CHAPTER 13- Friendship
Disclaimer: I do not own dragon ball z
"Friendship, was a concept devised to allow weaklings to band together for protection against the strong" Vegeta's voice rang out from behind Bardock. They stood in a clearing in the orchard where Bardock had thought they would be training today. Instead he was receiving a lecture. "Are you weak Bardock?"
"No, your majesty but…" Bardock's plea was silenced as Vegeta growled
"Don not cross me Bardock, I promise you the results would not be pretty!"
Bardock hung his head. He knew that if the prince was against it, he should feel ashamed for having made a friend, however he didn't feel anything of the sort and so was having a difficult time looking repentant for Vegeta's benefit.
'Damn my face!' thought Bardock. He knew full well that he had the kind of face which could not help but betray every emotion he was feeling, unlike Vegeta who's face was nothing short of a mask which portrayed only the emotions he wanted to display, such as anger when it struck fear into the hearts of others, and smug confidence when in battle, even against a mortal enemy. Bardock knew that his inability to control such things was a sign of his lower class, something Vegeta was likely to despise even more than his lack of shame over recent incidents. 'In short, I'm in serious trouble' he sighed and continued to stare at the ground, hiding his tell tale face from the prince.
"Look at me when I speak to you third class!!" Vegeta suddenly shouted
Bardock slowly looked up, and Vegeta could instantly read the expression on his face. Yes, he was trying to look like he understood, who wouldn't? But it was plain as day in his eyes that he wanted to rebel the instant Vegeta turned his back on him again.
Vegeta inwardly sighed, he needed to get this message through to Bardock; he needed him to understand that he could not continue this, this relationship with the human woman. The more time they spent together, prattling on about science and other subjects that held little or no interest for him, the more he felt that sickening feeling in his gut. He knew what it was now, but he also knew that now, in this world, was not the time for him to do anything about it. In this world he could be watched, judged, decisions could be made about his immediate future based on his actions. To get involved with his more complicated emotions anywhere was difficult, here it was just plain creepy, and imprudent, something Vegeta rarely was except when it came to a good challenge.
"Bardock," Vegeta decided to change his approach "in a way, it is in your own best interests to sever contact with the woman." Bardock's eyes showed dread of what Vegeta was about to say "there is really nothing I can do to stop you from having contact with her, however, you must remember that when you become attached you gain a weakness, a weakness which you will pay dearly for in pain after she is gone, you would only have a 'friend' for five months and after that you will return to a solitary life. If you are prepared for this then by all means do what you please, now get out of my site!"
"Thank you my prince" Bardock sighed with absolute relief and was about to leave when Vegeta called after him.
"One more thing" Vegeta had suddenly remembered the only rule around here "do you love her?" he said harshly, almost mockingly
Bardock fidgeted in a very un-warrior like fashion and remembered that he could not lie if he didn't want to go straight to hell
"With all due respect your majesty…." He trailed of unsure of what to say, "is this really necessary?"
"Yes" replied Vegeta bluntly
"Then…" Bardock hesitated "the answer is yes. Although over time, I believe I will feel no more than friendship for her"
Vegeta snorted in disgust at Bardock's confession.
"Leave me now third class!"
Bardock did not answer but turned and left, deciding to avoid Bulma for a couple of days until the prince had had a chance to calm himself.
Vegeta stood alone in the clearing, staring up at the sky for what seemed like a very long time. He felt utterly lonely; he hadn't felt this way since Vegetasei was destroyed. He hadn't had time to feel this way, besides he had spent all of his time in the company of Nappa and Raditz, the biggest pair of idiots ever to walk the corridors of Frieza's mother ship. When he was with them, although he could not deny he enjoyed his job for the most part, he could only wish to be left alone for a few minutes. Instead he had to listen to them constantly asking him to repeat orders, as neither had any common sense to anything but what they were told to do, or enough brain cells to remember what they were told in the first place. Here, time was something he seemed to have an abundance of, nothing but endless free time, five months seemed like an eternity to Vegeta, who had spent the majority of his life constantly traveling from place to place, following orders from Frieza whilst constantly training to destroy him.
Eventually he started off back toward the house, speeding up just incase Bardock had disobeyed him and gone there after their little talk.
Back at the house, Bulma stared at the calendar on the kitchen wall, there were 155 days to go now, not that the last two months had been as dull as those that came before. She smiled, Bardock was a person she could actually have a real conversation with, something she rarely found while she was alive, never mind in limbo
'He's almost as smart as me!' she thought 'hmmm, maybe he's not related to Goku after all'
While he was still a saiya jin, she could only guess that time and loneliness in this place of limbo had softened him. He resisted joining in conversation with her at first, obviously nervous of what Vegeta would think, not to mention the fact that he hadn't had a proper conversation for about 20 years,
'Fluffy little clouds don't have mouths to talk with' she thought, and giggled at the thought of the big, tough saiya jin having spent twenty years as a cute little cloud.
He let himself go though, and soon they would spend at least an hour each day deep in some sort of discussion. She looked forward to their meetings, despite the fact that she was made more than a little uncomfortable by his obvious attraction to her. She didn't mind having an admirer, but she could see that Vegeta was jealous, and this time she knew it wasn't just her ego playing up again. She didn't want Vegeta to hurt Bardock and she didn't want to make Vegeta feel jealous, she felt like she was cheating on him or messing him around, which didn't seem fair considering she didn't get the normal benefits of having a boyfriend, but had to put up with the draw backs.
Right now Bulma wasn't sure how she felt about Vegeta; the truth was for all the time they spent together she didn't feel as if she truly knew him. She could read him like a book the majority of the time, but she knew nothing of his past, his life, and his family, anything apart from that he was a murderer, which didn't bode well. She sighed as she heard the front door open and slam
"Hi Vegeta!" she called out, out of habit
"Humph, have you seen Bardock today?"
"Not since you went to train with him" she replied, distracted with peeling potatoes for their evening meal
"Good"
Yey! A new chapter! Enjoy and review!