A few seconds was needed for his eyes to get used to the dim light of the place, and as soon as he caught sight of the blue-haired girl in front of him, his pupils dilated:
"Bulma?"
"Goku! Are you all right? Are you hurt? What happened?"
He took her hands in his and, ignoring her questions, then said: "Oh, Bulma, how nice to see you!"
"Why are you here? Where's Chichi?"
Goku grimaced.
"I don't know, and I don't care either." he wrinkled his nose. The effect of the "Love-in-idleness" reacting so well that he wasn't even thinking about Chichi right now. All his eyes were focused on was Bulma and her alone. "What matters is that you're here, with me. Oh, beautiful Bulma, how lovely you are!"
Bulma frowned and watched him, curious, intrigued, and suspicious.
"You hit your head, by any chance?"
"On the contrary, my queen, I am as lucid as I've ever been in my entire life." he brought a hand up to her face and gave it a gentle caress.
Bulma slapped his hand away and angrily cried out: "Goku, what do you think you're doing? Weren't you running away with Chichi to get married in another realm?"
"Chichi? No! Jeez! Chichi was a torn on my side. I love you, Bulma!" he said without hesitation, his voice sounding so honest that he seemed convinced of it. His dark eyes still stared into Bulma's beautiful blue orbs, which snapped in awe at his confession of love. "How I regret the hours I spent besides her... so tedious... but, I was too young, foolish, and clueless about the things of life. Now I'm a grown man, mature! I see in your eyes, how much I love you!
"You're insane!" Bulma stood up at once while her hands gestured nervously. "Have you matured? It's only been a few hours since you ran off with her to get married, you dumbass!"
"I was crazy, I was blind, but now I see, Bulma... I see the truth." he stood up and approached her. "It was you, all this time. Let's get out of here, shall we?! I'll escort you home. A lady as delicate as you shouldn't be here in this dark and dangerous forest." he took her by the arm, but Bulma pulled back, even if he was right and a lady like her shouldn't be in the forest at this hour, it was still poorly explained and Chichi was missing.
"What have you done with my friend?"
"I haven't done anything, but I hope she is far away. I don't wish to see her ugly face again!"
"Oh my!" Bulma brought both hands to her mouth in horror. How was this possible? A day ago Goku was completely in love with Chichi, and now he says these things about her? "Vegeta just happened to find you and hit you hard on the head, didn't he?"
"Vegeta? Don't tell me it's because of him, Bulma, that you won't give me your love. Forget him, he doesn't deserve you. Stay with me! Marry me! I know I have no title and no possessions, but I'll give you all the love in the world, I'll treat you like the queen you are every day for the rest of our lives!"
She snorted. He was right about one thing, she did deserve to be treated like a queen, but that didn't explain the sudden change in his behavior.
"Don't talk nonsense, Goku! You're clearly delirious... Or you're mocking me!"
"I'd never mock you, beautiful Bulma!"
The blue-haired lady shook her head in disbelief at what was happening. Of course it was not absurd for Goku to fall in love with her, she was beautiful and rich, any man in the kingdom would fall in love with her... And Goku, well, Goku wasn't the type to be turned down so quickly. He had no titles or lands, but he was a total hunk and she'd be lying if she said she didn't find him attractive. She still loved Vegeta, but... who knows, maybe fate was holding something better in store for her. She really just needed to look away and maybe she would find her true love...?
Bulma shook her head at the thought. It still didn't make sense... She knew about Chichi and Goku's whole love story, how could he now say these things to her?
"I'm going to go find Chichi." she said and turned her back to Goku, who followed her.
The two went in the opposite direction from where Chichi was sleeping, but the dark-haired lady awoke moments later, distressed.
"Goku!" she screamed and brought her hand to her throbbing chest. She looked in the direction of where he said he'd lie down and saw nothing, but she lit the lamp and went over there, finding no one. "Goku! Where did you go?"
Licks tickled the soles of Queen Launch's feet that made her giggle in her sleep, which soon caused her to wake up. When she opened her eyes, however, the kitty that was licking the sole of her foot had already run away. She stretched, scratched her eyes, and stood up, ready to check Chiaotzu's cradle, but before she could do so, her eyes immediately met a figure.
Her pupils dilated
"Oh!"
Yamcha was startled to find himself face to face with the queen, he had come this far following Puar's trail, but he hadn't expected to see another person in the forest at that hour, let alone a woman as beautiful as that one.
"Forgive me miss, I had no intention of frightening you."
"How could you frighten me with such a lovely face?" she said and approached the man, running her delicate hands over the fur of the donkey face that Yamcha still had no idea he was carrying. "Tell me, mortal, what is your name?"
"My name's Yamcha!" he replied flattered by the compliments and the woman's caring touch, but he had noticed that she was a bit different, she had pointy ears and... wings?! "And yours?"
"I am Launch, the Fairy Queen!" she revealed. There was no reason to hide the identity of this noble man for whom her heart was beating fast, so fast that she couldn't even remember Chiaotzu or her husband, Tien.
Yamcha cocked his head to the side and, watching her, smiled fondly. It was true! There were faeries, and he was face to face with one! And not just any faerie, but the QUEEN of them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Your Highness." Gallantly he bent down and took one of her hands in his to kiss.
Launch let out a shy chuckle.
"Oh, gentle mortal, what a beautiful voice you possess. Tell me, are you a singer?"
Yamcha smiled proudly and puffed out his chest before answering: "Yes, yes, your highness. I'm an actor, but I can also sing, as it is obviously part of the package."
"It's really fascinating!" Launch replied delighted and moved closer to him. "A man like you would really be full of virtues, no wonder my heart beats strong, I see in your eyes the deepest love I could feel for someone."
"That's very kind of you, Your Highness. Your beauty also enchants me, never in all my life have I come across such a magnificent being. I must thank my cat, as without him this would probably not be possible."
"Your cat?"
"Yes, Your Highness. My cat, Puar, he ran away from home and ended up in the middle of the forest. I can't find him." he sounded slightly saddened, after all, he was very attached to the kitty. "That's why I came here, I'm after him."
"Oh, poor boy. I'll help you." the queen said. "I'll do anything for you, my beloved Yamcha, my heart would be restless if I didn't see you smile. Your happiness, now, is my happiness too. I will gather my faeries and they'll help us find your feline."
"Thank you, Your Highness." he kissed the back of her hand again. It all seemed surreal, but he wouldn't deny help, he needed to find his cat.
The queen and the actor walked through the woods while she called out to her fairies that were nearby.
Oolong, who wasn't far away, heard the queen's call and, curious, went over only to find the queen completely in love with the man with the donkey's head.
Unable to stand it, he burst out laughing. That prank was being better than he could imagine, he wanted to follow them and know how this story would end, but he thought it was better to look for the king and warn him that the queen was already awake, knowing Tien, he knew that the King of the Elves and Goblins wouldn't be watching the queen's sleep, but he must have been curious to know if his plan had worked. However, before he could leave the place, the purple-haired faerie appeared in front of him.
"Come on Oolong, tell us where the cat is!"
"What cat?"
"You know what I'm talking about! The actor's cat with the donkey head. It was you, wasn't it!" she frowned and stared at him.
"I don't know what're you talking about..."
"Stop lying. I know it was you who turned the poor man into a donkey!"
"The head!" he corrected and received a stern look from her, but she continued:
"And the queen is in love with him, hopelessly in love... I don't know what is going on. How could she fall in love with that freak? What about the king? What about Chiaotzu?"
"Mmmm..." Oolong muttered. "This is not my fault!"
"What do you mean?"
"Okay, okay, I admit it! I did turn the actor, I mean, the actor's head into a donkey's head, but it wasn't me who bewitched the queen, it was Tien."
"The king?"
"Yep! It's all part of his plan to get the boy..."
"And how does he intend to get the boy by making her fall in love with another man?" Arale crossed his arms and raised an incredulous eyebrow at the mischievous elf.
"I don't know, but I'm telling the truth. As for the cat, I don't know where it is, really. But come with me, I'm going after the king, and then you'll know the whole truth."
She looked at him suspiciously but agreed to follow him.
It didn't take long before they found Tien in a corner of the forest, talking to other elves whom he told to go and take care of Chiaotzu, who was already on his premises.
"Your Majesty!" called Oolong. "The queen has awakened."
"Really?" Tien smiled and activated his third vision, glimpsing Launch all over the man with a donkey's head. "But what's that creature she's with?" he questioned, intrigued.
"It's an actor from the theater company, Your Majesty, I played a trick on him and turned his head into a donkey's head. The Queen didn't care when she saw it, she fell in love with him either way!"
"Excellent!" Tien laughed, he didn't mind Oolong's pranks and even enjoyed them. Arale just rolled her eyes. "Apparently, she's so blinded by love that she has not even remembered Chiaotzu, whom I rescued from her cradle... Soon I'll find her..."
Oolong exchanged a look with the faerie that said 'I told you so!', but she said nothing, just shrugged her shoulders in defeat.
"What about the man I asked to enchant?" Tien questioned.
"I have already done so, your majesty."
"Good!"
Tien was about to activate his third vision again to see how the man was doing, but from a distance, he identified him. He was getting closer to where they were standing.
"Look, he's coming. Let's hide!" Tien warned, and together with Oolong and Arale, they camouflaged themselves among the trees.
Oolong, confused, watched the man who entered next to a dark-haired woman. This was not the man he had enchanted.
"Vegeta! Tell me the truth, what have you done with Goku?" Chichi shouted beside him, nervous and worried about her boyfriend's disappearance. She had been looking for Goku when she bumped into Vegeta in the middle of the woods and, confused, didn't understand what he was doing there, but the Lord explained that he had come after her after finding out about her escape. "If you killed him while he was sleeping, I'll never forgive you. NEVER! If you think I'll marry you because I no longer have Goku by my side, even more so after you hurt him, you're very wrong. I'll become a nun or die in a public square, but I will not marry you, EVER!"
"I don't know about Kakarot!" he replied impatiently. "I wish I could have ended his life! Do you really think that I would let him run away with my fiancée and do nothing?" he gave her a stern look and then took a deep breath. "But, unfortunately, I haven't had that pleasure. Not yet!"
"Don't talk about him like that, you bastard! Tell me where is he? What have you done with my Goku?"
"I told you I don't know about that moron! I haven't seen him! He must have run away without you, have you thought about that possibility?" Vegeta smirked.
"He wouldn't do that!"
"Well, surely he realized that he was fooling himself by wanting to run away with you, he knew that he'd be found sooner or later and, like the coward he is, he preferred to run away than face the punishment for his actions, after all, you are MY fiancée!"
"You're lying!"
Vegeta sighed in frustration. Why did Chichi have to be so stubborn? Sure, it was one of the qualities he admired in her, part of the black-haired lady's temperamental personality, but sometimes it could be a little bit tiresome.
"Forget about him, Chichi, Kakarot's gone, he's not coming back. Do you really think that if he truly loved you, he'd leave you alone in this forest?"
At least knowing that Kakarot was gone gave him a glimmer of hope. With him out of the picture, there would be no more reason for Chichi not to want to marry him. Vegeta hoped that the peasant really had fled far away, or if not, that some beast had attacked him and eaten him during the night. It'd be one less problem in his life, that moron had always been torn in his side.
"If he left me, it is because something happened. I know that, I know Goku!" she lifted her chin as she answered, she had no doubt of Goku's love. "And I won't rest until I find him!"
She stamped her foot and turned around, entering the dark woods again with the lamp in her hand.
"Stubborn woman! Why don't you listen to me, Chichi?" Vegeta grumbled and went after her. He couldn't leave her alone in that forest, much less at night.
Coming out of camouflage, the king looked at the scene stunned and confused.
"But what's going on, Oolong? This man doesn't seem bewitched, and it's not even the same woman he despised..."
"It's not the same man, my king, but I followed your instruction and dripped the flower juice on the eyelids of the mand with dark, spiky hair!"
"Well, you dripped it on the wrong man!" complained Tien before he activated his third vision again and saw Goku, running after Bulma, adoring and worshipping her as if she were Venus herself, while his girlfriend, the one who, according to the story he had heard, had run away with him for their love, was lost and distant from him and near Vegeta, the man who should have been enchanted by Bulma. "Arale, quickly, charm Vegeta, make him sleep. Let's correct this mistake."
Arale nodded and immediately went to Vegeta, who was behind Chichi and, casting her magic, made him fall to the ground and sleep instantly. Chichi didn't even notice and moved on, too distressed to think of anything else.
With Oolong's help, she placed the sleeping man at the foot of a tree and Tien dripped the juice of love-in-idleness on his eyelids.
"There! Now we just have to wait for him to wake up and look for the right woman. Oolong, go after the blue-haired mortal! Bring her here and make sure she's the first person he sees when he wakes up."
"Right, Your Majesty!" agreed on the little elf, who dashed off into the woods.
As soon as he identified Bulma and Goku, he was subtly luring them, so Bulma arrived at the place where Vegeta was sleeping.
"Uhh Goku, enough of this prank, it's getting annoying!"
"Why do you think I'm joking, Bulma? I devote to you the purest and most sincere love! My heart leaps with joy just hearing the sweet melody of your voice."
"You gave your heart to Chichi, Goku, how can you expect me to just believe everything you are saying now? It doesn't make sense!"
"I was out of my mind, Bulma, I hadn't realized what a wonderful woman was standing right in front of me!" Goku held out to her a flower that he picked in the middle of the path. "Now I see, as clear as daylight. You, Bulma, are the love of my life!"
Bulma tried to hold back the giggle, but couldn't. She took the flower in her hands and thought that it was nice to be adored like this. If only it were Vegeta, and not Goku, treating her this way...
And as if the gods were listening to her request, she heard:
"My beautiful Bulma, there you are!"
"Vegeta?" she looked to the side and saw the Lord.
Goku arched an eyebrow at his rival. "What are you doing here?"
"I came to get what belongs to me." Vegeta replied without taking his eyes off Bulma, who even took a step back, suspicious of his intimidating gaze.
"Good! Then you can go on your way because Chichi's not here!" Goku said as he stood between her and Vegeta. "Bulma and I will go back to the city."
"Yes, she will, but with me!" Vegeta growled and menacingly glared at Goku.
"What are you saying? We all know that you are madly in love with Chichi, didn't you want to marry her? Well, that's your chance."
"Don't talk nonsense, you moron. I don't care about Chichi, my heart belongs to Bulma!" He then pushed Goku aside, who protested with a 'hey,' to look at Bulma. "Oh, my goddess, how good it is to see your beautiful eyes again!"
Bulma was static, dumbfounded, and extremely confused.
"What are you playing at, Vegeta?"
"You know better than anyone that I am not a joking man!"
"Where's Chichi?"
"I don't know and I don't want to know! My only interest is you, my beautiful goddess!"
"Oh, come on! What a load of crap!" Goku grumbled and pulled the Lord away from her. "Don't believe him Bulma!"
"Shut up, Kakarot, you damned bastard! You don't know about my feelings!"
"SHUT UP YOU TWO IDIOTS!" Bulma shouted, drawing the attention of the two bewitched men. "Someone wants to tell me what's going on ?" she stared at them as she put both hands on her hip. "I had had enough of this bullshit."
"Bulma, I'm in love with you, don't you see?" Goku was the first to respond and stepped forward toward her, taking one of her hands that held the flower he had handed her. "Don't you understand that my heart belongs to you and only to you?"
"Don't waste your time, Kakarot! Bulma is a Lady, a woman of noble blood, she'd never stay with an insignificant peasant like you." said the Lord, who also advanced towards her and took her other free hand. "Come back to me, my beloved goddess, I love you!"
Bulma opened her mouth, surprised and stunned. Then she looked from one to the other who was staring at her with big, hopeful eyes. Was this some kind of trick?
"You two set this up, didn't you? Just to make fun of me!" she violently pulled both hands away at the same time and turned around, crossing her arms. "First the two of you were fighting for Chichi's love, and now suddenly you declare yourselves to me? Do you really think I'm stupid?"
They both shook their heads in despair.
"Not at all!"
"Absolutely not!"
"Bulma, you're the most intelligent and perfect woman in the world. I would never do anything to make fun of you!" said the peasant.
"I love you Bulma, I'd never do anything to hurt you or injure you!" said the lord.
Bulma massaged her temples, annoyed. If before, with Goku making declarations of love was already weird, now there was Vegeta and he wasn't acting like himself. Of course, she wanted to believe that he was really in love with her, she had always wanted to hear those words from Vegeta, but she knew him well enough to know that he was not one to talk like that, he had never been the romantic type. It was just too weird.
From high in the trees, Tien, Oolong, and Arale watched, all cloaked so they couldn't be identified. Oolong fell into laughter that was also muffled by the king's magic so that they couldn't be heard.
"How mad mortals are..." Arale muttered.
"Oh, look! Here comes another woman, it must be that Chichi!" said Oolong as he pointed in the direction of the black-haired woman who, hearing the noises, had arrived at the scene.
"Um... Interesting..." murmured the king before his lips drew a wicked smile. He was amused, it wasn't often that he had a show like that to entertain him on forest nights. "There's no joke I like, like real jealousy! Arale!" he made a sign to the faerie. "A little spice can't hurt, right?"
Arale sighed as she shook her head, she wasn't a big fan of such mischief, but he was the king and she had to obey him. So, she put her little hands up to make her magic happen, casting just a small dose, nothing that was really too harmful, but enough to make Chichi feel a little itch on her nose.
The brunette soon saw Goku from afar and her heart leaped happily in her chest, she knew she heard his voice, she wasn't wrong.
"Goku!" she smiled before running up to him and hugging him tightly, dropping the lamp to the ground. "Goku! Are you all right? What happened? Why did you leave me alone?"
The peasant looked at her strangely and uncomfortable at that touch. He then pushed her away, before answering: "To go see my love, my queen!"
"Huh? But I didn't leave the place where I was sleeping."
"I'm not talking about you!" he looked down at her. "I'm talking about her, my beautiful Bulma!" he sounded sweet as he stared at the blue-haired lady.
"What?" Chichi looked at her friend, who had a confused look on her face, and then at Vegeta, who also looked at her with contempt. "What are you talking about, Goku?"Chichi tried to touch Goku, but he dodged her, saying:
"Get out! Why did you come after me? Don't you realize that I want distance from you?"
"Wha-what? Goku!" Chichi shook her head. "You're not making any sense!"
"Enough of this nonsense!" Bulma shouted, irritated. Apparently, even her friend was in on it, there was no way Goku could've treated her as he did, it had to be a prank. "You set the whole thing up, didn't you? Even you, Chichi? I thought you were my friend... Why are you doing it? As revenge for me telling Vegeta about your secret?"
"What are you talking about? Of course not!"
"My goddess, don't be upset. Don't listen to these two disgusting maggots! Let's go, I'll take you away, my beautiful Bulma!"
Chichi tipped his head to the side when he heard Vegeta talking that way to Bulma. How nice that he finally got off her back and assumed his love for Bulma, but... talking in that honeyed way? That didn't sound much like the Lord who was insisting on marrying her a few hours ago.
"Get away from her, Vegeta." Goku growled. "Bulma, my beautiful queen, Vegeta has only made you suffer, he doesn't deserve your heart. Please, be with me!"
When Bulma blinked, she was again between the two men who were staring at each other fiercely as if they were two animals fighting over prey.
"What the hell is going on?" Chichi shouted.
"Are you an idiot?" Vegeta asked, without patience. "I love Bulma and I will marry her. You are free to pursue your life with that bastard!"
"You won't marry Bulma! I will!" exclaimed the peasant. "You can be with the nasty daughter of Duke Ox."
"Goku!" Chichi felt her heart break in half upon hearing such words coming from her beloved. "How could you?"
"You stay with that frumpy lady!" Vegeta grumbled. "I'll stay with my goddess, my Bulma!"
Chichi bowed her head and gave a sniffle, but she didn't cry, instead, she raised her head and gave Bulma a deathly glare.
"It was you, wasn't it? You slut!"
"What?" Bulma squeezed her eyes shut.
"You put a spell on Goku! Didn't you?! You jealous slut!" she pointed her finger accusingly at her friend poking her in the center of her chest. Her vision was clouded by the jealousy that bewitched her, rationalizing nothing. "You couldn't stand the thought of Vegeta being in love with me and you went and bewitched my boyfriend into falling in love with you! You slut!"
"Are you nuts?!" Bulma slapped Chichi's hand.
"And of course you did the same with Vegeta, because he didn't care about you, so it was the only way you could finally get his attention, wasn't it? Because that's all you want, Bulma, the attention of all the men of Sadala! You jealous slut!"
"Don't you dare talk about Lady Bulma like that, you petulant little woman!"
"Don't you talk that way about my queen!"
Both men defended her, however, neither Bulma nor Chichi were paying attention to the two, too distracted in their own argument.
"Shut up Kakarot!" Vegeta replied. "This is all your fault!"
"My fault? How's that my fault?"
"If you had followed through with your stupid plan to run away with your frumpy little girlfriend, my Bulma wouldn't have to be in this situation right now. Take her away! Get her out of here!"
"Aren't you the one who came after her? Then why don't you pick her up and take her away from here? I'll leave with Bulma!"
"Don't count on it, you stupid bastard! Bulma will marry me!"
"Over my dead body!"
"Not a problem!" Vegeta said venomously and then punched Goku in the face, who retorted with a punch on Vegeta's guts.
Meanwhile, Bulma and Chichi continued to argue and didn't even notice the action that was taking place a few meters away, since they moved away a little as the argument became more energetic. Bulma, however, was beginning to get irritated by her friend's unreasonable accusations.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Watch how you talk, you slut! I'm not a witch to make witchcraft!"
"Oh yeah? Then how do you explain that all of a sudden, both Goku and Vegeta, who were in love with me, now find themselves in love with you? Very suspicious, don't you think? You must agree with me that this isn't possible!"
"Oh no? Why not? Two men can't fall in love with me? Only with you?" by now, the blue-haired Lady had her pride wounded and would not allow Chichi to speak of her like that.
"MY Goku would never fall in love with a vile woman like you!"
Bulma let out a sarcastic laugh.
"Well, he IS! Accept that once and for all. Goku LOVES ME!"
"NO! You've bewitched him!" Chichi yelled and then pulled Bulma by the hair slapping her.
"Let me go, you stupid jerk!"
"You witch!"
The two began slapping each other screaming, pulling hair and scratching each other as they fell to the dry forest floor. Vegeta and Goku were so 'busy' with their own exchange of punches that they also didn't notice when the two of them reached a nearby ravine and rolled downhill, still slapping each other, until they stopped at the shore of a small lake.
"Aaarrr!" Bulma let out a scream and stood up, angry by having her dress and hair ruined by Chichi. "You idioooot! Look what you've done!"
Chichi, for her part, was still on the ground but supporting her torso with both hands. She looked up and, in the dim moonlight, saw the image of her friend completely ragged, which made her suddenly start to laugh.
"What are you laughing at, idiot?" Questioned Bulma, fuming at the mouth, but that made Chichi laugh even louder as she looked at herself. "What's so funny?"
"Hahaha aaah -us!" Chichi laughed out loud, suddenly no longer blinded by Arale's spell. "Look at that -Hahahaha -at us -hahahaha!"
Bulma then looked at herself and then at her friend who was in such a pitiful situation, she couldn't stand it and found it all very comical, so she started laughing too.
Both women kept laughing for a while until Bulma helped Chichi stand up again, while she commented: "I can't believe we were fighting over men!"
"Neither can I. I'm sorry, Bulma! I... I don't know what came over me! I was blinded by jealousy!"
"Chichi..." Bulma looked at her with her beautiful, sincere blue eyes. "I'm sorry too."
The two smiled and exchanged a tight hug. Their friendship was stronger than anything else. They wouldn't let a fight over men end it.
Notes:
Anyone who knows me knows that I despise GoBul, so this will be the only story I write where Goku will show some sort of interest in Bulma and it's only by the reasons of being bewitched. (How it pained me to write him saying those mean things to her )
As I said, Yamcha had a key role to play in the plot. Just as in the original story, where Titania falls in love with the actor with the donkey head, here Launch falls in love with Yamcha in the same condition, due to the flower spell, of course.
In the play, neither Demetrius and Lysander, nor Hermia and Helena, actually fight, they just argue, although Demetrius and Lysander even consider the idea of a duel to see who will get Helena, but Oberon asks Puck to stop them before this happens. Don't get me wrong, I am against any kind of violence, but I thought it'd be more fun here to put on a real fight and have the two friends get along afterward.