Chapter Three: Trust
A/N: Ah, once again I thank everyone for the reviews and support you guys have shown this story! Not just on here, but on Ao3 and Tumblr as well :D I think this is my favorite story I've ever written, and I think I'm really starting to improve on my writing skills and characterizations :)) well, here is chapter three, I hope you guys enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters. Blah blah blah.
Vegeta pulled himself out of the piles of rubble on top of him, not even daring to look over at his now-living rival beside him. He had thought that being granted his body back to help in the fight with Buu would be a thrilling challenge, but seeing Kakarot alive and begging for help had ruined everything. He was made aware during his time in the afterlife of how Kakarot had the ability to go Super Saiyan 3 and had hid it from him during their previous fight. He was incredibly repulsed by how his fellow full-blooded Saiyan duped him like that, giving him false hope that he could have beaten him. He had obviously never been too fond of the fool in the first place, but now his grudge he harbored towards him was much deeper than before. Kakarot had been blabbering constantly since he had first arrived about fusing with some stupid earrings, but Vegeta refused to do such a thing, especially with him. This new Super Buu was even stronger than the last time he had fought him, but he refused to team up with Kakarot. And nothing would change his mind. Nothing.
"Look, if we don't do something soon we'll be history along with this whole planet," Goku stated, breaking Vegeta out of his thoughts.
"Why do I care?!" Vegeta barked.
"Wake up! Majin Buu's eaten everyone we care about! Everyone is gone. . . even Bulma!"
Vegeta felt as though he was being stabbed a thousand times over as he processed Kakarot's words. He already knew that his sacrifice against Buu wasn't enough to stop that fucking monster, but he was hoping that she had still been kept safe since his death. And now, he had to find out that the woman. . .his woman had been killed by Buu. He couldn't even bare to make eye contact with Kakarot as he lowered his head and clenched his fist so tightly that he nearly drew blood. He was so enraged that he began to shake, barely able to suppress his yearning to rip Buu limb from limb. How dare that pink piece of shit kill his mate like that! Vegeta had long ago accepted his dark, miserable fate in the afterlife, but he just could not stomach the fact that Bulma was now dead. It made him physically ill to even imagine it. He didn't care if he stayed dead for all eternity, but he wanted nothing more than for Bulma to live a full, long life; she didn't do anything to deserve the fate she had suffered at the hands of Buu. She was a vulgar, coarse woman, but compared to him she was a saint.
Kakarot was going on with a speech of sorts, but Vegeta tuned him out as all he could do was think of Bulma, the only person that had ever been brave enough to get to know him. And he hadn't made it easy on her by any means, but she never gave up on him. She saw something in him that no one else bothered to see, and no matter how many times he treated her like shit, she stayed with him. He used to think she was so stupid to do such a thing, that she was just wasting her time. But she was just as stubborn as he was, and she never stopped her quest to be the one that got through to him, to make him see life with a new outlook. And she had succeeded; his sacrifice had been proof of that. A human woman, with no physical strength of any kind, had been the one to change him. His mind then wandered back to the first time he realized she was changing him, a few years back.
*flashback to three years prior*
"Vegeta, darling! It's so nice to see your handsome face!"
Vegeta barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he entered the kitchen and was greeted by Mrs. Briefs, that same oblivious look plastered on her face like always. God, she was the most irritating being that he had ever come in contact with. He felt as though he was losing brain cells just standing near her. He had spent the whole day training in the GR, and all he wanted to do was eat; he wasn't in the mood to listen to that high-pitched voice of hers.
"There better be food ready," he growled in a low voice as he grabbed a bottle of water out of the fridge.
As usual, Mrs. Briefs brushed off the harsh tone of his voice and smiled as she pointed to the kitchen table across the room. "Of course there is, sweetie! I have it all ready for you! Trunks and his precious little friend are eating now, too!"
'Precious little friend'? Oh, for fuck's sake that meant THAT brat was here.
Vegeta walked over to the table, where he was greeted by his son with a smile, and beside Trunks was Goten, who was practically sucking on a steak bone. Vegeta felt like gagging just staring at the child. He was the spitting image of Kakarot, and equally as annoying to boot. He wasn't too thrilled about his son being close with the boy, but the woman insisted upon it, since the two half-Saiyans were only a year apart in age. Goten noticed Vegeta's glare and merely smiled at him, not seeming to understand how deep the older Saiyan's disdain for him ran. Vegeta rolled his eyes and sat down across from the boys and began to eat his food, attempting to block out the gibberish Goten and Trunks were speaking as they rambled on about Pokémon.
Vegeta then looked around and noticed one person missing from the table. "Boy, where is your mother?"
Trunks took a large sip of his root beer before answering. "She took her dinner to her lab. She's working on something important apparently."
Vegeta shook his head. That blasted woman; she was too much of a workaholic. And now he was left alone with these two brats. She better not be locked away in that lab of hers much longer because he was in no mood to deal with them.
"HEY! No fair, Trunks, you ate my last piece of bread!" Goten squealed, shoving his best friend in the shoulder as the lavender-haired boy chomped down on the roll.
Trunks laughed with his mouth full, spitting out chunks of food everywhere, much to Vegeta's revulsion. "It's not my fault you were too slow to catch me!"
Goten stared down dejectedly at his now-empty plate, his heart breaking in two at the lack of food. He then looked across the table at Vegeta, who was too absorbed with his eating to pay attention to anything else. An idea then came into Goten's mind and an impish grin appeared on his face as he began to stretch out of his hand.
Trunks' azure eyes grew double in size as he realized what his friend was doing. "Goten, noooooooooo!"
Before he could stop him, Goten grabbed a piece of bread from Vegeta's plate and shoved it into his mouth. Trunks gasped in horror as his father halted his feeding frenzy and directed the evilest of glares at Goten. He knew that one thing you never, ever messed with was his father's food; that was suicide. "It was nice knowing you, Goten," Trunks whispered to his friend, placing a hand on his shoulder.
Goten slowly glanced up at Vegeta, who looked 100 times angrier than usual. He was only four-years-old; surely Vegeta wouldn't be that mad, right?
"YOU BRAT!"
Goten could only release a shriek of terror as he buried his face into his palms.
"You have some nerve to come into MY house and take food off of my plate! I swear you are just as heedless as that idiot father of yours was! And-"
"VEGETA!"
Everyone turned around to see Bulma enter the room, her hands placed on her hips as she glowered at Vegeta. "Vegeta, you need to chill out! Are you really going to yell at a little kid like that all because he ate one piece of your food?! You need to get over yourself; you have plenty left on your plate."
Vegeta scowled at the turquoise-haired woman. "He's a disrespectful little sh-"
"Goten," Bulma cut Vegeta off before he could say THAT word in front of the kids. Heaven knew Trunks didn't need to learn yet another cuss word from his father. "You are sorry for what you did, right?"
Goten nodded his head rapidly, tears welling up in his eyes.
"See, Vegeta, he's sorry. Now everything's resolved!"
"Resolved? You-"
"You'll have to excuse Vegeta's outburst," Bulma said to Goten, once again cutting Vegeta off, which was beginning to make him even angrier, "he's just a grumpy little man."
Bulma held in a snicker as Vegeta looked as though he was about to flip the table over in anger. Nothing brought her more satisfaction than irritating the shit out of him. He was just too easy to mess with; he took everything way too seriously.
"I am sorry, Mr. Vegeta. I'll NEVER do it again!" Goten apologized, bowing his head with his tiny hands clasped together.
Vegeta simply tossed him another glare and mumbled something under his breath as he went back to his last few bites of food. Bulma shook her head and turned to the two boys with a grin. "Come on, you two. I think it's time you guys get ready for bed."
The two boys nodded in response, and Goten couldn't help but toss a nervous glance over his shoulder at Vegeta before exiting the room. Bulma ushered them up the stairs and ignored the glare that Vegeta was giving her; she would deal with his prissy attitude later. First, she had to make sure the two boys brushed their teeth and that Goten had his sleeping bag set up. She knew that the two young half-Saiyans would more than likely stay up the whole night, just like they always did, but hopefully they wouldn't cause TOO much trouble. Or maybe that was just wishful thinking on her part. Especially since the last time Goten had stayed the night the two of them ended up shattering Trunks' bedroom window while sparring at 1 AM.
Vegeta waited until the three of them disappeared from the top of the stairs and then slammed his fork down next to his plate as he took the last bite of his food. He really couldn't stand that damn insolent little brat, and the way that the woman had taken up for him like that made him sick. She was the reason Trunks was so spoiled because she never disciplined him or his little shit-head friend. She let them off the hook too easily every time they misbehaved. He couldn't stand Kakarot's harpy, but at least she put her half-breed sons in their place and would even do the same to Trunks if he was visiting them. Bulma was just too lenient, so if Trunks was ever disrespectful or misbehaved he would have to be the one to discipline their son and give him a good ass beating if needed.
Vegeta pushed himself up from the table and made his way up to the bedroom that he now shared with Bulma. This sleeping arrangement had only been going on for the last few months, and Bulma had practically harassed him to do so. He didn't know exactly how to describe their relationship, though he did admit that they were a couple now. It was, however, much more serious for her than it was for him. He had grown more tolerable of her since he had first come to live with her and didn't find her presence AS annoying as he used to. Still, he wasn't a sap like Kakarot and refused to fall into the trap of developing feelings and attachments. Bulma seemed to understand that, too, so she didn't put pressure on him to be something he wasn't, which he was grateful for. She was an independent woman who didn't cling to him at all times, so being with her wasn't completely awful, and sharing a bedroom with her did make certain activities a lot easier to partake in.
He opened the door to the room, shaking his head at the piles of clothes on the floor, all of which belonged to the woman. She couldn't ever make her mind up about what garment of clothing she was going to wear any given day, and instead of putting things back where they belonged she would just toss them on the floor. He couldn't stand what a total slob she was. He kicked a pair of her shorts out of the way as he walked over to his side of the bed, stripping down to his boxers before lying down. The plushness of the mattress alleviated his sore muscles; the strain of working out in 500 times gravity for ten straight hours had really exhausted him. But he didn't care; he would continue to push himself. The rest of Kakarot's gang of fools were all getting too relaxed in this time of peace, but he knew better. While there was no present danger, and may not even be one for a few years, it was better to be prepared just in case. He would just have to be the victor next time an enemy appeared, seeing as how the others would get their lazy asses handed to them. He couldn't help but smirk at such a thought.
"There you are, mister!"
Vegeta lifted his head slightly to see Bulma enter the room, an agitated look on her face. "What is it that you want, woman?" he asked as he rested his head back down on his pillow, closing his eyes momentarily as he braced for the argument that was sure to rear its head shortly judging by her heated expression.
"What the hell was your problem earlier?! Goten is only four-years-old; he doesn't know any better!"
"That's the problem: he SHOULD know better. He's just like his idiot dolt of a father in every way. And then you have the audacity to let the little brat get away with it so easily."
"Goddammit, Vegeta why do you have to be so uptight about every single thing?!" she snarled, walking over to his side of the bed and hovering over him. "It wasn't that major; he took one fucking piece of food off of your plate. I don't see the need to punish a kid that's not even mine for something that minor."
"It would do that brat and Trunks some good if they were disciplined every once in a while. You're letting Trunks think that he can behave however he wants to because of the way you act so nonchalant about things," Vegeta glared as he peered up at her, crossing his arms over his bare chest.
Bulma snorted and tossed her medium-length hair over her shoulder. "I don't think I'm that 'nonchalant' of a person, and you should especially know that. If Trunks does something truly bad, then you bet your ass I'm going to give him a good talking to. But having his friend that's only a year younger than him steal food off of a grown-ass man's plate hardly qualifies as bad behavior. You are right about Goten and Goku being alike; they are both naive and completely oblivious to their surroundings. I guarantee you that Goten had no idea that what he was doing was that big of a deal so just drop it. You're acting like a big baby."
-BOOM-BOOM-BOOM-
"TRUNKS!" Bulma screeched loud enough for everyone in the entire house to hear. She knew that her son had to be the culprit behind whatever that deafening noise was.
A knock was then heard at the bedroom door and Bulma went to open it, finding Goten and Trunks staring up at her with guilty faces. "Heyyyyy, Mom," Trunks forced a grin, a hand placed behind his head.
"What the heck was all that racket?!" she quizzed, her eyes narrowing threateningly at the two boys.
Goten and Trunks exchanged fretful glances momentarily and then gawked back up at Bulma with sweat dripping down their foreheads. "Uh, you see it's kind of funny," Trunks began with a nervous laugh, "Goten and I were trying to watch a movie in my room, and well, my TV stopped working suddenly. . .and. . ."
"Trunks got really mad and blew it up," Goten blurted out, earning a hard nudge in the rib from his best friend.
Such a Vegeta thing to do, Bulma mused to herself. Trunks was starting to pick up on Vegeta's bad temper habits. And Vegeta was making her out to be the bad parent?! "Trunks, it seems you're imitating bad behavior from somebodyyyyy," Bulma grumbled, glancing over her shoulder at the Saiyan Prince, who was sitting up in the bed, glaring at her all the while.
Trunks glanced behind his mother at his father and gulped as he noticed the dirty look he was giving him. Of course he was picking up more and more everyday on his father's traits and characteristics, especially during their training sessions in the GR. Restraint and tranquility definitely were not his father's strong suits. But still, he wasn't going to throw him under the bus and get in even more trouble from him. He would probably make him do something absurd like 1 million pushups as punishment. "Uh, nah, Mom. I was just upset and wasn't thinking clearly. I'm sorry!"
Bulma shook her head, releasing a deep breath. "You can be so careless with your belongings sometimes! I give you the best of everything, and you destroy the majority of it! Most children would kill to have the latest technology at their fingertips like you do."
Goten nodded. "Yeah! I don't have a TV in my room, and when I am allowed to watch the one in the living room my mommy only lets me watch educational stuff. You're lucky, Trunks."
"That's right, Goten!" Bulma agreed with a small smile. "You don't even realize how good you have it, Trunks. And don't expect me to go out and buy you a new TV anytime soon; if you would've taken better care of the one you had you wouldn't be in this situation. Consider that your punishment."
Trunks lowered his head and grunted. "Dam- I mean. . .dang."
Bulma eyeballed him briefly, internally groaning at how her five-year-old son was fast becoming a mini Vegeta, complete with a bad temper and foul mouth. "You two get back to bed, and actually SLEEP this time. Understand?"
"Yes, ma'am!" they answered in unison.
"I'll just ask my grandparents for a new TV. They never say no to me," Trunks whispered as they began walking down the hall.
"TRUNKS!"
"Kidding, Mom, kidding!" Trunks grinned back at his mother, then shook his head at Goten as they reached his room.
Bulma absently rubbed at her temple as she closed the door and turned back to Vegeta, who was still staring at her with a stoic expression. "See? I think I did a pretty damn good job of disciplining right now."
Vegeta tossed her a bored look and placed his hands behind his head. "You could have done better. And it's a shame to see he's developing that temper of yours," he taunted with a devilish smirk.
Bulma let out a growl and pointed at herself. "ME?! I sure as hell don't blow things up when I get angry! That's your doing, buddy! But, you know. . .dammit, I can't believe I'm admitting this, but maybe you were sorta right. I do spoil Trunks a tad bit too much."
"I'm ALWAYS right, woman. Your life will be a lot easier when you finally realize that."
"Oh, hush," Bulma snapped. "This was just one of the few things you were right about. Trunks is my baby boy, and I guess I get carried away with giving him everything he wants. I just like to see him happy; I don't want to be ridiculously strict with him. Chi-Chi is my friend and all, but I think she's just way too harsh sometimes with her kids, though she's been more lenient with Goten than she was with Gohan when he was younger. I don't want to be breathing down my child's neck every second of the day and give him no space. My parents gave me a good amount of freedom when I was growing up, and I turned out just fine."
Vegeta could only give her a skeptical look at that last part.
"I did!"
This time he just smirked.
"Ugh, jerk," she huffed under her breath. "All I'm saying is that neither of us are perfect people, or perfect parents so we just need to try better in certain areas. I'll try to not to pamper Trunks as much, and you need to learn to chill the fuck out about things. Goten and Trunks can be a handful, but they're just kids. Don't you remember what it was like being a child and wanting to have fun?"
Vegeta's mouth flattened into a hard line, his eyes clouding with a swirl of emotions briefly before veiling it from her. He remained eerily quiet for a few moments before answering, as though he had just seen a ghost or something. "The last thing on my mind as a child was 'fun'."
Bulma paused, knowing that Vegeta didn't have the greatest of upbringings since he lived a good chunk of his life under Frieza's rule. She didn't know in detail what all the white lizard had put him through, but she could only imagine that it must have been truly awful for him. Even though she was a lot closer to Vegeta now he still remained mostly closed off; it was rare for him to give her any insight into that mind of his.
She exhaled and decided not to pry, knowing that it wasn't Vegeta's style to open up and go into an in-depth conversation. They had been making progress in their relationship, and she didn't want to undo it by bugging him with personal questions about his past that weren't any of her business. She began to slip out of her clothing and tossed them to the ground, much to Vegeta's immediate frustration since there was a clothes hamper two feet from where she was standing. His agitation was then quickly forgotten as she unhooked her bra and allowed her plump breasts to be free from its restraints, standing with her bare back to him as she began rummaging through her dresser drawer for a clean nightgown. He didn't want to admit it out loud, but her body was faultless. Her skin was so soft, so creamy, almost like satin beneath his fingertips. She had curves in all the right places, with full, luscious breasts, followed by her trim waist, and then her shapely behind that he was getting an eyeful of at the moment as she was clad in nothing more than a black frilly thong. Her body had been the only thing that had even first attracted him to her; her personality was a whole other story. But she had slowly, very slowly grown on him, and he acknowledged that he admired her spunk and fierce determination. She had no physical strength to speak of, but mentally she was a force to be reckoned with.
Bulma felt Vegeta's eyes glued on her, causing her to spin around and face him. She smiled wide as she slipped her lavender nightgown over her head. "Aw, Vegeta were you staring at me? Am I turning you on?" she winked shamelessly, biting down on her index finger.
Vegeta quickly adverted his eyes and turned on his side so that he could no longer see her laughing face. "Vulgar woman," he muttered under his breath.
He could hear her giggle as she slid into bed next to him, turning the lamp off on her nightstand before lying down on her back. Vegeta stared into the darkness engulfing the room for a few moments before closing his eyes, acknowledging that he was more tired than he realized. He was half-way asleep when he felt her tiny hand on his shoulder. Dammit. "Woman, what the hell do you want now?"
He could feel her shift around in the bed so that she was now laying on her side with her face pressed into his muscular back. "You know. . .if you ever want to talk about anything. . .like your past, I'll listen. And I won't judge you, I promise."
She didn't even know what had provoked her to reach out to him like that, especially since she had decided a few minutes earlier that it wasn't her place to ask him about any of that. Vegeta was the most private person she had ever come across and even though they were in a relationship now that didn't mean he felt the need to confide in her. He was still the same old Vegeta, who remained locked away in his own head and preferred to be alone. Granted, he wasn't as much of a prick as he was when he had first arrived on Earth, but he was still set in his ways. She sighed in defeat when he remained completely silent and moved away from him, returning to her original position of lying on her back. Well, at least she tried.
"You wouldn't understand," he finally answered a few moments later.
"Huh?"
Vegeta rolled over so that he was now facing her, the handsome features of his face illuminated by the moonlight coming in through the window. "Woman. . .you could never understand me or my past."
"I could if you'd let me try," she breathed quietly, turning her head to meet his gaze.
"No. . .it's far too complicated for your human mind to even comprehend. You've never been through anything as ghastly as I have. You've lived an overindulged life where you were always free to do as you pleased. You spent your spare time probably taking those silly bubble baths of yours or staring at yourself for hours in the mirror because you're that vain. Someone like you that has lived such a shallow existence just wouldn't get it and-"
"Goddammit, Vegeta. I get the point; I'm sorry I ever said anything. I don't want to hear one of your lengthy speeches about what a horrid person I am."
When he didn't speak she took that as him ending the conversation so she forcefully shut her eyes. She wasn't exactly angry, but she was hurt that he didn't even give her a chance to listen to him and had to insult her like that. He was right: she did have a very privileged upbringing and was also prone to being self-absorbed at times. She was a strong enough woman to admit her flaws and was more self-aware than he gave her credit for. Still, that didn't mean that she lacked empathy towards others or was a bad person. He was shutting her out without even giving her an opportunity to get to know him better.
"Why would you care about me, about my past?"
She cracked one eye opened and looked back at him. He seemed genuinely confused as he gazed at her, his dark orbs searching her face for some kind of hidden answer. "That's the thing, Vegeta," she answered gently, rolling over onto her side so that their faces were now only inches apart. "I do care about you. Sometimes I don't even know why I do; you aren't exactly the warmest or friendliest person out there. But for some reason I really do like you, and I know you probably haven't had many people in your life that you can trust, so I want you to know that you can trust me, with your thoughts or your past or whatever else is on your mind."
Vegeta simply stared unblinkingly at her at first, hesitant to speak. He honestly thought it was a bit imprudent of her to want to get even closer to him than she already had. He was a former mass murderer that had unapologetically spilled the blood of countless lifeforms throughout the universe; his life before he came to inhabit on Earth was not pristine in any way. How could she want to hear about any of it? What was it that she was constantly seeing in him that made her want to know more about him? He just couldn't figure her out, and he probably never would.
"The reason I hate to sleep and get so little of it is because I have dreams about my past, about things I wish I could forget," he spoke in a rough whisper. He didn't even know what was provoking him to expose that to her; he had never told another living soul that before.
Bulma's eyes widened in response, watching as a fleeting flash of grief passed through his black orbs. She didn't say anything but gave him an encouraging look to continue on.
He ran a hand through his thick hair before speaking again. "You don't know how fortunate you are to have grown up in the environment that you did. You didn't have to live under the constant dread of some sick bastard lurking over your shoulder every hour of the day. Frieza killed my father and blew up my home planet, yet I had to do everything he requested of me, even though all I wanted to do was fucking rip him apart limb from limb."
She reached out as he took a pause, placing her hand on one of his muscular arms in a gesture of comfort, though she was bracing herself for him to slap it away. He didn't.
"Frieza was the most heinous, evil creature I've ever come into contact with, and he made my life an absolute living hell. I still to this day hate him with every fiber of my being. If I didn't do what he said I knew he would have killed me, so I begrudgingly did whatever he asked of me, even if I had no desire to do it. He was the reason I began slaughtering innocents in the first place, because I was the one who had to do his dirty work and extinguish planets that he didn't deem worthy. I admit that at first I was hesitant to do all of that, but over time I began to lack remorse for any of the senseless killings I participated in. I even grew to take delight in it; it gave me satisfaction to take the lives of so many helpless victims.
"By the time I was a teenager I had already killed thousands across the universe. I was proud of it, too; killing was my favorite hobby. If I never would have been enslaved by Frieza maybe I wouldn't have been as cruel and heartless as I was, but he never gave me a chance to be anything other than a cold-blooded killer. I'm not pleased with the fact that I wasn't the one to rid the universe of that bastard, but I'm glad he's rotting away in hell where he belongs. I still have nightmares about all the ways he would humiliate and torture me throughout the years I served under him. These are things that will probably always haunt me, even all these years later."
Bulma's eyes welled with tears, feeling his pain with every word he spoke. Vegeta had a much harder life than she had originally assumed. Frieza was the reason why Vegeta was so closed off and distant from others; she despised the evil tyrant for making Vegeta that way. She now understood the reason as to why Vegeta lived his life the way he did before coming to Earth; he didn't really have much of a choice because of Frieza. She hugged him the best she could lying down, his heart beating against her ear. "Vegeta. . .I'm so sorry you had to go through all that," she murmured, kissing his chest up and down.
Vegeta flinched slightly beneath her lips and shook his head. "Woman, I don't want your damn pity."
"I'm not pitying you," she replied softly. "But it's awful you had to live that way. I know you'll probably never forget all the things that happened to you, and I can't blame you for that, but you don't have to live with all that pain bottled up inside of you anymore. Things are a lot better for you now, right?"
He knew what she was wanting him to say, that his life had improved while living on Earth. It was true that his life wasn't as insufferable as it had been all those years ago, but he remained a warrior at heart, and it was still taking him some time to get completely adjusted to the life he lived now. He never, ever saw himself with a family, and yet now he had one. It was still surreal to him. "I never saw myself living this kind of life, with a mate and child. I never gave two shits about relationships, or being a father. There are even times now where I feel like I'm incompetent when it comes to raising a child and that I'm not cut out to be a father. But. . .I do know that I want Trunks to never live in the kind of terror that I did. That's why I train him, so that he can be prepared for anything and able to stand up to anyone or anything that threatens him. I want my son to be strong, both mentally and physically."
Bulma smiled and reached up her hand to stroke his smooth cheek. "He is. And that shows that you care about him. See, you are a good parent; give yourself more credit."
'Hmph' was his only reply.
She then slowly, very slowly pressed her lips to his in what was supposed to be a quick peck, but she was surprised to find his lips lingering over hers as she tried to pull away. He then wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply, leaving her breathless. She knew Vegeta used to be incredibly wicked and at one point wanted to annihilate Earth completely, but he had come a long way since then. He was learning to live life in way that was completely different from his past he had just told her about. She was delighted that he had really trusted her with all that information. Could it be that he was really starting to fall for her? She could only hope so.
"I don't know why I told you all that," Vegeta muttered as he pulled back from her slightly.
Bulma grinned. "Because you reallyyy like me."
"What?!"
"You know it's true!"
He rolled his eyes in response and turned to lay on his back. "Go to sleep, you silly woman."
Bulma smiled slyly, knowing that he knew she was right. As she was closing her eyes, her whole body ignited with heat as Vegeta placed a chaste kiss on top of her head. He had done it so gently too that she had barely felt it; she knew he must have felt awkward doing it because that was the first time he had ever made such a gesture. But she was beyond elated at his actions. Vegeta was not so good with expressing himself through words, so he used physical cues instead like he had just displayed. She knew that was his way of saying that he did indeed like her.
Vegeta peeked down at her smiling face, surprised at his own actions. He had never trusted anyone before in his whole life, and yet he had opened up to her just like that. True, he had only scratched the surface of his dark past, but that was still more information than she probably needed to know. But, as she had promised, she had listened and didn't judge him for his past deeds as a universal murderer. At first, he hadn't even planned on saying much, but for some reason he felt so comfortable in her presence, and it made it easy for him to show a side of himself to her that he didn't dare let anyone else see. What was it about her that caused him to feel this way? He didn't feel like trying to figure it out and just accepted it. Maybe, just maybe, Earth wasn't too terrible of a place to live.
*end of flashback*
Vegeta lowered his head as the memory came to an end. Bulma had truly cared so deeply for him and had always stood by him, even when everyone else had told her how foolish she was to do such a thing. She had been incredibly supportive that night he opened up to her, so accepting, and she was the only person that he would ever share such information with. She was the only person that he could trust, that he could rely on. But he was ashamed that he hadn't been there for her when Buu took her life; he felt as though he had failed her. He knew she was in Heaven; she would not have to suffer the same fate as he did in the afterlife, but she deserved to be living at this very moment. And he swore to make Buu pay for what he did.
Even if that meant having to fuse with Kakarot. Such a thought made him want to hurl, but if this was truly the only way to save Earth then he would do it for Bulma without a second thought. He would do anything for her; she was worth it. He only wished that one day he was given the privilege of telling her that himself.
A/N: I know the other two chapters contained a lemon, but I felt the need to explore another side of their relationship. But don't worry there will be another lemon chapter in the future hehe. I will try to have the next chapter posted next week because I start my final class of my college career on May 26th so I'll try to update before I get bombarded with school work again. And omg learning of the news a couple of weeks ago about the new DBZ series had made me sooo happy. Hopefully it will give me inspiration for new BulmaxVegeta fics for when I'm done with this one :))) please let me know what you thought of this chapter I appreciate feedback and support!
