First Comes Duty, Then Comes Love

Chapter Two

"Bulma! Wake up! It's time to go shopping for your gowns," Chi-Chi shouted as she jumped onto Bulma's bed. Bulma turned to her side to avoid her friend's attempt at waking her. Seeing her shift positions, Chi-Chi headed towards the window and slowly moved the curtains away to let light pour into the room. This change in lighting caused Bulma to finally open her eyes.

"Jeez Chi-Chi, that's bright. Why are you always trying to wake people up?" Bulma asked as she sat up and adjusted her eyes to the new light in the room.

"We need to get an early start today. There's so many planning going on today and I do not want to be in the house while the event coordinator screams at the servants about something being the wrong color," Chi-Chi explained as Bulma and her both giggled at the thought of how the scene would play out.

"Well, you do have a point," Bulma finally answered with a sigh.

After an hour of waiting, Bulma finally emerged into the family room dressed up for the day in a yellow spring dress. Bulma had long, wavy blue hair and fair skin. She was tall and slender and was always reminded of her beauty ever since she was a little girl. There were many men who wanted to date her, but her father always turned them away, telling them to wait until she had reached the right age.

"Are you finally ready?" Chi-Chi spoke with relief as she got up from the couch. She had been waiting for Bulma for the past hour and was just about to rush into Bulma's room to get her out.

"Let's go!" Bulma spoke as they headed out the door.

Since it was a beautiful day out, the two decided to walk to the dress boutique. Bulma wanted some fresh air anyway. She needed time to think about tomorrow. She was finally 18 and had been looking forward to this day ever since she was a little girl. Her father always told her stories of the balls he's attended and Bulma couldn't wait to have hers. It wasn't until recently that Bulma held a different opinion about come out balls. She realized this when she decided that she wasn't ready to be a wife. She just wanted to have fun. No strings attached. She can still follow through with it and fulfill her mother's wish, but she was afraid to be married to someone whom she didn't love. That was the hardest part for her to accept. She felt like she didn't have a choice in the matter. She could always follow through with the tradition and have the ball, but not have any intentions of marrying someone. Perhaps, she can convince her father within the year that she truly has not fallen in love with any of her suitors and can't follow through with marriage. Yes, that's right! Who says I have to fall in love? Father said I have a year to decide. Well, I should just tell him that a year wasn't enough and that I need more time to think. I'm sure he'll understand the situation. This way, I can at least do the ball for mother. Bulma thought as relief started to pour through her.

"EARTH TO BULMA! Are you even listening to me?" Chi-Chi shouted as she waved her hands in front of Bulma, causing her to stop in her tracks.

"Oh yea…err….what were you saying again?" Bulma asked oblivious to what Chi-Chi had been talking about during their walk.

"I said…have you ever heard of the saiyan race?" Chi-Chi asked again hoping to finally get a response from Bulma.

"Yes, I have. My father told me about them when I was a little girl. He says that King Vegeta is the King of all saiyans and moved to Earth after his planet got destroyed all those years ago. Since then, King Vegeta has been an influential saiyan here in our city and no one dares to go against him because of the enormous strength saiyans are rumored to have. No human could ever be as strong. I also heard that they get stronger through continuous training," Bulma replied, not expecting to tell Chi-Chi a lot more than she had intended to say.

"Wow, I didn't know you knew so much about them. I only asked because I heard that Goku is possibly a saiyan as well," Chi-Chi said. "Not that it bothers me or anything, I was just afraid that he might not like me. You know, being an earthling and all."

"Oh, don't be silly Chi-Chi. I personally don't see any differences between a saiyan and a human. As for Goku, I believe he is a saiyan too. My father told me that his family and the Vegeta family are the only existing saiyan families left in this universe. They are both powerful families. King Vegeta runs many businesses, owns many lands, and is highly respected here. He still holds his title as king even though he doesn't have any authority to rule us. With the strength saiyans are supposed to have, I'm surprised he hasn't taken over yet, but I think it's because he's already content with all the riches he has. He might as well be a king though with the way he runs this city. He practically controls half of it with the power he has," Bulma continued as they finally reached the boutique.

"Imagine Bulma how your life will be if you marry Vegeta. He is a prince after all, not to mention hot," Chi-Chi said as she winked at her friend.

"Too bad he doesn't have the best attitude from what I've heard," Bulma replied looking through a rack filled with dresses. "Enough talk about the ball and the men who will be there, let's find me a dress."

"Remember Bulma, you'll need two gowns, not one. There will be two balls," Chi-Chi reminded Bulma as she too looked through the dress racks.

It took awhile before Bulma finally decided on her evening gowns. She made sure to make the last one more dramatic than the first one. The first gown was a nice emerald color that went to her feet and showed every curve of her body. It was a tube top gown with a little bow tied at the back. She grabbed matching heels and a pair of long white gloves to go with the dress. The gown she chose for the last ball was even prettier than the first. It was a rich blue gown that reached her feet as well. Instead of a tube top, it was a sleeveless gown with a low neckline that had ruffles on it. The gown was fitted and had a slit on the right hand side of her leg. Bulma fell in love with the dress as soon as she saw it hanging by the door. She knew that it would be perfect for the last ball. She bought matching heels to go with it and completed her purchase. After an hour or so, Bulma and Chi-Chi were walking out of the boutique.

"Well best friend, I have to say that we did great!" Chi-Chi said excitedly as she pushed the door that led outside open. "I think I'm going to grab some food for us. Do you want to wait here while I go to the diner across the street? I'll be back in a second!"

Bulma watched as Chi-Chi walked off without even waiting for a response. She laughed to herself as she set her gowns down on a bench near the boutique. As she turned around to look out for Chi-Chi, she was taken aback by a sudden push as she fell back onto the bench.

"Hey! Watch it mister!" Bulma yelled out as she got back up from the bench to see who had pushed her.

"Perhaps you need to get out of the way, so you will not accidently get hit," Vegeta spoke. Not bad for an earthling. This one looks nice. He thought as he eyed her up and down.

"Are you checking me out? Who the hell do you think you are?" Bulma spoke as she slapped him across the face. Vegeta didn't flinch. Shocked and angry, Bulma grabbed her gowns and headed towards the diner to get Chi-Chi without even looking back. What a jerk! Bulma thought as she approached her friend.

"Bulma! What do you think you're doing? You just slapped Prince Vegeta in the face!" Chi-Chi spoke softly as she pointed at Vegeta.

"Oh my god, it is him. I guess I wasn't really thinking straight. That jerk pushed me and then did the typical guy thing to do, which was very offending," Bulma replied.

"You should be flattered. He is a lot hotter than I thought. Hide!" Chi-Chi shouted unexpectedly as Bulma and Chi-Chi both walked away from the window.

"Why are we hiding?" Bulma asked as Chi-Chi pointed back to Vegeta again.

"It's Goku!" Chi-Chi replied with a smile.

Bulma watched as Vegeta was joined by another man. After they exchanged greetings, the two stood there for a second as if they were discussing something before turning to look at the diner. Bulma grabbed Chi-Chi and pulled her away from the window. She had noticed Chi-Chi slowly creeping toward the window to get a better look at Goku.

"Do you think they are gone?" Bulma asked as Chi-Chi started to giggle.

"I don't know, let's look!" She suggested as she crept toward the window again to get another peek. "They're gone!"

Trusting her friend's words, Bulma slowly headed toward the window to peek as well. Sure enough, Vegeta and Goku weren't by the bench anymore and were now walking down the street that led away from them.

"I feel like a little girl," Bulma spoke as she finally got up from where she was sitting. Everyone at the diner were giving them weird glances, but went back to their meal after seeing Bulma and Chi-Chi get back up.

"Let's hope we don't act like this tomorrow at the ball!" Chi-Chi replied as they finally got in line to order food.

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"Wait! So, she slapped you after you accidently ran into her?" Goku asked Vegeta with a big grin on his face.

"Shut up, Kakarot! Now come, we need to get our tuxedos for tomorrow," Vegeta responded with a grunt.

"Hahahaha, you got slapped by a girl you don't even know!" Goku continued as he followed Vegeta into the shop, still laughing. "Man, I wish I saw that. If only I was there a second earlier."

How dare she slap me? Does she not know who I am? I am Prince Vegeta. Everyone knows me. Vegeta thought angrily as he grabbed the first tux he saw and headed toward the cashier.

"Hey Vegeta! How does this look?" Goku asked as he held up a tux on him.

"Ridiculous! I'm done, let's go," Vegeta replied as he threw cash onto the counter and headed toward the door.

"But Vegeta…I want to look good. Chi-Chi is going to be there for goodness sake! Can you believe we are going to be there for a week? I really hope Chi-Chi finds me somewhat interesting. I'm so excited!" Goku spoke. "I hope Bulma doesn't get offended because I'm really there for Chi-Chi and not her. Aren't they best friends or something? Um…Vegeta? Where did you go?

Vegeta had walked out the door while Goku was talking and stood in front of the shop, only to see Bulma and Chi-Chi walking out of the diner. Both were eating and laughing.

Who is she? He thought as he continued to stare. I must find out.