Hey guys, sorry for the long wait. I know a lot of you are getting excited for the romance, which is finally here! I've been getting through a bad bout of bronchitis but also going through the dainty stage of romance myself. :) So here's your overdue update!
'-thinking
"-speaking
Getting out of the shower, a brief thought went to Vegeta's whereabouts. She had become increasingly aware of the frequency of these thoughts, wondering if it was really just the paranoia of being alone in such a strange house or perhaps something... more?
She took a sharp breath in, not ready for the rush of warmth that ran through her. Hadn't she felt this before, with Yamcha? Perhaps, but perhaps not. She scanned through her memory bank, as vague as it was, and could recall nothing of the sort. That tingle that electrified her skin at the tantalizingly small second of Vegeta's finger on her mouth was nothing she had ever experienced before. It was as if he was awaking her up to a whole new set of feelings never before encountered, just as he claimed she was doing for the mansion itself.
A tinge of guilt struck her, not wanting to move so suddenly away from the familiarity that Yamcha's presence in her life had been. It was a warm blanket of security, protection from the evil wonders this house held. But wait, hadn't she already left that behind? She had been in the house for two weeks now, wasn't it already over? She tried to imagine how hurt Yamcha must be, how alienated he truly was from her life now that she had abandoned their relationship and dull existence in his apartment. But she could not evoke the same powerful feeling of guilt as Vegeta had triggered of ... something. A spark. Just a spark..
'Well, that's all it is. It can't be more. There is simply too much going on for something like that to even work.. Who knows if we'll even make it out alive?' The shuddering thought hit her like a ton of bricks, but she shoved it away, knowing it was unhealthy to even go down that route.
She dried her hair with the thick towel, noting its obviously faded luxurious texture. As she was doing so, she clumsily dropped it on the ground before picking it up to see an elegantly cursive B inscribed in a golden embroidery on the bottom of it. Straightening her body up slowly, it hit her. She had lived in this house. This house was hers.
She truly belonged here.
A set of joyful tears sprang to her eyes, making them glisten in the post-shower humidity of the bathroom. Just then, there was a rap at the door before it opened to reveal Vegeta with a seeking look in his eye.
Upon realizing the woman had just showered and was holding the towel instead of being covered in it, he quickly cast his eyes away to the side with a blushing tinge appearing on his tan cheeks. "I-.. I just came to tell you I will be outside, the forest requires some maintainence now that the seasons are merging."
Blushing intensely, Bulma stammered, "Oh- Okay!"
The door shut quickly, upon Bulma's dismay. Did he see something? And if he did, did he even like it?
'Ugh, Bulma. What ridiculous questions! We're not here for that!' She scolded herself for being so self-conscious around the recently revealed Prince. But she couldn't help it, so much was tied to him that she couldn't keep her focus off of him for much longer than ten minutes.
Getting dressed, she put on a simple sundress that was a dark blue, hugging her curves before flowing to the sides of her knees. She felt it was decent enough outside and something in her felt.. airy. Daring.
Bulma felt brave for once.
Flushing in her newfound confidence, Bulma brushed her growing mane of silken turquoise before taking a quick glance at her face. Before, with Yamcha, she would see such a fatigue in her eyes evident in the set of wrinkles that were making themselves more and more present. To her relief, they were gone. She hadn't worn make-up since she had left Yamcha at his apartment, but now, seeing her rejuvenated reflection, she saw it wasn't necessary.
Despite the lingering cloud of a threatening, supernatural intervention in the house, Bulma still mustered the bold courage that spread itself through her body. She put on her regular pair of boots and went out the door of the house, leaving its gloomy echo behind her.
What she walked into seemed like an entirely new world. An orange sunlight was making itself known on the very edge of spring, colours were sprouting in the bloom of flowers of leaves throughout the trees. Upon reaching a rosebush, she dipped to allow its saccharine scent envelope her nostrils. Peculiar waves of euphoria were washing through Bulma as she looked up with a beaming smile at the beautiful property the outside nature had, so much in contrast to the darkness that the house presented.
With the adrenaline of discovery spread through her, she was conscious of every step forward into the forest, suddenly surrounded by greens and oranges and yellows. She was keeping an ear out for any sign of Vegeta, feeling herself tingle in a strange excitement that went from her toes to her gut in a flutter of butterflies. 'Geez, look at myself. I'm like a young schoolgirl or something!'
She smiled in spite of herself, letting her hand run through the leaves that she was passing ever so swiftly. A cool breeze ran through her wavy, aquamarine tendrils as she closed her eyes and let her hands fall behind her, the whisper of wind running through her like a tidal wave of refreshing, nostalgic air. She had never felt like she could breathe like this in such a long time. The deprivation of such visual and ethereal beauty that nature provided must have been for so long that Bulma was having to rediscover it for herself twenty years later.
And that she did, just before catching the pair of onyx orbs steely cast down upon her. She giggled, seeing Vegeta perched on a high branch of a tall tree that hadn't really bloomed yet. She had a sneaky and hopeful thought that he had been watching her the entire time.
She cocked her head to the side, flirtatiously eying him in a side-glance, "I thought I felt someone watching me."
He scoffed. "Don't kid yourself, woman. Look around you. You are hardly comparable to the sight around you."
Smirking, knowing that the insult was more of a backwards compliment, she grabbed a hold of the first branch of the tree he was on and pulled herself up. She couldn't even remember the last time she had climbed anything, and she felt a surge of a thrilling dare that caused her to even forget about her fall through the window on the second floor. She didn't care. She wanted to be where he was, at the top of everything with the wind blowing past them.
She just wanted to be near him for some reason, as the visions around them were just too much to not be shared somehow.
"Woman!" He barked, a shocked concern etched in his rough features, "What in the hell are you-"
"Shhh! I'm concentrating here Vegeta. If you distract me, I might fall!"
"Well if you do, don't expect me to catch her if I'm way up here you idiotic woman."
She cast him a glaring smirk, "Trust me. I won't let that happen again."
A shadow of guilt ran through his obsidian eyes as his face softened, but he still followed every move she was making with a cautious eagle eye. Finally, she made it to the top branch, her hands grasping onto Vegeta's shoulders in a heated touch that nearly smoldered her body with its warmth. She took a breath in, hoping he thought she was simply out of breath. She balanced herself on the high branch of the tree, feeling his hands wrap themselves around her legs. Holding in a surprised gasp, she inwardly thanked Kami that she had shaved her legs in her shower.
"Hm. Don't worry woman, it's only to keep you from falling to your untimely death. That isn't a mess I want to have to clean up."
She didn't say anything as she allowed a smile to betray her lips. She finally raised her eyes up to see the beautiful sight before them, the tops of trees and the many animals adorning them like ornaments on a Christmas tree befalling her vision. She was enraptured by the sunlight showering through the many branches and leaves, leaving little shapes of shade and sunlight on the leave piles left by winter. Feeling Vegeta behind her made it that much more enchanted her, as if this moment was written in the stars for her.
"Wow.. I never knew it was so pretty out here. Did you?"
He shook his head, his eyes were vacant but she could tell he was feeling the same. She blinked as her eyes remained on him.
"Woman, this is all your doing, if you must know. Now get down. I'm done holding you here."
"Are you sure about that?" She asked in a husky tone, a sparkle in her eye. Then a shadow passed through her peripheral vision. She looked up to see one of the window of her house holding the very sight of Frieza, who was eerily smirking at the two of them with a reddish hue in his evil glare. Bulma screamed and stepped back away from the window, causing her to lose balance. Vegeta felt his hands grab for her in a quick reflex, but it was too late. Vegeta felt his world collide with reality as he saw her plummet for a mere second before she expertly caught onto a lower branch.
"Wait! Stay right there!" He yelled, getting down to her branch. Her eyes were so panic-stricken, even more excruciating for Vegeta than when he saw that same luck before her fall into the snow over winter. Feeling nothing but the adrenaline-laced duty to get to her, he got to a lower branch than her and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her to him. "Now hold on!"
"Wait, what-?"
Before she could even ask, Vegeta catapulted off of the tree, twisting his body so that it was his that reached the ground first. Falling twenty feet off of a tree purposely had not been on Vegeta's mind that day, but luckily there was a huge pile of leaves for him to fall on as her body followed and fell on his with her back on his stomach. He felt the air pushed out of him from the impact of his body, but it returned soon after.
Bulma sat up, "What in the world was that, Vegeta? You could have killed yourself doing that stunt!"
"Oh and you're one to talk! You put us both in that predicament in the first place."
"Yeah? Well I can't help that I haven't even seen any of this before, let alone breathe it all in like you get to!"
He sighed, "Look, just don't do it again. Think before you act for once, woman."
He turned his back to her, his eyes looking out into the mountains that were behind the house. Bulma felt a wave of guilt run through her. He had just saved her life, how could she be mad at him for risking his own?
"Thank you."
He turned, surprise in his dark eyes. "For what?"
"For saving my life." She returned in a low voice, laced with an emotion that neither could identify.
"Hm," He turned away again to stare off, "The house needs you."
Her eyes fell to the ground as she shook her head, remembering his words 'Think before you act', and suddenly she let the impulse come over her, "No, Vegeta..."
She took a step forward, reaching out her hand to pull on his shoulder to face her. He couldn't suppress his shock, the deep heat that formed in him at the sight of her in the bathroom with her own towel returning to taunt him some more as it reached his nether region. Even the touch of her hand on his shoulder was almost too much to bare, something he had never encountered before. Her aquamarine eyes glistened with a searching, heated look that Vegeta would never be able to tear his eyes away from.
"... I need you."
Those words were caught into the still air, sending a surge of something he had never felt before. Needed? Never in his life had he even had much human contact, especially after everything that happened. But for this woman to suddenly appear who was the key to all they had gone through together in a past she barely remembered and then profess a NEED for him? Why, it was preposterous, simply outrageous that she would say such a thing. He felt as if he were being played tricks on again by Frieza, anger engulfing him at not just her but himself for not being able to process what she was saying so simply.
She grew increasingly uncomfortable at his hesitation, but she knew that he would have to take it in slowly. The immense weight of the moment was a lot on the two of them, especially after all they had been through. The confusion of that combined with the confusion of feelings first experienced was enough to send them both to the loony bin. But it was a bit late for that as he gave into his feral instinct, the impulse too strong to resist as he suddenly grabbed her by the waist and locked her lips into the most passionate kiss Bulma had ever received before.
Strong sparks of tingling arousal rose inside of her, her arms slowly reaching around to wrap themselves around his neck as his lips pressed against her with such ferocity that she thought she might faint from the heat building inside of her. When he broke the kiss, she shuddered slightly against him, no longer embarrassed that he saw what he did to her, his eyes intently piercing through the heated glaze of her own. He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around him before he wrapped her lips with his in yet another kiss that enraptured her entire body.
The entire world seemed to spin around them, neither of them aware of what was occurring between them. Vegeta felt his body stiffen with this little female surrounding him, nothing but the invincible surge of desire engulfing him. But still, after so long of being alone, this new transition was suddenly disconcerting. Out of nowhere, it seemed he had a higher purpose, an actual obligation to fill now, and he felt the small stab of fear strike through the overwhelming waves of warmth between them. He abruptly set her down on her feet and turned away.
Bulma's eyes opened slowly at the absence of Vegeta's kiss and embrace. They filled with confusion as he left her there in the miniature forest, the stillness of the nearly spring air encircling her. Silence fell between them as his back was turned to her. She swallowed slightly, stepping forward with a hand outreached, "Vegeta-"
"Stop it. This... This cannot happen. Not here."
Bulma kept her composure, letting her hand fall to her side before replying softly, "Then where...?"
Letting out a frustrated breath from his nostrils, Vegeta began to stride away from her back into the house. Bulma closed her eyes, her fist clenching. Of course this would happen to her. She had never before felt something so strong, so passionate in her entire life. And now that such a feeling had been evoked within her, it was gone. Just like that.
Sadness overcame her, tears springing to her eyes once again as despair filled her entire self. When would she ever begin to make sense of things? Or even hold onto them? Why was her entire life evading her just as Vegeta was now? It was almost too much. Bulma was just so close to giving up, surrendering to the madness that her circumstances brought her.
But she wouldn't. For the sake of her dead parents. She gulped when she thought of how they would react if she simply moved on, back to Yamcha and her quiet life of never knowing the full truth. Never facing her fears, as Vegeta was now not doing. That was all it was, she realized. Vegeta was just scared. The only person he'd ever had to look after was himself, and for that to change was just too much at once for him.
Wind picked up, the draft lifting the long tendrils of her aquamarine locks. She closed her eyes, the wistful breeze sending waves of nostalgic wonder in their solemn embrace. She felt at home here, in this moment. Even though Vegeta had taken his warmth and the heat of their passionate kiss away, it stayed with her and sent tingles throughout her body. She looked over at the very tree by which they were standing, setting a soft hand on its coarse trunk. That's when she felt it, the inscribed letters.
Vegeta.
And underneath it, a capitalized BULMA.
There they were, the two of them written onto the very tree by which they shared their first kiss, more than twenty years later. A tearful grin reached her face as her fingers ran over the letters, nearly recalling the very sneering tone of the small boy she had encountered in these very woods.
She closed her eyes, remembering that time so long ago. Never before had she longed for something so strongly as she did to return to that point in time. When she still had parents. When she was still young and in the life she was supposed to have. Now, it seemed she had to pick up where it left off- without the two people in her life that she missed the most and yet knew nothing about.
And that was her challenge. It was her calling.
Feeling a new purpose in her steps, she set out to do just that: to bring them back.
She went back to the attic, not seeing Vegeta but noticing that his bedroom door was closed. She could see him in her mind's eye, laying there contemplating what had just happened between them. She hoped he wasn't feeling regret, but she knew that it was mostly due to fear that he let go. Still, she held onto the glimmering hope in her that he would come around. She turned to go back into the attic when a stern voice stopped her in her tracks.
"I really hate how I feel like I have to keep a constant eye on you, woman."
Without turning, she briskly replied, "Well, then don't. I can take care of myself, thank you. This is MY house after all."
He scoffed. "We both know that isn't true."
"What isn't? That this is my house or that I can take care of myself?"
"Both."
She spun around, meeting his challenge. "Well, as I recall the only spill I had came from your hands."
His expression fell dark, "You're never going to let that go, are you-"
"Not if you keep insisting that it's me who puts myself in danger."
"Hm. But I'm also the one who keeps you out of it. I didn't get this broken arm from myself."
"Well, neither did I when I had one."
"Touche, woman."
He turned, a solemn expression on his face sending echoes of guilt through her, "Wait."
He stopped, cocking his ear to the side without looking back at her.
Her eyes hesitantly flickered from the back of his upright, spiked hair to the floor, "I don't regret anything."
"Such as..?"
"What happened. Out there. Or coming here, to this house. Or you. You know, without Frieza coming here, my parents would still be alive. But without him, there would be no you."
He kept still, processing every word.
"What I'm trying to say is, despite the circumstances... I'm thankful for you being here. To guide me. But I don't need you, per se. I may not have the strength it requires to keep Frieza at bay, but I promise you that from here on out I can do this myself."
"Then why did you say it? Outside? Why say those words to me?" He demanded, turning to face her as if she had just slapped him in the face. She was dumbstruck at his response, thinking she had said what he wanted to hear.
"I.. I said I needed you because you're all I have left, Vegeta. You're my last key to my past. But if that's too much for you to handle, then forget it. I can do this alone if I have to. But I'm telling you I have the will to, and that is ALL I need."
"You know, I actually do have nothing left. My empire has been destroyed as well as my parents. I do not have a house to return to nor do I have much of a chance to avenge them. I've waited for twenty years, pondering my empty existence, and for what? For some woman to show up and claim that the very place I've been occupying and maintaining is her own? And that I am an unnecessary accessory to her past, of which I'm not even responsible for?"
"Vegeta, I didn't say that-"
"Save it, woman. You didn't have to."
"You are twisting all of my words so that you can confirm your own fears of not being good enough. You weren't good enough to protect your parents and now you think you're not good enough to protect me. Just stop it! You've done so much already..."
His eyes grew wide at her revealing proclamations before falling to the floor, shame etched in his dark features. The sun was setting already and the house was growing in its blue hue of dusk. A pregnant silence rose between, broken by Bulma's husky tone.
"Tell me.. Do you regret it? Outside, I mean."
Her words spiraled in his head, the intoxicating aroma of her increasing arousal wafting through his nostrils and he couldn't take it anymore. Everything she had said spilled right through to his very core, and he could only feel himself lunge forward, the words "I regret nothing" croaking from his mouth in a deep, heated tone as he once again claimed her mouth with his and grabbed her by the waist to pull her lithe body to his.
I know. I'm horrible. Leaving you guys stranded. But I promise, there is way more to come! I smell lemons...
~Jckash03
