...........................................................................................~* BROKEN HOME
.........................................................................................................................Rhapsody~*
"Stupid dress," Bulma muttered to herself as she wrestled with the many frills and layers of her bridal dress. "All these fucking frills... Dammit..."
She attempted to cinch up the corset-like top half of the ivory-colored dress awkwardly, reaching around her back and tripping over the long skirts of the ridiculous garment. She had fallen in love with the thing the moment she had seen the design plans (it was custom made, of course) at the bridal shop, but now she realized how stupid she had been for spending so much money on a dress that seemed as if it had plans to ruin her already unusual wedding. The last thing she needed was a ripped dress, or for her to fall on her face on her way up the aisle. She stopped her attempts, took a deep breath, then reached around for one last try--
"Holy shit!" Bulma teetered dangerously on her high-heeled shoes, and would have fallen over if Chichi hadn't rushed into the room at just the right moment to steady her. "Whew-- thank you so much! You saved my dress."
"Looks like I saved YOU, also." Chichi seemed to be a good mood, which was surprising to Bulma, even though she had been so compassionate at Trunks' funeral. She didn't know what she had expected, but it defintely wasn't this. "Here, let me help you."
Bulma raised her eyebrows as Chichi began cinching up the top of the dress, but did not protest. She watched Chichi work in the full-length mirror she was standing in front of. She had invited Chichi to the wedding, but found it strange that she would show up at the chapel so early, as if she had intended to venture into the dressing room to assist Bulma, her former enemy. Chichi finished tying up the back of her dress and stepped back, admiring her work.
"I don't understand why you chose such a binding dress, but I suppose it'll do. When I was married, it was for purposes that didn't require flashy clothing," she said lightly, looking Bulma over as she turned around. "I can't even imagine what you're wearing underneath, either. You look beautiful, except..." She bent to smooth some wrinkles in the skirt of the dress, her face twisted into an expression of concentration.
"Well, my purposes are purely sexual." Bulma smiled at Chichi's expression, then grew serious again. "Thank you," she answered with a smile. "This might sound weird, but why are you being so nice to me?"
Chichi stopped her ministrations and offered a rare, warm smile. Bulma decided that Chichi was actually kind of pretty, in a humble kind of way. "That's a good question. Maybe because I've been rethinking my opinion of you. No mother deserves to lose her first son, not even you, and the way you handled it... impressed me, I guess you could say." She bent down to finish her work, then chuckled. "And you've got to respect the woman who finally convinced the mighty 'Prince of all Saiyans' to tie the knot, human-style."
Bulma grinned proudly. "That's me-- Bulma Briefs, Saiyan Tamer."
The two women laughed together for the first time, and both were surprised at the companionship they suddenly shared. Bulma thought it strange that they had never realized their similarities before this time-- they both married Saiyans, and had gone through the painful ordeal of birthing demi-Saiyan children, and both shared a sarcastic nature. That was life, all right. Chichi finished fixing the dress and stepped back again. Bulma turned and looked herself over in the mirror.
The dress she had chosen was a becoming shade of ivory, and consisted of two pieces. The top half was kind of a corset and was tight enough to give Bulma just enough cleavage to make the style her own, and was made of a satiny material that had tiny bits of embroidery throughout. The bottom half blended so well with the top that you could hardly tell the dress was two pieces. It was made of a similar material, and covered with a thin layer of thin, transparent lace that formed into a train at the back. Bulma wore a veil, which could be brushed off the face and held back by a thin tiara of beaded flowers. Bulma had woven her hair into a complicated updo with tendrils falling down around her face to soften the look, and her makeup was soft and brought a youthful glow to her face. She wore an impressive diamond choker and matching bracelets for a little extra sparkle (or 'bling-bling', as Yamcha had jokingly put it when she had shown him the jewelry).
"Kami," she breathed, her eyes still on her reflection in the mirror. "I can't believe all of this."
"Neither can I, if that makes you feel any better," Chichi put in honestly. "To tell you the truth, I was almost positive that Vejita would never marry you." At the look Bulma gave her through the mirror, she held up her hands in defense of herself. "You have to admit, you two have one of the strangest relationships around."
"I suppose so." Bulma sighed and fingered the edges of her veil, lost in thought. "Do you think..." she trailed off uncertainly, though Chichi waited patiently. "Do you think that this will work out? I mean, Vejita isn't exactly the husband type--"
Chichi interuppted her in midsentence. "Don't be stupid, Bulma. Vejita loves you, we all know it. That asshole has stayed with you through thick and thin, even when you got pregnant and we all thought that he'd be gone before you could say 'commitment'." She ran a hand through her dark hair. "And you'd better be happy with that, because you'll never hear it cross my lips ever again."
Bulma laughed, her blue eyes bright. "Maybe its me you all should be worried about. I'm not sure what I think about being being married."
"We can't be sexy and single forever," Chichi snapped characteristically.
"No," Bulma acknowledged with a Vejita-esque smirk. "But we can certainly be sexy and taken."
Chichi rolled her eyes. "Some people never change, Miss Briefs, and unfortunately, you're one of them."
Bulma suddenly became serious. "No, Chichi-- you're wrong. People can change." Memories of her history with coke, razor blades, and of course, that prom night long ago, flooded her mind, and it was hard for even Chichi to miss that. "I'm living proof of that. And so is Vejita." She narrowed her eyes at her reflection, then mustered up her courage. "I'm ready."
"Are you sure?" Chichi asked doubtfully, crossing her arms. "This isn't like anything you've ever gotten yourself into before. Once you say 'I do', you're stuck with that arrogant bastard forever."
Bulma lifted her chin. "Yes-- I'm ready."
Yamcha pulled his car into the parking space sloppily, nearly rear-ending Chichi's car, which was parked directly in front of the chapel, in an illegal space. He chuckled a bit at that. Their group of friends had never done well with laws and rules, and there didn't seem to be any improvement in sight.
After depositing his coins into the parking meter (it would only add to this stressful day to get a parking ticket), Yamcha leaped up onto the curb and sprinted into the chapel, following the signs reading 'Dressing Rooms'. He wasn't at all sure of what he was going to do, so it was best to get to it before he thought twice about it. Would Bulma even want to talk to him?
When he burst into the room, forgetting to knock, he found Bulma and Chichi standing in front of a mirror, gazing at the bride-to-be's reflection. Yamcha stopped in his tracks, speechless.
Bulma looked absolutely heavenly-- flawless, even. Just like he had imagined she would look like on THEIR wedding day, a million times before. The thought of what she might be wearing underneath all of her wedding finery, specially selected with her wedding night in mind, made his-- He cut off that train of thought quickly. It wouldn't do to piss Vejita off when he would probably be so tense already. He looked her up and down one more time, then cleared his throat and prepared to speak.
"I- you..."
Chichi put her hands on her hips impatiently. "Well? Spit it out, already!"
"Um, Chichi, maybe you should leave us alone for a minute," Bulma advised quietly, looking down at her heeled feet. "Please?"
Goku's wife obliged, though she grumbled under her breath the whole way and shot Yamcha a dirty look before exiting. Yamcha breathed a sigh of relief-- dealing with Bulma was one thing, but when she had combined forces with the short-tempered Chichi, things could get genuinely ugly at an alarming rate.
"Why are you here?" Bulma asked him, gathering her skirts and approaching him slowly. "You should be with the others, getting nice and drunk before you have to sit still for so long during the ceremony."
"There really isn't anyone to get drunk with," Yamcha explained lamely. "Goku is with Vejita, wherever he is, and Krillen, Roshi, and them are still getting ready. Besides, I, uh... wanted to get something off my chest."
"Okay." Bulma waited expectantly, her beautiful blue eyes locked on him. The hate for Vejita, the man who had taken this perfect girl away from him, came rushing back all of a sudden. He barely managed to contain it.
"I, um..." Yamcha swallowed nervously, trying to put his feelings into words. He had rehearsed this in front of his mirror a thousand times since the announcement of their wedding, but he couldn't for the life of him remember even a word of what he had planned to say. Then he remembered all of the childhood adventures he had shared with Bulma so long ago, hunting for those stupid dragonballs with her dragon radar and fighting off random criminals and aliens with nothing but his karate skills, Bulma's guns, and Goku's developing power. He had fought beside, argued with, and even slept beside this girl, so why act all funny now? He wondered when things had started changing between them, and chose not to think about Bulma's struggles with drugs, parties, and Vejita any more than he had to. Yamcha exhaled a bit, then opened his mouth to speak. "I just wanted to you know, say good-bye, I guess."
Bulma's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Good-bye? Yamcha, are you moving or something?"
"No, no," Yamcha corrected himself. "I mean, I don't know... Good-bye to our past relationships. That sounds pretty corny, doesn't it?"
"Not really," Bulma answered. She noticed Yamcha's red face and smiled. "You don't have to do this, Yamcha, there's no hard feelings on my part."
"I have to say this," Yamcha insisted. "Ever since you took up with Vejita, I've been acting like an immature bastard. I mean, I suppose that we all knew it would happen eventually, especially after he moved in with you and well, I don't know if EVERYONE made a connection, but you know me. I guess I wouldn't have been so jealous if it had been anyone else. Its just that Vejita is so damned arrogant, and he's such a show-off, and he's so much..."
Bulma raised an eyebrow. "Stronger?"
Yamcha nodded reluctantly. "I just... I hate to do this now, on your 'special day' or whatever, but I have to know. Why?"
"I've never really answered that question before, have I?" Bulma slipped off her shoes, brushed her veil aside, and walked closer to Yamcha, who looked down at her with expectant, almost dreading eyes. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure myself. I was so messed up, and you had just broken up with me, and... he was there. He was always there..." Her blue eyes were lost in thought for a moment, but then became alert again. "It wasn't always pleasant-- we were both a bit surprised when... it... happened, but in a way, you're right. It was bound to happen sometime. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Yamcha took her face in one hand and looked her over one last time. Bulma did not resist him, just smiled tolerantly up at him. "He's a lucky man, you know. He was one of the most feared murderers the universe has known, and he's a cocky, evil son of a bitch, but somehow Kami chose to give to him what he decided to take away from me. I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong."
"Nothing," Bulma replied, her face gravely serious. "It's what I did. I wouldn't call this a punishment, though. I think that we split up because you're meant to be with someone else. Someone better."
Yamcha opened his mouth to protest, but Bulma shook her head.
"Don't sell yourself short, Yamcha," she advised, taking his hand off her face gently. "Don't tell me that when Trunks died, you wanted to be in Vejita's place. Don't tell me that when I went through all of that depression shit--" she put a hand to her diamond nose ring. "that you wanted to deal with that like Vejita did."
Yamcha could not deny all of this. It had run through his mind a couple times while he had watched Bulma and Vejita at Trunks' funeral, and when Bulma had escaped to his apartment that night. He wouldn't have wanted to be there, and he wouldn't have wanted to clean up the mess she had become after their breakup as Vejita seemed to have done. He took a step away from Bulma.
"You might be right," he admitted. "I comfort myself with the fact that you invited some of your hot friends to reception. It doesn't matter, though, I'm not sleeping too well these days anyhow. I'm too scared that Vejita's going to come and kill me in my sleep."
Bulma laughed, then started to move back to the mirror. "He would do it while you're awake and alert, believe me, and besides, he's occupied after sundown." She smirked a bit at Yamcha's sickened reaction. "Take care of yourself, Yamcha-- and you can tell Chichi to come back in on your way out."
Yamcha nodded, waved, and walked away from his ex-lover for the last time.
Meanwhile, Vejita was lounging at Goku's house in his uncomfortable tux, sipping some of Bulma's wine straight from the bottle, trying to think of why he had allowed himself to be conned into this. Goku was in the kitchen, trying his best to throw a sandwich together, just to 'hold himself over until the wedding'. Vejita suspected that the hightlight of the evening for the simple-minded Saiyan would be the reception, where there would be plenty of free dinner and wedding cake. Some things never changed.
"I wish that you were allowed to see Bulma-chan before the wedding," Goku called from the kitchen. "Because I would sure like to see her, too!" He appeared in the doorway holding a sloppily put-together sandwich in one hand and his tie in another, looking rather rumpled. His loud-mouthed wife would throw a fit if she could see him now, Vejita mused. "Chichi went to help her get ready a little while ago. I wonder if they finally resolved their differences..."
Vejita thought of the good mood Bulma had been in for the last couple of days and scowled. "Most likely they did. I suppose that means that I'll have to sabotage the relationship before your mate starts spending time at Capsule Corps." He took another swig of the wine, then tossed the empty bottle aside. "Weak human liquor... isn't good for anything besides hydration."
"I can't believe that you two are getting married!" Goku exclaimed, coming to sit across from Vejita, who regarded him with an expression of obvious annoyance. "It seems like just yesterday, Bulma was throwing shoes through YAMCHA'S windows, ha-ha!"
Vejita rolled his eyes and ached for another bottle of wine. "Sometimes, your ignorance baffles me."
"Baffles?" Goku repeated through a mouthful of food. "What does that mean?"
"Never fucking mind." Vejita massaged his throbbing temples and made a hasty decision. "I've got to get away from you, Kakkarott. Be on time for the ceremony, or we'll all be subjected to your wife's bitching."
Goku waved good-bye happily and watched Vejita as he hurried out of the house and to his car, mumbling curses under his breath.
Bulma shooed Chichi away and sighed, grateful for a moment of peace. She had dreamed of this day for so long, felt such hopelessness, doubted so much, and now it was happening. She was getting married. She was in the process of adjusting the train of her dress when Vejita's reflection smirked back at her in the mirror. She sqeaked and made a ridiculous effort to hide her appearance.
"Vejita! You know that its tradition that you don't see me until the ceremony!"
Her husband-to-be maintained his odd expression and moved closer, openly admiring her appearance. "You know that those foolish customs mean nothing to me."
Bulma gave up her useless attempts and sighed. "They mean a lot to ME. You take the fun out of everything."
"If I had manners I would apologize," Vejita said, looping an arm around Bulma's waist.
"Well that's comforting." Bulma narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here? If you've come to seduce me, you're going to have to wait until tonight."
"I came to make sure that Kakkarott's mate didn't make you do anything drastic in my absence."
Bulma chuckled a little. "Well, she had her doubts about my choice of marital lingerie, but it was to be expected..." At Vejita's mischevious grin and wandering hands, she shook her head. "That's one tradition that you're NOT going to break. We're waiting until tonight!"
Vejita didn't say anything-- he just smirked and pulled her a little bit closer. "How long until the ceremony?"
Bulma's resolve melted. She voluntarily began removing herself from her restraining dress and grinned. "Long enough."
On his way out of the chapel, Vejita ran into Yamcha, who was loitering around his car with a pouty expression on his face.
"Well look, it's Earth most uneligeable bachelor," Yamcha remarked. Vejita stopped and scowled. The dreaded ex. "You look at bit tense. Having second thoughts?"
"You wish, you scheming little dipshit. The only reason that you were invited was to make the guest list even at five hundred, so run off and bother someone else."
Yamcha frowned. "Ouch! You know, it hurt me when I wasn't included in the ceremony."
"If you wish, I can offer assistance in helping you to forget," Vejita offered, rolling a red ball of ki in his hands. "Believe me, it works."
Yamcha eyed the ball and gulped. "No thanks. I guess I have to congratulate you then." He half-smiled weakly. "Bulma's pretty much the best girl in this galaxy. I'm sure that your royal family would have approved, considering that she's practically a celebrity and all." At Vejita's silence, he continued on. "And also... I'm sorry about Trunks, once again. He was something kind of special."
"I don't need your pity, weakling." Vejita's expression was cold, but his black eyes showed something approaching sorrow. Instead of sticking around to argue more, Vejita continued on his way to his car, wanting to run off and regain himself before making final preparations for the ceremony.
Yamcha called out after him. "You're a lucky man, Veijta, and I hope that you remember that!"
Vejita kept on walking, but he couldn't agree more.
An hour later, Bulma found herself hurrying through the halls of the church with Chichi behind her, holding up her train, making her way to the main room, where she was to be married. She moved as if in a dream. Who would have thought that this would ever come to pass? Instead of dwelling on the profound thought, she went a little faster, determined not to be late for her own wedding.
Goku met her at the end of the aisle, smiling like HE was the one getting married. Bulma's nervous heart warmed over at the sight of her life-long friend and she took his arm gladly. She took a mirror offered to her, checked that her little, uh, encounter with Vejita hadn't mussed her hair (it hadn't, the man never ceased to amaze her) and took a deep breath.
"Can you believe this?" Goku whispered excitedly. "I think I'm gonna pee my pants!"
"Thanks, Goku," Bulma responded with a laugh. "How do I look?"
Goku looked her over, then gave her the thumbs-up. "Perfect!"
Bulma hugged him, then the music started, and the chapel doors opened slowly.
"This is it..." she muttered under her breath.
She met Vejita's eyes, plastered a smile on her face, then took her first step down the aisle, one step closer to her new life-- for better or for worse, as they said.
Though it would be a life without Trunks, Bulma had a good feeling that things were finally about to get better for she and her Saiyan Prince.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
(A/N): And it's over! Sorry about the delay, I had it finished but then my power went out... for FIVE DAYS. Yes, its April, and good old Michigan (tropical paradise extraordinaire) got an ice storm and six inches of snow to show for it. How nice, ne? Special thanks to sk8er girl, I know that you leave a review for every chapter faithfully, and I feel like a complete and total dumbass for forgetting about you! You've been wonderfully supportive of this entire thing, and I really appreciate that! And thanks also to those that I mentioned in the previous chapter, and to all the rest of you who have dropped reviews here and there. You guys are great! I would have never decided to write a sequel to 'Little Black Dress' if it weren't for all of the people who were good enough to boost the review count for that fic, so thanks again... I know that its hard to put up with my temper sometimes, and I apologize for that and promise y'all that I'm trying to get better about that. If you feel the need, please feel free to leave a review for one last time, k? Ja ne!
Rhapsody~*
HawaiianBabay@aol.com
AIM Hawaiian Babay
_________________________________________________________________________________________
.........................................................................................................................Rhapsody~*
"Stupid dress," Bulma muttered to herself as she wrestled with the many frills and layers of her bridal dress. "All these fucking frills... Dammit..."
She attempted to cinch up the corset-like top half of the ivory-colored dress awkwardly, reaching around her back and tripping over the long skirts of the ridiculous garment. She had fallen in love with the thing the moment she had seen the design plans (it was custom made, of course) at the bridal shop, but now she realized how stupid she had been for spending so much money on a dress that seemed as if it had plans to ruin her already unusual wedding. The last thing she needed was a ripped dress, or for her to fall on her face on her way up the aisle. She stopped her attempts, took a deep breath, then reached around for one last try--
"Holy shit!" Bulma teetered dangerously on her high-heeled shoes, and would have fallen over if Chichi hadn't rushed into the room at just the right moment to steady her. "Whew-- thank you so much! You saved my dress."
"Looks like I saved YOU, also." Chichi seemed to be a good mood, which was surprising to Bulma, even though she had been so compassionate at Trunks' funeral. She didn't know what she had expected, but it defintely wasn't this. "Here, let me help you."
Bulma raised her eyebrows as Chichi began cinching up the top of the dress, but did not protest. She watched Chichi work in the full-length mirror she was standing in front of. She had invited Chichi to the wedding, but found it strange that she would show up at the chapel so early, as if she had intended to venture into the dressing room to assist Bulma, her former enemy. Chichi finished tying up the back of her dress and stepped back, admiring her work.
"I don't understand why you chose such a binding dress, but I suppose it'll do. When I was married, it was for purposes that didn't require flashy clothing," she said lightly, looking Bulma over as she turned around. "I can't even imagine what you're wearing underneath, either. You look beautiful, except..." She bent to smooth some wrinkles in the skirt of the dress, her face twisted into an expression of concentration.
"Well, my purposes are purely sexual." Bulma smiled at Chichi's expression, then grew serious again. "Thank you," she answered with a smile. "This might sound weird, but why are you being so nice to me?"
Chichi stopped her ministrations and offered a rare, warm smile. Bulma decided that Chichi was actually kind of pretty, in a humble kind of way. "That's a good question. Maybe because I've been rethinking my opinion of you. No mother deserves to lose her first son, not even you, and the way you handled it... impressed me, I guess you could say." She bent down to finish her work, then chuckled. "And you've got to respect the woman who finally convinced the mighty 'Prince of all Saiyans' to tie the knot, human-style."
Bulma grinned proudly. "That's me-- Bulma Briefs, Saiyan Tamer."
The two women laughed together for the first time, and both were surprised at the companionship they suddenly shared. Bulma thought it strange that they had never realized their similarities before this time-- they both married Saiyans, and had gone through the painful ordeal of birthing demi-Saiyan children, and both shared a sarcastic nature. That was life, all right. Chichi finished fixing the dress and stepped back again. Bulma turned and looked herself over in the mirror.
The dress she had chosen was a becoming shade of ivory, and consisted of two pieces. The top half was kind of a corset and was tight enough to give Bulma just enough cleavage to make the style her own, and was made of a satiny material that had tiny bits of embroidery throughout. The bottom half blended so well with the top that you could hardly tell the dress was two pieces. It was made of a similar material, and covered with a thin layer of thin, transparent lace that formed into a train at the back. Bulma wore a veil, which could be brushed off the face and held back by a thin tiara of beaded flowers. Bulma had woven her hair into a complicated updo with tendrils falling down around her face to soften the look, and her makeup was soft and brought a youthful glow to her face. She wore an impressive diamond choker and matching bracelets for a little extra sparkle (or 'bling-bling', as Yamcha had jokingly put it when she had shown him the jewelry).
"Kami," she breathed, her eyes still on her reflection in the mirror. "I can't believe all of this."
"Neither can I, if that makes you feel any better," Chichi put in honestly. "To tell you the truth, I was almost positive that Vejita would never marry you." At the look Bulma gave her through the mirror, she held up her hands in defense of herself. "You have to admit, you two have one of the strangest relationships around."
"I suppose so." Bulma sighed and fingered the edges of her veil, lost in thought. "Do you think..." she trailed off uncertainly, though Chichi waited patiently. "Do you think that this will work out? I mean, Vejita isn't exactly the husband type--"
Chichi interuppted her in midsentence. "Don't be stupid, Bulma. Vejita loves you, we all know it. That asshole has stayed with you through thick and thin, even when you got pregnant and we all thought that he'd be gone before you could say 'commitment'." She ran a hand through her dark hair. "And you'd better be happy with that, because you'll never hear it cross my lips ever again."
Bulma laughed, her blue eyes bright. "Maybe its me you all should be worried about. I'm not sure what I think about being being married."
"We can't be sexy and single forever," Chichi snapped characteristically.
"No," Bulma acknowledged with a Vejita-esque smirk. "But we can certainly be sexy and taken."
Chichi rolled her eyes. "Some people never change, Miss Briefs, and unfortunately, you're one of them."
Bulma suddenly became serious. "No, Chichi-- you're wrong. People can change." Memories of her history with coke, razor blades, and of course, that prom night long ago, flooded her mind, and it was hard for even Chichi to miss that. "I'm living proof of that. And so is Vejita." She narrowed her eyes at her reflection, then mustered up her courage. "I'm ready."
"Are you sure?" Chichi asked doubtfully, crossing her arms. "This isn't like anything you've ever gotten yourself into before. Once you say 'I do', you're stuck with that arrogant bastard forever."
Bulma lifted her chin. "Yes-- I'm ready."
Yamcha pulled his car into the parking space sloppily, nearly rear-ending Chichi's car, which was parked directly in front of the chapel, in an illegal space. He chuckled a bit at that. Their group of friends had never done well with laws and rules, and there didn't seem to be any improvement in sight.
After depositing his coins into the parking meter (it would only add to this stressful day to get a parking ticket), Yamcha leaped up onto the curb and sprinted into the chapel, following the signs reading 'Dressing Rooms'. He wasn't at all sure of what he was going to do, so it was best to get to it before he thought twice about it. Would Bulma even want to talk to him?
When he burst into the room, forgetting to knock, he found Bulma and Chichi standing in front of a mirror, gazing at the bride-to-be's reflection. Yamcha stopped in his tracks, speechless.
Bulma looked absolutely heavenly-- flawless, even. Just like he had imagined she would look like on THEIR wedding day, a million times before. The thought of what she might be wearing underneath all of her wedding finery, specially selected with her wedding night in mind, made his-- He cut off that train of thought quickly. It wouldn't do to piss Vejita off when he would probably be so tense already. He looked her up and down one more time, then cleared his throat and prepared to speak.
"I- you..."
Chichi put her hands on her hips impatiently. "Well? Spit it out, already!"
"Um, Chichi, maybe you should leave us alone for a minute," Bulma advised quietly, looking down at her heeled feet. "Please?"
Goku's wife obliged, though she grumbled under her breath the whole way and shot Yamcha a dirty look before exiting. Yamcha breathed a sigh of relief-- dealing with Bulma was one thing, but when she had combined forces with the short-tempered Chichi, things could get genuinely ugly at an alarming rate.
"Why are you here?" Bulma asked him, gathering her skirts and approaching him slowly. "You should be with the others, getting nice and drunk before you have to sit still for so long during the ceremony."
"There really isn't anyone to get drunk with," Yamcha explained lamely. "Goku is with Vejita, wherever he is, and Krillen, Roshi, and them are still getting ready. Besides, I, uh... wanted to get something off my chest."
"Okay." Bulma waited expectantly, her beautiful blue eyes locked on him. The hate for Vejita, the man who had taken this perfect girl away from him, came rushing back all of a sudden. He barely managed to contain it.
"I, um..." Yamcha swallowed nervously, trying to put his feelings into words. He had rehearsed this in front of his mirror a thousand times since the announcement of their wedding, but he couldn't for the life of him remember even a word of what he had planned to say. Then he remembered all of the childhood adventures he had shared with Bulma so long ago, hunting for those stupid dragonballs with her dragon radar and fighting off random criminals and aliens with nothing but his karate skills, Bulma's guns, and Goku's developing power. He had fought beside, argued with, and even slept beside this girl, so why act all funny now? He wondered when things had started changing between them, and chose not to think about Bulma's struggles with drugs, parties, and Vejita any more than he had to. Yamcha exhaled a bit, then opened his mouth to speak. "I just wanted to you know, say good-bye, I guess."
Bulma's eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Good-bye? Yamcha, are you moving or something?"
"No, no," Yamcha corrected himself. "I mean, I don't know... Good-bye to our past relationships. That sounds pretty corny, doesn't it?"
"Not really," Bulma answered. She noticed Yamcha's red face and smiled. "You don't have to do this, Yamcha, there's no hard feelings on my part."
"I have to say this," Yamcha insisted. "Ever since you took up with Vejita, I've been acting like an immature bastard. I mean, I suppose that we all knew it would happen eventually, especially after he moved in with you and well, I don't know if EVERYONE made a connection, but you know me. I guess I wouldn't have been so jealous if it had been anyone else. Its just that Vejita is so damned arrogant, and he's such a show-off, and he's so much..."
Bulma raised an eyebrow. "Stronger?"
Yamcha nodded reluctantly. "I just... I hate to do this now, on your 'special day' or whatever, but I have to know. Why?"
"I've never really answered that question before, have I?" Bulma slipped off her shoes, brushed her veil aside, and walked closer to Yamcha, who looked down at her with expectant, almost dreading eyes. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure myself. I was so messed up, and you had just broken up with me, and... he was there. He was always there..." Her blue eyes were lost in thought for a moment, but then became alert again. "It wasn't always pleasant-- we were both a bit surprised when... it... happened, but in a way, you're right. It was bound to happen sometime. I'm sorry."
"Don't be." Yamcha took her face in one hand and looked her over one last time. Bulma did not resist him, just smiled tolerantly up at him. "He's a lucky man, you know. He was one of the most feared murderers the universe has known, and he's a cocky, evil son of a bitch, but somehow Kami chose to give to him what he decided to take away from me. I'm still trying to figure out what I did wrong."
"Nothing," Bulma replied, her face gravely serious. "It's what I did. I wouldn't call this a punishment, though. I think that we split up because you're meant to be with someone else. Someone better."
Yamcha opened his mouth to protest, but Bulma shook her head.
"Don't sell yourself short, Yamcha," she advised, taking his hand off her face gently. "Don't tell me that when Trunks died, you wanted to be in Vejita's place. Don't tell me that when I went through all of that depression shit--" she put a hand to her diamond nose ring. "that you wanted to deal with that like Vejita did."
Yamcha could not deny all of this. It had run through his mind a couple times while he had watched Bulma and Vejita at Trunks' funeral, and when Bulma had escaped to his apartment that night. He wouldn't have wanted to be there, and he wouldn't have wanted to clean up the mess she had become after their breakup as Vejita seemed to have done. He took a step away from Bulma.
"You might be right," he admitted. "I comfort myself with the fact that you invited some of your hot friends to reception. It doesn't matter, though, I'm not sleeping too well these days anyhow. I'm too scared that Vejita's going to come and kill me in my sleep."
Bulma laughed, then started to move back to the mirror. "He would do it while you're awake and alert, believe me, and besides, he's occupied after sundown." She smirked a bit at Yamcha's sickened reaction. "Take care of yourself, Yamcha-- and you can tell Chichi to come back in on your way out."
Yamcha nodded, waved, and walked away from his ex-lover for the last time.
Meanwhile, Vejita was lounging at Goku's house in his uncomfortable tux, sipping some of Bulma's wine straight from the bottle, trying to think of why he had allowed himself to be conned into this. Goku was in the kitchen, trying his best to throw a sandwich together, just to 'hold himself over until the wedding'. Vejita suspected that the hightlight of the evening for the simple-minded Saiyan would be the reception, where there would be plenty of free dinner and wedding cake. Some things never changed.
"I wish that you were allowed to see Bulma-chan before the wedding," Goku called from the kitchen. "Because I would sure like to see her, too!" He appeared in the doorway holding a sloppily put-together sandwich in one hand and his tie in another, looking rather rumpled. His loud-mouthed wife would throw a fit if she could see him now, Vejita mused. "Chichi went to help her get ready a little while ago. I wonder if they finally resolved their differences..."
Vejita thought of the good mood Bulma had been in for the last couple of days and scowled. "Most likely they did. I suppose that means that I'll have to sabotage the relationship before your mate starts spending time at Capsule Corps." He took another swig of the wine, then tossed the empty bottle aside. "Weak human liquor... isn't good for anything besides hydration."
"I can't believe that you two are getting married!" Goku exclaimed, coming to sit across from Vejita, who regarded him with an expression of obvious annoyance. "It seems like just yesterday, Bulma was throwing shoes through YAMCHA'S windows, ha-ha!"
Vejita rolled his eyes and ached for another bottle of wine. "Sometimes, your ignorance baffles me."
"Baffles?" Goku repeated through a mouthful of food. "What does that mean?"
"Never fucking mind." Vejita massaged his throbbing temples and made a hasty decision. "I've got to get away from you, Kakkarott. Be on time for the ceremony, or we'll all be subjected to your wife's bitching."
Goku waved good-bye happily and watched Vejita as he hurried out of the house and to his car, mumbling curses under his breath.
Bulma shooed Chichi away and sighed, grateful for a moment of peace. She had dreamed of this day for so long, felt such hopelessness, doubted so much, and now it was happening. She was getting married. She was in the process of adjusting the train of her dress when Vejita's reflection smirked back at her in the mirror. She sqeaked and made a ridiculous effort to hide her appearance.
"Vejita! You know that its tradition that you don't see me until the ceremony!"
Her husband-to-be maintained his odd expression and moved closer, openly admiring her appearance. "You know that those foolish customs mean nothing to me."
Bulma gave up her useless attempts and sighed. "They mean a lot to ME. You take the fun out of everything."
"If I had manners I would apologize," Vejita said, looping an arm around Bulma's waist.
"Well that's comforting." Bulma narrowed her eyes. "What are you doing here? If you've come to seduce me, you're going to have to wait until tonight."
"I came to make sure that Kakkarott's mate didn't make you do anything drastic in my absence."
Bulma chuckled a little. "Well, she had her doubts about my choice of marital lingerie, but it was to be expected..." At Vejita's mischevious grin and wandering hands, she shook her head. "That's one tradition that you're NOT going to break. We're waiting until tonight!"
Vejita didn't say anything-- he just smirked and pulled her a little bit closer. "How long until the ceremony?"
Bulma's resolve melted. She voluntarily began removing herself from her restraining dress and grinned. "Long enough."
On his way out of the chapel, Vejita ran into Yamcha, who was loitering around his car with a pouty expression on his face.
"Well look, it's Earth most uneligeable bachelor," Yamcha remarked. Vejita stopped and scowled. The dreaded ex. "You look at bit tense. Having second thoughts?"
"You wish, you scheming little dipshit. The only reason that you were invited was to make the guest list even at five hundred, so run off and bother someone else."
Yamcha frowned. "Ouch! You know, it hurt me when I wasn't included in the ceremony."
"If you wish, I can offer assistance in helping you to forget," Vejita offered, rolling a red ball of ki in his hands. "Believe me, it works."
Yamcha eyed the ball and gulped. "No thanks. I guess I have to congratulate you then." He half-smiled weakly. "Bulma's pretty much the best girl in this galaxy. I'm sure that your royal family would have approved, considering that she's practically a celebrity and all." At Vejita's silence, he continued on. "And also... I'm sorry about Trunks, once again. He was something kind of special."
"I don't need your pity, weakling." Vejita's expression was cold, but his black eyes showed something approaching sorrow. Instead of sticking around to argue more, Vejita continued on his way to his car, wanting to run off and regain himself before making final preparations for the ceremony.
Yamcha called out after him. "You're a lucky man, Veijta, and I hope that you remember that!"
Vejita kept on walking, but he couldn't agree more.
An hour later, Bulma found herself hurrying through the halls of the church with Chichi behind her, holding up her train, making her way to the main room, where she was to be married. She moved as if in a dream. Who would have thought that this would ever come to pass? Instead of dwelling on the profound thought, she went a little faster, determined not to be late for her own wedding.
Goku met her at the end of the aisle, smiling like HE was the one getting married. Bulma's nervous heart warmed over at the sight of her life-long friend and she took his arm gladly. She took a mirror offered to her, checked that her little, uh, encounter with Vejita hadn't mussed her hair (it hadn't, the man never ceased to amaze her) and took a deep breath.
"Can you believe this?" Goku whispered excitedly. "I think I'm gonna pee my pants!"
"Thanks, Goku," Bulma responded with a laugh. "How do I look?"
Goku looked her over, then gave her the thumbs-up. "Perfect!"
Bulma hugged him, then the music started, and the chapel doors opened slowly.
"This is it..." she muttered under her breath.
She met Vejita's eyes, plastered a smile on her face, then took her first step down the aisle, one step closer to her new life-- for better or for worse, as they said.
Though it would be a life without Trunks, Bulma had a good feeling that things were finally about to get better for she and her Saiyan Prince.
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(A/N): And it's over! Sorry about the delay, I had it finished but then my power went out... for FIVE DAYS. Yes, its April, and good old Michigan (tropical paradise extraordinaire) got an ice storm and six inches of snow to show for it. How nice, ne? Special thanks to sk8er girl, I know that you leave a review for every chapter faithfully, and I feel like a complete and total dumbass for forgetting about you! You've been wonderfully supportive of this entire thing, and I really appreciate that! And thanks also to those that I mentioned in the previous chapter, and to all the rest of you who have dropped reviews here and there. You guys are great! I would have never decided to write a sequel to 'Little Black Dress' if it weren't for all of the people who were good enough to boost the review count for that fic, so thanks again... I know that its hard to put up with my temper sometimes, and I apologize for that and promise y'all that I'm trying to get better about that. If you feel the need, please feel free to leave a review for one last time, k? Ja ne!
Rhapsody~*
HawaiianBabay@aol.com
AIM Hawaiian Babay
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