CHAPTER ELEVENAuthor's Note; What's that? I'm back with another update, so soon? Correct! After the reviews for chapter ten and the requests for more updates, I am here to please. Hopefully the updates will become more regular, as I am finally getting into the main plot of this story. Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, added this story to their favourites, and added myself as a favourite author. It means a lot and compels me to continue.
So enjoy, and remember that reviews are very, VERY much loved. :)
"Kami Vegeta, got enough food there?"
Vegeta scowled at Bulma, who was leaning over the counter in the kitchen, throwing him a sly smirk, one he found himself proud of, despite the fact that it was aimed at him. She was referring to the many containers he had placed down on the table, his ordered meal for that night. He had become accustomed to ordering food via the phone, he found it much easier than requesting either the earth woman or her twit of a mother cook for him, and then having to deal with them while he awaited to eat.
He said nothing in reply to Bulma's statement, choosing instead to simply stare her down. It was a new tactic he had when it came to her, he could tell it irked her, and greatly. But this time, she was determined to not back down. She instead stared right back at him, the kitchen in silence, the tension between the pair growing.
An anguished scream broke their concentration, a bright light shining through the windows. Bulma was the first to look away, but Vegeta did not have time to celebrate his victory. The energy signal he felt at that moment was colossal, and far above his own. He narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth.
"Kakarott."
Bulma turned her eyes to Vegeta again but the Saiyan Prince had disappeared, obviously to investigate. She looked back to the window, the light growing brighter with each passing second. She blinked, before the realization set in. "Goku!" she exclaimed, dashing from the kitchen and making her way outside as fast as she could, making sure not to run into anything or fall on her face.
She finally made her way to the front lawn, Vegeta's silhouette just visible in the light. She stood next to him, holding a hand up over her face, the light becoming too bright for her human eyes. "Are you sure that's Goku?" she asked Vegeta softly. "I am positive." he replied tentatively, his arms crossed.
"Goku?" Bulma called out, moving closer, her hand still protecting her eyes. The light dimmed slightly. "Bulma?" she heard a small wavering voice cry out, one she recognised, but it was the tone that frightened her. Never had she heard Goku so anguished.
Bulma continued to edge forward, the light continuing to dim before she could lower her hand and make out the figure surrounded by light. She ran to Goku, dropping to her knees and wrapping her arms around him tightly, one hand rubbing his back soothingly. "I'm here, it's alright." she whispered, focusing on calming him down before attending to the problem of what had caused him to have such a reaction.
Goku did not reply, instead moving his arms to cling to Bulma's petite frame, his head buried in her shoulder. "She won't let me see Gohan anymore." he murmured into her skin, his voice breaking. Bulma held Goku tighter. "I'm so sorry." she replied softly, stroking his hair. "You shouldn't have to go through this. This is all my fault."
Goku pulled back and looked at Bulma, and she was speechless to see that his face was red and puffy, his eyes full of moisture. Never in all their years of friendship had she seen him in such a state. Tears formed in her own eyes, she wished to have never seen her best friend like this. Simply because she had let her feelings take control, she should have simply kept them buried and to herself.
Goku's hands cupped Bulma's face. "Don't apologize, when you have nothing to apologize for." he told her sternly, although his voice wavered. "I won't have you placing the blame on yourself." Bulma said nothing in return, instead moving her hands to Goku's face and wiping away the tears. Seemingly much calmer, Goku broke out of his transformation, his green eyes and golden hair returning to their natural ebony colour once more.
They stood up together, holding one another's hands. Bulma gave Goku a small smile, and he managed to return it. She squeezed his hands, in reassurance that things would be alright, that they would get through it, when the both felt the pair of eyes glaring at them, fuming.
Vegeta stood watching them, livid. No matter how hard he had tried, or how successful he had been when it came to trying to encourage the woman to become his, Kakarott had already won. It was simply another thing he had robbed the Saiyan Prince of. Vegeta still hadn't managed to reach the transformation of a Super Saiyan, and never had he been more determined.
Throwing them both one last glare, he strode over to the gravity chamber, closing the door behind him. He couldn't take this anymore, the woman was infecting his mind, his thoughts, his every breath. If he was to truly win her, he would have to rid himself of the only thing standing in his way – Kakarott.
Pressing buttons, he made up his mind. He needed to get away, to not have any hindering thoughts as he trained, to achieve the ultimate level of power. His finger moved to the large red button, and he felt the chamber's engines start up. There was only one place he could train with absolutely no distractions, and that was within the deep realms of space.
Bulma and Goku watched as the gravity chamber moved up off the ground, and Bulma was reminded that it had also been built as a space machine. Vegeta was leaving, and she had no clue when he would return, or even if he would. Goku, on the other hand, was reassured that Vegeta simply needed to let off a little steam. He could tell that Vegeta had still not yet achieved the transformation of becoming a Super Saiyan, and with a little less than a year left to go before the androids would make their appearance, Vegeta was most likely desperate.
They stood together on the lawn for a few moments longer, watching Vegeta's spacecraft as it moved higher and higher into the sky, before disappearing completely. Wordless, they made their way into the house, Bulma leading Goku into the kitchen, where Vegeta's discarded food still lay in it's containers upon the table. Bulma indicated to the mass with her hand. "Go for it." she told the hungry Saiyan, knowing that he needed a good feed.
Goku took a seat at the table and began to open the containers, noticing it had cooled down but he heated it with his hand, saving Bulma multiple trips to the microwave. He pointed to the seat beside him. "Want to join me?" he asked her, but Bulma shook her head. "I've already eaten, but thank you for asking. I think I might head to bed, I've had a long day." she answered softly, knowing that she wanted to stay with Goku and find out just what had happened that day, but it would most likely make him upset again. They would talk about it later.
Bulma moved over to Goku and kissed the top of his head. "Good night, Goku. If you need anything, you know where to find me." She then reluctantly left him and trudged her way to her room, closing the door behind her.
Goku sat silent at the table, swallowing what contents he held in his mouth. Was Bulma angry with him? He sighed and sat the container he was holding on the table, along with the chopsticks he had been using to consume the food. His outburst earlier outside was something that had never occurred before, he was always in control of his emotions, and very rarely were they bad ones.
Madness, anger, sadness, grief, they were all emotions he had felt at that moment, and ones that he was not acquainted with at all. The closest thing he had felt to that had been when Frieza had killed Krillin on Namek, mercilessly, mockingly. It was that event that triggered his first transformation into a Super Saiyan.
Despite the mess he had become on her lawn, Bulma had not looked at him with fear, nor pity in her eyes. All he had found there was sadness, almost as if his pain was her own. He hated the fact that she was blaming herself for the misfortune he had been going through lately, it was clearly not her fault but his own. As Chi-Chi had said, he had brought it upon himself through his actions.
They needed time away from him, and perhaps he needed the time away as well. It was obvious that Chi-Chi would not forgive him, and if she by some miracle did, it would take a very long time. While he wanted Gohan to grow up and follow in his footsteps to became a powerful warrior and help to save the world if the time came, he could still see that not only was his son powerful, he was very smart and could, as Chi-Chi had said, become a doctor or a scholar.
It was going to hurt, not seeing his son for a while, but they would reunite again, under better circumstances when Chi-Chi would calm down. Goku hoped she would move on, and find happiness again. While he did not love her in the way he knew that he should, he still cared about her deeply, despite the way she had been treating him.
Taking the container back and grabbing his chopsticks once more, Goku continued his meal, his thoughts taking a backseat as his hunger took over once more. He would talk to Bulma about everything in the morning, but for now he had an empty stomach to fill before letting himself have a good night's rest.
+-+
Bulma lay in her bed, her eyes closed, her mind busy. Seeing Goku like that earlier had rocked her to the core. He wasn't dealing with everything, and Chi-Chi had now banned him from seeing their son. The guilt seeped through her body like an infection. She should have known better. Now because of her selfishness, people were paying the price. People who were important to her.
She and Chi-Chi had never been the best of friends, but they were still friendly with one another, or at least had been.. Gohan was like a nephew to her, they had grown close over the time they had spent in Namek. And Goku was her best friend. Seeing him in such pain was hurting her, every time she saw him the dull ache appeared in her heart.
She rolled to her side, when a wave of nervousness washed over her body. She could feel eyes staring at her, watching her every move. Dark, powerful eyes. Staring right through her soul, judging her silently. She sat up, the room so dark that she could not see anyone, but she could feel their presence.
"Vegeta?"
Only one pair of eyes could make her feel like that. It seemed the Saiyan Prince had returned, had the spacecraft malfunctioned? She doubted it, none of the others had done so, the technology her father had created was almost flawless. Her skin prickled with goosebumps. Why was he here, in her room, watching her? Had he come back, simply for her? She gulped and moved over to switch on her lamp.
When light flooded the room, she was surprised to find Goku, not Vegeta, standing against the wall, his eyes focused on her. Something was wrong, his eyes were dark, menacing, matching a look that only Vegeta would wear. Still, she gave a sigh of relief. "Oh, Goku, it's only you. Are you alright? Do you need to talk or some-" she broke off her sentence as Goku moved towards her, his demeanour not faltering at all.
She pulled up the covers, suddenly feeling fear, an emotion she had never once associated with her Saiyan friend. Goku simply grabbed the sheets and ripped them off her, before pushing her down on the bed forcefully, his eyes not blinking, the stare continuing. "Please, Goku..." Bulma begged, trying to fight the tears as Goku held her down, tugging at her pants. "Not like this..."
Bulma shot up in her bed, panting heavily. The room was dark once more, the sheets covering her body. A thick sheen of sweat laid upon her skin. It had simply been a dream. She ran a hand through her aquamarine hair. It had been so real, so vivid, and yet she knew that Goku would never act in such a way, he would never do such a thing.
Her door burst open and she gave a yelp before the light turned on, Goku standing beside her bed, his eyes worried. "Bulma, are you okay?" he asked her gently, sitting beside her on the bed. Bulma bit her lip before moving closer to him and wrapping her arms around him. "A bad dream." she admitted, feeling as he moved his arms to hold her.
"What about?" Goku questioned, rubbing her back soothingly. Bulma frowned slightly, glad Goku could not see it. "The androids." she lied, not wanting to delve into her true nightmare. What would Goku think if she told him about how he had acted in her dream? She didn't like lying, especially to Goku, but it was better than having to deal with his reaction to the truth.
Goku pulled Bulma back slightly so he could look at her again, only a mere few inches between them. The worry in his eyes lessened, much to her relief. "Don't worry Bulma, they won't be too much of a threat once we are done with them. Everyone has been training so hard, and become so much more powerful." he reassured her, his face breaking into a grin.
Bulma returned his smile with a weaker one of her own. She did worry about the androids, but not to the degree of some. She knew how powerful her friends were, and how much stronger they would surely have all become. Her eyes focused on Goku. He was a Super Saiyan, there was no-one who could beat him. The androids had no chance.
His face barely inches away from her own, Bulma could feel Goku's hot breath fanning her face. His eyes full of concern, focused on her own bright blue ones, and Bulma had never felt more content. She leaned closer, her lips almost brushing against his, her eyes closing on their own accord as she continued to move in.
"Bulma... I can't."
Her eyes shot open, and Goku and moved his head back, his eyes now staring at the floor. Rejected, Bulma removed her arms from him and moved back as well, trying to control herself. She had been so close to kissing him, and she had been sure that he had wanted to kiss her back. His statement wounded her, whether she liked it or not.
She nodded her head, biting her lip again. "Fair enough." she replied back weakly, her eyes looking everywhere else but him. She wrung her hands together, awkward tension filling the air. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have forced myself on you, don't worry, I won't try it again." she apologised, when she felt two fingers under her chin, lifting her head up so that her eyes met with Goku's again.
He gave her a small smile. "I just can't right now, I need...time." Goku told her softly, before leaning forward, his lips brushing her cheek ever so slightly. He then moved off the bed and walked over to the door. "Night Bulma." he switched off the light and left to room, closing the door behind him, leaving Bulma in the dark to her thoughts.