Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Uh, if you've made it this far, good god what have I done? I mean, come on people, this fanfic sucks…right? Oh, an I don't own any of the dbz characters, expecially Yamcha. Who knows what would of happen to Yamcha if I owned DBZ.

A couple weeks later, the day before she is officially Vegeta's mate…

Bulma woke up on her bed. She rolled over on her side and curled into a ball. It wasn't a lot. He didn't really do anything to her, ( and the images you readers out there thought up after Chapter 2, shame, shame.) just kissed her. After he had gotten them all the way to the bed, he suddenly disappeared, leaving Bulma alone. Yet, it had been weeks ago. Why was she still thinking about what he had done? She shook her head. She was a Saiyan! She could not be brooding over things she was trained to bear. The shame her teachers who put upon her if they had known what she was thinking.

She put on her pants and shirt and then went down to the dining hall and find someone to spar with. There was nothing else she could do in the palace. The mechanics all shunned her away when she asked if there was anything she could fix. As she was eating her breakfast, Kakarot slid into the chair next to her. " Hey Bulma." He said and then digged into his large platter of foods. They did not say anything as they continued to eat their breakfast. It was awhile before they pushed their empty plates away from them and stood up.

"Spar?" Kakarot asked.

" Oh yeah." Bulma said, smiling. They walked over to the royal spar rooms, hoping for an empty room and beat the living shit out of each other. They had just grabbed two towels and then started walking to the only room available. Just as they were closing the door, a hand stopped the door from shutting completely. " Excuse me, but we're using this room." Bulma snapped at the stranger.

" No you're not. I'm going to be using this room and I expect you to be upstairs knitting or whatever you female Saiyans do." sneered the stranger. Bulma growled and got into fighting stance. " Oh don't even waste my time. I've already wasted minutes away just arguing with you, Bulma. Know your place and stay away from here." The stranger said. He stood in front of her. Bulma breathed in deeply, and then exhaled.

" That's not right, Vegeta. She and I had this room first. You cannot tell her what to do. She is not your mate yet. You have no right to tell her to do anything until the mating ritual is done." Kakarot growled. Vegeta pinned Kakarot against the wall in a flash. Vegeta spoke low. Low enough for only Kakarot and himself to hear.

" And it is not your place to tell me what is right and what is wrong. Don't make a mistake of angering me. I will have no guilt for anything I do to you if I am angered. Do you understand?" Vegeta hissed. Kakarot's face stayed stern as he listened to Vegeta's comment.

" You know, I thought you would change after you took on a mate, but I guess your the same fucking asshole I've known you to be." Kakarot said. He pushed Vegeta off of him and walked out of the room, brushing past Bulma. Bulma looked into Kakarot's friendly eyes, now full of anger. " Bulma, you be careful around him. Who knows what can happen. I don't want anything to happen to you, or else I would have to go after him myself." Kakarot said. He then quickly patted her shoulder and left, taking long strides down the hall and out of sight. Anger suddenly started to build up inside of her. Hatred spewed out of her ears as she spun around and faced Vegeta, who was at the moment, leaning against the wall, looking bored.

" You son of a bitch. I can't believe you'd do that to him. And to insult my pride the way you had just did. I never knew people allowed creatures such as yourself to live full lives." Bulma hissed quietly at Vegeta. He stood up and glared at her.

" How dare you speak to me as you have just did. You are lucky that you have been ranked as you have been. The highest a female Saiyan can get. Yet you do not thank me, you just spit curse words in my face. Pride? What pride to you have. If I wanted to, I could drag you up to your room right now and rape you. Would you be able to do anything? No. There is not a shred of pride within you. Not even my own mother, the Queen of Vegetasei has no pride. Females do not have pride. They are not born with pride. They have not even a grasp at what it is like to have pride, to guard it, to protect it, to defend it if someone, yes, even a female may waver it's superiority. Hear this, I have given you a warning. If I ever have to hear you curse at me, ever again, I will destroy you, no matter or not if you are going to be my mate." Vegeta said. Bulma shrank against the wall, the words he had spoken out, overcoming her. How could she be so stupid into even thinking of cursing him. She wanted to be on his good side, not his bad, and yet, he was acting like she was a mere Saiyan soldier, nothing to him.

Vegeta watched as Bulma ran out of the spar room. She did not say a word, did not even glance at him. For once in his life he had someone he could boss around. He smiled. Someone for him to do whatever he wanted to. Vegeta closed the door and started his training session.

After storming out of the spar area, Kakarot found himself pacing around the courtyard. There was nothing for him to do. He couldn't spar. What a joke he would be to go back into that place and face off with Vegeta. It would tear the palace apart. No, he couldn't do that. He sat down on a bench, pondering on what he was to do that day when a streak rushed passed him. An aqua-haired streak. Immediately, Kakarot jumped up and went after her. It didn't take him long to catch up with the sprinting Bulma. He stopped her and spun her around to face him.

He noticed tears running down her face as she tried to keep a sob from escaping her throat. " What's wrong? Did he do anything to you? Did he hurt you?" Kakarot demanded. The images entered his mind of what might of happened. He shook the thoughts from his mind. He needed to know. She shook her head. As she did so, a sob escaped from her lips and she buried her face within his chest.

" He…was…so *hic* horrible. I…never knew…someone *hic* could…be so mean. He…talked… about…*hic*… how woman… had no…*hic* pride. He *hic* talked about me…like I was… a *hic* piece…of meat." She said. She then sobbed quietly into Kakarot's chest. He looked around to see if anyone was coming and then gently patted her back. He led her slowly to her room where he made her sit down on a chair and drink a glass of Spirits.

" Now, that should cheer you up. So, he was being sexist? That bastard. The king taught him all that shit. I can't believe he'd do something like that to you. It's wrong. He should not have talked to you like that." He then bent down and looked into her watery blue eyes. He grinned his famous good-natured grin. " You know what? It's all right. You can't do anything about it, so why don't you just ignore it. As long as I'm here, you'll always have someone to talk to. Someone who you can run to. Someone to kick his ass if he needs a good knocking. You just remember that, now, won't you?" Kakarot said. Bulma smiled and nodded. Kakarot patted her head and walked out of the room.

" Hey, Kakarot?" Bulma spoke up as he walked towards her door. He turned around.

" Hmmm?" He answered.

" Thanks." She said.

" What for?" He asked, puzzled at her comment.

" For being nice to me. For comforting me. I don't think I'd last a day here if you weren't around." Bulma said. She ran over to him and hugged him. Kakarot, shocked at her action, patted her back in a friendly way.

" What would happen if Vegeta showed up right about now?" Kakarot said as he stepped away from Bulma. She shrugged.

" Does it matter? It's not like he even cares." She said. Kakarot shook his head and left the room feeling much better than when he had entered it.

Vegeta went through his fighting routine over and over again. He did not know why, but guilt and anger were running through his veins that day. He gave an uppercut to the mechanical droid that was meant to be his spar partner, causing it to crumble into a heap after hitting the wall with the force of a jet crashing into water. Vegeta walked over to the control panel that was located near the door and command for another droid when a sudden thought crossed his mind. ' Kakarot, he seems different when he is around that woman. He seems more mature somehow, yet almost protective of her. The look that he had given me when I had threatened him. It wasn't of fear, or of mockery, it was of hatred. Pure hatred. Is he trying to put a move on MY future mate?' Vegeta quickly walked out of the room and up to Bulma's. He needed to talk to her.

Bulma sat down in a chair, drinking another glass of Spirits. Spirits was like that human drink called 'beer'. Except the taste wasn't as strong and sour as the 'beer' humans had. Spirits had about 45% water put into it so that the Saiyans wouldn't become drunk enough to hurt anyone. She sipped her drink, look out the window and the passing shuttles carrying an unknown amount of Saiyans, the light breeze that rippled the leaves in a nearby rose bush, the sound of birds singing their love songs, Bulma sighed. She longed to be free of the palace. Of her destiny. She was still angered that her father could do such a thing to her. 'Father, how could you?' She thought sadly. She laid her head down on the table and closed her eyes.

Vegeta silently opened her door, not wanting to make a sound. 'Is Kakarot in there with her. I would personally blast his head into oblivion if he was.' Vegeta thought angrily as he entered the bright, quiet room. After he had slid his entire body into the room itself, he quietly shut the door, not letting go of the door knob until he heard the soft click of the door closing completely. He turned around and searched for Bulma. He walked over to her bed. Empty. He glanced towards the balcony he always found her standing on. Empty. His eyes then swept over the small table and two chairs. There was his future mate.

He quietly walked over to her, making no sound as his footsteps were muffled by the soft carpet that was spread throughout the room. He looked down at her. Her head was laying softly on her arms, which were crossed. Her aqua-blue hair was sprawled across her back. Her eyes, with the deep blue eye shadow that danced across her lid, were closed, giving full affect of her long eyelashes. Her breathe was smooth, always in a rhythm. He yearned to hold her. To lay her in his strong arms, to protect her as was his duty to her. Yet he could not.

Vegeta growled quietly. How could he be so stupid? He spoke such evil words, absorbed into her like acid, melting away her love and trust to him. He had treated her badly, not physically, but spiritually. The things he had said! Why was he acting this way? He was the Prince of the Saiyan race! He must have respect, he had to be courteous to all females. Yet he, Prince Vegeta, had yelled and taunted his mate-to-be. He shut his eyes and then opened them again. He had to change his ways. He would never have a good relationship with her if he kept acting the way he was acting.

He put his hand on her shoulder. She moved her head a little and took a deep breathe, but still, she slept on. He slid his hand down her soft hair. It was thin. It slid out of his fingers. He watched as Bulma's eyes fluttered open and look up at him. She gasped and jumped out of her seat, taking steps away from him. Again, the anger suddenly starting pumping in his veins. Why was she so scared of him? He would not hurt her. Yet, she acted as if he was going to bite her.

" What do you want, Prince Vegeta?" She asked him quietly. He stepped towards her. She backed against the wall. Her hands pressed behind her back. She had changed into a dress made of a soft white material. It was simple, yet she looked like a lone white rose drifting in an ocean of soft blue, which was the color of the walls that surrounded the two.

" What am I doing here? That is probably the dumbest question I have ever heard coming from you, woman." Vegeta growled quietly at her. He put his hand on her shoulder once more, but she roughly shook it from her. A sudden wave of hurt filled him. She did not want him. She loathed him. He looked at the ground, as if he was too embarrassed at her reaction. He had always been able to have whatever he wanted, and yet, here was the most beautiful woman in all the universe, and he could not have her. Of course, physically he could have her. She was to be his mate! But, in his and her mind, they were not connected the way love connects a couple. The mental link was not there. He did not know her feelings, or emotions. She was a blank wall that would always stay blank. He turned away from her from another wave of hurt that had just swept him.

" Why do you want me?" She whispered to him. He turned back around and faced her. Nose to nose.

" I have my reasons. One of which, you are the most beautiful Saiyan female I have ever set my eyes upon." He said. He cupped her face in his hands as he kissed her lips. She jerked away from him.

" I am not some whore that you toy with and then shun away after you're done playing with her. I am a female, yes, but I am a Saiyan. You say that female Saiyans do not have pride. You are wrong. Every time you say something to me, always in that rude fashion you always put it in, I feel a blow towards my pride. I will not curse at you. It does not get through to your head. But I will talk. You hurt me badly with what you had told me earlier. I know I cannot do anything. I am forced to become your mate. For all of eternity! I should have been able to pick my mate, and yet, the privilege had been snatched from my hand. All because I am beautiful. What am I to do? Shave my head? Grow warts on my face? What?" Bulma hissed angrily. Vegeta looked at her for a moment, then laughed.

" You must be speaking the truth when you said that. I could see it in your eyes. You think that you are hiding your innermost emotions away when you speak tough words, but your eyes betray you." Vegeta said, laughing. Bulma growled and looked down at the ground. He slid his hand through her hair. " But I have never seen anyone with hair as soft as yours. I know I must wait a few more hours before I can do anything with you, but may I promise you something?" He said huskily. She looked into his eyes. l

" And what would that be?" She asked him coldly.

" I promise you, that I will never speak that way of you again. For you are going to be my mate, and I cannot inflict a scar that will be right beside me for all of eternity." Vegeta said. And with that, he walked out of the room.

Kakarot sat in his room, thinking about the things that had happened since Bulma arrived. 'It's strange how I feel so much more happier when I am with her. Just protecting her from Vegeta gives me pride in what I am doing. As if I born for a reason.' Kakarot thought to himself. He got up and looked out his window. It was peaceful outside. He could not hear anything. He thought for a moment, not really thinking about anything in particular when suddenly, his eyes grew wide and Kakarot shook his head. ' No! I do not love Bulma!'

What was that all about. Who knows? Sorry it took so long. I kind of had a writer's block. So the next chapter might be a little more interesting. Who knows what's going to happen? Does Kakarot really love Bulma, or is it just as he said. I'm thinking of a cliffhanger for the next chapter. What about you? REVIEWS PEOPLE! I NEED THEM TO LIVE ON!