The Soul and The Flesh~Frieza Saga Part VIIII "I will leave her alone, if you give it too me, I don't care about you guys at all, I only want the Dragonball." Vegeta smirked at them. Kurilin looked down at Iishinchu, and realized that he had little choice in this. He remembered that Raimi had been "programmed" to not allow Vegeta to be hurt, and probably couldn't fight him herself either. He looked up at the gloating Saiyan, and started to hand it over...

When Bulma of all people grabbed it from him.

"No, we can't! We can't give it to him, we won't be able to make our wish to get Yamcha and the others back!" Bulma yelled, and clutched it tightly. Everyone was stunned, Bulma herself most of all. When did she lose her mind like this, defying Vegeta to attack her?

"What? You can't be serious, Woman." Vegeta said, eyes wide. He couldn't believe this. Bulma backed into the wall behind her, shaking her head. Vegeta shoved Kurilin aside and stalked up to her...
And came face to face with Raimi, who stood in his way with arms outspread.

"Don't you touch her, Vegeta!" She said, voice low and very serious. This wasn't going right at all, and she wasn't sure what to do, but knew she'd never let him hurt Bulma. She could feel her friend shiver behind her, and wondered at Bulma's courage. Bulma was almost an avowed coward, ready to run at the drop of a hat, and now she was playing keep-away with the Dragonball. In light of this, Raimi realized she had to do something.

"Listen, to me; I want that Dragonball, and I'll kill each of you, one at a time if she doesn't give it to me, now!" Vegeta said, voice equally angry. He wanted no more delays in his getting his wish, and meant what he said. Raimi didn't move, and they stared at each other for long seconds, while everyone waited. He sighed suddenly; he thought this was the last of the Dragonballs, so he was feeling generous.

"Fine. I'll only say this once. You, Woman. I'm giving you thirty seconds; if you don't give me that thing, I'm going to kill baldy here. So, do what you want, but you're next!" Kurilin went pale, and dropped into a defensive posture; sure he couldn't possibly fight off the Prince. Raimi whirled around and covered Bulma's hands with her own.

"Bulma, please, let him have it. I promise, I swear, it will be all right. I swear, we will get our friends back, Yamcha too. Please, don't do this, let me take it... " Bulma looked at her, tears in her eyes. She bit her lip, looking betrayed.

"Raimi, why? I don't understand... wait, is this... Is this what is supposed to happen?" Bulma choked, shaking her head. She didn't protest as Raimi took Iishinchu from her gently, and handed it to Vegeta without looking at him. She felt sick, and hated herself for this. She remembered him as taking it from them before, but she still felt like a rat. Vegeta took Iishinchu from her, more puzzled than triumphant. He watched Raimi hug the taller blue haired girl, whispering in her ear gently, and wondered at what was going on.

"You have it; now go, Vegeta. Go!" Raimi hissed, still not looking at him. He turned and looked at Kurilin, who glared at him in impotent rage. Then he took off, leaving the three to lick their wounds in peace, feeling strangely disturbed by what had just happened, but only for one moment... The triumph of having all seven Dragonballs wiped his confusion away quickly.
~~~~~~~~~
"Raimi, I can't understand this! You gave it to him?" Kurilin said. She nodded and stroked Bulma's hair as she shuddered in Raimi's arms. Bulma was realizing what she'd just done, and was in shock.
"He can't make a wish without all seven Balls. Gohan has the last one... "
"And how do we know he won't find Gohan as he comes back here?" Raimi shook her head.

"I don't really know anymore. Things are changing, Kurilin, things aren't quite right anymore. I wonder why... "
"Its you. You weren't involved in this, were you? You are making things change, just by being here." Bulma said shakily. Raimi winced, but had to admit that this was the most likely reason. But if this was true, how could she keep helping her friends? Should she try to not do anything anymore? Kurilin saw her worry, and sighed, coming up and patting her arm.

"Hey, let's not worry too much about that. It's too late for it, and I'm still glad you're here to do what you can. So, let's try to plan what's up next." Bulma nodded, and stood taller, smiling at her friends. She was still amazed at herself, but was hopeful that Gohan would come through for them. They all turned to the direction Vegeta had flown off to expectantly.
~~~~~~~~~
Gohan did finally arrive, panting from flying so fast. He laughed as he told of running into Vegeta and hiding Sushinchu from him. He hadn't gotten away unscathed, but he could live with sore ribs.

"Well, this is good. Now, you three listen. We have to hide Bulma, and you two should go see Saichorou. I'm going to go and try to keep Vegeta from finding you guys too quickly. I can't really stop him, but I also want to guard the Dragonballs he has from any of Frieza's stray men." Bulma sucked in a deep breath to protest this plan.

"Bulma! No, I'm not waiting here, but I do have advice for you; watch Sushinchu closely, tie it to your ankle or something, but don't let it out of your sight! I can tell you, I saw you having one hell of a time, but if you keep out of sight, and don't let it get away from you, you should be able to avoid this trouble."

"But Raimi, maybe you should come with us, and have your powers awakened too!" Gohan said. Raimi was very tempted, but just didn't feel like it was possible; her inner sense, honed by her Sensei Kakarrot told her to do as she'd said. She knew better than to ignore this inner voice. She sighed sadly; she really wanted to meet Saichorou, but she probably wouldn't get the chance. She shook her head.

"No, I don't think I should go. I might be able to keep him distracted if I go find him now. Ok, get going, and gook luck, guys! Goku is almost here, just one more day!" They all nodded, and held out their hands in a team gesture, and took off in their own directions.
~~~~~~~~~
Raimi found Vegeta's Dragonballs quickly, surprised that he hadn't hidden them again. He either trusted her, or didn't care, believing perhaps that he could defeat her easily if he had to. Whatever the reason, she sat on Chiishinchu and waited for him. She didn't have to wait long. He arrowed in within fifteen minutes and dropped down quickly, not realizing that she was there until he saw her. He snarled and raised one hand, Ki flaring around him.

"Whoa! Easy there, down boy! I'm not here to cause a problem, Vegeta, I'm here to help." He didn't seem convinced, but didn't attack her either. She stood and walked up to him. He stepped back and lowered his head.
"What are you doing here?" He asked. She shrugged.

"It's a long story. But the short version is that I want to make sure that Frieza doesn't get these, should something happen. So, here I am. What, I did give you Iishinchu, so maybe you should just relax. If I wanted to take them, I'd have done so already."

She had a point. He growled and pushed past her and rolled the Dragonball into the crevice with the others. Raimi folded her arms and waited patiently for him to do something. But Vegeta just sat on Iishinchu, and sighed.

"How did he find it? Your friends have a Dragonball locator, don't they? That little punk, I'm gonna kill him!" He said, voice low. He looked up at her angrily. Raimi shrugged, and came closer. He sat up straighter. "Man, I don't suppose you'll tell me where they are, so I have to wait." He really wanted to kill her, just because he was furious, but didn't. There would be time after he made his wish, all the time in the world to make her and her friends suffer for this delay.

"I honestly don't know where they are. But you are correct, I wouldn't tell you anyway, even if I did. Do you want my help or not?" She said, sure somehow that he wouldn't turn her down. She doubted if he'd ever been alone for this long in his life, what with Nappa and Raditz being his bodyguards since he was a boy. Though he'd never admit it, he was probably lonely.

Vegeta growled something about bothersome females, and stay if she wanted, he didn't care. So, Raimi threw her lot in with his once more, and sat on Chiishinchu again. There was silence between them for a long time, as Vegeta tried to feel out Gohan and Kurilin, and Raimi tried to keep from falling asleep...
~~~~~~~~~
"Hey, Kirei!" Raimi jumped awake, looking for trouble, and saw Vegeta. She rubbed her eyes and yawned.
"Hmmm, sorry, what's up?" She said, stretching, her armor creaking as she stood. Vegeta grinned and pointed. Outside the crevice, a HUGE dinosaur-like creature lay, its neck obviously broken. She stared at it in wonder and then looked at him.
"Wow. Um, why did you kill it?" She asked. He raised an eyebrow and shook his head.

"Because I'm hungry. Want some?" Raimi blinked and thought about it. She realized that they couldn't cook it, and went pale at the thought of eating it raw. She was about to demure but he turned and using a Ki no Tsurugi blade, sliced off a huge back leg. He dragged it closer to the crevice and rested both hands on it. Raimi felt his Ki rise gently, and could smell something. He was cooking it with his Ki! She went over and watched him as he stepped back and sat down.

"It will take a few minutes. You gonna have some or not?" Raimi nodded and sat next to him. She wondered at his kindness, and decided that it was only because the darn thing was so huge, there was plenty even for two Saiyans. She took off her gloves and rolled up her sleeves, and then dug around for her capsules. As she looked at them, Vegeta peered over her shoulder, curious.
"What are those?"

"Hoi-Poi capsules; Bulma makes them. I'm looking for a drink... Ah, here we go!" She selected one and popped the button. The Prince jumped when it expanded into a large refrigerator full of cold drinks. She opened it and took a liter bottle of cola for herself and pondered what to give Vegeta. She settled on root beer (She didn't want to give him caffeine if she could help it!) and handed him his bottle. She recapsuled the 'fridge and sat down. Vegeta was sipping his soda, a strange look on his face.

"What's wrong, you don't like it?" Raimi asked. He shook his head.
"I don't know, its all bubbly. What is it?" He sniffed the bottle and Raimi smiled as he sneezed from the carbonation.
"It's an Earth drink, called root beer. I have other soda, or maybe something not fizzy... " He grunted and drank it, finally declaring it sufficient. She hid her grin and waited for the dinosaur to finish cooking.