Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters

The winter break had been full of so much drama that Bulma was relieved to return back to some normalcy. What qualified as normal to her? Well, she was back in the university apartments with Chi Chi and Maron. All three of them were still dating their boyfriends. Maron and Yamcha weren't nearly as annoying as they had been during the first semester, and were even more considerate of Bulma and Chi Chi when they were over. It was definitely a strange, but welcome, change.

Bulma, now, was working on an independent research project. She decided to get a head start on the project so she's be done so much sooner with her research requirements. Besides, what she would be working on would change the world. She was so excited to see if her ideas would pan out, though she wanted it to be a surprise. Usually when she talked to Vegeta on her progress, he'd ask if it would be useful in training, to which she'd answer, "You'll just have to wait to find out."

No one knew what she was working on, even the students who had volunteered to assist her. They only helped with bringing in heavy supplies. Bulma preferred to do everything on her own. There was one girl, though, Kiusora, who also worked in the lab. She'd offer to help Bulma with things, but Bulma would reject the assistance. Still, the two girls chatted and seemed to be getting closer.

All in all, things were good. No one was trying to interfere with her relationship with Vegeta. She no longer had to worry about her father contacting her. Everything seemed quiet and peaceful.

Until one day it wasn't.

A few weeks after they had returned to school, Kiusora ran into the lab seemingly panicked. "Bulma, you need to see this, like yesterday!"

"Huh?" Bulma questioned as she stopped working on her blueprints. Kiusora was not one to be overdramatic, so Bulma quickly left the room and followed her friend. The girl led her to the break room where everyone was gathered around the television. Bulma walked over to the group and gasped when she saw her father on air with a reporter.

"So you're saying that your daughter is being forced to work for these Saiyans?" The reporter seemed not to believe what the doctor was saying. She was hesitant to even repeat the statement.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," her father replied curtly. Bulma felt like she was watching the interview in slow motion, but she heard every word clearly. "Those horrible monsters have brainwashed her into believing she'd be helping the universe. I believe they plan to use her to create more harm than good. A reliable source has given me all the proof I need."

Source? Bulma asked herself. What source? The heiress really wanted and needed to know. After all, her father was publically announcing that the Saiyans wanted destruction. She couldn't let the people believe that. But how could she get everyone to believe her when her father wouldn't. Who was this source that he could completely ignore his own daughter?

Bulma looked to the others in the room and saw those she worked with looking at her with both concern and hope. They needed her to assure them that the broadcast was lies. She couldn't let her fear of being unheard bother her right now. "It's all a lie," she assured them. "I'm not being forced to cause harm. I've only been working on shields to protect the planets and a gravity simulator to make sure other races can withstand the gravity on Planet Vegeta."

"Why would your father do this?" Kiusora asked nervously. "I mean, you're contradicting everything he just said. He has to know…"

"My father distrusts the Saiyans," Bulma admitted, "but I don't know why. The Saiyans really do want this alliance to work. I'm dating their prince."

"Really?" one of the other scientists questioned. "Bulma, if that's the case, people need to know. If not, there's going to be a global panic. Your father may have just started a war."

"Let's not get carried away," Bulma said holding her hands up in defense. "We'll fix this, okay? I just need the rest of the day off to get to work on this, okay?"

Her advisor nodded. "You only have my class today, anyway. This, though, is more important."

"Right," Bulma agreed before she started running out of the room. "Thanks!" she called out as she waved to her colleagues. She only hoped she could reach Vegeta before he saw or heard anything about the news. She couldn't even imagine what he, Nappa, or Kakarot would think of this.

Nappa was browsing the channels when a broadcast caught his eye. Bulma's father was on the air with some female reporter, but the headline was what caught Nappa's attention.

Saiyans Brainwash Unwilling Scientist

"Son of a bitch," the Saiyan snapped, catching both Vegeta's and Kakarot's attention.

The two younger Saiyans walked over to him, the broadcast catching their eye. Kakarot looked stunned, but Vegeta showed no emotion. Inside though, he was raging. How dare Bulma's father spread such lies?

"You don't honestly believe the Saiyans would attack us when we've done nothing, do you?" the reporter hesitantly questioned.

"I do," the scientist replied. "I fear that we are all in immense danger, Bulma especially."

"That's a very bold declaration to make," the reporter scolded. "Are you certain you are not overreacting?"

"I may be," Dr. Briefs admitted, "but I know for certain my daughter is in danger. Any parent would overreact in that case."

"Crap…" The three Saiyans turned to see Bulma in the doorway completely out of breath. "I was hoping you wouldn't see that before we talked. Someone showed me at the lab."

"Did you run all the way here?" Kakarot asked, surprised.

"Some of us can't fly," Bulma reminded him wryly before she made her way over to Vegeta. "I had no idea he would…"

"I know," Vegeta assured her, allowing his emotions to consume her. He needed her to know that their trust had not been broken and that he understood she had nothing to do with the lies. "We knew he'd try something, anyway."

"This is going to ruin everything," Nappa growled. "It's like he's trying to pick a fight with us."

"We can fix this," Bulma said hurriedly. Nappa looked skeptical, but he did respect the girl enough to hear what she had to say. She looked to Vegeta and told him her idea. "I can schedule an interview with the same person. You see, there's always a chance someone has the wrong information, but if the person being slandered or discussed has nothing to hide, they can speak out as well. Like if someone prints out misinformation in a newspaper and then submits a retraction. The only thing is it just can't be me."

"What do you mean?" Vegeta asked, not liking where this was going.

"My father told her that I was brainwashed, which we all know isn't true," she explained to him, "and if I go alone, they could assume I am brainwashed. If you go with me, we may be able to convince them, especially since we're dating. We'd have to be very open about it. Are you okay with that?"

All three Saiyans were staring at her wide-eyed, making Bulma nervous. "W-What?"

"That is a big step," Vegeta told her before signaling for Nappa and Kakarot to leave them. Bulma was a little startled and confused when the other two Saiyans quickly hightailed it out of the apartment before slightly gaping at Vegeta. He motioned to the couch. "Sit down."

Bulma nodded and did as he said. He joined her on the couch, looking a bit more laidback than she ever saw him. "In our culture, publically accepting a mate to those that matter is a major step. We already met each other's parents and close friends, though I'm sure the only opinions that mattered to us were Nappa, Kakarot, and your mother. Because I am royalty, and you are basically royalty, we'd eventually have to bring it to the attention of both our planets, but it is still a big step. If you truly want this, then you have to understand it will commit us so much more than we already are, and potentially add pressure to move forward with ceremonies once the rest of courting is complete."

Bulma did not appear shocked or confused by his words, at least as far as Vegeta could sense with the bond. He was uncertain by her lack of confusion, but Bulma spoke up and admitted, "Chi Chi asked Nappa about courting the other day, and she explained it all to me. To be honest, I think I understood a little more than her. I know what this means. I know we need to have a talk, and I know you probably think I won't like everything I hear. But I think you know that even if that's true, I don't care about your past. I mean, I do care, but I wouldn't hold it against you. Ever."

"I know that," Vegeta confirmed. "But this is still a big step. I want you to think about what this means."

Bulma took her hands and covered one of his, looking into his eyes with determination and acceptance. "I'd be publically acknowledging to my people that I am willingly being courted by the Prince of Saiyans, and that I intend to one day marry him."

Her declaration was overwhelming, but not because it was unexpected. Vegeta knew that Nappa only gave basic information regarding courting, but Bulma spoke like a Saiyan, acted like a Saiyan, and, to him, was a Saiyan in every way that counted. She wanted to be his lifelong partner, someone he could depend on and who would depend on him. Bulma proved worthy so many times to him, especially in regards to the trust she refused to break. He could sense how devastated and nervous she was before she had even arrived after finding out about her father's idiocy.

Vegeta knew, without sensing her inner turmoil, that she would have never been a part of such a farce. He didn't need to be able to sense her emotions to trust her, and that was a sensation he never felt with anyone. He hoped she felt the same towards him. Though Vegeta could not understand her loving emotions towards him, he could truly say she completed him as he completed her.

"Then, woman," he stated quietly, his voice serious and stern, "we must talk. It's going to take quite a while."

"I have time," she answered. "The one thing I need to take care of first though…is calling my publicist and getting an interview scheduled, where the both of us will appear together, as a united front."

Vegeta nodded and let Bulma make the necessary phone calls. It didn't take long for her to get the people she needed on the line, and everything was scheduled within fifteen minutes. An interview would occur on the same show in forty-eight hours. That gave the two the chance to discuss everything. Bulma, having been given the day off, was able to contact all of her teachers and let them know she wouldn't be in class the next day. She and Vegeta decided to get a hotel room to have privacy while they spent the next two days learning everything there was to know about each other. When the interview aired, there would be no doubt in anyone's mind that her father had been misguided.

Kakarot went over to Chi Chi's and Bulma's place later. His friend had left with Bulma, and he and Nappa had returned. They knew they wouldn't be hearing from Vegeta for quite a bit of time, and truthfully Kakarot wanted to spend time with his girlfriend. Since school had started, they hadn't spent as much time together as he would have liked, but he understood. As a way to get Maron not to keep her boyfriend there overnight, Chi Chi and Bulma had agreed to a similar condition. Most nights, Maron would be Yamcha's, and Bulma and Chi Chi would be alone. That was usually when the Saiyans were able to go over.

It wasn't nearly enough time.

Kakarot had been desperate to spend time with Chi Chi, but he didn't care. He would meet her outside of her classes all the time, even if his didn't let out for another ten minutes. Truthfully, he didn't care about getting a degree. He didn't need one on Planet Vegeta, not to get a job. He had only been offered this to keep Vegeta in line, and he only accepted to get away from his father. He wanted to introduce Chi Chi to both his father and brother, though the only acceptance he cared for was Raditz's. He just wanted his father to know he was happy and his opinion would never matter.

Kakarot was happy regardless of the hole in his heart. Chi Chi had managed to fill that need for care and nurturing that he never experienced, and he loved her for it. He had always hoped to find a true partner one day that would, like him, never want to cause emotional or physical trauma to their child. He wanted someone who would be like the mother he never got to have for his own children. The human had proven time and time again that she would never hurt him or distance their children. He wanted to be with her, and he didn't know how much longer he could wait.

Then he remembered his talk with Raditz when he had returned for break and then one conversation after that. Raditz knew of Chi Chi, and he seemed accepting of the idea that he was with anyone. Later, Raditz had told him if the girl was the one not to let her go. At the time, Kakarot thought he had been acting like an ass, because he played it off with a perverted remark after that, but now Kakarot believed his brother was giving him the okay. He didn't need to meet her, just like Kakarot had told Raditz once before if he ever felt the need to settle down he'd accept whoever Raditz brought him even if they were already mated. At the time, Raditz had scoffed at the idea, but his older brother had been more open to the idea more recently.

I wonder if he actually met someone, Kakarot thought, feeling relieved by the possibility. He never wanted Raditz or Vegeta to suffer because of what they had been through. Now both of them had the opportunities to be with people who would accept them. Besides, everyone basically knew what Frieza made them do. There had to be someone who'd accept it. Every Saiyan had a mate out there for him. Vegeta had found his. Raditz would find or did find his. Kakarot had also found his.

He knocked on the door, and Chi Chi answered surprised to see him. "Hey," he greeted softly. "Mind if I come in?"

Chi Chi smiled at him and nodded, stepping aside. "Would you like something to eat? I'm baking some cookies, but if you don't want to wait-"

"It's fine," Kakarot stated, seeming more laidback as he sat on her couch. "I'm not all that hungry right now."

"Are you sick?" Chi Chi questioned, more as a joke. The two of them laughed as Chi Chi took a seat next to her Saiyan boyfriend. "What's up?"

"I missed you," he stated sincerely.

The human giggled slightly. "But you saw me earlier."

"Not enough time," he told her, bringing her to him. He gently caressed her face before meeting her lips with his.

He was kissing her so gently, yet Chi Chi was feeling this strange pull. She wondered if Kakarot felt it too, because he stopped and then just moved them so they were lying in each other's arms on the couch. "You know," he whispered in her ear, "there's an expression that my people use to explain what we feel when we meet that one person that we, for lack of a word in our language, 'love.' We don't have a translation, but what we say is 'you complete me.'"

Chi Chi's heart skipped a beat, and she believed those words to be far more romantic than anything she ever heard said before. Before she could return the words, Kakarot spoke up again. "But I think I found something even better to explain what I feel."

"What's that?" Chi Chi asked, wanting to hear whatever he had to say.

She looked up at him as he looked down to her, a grin appearing on his face as their eyes met. "You feel like home," he told her. "That's the one feeling I've been missing from my life, and I know that, no matter where we are, as long as you're with me, I would be the happiest man alive."

Stunned into silence by his words, Kakarot took the moment to kiss her again. He didn't need to hear what she felt because he could feel it as clear as day through the bond. It meant so much to him to have someone like her in his life. When he was with her, nothing else bothered him. She was his home.

"You once asked me if my father had known the things I had done under Frieza's rule," Vegeta stated. "He knew, but not to the extent of what I will be telling you. We were a violent race, Bulma. Believe me when I tell you that murder was a normal occurrence. To be honest, I still perceive our world like that, mostly because I never ventured out much and avoided contact with my people."

"Why?" Bulma questioned, genuinely curious. "If they all did these things, I'm sure they wouldn't hold it against you."

Vegeta stood up and walked over to the window, resting his hands against the pane and sighing. "There is a lot I must tell you, and I don't know where to even begin."

Bulma walked over to the Saiyan slowly and embraced him from behind nuzzling her head against his spine. Vegeta felt chills and shivered slightly, his tail removing itself from his waist and wrapping around Bulma's middle. It tightened around her, but didn't hurt her. She gently ran her fingers against it causing Vegeta to growl slightly. She didn't ask about it, but stopped her ministrations. "Just start from the beginning," she encouraged softly. "I promise you, it won't change my opinion of you."

"How can you say that when you don't know?" Vegeta remarked, not understanding her unconditional acceptance.

Bulma gently pushed him so he would face her, and he could see the understanding in her eyes. "How about we start with me. Maybe then you'll be able to understand and express yourself more freely."

Vegeta stared at her strangely. He didn't know what Bulma could tell him about herself that he didn't know already, but he nodded and she led him to the bed. They both sat and she began to talk.

"I was very isolated as a child," Bulma began to tell him. "I was involved with my father's company at a young age, but before that I was so alone that I watched a lot of sci-fi stuff…you know, all the alien stuff that we all, except my father, thought was fake…" Bulma chuckled slightly at that.

"I was very disturbed when I was younger," she continued. "I was in therapy for a long time after I dreamed up an imaginary friend that I kept calling my sister, and how I watched her die violently after being attacked by a scary alien. It was brutal…what I pictured, and my dad had me in hypnotherapy for years. My mother and father were always fighting about me being in that kind of therapy. Mom thought it was horrible, what he was putting me through. He didn't want me to remember that kind of stuff, but even if it was my imagination, it was really hard to forget."

Vegeta nodded, though he wondered what kind of gruesome things a child could come up with when they weren't exposed to those types of sights. "When I had gotten over whatever it was that I imagined, my mother did something she never did, and brought me to a prison. My father screamed at her for weeks because of it, but I didn't care. She wanted me to meet someone very important.

"The reason mom read you so well was because of her father," Bulma told him. "He was a war veteran, and he was diagnosed with PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder, when my mother was a teenager. Her mother had died a few years prior, and my mom only had him and their neighbors. Child protective services tried to have her removed from her home because her father could be fine one moment, and then volatile the next attacking because he was lost in a memory of something from the war."

Bulma looked to Vegeta to gage his reaction and saw shock plastered on his features. He rarely let his true emotions show on his face, but now she could read him easily. "Mom fought for her independence, since she was almost eighteen and won, giving her the right to choose to take care of her father, but eventually he was arrested for murder. He had been out for a walk when he saw a random guy dealing with his car. The car backfired, sounding like a gunshot, and he blacked out and shot his pistol, killing an innocent man. Despite my mother promising to help him, he plead guilty, not wanting to put any more people at risk.

"I had never met him, nor did she speak about him, but she brought me to meet him. I loved him from the very first moment that I met him, and I'm glad I met him because he died very soon after. He was a good man who loved both my mother and me, and he always wanted best for her. He told me to fight for what I believed in. As a child, I didn't put too much merit in words, but I can understand them so much more now.

"My father was always angry at my mother for bringing me saying I didn't need to be exposed to any violence, thinking I might relapse or whatever," she said bitterly. "As I got older, he had me on a tighter leash that it was unbearable. I started to see him for who he was, even once the alliance was made.

"I thought it was the coolest thing," she stated excitedly. "I mean, alien races asking to make a treaty so that we could all benefit and explore each other's worlds…it was like a dream. But then dad did something horrible, and I'm honestly very sorry I didn't tell you, but I didn't want you to well…associate this with me…"

Vegeta could feel her guilt and uneasiness, and even some fear in what his reaction might be. "This might be the factor that determines if we stay together," she told him. "I really want us to…but you might hate me for keeping this from you."

"My past is the one we need to worry about, not yours," Vegeta assured her. "What did he do that was so horrible?"

Bulma sucked in a breath and released it. "He started working on a weapon to target stronger races." Vegeta's eyes narrowed at her and she sensed him demanding an explanation. "It never made it to production. I sort of stopped it."

Her heart broke when she felt a small twinge of distrust, but she didn't know it wasn't directed towards her. Vegeta felt her fear and anxiety and walked over to her, placing his hands on her arms. "Nothing a parent does is reflected in their child," he stated to comfort her. "What do you mean you stopped it?"

"I knew when it was being tested," she started to explain, "so the night before I broke into his study and found the capsule containing the weapon. I made some modifications and when he went to test it, the internal circuitry fried and the planet's governments shut down the project. I've…never told anyone because what I did, however young I was, was considered treason. I may have only been thirteen, but I could have still gone to prison. I knew what I was doing."

Vegeta wrapped his arms around her. Silently, he was amazed, and he knew she felt it. Sure, she was loyal to the alliance now after she had met him, but even as a young girl she was loyal. What her father had done could have started a war, and she was the only one who would have stopped it. It was a miracle that he had met someone like her. If she had this much loyalty to his people and the other races before he even earned her trust…he couldn't believe it. In this moment, he realized that he would never have to worry about her stabbing him in the back. A man afraid of being betrayed had found the one woman who would never even think to turn on him.

"About a year later, I was in high school, and my dad started focusing on everything in my life," Bulma began again after giving Vegeta a chance to reflect on her words. When he didn't push her away, she knew that he accepted that she hadn't told him before. What she didn't realize was that this was part of relinquishing pride. He could not fault her for keeping something from him that would have normally turned that person away. "I responded in a really bad way."

"How so?"

"Well…I got into a fight with some girl. I was so angry at something my father had said, and she was goading me. She kept saying I was a 'daddy's girl' that had to do everything he said and that I wasn't my own person, just some robot that followed the crowd. She spent the four minutes between classes just screaming these things in my ear, getting everyone to stare at me and say the same things, that I was nothing but a puppet, and instead of backing down to avoid the taunting, I felt this burning anger and threw the first punch.

"I lost of course, because I had never fought and she was big. It was kind of funny. Her family wanted to sue us for the fact that I assaulted their daughter. My father paid them off to get them not to say I started the fight, because it would have ruined both of our images, and also their family would have never won because of how messed up I was. It would just serve to ruin our pristine image, and I would have appeared to be the rebel.

"But there was this guy who saw the fight and could see my rage," she said, her emotions coming off as shame once more. "He got me started in underground fighting. He said he could see my rage and I needed somewhere to unload. I was stupid, and I let him talk me into it, but it was brutal, worse fighting than I had ever seen. He made it sound like somewhere I could just train and get better, but he had me in the ring with a murderer the first night.

"It was terrifying to feel like a mouse being chased by a cat. Seriously, he had knives and everything. He nearly killed me, and for a moment I almost let it happen…I mean, I had nothing to lose, so it wouldn't have mattered. But I sure as hell was going to make him fight for it." She smirked as she remembered. "And somehow, that made me fight better. I got the weapon away from him and stabbed him in the leg. He was down for the count and I won. It was funny because he bet everyone three million zeni that he'd take me out, and basically said he'd ransom my dead body to my parents for more. Needless to say, I never went back. I never reported them, but I refused to go back there.

"Instead I snuck out and went to private martial arts lessons. I realized that I both needed to defend myself and needed to fight. Fighting made me feel alive, like I wasn't a robot just trying to make my dad happy. Eventually word got out at school that I took down a guy three times my size, and people avoided me. I was alone still, but for a different reason.

"That same guy came back to me a year later and apologized. He knew I had been training and that I was good. He wanted to make money off of me, so I knew this time he was being genuine. He brought me to a different underground ring. One where killing the opponent was frowned upon and you could actually be disqualified, but weapons could still be used and you could do whatever to take down the opponent. It was like a dark version of the legitimate fighting competition, the World Martial Arts Tournament. We just called the place W-MAT so that people wouldn't think of it as some fighting place. Most people thought it was a laundromat that these random teens hung out at. But I started gaining the approval of most of the guys and even some of the girls at school. People were betting for me to win instead of against me. I was truly my own person there.

"Those were all the stupid mistakes I made, and I don't regret any of them, especially making myself a 'terrorist' as my father called the phantom that ruined his invention. I was always afraid he'd find out it was me, and I just…well, I'm not as afraid now. Once I leave and get dual citizenship, there's not much he can do to me."

"You are an amazing woman," Vegeta told her. "You are too good for everyone, including me."

Bulma grinned at him and shook her head. "You might think that, but honestly I see you as someone who's too good for me. I don't know how I got so lucky as to meet you."

Vegeta shared her sentiments, but hers were misplaced. She was a caring, proud individual. He had his pride, but he had been much worse than her. He knew she would understand considering what she had said about her grandfather. Vegeta could honestly relate to that. He had grown out of it, but as a child nightmares plagued him after his rescue. When anyone went to touch his shoulder, he'd pin them down with a ki blast in his hand, and he wouldn't have remembered how he had gotten in that position.

"You may not feel that way moments from now," Vegeta told her. "You may want to run away by that point."

"I don't think I will," she said confidently. "Just take your time. We have all night and tomorrow to get through this. You listened to what I had to say without interrupting, and I will give you the same courtesy, only nudging like you did with me when I got quiet from feeling that shame."

"You have nothing to be ashamed of," he assured her. "One day soon, I wish to see you participate in those fights again." He smirked at her, and she smiled back.

"I've been wanting to go back," she told him. "Before I met you, I considered it, but the press was all over me, and then you showed up and I feel that same rush and joy. You…I can't even describe it half the time. I just love being with you. I don't feel like I have to hide myself. I don't feel ridiculous for dressing down for breakfast because I was training. I have a partner to spar with who keeps me on my game and accepts me at my worst. A friend, a confidant who respects me not for my father's wealth or my looks but for my mind and my desires. I'm not an object to you, but a person. My heart aches whenever I try to picture what I'd be doing if I hadn't met you. I'm honestly thankful your parents sent you here, no matter how much you hated it, because if they hadn't I wouldn't have found my…cheesy line coming here, but 'soulmate.'"

Vegeta felt an overwhelming emotion take over his being, and he knew it had not come from Bulma, for he was sensing that similar wave radiating from her completely separate for the wave that consumed his own body. He knew that a human would call it "love," but he knew exactly what it truly was. She felt like he completed her, and he too was feeling what it meant to feel whole. It gave him the courage to finally relinquish his pride and begin his tale. "Sit down, woman," he ordered, though it sounded more like a suggestion for her benefit. "This is going to take quite a while."