Disclaimer: And now...a scene from Freakazoid. "BUZZBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

A/N: Do. Not. Ask. Thalt shall not like the answer.

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Petrified Tears
chapter 70

Bulma sat on the railing to the balcony of her and Vegeta's room, looking down into the yard as her husband pushed himself towards the inevitable breaking point, which blessedly had yet to come, but that would.

She'd come home hours ago, intending to talk to her husband about the problems-problem, it seemed-belonging to her son and her goddaughter. But all it took was one look at her husband to blow that idea out of the water. She'd promised both of them that she wouldn't speak to anyone, especially Vegeta, and more importantly Gohan. She wasn't about to go back on that promise. But what Pan had said that morning still lingered in her mind, and the state Pan had been in when she and Trunks had finally gotten to work had worried her further, and still worried her.

Below her, Vegeta froze in mid-kick, suddenly aware of the eyes that watched him. Slowly he lowered his leg and looked around, scanning each of the windows before coming to the balcony where she sat. He stood there for a moment, looking up at her, and for a moment she toyed with the idea of dropping something or reenacting the infamous Romeo and Juliette scene; Romeo, oh Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo…

He stood there for another moment, then gave one last kick at his invisible opponent before shrugging and moving into the house.

Bulma sighed and leaned back against the wall behind her, stretching her legs out along the railing.

I scare myself sometimes…I…I get angry, and I want to hurt and kill something, and I don't care if that something deserved it or not.

"Could this have anything to do with Trunks? Or is she just really that lost?" Bulma murmured to herself, leaning her head back against the smooth wall of the house, closing her eyes against the sun as it warmed her. But not even the rays of the sun could warm the chill in her bones.

"What about the brat and who's lost, Woman?"

Bulma jumped, nearly falling off the balcony, but caught herself at the last minute. White-knuckled and red-faced, she lowered herself safely to the balcony floor and turned to face her husband, bringing back a hand and slapping him. To her surprise, he didn't catch her fist or dodge her blow, instead taking it and letting his head turn so that she didn't hurt herself.

"Woman."

Bulma looked at him, then turned and walked forward, leaning against the railing and over the lawn below. There was a moment in which Vegeta cleared his throat, and then he moved forward, coming up next to her and leaning back against the railing, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting back his head as he looked at the clouds above.

"It's nothing Vegeta, it's just been a long week so far, that's all."

He snorted mockingly, as if laughing at her. "If you're going to lie, Woman, at least sound like you believe it."

She turned her head to glare at him out of the corner of her eye, watching as the smirk on his face seemed to shiver. After a moment, she turned back to the view below, looking out over the green trees along the back of their property that separated them from the streets and highways beyond.

"If you're going to call me 'Woman', make it sound like an insult so that I can yell at you."

They fell silent again, Bulma looking out over the green lawns and greener trees, at the red, heart-shaped splots in the branches that were the apples grown from the seeds Goku had given her when they were still kids. Vegeta gazed up at the light blue skies, skies that contrasted perfectly with Bulma's eyes, and matched her hair to a tee.

"Pan's changed, Vegeta. And somehow, her changing has changed Trunks. And I've racked my brain-wrecked my brain-over it all week and I can't figure it out," Bulma sighed after a moment. She picked nervously at a stray thread on the cuff of her sleeve, then just gave up. "Vegeta, I don't know what's going on, and I can't help but think that part of you does."

He blinked. That was all he did. A simple blink, and then he looked at her.

In frustration, she shoved herself violently away from the railing and whirled to face him, throwing up her hands in his face.

"Dammit, Vegeta! Don't do this to me! Our son is convinced that he used Pan, Pan's so head-over-heels for him she can't look at him, and not to mention that damned episode between you and her last Saturday-and when the hell are you going to fix that wall?!"

Vegeta took a step back and sideways, finding himself pinned against the railing to their balcony. Bulma stepped closer, gripping handfuls of his shirt in her fists, showing a surprising amount of strength and pulling the prince's face nose-to-nose with hers.

"Start talking, Veggie-head, 'cause I know you know something," she threatened.

Suddenly afraid of the woman he had mated with and eventually married, Vegeta swallowed thickly, amazed at how…utterly psychotic…his wife had become since she'd left for work less than 5 hours ago. The only other time he'd seen her like this was when he'd practically 'killed' the brat when he'd been 6. Back then, she'd almost physcially ripped his head from his shoulders while shaking his temples and asking him how he could have been such a 'pathetic moron'.

Obviously, something was up with the boy again; Vegeta'd known that from the moment Gohan's daughter had left the country, but had said nothing, hoping Bulma wouldn't notice. When the boy had started acting up, Vegeta had quietly let it pass, remembering his own inner madness when trying to come to terms with the fact that he was madly in love with a woman who belonged to a planet he wanted to obliterate. But Bulma had gone offhinge when she'd finally realized there was something going on; he hadn't blamed her. Trunks was to her as Bra was to him.

He blinked again, staring into the deep blue eyes of the woman who'd born him children, and seeing the terrified and irrational rage inside of them.

"Vegeta…."

He swallowed.

As he saw it, he had three options; one, sit her down and explain that he knew virtually nothing of the situation. That would not go over well with her in this state, and it wasn't something he really wanted to admit.

Two, try and get her into bed; however, she'd have him at her mercy eventually, and then he'd have to sit her down and explain that he knew virtually nothing of the situation.

Three, escape over the side of the railing. There were two problems with this option, the major one being that he didn't think he could muster the happy thought to fly away, and the devastating one being that she'd refuse to feed him. Until he sat her down and explained that he knew virtually nothing of the situation.

With an inward groan, he knew that he only really had one option.

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A/N: I can't do Bulma-Vegeta too well...eh. I tried. Anyhoo, hopefully it won't take me another month to get out the next chapter. *suddenly wishing she had copped out on this, simply because it's 70 freakin' chapters and still going.* Not that I'm complaining about the length, just complaining about the fact that I'm exhausted and I'm babbling right now so I'm going to shut up, hide in the chat room, and pray I don't get flamed, although flames are always welcome.

-Panabelle ;P
Shrine of the Saiyan Squirt