Wow! I am honored to have so many reviews! I am glad that people are enjoying the story.
Okay, here is the thing about Azel. She is not a main character, but she is important. She is the woman who is filled with wisdom and experience. An outside source for both of them.
I know I haven't mentioned that he has been coughing or shivering much, but he has a fever and is sick. I suspect that you already knows that he coughs and shivers. I don't have to mention it all the time.
Well enjoy! I am off to watch the Magic School Bus. Wow, good times with such a good oldie!
So without further ado:
Trusted One
Chapter 4
Code of Honor of a Saiyan
Disclaimer: Yeah... If I did, I would redo the live-action movie.... or just not have one
"I win!" Bulma cheered as she showed him her hand, "You lose!"
"You won out of sheer luck," Vegeta shot back as he rounded up the cards, "You will not be so fortunate again."
"Nope! I won fair and square!" Bulma chanted in a sing-song voice, "Someone is a sore loser!"
Vegeta grumbled under his breath as he handed her the cards to shuffle. He hadn't attempted to be dealer yet, but he was keenly watching Bulma as she shuffled the cards like a pro.
They had been playing cards for the last two hours. Bulma had shown him several games, but he currently was enjoying five-card poker. So that's what they were sticking with.
Bulma had just received the cards and was about to start shuffling when Vegeta noticed it. He swiftly grabbed her right hand and pulled it closer to inspect, ignoring her indignant comments.
"Vegeta what are you-"
"How did you get this?" Vegeta demanded, looking at the deep purple and indigo ring around her wrist.
"It's nothing," she said, pulling as best as she could to grab her hand, "I'm clumsy, that's all."
"There is nothing clumsy about this," he growled as he pulled up her sleeve up higher to reveal more bruises blossoming.
Bulma wrestled his strong but gentle grip as she tried to pull away, "It's nothing!"
"How did you get these?" Vegeta growled, a dark glow in his eyes as he looked at her. He was PO'ed,
"I am a mechanic as much as I am a scientist or engineer. I build things Vegeta! I hurt myself all the time! LET GO!"
"I have been here for a while, Woman, I haven't seen you ever get bruised like this when building your contraptions. Stop lying."
"It's none of your business!"
"It is my business if I am the one who put these on you!" Vegeta shot back, noticing her eyes widen at what he said. "Do you think me stupid?"
"No… I just…" Bulma looked away, "I know you didn't mean to."
Vegeta pulled her closer as he began to inspect her. She tried to fight him off, but he was too stubborn. He pulled at her shirt, being careful not to remove it, but pulling it up or to the side enough to see her bruises. He even checked the other arm.
"It is nothing." Bulma said again, "I know you didn't mean it! You were unconscious! Vegeta! Let go!"
"It is not nothing, woman," Vegeta growled, letting her up as he stood himself.
"Vegeta! Get back in bed!" Bulma commanded as she walked towards him.
"Relax woman, I will be back in the blasted bed before long. However, I will remind you that I am not an invalid." Vegeta snapped as he went to a dresser drawer, withdrawing something from within, before heading back.
He grabbed her as he was coming back, picking her up by wrapping an arm around her waist and holding her up by her hip.
"Vegeta! What are-" Bulma was cut off when he sat down at the edge of his bed, pulling her into his lap.
"Shut up for once in your life," Vegeta growled.
Bulma was about to snap back at him for telling her to shut up, but her words died in her throat when he began to rub salve on her bruised wrist. She watched with curiosity as he pulled up her sleeve, administering the salve to every bruise on her arm before moving to the others that adorned her torso. The only thing that gave away that he was in a foul mood was the hiss of air when he came across the bigger of the bruises.
Once he was finished, he recapped the his container of salve and lightly pushed her off to put it back into the top drawer of his dresser.
Bulma looked again at the wrist that he had administered it to first, gasping softly at the fading bruise.
"How did- why did… Why did you do that?" Bulma asked, clearly confused at his actions.
Never before had he ever done something like this before for anyone.
"It goes against Saiya-jin conduct to harm a woman out of combat or missions. We had females that were exceptional fighters, but as a rule of honor, we did not harm them without it being a friendly spar." Vegeta explained, sitting back down in his bed and pulling up his covers, shivering a bit from a sudden chill.
"I didn't know…" Bulma said looking back down at her wrist.
So that was why he always left when he got angry. Why he never raised a hand against her. It was against his nature to harm women outside of combat. She was actually really impressed by his self-control. She knew him to have a temper and even when it flared, he never took it out against her, even when she was the cause. Not even Yamcha was that controlled. She knew because he had hit her once or twice when she had pushed him too far. The only person she knew who would never harm her on purpose was Goku, and even then, when he was younger, she had suffered large injuries from playing with him.
"Of course not, you don't know anything about the Saiyan culture. Even though my race is gone, I refuse to harm females outside of purging missions and sparring matches, intentional or not." With that he gave her a hard glare for a moment before grabbing the cards and holding them out to her, "I am tired, put this away and then leave."
Bulma looked up from her wrist, which no longer had any bruise whatsoever on it, and smiled as she took the cards and put them in their container before putting it back into the basket.
"I will leave this stuff here just incase you wake up and decide you are bored again," Bulma said as she neared the bed, "I'll be back later with some food, okay?"
"Whatever, just go." Vegeta barked, shifting back down to go back to sleep.
"Yes, your Majesty," Bulma teased before swiftly placing a kiss on his forehead, "Thank you by the way."
She swiftly dashed out of the room, leaving the gapping prince speechless.
He didn't know exactly what she had done, but from what he could tell, that was a earth sign of affection. It was startling that she would even do something like that to him… but it felt…
Nice.
Vegeta smirked to himself, thinking up ways to blackmail her with it if she ever decided to blab about him becoming ill. His eyes began to droop as he stared at the door before he closed them. Sleep was not hard to find.
"Azel! What are you doing?" Bulma yelled as she watched her mentor pin the little boy.
"He was hurting you!" Azel snarled as she glared down at the boy.
"No, no," Bulma yelped as she gently laid her hands on her mentor, "He's just playing with me. He meant no harm!"
"Ouch! What are you doing! You're hurting me!" Goku yelped as he squirmed under Azel's strong grip.
"No," Azel hissed, "He must learn that he is stronger then you. He could have killed you, playing with you as he did. Bulma, I know what is good for you and I know what is not. Little one, do not attempt to play with Bulma like that until you learn restrain. Understand?"
She loosened her grip on the little boy, her face pulling back into its calm expression. She watched as the boy nodded before helping him up.
"I am sorry I was hard on you, little one, but you have more strength than you know," She said as she stooped to pick him up.
"I really didn't mean to hurt Bulma, I was only playing with her." Goku told her, both seemingly to have forgotten Bulma's presence for the moment.
"Yes, but she is not trained to fight. Her place in this world is as a young woman, ingenious and amazing in many fields, but of battle. She is breakable by your touch if you are not wary of your strength. It is not right to hurt her, intentional or not." Azel said, cradling the boy for a moment.
"Okay, I will train till I can play with Bulma and not hurt her!" Goku promised, leaping out of the older woman's hold, "I got to go anyways! I promised to train with Master Roshi, but I wanted to see Bulma one more time before I did! Bye Bulma! Sorry about hurting you!"
"It's okay Goku," Bulma smiled, "I know you didn't mean to. Go on. I'll see you when you get back okay? Then we'll play!"
Azel and Bulma watched him fly off on his flying nimbus before the older woman turned her attention to the sixteen year old.
"How was your trip?" She asked, pulling at the arm that Goku had wounded to inspect.
"It was great!" Bulma said with a nod, "I met all sorts of people! In fact I found a boyfriend! He's currently scoping out the city with Oolong and Puar, but he'll be back soon."
"A boyfriend," Azel rolled her eyes, "Did you really waste a wish on such a thing."
She pulled out a container with a salve in it and began to apply it to the already blossoming bruise as Bulma told her about her adventures. After she was sure there were no other bruises, she ushered the teenager back into the garden patio so they could sit and enjoy the sun.
"Then Goku turned into this giant monkey thing!"
"Oozaru." Azel corrected without missing a beat.
"What?" Bulma asked, not sure she had heard her mentor speak.
"My people called it the Oozaru. The monkey-ape form that is like that of a werewolf legend of modern society. A legend that I grew up with all my life. But I thought that Oozaru humans had tails." Azel said, staring at the sky that Goku had taken off in with a puzzled look.
"Oh, Goku had a tail," Bulma said as she waved her hand lightly, "But Yamcha, my boyfriend, cut it off."
"I see," Azel nodded, sipping on some ice tea that had been left out for them.
"Hey, Az," Bulma said as she looked at the arm that once had a huge bruise on, "That stuff you used. What was it?"
"A healing salve that my people could make. It doesn't heal burns or close open wounds, but it can internally repair things like broken blood vessels and torn muscles. Not much, but it works for when one pushes themselves too much."
"That sounds amazing! Could you make more? I bet you could make a killing selling this stuff to the masses!"
"No, child," Azel said, shaking her head, "This is not something that should be recreated for such purposes. It is a secret of my people. Plus… the plant it was made out of is now extinct. It is no longer able to be reproduced." She paused for a second before looking Bulma straight in the eyes, "Bulma, remember that money is not everything. Riches will fade, beauty is only skin deep, and power weakens with time. Use what you have to help others. The legacy you leave behind will speak volumes about you when you are gone."
"Yes Az," Bulma nodded, "I will remember that."
"Always remember that, for this old fool." Azel whispered as she stared lovingly at her, taking her hand in hers and swung it gently, "Someone needs to learn from my people's mistakes."
And you're the only one.
Bulma groaned as she opened her eyes and slowly pushed herself up off her stomach, looking around groggily. Her room was dark, the blinds turned down and leaving the room in a dim light.
She had dreamed about Azel again.
It was normal so close to the day she died. For some reason, her mind kicked into overdrive, remembering every aspect of the woman that it felt almost as if she was still alive. That was what made it so hard. Because she wasn't alive despite what her mind made her believe.
She raked a hand through her hair as she sighed, holding her upper body with one hand as she untangled her now wavy locks. She had gone into the salon the other day while Vegeta was sleeping and fixed her previous problem with her hair. Now she could easily pull it into a pony tail without having to fight her hair every step of the way.
She got up eventually and took her shower, enjoying the feeling of the hot water on her skin and the soothing smell of the body wash as she cleansed herself. She didn't take a long shower, feeling too restless to stand in one spot for long and soon was heading downstairs, readying some breakfast for herself and Vegeta.
It had been a couple days since he had healed her bruises with the salve. It was funny how it had become so clear about Azel's mysterious behavior. Oozaru, she had called that form. She could turn into one too.
It also made sense why she was so wary of Goku. Hurting females was against their culture and even though he didn't have his tail at the time, Az still had registered her as being in harm's way.
It was funny how so many things that made Azel enigmatic all made sense when at last the truth about her race came to light. Bulma wondered slightly how many Saiyan traits she had accidently acquired from the female Saiya-jin.
Bulma cursed quietly when she opened the fridge and noticed the large supply of premade food that usually was inside was gone. She must have finished heating up the last of it the night before. Her mother wasn't due back for another three days.
She cursed again as she brought the raw materials out of the fridge and began to pull out the pots, pans, and other needed materials.
Just what she needed, something to waste her time with, cooking. She rolled her eyes as she grumbled angrily. Her mother never miscalculated. She had done this on purpose and Bulma knew it.
She hated cooking, letting her mother be the one to slave over the stove to make food while she enjoyed the rewards of her mother's labor. She usually was busy doing something else with Azel to cook, but living with Azel had meant learning to cook.
Bulma quickly made pancake batter and scrambled eggs, enough to fill the large gullet of the Saiya-jin upstairs along with her own appetite. She placed them in the cart, groaning at the thought of having to clean more dishes then before because she had to make the food.
Cursing another blue streak she headed to Vegeta's room, preparing herself for the battle of the wills that was going to take place. She left the breakfast at the door, taking only a small tray with a small plastic cup of pills, a glass of water, and a new electric thermometer that she had recently had to purchase on account of the last one being crushed.
Vegeta was awake, staring at her as she came in. It looked like he had just showered since he was standing, and slowly buttoning one of his sleep shirts. It was kind of funny, she had half expected him to sleep without a shirt at night when he had first come, but apparently, he did not think it proper. Perhaps it was something he had grown accustom to, since he usually didn't walk around shirtless unless he was in the GR working up a sweat. Even then when he powered the machine down to let her in, he put a shirt on and waited impatiently for her to finish.
Modesty must have been something vital to his survival. She had seen him without a shirt and many women and men alike would have jumped his bones if they had seen all those muscles rippling when he moved.
Like a tiger's muscles when it moves. Raw power and sheer strength that could rip a person in half easily. She thought.
"Morning 'Geta" Bulma chimed, pulling up a fake cheerful smile to lower his guard.
"Don't call me that woman," Vegeta growled lowly as he finished buttoning up his shirt, turning his full attention on her, "Don't tell me that you're going to try that again."
"But Princy-kun, how will you get better if you don't take your medicine? It's the thing that is slowly cleansing your lungs from the icky virus." Bulma said in a sickly sweet tone as she held out the little thing of pills, "If you take your medicine, you'll get better faster and then you won't have to worry about taking more medicine in the long run."
"Woman," Vegeta growled out, "Do not call me that ridiculous name."
"Take your medicine and I'll consider it… Princy-kun."
"Hmph, if only to get you to stop that calling me that ridiculous name," Vegeta grunted, snatching the cup and tossing the contents in his mouth, grabbing the water to help swallow them.
"That's wonderful Veggie-kun!" Bulma cheered, enjoying how ticked she could make him look as he tried not to shatter the glass in his hand.
He knew if he called her on this name she would never drop it.
"Now hold still and let me take your temperature." Bulma said, quickly snatching the thermometer and quickly trying to get it in his ear.
He moved out of the way, grunting as he glared at her. He didn't like the thermometer. It was stupid.
"Aw, come on," Bulma said exasperated, "Don't make this a long fight Vegeta! I have breakfast ready!"
"Then let's have breakfast."
"Not until you hold still so I take your temp. Honestly Vegeta, it's only in your ear for a moment!"
"No," Vegeta said as he set his jaw and stood to full height, his usual relaxed muscles tense and ready to spring into action.
"Your mouth then! It doesn't have to stay long, just long enough to get a reading! Spot being a baby," Bulma yelled at him as she moved towards him.
He moved backwards, dodging her again as he glared. He was not going to do it.
Bulma had been through this for at least two days, and as long as she kept pushing, he would eventually be cornered and she could finally take his temp. However, today's breakfast was made recently and Bulma didn't feel like heating up her breakfast. It just didn't taste the same.
"Please!" She begged, "The food will get cold!"
"Then you'll just reheat them," He huffed, "Not like leftovers are that great anyways. What difference will it make to reheat the crap."
"My mother's food is not crap!" Bulma yelled, backing him into the corner.
He noticed the walls and turned direction without even looking away from her, dodging her first strategy to getting that infernal device in his ear.
"It is when it's heated a second time."
"Well, if you don't hold still it will have to be heated a second time," Bulma shot back.
"What? Is your mother back already?
"No!"
That made Vegeta pause. He could smell the food. It did smell slightly different then the usual reheated food, it had that just cooked scent to it, causing him to linger a moment too long.
Bulma had used the moment to her advantage, grabbing hold to Vegeta around his neck with one arm and wrapping her legs around his waist while shoving the thermometer into his mouth so she didn't have to hear the indignant yells for her to let go of his person.
"Ha!" Bulma said triumphantly as she smirked up at his stunned face, "And you thought you could get away!"
He growled as he reared his head back, trying to pull away from the thermometer that she was holding in his mouth, but she made sure it stayed in for the needed amount of time before pulling it out.
She looked at the temperature, still latched onto him as she calculated the numbers.
"Congratulations, Vegeta, your fever is gone." Bulma said with a smug smile, "See? Was that so bad? It takes five seconds, you big baby, and now we know that your fever's gone. Now all we have to do is wait for your lungs to clear up, then you can go back to training in your GR."
Vegeta grabbed her waist, gently prying her off.
"Will you get off of me, Onna?" He growled as he pulled her away and set her down, "I do not like having you on my person. Do not do that again or else I will save you for last to slaughter, letting you watch as I kill all your people and friends before I end your miserable life."
"Sure, Geta," Bulma said, patting his face gently, "If you kill me off, who will keep you from getting bored? Come on, let's get our breakfast before its cold."
"I mean it Woman."
He mental cursed her for being so intelligent. She had figured it out. She was his only source of entertainment since she was the only one who could keep up with him mentally. While physically she was nothing to compared to him, mentally she was more then his equal. She could outwit him hands down and that was what was attracting about her. Her looks-
He blinked as he noticed the wavy long blue hair that hung in the messy ponytail. She had changed her hair. It looked nice. Not like that crow's nest she had not even a day ago. He couldn't help but reach out and slide his hand in the silky locks, gently unknotting it as knots appeared in the path of his fingers.
She shivered for a second before turning her head and smiling at him deviously, "Like my new hairdo?"
"It's better then that other style. It looked like you had killed and animal and had put it on your head." Vegeta said offhandedly, not missing a beat.
Bulma growled lightly at him, pretending to be displeased when she was actually happy he had noticed.
"Well, go sit down, I'll bring your breakfast. Hopefully it is still hot, with how long it took you to settle down and let me take you stupid temperature, I wouldn't be surprised if it has grown cold."
To their luck, the food was still relatively hot. They enjoyed the meal over a game of chess. Leaving the plates once they had finished on the cart and continued to play till they hit a stalemate. Neither of them had said much, too involved in the game, but both had been enjoying the battle of the wits. Bulma glanced up at the clock after they had concluded the game and noticed it was past noon.
"Great." She muttered, "I have to go work for a bit."
She needed to get the Gravity Room downstairs done before Vegeta's health fully returned.
"You," she looked at Vegeta with a keen look, "You don't have a fever anymore, so you can get up and walk around for a bit- walking does not include training. Stay out of my work zone. I know you like bugging me, but I need to work or how else am I going to pay the bills you make? I don't work, I don't get paid, and you don't get to stay. Go explore the rest of the house. We have a huge library, I bet you could find something in there that will spark your interest. Just stay. Out. Of. My. Construction site."
"Wouldn't want to go in there anyways," Vegeta grumbled, "I would have to put up with my ears bleeding from the angry shrieks you make. Just go."
"Alright 'Geta," Bulma said, turning her glare into a smile, "Behave."
With that she was out the door, leaving Vegeta grumbling as he got up. She had left the cart. No doubt thinking that he would do the dishes or at least have the decency to bring them down the stairs for her. No. That wasn't in his nature, though he did leave them outside his door. He didn't want them in his domain. His room was not her trash site, despite how many games he was allowing her to leave in there for the time being.
He quickly did some stretches- since that was in no way training- before continuing on. It was nice to stretch out his muscles, allowing the stiffness to vanish. He continued on with his day, decided to see if this library was as impressive as Bulma had insinuated it was.
It was strange. He had never fully explored the place, not thinking that he was staying long, so he only learned the routes he needed to get him where he wanted. He mentally berated himself again for the sheer stupidity of himself. Nappa had always reminded him to know his surroundings when Vegeta was growing up under Frieza's care. Back then it was obvious, Frieza was there, ready to take advantage of any hint of weakness. But Bulma's family took no advantage over him, besides that occasion time or two Mrs. Briefs asked him to open a jar…
He wandered through the halls, memorizing the different rooms that were left open. It seemed that the private rooms were left closed while the doors welcoming guests were wide open. It took him about fifteen minutes to find the library, pausing at the large double doors that held the room. It was at least two floors, stretching as long as this certain wing of the mansion allowed. Books upon books stacked up everywhere and anywhere, waiting for someone to read them.
Vegeta managed to overcome his amusement enough to enter the room and began to slowly glance over the titles of the books.
Even though he was one who preferred to fight, he knew the power of knowledge. He use to study hours upon hours with his mother when she was still around. He couldn't train too much back then because he was just gaining endurance, so he would spend most of his time learning. His mother's face had blurred in the years, he could no longer remember her face or what she looked like other then she had the most glorious smile and loved to laugh.
Nothing like the other Saiya-jins that Vegeta had known. But then again, he didn't know many other than his servants, guards, and the two idiots that he traveled with under Frieza. Kakarrott had bumped his head when he was little.
Perhaps that was the way Saiya-jins normally were if not trained to be killers?
Who knew. Vegeta for one did not want to be as ignorantly blissful and optimistic as Goku. There was something wrong with him that Vegeta just couldn't put a finger on, but there was something definitely off about the Saiya-jin…
Other then growing up thinking he was a human.
His eyes paused at a strange book with a large binding labeled with a number. The number intrigued him since there were many following the number only increasing by one digit. He pulled it out and looked at the front.
'Memories' was written in elegant script along with a nice design to stretch across the front. Vegeta blinked as he opened it up, realizing that humans took pictures of moments in time and recorded them in photo albums.
Apparently, to his luck, he had opened the one with Bulma as a newborn. He smirked evilly as he sat where he had stood, flipping through the book to look at the naked baby pictures that decorated the photo book. He flipped through each page, memorizing where to find some of the more… precious… photos that would be wonderful as blackmail.
Bulma had actually been rather cute as a baby. Her hair looked soft and fluffy and her baby fat gave her an innocent look. Like an angel born without wings.
He scowled at himself for thinking such a thing, shutting the book and putting it away. He was getting soft if he thought such things. He moved his hand, hovering over the other albums before plucking one out that was during her sixth year. The first page was of Bulma sitting in the lap of a horridly burned woman, laughing as both smiled at the camera.
He didn't know who she was, but most of the pictures were of her and Bulma. Sometimes even of Bulma's dame with the woman as they cooked or doing other activities. Bulma however was usually always in the picture with the woman. As the pictures progressed, the woman's girth grew bigger, but still well hidden in clothing. It was interesting to see such changes until finally there was a picture of the raven haired woman with the burns down her face holding a small baby that was crying while lying in a bed.
He continued going through the years, watching as Bulma and the little baby girl grew up. Dark tan skin and golden eyes with long pointed ears and soft velvet looking black hair dressed the appearance of the little girl as she slowly became bigger with each passing picture. The burned woman, Bulma, and the little girl seemed to be the stars of the photo albums with the blonde woman and Dr. making occasional appearances.
However, shortly after he got to the fifth book, the pictures of the little girl stopped. Bulma and the scarred woman looked a little sad, not smiling as widely as before, or look as happy. Vegeta pondered this for a moment before grabbing the last book and pulled out a picture of all three of them in the kitchen cooking.
He held onto the picture, putting the albums away, before looking through the rest of the selection, picking out several books that seemed interesting before heading back to his room. It was surprising how long he had been in there. He looked at the picture again, staring at the ten year old Bulma and the little four year old that smiled so sweetly into the camera. He couldn't understand why he felt so intrigued.
He had only been back in his room, starting on one of the books, for half an hour before Bulma came in with their next meal. She found him sitting on his couch, content with the book that he had found.
"Hey!" She said with a smile, "Did you find the library?"
Vegeta nodded, looking at the number in the book at the bottom before closing it.
"Find anything that interested you?" She asked, sitting next to him.
"Yes," he said, pulling out the picture that he had taken, "Who are they?"
Bulma took the picture from him gently, as if it held great value to her, her eyes dimming as she looked at the little girl before looking at the burned woman. She sighed heavily as she handed the picture back.
"Found the photo albums, did we?" She asked, not sounding too mad, "Well to answer your question, the little girl is Venus. Named after a mythological goddess known for her absolute beauty. It fit her."
She paused to look at the picture again, tears welling up in her eyes, "She didn't live long enough to see her fifth birthday. She died in her sleep. She was fine when we had put her to bed… but… she never woke up. It broke her mother's heart."
"Who was her mother?" Vegeta asked, looking at the innocent little girl that didn't live long enough to see the evils of the world or experience the joys of the world either.
"The woman in the picture," Bulma said as she looked at the burned woman with adoration in her eyes, "That is her mother. That is Azel."