Story time! This will be an origin chapter for a relationship. Enjoy!
Bulma lied prone on the cool, concrete floor of the dungeon. The king must have been away, because Nappa had come by. He always came when he that the king wasn't around. For good reason, too. The king was as selfish as he were ruthless and didn't like for her to be handled by the others, especially Nappa. There was a time when the king was glad to let him have his way, but Nappa had a tendency to be rough and nearly killed her on several occasions. The king got sick of having to work with her after Nappa was finished, so he ordered him to stay away. That lasted for about a week.
It was nearing the third year of her inprisonment, and Bulma was still being held in the deepest, darkest part of the dungeons. She was always told that it was because of her lack of discipline and respect, but she knew that was just a way of saying that her spirit wasn't broken yet. And she wasn't the only one.
About year and a half ago, Tien, who had also been the reluctant slave, was removed from the dungeon. Originally, when they first arrived he was one of the prisoners who were placed almost immediately. But after a few days he was unexpectedly thrown in one of the neighboring cells. It wasn't for another year that she would find out that he did it for her. He had gotten himself thrown down there for her. She couldn't stand the thought of someone suffering on her behalf. She told him to stop it and that she wasn't worth what he was going through. But he still chose to stay for a few more months until she begged him to submit.
He was a man, and eventually the saiyans would grow bored and decide to execute him. She told him that she didn't want him to die down there like an animal. He was removed two days later. But a few hours before, he repeated her words back to her; don't die down there.
She had no intention of doing that. She wanted to get out as well. But the thought of submitting to the same man who murdered her parents would keep her in isolation for almost another two years.
She pushed herself up on shaky arms. She slowly crawled over to the wall beside the door and leaned her back against the cold stone. The coolness soothed her aching body. She kept her eyes closed as the pain subsided and tried to think of something else, as she always did. As the pain lessened, she picked a rock and began writing on the wall she leant against.
As her mind sifted through memories, there was the sound of footsteps coming closer. Her eyes remained closed and focused her ears instead. The steps were too light and close together to be any of the people who came there, that included the woman who only seemed to come down there just to stare daggers at her for awkward amounts of time. This person was either young or just shorter than everyone else.
The steps came closer to the door. She didn't know if the person was coming to her cell. To her knowledge, she was the only person left in the dungeon. But it seemed that the person was passing her door and stopping every now and then. Whoever it was they seemed to be just looking around.
She released a sigh of relief through her nose. She didn't have to deal with someone else today. As the person walked in circles, Bulma attempted to stretch out her leg and wound up kicking over the tin cup she had to drink out of, causing an echoing clank to ring throughout the prison.
"Hello?" It was a young male's voice, maybe a little younger than Kakarot. "Is anyone there?" And it was accented.
She remained silent as she heard him come near her door again. He must have check every surrounding cell, because he was coming straight toward her this time. He got very quiet, and she assumed that he was trying to listen for something. She shifted against the wall.
"I can hear you." She was right. He approached the door. He waited a little while before he spoke. "You know that I know you're in there. The least you could do is respond." He said somewhat snobbishly.
She her head toward the door, waiting for him to leave. He never did.
"You know, I didn't know that anyone was still down here. Why are you?" He asked. She stared at the shadow of his feet at the bottom of door and said nothing. "Seriously? You're really not going to say anything?" He scoffed humorlessly. "Alright, fine." And she heard him tap the door before he walked away.
Her eyes remained glued to the door as she waited for the fleeting steps to cease. She sighed heavily and leaned her head back against the wall. 'What was with that kid?' She asked herself. She shrugged it off. She hadn't the capacity to care.
The next day, the king had come by. Lately, he had been staying a little longer than usual, and she didn't know why. It seemed like he just enjoyed the challenge of breaking her a little too much. He would just stand there for hours, trying his hand at psychological torture. Mental warfare. Though there were moments where he'd succeeded at getting into her head, it rarely stuck long enough to have any real effect.
He leaves after exactly twelve hours and fifteen minutes. He stayed four hours longer. She lied against the wall and closed her eyes before she picked up a rock and began drawing, just as she always did.
An hour or so later, she heard footsteps the same from yesterday. The young boy was back.
She stopped drawing. She could hear him coming directly toward her. She looked at the bottom of the door again to see where his feet were. She was truly confused on why he even came back. Was he a new guard, or something?
"Are you awake in there?" He asked, followed by a light thud that sounded like he leaned against the door.
She sighed. What did he want? He obviously didn't know who or what was on the otherside of the door. Maybe he was new and was just genuinely curious. If he came back simply out of curiousity she knew that he wouldn't stop unless she did something. She didn't want to say anything. So, instead, she slid her foot across the floor, purposely making noise.
"I'll take that as a yes." She heard him sigh. "So, what are you? I know that a lot of the prisoners are from different planets. Which one are you from?" She said nothing. "This sort of punishment is usually reserved for men. Can I assume that you are male?"
Her silence continued throughout his questions.
"Well, I think that I figured out why you're down here. You're a stubborn one, aren't you?" He poked.
She turned her head away from the door in frustration. 'Wow! I didn't think that it was even still possible for me to be this annoyed by someone.' She thought angrily.
"You're still not going say anything? That's fine, I'll be back tomorrow. Maybe you'll be more talkative then." And he left.
Everyday, for nine days straight, he came back. He would just ask her questions and would continue to not answer them until he left with a promise that he would be back.
The day that followed his last visit were one of those rare days where neither the king nor Nappa showed up. This was only the sixth time that happened in almost three years. This granted some reprieve. It was days like this where her mind would wander.
Sometimes, she found herself thinking about the kid, whom she found out that his real name was Kakarot. She didn't like to think about him, or any other member of his species for that matter. But there was still a part of her that couldn't help but wonder where he could be off to this time. He used come to see her whenever he could, but the visits were always spaced out. He told her that he was always away on deployment, which were very sporadic and could mean being away for months or even a year. This time, he had been gone for nearly eight months. But she didn't like to think about it.
Her unwanted thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the young boy. As usual, he immediately came and slumped against the door. Now, when he started asking questions she would simply continue drawing to indicate that she was there. Like she was doing at the moment..
"Good evening." He greeted as per usual. "What's on the agenda for today, my mysterious friend?" She just shook her head frustratedly as she sat facing the wall and drawing. "Well, I think that I've been going about this the wrong way. I know that I hate it when people ask me questions all of the time. So today, how about I just tell you something about myself? Would that be alright?"
She stopped drawing for a moment but still said nothing.
"My name is Verles, and I am a saiyan and I was born on this planet." Her suspicions about him were confirmed. "I am an only child. I have three uncles. I have two on my mother's side, one is her older brother and the other is the youngest, and one on my father's side who is his younger brother. I have no aunts." He paused with a sigh.
She glanced at the door at his hesitation.
"How was that for a change?" He asked after a long time. "Can you give me something? I am trying."
'Who asked you to try? I sure as hell didn't. I don't even want to hear your voice.' She thought agitatedly. 'He just wants me to say something. Maybe these visits will stop if I just gave him something.'
"Do you want me to say more?" He suggested.
"That won't be necessary." She said. Her voice was raspy from lack of use.
"You're a female." He said.
"You sound surprised." She said.
"I am, because I wasn't expecting that. As I said before, this punishment is usually reserved for men. You really must have been a handfull to have wounded up down here."
She shook her head and said nothing else as she proceeded to draw.
"So what are you, anyway?" He asked, but she gave him no answer. "What? You're not speaking again? Have I said something wrong?" He waited a little while before he said anything else. "That's fine. I should be back again tomorrow." And left.
Over the next few days, he came and they would exchange very few words. He would say a lot while she said a little. Though there was always a reluctance to speak, she was grateful for the mental reprieve. They never really talked about anything in particular. He would just start saying random things, like how he was being trained, or how he disliked one of the older boys so much that he didn't even want to say his name, and she give short responses. And whenever she was done talking he would leave her alone.
Eventually, she did tell him that she was a human. It was no surprise that he wanted to know more.
"Are you one of the humans from Earth? Are you an earthling?" He asked, trying to put the pieces together.
"Yes," she answered hesitantly. "I take it that there are still a few of us left up there."
"Quite a few. Earthlings make up most of the Labor Department."
"The Labor Deparment?" She scoffed. "So the remainder of the population has been enslaved. That's hilarious." She said bitterly.
"I find it difficult to see the humor in that." He said bemusedly.
"It's called sarcasm. It wasn't meant to be funny." She bit.
"My apologies. I misunderstood."
"It's fine."
He was quiet for a moment, probably trying to think of something else to say. "So which of the earthlings are humans?" Bingo.
"Are you serious?" She said, truly asking.
"Well, most of them look sort of strange."
She tilted her head to the side. "You're a saiyan, right?"
"Yes,"
"I'm pretty sure you have a tail."
"What does that matter? Some of those earthlings can't even speak and walk on all four appendages."
She grimaced. "Those are called animals." She said, almost mockingly. "And the answer to your question is all of them. Not everyone looks the same."
"What do you look like?" He asked suddenly. Among the many questions he had asked her, never once had that one even been implied.
She shifted uncomfortably. "Why would you want to know that?" She asked sternly.
"Not everyone looks the same, remember?" He echoed her words.
She dropped her head and sighed. "I don't know, anymore." She said hollowly. It was somewhat true. She had been submerged in darkness for so long, only being granted small amounts of light at a time. At that moment, she sincerely did not know what she looked like. "All I can tell you is that my hair is longer than it was before." And that she was thinner and her cheeks were slightly sunken, but she left that part out.
"Don't you see yourself when the workers come to clean the cell and bathe you?"
"No. I'm blindfolded." It was then that she wondered if the cleaners ever paid any attention to her drawings on the wall. If so, no one said anything about it.
"When was the last time you saw the outside of this cell?"
"A year and eight months ago." She was able to answer instantly due to her perfect recall.
"I need to go." He said suddenly. "It's getting late, and I have to check in. But I will be back soon." And he hurried off.
A few hours later, he came back. She was slumped against the wall opposite of the door when she heard his voice.
"Are you still awake?" He whispered gently.
She picked up her head. "Verles, what're you doing back here so soon?"
"I wanted you to see something." He said, and she could hear a light jingling noise.
She raised an eyebrow. "See what?"
"Yourself." And the door became unlocked.
He pushed it open and she shielded her eyes at the sudden exposure to light. She looked at him and saw that he was holding a lantern toward her.
"Oh! Sorry!" He said, lowering the source of light. "I forgot that it might take your eyes a moment to adjust." And he took a tentative step forward.
She rubbed at her eyes, waiting for them to focus. She looked up at him but still could not see him clearly. "Verles." She said to his outline. She could see that he had a slender build and shoulder length hair.
He stood in front of her before he crouched to get to eye level with her. He looked her over. She was wearing a black tank top with a pair of black short, an outfit that put most of her marks on display. There was a mark for every inch of skin on her body, excluding her face.
With him being only about two feet away she was able to make out his features. She stared in shock as she tried to move closer to the wall. "You look like the..."
"The king?" He said, finishing her sentence.
"Is he your...?"
"Yes, he is my father." He said calmly.
She looked away from him in disgust. "Can you leave now?" She said, almost inaudibly.
"Why?"
"Can you just leave me alone?!" She exclaimed angrily.
He touched her lower leg and she flinched violently. He retracted his hand. "You know what my father looks like. He did this, right?" He said sadly. Her silence was the only answer he needed. "I understand." He sighed. He stood up straight and turned to leave. He picked up the lantern, walked out locked the door behind himself.
She was left in pitch blackness again. She felt nauseous. The young boy that had been coming to speak to her everyday was turned out to be the prince of the planet and son to her one of her tormentors.
It seemed like the king was trying a new tactic by allowing his son to feign friendliness with her. It almost worked, too. But no more. She would not be manipulated by a teenager.
Just as she expected, he showed up the next night. He unlocked the door and came right in. She didn't look at him as he approached and crouched in front of her again.
"Why did you come back?" She said bitterly, still not looking at him.
"I wanted to give you this." She turned to him and saw that he was holding a bowl of cut fruit. "No offense, but you look like you could use a snack." He said jokingly, then placed it on her lap carefully. "And I also wanted to speak with you."
She looked down at the fruit, and then back to him. "I don't wanna talk to you anymore."
"Why? Because of who my father is?"
She shook her head. "Just go away, Verles." She said frustratedly. "And tell your daddy that this isn't gonna work, either." And moved to stand and get away from him.
"What isn't going to work? What are you talking about?" He asked. He straightened and she could now see that he was maybe an inch taller than her.
"The king sends his son to befriend the stubborn prisoner and get inside of her head." She described. "It didn't work."
He held his hand up. "Wait. Do you think that my father is making me do this? Making me come here everyday?"
"I've been down here for nearly three years. Why haven't you been down here before now?"
"I was kept away from this side of the palace up until recently. And my father doesn't even know I come down here." He explained.
"And you expect me to believe that?"
"It's the truth." He said, as he approached her. "What reason would I have to do something like that?"
The cynic in her wanted to give a hundred reasons as to why he would do it, but the woman who had spoke to him everyday just wanted to believe him. "Could you please just go away." She sighed.
He opened his but stopped before he said anything. He turned his attention to the door as if he heard something. He looked back to her "Fine. I will go." He whisper-shouted. "But I will be back." And he quietly left the cell and shut the door before she heard him take off running.
She went back over to the wall and slid back down to the floor. There, against her leg, was the bowl of fruit he brought her. She couldn't see it, but she could feel the metal bowl on the skin of her leg. She reached forward and moved away from herself before she closed her eyes and tried to sleep.
The next morning came slowly. She only got about an hour of sleep before she was awakened by the sound of the opening.
"On your feet, prisoner." The king commanded as he entered the cell with a low lit lantern. He came closer and stood over her menacingly. When she took too long, due to the fact that she was very drowsy, he reached down and she was pulled up by his hand around her neck. Her feet dangled inches above the ground. He held her for a few seconds, watching her struggle to breath, before he lowered her to her feet at an agonizingly slow pace.
When he removed his hand she fell against the wall and inhaled deeply, taking in the air she had been denied. Once her breathing was back to normal, she stood up straight and just waited for whatever he would do next.
"You know how I feel about insolence." He said calmly. "So, is today the day you finally quit being so damned disrespectful so I don't have to come down here anymore?" He asked, not all expecting her to say yes.
"Not today." She replied blankly, her voice void of emotion.
He snorted and grabbed hold of her face. "You're lucky that I'm not in the mood to make you rethink that." He threatened with a smirk and released her face.
"Lucky me." She said sarcastically as she flexed her jaw.
"I have other things to attend to, so I decided to make my rounds early." He said, dragging his hand down her chest as he looked her over. "Tell me something, do you enjoy making me do this?" He asked idly.
This was something he did a lot. She imagines that he tells himself that he doesn't want to do this, but it was necessary to teach her to behave. But the truth was, he just couldn't resist a challenge.
"No, I don't." She played along.
He laid a hand on her side and a second later there was a sickening pop and she doubled over in pain. He dislocated one of her ribs. That was one of his things. A broken bone could cause permanent damage, but a dislocated bone caused just enough pain to get the point across.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream as gasped for air. She held her side. This wasn't the first time he had done it, and she had learned to stop giving him the satisfaction of hearing her scream.
She felt his hand go to her other side. But before he could do anything else, a voice called him.
"Excuse me, sir." It was one of his men.
He exhaled sharply. "What is it, Jora?" He said through clenched teeth.
"You're needed at the ship dock." The man stood outside of the cell, never once looking in.
"Give me a moment." He ordered.
"Yes sir,"
He pulled her hair, forcing her to stand up straight. "Like I said, you're lucky." He reiterated. He walked towards the door. Before he closed it he turned back to look at her. "I'll see you in a few days." Then he shut and locked the door.
She crumbled to the floor. The pain was excruciatingly familiar. "Son of bitch!" She exclaimed.
"Are you okay?"
She looked at the door. "Verles?" She wheezed.
He quickly opened the door and went to kneel over her. "What did he do?" He asked sincerely.
"My ribs. He dislocated one." She struggled out as she tried to sit up but he stopped her.
"Don't try to move." He urged. "I'll be right back." And he ran out closed the door but didn't lock it. A few minutes later he came back, and he wasn't alone.
It was elderly woman. Bulma just stared. "Who is this?" She asked confusedly. She wasn't one the creatures that usually came to fix her up.
"My name is Kinu." She introduced.
"I don't know how to reset a bone, she does." Verles said as he knelt back down to her.
Kinu approached them. "I need you to lie down on your side." She instructed. She lifted her shirt and examined her side. "It's not a full dislocation, so it shouldn't take long." Half an hour full of pained, muffled screams later, and Kinu was finally done. "You will be in pain for quite some time." She said as she wrapped her ribs in a compression bandage.
"Trust me, I know." She wheezed, and could see the way the two of looked at her.
Verles and Kinu shared a look before either said anything. "You should get going before your absence is noticed." He told her.
"Are you sure?"
"He's right, you should go. I don't want you to get in trouble because of me." Bulma insisted, still on her side.
"Thank you for your help, Kinu." Verles said.
"It was my pleasure." She said a nod before she left.
Verles came to sit beside her. "I could bring you something for the pain, but I won't be able to get it until tomorrow." He said, looking down at her sadly. He sighed. "I'm sorry that I couldn't get him to leave any sooner, but it had to be done discretely."
"You did that?" She asked, her voice still shaky from the pain.
He nodded. "Earlier, he said that he had a little time before he had to go. I figured he was coming down here, so I followed him. Since you're the only one here I assumed that he was coming to see you." He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I told one of his men that my mother needed him for something."
"Why would you do that?"
He shrugged his shoulder. "I didn't want to see you get hurt." He looked away. "I could understand why you wouldn't want to be around me. I have many of the same features as your tormentor." He looked back to her. "Before I even knew what you were there was something that told me that I needed to."
"What do you mean?"
"I can't explain it, but something made me want to come down here." He worked his jaw.
"Didn't you tell me that you thought that this place was empty?" He nodded. "So what made you come down here?"
He sighed deeply. "This is going to sound insane." He said as he shook his head. "I think that we were meant to meet each other."
"You definitely sound insane." She said with dry humor.
He snorted. "I told you." His face turned serious. "Why does my father keep you down here?" He asked suddenly.
"It's like you said, I'm a stubborn one." She joked grimly.
He still got what was she saying. "So you're that one."
"What, does he talk about me, or something?" She asked, not truly caring for an answer.
"The Reluctant Prisoner." He said formally.
"That's great." She said, propping her head up on her hand. "I'm known on this planet, too."
"Yes, you do. You're known to frustrate him with your will. I suppose he wasn't expecting you to be so...resilient." He told her. "Would you like to leave this cell?" He asked suddenly.
"Is that a trick question?"
"I could tell you how, if you want."
She stared at him questionably.
"I'm serious."
"Why would you tell me?"
"Because I know that you can have no quality of life down here." He said sincerely.
"What quality of life can have as a slave to your father?" She asked sternly.
"More than you could have rotting away in here. No one deserves this kind of existence."
She groaned as she pushed herself to sit up straight. "Tell me."
Sure enough, he did tell her exactly how to get his father to release her. A week after the king returned, she was placed in the same department as the elderly woman who helped her. And a few weeks after that, Kakarot came back to find her working in the armory and he was able to hug her for the first time in three years. Months later, Verles finally had the idea to ask for a name.
"My name is...Stone."
Bulma sat at the edge of the bed as she waited for Verles to return. He had been called away right after she told him that they needed to talk. As she sat alone, she thought back to how they came to be in the first place.
She was sure that had it not been for him she would still be down there, or eventually have died.
She looked up when she heard the door open.
"Sorry about that." Verles said as he approached the bed and sat beside her.
"It's alright." She smiled at him.
He smiled back. "Now, before you fully distract me with your smile. What were we talking about?" He said lightly.
She sighed deeply. "I need to tell you something, something that I should have said a long time ago."
"Alright."
She looked down at her hands.
He put his arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong?"
"I haven't told everything about me."
"Like what?"
She stood up and went to stand front of him. She inhaled deeply. "My name isn't Stone, it's Bulma." She began. "And the reason I'm able to make all of that stuff for your father is because I'm a scientist and bioengineer." And she exhaled.
He sat there with his mouth slightly ajar, staring at her.
"Please say something." She said anxiously.
He looked like he was about to say something but backpedaled. He covered his mouth with his hand. He stood from the bed as well. "Your name is Bulma?" He said finally.
"That's what you got out of that?" She asked, sort of confused.
"Well, the stuff about what you are isn't really that surprising. I mean, you singlehandedly designed and built a gravity simulator." He pointed out. "How stupid do you think I am?"
She scratched the back of her neck bashfully. "Oh right." She blushed.
"Your name is Bulma." He repeated.
"Yeah."
He twisted his face up in thought. "It suits you." He said with a grin.
"Well it is my real name."
"So is that it? Is that all of what you had to tell me?"
"No." She sighed. "Your father knows who I am."
"What?!" He said in shock.
"That's why he chose me to make the Gravity Room."
"And that's why he reassigned you to the Research Department." He said, finishing her explanation.
"You guessed it."
"Wait! But that was nearly a year ago when you started on that machine. And I've never once heard him call you Bulma."
"I changed it to hide who am, but he found out anyway. I guess he wanted to keep my identity to himself. He still calls me Stone so no one would be suspicious of me having a new name all of a sudden."
"That makes sense."
"So you're not mad at me?"
He stepped closer to her. "Of course not. Why would I be?" He said, putting his hands on her waist. "You did what you thought was necessary to protect yourself. I just wish that you would have trusted me enough to tell me sooner."
She put her hands on his arms. "Its not that I don't trust you. But when I told you that name I wasn't expecting this..." she gestured between them. "to happen."
"Understandable." He looked off in thought for a moment. "Does Kakarot know?"
"Yeah, he knows. That's another thing I wanted to tell you."
His brow twitched in anger. "Is this about Kakarot?"
"Yes."
He took his hands from her waist. "This isn't the moment where you tell me that you two have been sleeping together, is it?" He said half seriously.
"No. But this is the moment where I tell you that I've known Kakarot a lot longer than you think."
"What do you mean? How much longer?"
"Eighteen years." His jaw dropped. "It'll be nineteen in a few months."
"That cannot be... possible." He said dumbly. "Kakarot came back to this planet about sixteen years ago, and you've only been here for nearly eleven."
She raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Kaede or Vegeta ever tell you where he was before he came back?"
"No. My mother doesn't like to talk about it, so as to not remind her mother about it." He ran his fingers through his dark locks.
"I met him when he was a child, back on earth. My relationship with him predates all of this."
"It makes so much sense now! I always wondered how you two ended being friends when disliked every saiyan on the planet."
"Not every saiyan." She smirked. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a chaste kiss on the lips.
He wrapped his arms around her and deepened the kiss. He lifted her off of the ground, walked over to the bed and laid them down.
She gently pushed him away. "We're suppose to be talking." She said breathlessly.
He lifted himself on his arms above her. "Is there anything else you need to tell me?"
She thought about it for a moment. She was wondering if she should tell him about what happened between her and his father earlier. What happened between them twice. "No, that's it." She lied. One of those things that were best left unsaid. "I just thought that you would have questions."
"I do have one." He said, gently lowering himself on top of her and cupped her face.
"What is it?"
"How did you come up with the name Stone, anyway? It seems sort of fitting for how you were back then."
She smiled thoughtfully. "It was my mother's maiden name." She said softly. "And you still have to address me as it when we're in around others."
"Why?"
"How would you know my real name if we don't really know each other?" She reminded.
"Right." He understood.
"But I would like for you to try calling me Bulma when we're alone."
"I could do that. Bulma." He smirked, and then brought their lips together in a passionate kiss. His hand traveled from her face down to the hem of her shirt and swiftly removed it, breaking their kiss for a moment. He reached farther down and unbuttoned her pants.
She wrapped her legs around his waist and switched their positions. He always tried to be the dominate one, and she allowed him to be so. But there were times when she needed to be in control. Now was one of those times.
There was a silent understanding between the two of them that said that the conversation wasn't over. But for now, she needed a break from talking.
I'm almost certain that you all were thinking the same way as Bulma about how Verles would react. I thought that this way would be more surprising than having him blow up at her. She doesn't need that. I didn't go into extreme detail in the flashback, because I'm saving it for later. In the next chapter there will be a time skip. Review this chapter and stay tuned to find the key to MyLockedHeart!
