Hey... I started writing this chapter right after I posted up the other three chapters.... so if it took a long time to post it up, something obviously went wrong...
Chapter Five: "It's My Part and I'll Cry If I Want To, Lie if I Want To, Die If I Want To"
*To explain the chapter name: Cry is on Bulma's part, Lie is on A bunch of people's parts, and Die is on Clarice's part.*
WARNING: IF YOU DID NOT READ THE OTHER CHAPTER SEVEN THAT I REPLACED, THE ONE AFTER "OUT OF TIME", PLEASE READ IT BEFORE READING THIS!!!!
Bulma spun around, her face full of terror to see a tall figure standing behind her, their sharp teeth and green skin shining eerily -
Wait, green skin?
Bulma recognized the person immediately and sucked her teeth. Suddenly, all of the lights flickered on and she heard hundreds of voices shout "Suprise!!" from behind her.
Bulma turned to see an extremely large amount of people, she estimated five or six hundred, standing before her. The house (or at least as far as she could see) was decorated with streamers, balloons, banners that said "Happy Birthday, Bulma!", confetti, etc.
She turned to look at Nazomi.
"Why did you scare me like that?" she asked, slight anger in her voice.
"What can ya say? I like to freak people out," said Nazomi, shrugging.
"You must get that from your father," Bulma laughed. "I used to always be afraid of him."
Nazomi smiled and gave her a hug, murmuring "Happy Birthday, Busy Bee."
Bulma returned the hug and turned to the crowd of people behind her, her face full of surprise and awe. She hadn't even remembered that it was her birthday, which made the party even more of a surprise.
Then something occurred to her.
'So that's what they've been doing,' she thought. 'I can't believe that I actually yelled at Trunks for this...'
She saw a familiar group of people standing in front of the crowd - Marron, Goten, Pan, Bra, Chi-Chi, Trunks, Goku, Gohan and Goten, and the rest of the Z Warriors - all with happy grins on their faces.
"I... I don't know what to say," said Bulma said, laughing. "Thank you..."
They were grinning even more widely at this, and they each gave her a hug before ushering her into the crowd.
"This is great," said Bra as she watched her mother being greeted by another group of people. "It's a success so far, and she really seems to be enjoying herself."
"Yeah," agreed Pan. "...So did Marron ever invite the Sukaros?" she asked suddenly, looking around.
"Hey, you know what? I think that she did," said Bra. "Where is she...?"
They set off to look for Marron as the DJ, posted on a large platform at the other side of the room, began to play the music.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Oh, hello, Mr. Ohojii!" cried Bulma, giving him a hug. "Long time no see!"
"Yes, it has been quite a while," said the white-haired man, smiling. "Yes, it has... so how is your company doing?"
"Oh, great, but it's not the same without you there," she answered; he'd retired about a month before.
"I'm happy to here it," he laughed.
"...Well... Can you excuse me for a moment?" asked Bulma. "There's someone that I have to speak to..."
"Sure," said Mr. Ohojii, still smiling. "Oh, cheese puffs..."
She watched the old man make his way to a long row of tables with food on them and laughed, then turned back to the person she wanted to see.
Vegeta was standing in a far corner of the room, his hands in the pockets of the black pants that he was wearing. He was even wearing the shirt that she'd once picked out for him - a red, silk shirt with long sleeves that fit him perfectly, slightly showing off his muscles. A couple of the top buttons were left open.
Bulma smiled - he said that he'd never wear it, and she thought that it lay in the closet, forgotten. She began to make her way to the other side of the room, when someone grabbed her arm.
She turned to see a tall man, his hair slightly graying, grinning at her.
"Oh, hello, Jack," she said politely. "Could you excuse me for a moment? There's someone-"
"Bulma, what has it been, three years?" he said, his silky voice aggravating her. "Look, there's someone I want you to meet," he said, about to pull her over to someone else.
"Look, I'd love to meet whoever it is, but I need to talk to someone..."
But when Bulma looked over to where Vegeta had been standing, he was gone.
'Where could he have gone?'
"Bulma, meet Miranda, Miranda, meet Bulma," said Jack, pulling Bulma from her thoughts. She looked next to him to see a blonde girl that couldn't be more than twenty-five years old standing next to him, in a tight, red dress that just barely covered her over-large chest.
Bulma felt like beating Jack's head off - she'd dated him once while they were in college, and ever since she'd broken up with him, he'd done whatever was in his power to try and make her jealous - this included showing off his young girlfriends to her whenever he had the opportunity, much to her annoyance.
"Hello, Miranda," said Bulma curtly. "It's very nice to meet you. But can the two of you please excuse me? I-"
"Well Bulma," said Jack, looking around the room, "Where's your husband? I haven't had a chance to meet him yet."
"He's..." Bulma looked around desperately, trying to locate her mate. "He's..."
She suddenly felt two strong arms wrap around her from behind, giving her a warm hug.
"Happy Birthday," whispered Vegeta before kissing her on the cheek.
"This," said Bulma, grinning broadly, "is my husband. Vegeta, meet Jack, Jack meet Vegeta."
The smug look on Jack's face faltered at the sight of Vegeta, but he quickly replaced it, smirking.
"Nice to finally meet you," said Jack in his silkiest voice.
"Same here," said Vegeta, grinning a grin that showed off his razor sharp canines, frightening Jack more than he already had. He extended one arm to shake Jack's hand, the other one still wrapped around Bulma's stomach.
Jack smirked and extended his hand too - and he almost screamed in pain as Vegeta's hand tightened significantly around his, straining it just to the breaking point.
Vegeta finally let go of his hand, still smirking and replaced his arm to it's place on Bulms'd waist.
"And this is Miranda," said Bulma, who hadn't noticed what had just happened.
Vegeta looked over at the blonde. He hadn't noticed her there, but he smiled nonetheless and nodded to her in greeting.
"Miranda... w-what do you s-say we go... to..." Jack was try to get Miranda's attention, but she was staring at Vegeta, looking him up and down.
"Miranda," said Jack a bit more loudly, obviously becoming angry and embarrassed. "Let's go."
"I'm not going anywhere with you," she snapped suddenly, turning and walking away from him haughtily.
"Miranda, wait!" cried Jack, going after her. Bulma and Vegeta watched them, and Bulma suddenly started laughing.
Vegeta smiled and leaned down to whisper to Bulma.
"I'm going to go and get some air," he whispered before letting go of Bulma, much to her disappointment. She turned to ask him to stay with her a few more minutes, at least, so she could introduce him to a few more people, but when she turned, he was already gone.
~*-T-*~^~*-H-*~^~*-E-*~
Vegeta walked out onto the deck behind the house, into the slightly chilly night air. He breathed deeply, letting the oxygen fill his lungs, letting it linger for a moment before exhaling.
He'd come out here to get some peace - but what a fat chance that was, he could still hear the loud music from inside the house, the buzz of people talking, a buzz that sounded more like a hoard of angry bees.
He leaned against the railing, his elbows on it as his hands hung over the edge, dangling carelessly.
He sighed. This was getting out of hand. After he'd made his decision, it seemed to make too much sense, he wondered why his mind hadn't just jumped to it the night Clarice had arrived on earth. It seemed so simple, the decision, that he thought that maybe the only reason it'd taken him so long to make it was because he missed his home planet, but hadn't thought through the entire situation clearly, his mind clouded with both possibilities.
He looked up; his vision directed towards the fireflies that had begun their nightly dance, weaving and bobbing through the air gracefully, little fairies of the twilight.
He smiled - fireflies always reminded him of the night, so long ago, that he'd finally put his pride on the line and told Bulma his true feelings for her, feelings that he'd denied and kept bottled up for months...
His thoughts lingered to his mate, a smile creeping across his lips. He remembered that night, as vividly as though someone had branded it in his mind, in those woods, where he and Bulma had confirmed their bond, where Trunks was conceived...
He heard a soft thud behind him, but didn't turn to look at her. How she knew he was there was beyond him, he'd been keeping his ki down - but then again she was a trained assassin, trained to find her target no matter what the circumstances were.
But after a few years into the profession, Clarice quit, even though she was going on to being one of the best of her kind, having never failed once - she didn't want to kill people if there wasn't a good reason for it. Of course, on Vejitasei, this was something that showed extreme weakness, but the renegade shinobi never cared what anyone else thought.
And to that day, even if murder wasn't on the agenda she had in mind, she never failed to find - and corner - her target.
'Maybe that's why father sent her after me.'
He turned to Clarice and leaned back against the railing, but he still didn't look her directly in the face. The memory of the nightmare was still vivid in his mind, and each time he tried to tell himself that Clarice would never stoop so low as to kill anyone he knew personally, the thought of what his sub-conscious mind had conjured up for her to say seemed to glisten and shine even more, becoming more vivid, more clear, as though begging him to believe that it was the truth.
'You just have a wild imagination,' he thought, bringing himself to look up at her.
When he did, he wanted to both laugh and say "Well Done" at he same time.
Clarice seemed to be wearing all leather - she had on black leather boots, black leather pants, and a black leather jacket. The only thing that she didn't have on that was leather was the t-shirt she had on, which had a large, shiny, imprint of a bunny head on it. Whether the shirt was supposed to be as tight as it was or if it was too small for her, he didn't know.
And her hair, instead of it's usual high, thick ponytail, was in a French braid that reached the base of her spine, her tail wrapped around her left leg.
She didn't say anything, she just waited for him to talk to her. She was pretty sure that he knew why she was there, and he was the only one that had to say anything, so she wouldn't speak until he did.
"Where'd you get the clothes?" he asked curiously, his voice drowned in half- amusement, half wonder.
"Dryphus bought them." She knew better than to tell him, but he would know if she were lying. *Yo, you damn well have better not forgotten that British accent! ^_^*
"She's here too?" he asked, though he didn't sound surprised.
Clarice nodded. "She won't tell anyone, she swore to it. If she does, I'll kill her myself."
Vegeta gave a very brief, very quiet chuckle.
"...Can I ask you a question?" asked Clarice looking down at the shirt she was wearing.
"Go ahead," said Vegeta.
"What the hell is this?" she asked, pointing to the bunny-head silhouette. "I don't understand it. Is it some type of trademark or something...?"
"It's the Playboy logo," said Vegeta, completely amused at the look on Clarice's face.
"What?" she asked, looking more confused. "What's a 'Playboy'?"
"It's a magazine," he said, wanting to laugh. She was so smart, yet so naive.
"About what?" she asked.
"...Uh... photos," he said.
Clarice sighed and shrugged her shoulders, then leaned back on the railing, mimicking Vegeta's position. It was then that he noticed something large and shiny in Clarice's hand. It was all black.
"What's that?" he asked, pointing at the object in her hand.
"Oh... motorcycle helmet," she said.
"You have a motorcycle?" he asked incredulously.
"Yes," she said, lifting up the helmet and looking it over with a critical eye, as though judging it. "Dryphus bought that, too."
"Where'd she get the money?" he asked suddenly. "She doesn't have any of the currency on earth, does she?"
Clarice shrugged. "No idea."
"Why did you decide to come now?" he asked out of the blue.
She looked at him, then up at the stars, all of them winking and sparkling.
"This afternoon, Dryphus was - erm... she was flying over the country, trying to find you," lied Clarice. "She wanted to know if you were really living here. She came back and told me that they seemed to be preparing for some type of festivity." She jerked her head in the direction of the open doorway, noting the party that was going on inside. "I hadn't known whether you'd told anyone or not about your predicament, so I decided that this would be the perfect time to speak to you. I don't think that I would be all that distinguishable from the crowd, so the less anyone noticed me, the better.
"That's where the motorcycle came in," continued Clarice. All of it was true, except for the part about Dryphus flying around and trying to find him - she wasn't about to tell him that she'd been spying on them. "Dryphus said that most of the humans were alarmed by seeing her fly, so of course, I wasn't about to go and start some type of panic by flying also. And of course, I didn't know where you lived, so..." she trailed off, her gaze sweeping the wooden floor of the deck.
"What?" asked Vegeta.
"I decided to follow Bulma," she said, looking back up at him. "I couldn't feel your ki, so I felt around for hers. I remembered what the other half of your son's ki felt like, so it was easy to find her. I waited for her after she got out of work and followed her until I got here, and then waited out here for you. I knew you'd come out," she continued, a grin spreading across her face, "because I knew you'd never be able to resist the moon when it's full."
It was true. Vegeta grinned as he looked up at the pearly white sphere, surrounded by all of it's celestial fellows, the stars. It was a very beautiful night.
He turned back and smiled. She knew him too well. He looked up at her to see her face full of awe, staring up at the moon, her body showered in the blue light.
Kami, she was especially beautiful at night, he'd always said it...
...But no matter how beautiful she was, Bulma would always be the most beautiful woman in the world in his eyes.
She looked back at him, then smiled as she noticed that he was staring at her.
"What?" she asked.
"Oh, uh... nothing," said Vegeta, shaking his head and looking away.
For a few moments, everything was silent as death, for it was the moment of truth... both of them could feel it...
Vegeta looked up. He didn't know what her reaction would be, but he thought that if he put it off any longer, it would be worse.
"Clarice... I decided... I decided that I wanted to-"
"I already know what your decision is," said Clarice, smiling.
"You... You do?" asked Vegeta, confused. "But how?"
"I'm insulted," she said teasingly. "As long as we've known each other, you don't think that I'd know you well enough to figure this out?"
She laughed at the confused look on his face.
"Just because we were separated for a while doesn't mean that I've forgotten anything about you..."
She trailed off as her gaze fell to the ground, a sad expression on her face.
"I knew, Vegeta, because..." she let out a long, drawn out sigh, trying to find the right words to lace her explanation together.
"Well... I knew that if it took you this long to make your decision that you obviously care about these people very, very much," she said, her eyes turning to look in at the party, all of the laughing, dancing people, and the loud music.
"And... That's how I knew. I knew that you obviously cared about them too much to leave them."
So she did know.
Vegeta looked her face - her expression was hard to read, almost non-existent; the same "expression" she'd had when she'd found out about Bulma in the first place.
He was about to say something when she looked up and smiled, though the smile didn't exist in her eyes, which were saddened.
"I... guess that this is good-bye, then," she said, her voice wavering slightly.
Vegeta looked down - he didn't know what to say. If she went back to Vejitasei, his father was more than likely to kill her for failing, and he was more than capable of doing it - even as strong as she was, something she'd worked and worked for almost her entire life, King Vegeta was much stronger than she was, something that he had to make sure of to keep his rank of King.
Not that he regretted the decision - of course he wanted to stay with his family, with the woman he loved, even if meant putting up a mean front, but it was all worth it. The only thing he regretted was not being able to do anything about Clarice's fate.
"Well..."
"...Well..."
"I should get going now," said Clarice. "They'll get suspicious."
"Yeah," said Vegeta, feeling guilty, for his decision had not only decided the rest of his life, but the end of hers.
"Well..."
He looked up as she spoke again, and saw her with her arms out-stretched.
"If we're never going to see each other again," she said quietly, a hopeful look in her eyes.
Vegeta smiled and complied, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her tightly.
With a sigh consisting of both sadness and happiness, she wrapped her arms around him and squeezed him as tightly as she could without hurting him, her face buried in his neck.
She pulled back and let her hands travel up to his cheeks and kissed him. Vegeta, surprised by the kiss, didn't have time to react, whether it was to return it or stop it.
Clarice stepped back again, a full two feet from him, and smiled. She kneeled down on knee, her hand over her heart, her gaze cast downward.
She looked back up at him and murmured half-humouredly,
"Farewell, your majesty."
With that, she teleported and was gone.
Vegeta stared at the spot she'd been kneeling in a moment before, then turned and leaned back on the railing again. She was right about caring about them too much to leave them... he couldn't even imagine life without Bulma and the rest of the Z Warriors, no matter how annoying and stupid they were....
I don't wanna be, be without ya, be without ya
I don't wanna live, live without ya, live without ya
I don't wanna go, go without ya, go without ya
I don't wanna be alone
Vegeta sighed, wondering if he'd made the right decision. 'Of course you did,' said a voice in his head. 'But you've given up an awful lot to be with her. That just shows how much you love her.'
He smirked suddenly. He did love her, and he'd given up the saiyajin empire to be with her. He'd been with her too long, and he wasn't about to give up thirty-five years of marriage.
When we hooked up
We sat down
Made an agreement
We vowed that
That we'd always
Be together
Through whatever
We said that
No one would ever
Get between us
So love would
Never ever leave us
That was a while ago
He smiled to himself - he wouldn't admit it to her, hell, he half didn't want to admit it to himself, but he did.
"I love you, Bulma."
~*-L-*~^~*-E-*~^~*-G-*~^~*-E-*~^~*-N-*~^~*-D-*~^~*-S-*~
Bra walked around the large room, still in search of either Marron or the Sukaros. As she looked around, she suddenly felt herself bump into something.
Stumbling backward, she spun around and found herself looking into the obsidian eyes of Goten, who's arm was hooked around the arm of the red-head she'd seen at the mall.
"Oh, hi Goten," said Bra hastily, trying to make a quick getaway. "How are you?"
"Oh, I'm alright," he said, smiling, though he seemed a little bit tired.
"I'm glad," said Bra, nodding. "Uh.... I'll go, then-"
"Goo-goo, aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" whined the red-head as Bra was just about to leave.
"Oh, right - Bra, this is Tiffany, Tiffany, this is Bra," said Goten, smiling from girl to girl.
"Nice to meet you," said Bra, giving a very forced grin.
"Same to you," said Tiffany, grinning back. "I love that dress."
"Oh, thanks," said Bra, looking down at the blue dress. "Well, I've gotta go and talk to someone - I'll see you guys later, okay?"
She flashed a grin and turned on her heel, trying to get as far from them as possible.
'I'm not going to cry,' she said. 'Too much mascara... too many people...'
~*-O-*~^~*-F-*~
Bulma walked around, looking for Vegeta, a glass of wine she'd been nursing in her hand. He said that he'd gone out to get some air, but when she'd asked around, everyone had said that they hadn't seen him go through any of the doors.
'I hope he didn't go flying around again...'
She felt a light tap on her shoulder and thinking it was Vegeta, turned and was about to chastise him for leaving on such short notice, but stopped short.
It was Mercy, looking as stunning as ever in a silver/gray satin sleeveless dress.
*A/N: Incase you find any typos while Mercy is talking -there aren't any, I checked - I just thought that with the accent, that's the way she'd pronounce whatever she was saying.*
"Oh, hi," said Bulma. "I thought you were someone else."
Mercy smiled and said " 'Appy, Bairthday, Boolma," before giving her a gentle hug.
"Thanks... did you know about this the whole time?" asked Bulma, suddenly wondering just how many people knew that the party would take place.
Mercy nodded, a guilty grin on her face. "You desairve eet," she said. "I've noteeced zat you 'ave been vairy... 'ow do you say... 'straissed out' lately..."
"Oh, you've got that right," said Bulma, smiling back. "This family is getting to be too much to handle. I'm getting too old."
"Zat eez nonsense!" cried Mercy, looking horrified. "You are not old at all!"
"Mercy, "I'm sixty-two."
"C'est imposible!" spat Mercy, forgetting that Bulma didn't speak French. "Je ne te crois pas! You look too young for your age, I would 'ave guessed zat you were thairty."
*Author's Note: "Je ne te crois pas!" is pronounced Jeh-neh-te-qua-pah. It means "I do not believe you!"*
"Stop it," said Bulma, a flattered blush crossing her face.
"Mrs. Briefs, how are you?" cried another person, very enthusiastic to speak to her.
"Oh, hi, Mr. Graden," said Bulma, smiling.
"Hello, Mrs. Briefs! You look absolutely stunning!" said the man, shaking Bulma's hand enthusiastically - perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, because Bulma had to use all of her strength to keep from spilling the wine she had in her hand onto the floor.
"And who is this lovely lady?" spoke Mr. Graden through his thick English accent, turning to Mercy.
"Oh, excuse me," said Bulma apologetically. "Mercy, this is Sir Arthur Graden, Mr. Graden, this is Mercy Serafine," said Bulma.
*A/N: I'm sorry, I put too many notes in this chapter, I know - but her last name is pronounced "sarah-feen" incase you thought it was actually pronounced sarah-fine.*
"Enchante," said Mercy, raising her hand so that she could shake his. .
"Wonderful to meet you," said Mr. Graden, shaking her hand.
"Thank you," said Mercy. She suddenly looked over Mr. Graden's shoulder, her face growing serious.
He and Bulma looked in the direction her eyes were pointed in, and saw Piccolo leaning on the edge of an empty table with his arms crossed, his face down and his eyes closed. He had on black pants and a silvery shirt that seemed to match Mercy's dress.
"I weell be right back," said Mercy, walking by Bulma and Mr. Graden. Bulma continued to watch as Mercy made her way to where Piccolo was standing. Mr. Graden had begun speaking again, but she wasn't paying attention. Mercy took Piccolo's hands in hers and said something, but Bulma couldn't hear her. Piccolo suddenly glared at her and shook his head. Mercy had a pleading look on her face and said something else, and Piccolo's expression softened, but he still shook his head no. Mercy scowled, but gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away.
"What was that about?" muttered Bulma quietly to herself.
"I say, who is that man?" said Mr. Graden suddenly, as he gaped at Piccolo, trying to figure out what Bulma was staring at.
"That's Piccolo," said Bulma. "He's her husband."
"Tall fellow, isn't he?" said Mr. Graden, apparently un-phased by the fact that Piccolo was green, before turning back to Bulma.
"Yeah..."
Mercy suddenly walked right up next to Bulma and "hmphed", her arms crossed. Her face was flushed with anger and her lips were pursed, making them look very thin.
"Um... Mr. Graden, could you get us some more drinks?" asked Bulma, handing him her glass.
"Oh, yes, of course," said Mr. Graden. "I was just going to do that myself, I was."
He walked away, humming some type of made up tune.
Bulma turned back to Mercy. "What happened?" she asked, concerned.
"It eez Peacollo," said Mercy, her face still flushed. "'E weell not talk, 'e weell not eet, 'e weell not do anyzing I ask 'im to. 'E weell no even dance with me..."
Her expression suddenly saddened and her face fell.
"Hey, I'm sure it's not you," said Bulma truthfully. "God, I don't think Piccolo would like dancing with anyone period," she said, looking at his mean stature.
Mercy laughed softly, but her eyes were still cast downward.
Just then, Mr. Graden returned with the drinks.
"Oh, why so glum?" he asked Mercy, seeing her expression.
She sighed, glanced slightly in Piccolo's direction, then looked at the floor again and said "Nozing."
"Well something has to be wrong," said Mr. Graden. "I don't think that an angel such as yourself should have anything to cry about."
Mercy looked up, blushing.
"Oh, vairy funny, Meester Graden," said Mercy, still blushing.
"Seriously," he said, smiling. "I think-"
"Dad!"
They all turned to see a young, handsome man making his way through the thick crowd, heading in their direction.
*A/N: Just imagine an... an Antonio Banderez type person... ::drool:: ^_^*
"Dad, you have a phone call," he said, handing Mr. Graden a green/blue cell phone.
"Well there's far too much noise in here," said Mr. Graden. "I'm going to take this outside. I'll be right back."
He turned and headed for the front door, pushing through the crowd with all the strength an old man could muster, holding the phone above his head.
"Well then... oh Mercy cheer up," said Bulma as she turned to see Mercy 's face still covered in sadness.
"What happened?" asked Mr. Graden's son, noticing the look o her face too.
"Her husband," said Bulma without thinking. "He's not really a party person, and she's kind of upset about it."
"Well that's too bad," said the young man, giving her a sympathetic look.
"Uh, Mercy, this is Daniel, Daniel, this is Mercy," said Bulma.
"Hi," said Daniel, grinning broadly, a grin that would make a girl faint.
"Haillo," said Mercy without even looking at him.
"...So... uh... great party," said Daniel, looking around and trying to make conversation.
"Yeah, it is," said Bulma. "I think that Bra got the 'party-planning-gene' from me."
They both laughed, but Mercy wasn't paying attention to them - she was watching Piccolo.
"Oh, uh.. Daniel, could you get us some punch?" asked Bulma suddenly.
"Oh, um.. sure."
"Mercy! You are stinking up my party!" cried Bulma, slapping Mercy on the arm. "I cannot have fun knowing that someone's depressed! It just crashes the mood."
Mercy "hmphed", which sounded more like she'd given a short, quick breath through her nose.
"Maybe I should leave, zen," said Mercy, sighing. "I do not think zat zair eez any chance of my mood improving..."
"Sure there is!" cried Bulma, smiling. "Just dance with someone else, dancing always makes everyone feel better... and I think your daughter's already discovered that..."
Mercy's face snapped upward to look at Bulma, confusion covering her features, then she turned in the direction that everyone seemed to be looking in. Mercy gasped and her hands flew over her mouth, stifling her laughter.
There, in the middle of the dance floor, were Nazomi and Goten, both dancing so erratically that the rest of the dancers had cleared a large space for them, fearful of serious injury.
Both of them seemed to be dancing in the same style, if it could be called that - they just seemed to be jerking different parts of there bodies around and tossing their heads, Nazomi's hair creating a maroon cloud around her head whenever she turned her face.
Bulma glanced in Piccolo's direction, and saw that he too was watching them - his face was a mix of both horror and amusement.
The song ("Up In Here" by DMX) finally ended, and Nazomi and Goten finally stopped "dancing". They looked up and to their surprise, there was loud applause from the crowd - everyone thought that it was funny.
Nazomi and Goten, both having a good sense of humor, greeted the crowd - Goten began bowing, flourishing his hands, as Nazomi curtsied and blew kisses to everyone.
Mercy laughed as Nazomi walked over to where they were standing, her face still a bit flushed from dancing so wildly.
"Zat was wondairfool," said Mercy, grinning broadly.
"Thanks," breathed Nazomi. "But why aren't you doing anything? It's a party, just let loose!" she cried, moving around again in a dancing motion.
Mercy laughed. "You're right," she said quietly.
Daniel came back with the drinks, a smile on his face.
"Daniel, this is Nazomi, Nazomi, this is Daniel," sais Bulma automatically.
"Hay," said Nazomi, grinning.
"Hey."
"So... oh bah, they're playing slow songs now," said Nazomi, looking disappointed. "I gotta go get someone to dance with... mom, cheer up," said Nazomi, rubbing her mother's arm before walking to the other side of the room, obviously having spotted a boy that seemed to be alone.
"....." Bulma looked at Mercy, who seemed to be considering something . Suddenly she stood up straight and turned to Daniel.
"Would you like to dance?" she asked, smiling.
Daniel looked a bit surprised at first, but then smiled. "Sure."
Mercy grinned and grabbed his hand, leading him out to the dance floor. As soon as they had a good spot, Daniel wrapped his arms around her waist, and Mercy put her arms around his neck, her head, resting against his chest . They began moving in a circular motion, rocking slowly from side to side.
Bulma laughed as Mercy winked at her - she knew what Mercy's intentions were now. She was trying to make Piccolo jealous.
Wanting to dance with someone, Bulma resumed her search for Vegeta - only to be greeted by another eager group of people.
Bulma smiled and sighed, greeting all of her "guests", all enthusiastic to speak with her ("Oh, you look lovely this evening!").
~*-C-*~^~*-H-*~^~*-A-*~^~*-O-*~^~*-S-*~
Bra made her way through the crowd, looking for someone she knew even remotely. All of her friends had been scattered, and even standing on her toes to see over the heads of the hundreds of people, she couldn't find a single person that she recognized.
"Ugh," she moaned in exasperation, being to get tired. "Where could they all be...?"
She was about to give up hope when she saw her mother, surrounded by at least five or six people, all keen to engage her in conversation at the same time.
Bulma just stood there, looking around from person to person as they spoke, a nervous smile on her face as they closed in around her, entrapping her .
Bra giggled at her mother's situation and turned around, looking around for any sine of Nazomi - she hadn't seen where she'd gone after her "dance" with Goten.
Sighing again, she turned - and immediately regretted it. There was Goten, yet again, and Tiffany was whispering something in his ear.
She could do nothing but stare, her eyes brimming with tears. Goten suddenly grinned and nodded, and without warning, turned and looked right at Bra.
Bra froze, then grinned at him, pretending that she hadn't been staring, then turned away, blinking furiously, and began walking in her mother's direction.
"Yes, and have - oh, who's this?" asked a large, round woman asked Bulma, seeing Bra walk up slowly behind Bulma.
Bulma turned and saw Bra standing behind her, looking slightly depressed.
"Sweetie, are you okay?" asked Bulma quietly, her face filled with worry.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Are you sure?"
"I'm fine, mom."
Bulma smiled slightly and squeezed Bra's shoulder gently.
She turned back to the group of people and lightly pushed Bra in there direction.
"This is my daughter, Bra," said Bulma, smiling. "Bra, this is the Karamiti family."
"Hello," said Bra sheepishly, a very forced smile on her face.
"Well aren't you adorable?" said the large woman, smiling. "Mrs. Briefs, she looks just like you."
Bulma smiled and sighed with relief as Mrs. Karamati's husband ushered her away to meet someone else.
"Wow. I thought this party was going to be fun," muttered Bra quietly, more to herself than her mother.
"It is fun," said Bulma, wrapping her arm and Bra's shoulders and walking over to a table. "You just don't know a lot of these people. Why didn't you invite some of your friends, anyway?"
"It was Marron's idea," said Bra exasperatedly, sitting down at the table. "She thought that if it was your party, we should invite your people..."
Bulma smiled. "Well, most of these people are my old work associates, so they don't know how to have any fun."
But Bra seemed to be paying attention to something else. Bulma looked in the direction that Bra seemed to be looking in and laughed - Piccolo had suddenly appeared on the dance floor and tapped Daniel lightly on the shoulder, saying something that they couldn't hear. Daniel smiled and nodded, stepping back and grinning at Mercy before walking away.
Mercy looked up at Piccolo, a questioning expression on her face.
Piccolo grunted something incoherently and Mercy grinned, a look of utter happiness on her face, and three her arms around his neck.
Piccolo, looking exasperated, asthough this were the last place he wanted to be, wrapped his arms around her waist.
Both Bra and Bulma "awwwed", smiling.
"That's so cute," said Bulma, grinning.
Bra nodded in agreement and rested her chin in her hand, her elbow propped up on the table. She looked around the room, then spotted another flash of green - she saw Nazomi, dancing with the discarded Daniel, who had a casual smile on his face.
"Oooohhh, there are Videl and Chi-Chi," said Bulma suddenly.
Bra turned to look at her mother, then at the part of the room she was looking at - sure enough, there was Chi-Chi, looking radiant in a short-sleeved red dress (And she's finally let her hair down! thought Bra) and Videl, looking as beautiful as ever in a blue/black dress.
"C'mon, let's go before someone else wants to talk to us."
"Bulma grabbed Bra's hand pulled her through the crowd, towards Chi-Chi and Videl.
"Oh, hi, Bulma!" cried Videl. "We were looking for you."
"I'm not surprised that you didn't find me," said Bulma. "I was swamped by all these people I haven't seen in years..."
"So how's Vegeta doing?" asked Chi-Chi, still smiling. "Did he ever get over his 'depression'?"
"Oh, he's fine now," said Bulma, grinning even more widely. "He even saved me from Jack tonight..."
Bulma suddenly broke into the account of what happened, grinning even more broadly as the story progressed.
"And she broke up with him right there?" asked Videl, grinning.
"Yup. I guess Vegeta was just going through some type of mid-life crisis or something," said Bulma.
"Mid-life crisis? Isn't he about seventy?" asked Chi-Chi, looking horrified.
"Saiyajins do live longer than humans do," said Bulma thoughtfully. "But I'm glad he's out of his misery."
Suddenly Bulma felt another tap on her shoulder, and turned to see that Mr. Graden was back.
"Oh, hi!" she cried. "So you finished with the phone call?"
"Yes, I did," he said, smiling. "Where did Daniel go?"
"Oh, I think he's dancing with Nazomi now," said Bulma, looking around.
Mr. Graden smiled. "And who are the lovely ladies?" he asked.
"Oh, this is Chi-Chi, this is Videl, and this is my daughter Bra."
"The pleasure of meeting you all has no equal," said Mr. Graden, bowing deeply.
"Nice to meet you too," said Videl, Chi-Chi nodding in agreement.
Bra just smiled when he looked at her, slightly nervous.
"I see that (...what was her name?) Mercy and her husband have made up," said Mr. Graden, looking at the dance floor where Mercy and Piccolo were dancing.
"Yeah," said Bulma. "I'm happy for them, Piccolo really keeps to himself a whole lot... speaking of that, where's Vegeta?"
"Oh, I saw him go out that door," said Videl, pointing towards a door at the far side of the room, which they could just see the woods out of.
"Oh, okay," said Bulma. "I think I'll go and see him..."
"Oh, I'll come with you ," said Mr. Graden, clasping his hands together and bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I've never gotten a chance to meet him."
"Alright."
Bulma began walking through the crowd, Mr. Graden at her heels, speaking about his latest CC project.
"-And I thought that it could be used for Capsule Corporation's technological department," continued Mr. Graden. He was about to continue speaking, but Bulma had stopped in her tracks, causing him to crash into her back and push her forward slightly.
"M-Mrs. Briefs, are you alright?" asked Mr. Graden, worried.
Bulma's eyes widened, her face spliced with rage, horror, and fear.
As she was walking, she'd been able to see more and more of the door as she got closer, and that's when she saw them.
Vegeta, standing outside on the deck, his arms wrapped around -
"The... the woman in my dream," croaked Bulma, her eyes widening even more.
"What, excuse me?" asked Mr. Graden, becoming even more worried. "Mrs... M-Mrs. Briefs, do you feel well?"
But Bulma couldn't here him - all she could hear was a strange buzzing in the back of her mind, an angry buzz, a buzz that blocked out all reason, a buzz that clouded her eyes, turning all of her vision red...
Her face suddenly split into a look of pure rage as the woman Vegeta had been hugging stepped back and kissed him, holding his face with her hands.
The woman kneeled, said something that Bulma couldn't hear over the buzz of the crowd, the buzz in her mind...
And she disappeared.
Vegeta turned after a moment and leaned back on the railing, smiling to himself.
Smiling.
Smiling.
SMILING.
'Bulma, he's smiling!' cried a voice in Bulma's head. 'He liked that kiss!'
Mr. Graden watched as Bulma's face scrunched up in a look of pure and utter fury, her eyebrows furrowing downward towards the top of her nose, her nose wrinkling up as her upper lip curled upward toward her nose, her teeth barred.
"Mrs.-" Mr. Graden was about to ask Bulma if she were alright again, but stepped back as Bulma began breathing raggedly, breathing like a winded rhinoceros.
Now her breaths weren't even breaths anymore, they sounded more like hoarse grunts, each one getting louder.
Mr. Graden backed up, heading in the direction they'd just come from. He backed into Bra, who yelped with surprise.
Mr. Graden, keeping his eyes on Bulma, felt around blindly behind him and grabbed Bra's arm.
"Ow - Mr. Graden, is something wrong?" asked Bra, looking at Mr. Graden nervously.
"Mrs. - Mrs. Briefs," said Mr. Graden. "Something's wrong with her..."
Bra looked at her mother and noticed this too - as did a lot of people. She noticed that a large group of people near her had stopped their festivities and were staring at her, whispering things like "What's wrong with her?" and "Maybe she doesn't like the party..."
Bulma suddenly opened her eyes, which had been clenched shut, and roared loudly enough to awaken the dead,
"VEGEEETAAAA!!!!"
Everyone suddenly went quiet , even the DJ stopped playing music. Everyone was looking around, wondering who or what she was talking about, wondering why she was so angry.
"VEGETA, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!!!!"
Bra rushed over to her mother and put her hand on her forearm, stepping in front of her.
"Mom, are you alright?" asked Bra, looking her mother in the face.
Chi-Chi and Videl followed Bra and stood at her sides. Videl put her hand on Bulma's shoulder.
"Bulma, quiet down," she muttered, her eyes full of concern. "Just calm down-"
But Bulma only gave her a stern, ice cold stare, then wrenched away from the trio and stalked toward the door that led out to the deck, people moving out of her way as she came nearer.
Nazomi suddenly hopped up onto a table near the front door, her hands raised in the air.
"Alright, everybody." she shouted loudly. "The party's over, you ain't gotta to go home, but you sure as hell can't stay here!!"
The buzz of people talking began again as Nazomi jumped off of the table and opened the large oak front doors, ushering people out.
"Yeah, that's it, c'mon..... hurry it up... (hey, put that glass back!).... you too, pal..."
~*-B-*~^~*-Y-*~
Vegeta's heart stopped. Bulma's ki was shooting through the roof.
'Bulma?'
Was that Bulma he'd heard?
'No,' he thought. 'It couldn't be...'
"VEGETA, GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"
He swallowed and turned, walking toward the door of the deck. What could be wrong now? Had...
Had she seen Clarice....?
Worry crossing his face, he walked slowly over to the door of the deck and stepped inside to see Bulma, cutting easily through the crowd to get to him.
Suddenly the room seemed to be much less empty, people muttering and questioning what was going on as they headed towards the door - Nazomi was doing a good job of emptying the house.
The only remains of people lingering around were friends and family - Trunks was standing in a corner of the room, looking apprehensive - Pan was standing next to a table near the center of the room - Piccolo and Mercy were still standing on the dance floor, Mercy looking anxious, though Piccolo looked intrigued - Marron, Krillin, Juuhachigou, Goten, Gohan, Uuband Goku were standing at the opposite corner of the room, and Bra, Chi-Chi and Videl were still standing where they were when Bulma had roughly discarded them.
Nazomi suddenly shut the door after the last of the guests left, causing everyone to jump with surprise.
"Sorry," she whispered.
Vegeta turned to see Bulma standing right in front of him, a look on her face that sent a terrified chill up his spine.
Everyone stood, the tension in the room too thick to even cut with an ax.
For a moment, everyone thought that nothing was going to happen, but a second later -
SLAP.
Everyone gasped - Bulma'd raised her hand and pulled it back as far as it would go, then let it snap forward, slapping Vegeta as hard as she could.
Vegeta staggered backward, his hand on the bruised cheek, a look of horror on his face.
"Bulma, what-?"
"Oh," she said in a menacing voice, "don't you start playing innocent with me!"
Vegeta looked just as confused as everyone else did, trying to decipher what she was talking about.
"Innocent, what are you talking-?"
"So is this why your mood changed? Is this why you're so damned happy all of a sudden?" cried Bulma, a pained, yet still angry look on her face.
"After everything I've done for you," she continued, her voice cracking slightly, "You have to cheat on me...?"
Her voice was barely a whisper as she said the last few words, though somehow everyone heard her clearly.
"How could you?" she whispered.
Vegeta looked confused for a moment, then finally realized what was going on.
So she had seen Clarice.... she'd seen him hug her, and she'd seen Clarice kiss him....
And she thought that he was cheating on her.
"Let me explain," he said quietly, grasping her arm firmly, yet gently. "I never cheated on you, I-"
Bulma wrenched her arm away from him, anger in her eyes again.
"Don't you lie to me, you bastard!" she roared, her ki still rising. "That's all you are, just a cruel, lowly, cowardly, heartless, arrogant, selfish BASTARD!!!"
She suddenly raised her hand and tried to slap him again - but her hand came into contact with nothing but air.
"Bulma, I didn't cheat on you," she heard Vegeta say from behind her. "I never would, I-"
"Oh, yeah?" cried Bulma, turning to face him, her hand still raised. "Who was she then, huh? What was that hug about? And the kiss?"
"If you give me a chance to explain, I'll tell you everything-"
And she yet again interrupted him, calling him names and screaming insults at him as the rest of the Z Warriors watched, some filled with anger, some filled with worry, others intrigued by the argument.
Vegeta was beginning to get angry now - he was trying to be calm with her, something that never really came easily to him anyway, but she was testing the small amount of patience that he had left - the two weeks of straining and stressing himself out with the burden of having to decide if he wanted to leave earth or stay had taken up all of his mental energy, and it was all that he could not to throw in her face that he'd given up the Saiyajin Empire to be with her, and that now he was officially no longer the Prince of the almighty Saiyajins.
He wanted to shove it in her face so badly, just to shut her up and show her that she was completely wrong... but he just couldn't.
Vegeta grasped her shoulders tightly, a bit less gently than he'd grasped her arm, but not enough to hurt her.
"Bulma, calm down," he said slowly and clearly, a slight silver of anger in his voice. "I did not cheat on you, Clarice was-"
"Oh, so that's her name?" cried Bulma, looking disbelieving. "I don't understand it, Vegeta," she whispered. "I've done everything I ever could for you, took care of when you were hurt, let you stalk around with that arrogant attitude of yours, let you blow up that God-damned gravitron more times than I could count, just to fix it again and again... and this is how you repay me...?"
She shrugged her shoulders, shrugging his hands off of her.
"You know what?" she said, her voice at a dangerously low volume. "I'm not even going to yell anymore."
Now Vegeta began to panic - it had been much better when she was yelling, but now... he hated the disappointment in her voice.
"I'm not even going to yell anymore," she repeated, looking at the floor. "You know why...?"
She looked Vegeta in the eye, and he saw pain and anger there, a blue storm raging in her eyes.
"You're not even worth it."
Vegeta's face faltered. 'She couldn't have meant that,' he thought, panicking even more. 'She couldn't have...'
"Vegeta, get out."
Bulma raised her arm and pointed towards the door, her hand shaking slightly.
"GET OUT."
"But Bulma, I-"
"Get out!!!" she screamed now, her entire body shaking with fury. "I never want to see you again! EVER!!!"
He was going to speak again, but stopped, knowing she'd only start screaming at him.
Giving her one last hopeful look, he walked silently but quickly to the front door, wrenched it open, and blasted off into the night sky.
*Valerie gasps* OMG! Bulma thinks that Vegeta was cheating on her! So what will happen? Will Bulma ever learn the truth about what happened? How will she find out? Will Clarice really be killed? How did the rest of the Z Warriors react? Will they agree with Bulma? And who really ever did buy that pink tube-top?
*Valerie has a nervous breakdown* Of course, you all know what's happened, right? I think that the staff of FF.net did the right thing to shut down the site for 24 hours... this is horrible. I still don't believe it. I'm serious.... this is too much like a movie plot or something.... but I'm gonna pray that everything will be okay... !_! But this could seriously be the beginning of World War III.
Luckily my Uncle Reginald (who works about three blocks from the WTC) was sent across the city for a training course, and he's alright...
But my BFF Hanshin (Remember Hershey?) has an Uncle that works at the Pentagon... and we haven't heard from him yet. I hope he's safe.
Too bad for the Spiderman movie that's supposed to be coming out, eh? The first shot of the movie is these bad guys in a helicopter... and guess where Spiderman catches them? He webs them between the two towers.
And the song that I put in there (While Veggie was on the deck) was I Don't Wanna by Aaliyah... it was kind of a little tribute to her, though it was a sucky tribute.... may she rest in peace. (It was one of my fave songs by her! ::sniff::)
So... on a much lighter side....
I wanna give a huge thanx to Chibi Fire for helping me with the HTML thing.
I also want to say to Celeste: I like Jericho too! ^_______^
and Nova Starlight, I won't yell at you or anything for your review - you're absolutely right, and I'll try not to do it again. The same thing happened to me - I thought that the story "Breath Away" had a new chapter, but it was just a note ! - So I understand how you feel.
Well I have a looooooooooot more to say... but I won't bore you.... for now.
P.S. If you guys want me to put up a pic on my profile thingy of what Clarice is kinda supposed to look like, please review!!!!
Please...?