Chapter Ten: Confessions of an Heiress

Bulma had to refrain from screaming at the top of her lungs. She immediately jumped up and pivoted on her heel only to land on her butt facing the couch from the swift motion. "Ve-Vegeta! You're back?!"

"Yes I'm back woman, but not because I want to be. Your inferior Earthling ship got damaged and so I had to come back to get it fixed. As soon as it is fixed however, I'm leaving. And the sooner, the better."

"Oh. . ." The disappointment was evident in her voice as she got up, picking up her spilled bowl of fruit off the floor. "Well, I can't get around to it till after the twenty-fifth of this month. I'm sure my father can probably help get it fixed, but even he doesn't have the time right now to do it quickly." Bulma saw him knit his brow in either frustration or anger, she couldn't really tell which as she walked back into the kitchen to wash off the pieces of fruit that had fallen to the floor. In actuality though, she wasn't all that hungry anymore. Of course he didn't miss Earth, how could I have been so blind. He just wants to become a Super Saiyan, destroy the androids, kill Goku, and then probably blow up the planet. Or worse yet, summon Shenron, wish for immortality, and then blow up the planet. Tears were threatening to spill from her eyes but she willed them not to, she did not want to cry over Vegeta, she had promised herself she wouldn't, and she would NOT look weak in front of him.

Vegeta followed the aqua-haired woman with his eyes, noting that she had gotten even more beautiful in the time he had been away. Her hair was longer, reaching well into her lower back, she looked leaner, and she was no longer bruised like she had been before. No, I will not think about this woman in that way. I did not come back to see her, I came back to get that blasted ship fixed. His mind argued that in all honesty, he did not need to return to space so quickly, after all he had accomplished what he had set out to do. Yes, he was now a Super Saiyan, a thing of legend. But how he achieved it bothered him somewhat. The planet he had been training on passed through an asteroid belt and it was raining meteors for days. That was actually why the ship was damaged, even though most of the meteors burned up in the atmosphere some still made it through. He had protected the ship, but after two days of doing that even he began to feel the affects of not eating and sleeping. After the third day, it seemed like the hell would never end, and that he was going to die out there. Yet the woman, this aqua-haired vixen, had appeared in his minds eye and at that moment he let everything go, ascending to the status of Super Saiyan. She had, in some significant or insignificant way, of which he was not sure, allowed him to transform, to break that damned barrier he alone was unable to do. Ever since his father told him the legend, he had always been trying to break the barrier. Vegeta scowled, she had done to him in five weeks of training what he could not do in his entire life of training alone. And yet . . . he didn't curse her for it, he wasn't grateful either, perhaps more merely content with her though he would not be caught dead saying that out loud.

Though his mind argued that he didn't need to return to space, his pride argued that he did. He wanted to keep secret his new achievement and surprise Kakarrot when he would transform right before his eyes. At last he would be able to take back his birth right from that insufferable clown and defeat him once and for all. But what would he do after, he did not know. He was a freed man now; he could do as he pleased. No more Frieza breathing down his neck, no more ruthless beatings from Zarbon and Dodoria, and definitely no more senseless planet purging. No more senseless . . . Since when had purging planets become senseless for him?

Bulma watched Vegeta curiously from the kitchen door. Yes he was looking at her but he seemed to be lost within an inner conflict of sorts. She had to admit though, it was nice seeing him again, but he looked like he had just returned not more than an hour ago. And he was looking rather . . . well to put it bluntly, beat to hell. Her eyes scanned him quickly; she could see all types of cuts and bruises, big and small, old and new, covering his body. "You look like shit by the way."

Vegeta's mind snapped out of his thoughts and he glared at the aqua harpy standing in the doorway. "Well you don't look that great yourself woman."

"At least I don't look like I've gone through hell and back." Bulma smirked; she had definitely missed their verbal spars.

"Fighting off meteors and trying not to die comes rather close to going through hell and back as you so put it. Though I doubt you would know anything about that at all."

Her smirk instantly fell and was replaced with a look of concern. "Damn it Vegeta, why don't you take better care of yourself?! You could have died out there!"

He eyed her warily, trying to discern if her words had any double meaning to them but was unsatisfied when he found one, only hearing her worry, concern, and anger. "I can take care of myself just fine. You have no need to concern yourself with my well being woman."

"You obviously don't take care of yourself nor care for your well being. What would you have done if you were badly injured of the ship got damaged to the point of where it couldn't fly? Tell me what would you have done then!"

"Neither of those things happened and neither of them would have happened. I had everything under control. And what do you care, it was rather obvious you hated me when I left!"

Bulma let out a frustrated sigh, "You. Are. Such. An. Idiotical. MONKEY! No one, and I mean NO ONE can control Mother Nature! And as for things I hate, I hate that I can't stop caring for you!" She clamped a hand quickly over her mouth as her eyes went wide with realization of what she had just confessed. She made a quick bolt for the nearest door, that of which lead outside, but in her haste she didn't care, she just needed to get away from him.

It was cold outside, she noticed that almost instantly, though it did not stop her. The cold ground nipped at her bare feet and the slight wind chill bit at her arms. Perhaps only wearing a noodle strap shirt and capri sweats home wasn't such a good idea. She had changed into her favourite red shirt and black sweats just before she left the WCPAC, since her plan was to come home, eat, and then head to bed. That had obviously not worked out well as she was now walking to Kami knows where, barefoot, outside her home. Stupid, stupid, STUPID Bulma! I can't believe I said that out loud. How could she have been so incredibly ignorant, she knew her emotions would have gotten the best of her and yet she still did not watch her mouth.

"It doesn't matter now, what's said has been said and he probably hates me even more now because of it. . ."

Vegeta had watched the woman bolt out of the kitchen with a look of bewilderment on his face. Her words continued to echo in his mind and he could not will them away. After all, he knew that that night, even though he had claimed it didn't mean anything for him actually did. And it was obvious that night had affected the woman more so than himself. But the idea of being cared for, even remotely, was extremely foreign to him. Yet he knew that she was honest about it, her reaction after all had shown that.

He followed her without thinking much of it until he heard her sniffling. He didn't know why but he silently cursed himself for making her cry. Vegeta peered around the corner of the building to find the woman sitting on the cold ground, he arms wrapped around her knees that were pulled up to her chest with her forehead resting atop them. He had not expected to see the spitfire vixen like this, there were few times she actually cried, actually he could only recall four times in the entire time he had stayed at Capsule Corporation when he had seen her cry. "Woman, you're going to literally freeze your ass off if you sit on the ground for much longer."

Bulma stopped sniffling and wiped her tears on her arm though she did not look up to face him. She was looking weak in front of him, crying over him after she just told herself she wouldn't. I'm such a fool . . .

"Woman I know you heard me."

"Yes Vegeta, I heard you." Her voice was barely audible and she still would not look at him.

He rolled his eyes, a very human reaction he had picked up from the woman. It was obvious she was sulking and it annoyed him, he would much rather have her screaming his ears off than be in this pitiful state. He grabbed her not so gently yet not entire rough either and tossed her over his shoulder before starting towards the house again.

"Vegeta! Put me down now!" Though to be honest she didn't really mind being carried by him. His body was extremely warm against her cold one.

"No, not that I care or anything but you getting sick is not something I intend to deal with."

Bulma sighed in defeat, there was really no way of getting out of his vice grip hold. Why he was acting like this she wasn't sure, she figured he would want nothing to do with her after what she had just said. Maybe he . . . no don't be stupid. She looked to the sky only to see a little white speck fall onto her nose. A smile began to tug on her lips; she knew exactly what that little white speck was.

"Vegeta!"

He cocked an eyebrow slightly at her radical change in behaviour though she couldn't see it. "What now. . ."

"Oh, it's snowing! Put me down!"

"its wha-"

"Just put me down!"

Vegeta growled slightly, "Fine," and set the prattling woman down. "Now what is this snow?"

Bulma took a couple of steps away from him and cupped her hands in front of her which soon began to fill with little white, fluffy specks. "Look to the sky, you'll see it."

He snorted but tilted his head skywards to see the little strange white things float lazily down to the ground. He had seen rain before, but this thing called snow, frankly he had never heard of it before. "What is it?"

"You're telling me you've never seen snow before Vegeta?"

"Woman if I had I wouldn't bother asking you."

She giggled slightly, "Don't be so touchy, it was a simple question. Snow is frozen rain, which means it's pretty damn cold right now." The snow was coming down harder now; they would have at least a foot, maybe two by tomorrow morning if it kept falling at this rate. She glanced over at him, letting her mind wander slightly. I wonder if maybe he just didn't catch what slipped out, or maybe he just doesn't care . . . he'll most likely say something about stupid human emotions anyway. A shiver ran up her spin and she curses herself for not wearing warmer clothes. She would have loved to stay out and play in the snow but she knew he was right and she most definitely could not risk getting sick. She grabbed his hand and much to her surprise he neither withdrew his hand nor say anything about it, he just followed her.

"We should go inside before we get sick."

"You mean before you get sick."

Bulma smirked as they walked back into the house and closed the door before she realized she was still holding his hand. "Right, before I get sick because we can't be having that now can we." She let go of his hand before heading to the fridge, the pantry, and then finally stopping at the stove. She glanced up at the clock; shockingly it was already after midnight.

Vegeta watched her warily, his hand still warm from her touch. It irritated him how such a simply act could set him ablaze and force him to use all of his concentration to keep himself from pouncing her. Even after five weeks, nothing had changed concerning his feelings for her, if anything, since his transformation, they had only gotten stronger. "Woman what are you doing now?"

"Bulma. And I'm making hot chocolate, would you like some?" She took his grunt as a yes and began heating up the milk she had retrieved from the fridge on the stove. She pulled down a couple of mugs to be filled with the soon-to-be warm milk and set them near the stove. "So tell me, what exactly did you do to my ship?"

"Why does it matter?"

Her mouth twitched with annoyance though he couldn't see it for her back was turned to him. "It matters because I need to know what exactly you have done to my poor ship so I can make sure it is fixed correctly monkey brain."

Vegeta glared daggers at her back but his mind rationalized that she was correct. "The planet I was training on passed through an asteroid belt. It was raining meteors for days, but the majority of them burned up in the atmosphere. However on the last day they hailed down harder and the rocks were threatening to destroy this ship. It was on this day that the mother of all meteors appeared not only threatening the ship but the planet as well. I blasted the damned thing but chunks of it still managed to get past me and hit the ship."

She poured the hot milk into the cups and added in the hot chocolate mix as she listened to what happened, her lips pursed into a thin line. It did explain why he looked so beat to hell, and now his earlier comment about fighting off meteors did seem justified. At least he didn't go into the meteor shower on purpose. She set his mug down on the table in front of him and walked over to the sliding glass doors to look out to the snow, already a light blanket of white covered the ground. "Well, at least you did make it back in one piece."

"Hn."

Bulma smiled as she drank her hot chocolate, even after going through a near death experience he would never change. But something was different, he had an air of power around him, not that he didn't before, but this one was different. It was stronger than before, almost radiating off of him. And he didn't really seem all that angry about having to wait for the ship to be fixed, after all he hadn't blown up in her face and demand she fix it right away when she told him he would have to wait. "Hey Vegeta, may I ask you a question?"

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow at her, that of which she caught in the reflection of the glass doors, "What do you want?" He was slightly interested to say the least in what she wanted to ask. The woman normally just questioned him relentlessly when she was in a curious mood, but now she was asking permission. Perhaps the aqua-haired vixen was finally learning her place.

"Did you . . . well when you were in space . . ." She chewed on the inside of her cheek a bit; she knew how sensitive the subject was with him. "You . . . ugh never mind, it's nothing."

"Woman I don't have the time to listen to your ramblings. Ask your damn question or don't say anything at all."

Bulma shrugged her shoulders and finished the last of her hot chocolate, perhaps she was just tired and imagining things. However something was nagging her in the back of her mind, telling her that her assumption was correct. "Well fine, I'm going to bed then." She stepped away from the door, setting her cup in the sink and headed for the stairwell. However she paused at the bottom before heading up, "Oh by the way Vegeta, welcome home. And congratulations on your achievement." She smirked proceeded up the stairs, it wouldn't take him long to figure out what she meant.