Chapter 3 – Pain
"Honestly, mother! You don't need to come here, as I'm only staying here to train with the Saiyans. They have much stronger warriors here than the ones on Earth or even in our entire empire! Think of how much stronger I can become if I continue my training with Prince Vegeta." Bulma tried once again at persuading her mother, Queen Bunny, not to follow her to the planet Vegeta-sei.
When her mother and father received her message that the Saiyans agreed to help them fight in the war and that Bulma would be staying on planet Vegeta-sei until the war, the first thing Bunny did was demand a video transmission with her daughter.
Right at that moment in time, they were in a small room that had been built for only the royal family. It was their way of communicating with other planets in private, so they were not only not disturbed, but also anything that was said, would remain a secret. Like Bulma had just thought, the room was small and hardly anything to brag about, especially when Bulma thought about her own communications room back on Earth. Compared to all other rooms in the palace, it was rather bare save for the table situated in the centre of the room with three chairs resting to one of the long sides of it, all facing in the direction of a large video screen. The large video screen, may she add, that currently had an enlarged version of her mother's beautiful face on it. Instead of looking ridiculous, however, it seemed to amplify her beauty.
"Bulma, dear, Prince Vegeta is so much stronger than you. What if he hurts you?" Bunny asked as the tears built up in her eyes.
The princess turned her head to the side when she heard a deep chuckle coming from behind her. When she saw it was only Vegeta who was laughing, she turned back to face her mother with a cocky expression. "Oh please, mother," Bulma rolled her eyes and waved one hand in front of her dismissively, "Vegeta may be strong but he isn't that strong." She smirked when she heard his warning growl.
Bunny frowned slightly. "Now, Bulma, you must show respect to Prince Vegeta. He is risking a lot by helping us."
"No, mother, I will show King Vegeta and Prince Tarble respect because they show me it, but I will not show respect for that arrogant pig." she said stubbornly as she crossed her arms over her chest.
Vegeta rolled his eyes and stepped forward. He was growing tired of the video transmission but he wasn't allowed to leave until it was over. Sure, he was over a thousand times stronger than his father but out of respect for his father and king, he did as he was told. "As much as I dislike the wench, I will not harm her."
"Hey, you idiot! I am not a wench!" Bulma screeched as she twirled around and poked him in the chest.
Bunny giggled at the arguing royalties on her screen. "You two still argue like an old married couple."
"That's only because Prince Vegeta is such a jerk!"
"Don't act like you hate it." Vegeta smirked. "You practically beg me to argue with you."
Bulma cupped her throat and widened her eyes as she struggled to breathe. "Can't… breathe…"
"Bulma?" Bunny's high pitched voice almost screamed. She watched helplessly as the king and two princes in the same room as her daughter moved towards the princess to help her, with wide and shocked eyes.
"Can't… breathe…"
"Bulma!" Tarble yelled as he reached out to try and help.
"There's no room… to breathe with Vegeta's ego!" Bulma said dramatically before dropping her hands and giggling. King Vegeta smirked and Prince Tarble laughed with her whilst Vegeta glared at the blue beauty.
"Bulma, that was not funny." her mother said sternly as she frowned at her daughter. "I thought you were in trouble."
"Oh come on, mother. You have to admit it was pretty funny." Bulma stated as her laughing calmed, but when she took a look at Vegeta's angry face, she doubled over laughing again.
A musical laughter filled the room as Queen Bunny started to laugh as well. The look on Vegeta's face was priceless.
"Hilarious." Vegeta said as he glared at the blue haired princess.
Bulma finally stopped laughing and looked at her mother's cheerful face. She loved how her mother would always laugh along with her no matter how bad her jokes were. "You see? There's nothing for you to worry about!" Bulma smiled. "I'll be fine."
King Vegeta nodded once. "It is true, Queen Bunny. I will not allow any harm to come to the, princess. I will protect her as I would protect my own."
The blonde queen nodded although she still looked uncertain, but who could really blame her? Her only daughter and only heir to her empire, was on a faraway planet that was filled with extremely powerful warriors and would soon enough be going to war against the most sinister creature in the universe, all to defend their planet and empire! Bulma could see the uncertainty in her mother's eyes but smiled encouragingly.
"Mother, it is for the sake of our empire." she told her quietly, seriously, though added in a promise, "When the war is over and we have won, I will return to you and daddy."
Bunny wiped away a stray tear, her heart aching and her gut twisting viciously. "You say that like you have already won."
"With Krillin being able to see the future, me being able to read minds and the Saiyan's strength, how can we not?"
"You may have strength, my dear, but remember: strength is nothing if you lack–"
"If you lack brains." Bulma groaned and rolled her eyes. "Yes, mother, King Vegeta has already explained this to me about a thousand times."
The queen giggled before her face turned serious. "Take care of yourself, my princess."
"I will, mother." Bulma nodded seriously.
The transmission ended as soon as she finished her sentence and Bulma eyebrows knitted together as she bit her bottom lip. She hated crying but she hated saying goodbye even more, which was why her mother hadn't said it. But that didn't make it any easier. Bulma knew it would be well over a year until she got to see her parents again and she hated the feeling that something was going to happen during that time apart.
"Bulma," Tarble called out to the blue haired princess quietly, "are you okay?"
The princess wiped away the tears on her cheeks and made her expression blank. "Of course I am."
"Well come on, then," Vegeta growled before his brother could question the girl and probably cause some sort of human emotional break down, "because I haven't got all day and we have already missed over an hour of training!"
With that, he stormed out of the communications room.
Bulma rolled her eyes at his pushiness but followed him. When they got to the end of the hallway she whispered a "thank you" to him.
"I didn't do it for you." Vegeta replied simply.
"Of course you didn't."
"I didn't!" he argued. "I just didn't want to have to put up with your pathetic, human emotions."
"Sure." Bulma smirked.
"I didn't!"
"Well someone seems a little defensive, I only said 'sure'." she winked at him.
Vegeta stayed silent and glared at anyone who passed by the two royalties all the way to the training rooms. As soon as the door to the training room closed behind Bulma, he switched on the climate changing machine.
"Are we sparring?" Bulma yelled over the hissing wind that suddenly filled the room.
The ground changed into ice and the weather was just as worse. It was snowing and the wind made it almost impossible to see or hear. Vegeta must mean business if he chose such a harsh place to train in.
Bulma didn't get an answer.
She ducked as a blue ki blast flew for her head and quickly went up into the air as another headed towards her. Why was he being so serious today? He usually gave her a heads up before they started training. She didn't have time to react as something grabbed her foot and slammed her into the ground. Bulma growled in frustration as she flew towards her attacker and started sending blast after blast at his head and chest. The smoke grew larger and larger and made it even harder to see.
The princess stopped shooting and listened carefully for any movements. When she felt the air stir and vibrate behind her, she turned around and connected her knee with what she thought was Vegeta's stomach.
Oh how wrong she was.
She heard a pained gasp and a sudden thud against the icy ground. Immediately knowing that something was wrong, she flew over to the climate changing machine and changed the room back to the way it was, before flying back over to the Saiyan Prince. Bulma could hear Vegeta gasping for air and saw his reddening face twisting in pain as he grabbed his most private area, making her bring her hands to her mouth as she realised where she must have hit him. As if wasn't bad enough she hit him there, she had put everything she had into the attack. She immediately hovered over him to try and help him but he pushed her out of the way.
"I am so sorry Vegeta!" Bulma said with wide eyes, trying to hold back her giggles. "I didn't know that I hit you… there."
"I'm glad you find it amusing." Vegeta glared at her, one of the most angriest looks he'd sent her yet. "If you weren't the only heir to your pathetic empire I would have blasted you into the next dimension."
"No you wouldn't." Bulma said playfully, refusing to be scared by his threat.
"What makes you so sure?" he grunted as he pushed himself off of the now back to metal ground.
Bulma smirked at the Saiyan Prince when he winced at the movement. "Well for starters you wouldn't have promised my mother that you would protect me."
"I didn't say I would protect you," Vegeta smirked, "I said that I would not harm you."
"Jerk." she spat with narrowed eyes.
"Wench." he retorted without missing a beat.
Bulma rolled her eyes. "So what now?"
"What do you mean?" Vegeta asked with a confused expression.
"Well since you can barely move from my… misplaced kick, I'm guessing we're not going to be sparring again today?"
"We will spar today, but for now we will meditate."
Bulma groaned as she sat on the floor. "But meditating is so boring!"
"Get over it." Vegeta told her as he sat back down on the floor slowly. The pain wasn't as bad now, but it was still painfully sensitive.
The two royalties sank into their meditative states and stayed that way for well over seven hours. Whilst meditating, Bulma could feel the strange tugging at her mind again but whenever she got close to it, it caused her so much pain that it made her feel light–headed and dizzy. She tried her hardest to ignore the strange pulling in her head but when it proved to be nothing more than a wasted attempt, she gave up with meditating.
The young princess opened her large blue eyes to find Vegeta looking so still and peaceful that she could probably have passed him as dead if she couldn't feel his ki or active mind.
Silently, she stood up and left the Saiyan Prince to continue his training of his mind.