Disclaimer: I don't own 'em and I'm broke

Disclaimer: I don't own 'em and I'm broke

Walking in the darkness, Vegeta was totally at ease with his surroundings. He had always liked the darkness; it calmed his frayed nerves and let him find a peace that didn't exist in the sunlight. Not that he didn't like the sunlight. There was something pure in it. It was so much cleaner than artificial lighting. He despised filth, so he had always preferred the sun's rays to electric lighting. He heard the rustle of cloth behind him, so he turned his head toward the area where the sound had come from. There HE was. Kakarotto. Here's my chance. Vegeta leapt at the taller man, intent on ramming his fist through that idiotic grin, but before Vegeta reached him, he was gone, and so was his chi. Vegeta looked frantically around, finding no one. A feeling of uneasiness swept over him, so he stayed stark still, waiting for an enemy to appear. A young man materialized out of the darkness. His eyes were cold and blue, reflecting the ice in his expressionless face. He didn't move, just stared at Vegeta, daring him to attack. It was the boy who claimed to be a Saiyajin from the future, but that was impossible unless he was Kakarotto or his son. But he didn't have the coloring of a Saiyajin. He had more of Bulma's coloring. And Bulma was not mating a Saiyajin. He had killed Frieza, much in the way Vegeta himself ha disposed of Nappa. Quick, easy, and nothing at all to break a sweat. Vegeta suddenly felt a rage explode inside him. He had spent his whole life training, waiting for the moment when he could overthrow Frieza and claim power and FREEDOM for himself. Then along comes this punk and destroys the chance of having such a moment of ecstasy. Vegeta leapt at the boy, foot out for a kick, but the boy, flicking back some lavender bangs, disappeared without a trace. Suddenly Vegeta found himself in his past. He saw himself and his father watching the pods of infant Saiyajins being launched, heading for weaker planets to grow stronger. The two stood together in silence.

It was the older man who broke the silence, looking down with adoration at his son, telling him how he would be a strong king of a strong people. Vegeta forced the lump in his throat down and closed his eyes from the apparition. When he once again opened them, everything was gone, leaving him in the darkness once again. He felt the lump rise in his throat again and tried to force it down, but could not restrain it this time. Salty tears flowed freely down his cheeks as his muscles constricted in emotional pain. His eyes squinted as he tried to bore the humiliation from his brain. Turning his face to the sky, he shouted angrily at the darkness, at himself.

"WHY! WHY! I'm supposed to be the strongest! The ruler…" His voice died away. It had felt good to yell, but there was still the heavy melancholy rock weighing down on his heart and sending little rocklets down his body making his disconsolate mood even worse. The tears had never stopped and he lost himself in the rivulets caressing his cheeks.

The darkness faded, and he awoke with a start, his body constricting with the sensation of feeling that wasn't there in the world of dreams. He looked around, finding himself in the same room as before. He looked around, and saw Bulma sleeping, head resting on her arms, in the chair beside him. Was she here all along? His cheeks felt tight with the tears that had dried there. Crying in my sleep like a child… He hoped she had been asleep and not seen his tears when they had started to fall. He slowly lifted into a sitting position, and finding no pain hurdling through his body, he decided that he was strong enough to resume training. Swinging his legs over the side of the infirmary bed, he padded out of the room, careful not to wake her as he passed.

~*~

He was already gone when she woke up from the nap. She cursed, then checked the window. It still was closed, which wouldn't be the case if he had decided to leave. She checked the bathroom, which was vacant, and then the kitchen, which was empty as well, especially in the refrigerator. She sighed and then made her way to the security center, activating the voice password. Bulma stared at the various screens, none of which showed movement. She almost left when she remembered that her father had installed a camera in the training cell of the gravitation chamber. She hesitated; thinking that Vegeta wouldn't be as crazy as to resume training so soon after an extensive injury as what he had sustained. However, Vegeta was Vegeta after all, and she wouldn't put anything past him.

Sure enough, a steady beep began on a new monitor, free of dust, unlike the others. She sat down in the bowl-like leather chair and turned on the computer. Her eyes widened substantially as she saw Vegeta walk onto the screens view and step into a fighting stance. From the sweat that soaked his body and the small burn mark on his shoulder, it was obvious he had already been training a while. Although he seemed to be doing well, she realized that he could still severely injure himself, especially with the Gravitron set a 305Gs like it was. She opened up the visual/audio channels and gave him her most threatening look.

"Vegeta, you had better stop this madness immediately. You'll just hurt yourself again."

He had been doing push ups and after doing a handstand, flipped himself up in the air, spinning in the high gravity. When she had popped up in front of him it had startled him, but he kept spinning, making Bulma a bit dizzy on the other end. She shrugged and cut off her ranting.

"Woman, do you want to live in three years?"

Bulma smiled and prepped her hair. "Why, yes. I'm a young and beautiful woman!"

"THEN SHUT UP AND LEAVE ME ALONE!" Bulma got the allusion to the android coming, and decided that he was right and turned off the connection. Before she got up to go get Vegeta's supper ready, she whispered, "Just be careful, it would be awfully boring without you."