Chapter 55:

Hands burn with pain, sharp, shooting agony as Bulma's mother forces the bones back into place. Keeps his face still. Wasn't anything... wasn't anything compared to what he was used to.

Wasn't anything compared to...

Couldn't stand to see Bulma cry. Didn't mean to make her... didn't want her to be upset...

Was his fault, felt like... it was his fault. Had wanted... had had all these stupid pictures in his head of... of asking Bulma to... stupid pictures in his head of her smiling, her... beautiful eyes, looking at him soft like they sometimes did and...

Fucked it all up. Always fucked it all up.

Said... said she would be his wife, though. Said yes. Didn't think... after everything...

"She loves you little man." Nappa tells him over the mother's shoulder. "Don't ya get that yet?"

Forces himself not to react. Turns his eyes away, fixing on the wall.

Did get that. He did. Only got scared for a... for a little while that maybe she didn't... Got angry, like he always did. Got so angry and couldn't... couldn't stop it... couldn't control...

She said yes.

She was going to be... going to be his wife. He was going to be her husband.

Thought of it makes him... makes his stomach feel tight, almost nauseous. Never thought...

Never thought he would ever be with anyone. Never thought he would have a...

A family...

"I'll try and see if I can get in touch with Yajirobi either today or tomorrow, to see if there's any Senzu beans available." Bulma says. "I know it's not ideal for your to have to wait for your hands to heal..."

Yajirobi...

Was the fat fuck who had cut his tail off, Vegeta remembers. Hardly ever seen him since...

Probably good. Would kill the fat fuck, he thinks, if he did. Missed his tail all the time. Was so hard getting... getting used to not having it. Threw his balance off for months, remembers...

"There! All done!" Bulma's mother says. Pats him on the knee, smiling up at him. Could see where Bulma got her looks from, looking at her mother. Was beautiful just like Bulma. "Now obviously, I'm not a doctor, and if Bulma isn't able to get those Senzu beans soon, you should probably go see a doctor. In the mean time try not to do anything too much with your hands until they heal. Hopefully Bulma will be able to get the beans though and you won't be laid up for too long."

"Th... thank you." Stammers out. Feels stupid. Hates talking to Bulma's parents. Always feels like... always thinks they don't want him around Bulma...

… Couldn't really blame them if they didn't...

"Of course darling. Don't mention it! Now," pats him on the knee again, stands up. "I'll let you two relax for now." Turns to Bulma, takes her hand. "I'll just be down in the kitchen making lunch sweetheart. If you two feel like eating, come down whenever and they'll be food waiting!"

"Thanks Mom..." Bulma puts her arms round her mother. Hold on to each other a long time and Vegeta looks away. Feels wrong, to look at them... Feels like he shouldn't be there...

Can't help feeling relieved, when her mother goes finally. Just Bulma then...

"... You wanna take a shower?" Asks him, soft hands grasping round his wrists. "You got pretty dusty out there." Laughs. Sound weak. Can tell she doesn't really think it's funny.

Shower would be nice, he thinks. Shower with her would be...

"... W... will you come?" Asks. Thinks he must sound pathetic to her. Sounds pathetic to himself. Just doesn't... doesn't want to be alone... right now...

"Of course." Reaches out, lays her hand against his face. Eyes close as he leans into it... Loves her hands. Loves how soft they are. How delicate. Like all of her. Couldn't understand...

Couldn't understand why he felt so safe around her, when she was so delicate. Knew she couldn't... couldn't fight. Couldn't protect him from anything. Not physically, anyway...

… Made his mind stop buzzing, though... made his thoughts stop raging all the time. Got quiet, around her. Everything got quiet, and soft, and... Didn't feel anxious around her, way he did around everyone else. Didn't feel out of place...

Doesn't remember ever feeling like that. Doesn't remember ever feeling so... calm, before he knew her...

Helps him out of his clothes and feels like an idiot. Shouldn't of broke his hands like that. Hadn't been... hadn't been thinking. Couldn't think... Brain had felt like it was on fire... Crashing pain and hate and fear...

"You're alright." Hears Bulma say, hands on his face again. Leans in and kisses him. "You're alright."

Grasps hold of her wrists, fingers loose. Forehead against hers as he nods.

Believes her.

Long as she's here with him... he believes...

/

"There we go!" Bulma smiles, placing the bowl of popcorn down on the carpet beside the game board. "And also I brought these!" She holds up the two bottles of Coke.

Vegeta looks up at her from where he's looking at the playing pieces, oddly fascinated by them, and Bulma can't help but smile more widely.

She'd had the idea to maybe try to teach Vegeta how to play Monopoly, thinking, after all of the awful drama of earlier in the day, it would be a nice way to just unwind and relax during the evening.

Vegeta had picked up on the rules easily, but Bulma has to admit surprise at how good he actually was at the game.

An hour into play, and he was beating her handily.

She hands him his soda, and he tells her thank you in his quiet voice. He was still seemingly uneasy and embarrassed, she thinks, by what had happened between them. Still wouldn't look her in the eye for more than a few, fleeting seconds at a time. She wishes he wouldn't feel that way. What had happened had been her fault. She doesn't think she'll be able to forgive herself for a long time for being so careless with her words.

"So," she starts, lowering herself to the carpet across from him. "you gonna explain to me why you're so good at this?" She asks, grinning at him.

He glances at her, looking away again at the board. His money was organized neatly in stacks, his select properties similarly compiled together, all in stark contrast to her side, her money piled up all in a jumble and her properties scattered all over the place.

He shrugs, taking a drink from his Coke.

"... I learned a lot about sales and trade while working for the PTO. This game is sort of... similar..." He says, voice almost inaudible. "Frieza never let... let me negotiate any deals or... organize missions of terraforming or anything, but..." he shrugs again, fumbling with one of the game pieces. "I listened a lot... when I was allowed to stay during meetings discussing those sorts of things. I had hoped he would... I mean, if I learned enough I had hoped he might let me... instead of always having to be on purge detail..." he shakes his head, as if trying to rid himself of some bad memory. "I got sick of all that violence all the time." He says in almost a whisper. "... But I wasn't smart enough to do anything else, Frieza said, so..." he trails off, and Bulma's throat feels tight with sadness and anger both.

"Well Frieza was a fucking moron." She says bluntly, and Vegeta looks up at her, unable to suppress his surprise. "Seriously Vegeta, you've clearly got a real mind for this sort of thing. For business. Frieza probably lost billions just because of his own, twisted prejudice and stupidity. But what can you expect from a piece of trash like that, I guess."

Vegeta keeps looking at her, almost seemingly in shock, before finally he glances away again. He mutters out a thank you, like he doesn't really believe what she says, but appreciates her kindness, and Bulma reaches across the board, grasping hold of his forearm and squeezing.

"I mean it Vegeta." She says firmly. "Remember what I said about not lying to you. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."

He looks at her again, holding her gaze at last for a long moment, before he lays his hand on top of hers, nodding.

"... I know." He says. "Thank you."

/

They play well into the evening, Bulma's mom and dad having long since retired, and Trunks fast asleep after Bulma had taken a break to put him down.

The house has grown almost silent by now, except the crackle of the fire Bulma had put on a few hours ago, thinking it would be cozy with the coming on of the winter months, the weather outside growing colder by the day.

Her and Vegeta had fallen into an easy, silent rapport during the last hour or so, and it amazes Bulma how they were here, now, given everything that had happened that day. How scared she had been. Vegeta was still beating her easily, and she watches him, lying on his side across from her, his head propped up against his palm, his eyes fixed on the board.

He looks so incredibly handsome, she thinks, smiling to herself, his dark eyes seeming to glow almost in the light pouring from the fireplace.

Those eyes look up at her then, a questioning look.

"... It's your turn." He says and Bulma blinks, not having realized.

She glances down at the board, and then at her nearly dwindled pile of cash. In her last roll she'd landed on one of Vegeta's numerous properties stacked with hotel's and houses, and that had all but wiped her out.

She can't help but laugh, shaking her head.

"Well I don't think there's much point in going on, is there?" She looks up at him. "One more time landing on any of your properties and I'll be clean out of cash. And it's getting a little late..." Bulma glances down at her watch, seeing it's nearly 1:00 in the morning. "Would it be okay if I forfeit and maybe we head to sleep?"

Vegeta nods, sitting up and starting to help clear the board of all the pieces and cards.

It's strange to Bulma, when Vegeta goes out of his way to help with menial chores like that. He did it all the time, always cleaned up after himself, tidied things up, put things away, and it was just odd, she guesses, knowing that a man of such unbelievable power, a man who was born a prince, was actually willing to engage in what amounted to grunt work, without ever complaining or claiming it was beneath him. It was weird too, because Vegeta was, or... had been, when he'd first come to Earth, anyway, so cocky about his fighting prowess and his strength. But, Bulma supposes, that had likely been a defense mechanism for him. A way to protect himself against the cruelty of others, who for so long had abused and bullied him. There had definitely always been a strain of him trying to convince himself of his words more than anyone else. Like he was trying to tell himself he was better than all of those people, because they had always told him he was less, and, Bulma knows now, in many ways convinced him of that too.

She thinks he'd probably had to do a lot of menial work, growing up in the PTO, basically having to fend for himself, with just Nappa and Raditz for companionship. It must have been rough domestic conditions, with three, battle hardened, extremely macho boys living together in a small, cramped space and with very little resources.

"You don't have to do that Vegeta. Here, let me. You should rest your hands as much as possible." She starts, reaching out and taking the game pieces from him.

He lets her, looking on as she gathers the rest of the game together and puts it away in the box.

"... Should I go wash the bowl?" He asks, nodding toward the long since empty popcorn dish she'd brought.

Bulma shakes her head.

"Nah, just leave it and I'll get it in the morning. I'm actually feeling pretty tired."

"... Alright." He answers and a few moments later he's following quietly after her, to her bedroom...

Their bedroom, Bulma thinks. He'd been sharing a bed with her more and more frequently now. Almost every night. It was rare for him to sleep in the guest room he'd first occupied when coming here, and Bulma hadn't really been able to express how much that meant to her. How it made their relationship seem, somehow, more real to her.

And now he'd asked her to marry him, and she'd said yes. Despite how screwed up it had all gotten for a little while there... they were going to be married. Husband and wife. That meant Vegeta was her family. Her real family. After the fear of earlier had at last dissipated, and the heartbreak she felt had muted a little, she had been able to realize what she knew was a deep kind of happiness. They were going to be married. She was going to be Vegeta's wife... this man she loves so, so much.

That it had been him to ask her, gods... she'd never truly imagined he would. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she'd thought they likely would never be married. That they would just be a couple who lived together, and had a child together. But that he wanted to make it, in a sense, official... Bulma knew he loved her, even if he didn't always know what that was himself... But this only affirmed it, and she was so overjoyed.

It seems almost surreal. With how everything had started... how Vegeta had first encountered her and all of her friends. How he had seemed so brutal to her at first... so terrifying... and how all of that had washed away with her beginning to know him, really know him, and she had begun to see, most unexpected of all, the sad sweetness of him underneath.

"It's going to rain." Vegeta says as the two of them are changing into their nightwear.

"It is?" Bulma looks up at him, seeing him already dressed for bed, wearing only a pair of shorts. He's standing at the sink, holding his toothbrush in that awkward way he always did, like he didn't quite know how it was supposed to work. "That would be nice! I love the sound of rain when I'm trying to fall asleep."

Vegeta hums, squeezing toothpaste out onto his brush.

He pauses for a moment, staring down into the sink as if lost in thought, the toothbrush held halfway suspended.

Bulma nearly asks him if he's alright before remembering earlier and catching herself. She knows he hated to be pitied, and she'd been getting careless with that lately. Obviously.

Finally she sees him shake his head, as if clearing his mind.

"It used to rain all the time on Vegetasai." He says softly. "I remember that. I used to... used to fall asleep to the sound of it, like you, I remember."

"Really?" Bulma asks softly, moving towards him.

Vegeta didn't often talk about his home world. Part of that, Bulma suspected, was probably because he had so few memories of it. Having been taken away so young.

He nods, still staring down at the sink.

"Yeah." He answers, pausing again. "It never rained on Planet 79 though. I hated that. I remember always... when we would go off to other worlds, if it rained I... I would go out and stand in it, just to... remember..." His stops, voice trailing off before finally bringing the toothbrush to his mouth.

Bulma can't miss the note of almost bitter resignation in his voice then. What sort of world was the PTO's base of operations then? Was it a barren planet? One in which the environment matched the bleakness of the lives lived there? Bulma isn't sure she wants to know such things. But she does want to know more about Vegeta's actual home. To ask him more questions about what, if anything, he remembers about his life on Vegetasai. To ask if there were any happy memories for him, before he was taken away by Frieza. There must have been some. Anything, even. But she's afraid to ask too. Afraid of finding out there was no happiness for Vegeta in life, before coming here to Earth.

More than likely, she knows, that was the reality for him.

She brushes her teeth beside him and afterward the two of them head to bed, getting under the covers. Within a few minutes, Bulma can already hear the rain beginning to patter lightly against the roof above them, and against the pans of the windows, and she smiles to herself, amazed and wondering at how Vegeta was always able to do that.

She scooches up against his side, and feels safe when he wraps his arm around her shoulders, holding her close as he lies on his back, looking up at the ceiling.

For a few minutes Bulma just listens to the sound of his soft breaths and the rain falling outside, before she works up the courage to ask what she'd been wanting to.

"Do you... remember what your home world was like? I mean, do you have any other clear memories of it, like you remembering the rain there?"

Vegeta is quiet for a long moment, and Bulma, as ever, waits for him.

"... I remember my father's palace." He says quietly. "And... the gardens surrounding it. I remember playing there, when I was a kit..."

"A kit?" Bulma asks. She'd never heard Saiyan children referred to in that way before.

"Yeah, it's... it's what we... what we called very young Saiyans." He tells her.

"Oh, wow..." Bulma trails off. There was a note of melancholy in Vegeta's voice, and she thought it best not to push the issue then.

"... I think I remember my mother always... always being there too, in the gardens. I think they they were hers, maybe. But I don't know..."

Bulma swallows, an ache deep in her chest.

"You remember your father though?" She asks carefully.

He turns over on his side, looking at her, reaching out a hand and brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear.

"... Yes." He answers after a moment. "My mother was gone before I was three years old. But I remember my father... I think about my father a lot... I used to... wonder what he would think... of everything..." he trails off, his eyes shifting away from her.

Bulma reaches out, pressing her hand to his cheek.

"He would proud of you Vegeta. I'm sure." She tells him quietly, and he looks back to her.

"... My father was a hard man." He says after a long moment, voice subdued. "A proud Saiyan warrior. He wasn't... sentimental..."

"Maybe not. Though there isn't anything wrong with sentiment Vegeta. But if your father prized strength above everything else, then I know he would be proud of you, and I know that because of how strong you are. Not just physical strength. It's mental, and emotional. You're tougher than nails Vegeta."

His eyes glance away again, and he doesn't say anything.

Bulma presses tighter against him, laying her head against his shoulder.

"... What about you?" He asks suddenly. Bulma looks up at him, surprised. "What about your childhood do you remember most?"

"Hitting Goku with my car." She blurts without thinking, and Vegeta turns to look at her, an almost shocked expression across his face.

"... You...? You hit Kakarott with... a car?" He asks, and Bulma can't help her laughter at the bemused tone in his voice.

"If you can believe it. I was about 16 at the time, and he was 12. That was how we met, actually."

Vegeta's face is almost scandalized as he sits up, looking down at her like he can't believe it at all.

"I know it sounds ridiculous, but it's true." She tells him. "I mean, my car was more damaged from hitting him I think than he was."

Vegeta's eyes are almost comically wide now.

"... Why didn't you tell me this before?" He asks, and Bulma frowns, feeling hesitant. She didn't think he would care, one way or the other, and she hopes she hasn't offended him in some way.

"I didn't think to, I guess. I mean, it didn't seem important or anything. Just a funny story." She explains, pushing herself up.

"Bulma, you should have told me." He says to her, and she's starting to feel really worried now, only she can't figure out why he would be so upset over it.

"... I'm sorry?" She starts, not understanding, when suddenly he breaks out into loud, uninhibited laughter. The sort she rarely, rarely saw out of him. She can't remember, in truth, the last time she saw him laugh like this.

"I c-could have... c-could have used that t-to... to f-fuck with him..." he gasps between laughter, slapping his knee like he can hardly contain himself, and Bulma gets it then, her own laughter bubbling up in her throat.

"Vegeta, d-don't... don't hurt your hands!" She laughs, reaching out and grasping his wrist to keep him from hitting his knee again.

He keeps laughing, his eyes squeezed shut with his amusement.

Bulma doesn't think she's ever seen him laugh so hard at something, and she feels suddenly overwhelmed with joy to see him now. To know she was able to do that for him.

Maybe things would be alright then, she thinks. Eventually. Despite everything... despite all the horror of Vegeta's life.

Maybe, if she could keep giving him small moments like this... things would be alright...

/

AN: As always, my deepest thanks to all of my readers and reviewers! You guys are what really make it possible for me to keep writing. I hope you continue to enjoy and if you have a chance, let me know your thoughts!