying to figure out something very important if she's managed to stay in there for three days. I wonder how much longer she'll be in there." He sighed as he folded his paper and set it down as Mrs. Briefs served him his breakfast.

"It's not healthy for her to skip meals. If she doesn't come out of that old office soon then I'm going to go in there and get her to come out." Mrs. Briefs set Vegeta's plate down in front of him and went to serve herself.

She looked sadly at the extra portion that would've been Bulma's, it still would be if she decided to come out of her office. Mrs. Briefs made it in the off chance that her daughter came out of the dark room.

"No dear, you mustn't do that. That girl would have a fit if you broke her train of thought after all of the time and thought she's wasted already. We'll just have to be patient and see what happens. I have faith that she'll figure this out." Dr. Briefs began to eat his meal after sharing his thoughts on the matter.

Vegeta was listening as he shoveled spoon after spoon into his mouth. He was surprised that he actually agreed with Bulma's father on the matter of his daughter. He knew from personal experience that being broken out of meditation could really piss a person off, especially when there was a problem to be solved. That's why he decided not to disturb her anymore after discovering the odd habit she seemed to have formed a long time ago, it was a small form of penance for everything she had done for him. Though he would admit this to no one.

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4:33 AM

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There she sat, seemingly unaware of her surroundings to a casual observer. She wasn't though, she knew exactly what was happening around her. She was mildly surprised when Vegeta stormed into the room, but she had no time to deal with his antics. Even more surprising was the fact that Vegeta seemed to understand what she was doing and left without any more words than a, "Woman!", being yelled. Quickly swerving from those thoughts she continued to mull over the possibilities. Her eyes that had been closed for the past four days now suddenly opened.

"I've got it!" She jumped from the chair and quickly ran into her lab to begin her invention.

She resolved that she wouldn't stop working until she was done with the invention that would set her plan into motion. Hours flew by as she worked non-stop in her secret lab. No one knew of this lab, not even her father. She hoped that a certain saiyan prince wouldn't be able to disturb her. The rumble of her stomach stopped her for a moment, she remedied this by having one of her assistant robots fix her a few sandwiches in the tiny kitchen in the lab. The lab she made a long time ago for times when she wanted to be away from prying eyes was like a small apartment. It consisted of two rooms, one for her lab and the other contained a tiny kitchen, a stall with a toilet and a cot in the corner. She had two assistant robots that stayed in the secret lab that would activate the minute she stepped inside of the small lab and deactivate the moment she left. After she replenished her strength she immediately continued working. There would be no time to waste if she wanted to be strong enough to help in some way with the Androids that were promised to arrive. She doubted she'd be able to actually help with any of the fighting, but she knew she'd be able to help in other ways. Maybe fly somewhere or just ensure that some of her friends didn't die, whatever she could do to help would put her mind at ease.

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Another morning went by as the Briefs, or at least the parents known as the Briefs, and Vegeta sat down to eat breakfast.

"So I guess Bulma is still thinking huh?" Mrs. Briefs served out the meals and seated herself at the table.

"I suppose so since she isn't here." Dr. Briefs ate half-heartedly.

Vegeta ate quickly as he listened to the depressing conversation. It seemed he was the only one that knew the truth. He thought about remaining quiet as he always did, but for some reason he didn't want to. He actually wanted to tell the woman's parents that their daughter wasn't in her office anymore.

"The woman is not in her office anymore." He paused in mid-chew as he stated this piece of knowledge.

The only reason he said anything was because he figured he owed something to them for all of their hospitality, so sharing what little knowledge he had of her whereabouts was at least some small payment. That was what he told himself anyways, if he were really being honest about things than he would have admitted to himself that he was actually worried about the onna. Sure, he could go for days and days without food, but he knew that humans were far more fragile. He knew she was still on the compound, he just couldn't figure out where. It was if she had just disappeared into thin air. He had looked everywhere this morning and found nothing, though he would never tell the woman's parents about his private search for her.

"She isn't? Then where is she? How come she's not here right now eating with us? Do you know where she is Vegeta?" Mrs. Briefs asked all at once.

Vegeta tried to stay calm as he listened to all the questions that he himself had wondered. Where is she? Where? That was the question that seemed to be on everyone's mind wasn't it. Well it would be a cold day in the HFIL before he admitted that, so he just opted to answer in his normal manner.

"Do you really think I care woman?" He snapped and than continued to eat his breakfast.

Once he finished he quickly left the kitchen without so much a parting glance and set about the task of locating the blue haired onna. He was a very curious man by nature, maybe even as nosy as Kakarot if he dared tell the truth, of course he wouldn't. So he just concluded that he had to find her and make sure she was okay in return for her hospitality. He quickly flew to the source of her ki as he had earlier that morning and ended up being just as frustrated as he had that morning when the search had ended. Where the fuck is she! That's what he wanted to know. He had gone inside, searched every room close to where he felt her ki, and the surrounding areas outside and still no trace of the woman.

"Dammit! Where is she! How can I feel her ki and not be able to locate her." He snarled in anger at his own incompetence.

She could be hurt somewhere, no scratch that. She probably was hurt somewhere since the ki hadn't seemed to have moved at all since his last search. When was the last time he sensed her ki move anyways? He thought for a moment. 4:33 am, that's when. He had sensed her ki leave the office at that time and settle in this area and that was the last time he felt it move. Dread filled him for a moment. Had she gotten in an accident that morning. Was she unconscious somewhere around here and he just couldn't find her because she was in a spot that he hadn't seen her in? Quickly scanning every room, leaving nothing unturned, he deduced that her being injured was not the case. Besides wouldn't he have felt it if that were the case? His eyes widened in realization. All this time he had been trying to find her, he just now realized it was because she didn't want to be found. She was hiding. Perhaps this problem she was trying to solve for the past four days was bigger than they had all originally thought. Or at least it looked that way to the onna. He snorted.

"What problem could she possibly have to worry about? A broken nail? Ha!" He turned and left, angry at himself for becoming so involved in the woman's life.

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Bulma was almost done, she could feel it. Any minute now she would figure this out. And she was right.

"Yes! Ha haa! I did it!" She jumped up from her seat and did a little football touchdown dance.

She stopped and looked at the clock, it was two in the afternoon.

"Perfect, now I can call Chi chi." She walked over to the phone she had in her lab and dialed the Son residence.

The line rung a few times until a soft spoken voice picked up. It was Chi chi.

"Hello Chi chi. Listen I have to ask you something."

Okay, what is it you want to ask me?

"If you had the opportunity to become stronger would you?" Bulma held her breath unknowingly as she awaited the answer.

Well...I've always dreamed of being able to continue my training, but I've always been too busy to do so ever since I married.

"What if I said that I could help you fulfill that dream?" Bulma smirked.

I would have to say where do I sign up? Bulma could practically see the smirk on the woman's face.

"Well, come over to Capsule Corp tomorrow and I'll fill you in on all the details. Now...you do realize that you'll have to leave your family for quite awhile, don't you?"

Yes. Exactly how long are we talking about though, just so we're clear on things?

"I'm not entirely sure on that, but I'm sure that we're talking months here. In fact if you agree then we can leave tomorrow."

What about my family? What do I tell them?

"Tell them that you and I are going on a vacation together, that's what I'll be telling my family."

Hm...okay! I'm in! I'm tired of Goku running off all of the time and taking Gohan with him. And I'm tired of feeling so useless around my two strong boys.

"Yeah, I know what you mean. So, pack your bags and meet me here tomorrow at 10 am. It's time for us to become just as powerful as any other Earthling can. I mean Krillin and Yamcha aren't the only Earthlings that can be powerful, we can too!"

Definitely! See you tomorrow.

"See 'ya!"

And with that the odd conversation that would alter these two women's lives forever ended.

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So... what did you think? I hope it's okay and that it's got you hooked. If you've been ensnared by this story then review and let me know! Till next time!