I know I said that my updates might not be as frequently as I've been trying to make them, which is true. But here I am, posting a new chapter two days later! This one and my last update were actually one large chapter that I split into two. That's why I was able to post this one so soon. ;)

I really am starting to get pretty busy, though, so I can't promise when the next update will be made. If you've been following me / reading my other stories for a while then you probably know by now that I always say this but I still try not to be gone for too long. I don't plan for it to take months for me to update again... It just might be longer than a week or two.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy!

When Vegeta woke up one morning and realized that it had been seven days since Bulma had started locking herself in the lab for all hours of the day, he started to feel as if he was being fooled. 'I can't get used to this.' He thought bitterly as he made his way downstairs.

It had been an entire week that he'd been following this new routine of waking up before the crack of dawn, wolfing down the buffet of food that Mrs. Briefs had prepared for him, and then training with the bots until his next meal. By now Bulma had adjusted those machines to run even quicker. One of the robots was even designed with a built in taser, which would flash the saiyan with a jolt of electricity upon contact with his skin.

He worked out in the new training outfits that Dr. Briefs had created for him, which were so realistically authentic that at times Vegeta had trouble determining which set was his original. During some training sessions he wouldn't even try to dodge the robots at all, and instead would stand still and take all of the beatings and electric shocks that they had in them. During other sessions he would focus solely on his speed, bouncing back and forth across the old garage as robots brushed past him on either side.

He knew his physical abilities were improving with each passing hour. Even if he wasn't exerting himself as much as he'd had to in the past, those willful beating he took from the robots were taking care of him. It was in his saiyan DNA that with any injury he would recover to be even tougher and stronger than before, and he was enjoying inflicting numerous dents on his body for this process.

But it was now day seven, and he was starting to feel impatient. Other than the few times that Bulma had made adjustments to his robots, Vegeta hadn't seen her at all. And, if he was being honest with himself, he didn't like it at all. He'd gotten used to seeing her nearly too much during their time together in the capsule house. Such a gap between contact just didn't sit right, and he was unnerved when he thought about exactly why that could be.

Now it seemed she never left that lab! The saiyan didn't see her during any meals, and he certainly never overheard Mrs. Briefs chatting with her. He hadn't even noticed her retreating to her room for the night, and Vegeta was starting to wonder if she was getting any sleep at all. He'd certainly never sensed that dreamy calm of her's when he reached out for her ki!

… And he certainly was feeling for her aura on a frequent basis, noting that her ki was growing more strained and weak with each passing day...

This morning he was intrigued when he traced her aura and found that she was waiting for him in the garage. Sure enough, when he walked in after breakfast, she was standing at the side of the room. Leaning against a wall, she was tapping her feet impatiently as she waited for him to come in. "There you are!" She said when she finally saw him, pushing herself off the wall and stepping towards him.

"What happened to you?" He replied, looking her up and down as he took in the scene. He hadn't seen her in at least three days, and he was surprised at how much she had changed since then. The glow that always seemed to be illuminating her eyes was now dull, her skin much more pale than usual, and her hair much more messy than she normally kept it. She really must not have been feeling like herself at all, for she typically would have snapped something back at the saiyan about how rude he was to ask such a question. Instead she acted as if she hadn't noticed at all, gesturing to a setup she had been working on in the center of the garage. "I need your help today."

What she had been pointing at was a thick cut of what appeared to be discolored iron. The slab was about the size of Vegeta's torso, and it was just as tall as it was wide. On all four corners of it were small patches of reflective coating, which had wires running out from them. The wires trailed across the floor and into a small receiver that Bulma was holding in her hand.

"What is this?" The saiyan asked, but the Bluehead didn't seem to be in the mood for receiving questions this morning. "I'm trying to finalize my project - if you don't mind." She replied curtly. "All I need you to do is give this metal your best blasts. I need to make sure it can withstand your power."

He gave her a fierce look in response to the tone she was using, but he lifted his palm and shot a purple blast at the cube regardless.

"Hold it while I analyze the pressure levels." Bulma instructed, looking down at the controller in her hand and scribbling down its readings on a notepad. "Hm… not bad… Is that all you've got?"

"You want more?" Vegeta smirked.

"Give it more." She nodded.

The saiyan turned back to the box and raised his ki, causing the purple beam that was eliciting from his palm to grow brighter in color. The controller in Bulma's hand began to beep as the reading levels changed, and she quickly scribbled it all down on her paper. "Oh, this is great! Vegeta - more!"

This was just getting too good! The saiyan, ecstatic at the feeling of the energy surging through his body, grinned at her request. With a strained grunt, he raised his ki as high as he could in that moment. He powered up so much that a pale coat of silver began to illuminate his figure. "You sure you want more?" He growled, his heart fluttering as his aura reached a level he hadn't had to spike to in quite some time.

"Yes, Vegeta!" Bulma gasped, and there was now a smile on her face as she eyed the saiyan's glow. "I need to see what the absolute limit of pressure this material can take is. Blast it one more time!"

With a breathless yell Vegeta faced both of his hands to the box, a beam of bright green shooting from both of his palms and slamming into the metal slab. Bulma cringed from the light of the explosion and looked down at her receiver, quickly trying to read what it was displaying. When the blast dissipated and Vegeta's glow faded, the Bluehead looked up to see that the slab of metal was now a steaming crumple of ash. "Wow..."

The saiyan was out of breath, but he fought to maintain his composure in front of Bulma so she wouldn't see just how much of a strain that had really been for him.

"Well," Bulma sighed, looking down at her controller, which was now short circuiting. "I don't think any improvements I make will be able to withstand that…"

"What was the point to all this?" Vegeta panted. "-Other than how good it felt…"

"You'll see..." She tucked her notepad under her arm. "I'm starting on the last phase of my project today. I needed to make sure the material I'm using with be able to hold up against what you give it. It seemed like it was doing just fine until that last bit." She was making her way for the door, but Vegeta suddenly appeared in front of her to block her path. "Gah - Vegeta! Don't do that to me!"

"Not so fast." He said, still catching his breath. "We had a deal that you would tell me what your project is after a week of work, and it's been longer than that."

"I'm not ready to tell you yet!" Bulma retorted, stepping to the side to try and move around him. He caught her by the wrist and held her in place, raising a brow as he stared into her eyes. "You will update me on everything right now."

"I told you I'm not ready to do that! Just let me get back to work on it, and I'll be done soon enough!"

"And when exactly will that be?" He growled. "You're taking more than enough time as it is. I've been generous with you up until now…"

"It's been more complicated than I expected, okay? Look, Dad and I are starting on the final phase today, and we'll have it complete by the end of the week."

"You've said similar things to me before." Vegeta glared. "I'm growing impatient, Woman..."

"Since when have you ever been patient?!" Bulma spat. "Now let me go! You're starting to hurt me!"

Vegeta stared at her face, noting the creases on her forehead as she glowered at him. Her eyes were pink and puffy, her lips just as pale as her skin. Finally, with a sigh, he released his hold. "You haven't been nourishing yourself enough."

"What's it matter to you?" She replied, moving for the door.

"You should eat before you continue."

"I don't need to eat!" She snapped. "I need to work on this! The sooner I finish, the sooner you'll get off my back about it!"

"Woman..." Vegeta gave her a tone of warning. "I want this project of your's to be completed, but I didn't tell you to neglect your body with lack of sleep and food. You will eat right now."

"You won't tell what to do!" The Bluehead yelled, grabbing the knob of the door. "And my name is Bulma!"

"Damnit, Bulma!" The saiyan snarled. "Listen to me and eat some fucking food!"

The Bluehead turned at him to shoot him a glare. "You will not tell me what to do!" She yelled one last time, and a second later she slammed the door shut as she began the march towards her lab.

.

"I really can't get used to this."

Another five days had passed without Vegeta seeing the Bluehead at all. He continued to work most of his days away in the gym, racing between the bots, practicing his power ups, and withstanding as many electric shocks and blows to the head as he could before eventually falling down.

Just as his daily habit dictated, the saiyan was also quick to trace the whereabouts of the Bluehead each morning when he woke and each night before he slept. No matter what, she was always sitting in that damned lab. But something he was quick to recognize was how much stronger her ki was starting to become once again. It was clear that she was taking consideration into Vegeta's orders of self-maintenance… Much more than she had wanted to let on. It was enough to make him grin when he thought too hard about it, pleased that he was making an influence on her after all.

It was on that twelfth day of staying at the Briefs residence that she finally showed herself to him, meeting him in the garage after he returned from a hearty lunch. "So, you've finally decided to make your presence known." Vegeta sarcastically commented as he stepped through the door, though he was truthfully enjoying the act of looking her up and down again.

"Ha-ha." The Bluehead replied, though she didn't seem to be in nearly as bitter of a mood as she had been a few days earlier. "I thought you'd want to be the first to know that I've completed the project."

"Is this the truth, or are you trying to deceive me?" The saiyan raised a suspicious brow. She hadn't even told him what the project was yet. Each time he'd asked she would blow him off and yell that she wasn't ready. Now she was saying that she was actually done?

"Yeah, it's all finished!" Bulma broke into a smile. She was looking twice as elated as she had a moment earlier, rocking back and forth on her feet as she beamed at the man in front of her. Vegeta examined her face, noticing that her skin now had color again, and her eyes were no longer so fatigued. She really had started taking better care of herself, hadn't she? The saiyan folded his arms over his chest, as it was traditional for him to do, and he smirked. "So. Let's see what this top secret special project was all about."

"Okay!" Bulma squealed. She pulled a capsule from her pocket, turned, and threw it into the center of the garage. When the yellow smoke faded and revealed what had been tucked inside the pod, Vegeta was surprised to see that there was now a large cube in front of him. It was almost tall enough to reach the garage's ceiling, and the diameter was about the size of the bedroom in the capsule house. It was small - but certainly nothing to scoff at. There would be plenty of space to move about inside. "Bulma... What in the-"

"Shh." The Bluehead walked to the end of the cube and pulled open a door that Vegeta hadn't noticed before. "Come in here and watch."

The saiyan followed her command, walking into the cube and stopping in the center of this strange room. He looked around and realized that the walls were made up of the same metal that Bulma had been asking him to blast a few days earlier. In fact, so was the floor… He turned to see that she was still standing outside, peeking her head in through the door. "I'm not like you, so I won't be joining you for the test run." She said, waving a remote in her hand. She was still grinning, but now there was a mischievous flare in her eyes. "Brace yourself."

"For what?" Vegeta scowled. The look on her face was so devious that for a moment he thought she might have just conducted some elaborate type of trap. Before he had much time to think she slammed the door shut, and through a glass paneling on the door he could see her clicking a button on the remote. Vegeta heard a loud beeping sound, and he looked up to notice that there was some type of computer installed in the far corner of the room. It was flashing a green light, and a second later was when it started.

"What the-" He began, but his jaw was quickly growing heavier, and he paused mid-sentence. His feet were digging into the tile, his muscles quivering as they urged to sink towards the floor.

The machine was softly humming now, indicating that whatever was happening had been intentional by this computer.

Utilizing all the strength in his muscles just to keep his balance, Vegeta turned back towards the door and saw that Bulma was watching him through the glass panel with ecstatic eyes. She looked down and clicked something on the remote again, and suddenly the machine's humming stopped.

The saiyan's body ceased its tug towards the floor with such abruptness that he nearly lost his balance, and the door to the room was swinging open again. "It worked!" She sang. "I saw your body tense up. I just know it worked!"

The saiyan couldn't even form words, he was so amazed. He simply stared at her with wide eyes as she jumped up and down in front of him, a giddy blue blob that seemed to bounce in all the right places... "Don't you like it?! Oh - this will no doubt work wonders for your training routine! You can even use the bots in here if you'd like, but I'll have to reinforce their bodies if you want to set the gravity level fairly high."

"Woman..." Vegeta breathed. "You..."

"I can't believe it's actually finished! I thought I was going to go crazy when I was working through the system's bugs!" The Bluehead was running her hands through her hair, staring into Vegeta's eyes as she rambled. "This should be able to fit in the back of the jet while we travel! It'll be a tight fit, but it'll work! I tried to design it to not exceed the jet's weight limit, either! I-"

"This was your special project?" Vegeta interrupted her. "Gravity manipulation?"

"Yeah..." Her face was starting to lose some of its enthusiasm at the tone in his voice. "Why?"

"You… Created a device that manipulates gravity." Vegeta repeated. There was an off feeling welling in his gut. She had mastered something so impossible, and he hadn't even known what to expect. He'd stupidly walked into what could have been a perfect trap, and he'd done it just because she'd told him to! If she had wanted to, she could have easily crushed him while he was locked in that room and he wouldn't have been able to figure out what was going on in time to even know the cause of his own death.

Yet, she hadn't.

This was a recurring trend with her, it seemed. She had initially risked her life just to try and get away from him, but now she was ignoring all types opportunities left and right that she could easily take advantage of to rid herself of him…

"What's wrong?" Bulma was asking now. Vegeta was quickly approaching her, the expression on his face far from pleased. "Don't you like it?" She continued, the smile completely faded from her cheeks.

"WHY did you do this!" He snapped. "What is the reason for this?!"

"I..." Bulma blinked. "What?"

"Answer me!" He barked. "You've hardly slept or eaten for the better part of two weeks in order to create this weaponry. And for what?! What is the purpose of it?!"

"What do you mean?" She replied, biting her lip. "I told you, already - I thought it would help you train..."

"What do you care about my training?!" He yelled. "It's none of your business!"

"Don't you want to be able to take on the person who's coming after you?!" Bulma snapped back. This wasn't how she'd expected the big reveal to play out. She'd been hoping he would be impressed by her capabilities, perhaps even a bit appreciative. She hadn't been expecting him to start yelling at her and acting like she'd done something wrong!

"I've heard from a reputable source that you don't trust very easily..." Vegeta muttered. "So why trust me with something of this capacity? What have I told you about trust?! Why do you insist on seeing good when there is none?!"

"Why are you such a jerk?!" Bulma shot back. "I already told you why I did this – it's because I wanted to help you with your training!"

"Enough with your lies!" The saiyan snapped. "Answer me now, Woman!"

"I just wanted to help you beat that bastard, okay?!" The Bluehead barked back. "I just thought that this might help you train to beat the horrible person who stole your planet from you!"

"What do you know of the one who destroyed my planet?" He growled. "It isn't any of your business. You know nothing of it!"

"Yes I do!" Bulma screamed. "That bastard who destroyed your planet is coming after you, isn't he? He needs to pay for what he's done!"

At hearing this Vegeta reared back, and for a moment he looked shocked at what she said. Perhaps she was getting through to him, after all. The Bluehead stepped forward so she could continue with her point. "Anyone who can kill an entire planet full of people is a monster, Vegeta! He's a monster! How could someone live with themselves when they've done something like that?! He needs to see recourse for what he's committed!"

Any sign that he might have been considering what she was saying immediately wore away. "You don't know anything, Woman!" Vegeta snarled again. "What you know of my history is only a slight portion of it – one that I've chosen to share! In the grand scheme of things you're absolutely ignorant to who I am!" He grabbed her by the arms then, giving her a forceful shake as he yelled. "You have no right deciding to intervene in my matters! What have I already told you about thinking there is good in others where there is none?! Why won't you just accept people for what they've already shown you they are?! Stop being so -!"

His voice was so loud that it was ringing in his own ears, and Vegeta's tongue caught in his throat. He paused mid-sentence, panting to catch his breath. Still holding her firmly in place, the look on her face made the saiyan instantly regret what he'd done.

… Perhaps he really was overreacting… This time he really might have gone too far…

"You know what? If I was the person that everyone believes me to be simply because of first impressions, I'd be a lot of things… But it certainly wouldn't be anything like the person I actually am." Bulma breathed, glaring into his eyes. "Do you know what it's like to grow up with this damned hair and these fucking eyes, or to have an eccentric scientist as a father? Do you know how much shit I had to go through because of it?! How the people I went to school with would bully me and try to shove me around? Of course, whenever I would finally defend myself and hit someone back that just made me the witch! Do you know how the other students avoided me like the plague, and how many people still do now that I'm grown?! Everywhere I go, people are attaching labels to my name and ridiculing me – I'm either crazy, spoiled, ugly, weird, arrogant, stupid, or a combination of all of them!"

Her voice was shaking now, but she continued on. "It's amazing how I was ousted because of who my father is, and yet everyone loved to tell me how much of an idiot I am. Oh, they all love tothink that the blue haired bimbo is an airhead! I am judged every day based on what people think they see in me, and I refuse to do the same to other people, Vegeta! I won't! I know there's a lot more to you than there appears to be, and even more than you want to let on!" She dropped her face now, shaking her head as tears welled in her eyes. "God – even you did it to me!You assumed I was stupid and weak when you kidnapped me, and even now you still don't want to admit what I am capable of! I saw the look on your face when I showed you what the project was just now – even you didn't think I had it in me! You just-"

It was then that Vegeta grabbed her shoulders and gave her another jerk, this time much softer than the last. "Bulma." He wasn't yelling anymore, but his voice was still firm and came out as a command. The Bluehead opened her eyes and looked up, her mouth dropping open as she paused in the middle of her rant. She was breathing heavily, tears slowly streaming down her face as she waited to see what he had to say.

But the saiyan didn't speak.

Slowly he brought a hand up. Tracing it across her hairline, the saiyan caught a strand of blue between his fingers and laced his fingertips down to her chin. 'Ridiculed over such hair…' He thought, never having considered that this woman would have been ostracized from the society she was born in. He rather liked her hair… What was there to complain about?

"Vegeta?" Bulma said, her voice still shaking with emotion.

"Hm…" The saiyan muttered, now staring into her eyes. Something about them had always intrigued him… Ever since the day they'd met, even when he had been trying his damndest to intimidate her, those eyes of hers had fascinated him.

… Who would mock such captivating gems?

… Who would actually treat this Woman as a lesser being? If anything, he'd assumed her history to have consisted of the exact opposite. She was an elite, wasn't she? This was how the people on the planet treated their superiors?

She was still panting from her rant as he continued to run a hand along her face. 'What is he doing?' Bulma thought, shivers running down her spine at the feel of his calloused touch. He wasn't speaking at all, and the way he was looking at her was enough to make her forget what she'd just been screaming about. Even the manner in which he was stroking her was confusing – it was so careful and soft - such a far contrast to the way he normally handled anything. The other night, when he'd initially touched her as he'd been helping her tend her wounds, he'd been so incredibly rough. Had he really learned from her complaints that night? Did he remember that she needed a softer treatment?

'Oh-' The Bluehead's breath caught in her throat. Vegeta was now using the knuckle of his fist to brush a few loose tears away from her cheeks. He had broken eye contact so he could momentarily examine his hand, which now glistened wet with her tears. He raised an eyebrow, as if the existence of the drops alone had been enough to insult him, and then his eyes slowly moved back up to hers.

What was he doing? She needed to know what was going through his mind. Vegeta had always been a man of few words, but Bulma wished now more than ever that he would tell her what he was considering...

And then, just as she was about to open her mouth to break the silence, he grabbed her chin and pulled her face towards his own.

She felt hot air clapping her skin, and then his mouth was on hers. The Bluehead's eyes immediately flew shut, raising her brows in absolute shock at what was suddenly happening between them.

He was actually kissing her? She didn't think he'd have it in him to push his arrogance aside for enough time to do such a thing!

But then, as she stood still and considered his actions, she became rather aware of his posture. His embrace was stiff and reserved, as if he wasn't so sure of what he was doing, himself. Yet he pulled her closer into his form, not breaking the kiss for a moment.

… Actually, this wasn't very much of a kiss, but rather he was simply holding his tight-lipped mouth against her own… and he wasn't pulling away. Participating in an awkward peck that didn't seem as if it was going to end any time soon, Bulma opened her eyes to look at his face.

His own eyes were shut as he stood frozen, his arms still holding her where she stood. There was no indication of discontent on his face, like she had been partially expecting at this point. But he was so stiff, and he hadn't done anything to deepen the embrace since initiating it! Again, the Bluehead got the impression that he wasn't sure of what he was doing – though she couldn't decide if it was that he was an inexperienced kisser, or if his own mind was shocked at his actions and he was trying to figure out how to retract.

'Idiot!' Vegeta thought, his heart-rate increasing as reality set in that he'd just taken things to a new level with the Earth Woman. 'What are you doing!? What's wrong with you?! Stop it!'

But he couldn't bring himself to cease, despite how much his brain was berating him.

'Let go of her and back away – right now! God, you're so weak! Look at you – you pathetic fucking slime. You disgust me! You can't even keep a grip of yourself enough to stand true to your race - like a real saiyan would!' Vegeta could hear himself screaming those exact words at two of his comrades, Nappa and Radditz, during many of their purging missions. Those guys always made it a point to single out women they wanted to conquer, which always disgusted the saiyan prince to think of how low his fellow men would stoop. Now, ironically, he was mentally yelling the same things at himself… And yet he still couldn't bring himself to end what he'd started.

In fact, as his mind pelted him with insults and threats, he felt himself wanting to laugh. He had no desire to end this moment with the Bluehead. Actually, it felt much more certain than any experience he'd ever had with a woman before ever did. It didn't feel so pathetic or forbidden – it felt good. 'Shut up,' His mind replied to itself. 'You of all men should know – I don't take orders from anyone.'

They had been standing like this for over two minutes, and the entire time Vegeta hadn't moved at all. With each passing second Bulma was starting to believe that the saiyan was really not enjoying this activity, but the thought only served to confuse her even more. If he wasn't enjoying this, why didn't he push away?! His lips were still pressed so tightly against hers, and he seemed as if he would stay like this indefinitely! Unsure of what to do, the Bluehead finally pulled back so she could get a better look at his face.

And there it was.

He was opening his eyes and was looking back at her, his jaw tight and his pupils wide. Not any word or twitch of emotion.

"Vegeta...?" She breathed, studying his face.

He didn't respond. The saiyan just continued staring at her, looking as if he was lost in his own head. She could tell that thoughts were swarming his mind, and he appeared to be deeply conflicted with whatever was being spoken inside. It was then that she understood – he really was in disbelief at his own actions. He couldn't fathom what he'd just done, and now the man in front of her was trying to decide how to handle the situation. He was most likely trying to determine which excuse would be best for what he'd just done.

…She'd never seen him look so remorseful...

"Vegeta..." She leaned closer into him, hoping to pull him out of this trance he was in. "I... it's okay. Look – it's okay. Don't worry about it. Nothing has to change between us, alright? We can just pretend this didn't hap-"

He grabbed her then, pulling her into his chest and slamming his lips against hers once more. This time there wasn't any awkward hesitation in his actions, and instead he massaged his lips against her own. Her arms flew around his neck, surprised that he was actually showing enthusiasm now. His hands were gripping her waist, curling his fingertips into her skin. And when Bulma opened her mouth to lick his bottom lip his hold tightened, a low growl curling from his throat.

He pulled away to eye her, and she was looking back at him. This time she was the one who appeared bewildered, while he just studied her features with a determined flare. She really was a fascinating woman…

… Just as he was starting to open his mouth to say something, he felt a sudden jolt. He paused, and then he quickly turned away to glare at the wall of the garage.

"What – what is it?" She breathed, thinking that perhaps he'd heard one of her parents and thought they were about to be walked in on.

The saiyan narrowed his eyes, wishing he wasn't still so new at sensing ki. Somewhere far away he could feel something happening, and it wasn't good. It was so far in the distance that he couldn't decipher where it was coming from, and yet it was strong enough to make his stomach twist. Countless life energies that he could feel spiking before abruptly disappearing. There was no gradual decrease of energy, no subtle fading of life. Somewhere far away people were dying – they were exerting their energy, probably trying to run away from the one that was butchering them… And there certainly was someone that was doing it to them, he could tell that much…

… At the mass quantity that the deaths were occurring at, is was only possible for this to mean one thing...

"Vegeta?" Bulma said nervously, feeling uneasy by the sudden alarm on his face, but he didn't reply.

How had he been found so soon?! He'd taken all precautions to ensure that he would not be traceable by the time anyone realized he was missing. Nobody should even be suspicious for another two and a half months!

How?!

He couldn't sense who it was that was committing this genocide, but he still knew exactly who it would be. And this person would be coming for him.

Soon.

Vegeta needed to find them before they came for him. The last thing he wanted was for them to track him down to this house, and discover Bulma... He needed to steer the attention away, away from the Bluehead that was standing right beside him. She didn't ask for this. She hadn't willingly agreed to Frieza's wrath when Vegeta had decided to take her captive and abandon his mission. He needed to keep her away from that monster's fury!

"Stay here!" He finally barked.

The Bluehead was holding on to his bicep, and she tightened her grip. "Why? What is it? Tell me what's wrong!"

"There's no time. I need to take care of something."

"Veggie?" The Bluehead tried to keep him from walking away, but he quickly moved out of her hold. He didn't even need to feel her ki to know she was afraid. By now he had come to understand that Veggie was a name reserved for when she was fearful, though he wasn't sure where that came from or why she did it. "I will be back, but if I am not here by the end of the day I need you to do something."

"Wha-"

"I will be back." Vegeta repeated. He couldn't look at her in the eyes when he said it, though. He didn't even know if this would be a true statement. For all he knew, he might be about to fly into the battle that would result in his own death. He wasn't ready for Frieza yet! What he was sure of was that he needed to get away, before they traced him to this house. Frieza just couldn't learn about her...

"Look. If I am not back by sunset, it is of utmost importance that you leave immediately to continue the search for the dragonballs - without me." He was pulling on his saiyan armor, which had been lazily tossed in a corner of the garage days earlier. "If I have not caught up to you by the time you have obtained the last ball, then I want you to wish for two specific things."

"But the balls will only grant one wish!" She replied, and Vegeta paused what he was doing upon hearing this. He looked down, letting out a deep sigh as he considered this news. Finally, after several seconds of silence, he sighed again. "Okay. Then you must wish for your own immortality. Do that as soon as you are able. Then I want you to find the balls again – I'm assuming they'll disperse or something and you'll have to start from square one. If I have not found you at the point that you're ready for a second wish..."

"...Veggie..." Bulma breathed, her voice quivering now. Her head was nearly spinning. She knew fully well what he was going to say, and she didn't understand how this could all be happening so suddenly. Her veins were curling with terror, her lungs growing short of breath.

"... Then I want you to wish for me to be brought back to life." He turned then, making a straight path for the door.

"Wait! Just tell me what's going on?!" Bulma jumped after him. "Did he find you? Is he here!?"

Just as Vegeta was about to step out the door, he paused. With his hand on the knob, he slowly he turned to look at her from over his shoulder. "Woman... do you trust me?"

"Veg-"

"Do you trust my instinct, my experience, and what I deem to be necessary?"

"Of course I do!" Bulma snapped, not even thinking before she answered.

"Of course?" Vegeta nearly fell back. He'd expected her to begrudgingly admit she did, or even lie when he knew the truth… But he hadn't been expecting her to declare this so confidently! "OF COURSE!?"

"Well... Yeah..." Bulma smiled, knowing perfectly well that she sounded absolutely crazy in admitting such a thing about the man who had originally taken her by force. "You're really smart... and-"

"You…I can't believe you! I don't understand why you..." The saiyan groaned. "Look, we'll have to discuss this later. But if you trust me as you say you do, then I want you to remember and do exactly what I've told you. And in the meantime, I also want you to think hard about what you've just said. Understand?"

"I just wish you would-"

"DO YOU UNDERSTAND?!"

He was staring into her eyes, still holding the door open as he continued to stand in the entrance of the garage. He was watching her so intently, and the terrified Bluehead could only bite her lip and nod. Before she had the chance to open her mouth and try to ask what was going on again, he was already gone.