Disclaimer: Nappa: Check the number of loyal readers for Damage Control on your scouter. Vegeta: IT'S OVER NINE THOUSAAAAAND!!! Nappa: What?! Nine thousand!!! That can't be right!!!!!! (I hope you guys understand the reference, lol)

***

Chapter 14: Sparks

***

Bulma awoke to the sun filtering in through her bedroom window, its bright rays filling her unsuspecting eyes with light as they watered profusely in response.

She was about to get out of bed and close the blinds before she realized that she was stuck. What the… ? Her groggy mind was still waking up as she began to notice that a pair of tan, muscular arms were thrown over her, holding her in place.

Slowly, the events of the previous night came back to her mind. The blood rushed to her face instantly and her body tensed up as she felt Vegeta shift in his sleep, his arms wrapping themselves around her tiny frame more tightly.

Wow, never thought Vegeta would be a cuddler, Bulma thought, allowing a smile to creep upon her face as she relaxed against him. This was nice. Very unexpected, but nice. She found herself wondering how long it was going to last before Vegeta returned to his trademark stoicism.

At that moment, he began to stir, loosening his hold enough so that Bulma could actually move. She pushed herself up on her elbows and looked down sideways at Vegeta, whose eyes were barely cracked open, looking straight ahead. It took a few moments for him to regain focus and he sat up, prompting Bulma to do the same.

Wow. This is awkward, she thought, as neither party said anything for the minute of silence that followed.

"So…" Bulma began, searching her brain for a possible ice breaker. "How did you get all those scars?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at her. Oops, Bulma thought. Wrong question.

But he surprised her by responding in a gruff voice, "They are battle wounds, obviously."

She nodded her head and mouthed "oh" as if she had had no idea. Then, Vegeta surprised her again by laying back down on her bed. He rested his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling, apparently deep in thought. Bulma felt awkward again.

"Should I… go?" she asked.

Vegeta scoffed. "Woman, these are your resting quarters," he grumbled. "If you would like me to leave—"

Bulma cut into his words before he could finish. "No, you don't have to leave!" She sounded almost desperate, and quickly changed her tone of voice. "I mean, if you want to… but I like you here, next to me…."

Vegeta cocked an eyebrow, and the faintest hint of a smirk began playing at the corners of his lips. "Oh? So you're saying you like me in your bed?" he asked.

Bulma felt the blush return to her cheeks. "No!" she replied defensively, then, at his incredulous expression, corrected herself: "Well, yes, that part is... amazing, to say the least. But I'm just glad to spend more time with you. We have a lot of things we need to discuss…" She laid back down on her bed as well, resting her head on Vegeta's firm chest. He didn't try to push her off, so Bulma figured her actions were acceptable. She wasn't quite sure how to interpret the "softer" side of Vegeta.

"You're right. We do have some things we need to discuss," he said before launching into the explanation of Saiyan bonding and mating that had been lost on him the night before. Bulma listened intently, wide-eyed, as he went into great detail.

"Wait, so I can read your thoughts?" Bulma asked. " 'Cause I think that happened to me yesterday…"

"Not all the time," Vegeta replied. "I've never experienced it myself, but I learned that you can only read your mate's mind during greatly emotional times… or, of course, if both parties are aware and receptive to the other's thoughts."

Bulma raised her eyebrows and decided to test out Vegeta's little theory, focusing on him as she thought, So, you can read my thoughts right now, because I'm letting you?

Distinctly, she heard his reply in her mind, as if she herself had thought it: Yes.

"This is insane. Surreal," she muttered. "And you can tell what I'm feeling, too? How bizarre."

Vegeta rolled his eyes at her blatant wonder. "I can sense that you're very happy right now," he said matter-of-factly, that faint smile still threatening to break through his usually indifferent exterior.

Bulma smiled up at him, snuggling into the nape of his neck. "And I can sense that someone is ready for round two…"

Her lips found his and she kissed him lightly, but Vegeta was unresponsive.

"I have to train," he said simply, slipping away from her and out of her bed in one swift movement. "My priorities haven't changed just because you're my mate now, Bulma."

Bulma bit back a squeal of excitement at his words. She couldn't quite grasp the idea of being Vegeta's mate. She couldn't believe she was his now, and he was hers, in return. It all seemed too good to be true. She couldn't help feeling disappointed that he was leaving her now to train.

"There are, of course, a few conditions to you being my mate. Three, to be precise," Vegeta started saying as he searched her bedroom floor for his spandex shorts. "Firstly, you cannot touch that whelp again. Or anyone else for that matter, while I am alive," he said. Bulma assumed that "whelp" was his newest nickname for Yamcha, and she quickly replied, "Duh."

"Secondly," Vegeta began. "You can never lie to me. About anything. Lying is considered one of the greatest betrayals between mates on Vegetasei, and it's something I was brought up not to tolerate."

Shit, Bulma thought. She knew it was too good to be true. "Oh…" she said. "About that…"

Vegeta, now fully dressed, turned to look her in the eyes dead on. Bulma was intimidated already.

"What about it?" he asked, his eyes narrowed at her suspiciously. Bulma gulped.

"Well, I've been trying to tell you for weeks," she started to say, looking down at her hands as she suddenly became very conscious of her stark nakedness. She wrapped a bed sheet around her body before continuing, "Right before you destroyed Rakasha, you…. Well, you…" She didn't know what to say.

"Spit it out, woman!" Vegeta said, crossing his arms impatiently.

Bulma sighed. This wasn't going to end well. Finally, she worked up the nerve to speak the words, though they were quiet and rushed: "You'reaSuperSaiyan."

Although she said it barely above a whisper, Vegeta's elevated hearing heard it all. His eyes widened at her words. "What are you talking about?" he asked. "How do you know that?"

"Because…" Bulma said. "You transformed right before you rescued me. It was only for a split second… I'd say five seconds, tops. But I saw it with my own eyes. Gold hair, piercing green eyes, the works! I just… didn't know how to tell you."

Vegeta looked away from her, his mouth agape, his brows creased together. "You've kept this from me for how long?" His voice was even, but there was a dangerous undertone Bulma didn't want to dwell on.

"Just over two weeks," she responded timidly. "I don't know how you didn't feel the transformation, I guess you were just... distracted."

Vegeta kept his eyes away from her, instead choosing to affix his gaze on her dresser. Bulma tried to get a sense of what he was thinking or feeling. She could tell that he was livid, but she had no access to his thoughts. He was blocking them from her.

"I have to train," he said coarsely, and he was gone seconds later, slamming Bulma's bedroom door behind him.

Bulma stared down at her hands in her lap for what felt like hours, trying to distract herself from the despair threatening to overcome her. Just when things were starting to get better, they came crashing down again.

Gathering a deep breath, she got out of bed and began to clean up her room. A tear managed to escape, but she wiped it away immediately. She refused to cry.

***

Bulma expected to go through weeks of silent treatment from Vegeta following the disastrous end to their first tryst. And she would have endured it, too, if it weren't for the meddling ways of her mother.

"Oh, Bulma!" cried Bunny when her daughter finally made an appearance downstairs later that day, after dwelling within the confines of her room for half of it.

"Hey, mom," Bulma said dejectedly, barely lifting her eyes to examine her mother's elated face. Wish I could be that happy all the time, she thought grumpily.

"I'm so happy for you, Bulma!" Bunny continued. Bulma raised her eyebrows.

"For what, exactly?" Her mother rarely got this excited over anything.

"About you and Vegeta of course!" Bunny replied as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. Bulma's mouth dropped open.

"W-what do you mean? Mom, nothing is going on between us," she said. She really didn't feel like explaining the situation to anyone right now, least of all her mother.

"Oh, hush!" Bunny replied. "I saw Vegeta come out of your room this morning! That can only mean one thing!"

There was a long, dramatic pause before Bunny filled in the blank: "GRANDCHILDREN!!!"

Bulma smacked her forehead. Of course. No wonder she's on cloud nine. I will never hear the end of this. Oh Kami, lend me patience, please…

When Bulma re-focused on her mother's ramblings, she caught the tail end of something else Bunny seemed very excited about.

"… dinner tonight. Oh, just the family, of course. Me, your father, you, and of course my future son-in-law, Vegeta…"

Bulma groaned. "Mom, don't get carried away. We got in a… a sort of argument this morning, I don't think Vegeta is coming to dinner…"

"Don't be silly, Bulma, he's always agreed to have dinner with us! Apparently he needs to speak with your father about something, probably to ask his permission for your hand in marriage. Oh it's so romantic I can barely breath!" Bunny cried, tearing up with excitement.

Bulma was shocked. After his behavior this morning, Vegeta was still going to have dinner with them? She found herself wondering if he knew that she would also be in attendance.

"And don't worry about these little spats, Bulma honey! They are very common amongst married people, you should probably get used to them. Goodness knows you had enough practice with poor Yamcha!"

Bulma had a bad feeling about the way her mother said Yamcha's name. "What's wrong with Yamcha?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh," Bunny replied, her brows creasing together in concern. "The dear stopped by this morning looking for you. I couldn't help but tell him the great news! He didn't seem very happy about it, though…"

"Mom, you didn't!" Bulma cried in exasperation. This is perfect! Just what I needed! Yamcha probably thinks I've gone insane!

Shaking her head in disbelief and frustration, Bulma made up a bogus excuse to leave her mother's company and headed straight for her cell phone. Nine missed calls. All from Yamcha. Yeah, she definitely had some explaining to do.

***

"I'm not convinced."

Yamcha stood across from Bulma. They were in his living room; Puar was having an afternoon nap, so it was just the two of them discussing what Yamcha called her "crazed reaction to breathing in too many lab fumes."

"Yamcha, I'm not crazy. Vegeta is… different. You saw how he rushed after me when Rakasha abducted me! He saved me!" Bulma said, trying to defend her would-be mate.

"Still not convinced," Yamcha replied. He looked concerned, confused, and supremely annoyed, but he was taking it better than she expected.

"Well, I don't have to convince you of anything. I… " She hesitated momentarily. "I love him."

Yamcha's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Woah. That's a heavy confession there, Bulma. Are you sure you're not psychologically damaged? This is Vegeta we're talking about, right? The one who killed me, Tien, Chiaotzu, almost killed Gohan, and tries to kill Goku at every opportunity?"

Bulma sighed. "Well, he didn't kill you guys, Nappa and the Saibamen did… but uhh, I guess that doesn't matter. What does matter is, why did you even come by Capsule Corp this morning in the first place?"

This was the reason she had really come to meet him. The last thing she wanted to hear was that he wanted her back.

"I just came to check up on you, see how you were doing. We're friends, aren't we?" he asked.

Bulma nodded, relieved. "Yes, of course."

"And as your friend," Yamcha said. "I'd say you're making a very big mistake. That man is not capable of caring about, let alone loving, any living thing. He even hates himself!"

Yamcha's words cut into her deeply, and Bulma had to bite her lower lip to prevent from tearing up. Yamcha recognized her body language—after all, he'd seen her burst into tears numerous times before.

He sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulder comfortingly. "Hey, what's wrong? Besides the obvious 'I'm in love with a psycho killer' ?"

Bulma wondered briefly whether she should open up to Yamcha, but decided at last that it couldn't hurt. "We got into a fight this morning," she began.

"Already?" Yamcha asked in mock-surprise.

"It was my fault!" Bulma said. "I lied to him. Well, kinda. I kept something from him. Something pretty important."

"Important like… ?"

"He's a Super Saiyan. He didn't know. I saw him transform right before he saved me. He must have been so distracted by the battle that he didn't even notice the surge in power, and a second later, it was gone. I didn't know what to do. I was afraid he would go after Goku, or worse…"

Yamcha sighed. "Well, that's just great, Bulma. Vegeta's a Super Saiyan. The first thing he's gonna do after we beat the Androids is turn on us, you know that?"

Yamcha changed his tone when he realized his judgmental approach wasn't working. Instead, he tried to comfort her: "But hey, look, we still have two years 'til the Androids, so let's worry about the more pressing matters. So you got in a fight? Big deal. Just apologize. Explain everything to him. Though honestly, B, you really shouldn't stay with Vegeta if you don't even trust him not to attack one of your best friends…"

"You're right," Bulma said. "It doesn't make any sense. I guess love never does."

Pouring her heart out to Yamcha was the last way Bulma ever imagined she would spend her afternoon, but it certainly was therapeutic. By the time she got back to Capsule Corporation, she was feeling slightly more optimistic. Perhaps after dinner she would corner Vegeta and try to explain her side of the story more fully.

Dinner was waiting for her when she got home, and Bunny pulled out all the stops for what she called her "first meal with her new family."

Bulma couldn't help but be entertained by her mother's antics. She found herself wondering if this obsession with grandchildren was hereditary.

True to Bunny's word, Vegeta exited the gravity room and joined them for dinner promptly at 6:30 pm. Bulma eyed him wearily as he entered the dining room and sat directly across from her. His eyes never once passed over her face. He was completely ignoring her.

Bulma's positive mood was already beginning to dwindle.

Halfway into dinner and Bunny's nonstop chatter, Vegeta interrupted the discussion to address Dr. Briefs.

"How soon can a ship be ready?" Vegeta asked briskly. Dr. Briefs seemed taken aback by the question.

"Whatever for, dear boy?" he said, eyeing Bulma for her reaction. The color had completely drained from her face.

"It seems there are some things the gravity room cannot do for me. I will need to resume my training in space. How long until the ship is ready?" Vegeta repeated.

Unsure of how to respond, Dr. Briefs went with an honest answer. "I can have one ready in the next hour or so. But don't you think you've done enough—"

"It's never enough!" Vegeta cut him off. He looked across the table. His gaze found Bulma's as he formed his next words, his eyes cold, his expression stoic. "And my current environment has proven too distracting for me to make adequate progress."

Dr. Briefs sighed. "Very well. I suppose training for the Androids should be everyone's priority, and I'm happy to help wherever I can. I'll get to work as soon as dinner is over."

Vegeta broke his focus on Bulma and provided Dr. Briefs with a gruff and slightly uncharacteristic "thank you."

Bulma sat against the dining room chair, her back pin straight, her eyes wide. She couldn't believe it. He was leaving… because of her? It was too much to bear. She wasn't completely sure of what was keeping her from screaming at that moment. To cry would have been a normal reaction—the only thing that Bulma could muster was a hurried "excuse me" as she fled from the table into the cool night air.

***

Vegeta watched Bulma leave, ignoring the searing anguish emanating from her. He knew she would be upset with his decision; he had braced himself for it all day. But it had to be done. He needed to free his mind from the constant distraction that she had become to him. The previous night had only served to strengthen their bond, which he had fully expected. What he did not expect, however, was to find out that he had the capability to transform into a Super Saiyan ... if only he could concentrate. Positioning himself in the depths of space and solitude was his only option. Separating from his mate would be difficult—her feelings about the matter notwithstanding, he knew that some of the anguish he felt was his own. He wasn't sure if she would ever forgive him for leaving. He figured he would find out when he returned, whenever that was. At least, he thought sardonically, she would have something to keep her busy while she was gone. He smirked to himself.

He never missed a target.

***

Bulma sat beside the G.R., which her father had just finished prepping for blast off, waiting impatiently for Vegeta to emerge from Capsule Corp before taking flight. She didn't know how she was going to stop him from going, but she wasn't going to resort to begging or crying. She hoped explaining her point-of-view would be enough. Vegeta may have been a hothead and ex-homicidal maniac, but he was still one of the most rational people she knew.

It was nearly ten at night when he finally came out to inspect the gravity room-turned-spaceship. He was dressed in his traditional spandex and Saiyan armor, and he had nothing else with him. Despite the pampering provided him at Capsule Corporation, he was still accustomed to having only the bare necessities.

Bulma rose immediately to meet him. "Vegeta, don't go," she said, imploring him to respond. He looked at her, and a flicker of sadness quickly passed behind his steady gaze.

"I'm leaving, woman. There isn't a word you can say to stop me. If you try you will only succeed in getting your feelings hurt further," Vegeta replied, pushing past her.

Bulma was beginning to grow a little more desperate. "Look! I-I'm sorry I didn't say anything about you being a Super Saiyan. I was afraid you would try to attack Goku or something, I was afraid you would leave! I guess I was right."

Vegeta turned to her. "Bulma, I am not angry with you, even if you did spend half the afternoon with Scarface." She reddened when she realized he had tracked her all the way to Yamcha's house, and couldn't help the fear that it had only served to push him further into this radical decision.

"Neither that, nor the fact that you kept the transformation from me, is the reason I am leaving," he explained as if he had read her thoughts. Perhaps he had.

"Then... why?" Bulma asked, as tears formed in the corner of her eyes. So much for the "not crying" rule.

"I must be free of all distractions to reach the transformation again. Constantly sensing your energy signal and your feelings is an enormous hindrance," Vegeta explained bluntly.

Bulma understood now. There was nothing she could do. The tears began to run freely down her face.

Vegeta grit his teeth in response to her display of weakness. "Stop crying woman! I'll return as soon as I gain control over the transformation."

"But I thought it was nearly impossible to separate yourself from your mate?" Bulma said.

Vegeta saw that he would have to resort to angering her before he could leave, so that she might stop pleading with him to stay.

"Yes, but the fact that you're a pitiful human woman makes it easier on me," he replied, and he sensed how his comment had ignited animosity within her.

"So now I'm not good enough?" Bulma asked, looking away from him, trying unsuccessfully to control her tears.

"Trust me, woman," Vegeta said. "I'll be leaving a piece of myself here whether I like it or not." He brought his face so close to hers that she thought he was going to give her a parting kiss, but he simply took one last look at her before disappearing inside the gravity room.

"Vegeta, was it that supposed to mean? VEGETA?" Bulma cried after him. The spaceship began to emit a loud whirring noise, signaling that the engine was starting and the ship was prepping for take off. Bulma backed away to avoid whiplash, angry tears still streaming down her cheeks.

The spaceship took off moments later, shooting into the night sky. It only took a few seconds for it to disappear completely. Bulma blinked and coughed profusely, as the projectile dust from the blast blinded her and filled her lungs. Once the air was clear, everything was quiet.

Vegeta was gone.

***

A/N: OMG EVERYONE, go on youtube and find the video "Vegeta's shave." It's a clip from the DBGT dub. The way Vegeta pronounces mustache is pure hilarity.

GOOD NEWS! Some of you may be happy about this—I'm thinking about extending this fanfic a little. Just by one chapter, but I wanted to dedicate a chap to Bulma's pregnancy, and I wanted to throw Goku & Piccolo back in for a brief cameo. So if you'd like to see this a little bit longer than originally planned, let me know! You know what to do ;P If there isn't much demand for one, though, I'd rather move on to my next fanfic (which you'll be hearing all about when I post the last chapter). Hope you enjoyed reading this chap, everyone! Please review!