A/N - Okay so am I the only one who doesn't like what they've done to this website? I can't even check my stats, the writing makes my eyes unfocused and stuff and it keeps making laptop freeze so getting this chapter out was quite hard. Also, I had difficulty writing this chapter because of a stupid writer's block so tell me if you honestly think it sucks or if any of the characters seem too OOC.

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Chapter 10 – Secrets

Neither of them spoke about what had happened in Bulma's room that night, because they just didn't know what to say about it. In some ways, they wished to go further but in other ways, they didn't. Mostly it was because over the past few months they had grown closer than anyone could have ever expected. Even the king was surprised due to the fact that his son never let anybody close to him. He would always say how it was a weakness and a liability and it could mean your demise if your enemies knew about it. King Vegeta knew what he meant for that was what got his mate and queen killed, but he just wished his son would let somebody in. Saiyans were known to be very closed off to their emotions but they always had at least one or two people they could open up to. It just wasn't healthy the way his son pushed everyone away and kept to himself.

He couldn't even remember a time when his son told him how he was feeling, not even when he was angry. His younger son, Prince Tarble, always let his father know how he was feeling and that was mostly why King Vegeta was so desperate to know how his older son was feeling. If Tarble, the most gentle and pacifistic Saiyan he knew was experiencing such anger and hatred towards the Colds, one couldn't even begin to imagine a fraction of what Prince Vegeta must be feeling towards them.

King Vegeta was scared. Scared because his son was bottling everything up inside and ignoring his emotions and he was sure enough going to lose his mind due to the stress. He was scared because his son was a ticking time bomb and an extremely dangerous one at that because with just a flick of his wrist, he could most likely wipe out a decent amount of the universe. He had been so certain that his son had lost his mind when the young Princess Bulma became a prisoner in her own mind. He didn't eat, he didn't sleep and he didn't train. No matter how dire the situation was, his son never stopped training. Even when his mother died, he didn't stop. If anything he pushed himself even harder until he was working on nothing but anger from the loss of his mother.

So yes, King Vegeta was scared and who could blame him? His son was one of the strongest and most unpredictable warriors in the universe and as far as he knew, nothing would be able to stop his son if he did in fact snap and decided to kill them all.

You would have to be a fool not to fear Prince Vegeta. Many thought Princess Bulma was a fool until she proved to all of those who doubted her abilities that she could take care of herself. In many of their training sessions, Vegeta would come out just as badly injured as she would. It was obvious that his son was holding back on her and the king just couldn't, for the life of him, understand why. If his son was so much stronger than her, why was he continuing with their training? Surely he couldn't be benefiting from their training sessions, unless of course, his son was training just her without her knowing.

Since the princess had come to stay, the Saiyans had learned that she was prepared to do everything herself. She did not need nor did she want any help. But after what had happened after Frieza murdered her parents, she had been allowing Bardock to help exercise her mind so there would never be a repeat. King Vegeta knew something was troubling her, he could see it in her eyes. Something was not right inside of her and she was trying to hide it.

When the king tried to question Bardock about it, he just answered that she was 'shaken up' from the experience and never wanted to go through what she had ever again. But that answer was not good enough for the king. He knew she was hiding something, as did his sons, but she always refused to speak about it. If either of them ever brought it up in a conversation, she would storm off or scream obscenities at them and say it was none of their business. Where they once found her outbursts and anger amusing, they now found it worrying.

Nobody but Bardock and the princess herself knew what was happening to her and it angered both King and Prince Vegeta as well as Kakarot and Chi-Chi. They were her best friends and yet she didn't tell them even a small part of what happened or what was going on with her. Everyone was growing angry and frustrated with her refusal to speak about what happened, including Prince Tarble.

Prince Tarble may be against fighting, but he was still a Saiyan and a very powerful one at that. He trained just as much as his brother and although he was more relaxed and peaceful, he still experienced anger.

That was why tonight, at dinner, Tarble was going to force her to speak about it no matter how hard she tried to get out of it. He was going to force her to do it. He was sick and tired of everyone being so cautious around her like she was about to explode and change again. She didn't deserve that sort of treatment and neither did they. If they were going to be fighting together, they needed to know that they could trust her and what she was currently doing was not helping her in the slightest.

The youngest prince brought both of his fists down hard onto the mahogany dinner table, causing a loud bang to echo around the room before he stood up, surprising everyone else who was sat in the room.

"Tarble," the king said in a warning tone, "what are you doing?"

It was only the king, the two princes and the princess at the table, but they still had to act properly and like royalty and smacking the table in a rebellious way was not how a royal would act.

He completely ignored his father as he glared at the human princess, who was staring back at the normally relaxed Prince Tarble with wide eyes. She had never seen him this way before and if she was completely honest, it kind of scared her. She didn't know what to expect from him or how strong he truly was. Even Vegeta stared warily at his younger brother.

"Bulma, you need to tell us what is happening with you." Tarble said in demanding tone that made Prince Vegeta growl.

Vegeta did not like the way he was speaking to her. It shouldn't bother him, but it did. It bothered Prince Vegeta how his brother was giving her such a hard glare that it made her shift about uncomfortably in her seat.

"There is nothing to tell." Bulma, although uncomfortable and slightly scared, said stubbornly as she turned back to her food.

Tarble threw all of his plates to the floor to gain her attention once more and it worked. Although he felt great guilt when he saw the fear in her eyes, he shrugged it off. He couldn't allow his reaction to her emotions to stop him again, he had to know.

"We can all see through your lies Bulma!" he almost yelled. "How do you expect any of us to trust you on the battlefield, if you refuse to tell us what the hell is going on!" He ended up shouting and quite loudly too.

Vegeta stood up and glared murderously at his younger brother. What he was saying was out of line. Even though Vegeta was growing annoyed with Bulma's silence, he would never force it out of her in front of an audience in such a humiliating way, especially after seeing what she went through and after seeing how happy she was that she beat it.

The king and Bulma looked warily between the two brothers. One was glaring at the other like he was about to rip his throat out and the other was glaring at her. How did a quiet meal turn into such a drama filled dinner?

"I suggest you shut your mouth, Tarble." Vegeta growled.

Bulma stood up from her seat, not liking the feeling of being at a disadvantage if she stayed seated. "Like I said, Tarble, there is nothing to tell. Bardock is helping me train and control my mind so there is not a repeat and whilst doing that, he needs to bring up certain memories, memories that I would prefer to keep locked away." she lied through her teeth as she turned to walk out of the room.

Tarble caught the princess's arm with surprising speed which shocked Bulma. She tried to break his hold of her, but nothing worked. If anything his hold on her arm got even tighter.

Both King and Prince Vegeta were on either side of Bulma, ready to protect her if Tarble's anger got out of hand but their presence was unnecessary as Tarble looked down in shock at his hand, then looked apologetically up at Bulma's face.

"I-I'm sorry." he stuttered before letting go of her arm. Tarble looked into the princess's eyes, begging her to just tell them the truth. "It's just we can all see it, Bulma, and nobody in the Saiyan army trusts you. You need that trust if we are going to be fighting with you. I am just worried for you."

Bulma looked down guiltily at her feet. She had no idea that she had been causing such strain on the Saiyan royalties. She had heard about the many arguments and people telling the king that none of them could fight with someone they couldn't trust. And it was true; they couldn't fight with someone they don't trust especially when they were up against someone like Frieza.

"No, I'm sorry." she sighed, "I didn't realise I was causing so much trouble for you all."

They were all shocked when she looked up with tears in her eyes.

The human princess, the girl who was known to never let her emotions get the best of her, the girl who was one of the strongest warriors in the universe was breaking down in front of them. None of them had any idea on what to do.

"Bulma, what has been happening with Bardock?" Tarble asked softly.

She took a deep breath before looking at Prince Vegeta. She didn't know if she could tell the other two but she knew she could tell Vegeta. He was always there for her, no matter how much of a jerk he acted towards her, she knew he would always be there. It had been that way since they were kids. Even if his advice was nothing more than 'stop being so weak' it still helped her out… sort of.

"Leave us." Vegeta ordered.

Tarble looked up at his father who nodded once. The two walked from the dining hall towards their own personal chambers to retire for the night.

"Vegeta I-"

"Explain." he said the word demandingly.

Bulma looked down at her feet whilst nodding slightly before taking a deep breath and looking back up at Vegeta, "Bardock has been helping me train my mind," she raised a hand when she saw he was about to interrupt and continued, "because I've been having difficulty controlling it."

"What do you mean?" he spoke in a low voice. "I thought you won?"

"I did win but at night, I have these… these nightmares… that I'm falling into that dark place again, but sometimes, its dreams about people trying to kill me and every time I have to fight them off. But lately, they're not just nightmares." She stopped talking when she had to hold back a sob. It felt good to finally get it off of her chest even though she wasn't sure if she was making any sense.

"Explain." he said again but this time, it wasn't as harsh.

Bulma swallowed before continuing, "I don't know how."

"Well try!" Vegeta almost yelled.

"Sometimes I can't even tell what's real and what's not!" she whimpered before continuing. "That is what Bardock is helping me with. Okay? I forced him to swear that he wouldn't tell anyone about it, not even his own king. I was doing it for all of you so that you didn't have to worry, or so that you didn't all look at me like I was about to break. But that doesn't matter, because most of you already do!"

Vegeta stared at the princess before him. He couldn't believe he had missed something so important. If she was really having trouble with reality then surely he would have noticed? It wasn't like it was something one could so easily hide. He just couldn't believe he had missed it. She was suffering and he didn't even see it. She was drowning in her problems and he didn't even notice. How could he do that to her? Whilst she had been struggling, he had been forcing her to train even harder. Damn it, their minds were connected and he never even noticed!

He couldn't explain the emotions he was feeling. He had never felt any of them in his entire life.

"It's not your fault," He heard her whisper. "It's mine. I should have told you."

"Yes, you should have." he spat before adding in a calmer voice, "Is Bardock's training helping?"

Bulma smiled a little. "It's working." she lied.

She had no intention of telling him the truth. She had no intention of telling anybody the truth. The only person who knew or even needed to know was Bardock and that was only because of what he saw in her head when he saved her. Bulma didn't like lying to Vegeta, or anybody else for that matter and after seeing what happened to Tarble because of her lies made it all the worse. But despite all of the problems, she still couldn't tell them, not until the war was over and after she got her revenge.

She needed to avenge her parents if it was the last thing she ever did.