Just to let you guys know, this was my second fic I ever wrote so there are some plot holes, and I don't have the time to go back and rewrite so when you get to the end of this fic remember this warning. If you want to read more, the completed version is on ao3 (archive of our own) under the same name, fanfictina18. Thanks and enjoy!

Chapter 2: Friends?

I saw him the next day, but it wasn't in the library like I'd hoped. I saw him again in my dreams. He was smiling down at me, my hand in his, as we walked through a lush forest filled with wild flowers. He wasn't in his black armor and explaining something to me, but I couldn't hear him clearly. Vegeta placed his hands around my face and drew me closer to him, his lips a few inches away from mine.

"Bulma, wake up! It's time for breakfast," Raditz, one of the guards, said from the door of my room.

"Dammit, Raditz. And just when it was getting good," I whispered to myself as I got up and headed to my bathroom.

In the bathroom, clean towels and my dress were waiting for me as I got ready for the day. When I finished and headed for my door, I saw the group was waiting for me to join them. As we walked the halls toward the dining room, I contemplated my dream. Did I dream about Vegeta because I met him the day before? But my dreamed seemed too real… I didn't know what to think.

"He's staring at you again," Chichi whispered next to me as we reached the dining hall.

I turned toward Yamcha to check if she was telling the truth, in which she was. He was always staring thinking none of us would see through him. I sighed.

"Give the guy a chance. He looks kind of pathetic," 18 deadpanned.

"Unlike our bald friend over there," I retorted.

18 looked away with a blush.

"Besides, there aren't enough muscles in his brain to tempt me, even if he has a body of a god."

That got a few chuckles out of the girls.

We chatter about mundane topics over our meal until I saw black in the corner of my eye. I stood up to get a better look, but it disappeared before I could confirm if it was him or not.

"Is everything okay?" Yamcha asked.

"Yeah…" I sat down thinking I must have imagined it. "Hey guys, have you seen anyone wearing all black around here?"

I looked around to see everyone shake their heads no.

As soon as we got to the library for the day, my group walked toward the middle where they would hang out and talk amidst the tables and chairs that were scattered about, but I walked the opposite direction from my group to my hidden nook. When I didn't see Vegeta right away, I walked through several rows of bookshelves to see if he was nearby. He wasn't here. Disappointed, I went to the row I first saw Vegeta and picked out another copy of The Art of War. I walked back to my hidden nook and started rereading a book I had read last week. As a tactician and strategist, this was a great book for, well, the art of war. I could see why he would choose this book. I started to read the first chapter, but I couldn't comprehend anything for he was in my thoughts. Reading was my favorite pastime and yet it couldn't sway my thoughts away from him.

Feeling frustrated, I laid my head on the cushions and shut my eyes to rest for a bit. When I felt a hand on my face, I opened my eyes to see black hair and dark eyes. My heart fluttered until my vision cleared and I saw Yamcha's face. I quickly sat up, surprised he was bent over me.

"How'd you find me?"

"… I followed you…"

"Oh."

"What were you looking for before? You circled around this area a few times before picking out this book," Yamcha asked as he picked up the book to read the title.

"I was just wondering around to see if any book jumped out at me," I quickly lied.

"It any good?"

"It's fascinating. You should read it too."

Yamcha scratched the back of his head with a big grin and chuckle, "Yeah, I think I will."

The motion made his bicep bulge and I couldn't help but admire it. Unfortunately, Yamcha mistook it as flirting.

"Bulma, I've been thinking… about us."

"There's an us?"

"Well, yeah. Goku is with Chichi and 18 finally said yes to a date with Krillin."

"A date? In this place…"

"You know what I mean."

"Uh huh…" I was a little speechless.

"I see the way some of our guards look at you. Especially Raditz."

"Ha! Raditz most likely has a crush on Goku than me by the way he longingly stares at Goku when he thinks we're not paying attention."

"You and me could be good together. You with your brains and me with my…"

"Brawn," I whispered to myself.

"My looks," he stated.

I was shocked he thought he would the good looking one in this so called relationship. Not to say he was ugly, but it was still shocking to hear. Yamcha was nice to look at and any girl would be lucky to have him in a relationship, but I couldn't do it to him when I had someone else on my mind.

Standing up to hug and give him a kiss on the cheek, I thanked him, but declined his offer.

"Still friends?" I asked as I stepped away from his embrace.

"Yep, friends."

"Come on, let's go see what the gang is up to," I said as I tugged on his arm.

He loosely swung his arm around my shoulders as we reached the group, and they all whooped and howled at our approach. "Congratulations!" They all hooted, but were disappointed when we told them we would remain friends. Even if we were imprisoned without knowing the reason why, I couldn't ask for a better group of people to be here with. We support each other no matter what the outcome and we laugh at the stupid things that we do.

I wonder how we all ended up in The Compound…