Chapter 8: A Bellicose Interruption
"A person's success in life can usually be measured by the number of uncomfortable conversations he or she is willing to have."
Long, fluid strokes of crimson marred the smooth white surface. A thin paintbrush held by a delicate hand formed sweeping lines, slowly filling the space with the color of war. Sapphire irises were meticulous in their work, assuring straight edges and sleek curves with each brushstroke.
She wanted it to be perfect.
Fingers cascade over the starkness of the resilient fabric. She wore a smile as she worked, wondering of the reaction that she'll receive when she finally gives it away. Brushing a lock of indigo from her face, intelligent eyes roved over the completed piece. Nodding in satisfaction, she laid the material out, setting a heated sheet over it to help her creation dry properly.
The enamored woman didn't take notice as the doors behind her slid open, revealing an older blonde burdened with a tray of finger sandwiches.
"Why, Hello my princess… You've been stowed away in here all morning, I was worried that you were forgetting to come out at all. You and your father are so alike, allowing your work to overtake you and the both of you forget to eat sometimes…" The melodic voice of her mother echoed in the solitude of her lab.
Bulma turned and smiled at her mother gratefully, picking up a sandwich from the tray her mother set before her.
"Sorry to worry you, Mom," were the few words she spoke before she began to stuff herself with the tiny finger foods. The smell of her mother's food had sent a fierce pang of hunger through her stomach.
"What project has so much of my daughter's attention that it has her forgetting to eat? Really, dear, you are incredibly skinny as it is, you really can't afford to-" Bulma cut her mother's words off with a wave of her hand. The younger woman loved how attentive her mother was to her and her father's needs. Bunny Briefs was a selfless and light-hearted woman, and Bulma was thankful to have such a mother.
"I'm just finishing up a small project, I wanted to have it done before I moved onto the final phase of production. I promise that after this month, there won't be any meals forgotten," She said, finishing off the last of the little sandwiches.
"Always the hard worker, My Bulma," Bunny spoke fondly, glancing over at the lab table, noting the large expanses of white fabric. The cloth was accompanied by a small can of what appeared to be red paint, but her mother didn't mention anything about it.
"I wanted to remind you that Yamcha will be picking you up in about two hours to pick you up. Isn't there a party at the Kame House today with your friends? You'll need to get a move on if you're going to be ready anytime soon,"
Bulma nodded with a degree of numbness. She'd much rather stay home and finish her project over the weekend, but she had promised everyone that she would show up. It would be the first time outside of the resurrection gatherings that most of the Z Gang would get together just for some rest and relaxation. Besides, if she continued to hermit herself away any more, she'd eventually end up like her father, straying outside the compound only when it was an absolute obligation.
"Alright, I suppose I can leave this until next weekend," She began closing the paint and folding up the slick fabric. Her mother noted it was nearly vinyl in appearance, certainly a stiff fabric with a certain luster to it. It only made the older woman more curious about Bulma's current venture.
Bunny was satisfied with her daughter's response and picked up the tray, "Have fun at the party, Dear! Your father and I will be spending some quality time together, if you get my drift…" The blonde winked before disappearing out of the lab.
Bulma grimaced. Her mother certainly had no problem with revealing too much information about her parents' love life. Shaking her head to clear the horrifying thoughts from her head, she finished cleaning up her lab and headed to her room to get ready for the party.
The Kame House beach party was full of surprises. Some of them were good surprises. Some of them were not so good.
A good surprise was Krillin now had a girlfriend named Maron. A not-so-good surprise was Krillin now had a girlfriend named Maron who happened to be a ditzy maneater who was adept at insulting people. Apparently the two had been dating for a few months, unbeknownst to anyone. It was startling to Bulma seeing how similar she and Maron looked alike, only separated by a few years. Maron's hair was a few shades darker, but they had similar hairstyles. Looks were where the similarities ended at a dead stop.
Maron was the epitome of everything Bulma was not. Bulma was career-driven, whereas the younger woman seemed content to be drifting on the wind, completely carefree. The heiress was rather reserved in her fashion since she'd gotten back from Namek, whereas Maron was certainly flaunting everything she had.
It was too bad that the sound of Maron's voice felt like a thousand dull razorblades digging into Bulma's brain. Well, except for the tactless idiocy that the younger woman revealed every moment that she opened her mouth. The mechanical prodigy of Capsule Corp was still determined to have a nice day, no matter who was in attendance.
At least, until the girl had gone and made a play for Yamcha. He had nicely asked if Krillin and Maron were actually dating, and when Krillin had hesitated, Bulma watched as Maron nearly melted onto Yamcha's arm.
"Well then… What do you say we go out, Taitan All Star?" Bulma had the singular urge to peel the younger woman off of her boyfriend with a rusty knife until she heard his response.
He was blushing and even stuttering as his eyes were glued to the younger woman's assets, "Yeah, s-sure… Why not?"
"I'm sorry, what did you say?" She had no idea that she could make her voice go that low, enraged at him even joking about seeing another woman. Bulma Briefs thoughts were racing; she and Yamcha had been dating for so long, wasn't he past that childish behavior? Wasn't their relationship serious enough to even warrant him defending his love for her? Was he even thinking about marriage at this point in their lives?
"Oh Bulma… Come on, we were just joking!" The color drained from his face as he looked between the two women. "Right? Tell her Maron,"
A delicate blue brow raised, "No, I'm serious. I know that a lot of my girlfriends all talk about how great of an addition you are to the Taitans and you are cute to boot," The younger woman's response incensed Bulma further.
Rolling her eyes, she brushed it off in effort to keep spirits high, "Enough with the kidding around. Maron, you haven't said much about Krillin. What makes him so special to you?"
A few moments went by as silence permeated the room. Then the blue-haired bombshell spoke happily.
"Well, he's bald!"
Everyone nearly fell over in a fit of exasperation. Bulma might have expected too much from the woman to have known that Maron might have given a different answer. Glancing over to her boyfriend to see his reaction, Yamcha had a faraway look in his eyes that Bulma didn't quite understand.
The usual display of lewdness befitting Master Roshi occurred when the old man propositioned Maron under the guise of the Kame Karate Code, but Bulma put a stop to it immediately. Having a good laught, the whole gang then began to finish their food before relaxing in the sun. Somewhere in their conversation at lunch, Krillin had promised Maron that they would have fish for dinner. He had ventured out into the surrounding water and attempted to spear any that came near.
Another surprise came in the form of a willing-to-help Maron clothed in nothing more than an entire square foot of bright yellow spandex. Bulma had to guess that the one-piece might have been one of Maron's more conservative bathing suits. Fortunately for Bulma, everyone's attention was taken off of the promiscuous beauty when a large sea-plane landed at the foot of Roshi's lawn chair. Amidst the fluttering of a thousand magazine pages full of scantily-clad women, Chichi appeared on the shore.
"Alright, everyone... Where is Gohan? Answer me!" The raven-maned woman barked. Bulma tensed, knowing that she and Chichi hadn't spoken since the woman had come over for lunch many months prior.
Goku having been gone nearly a year, Chichi must've been wearing thin having to teach, feed and raise Gohan herself along with keeping up the house. There were lines in her forehead and at the corners of her eyes. Bulma knew that it had to be hard, dealing with so much stress, but even as the new President of Capsule Corporation, she hadn't been feeling as exhausted as Chichi looked. A pang of regret stung Bulma in the gut, but she shook her head, knowing that they weren't talking for a reason.
After everyone had sworn upon their very lives that Gohan had not shown up, Chichi was satisfied with simply waiting. That was about the time that Maron's unfailing ability to insult people to an absurd degree reared its head.
"I'm a friend, I was invited here… but I don't think you were!" The younger woman was completely ignorant to the embers of a soon-to-blossom wildfire within the depths of Chichi's eyes.
Her entire form shaking with anger, she warned Maron, "You should stay out of this,"
"You're just a jealous old woman," Challenging blue eyes were cool as she spoke, tossing blue tresses over a shoulder. "Your grandson is obviously not here right now, but I can see why he needed to get away," She laughed heartily, making Bulma wince.
"That does it!" A swirl of red energy engulfed the wife of Goku. "I hope you like black and blue, because you're going to be wearing it for a while!"
The fight was stopped before it even begun by the courageous Master Roshi, but the idiocy of Maron didn't end. Krillin attempted to get her as far away from Chichi as possible, only resulting in the young woman waving farewell to Chichi and shouting, "Goodbye Grandma!"
It took everyone holding back a powered-up Chichi from ripping the limbs off of the skimpily clothed woman. Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned indeed, thought Bulma. It was almost ten minutes that they had to hold down the daughter of the Ox-King. Bulma's arms had begun to feel tired with strain from holding down Chichi's shoulder for so long.
She had looked up to see that Krillin and Maron had ducked beneath the water, and there was something strange on the horizon. It looked like fog or mist, but it was an odd purple color. A sharp tug and Bulma's mouth was full of black hair, courtesy of Chichi's ponytail. She had to pay attention or earth's strongest woman might knock her out.
Chichi's scream was the last thing that Bulma heard before everything grew dark.
When Bulma came to, she was standing beside Yamcha and Puar, leaning against a yellow cab that had been turned on its side. The surrounding cars weren't in much better shape. In fact, the entire block around them had been reduced to rubble and buildings that seemed to be nothing more than dilapidated shacks. Eyes wide, she looked over to Yamcha and saw a look of incredulity marring his face.
He didn't know any more than she did, the knowledge striking fear into her heart.
Sliding down the hood of the car, Bulma sat to gather her thoughts. Staring into the sky, she could hear the heavy breathing of Puar and Yamcha. The blue cat floated and sat on what was now considered the top of the car, where Oolong was also residing for the moment. "What the fuck happened to us…" She whispered to herself.
Yamcha found that he wasn't incredibly drained of energy, so he was able to bring everyone back to the Kame House by searching for the Old Turtle's familiar energy. He'd been sleeping under the water most of the time, so he wasn't able to tell the four of them what exactly went on. Bulma noted that the Kame House did have the new addition of a giant hole in the side, a quick access door into the living room.
Slowly, the others made their way back to the Kame House. Bulma was more shook up about the fact that no one knew what happened, until Krillin finally showed back up with Maron. He recanted their tale of how Garlic Junior had poisoned the four winds with black mist and turned everyone into destructive zombies. He and Maron hadn't been affected because they were underwater when the black mist had gone by. Gohan and Krillin, with the help of Kami, Mr. Popo and Piccolo, had managed to defeat Garlic Junior and his lackeys. Gohan had also gone unaffected, but he'd decided to go back home to his mom instead of getting into more trouble.
Finally understanding what happened, Bulma still felt unease about the fact she would never remember what happened while under the spell of the Black water mist. Everyone stayed for the remainder of the day, agreeing to help Master Roshi patch up his house before high-tide.
Bulma had declined Yamcha's offer of flying her home. He had seemed hurt at her turning him down, but the heiress really wanted to be alone for a while. After rummaging around in a drawer in the upstairs of the Kame House, she found the skycar capsule that she'd stashed there in case of emergencies. Bidding everyone a goodbye, Bulma popped the capsule and flew into the midnight sky.
She couldn't help but think about how Yamcha had looked at Maron when she had asked him to go out. Her mind fixated on the moments after Roshi had asked for a kiss from the blue bombshell. Most of all, why couldn't she stop thinking about the dream she'd had about Vegeta?
Taking a deep breath, she ran a pale hand through sapphire strands. What if she was just projecting how guilty she felt hiding the dream from Yamcha, and she was searching for infidelity in her relationship? Was she taking things too seriously? She had to tell Yamcha about it. He'll be upset about it, but it's always better to be honest about things instead of hiding secrets.
She would tell him. Bulma vowed to herself, the next day that they both had off, Bulma would sit down and tell Yamcha about the dream. It wasn't that big of a deal. It was just a dream, right?
Right, a dream filled with a half-naked, delectable Saiyan that made her toes curls just at the thought of kissing. Not a big deal, at all.
It seemed during the next few weeks, life itself was conspiring against her. Whenever Bulma and Yamcha had any free time, plans came up and got in the way. She wanted to tell Yamcha about the dream with as few people present as possible. She didn't want to embarrass him in front of the entire Z Gang.
Then came what Bulma dubbed, Krillin's Almost Proposal. The two had moved in together and shared an apartment, and they were increasingly spending less time with the whole gang and more time together alone. The night of the Old Turtle's birthday, Krillin had mentioned that they were talking about getting engaged, but Bulma had observed multiple times where Maron would thoughtlessly flirt with Yamcha.
The Star Batter for the Taitans didn't seem awkward around women anymore, and Bulma felt bittersweet about those circumstances. He was more comfortable in public nowadays, but it also meant that any female fans of his on the street that approached him, the desert bandit was cool and at ease. It didn't help her feelings that Krillin and Maron were apparently on the cusp of betrothal.
Yamcha hadn't spoken a word about marriage since he'd been resurrected. She'd been content with that for a while, preoccupied with taking over as President of Capsule Corporation and heading up the R&D departments along with her personal projects. She was busier than the usual person. Yet, there was always something in the shadows of her mind that made her feel as if she may never be married to Yamcha. He seemed completely content with everything the way it was.
It didn't help that Bulma had increasingly more dreams about the Saiyan Prince as the weeks grew. She would wake up, sheets damp with sweat, her heart pounding. By the Grace of Kami, it had never happened on the rare evening when Yamcha stayed the night, but her fortitude was wearing thin. Nearly every night when she closed her eyes, from behind her lids there were insatiable, dark orbs staring at her.
Krillin's Almost Proposal had come to a conclusion in the matter of a week. Shockingly, Krillin had broken up with Maron, something which Bulma was eternally grateful for. The heiress didn't know if she could've handled being around the flirtatious ninny for the rest of her life. Perhaps Krillin had realized that Maron wasn't really the right one for him. She wondered what happened for him to change his mind.
The following week gave way to weekend where there were not any plans made to hang out as a group and Bulma grabbed at the chance to invite Yamcha over. When he'd arrived at the compound, Oolong and Puar were with him, Bulma having forgotten to ask him to come alone. He'd normally bring Puar with him if they were going to hang out the entire day, but Oolong was an unexpected guest.
They sat out on one of the balconies, Bunny Briefs bringing refreshments as needed – she wasn't the 28th Region's Hostess of the Year for nothing – and the foursome kept the conversation light. That was, until Bulma ran out of patience. The confession had been sitting on the tip of her tongue all day.
"I had a weird dream last night that Vegeta came back," Oh, that was a slick move there Bulma - very tactful, her mind scolded her. Yamcha won't freak out at all at your simple admonition.
Yamcha reacted exactly how the mechanical genius anticipated, "What?! Vegeta? You dreamt about him?" The idea of Bulma dreaming about Vegeta probably struck Yamcha as the most far-fetched thing he'd ever heard in his life.
Well, cat's already out of the bag. "Actually, he was pretty nice to me in the dream, and a good kisser to boot!" With those words, Bulma knew that there wasn't a slim chance that Yamcha would take any of it well.
"What?! You kissed him?" The former bandit's face paled.
Bulma ignored his expression and brushed the conversation off her shoulder in an instant, "It was just a dream, Yamcha,"
"You poor sap, you're jealous aren't you?" Oolong laughed heartily.
"Speaking of Vegeta, your father said that he'll run out of fuel if he doesn't return to Earth soon,"
Blue eyes shined with concern, Bulma turning away and staring off into the sky. "Vegeta's running out of fuel?" She hadn't given the stubborn Prince's situation another thought since she'd begun having weekly conversations with him. He'd never seemed concerned enough for her to worry, but now the reality thatVegeta's pride may beat him before he returned – it made her head spin.
Shaking her head, she murmured to her heart, "He'll be fine,"
A sigh escaped the heiress before she looked back over her shoulder with a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, and asked, "Who's up for some Mahjong?"
The gang wasted no time breaking out the tiles and beginning to set them out. The awkward dialogue about Bulma's dream was on hold or at least Yamcha seemed content to forget about it at the moment. The foursome of Bulma, Yamcha, Puar and Oolong settled in for a relaxing afternoon for a game of skill, strategy, and little bit of luck.
This time when Capsule Ship 3 crashes to Earth, Bulma wasn't dreaming.
It shot to the ground and before Bulma could really be sure that it was the ship that Vegeta had taken, Yamcha was in a protective stance in front of her mother. Bunny Briefs was currently too occupied staring at the ship that had landed only a few dozen yards away, she didn't realize that her teapot was emptying itself onto the ground by her feet. Even the Hostess of the Year could be flustered to the point of forgetting all etiquette.
The door opened, forming stairs to the broken earth below. White boots, scuffed with wear, aided the descent of a particularly muscled titan. Bulma noted from far away that his skin still held a healthy glow and he didn't seem to be malnourished in the least. In the span of a few seconds, the blue-haired woman had gone from staring to sprinting towards the crash site.
"Vegeta! What do you want?" The scarred man took a protective stance in front of the older blonde Briefs, on guard against the irritated Prince of Saiyans.
"Oh my…" Bunny covered her mouth at the sight of the arrogant man. The Prince seemed irritated at the fact that he'd needed to return to Earth, angry lines etched between his eyebrows.
Jumping from the ship's ramp, he spoke with the faintest tinge of anticipation, "I was hoping that Kakarott might have finally returned,"
"What? You never found him in space?" Yamcha paled, thinking that there was a possibility the dragon might have been wrong, that Goku might actually be dead. That would leave Vegeta as one of the strongest, if not the strongest known fighter in the known universe. Sweat began to bead on the bandit's forehead.
"Don't remind me," Vegeta growled. "I'm angry enough to hurt someone…" He trails off when his gaze falls on the woman rapidly approaching the trio. Long blue tresses bouncing in the wind, clear eyes full of intellect pinning him to the spot. She seemed to be nearly glowing in the sun as her long legs strode over the grass. It seemed that his words had dried up within his mouth. The appearance of the woman elicited an unusual response from the royal Saiyan.
It perturbed him.
Bulma hadn't noticed that no one was speaking. The arrogant Saiyan's presence appeared to silent her usual quick-witted speech and caused a blush to creep up on the youthful heiress' cheeks. Her eyes roved over his form, lingered particularly on his arms and face. He'd certainly gained more muscle in the months he was gone. Seeing everything in person was far different for the pair than over the vid-com. Bulma's eyes seemed brighter than ever, Vegeta's hair looked softer than clouds. Unknown emotions roiled through the pair, the unresolved tension amplifying as the distanced had waned.
Yamcha clearing his throat loudly, for the third time in the past minute, finally pulled the two out of their soundless greetings. A set of aggravated lines had settled upon his forehead. A mixture of anger and jealousy, but he could never speak up about how Bulma had undressed Vegeta with her eyes. The aforementioned Saiyan would squash him like a bug for such a statement. Probably.
It just made Bulma out to be a hypocrite, with her cutting remarks about how he'd act around women ever since that girl – Maron, was it? – had hit on him. Now, here she was, almost salivating at the sight of this man who had killed him! Vegeta hadn't been much better with his more reserved glances as she walked up to them.
Snapping out of her reverie, Bulma took a deep breath before stepping closer. She immediately regretted her actions, covering her nose, "Oh Kami, what is that wretched smell? Vegeta, is that you? You need a bath, pronto,"
After enough heated arguing back and forth, Bulma ordering Vegeta around, Vegeta ordering Bulma around in retaliation, Bulma mocking obedience to the Saiyan "Prince" – she'd used air quotes when speaking – and the Prince referring to her as a servant woman, Bulma had about enough. She'd teach that arrogant Prince who was in control, once and for all.
As Vegeta finished up his shower, which was the moment that Bulma decided to put into action her revenge. She called it:
Mission Pink Shirt.
A/N: Hello my wonderful readers! Thank you all so much for your wonderful reviews and advice! I'll mark lemons at the beginning of chapters for you all. However, if this fanfic does end up being taken down, I'll just put it on my A03 acct. I use that mostly for my Mass Effect fanfiction habit, so it'll be a Plan B. As for everyone asking about the dream sequence. Bulma and Vegeta aren't bonded. I'd like to think that Fate sort of intervened and that they had a shared sort of dream.
By the by, I consider Mahjong to be the most Asian of board games, there's even a manga all about it... This chapter we finally see Yamcha begin to change and not completely for the better. In Dragonball, he was incredibly shy around girls. Now we see that his eyes have been opened to how girls really view him. Plus, Bulma isn't the most attentive girlfriend nowadays. She's got a company to run and Vegeta's returned…
Fun Fact: The Garlic Junior Saga was my least favorite part of Dragon Ball Z. Couldn't Toriyama have come up with better filler?
