Can't Resist - Chapter 5 - Tram Stops to Bumper Cars
Vegeta was slowly turning green. 'It must be all this talk of love.' he thought. He'd already tried meditating, sleeping, passing out, melting the radio with his ki, talking over it (Bulma had told him to shut up), concentrating on the nature documentaries he loved, and turning it off. The last idea had been a REALLY bad idea, since Bulma had kept turning it back on and finally channeled her wrath on him. The brat, jerked from his video game oblivion, had wisely remained silent during that fiasco. So he'd sat and seethed until his anger melted into a vague nausea. It seemed the car ride had lasted forever until he was at the puking point. Suddenly, thankfully, Bulma turned off the music. Vegeta could feel his stomach settle and his normal color coming back to his face.
Bulma frowned. 'I was starting to feel a little sick for some reason. Oh well. Turning off the music helped my mind clear.' she glanced over at Vegeta and then back at Gohan who was still deep into the video gam world. 'Well we're practically here now. I just hope I don't puke on a coaster. I can just imagine how that would turn out.' A picture of Vegeta drenched in puke flashed into her mind. He did NOT look happy.
"We're here guys!" Bulma exclaimed. The forest receded and they could see a vast parking lot, beyond which rollercoasters soared through the sky.
"Wow!" Gohan said laughing in delight and sticking his head between the front seats. "Let's go on the monorail first so I can see which rides I wanna go on."
"Fine with me Gohan." Bulma said as they descended into the parking lot.
Vegeta said nothing. 'But he isn't scowling for once. That's a plus.' Bulma thought as she pulled into a space. 'It's so annoying leaving the car here. I don't know why they don't want capsules on park property. Backpacks are so last year.' she thought shouldering hers and locking up the car after they'd all gotten out.
It turned out that Vegeta's legs were cramped from sitting in the car so long, to they had to wait a couple of minutes for him to recouperate. Bulma gloated, Vegeta glared daggers, and Gohan looked politely away, towards the park. When Vegeta could walk again, they trudged to tram Stop number 3. Since the tram wasn't there yet, Bulma called a bathroom break and they missed the next two trams waiting for her.
Finally Bulma came out and the tram came. Gohan hopped in first, then Bulma, then Vegeta.
"These 'trams' as you call them are primitive." Vegeta commented to Bulma, who was surprised.
"I always thought they were quaint." she replied, and went back to oohing and aahing with Gohan.
'I always thought they were quaint.' Vegeta mimicked in his mind. 'Well I hope the whole park isn't like this.' He glanced past the trolley driver at the towering metal rides and tuned out the annoyingly cheerful sounding tram guide.
"So how's it going with Vegeta?" Gohan asked, noticing the saiyan had tuned the world out.
"Who told you to ask that?" Bulma asked, looking a little mad.
"My dad." Gohan said hurriedly.
Bulma's anger melted away. "Oh, Goku . . . well I'm not dead so I guess that's saying something. Tell him I'm fine and so is he." she jerked her head in Vegeta's direction. "Now forget about that Gohan. Let's just relax and have fun, well as much as you can relax around Vegeta."
Gohan nodded. "Right . . . Yeah, we're here."
Bulma nudged Vegeta as the tram stopped. "Get off silly." she linked her arm through his after they got off.
"What are you doing, woman?" Vegeta asked, though he didn't jerk away.
'What am I doing?' Bulma wondered to herself. "Keeping you incheck." she replied to Vegeta. "For all I know, you might slip away when I'm not looking, or are you going to see this through 'til the bitter end?"
"I'm not a quitter." Vegeta muttered, annoyed that she didn't trust him. 'I haven't really given her reason to though.' he admitted with a small pang. "What exactly are we doing here anyway?"
"We're going on them, Vegeta." Gohan said from in front of the couple, pointing. "Those monstrous steel cars that have the weak screaming humans on them." Vegeta said. It was not a question.
Bulma gave Vegeta's arm a light squeeze. "Hey, in about an hour I'll be one of those weak screaming humans, and I'll love every second of it."
Vegeta could feel Bulma getting excited, but not like he'd felt the entire time on Namek. That had been a sick excited, more adrenalin rush then anything. And then anticipation and a sick regret before he'd died at the hands of Frieza, known he would die, accepted it, no longer feeling the steel fist that had plunged over and over again into his back.
But then, then Kakarott had come and he'd blurted it all out - said things that were true he'd never even thought before, much less articulated. He'd felt true regret and loss - the animalistic slaughter of his race had been relived in his mind. 'I was just a child. I believed him. I did everything, anything he asked me to, so that he would spare my race. Everything. I've been over it enough times to be certain. I was naive. I was weak. I swore I'd never believe anyone again. But I trust her. I trust Bulma. Am I crazy?'
"Vegeta, is there something bothering you?" Bulma asked, jarring him from his memories. He'd seemed overwhelmingly sad to her for a moment. "Snap out of it. Today it's time to create new memories - happier ones." she added quietly so Gohan couldn't hear.
Vegeta was a little taken aback. It was as if she'd known exactly what he'd been thinking of, and that wasn't the first time she'd seemed to channel his thoughts, though now that he'd thought about it, it had only occured when she was angry at him. 'I dismissed it as coincidence before, but what if -'
"How many, miss? the bored teller asked.
"Two adults. One child." Bulma replied, releasing Vegeta's arm to dig around for the zenii she'd brought. She was dismayed at the vague sense of displacement she felt once she let go of Vegeta's arm as she rummaged around in her trendy backpack. 'i hate to admit it, but I actually like the guy and I'm happier or madder when I'm around him. Oh, there's the zenii.'
"That'll be 68.95 zenii . . . thank you for coming to White Water Park. Please enjoy your stay and here are your maps. Thank you and come again."
Once they were through the gates, Gohan opened his map and he and Bulma argued about what direction to go until Bulma realized she was wrong and that she was argueing with an eight year old, so she gave in and let Gohan drag her to the line for the monorail.
"This looks like it'll only be a ten minute wait." Gohan announced and pulled out his video gamd from his backpack, quickly losing hiself in it.
"So we have to stand here for ten minutes just waiting to ride that?" Vegeta asked, pointing up to the monorail car above them.
"It'll be shorter than that. The line moves quickly for this ride." Bulma said, leaning against the railing.
"I don't know if I'll ever understand you humans."
"At least we'll all have a nice tan by the time the day is through. Gohan certainly needs one." Bulma replied, glancing affectionately at him. "It's hard to believe he's only eight and he's already done so much more than the average eighty year old. He's a special kid."
Just then the couple behind them's son ran in between Vegeta and Bulma, spraying a water gun at his little sister.
"Johnny stop it! Come back here." his mother called. Johnny just laughed - until his glance happened to catch Vegeta's.
Bulma gave Vegeta a warning look, but he didn't glance at her.
"Listen to your mom, kid. You might find yourself messing with the wrong guy sometime soon."
The kid, Johnny, squirted Vegeta directly i his face with the water gun.
"Ahh. Why you little brat!" Vegeta spluttered. He grabbed the lid and lifted him up by the front of his shirt. "If I wasn't in such a good mood you'd be dead by now kid." whereupon little Johnny started wailing and his mother came and screamed that this man had assultled her son. So Vegeta, Bulma, and Gohan had to make a quick getaway and Bulma yelled at Vegeta until she lost her voice.
Not.
What really happened was the kid clammed up and was the model of perfection for two years. At which time he came out of his shock, screamed for two hours, was sedated at a hospital, and got the life sucked out of him by Cell. When he was wished back to life he couldn't remember a thing since the day before this day took place, which was bad since he had to repeat two grades. But this isn't his story and he has nothing to do with the Z fighters. Besides, we don't like him since he insulted the honor and dignity of Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans.
"Wow, Vegeta, you didn't blow him up. " Gohan noticed, impressed.
"Or course not. He's too weak to waste my ki on."
"Sure." Bulma said, smiling and beaming at Vegeta. 'He really is changing . . . maybe.'
'She doesn't have to smile at me like I'm an old dog she's teaching new tricks.' vegeta though and frowned. 'Where'd I pick up that little phrase? It was probably too much TV. I'm letting her spoil me. I should be in my new GT working out right about now . . . Still, she seems so happy that I'm here . . . ahh, I am getting soft like Kakarott. I'm even taking his offspring to a 'park' as the earthlings call it.'
"Vegeta, you're not going to get soft if that's what you're worried about." Bulma said suddenly. "I doubt anyone will ever think of you as soft."
Vegeta glanced at Gohan. 'Still playing with the video game. You're hopeless kid.' "How'd you know what I was thinking?" he asked Bulma quietly, brows furrowed.
"What do you mean?" Bulma asked, confused. 'I've never seen him look at me this way. Something's changing . . . But what's wrong with that?'
"Something is changing." Vegeta mused to himself, but Bulma still heard and it gave her a shock.
'I was just thinking that! What's happening? Oh, the line's moving.' she walked a few feet foreward and leaned against the rail again. 'This is uncanny . . . Well I'm not going to dwell on it any longer. I'm going to have fun despite the crowds, and woe to those who try and stop me.'
And she did. She let Gohan drag her around the park until three o'clock, when she could no longer avoid the fact that it was time to get something to eat because she'd heard Gohan's stomach growling loudly when she was sitting next to him on a rollercoaster and everyone around them was screaming at the top of their lungs. Vegeta had elected to sit this one out since the line looked to long. She'd tried to get him on it, but he'd said he wanted to look around for an adequate food joint.
Much to the trios surprise, Vegeta had actually liked rollercoasters once he got over being strapped down before the ride actually started. He'd even relished getting drenched on the water rides because it was so hot.
"Okay Gohan, lunch time." Bulma said once they'd gotten off the coaster. "Now where's Vegeta?"
"Over there checking out that climbing contest." Gohan pointed. "I sensed his ki." "Thanks. Let's grab him and get some food. My treat okay?" she said as they made their way to Vegeta through the crowd. "But don't eat too much, or you'll puke on the next ride." 'I hope I have enough zenii for two saiyan appetites.' Bulma thought, turning slightly blue for a moment. 'I don't want to end up washing dishes or something to pay for it. I wish they had buffets here.'
"Hi Vegeta. Are you ready to find a restaurant?" Gohan asked. "That last coaster was really cool."
"Bulma, does the peron whoclimbs to the top and rings the bell get two hundred zenii as this sign seems to advertise?" Vegeta asked, ignoring Gohan.
"Umm, yeah Vegeta . . . Hey, yeah, you should do it! Maybe then we'll have enough money to pay for lunch." Bulma half joked. She rummaged around in her backpack. "Here's the 20 zenii you need to be able to try it. Good luck."
Vegeta took it, spoke to the man in charge of the contest, and was hooked up to the climbing gear.
"Yeah Vegeta!" Gohan and Bulma cheered as the saiyan easily scaled the tower, feeling for the small hand and foot holds. Soon a small cheering section had formed.
"Wow! I think he's actually gonna do it." One woman commented enthusiastically.
"Nah, look how fast he's going." her boyfriend commented, putting his arm around her shoulder a little possessively. "He'll run out of energy."
"Whatever." the woman said, eyes fixed on Vegeta. "I think you're wrong this time, honey."Bulma found herself smiling a little wistfully at the easy companionship of the bantering couple. 'I wish Vegeta and I were like that.' she was surprised to find herself thinking. 'Do I? . . . yes. I guess I do. But he never does anything but train. I had to practically blackmail him into coming here. I'm just setting myself up for a lot of heartache again. Besides, I only ditched Yamcha four days ago. Could so much have changed since then?'
"I knew he would do it easy!" Gohan exclaimed as Vegeta grabbed the zenii and let himself fall back, the climbing gear holding him a few feet above the ground, then falling slowly back to earth.
The crowd cheered as the host of the contest unbelted Vegeta. He looked a little green as he did it since he knew full well no one was supposed to actually win the 200 zenii. The manager would likely take it out of his next paycheck. 'Oh well. This guy looks tough, I'm not gonna try to take it away from him.' Instead, he shook Vegeta's hand amidst applause from the crowd.
"Great job Vegeta." Bulma said. "Now we can afford lunch."
"Yeah, nice job, Vegeta." Gohan's stomach growled loudly. He laughed.
Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Can't you keep your stomach in check?"
"Well it doesn't matter 'cause now you and I can treat Gohan to lunch. Lead the way, Vegeta." Bulma ordered, reining in the situation.
'Lunch' turned out to be an attention getting scene. First Gohan ordered and Bulma helped him carry his food to one of the tables set up under the trees. Then Vegeta ordered while Bulma made trips back and forth from the counter to the table with his food. Then Bulma ordered a burger, fries, and a Coke. The cashier and Vegeta stared at her. The chefs turned blue and fell down.
"Women." Vegeta said.
"Is . . . is that all?"
"Umm." Vegeta scrutinized the menu. "Add slices of apple pie."
"Sure sir. That'll be on the house . . . and the total comes to . . . 212 zenii."
"Half and half since I did ask Gohan to come?" Bulma asked.
"Sure." Vegeta shrugged.
Ten minutes later, Bulma watched Gohan and Vegeta eat while nibbling her fries, fascinated. She wasn't the only one. People would be walking by, happen to glance down at the two saiyans, and become rooted to the spot, fascinated. After a moment, they seemed to remember that staring was rude, so they would shake their heads as if to clear their mind, and walk on. Bulma noticed they often glanced back a couple times. 'It's not the actual eating that's so fascinating.' Bulma theorized. 'It's that they eat so fast and don't spill a crumb. They look like they're pigging out, but they have manners. Good ones . . . do they even taste the food?', she wondered.
"Mmmmmmmm. That was good." Gohan sighed, sitting back and patting his stomach. "I wonder what's for dessert . . ." he hinted.
Bulma just blinked at him and was grateful when Vegeta tossed Gohan four of the apple pies. She finished her fries while Gohan savored his pie and Vegeta tossed her one before he started on his four.
Gohan finished first. "Let's do the bumper cars next. None of us will puke on them. I can't wait to bump everyone . . . I hope I don't get stuck this time.
"Okay Gohan. Now Vegeta, you're supposed to bump people on this ride so don't get mad if someone does." Bulma warned.
Vegeta shoved the last piece of apple pie in his mouth and nodded.
Bulma smiled. "Good. 'Cause I intend to, that's for sure."
"Are you gonna finish your pie, Bulma?" Gohan asked, noticing she'd only eaten half. Bulma slid it over to him.
*********************
"So you get in one of those little cars and drive around this ring slamming into one of the other litle cars? Sounds kind kind of stupid to me."
"But it's fun Vegeta, you'll see. I can hardly wait to bump you." Bulma said as they watched the people inside the ring zooming around.
"At least the line moves fast." Vegeta commented. Once he was on the ride, Vegeta found himself enjoying life yet again. Both Bulma and Gohan promptly rammed him from behind. 'Why that little brat.' Vegeta thought as Gohan rammed him, grinning before moving on to jam another kid against the wall. 'Traffic jam.' Vegeta swerved to avoid it but was bumped into the thick of it from behind. He turned to see Bulma smirking as she raced by. He was still stuck when she drove casually by again. This time she stuck out her tongue and yelled out "Gotcha Vegeta!" Finally, he gained control of his car and zoomed out of the traffic jam in hot pursuit of Bulma. Just as he angled over to bump her, the ride ended with a jolt.
"Better luck next time." Bulma gloated. "Admit it Vegeta, I got you goooood. And it feels great!"
Vegeta couldn't help a small smile, but he turned his face away so Bulma didn't see.
"Admit it! Admit it! Hey Gohan, did you see how good I got Vegeta?" Bulma asked as they stepped out the exit.
"Yeah. But I got stuck in a jam in the end. This kid I bumped into a wall came up behind me and knocked me sideways. What a mess." he said enthusiastically. "Can we go to the hall of mirrors next? They have hoses that squirt you. It's right over there."
"Go for it, kid. But I think I'll sit this one out. The last time I went in one of those wasn't pretty. I'll be on this bench." Bulma said, sitting down.
"Okay."
Gohan ran off through the crowd, narrowly avoiding collisions with three strollers, five parents, and a trashcan. Vegeta sat down next to Bulma. Bulma found herself determined to make him talk, but not before she had a little fun first. "There's a two headed bird over there." she said, suddenly pointing past Vegeta, who was sitting to her left.
Perhaps a minute of silence passed between them.
"A real two headed bird?" Vegeta asked reluctantly.
"Ha! Gotcha! Hehehe." Bulma gloated once again.
'Darnn! I really should stop watching those nature documentaries.' Vegeta though, scowling. "Nice one." he said sarcastically.
"I know it was a little low, " Bulma admitted, "but it was all in good fun. And I was convincing, wasn't I . . . Aren't you glad you took a day off from training for this?" she asked.
Vegeta knew he was treading dangerous territory. If he said no, Bulma was likely to yell at him and cause a scene. He didn't really mind when she yelled, but he wasn't in the mood to be embarassed just now. Besides, she'd probably yell and scold all the way back and then blow up his new GT or something. And wasn't there a part of him that wanted to make her happy, keep her happy? Wasn't there? And it wasn't just because he was tuned to her emotions, emotions which flickered and changed so fast it was overwhelming. It was because making her happy made him happy. Being near her made him happy. It wasn't because she was gorgeous. It wasn't because her family was rich. In fact, it wasn't because of anything. It just was. And he sensed that she felt the same way. After all, why had she brought him here? To make him happy, to keep him from harming himself by going back to training too early.
And because she felt this way, he could simply reach out and take her, never admit that he felt this way. But in the end she wouldn't be happy and he would hate himself even more. And he knew she wanted to be wooed and won. She wanted 'romance' as these human females were so fond of calling it. And he couldn't help but give her what she wanted, wasn't that also true? After all, he'd come here. He'd been civilised the way she'd wanted him to be. He did like the rides, ha had to admit that, the speed, the small risk of danger. But he loved to hear her screaming in delight - to see her wet and dripping - to smell her smell, so sweet and light - to feel her next to him on the ride, or clinging to his arm. And he wanted, oh did he want, to taste her. To taste her lips on his. But this was hardly the place and not the time. And she was waiting for his answer, a smile on her exceptional face. It was a pretty face, but that didn't really matter. It was her face, Bulma's face.
"Yes." Vegeta answered.
Bulma's surprise soon turned into a smile. "I didn't think I'd get it out of you so easily." she admitted.
'And touch, he needed to touch her again.' As if she'd read his mind, she took his hand and gazed into his eyes, searching. 'She knows. She knows.' Vegeta thought as he held her hand and looked back at her.
"You know, I wondered if I'd get over Yamcha. I was surprised at how soon it happened. I just want you to know that." Bulma said. "And I'm not sorry I black-mailed you into coming here either."
"Maybe we could talk later then." Vegeta was surprised that his tone was almost shy. It certainly contained none of the scorn or demand his voice usually did.
"Okay." Bulma said. They sat quietly, contented until Gohan came running back. They stood, each letting go of the others hand in an unspoken agreement as Gohan oncce again avoided collisions with an unrealized grace. "Bathroom break." Bulma announced. "I'll be right back guys." she strode purposely to the women's restroom and entered.
"Vegeta?" Gohan asked. He was sopping wet from being sprayed from all angles in the hall of mirrors, but looked happy. "I noticed you were kind of green in the car," he started in a rush, "and I knew it was probably because of the music. I only brought it 'cause my dad said it would make Bulma happy so she wouldn't yell at me. And I'm happy it worked, but I saw an arcade store over there, so if you've got enough zenii left it might be a good idea to buy a video game. They're fun, but they're addictive so you can tune out the music."
Vegeta looked down at Gohan. 'I guess this kid isn't as dumb as his father after all.' "Sure kid. Let's go. Bulma won't be out of there for a good fifteen minutes anyway." he smirked.
Gohan looked relieved.
Vegeta was slowly turning green. 'It must be all this talk of love.' he thought. He'd already tried meditating, sleeping, passing out, melting the radio with his ki, talking over it (Bulma had told him to shut up), concentrating on the nature documentaries he loved, and turning it off. The last idea had been a REALLY bad idea, since Bulma had kept turning it back on and finally channeled her wrath on him. The brat, jerked from his video game oblivion, had wisely remained silent during that fiasco. So he'd sat and seethed until his anger melted into a vague nausea. It seemed the car ride had lasted forever until he was at the puking point. Suddenly, thankfully, Bulma turned off the music. Vegeta could feel his stomach settle and his normal color coming back to his face.
Bulma frowned. 'I was starting to feel a little sick for some reason. Oh well. Turning off the music helped my mind clear.' she glanced over at Vegeta and then back at Gohan who was still deep into the video gam world. 'Well we're practically here now. I just hope I don't puke on a coaster. I can just imagine how that would turn out.' A picture of Vegeta drenched in puke flashed into her mind. He did NOT look happy.
"We're here guys!" Bulma exclaimed. The forest receded and they could see a vast parking lot, beyond which rollercoasters soared through the sky.
"Wow!" Gohan said laughing in delight and sticking his head between the front seats. "Let's go on the monorail first so I can see which rides I wanna go on."
"Fine with me Gohan." Bulma said as they descended into the parking lot.
Vegeta said nothing. 'But he isn't scowling for once. That's a plus.' Bulma thought as she pulled into a space. 'It's so annoying leaving the car here. I don't know why they don't want capsules on park property. Backpacks are so last year.' she thought shouldering hers and locking up the car after they'd all gotten out.
It turned out that Vegeta's legs were cramped from sitting in the car so long, to they had to wait a couple of minutes for him to recouperate. Bulma gloated, Vegeta glared daggers, and Gohan looked politely away, towards the park. When Vegeta could walk again, they trudged to tram Stop number 3. Since the tram wasn't there yet, Bulma called a bathroom break and they missed the next two trams waiting for her.
Finally Bulma came out and the tram came. Gohan hopped in first, then Bulma, then Vegeta.
"These 'trams' as you call them are primitive." Vegeta commented to Bulma, who was surprised.
"I always thought they were quaint." she replied, and went back to oohing and aahing with Gohan.
'I always thought they were quaint.' Vegeta mimicked in his mind. 'Well I hope the whole park isn't like this.' He glanced past the trolley driver at the towering metal rides and tuned out the annoyingly cheerful sounding tram guide.
"So how's it going with Vegeta?" Gohan asked, noticing the saiyan had tuned the world out.
"Who told you to ask that?" Bulma asked, looking a little mad.
"My dad." Gohan said hurriedly.
Bulma's anger melted away. "Oh, Goku . . . well I'm not dead so I guess that's saying something. Tell him I'm fine and so is he." she jerked her head in Vegeta's direction. "Now forget about that Gohan. Let's just relax and have fun, well as much as you can relax around Vegeta."
Gohan nodded. "Right . . . Yeah, we're here."
Bulma nudged Vegeta as the tram stopped. "Get off silly." she linked her arm through his after they got off.
"What are you doing, woman?" Vegeta asked, though he didn't jerk away.
'What am I doing?' Bulma wondered to herself. "Keeping you incheck." she replied to Vegeta. "For all I know, you might slip away when I'm not looking, or are you going to see this through 'til the bitter end?"
"I'm not a quitter." Vegeta muttered, annoyed that she didn't trust him. 'I haven't really given her reason to though.' he admitted with a small pang. "What exactly are we doing here anyway?"
"We're going on them, Vegeta." Gohan said from in front of the couple, pointing. "Those monstrous steel cars that have the weak screaming humans on them." Vegeta said. It was not a question.
Bulma gave Vegeta's arm a light squeeze. "Hey, in about an hour I'll be one of those weak screaming humans, and I'll love every second of it."
Vegeta could feel Bulma getting excited, but not like he'd felt the entire time on Namek. That had been a sick excited, more adrenalin rush then anything. And then anticipation and a sick regret before he'd died at the hands of Frieza, known he would die, accepted it, no longer feeling the steel fist that had plunged over and over again into his back.
But then, then Kakarott had come and he'd blurted it all out - said things that were true he'd never even thought before, much less articulated. He'd felt true regret and loss - the animalistic slaughter of his race had been relived in his mind. 'I was just a child. I believed him. I did everything, anything he asked me to, so that he would spare my race. Everything. I've been over it enough times to be certain. I was naive. I was weak. I swore I'd never believe anyone again. But I trust her. I trust Bulma. Am I crazy?'
"Vegeta, is there something bothering you?" Bulma asked, jarring him from his memories. He'd seemed overwhelmingly sad to her for a moment. "Snap out of it. Today it's time to create new memories - happier ones." she added quietly so Gohan couldn't hear.
Vegeta was a little taken aback. It was as if she'd known exactly what he'd been thinking of, and that wasn't the first time she'd seemed to channel his thoughts, though now that he'd thought about it, it had only occured when she was angry at him. 'I dismissed it as coincidence before, but what if -'
"How many, miss? the bored teller asked.
"Two adults. One child." Bulma replied, releasing Vegeta's arm to dig around for the zenii she'd brought. She was dismayed at the vague sense of displacement she felt once she let go of Vegeta's arm as she rummaged around in her trendy backpack. 'i hate to admit it, but I actually like the guy and I'm happier or madder when I'm around him. Oh, there's the zenii.'
"That'll be 68.95 zenii . . . thank you for coming to White Water Park. Please enjoy your stay and here are your maps. Thank you and come again."
Once they were through the gates, Gohan opened his map and he and Bulma argued about what direction to go until Bulma realized she was wrong and that she was argueing with an eight year old, so she gave in and let Gohan drag her to the line for the monorail.
"This looks like it'll only be a ten minute wait." Gohan announced and pulled out his video gamd from his backpack, quickly losing hiself in it.
"So we have to stand here for ten minutes just waiting to ride that?" Vegeta asked, pointing up to the monorail car above them.
"It'll be shorter than that. The line moves quickly for this ride." Bulma said, leaning against the railing.
"I don't know if I'll ever understand you humans."
"At least we'll all have a nice tan by the time the day is through. Gohan certainly needs one." Bulma replied, glancing affectionately at him. "It's hard to believe he's only eight and he's already done so much more than the average eighty year old. He's a special kid."
Just then the couple behind them's son ran in between Vegeta and Bulma, spraying a water gun at his little sister.
"Johnny stop it! Come back here." his mother called. Johnny just laughed - until his glance happened to catch Vegeta's.
Bulma gave Vegeta a warning look, but he didn't glance at her.
"Listen to your mom, kid. You might find yourself messing with the wrong guy sometime soon."
The kid, Johnny, squirted Vegeta directly i his face with the water gun.
"Ahh. Why you little brat!" Vegeta spluttered. He grabbed the lid and lifted him up by the front of his shirt. "If I wasn't in such a good mood you'd be dead by now kid." whereupon little Johnny started wailing and his mother came and screamed that this man had assultled her son. So Vegeta, Bulma, and Gohan had to make a quick getaway and Bulma yelled at Vegeta until she lost her voice.
Not.
What really happened was the kid clammed up and was the model of perfection for two years. At which time he came out of his shock, screamed for two hours, was sedated at a hospital, and got the life sucked out of him by Cell. When he was wished back to life he couldn't remember a thing since the day before this day took place, which was bad since he had to repeat two grades. But this isn't his story and he has nothing to do with the Z fighters. Besides, we don't like him since he insulted the honor and dignity of Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyans.
"Wow, Vegeta, you didn't blow him up. " Gohan noticed, impressed.
"Or course not. He's too weak to waste my ki on."
"Sure." Bulma said, smiling and beaming at Vegeta. 'He really is changing . . . maybe.'
'She doesn't have to smile at me like I'm an old dog she's teaching new tricks.' vegeta though and frowned. 'Where'd I pick up that little phrase? It was probably too much TV. I'm letting her spoil me. I should be in my new GT working out right about now . . . Still, she seems so happy that I'm here . . . ahh, I am getting soft like Kakarott. I'm even taking his offspring to a 'park' as the earthlings call it.'
"Vegeta, you're not going to get soft if that's what you're worried about." Bulma said suddenly. "I doubt anyone will ever think of you as soft."
Vegeta glanced at Gohan. 'Still playing with the video game. You're hopeless kid.' "How'd you know what I was thinking?" he asked Bulma quietly, brows furrowed.
"What do you mean?" Bulma asked, confused. 'I've never seen him look at me this way. Something's changing . . . But what's wrong with that?'
"Something is changing." Vegeta mused to himself, but Bulma still heard and it gave her a shock.
'I was just thinking that! What's happening? Oh, the line's moving.' she walked a few feet foreward and leaned against the rail again. 'This is uncanny . . . Well I'm not going to dwell on it any longer. I'm going to have fun despite the crowds, and woe to those who try and stop me.'
And she did. She let Gohan drag her around the park until three o'clock, when she could no longer avoid the fact that it was time to get something to eat because she'd heard Gohan's stomach growling loudly when she was sitting next to him on a rollercoaster and everyone around them was screaming at the top of their lungs. Vegeta had elected to sit this one out since the line looked to long. She'd tried to get him on it, but he'd said he wanted to look around for an adequate food joint.
Much to the trios surprise, Vegeta had actually liked rollercoasters once he got over being strapped down before the ride actually started. He'd even relished getting drenched on the water rides because it was so hot.
"Okay Gohan, lunch time." Bulma said once they'd gotten off the coaster. "Now where's Vegeta?"
"Over there checking out that climbing contest." Gohan pointed. "I sensed his ki." "Thanks. Let's grab him and get some food. My treat okay?" she said as they made their way to Vegeta through the crowd. "But don't eat too much, or you'll puke on the next ride." 'I hope I have enough zenii for two saiyan appetites.' Bulma thought, turning slightly blue for a moment. 'I don't want to end up washing dishes or something to pay for it. I wish they had buffets here.'
"Hi Vegeta. Are you ready to find a restaurant?" Gohan asked. "That last coaster was really cool."
"Bulma, does the peron whoclimbs to the top and rings the bell get two hundred zenii as this sign seems to advertise?" Vegeta asked, ignoring Gohan.
"Umm, yeah Vegeta . . . Hey, yeah, you should do it! Maybe then we'll have enough money to pay for lunch." Bulma half joked. She rummaged around in her backpack. "Here's the 20 zenii you need to be able to try it. Good luck."
Vegeta took it, spoke to the man in charge of the contest, and was hooked up to the climbing gear.
"Yeah Vegeta!" Gohan and Bulma cheered as the saiyan easily scaled the tower, feeling for the small hand and foot holds. Soon a small cheering section had formed.
"Wow! I think he's actually gonna do it." One woman commented enthusiastically.
"Nah, look how fast he's going." her boyfriend commented, putting his arm around her shoulder a little possessively. "He'll run out of energy."
"Whatever." the woman said, eyes fixed on Vegeta. "I think you're wrong this time, honey."Bulma found herself smiling a little wistfully at the easy companionship of the bantering couple. 'I wish Vegeta and I were like that.' she was surprised to find herself thinking. 'Do I? . . . yes. I guess I do. But he never does anything but train. I had to practically blackmail him into coming here. I'm just setting myself up for a lot of heartache again. Besides, I only ditched Yamcha four days ago. Could so much have changed since then?'
"I knew he would do it easy!" Gohan exclaimed as Vegeta grabbed the zenii and let himself fall back, the climbing gear holding him a few feet above the ground, then falling slowly back to earth.
The crowd cheered as the host of the contest unbelted Vegeta. He looked a little green as he did it since he knew full well no one was supposed to actually win the 200 zenii. The manager would likely take it out of his next paycheck. 'Oh well. This guy looks tough, I'm not gonna try to take it away from him.' Instead, he shook Vegeta's hand amidst applause from the crowd.
"Great job Vegeta." Bulma said. "Now we can afford lunch."
"Yeah, nice job, Vegeta." Gohan's stomach growled loudly. He laughed.
Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Can't you keep your stomach in check?"
"Well it doesn't matter 'cause now you and I can treat Gohan to lunch. Lead the way, Vegeta." Bulma ordered, reining in the situation.
'Lunch' turned out to be an attention getting scene. First Gohan ordered and Bulma helped him carry his food to one of the tables set up under the trees. Then Vegeta ordered while Bulma made trips back and forth from the counter to the table with his food. Then Bulma ordered a burger, fries, and a Coke. The cashier and Vegeta stared at her. The chefs turned blue and fell down.
"Women." Vegeta said.
"Is . . . is that all?"
"Umm." Vegeta scrutinized the menu. "Add slices of apple pie."
"Sure sir. That'll be on the house . . . and the total comes to . . . 212 zenii."
"Half and half since I did ask Gohan to come?" Bulma asked.
"Sure." Vegeta shrugged.
Ten minutes later, Bulma watched Gohan and Vegeta eat while nibbling her fries, fascinated. She wasn't the only one. People would be walking by, happen to glance down at the two saiyans, and become rooted to the spot, fascinated. After a moment, they seemed to remember that staring was rude, so they would shake their heads as if to clear their mind, and walk on. Bulma noticed they often glanced back a couple times. 'It's not the actual eating that's so fascinating.' Bulma theorized. 'It's that they eat so fast and don't spill a crumb. They look like they're pigging out, but they have manners. Good ones . . . do they even taste the food?', she wondered.
"Mmmmmmmm. That was good." Gohan sighed, sitting back and patting his stomach. "I wonder what's for dessert . . ." he hinted.
Bulma just blinked at him and was grateful when Vegeta tossed Gohan four of the apple pies. She finished her fries while Gohan savored his pie and Vegeta tossed her one before he started on his four.
Gohan finished first. "Let's do the bumper cars next. None of us will puke on them. I can't wait to bump everyone . . . I hope I don't get stuck this time.
"Okay Gohan. Now Vegeta, you're supposed to bump people on this ride so don't get mad if someone does." Bulma warned.
Vegeta shoved the last piece of apple pie in his mouth and nodded.
Bulma smiled. "Good. 'Cause I intend to, that's for sure."
"Are you gonna finish your pie, Bulma?" Gohan asked, noticing she'd only eaten half. Bulma slid it over to him.
*********************
"So you get in one of those little cars and drive around this ring slamming into one of the other litle cars? Sounds kind kind of stupid to me."
"But it's fun Vegeta, you'll see. I can hardly wait to bump you." Bulma said as they watched the people inside the ring zooming around.
"At least the line moves fast." Vegeta commented. Once he was on the ride, Vegeta found himself enjoying life yet again. Both Bulma and Gohan promptly rammed him from behind. 'Why that little brat.' Vegeta thought as Gohan rammed him, grinning before moving on to jam another kid against the wall. 'Traffic jam.' Vegeta swerved to avoid it but was bumped into the thick of it from behind. He turned to see Bulma smirking as she raced by. He was still stuck when she drove casually by again. This time she stuck out her tongue and yelled out "Gotcha Vegeta!" Finally, he gained control of his car and zoomed out of the traffic jam in hot pursuit of Bulma. Just as he angled over to bump her, the ride ended with a jolt.
"Better luck next time." Bulma gloated. "Admit it Vegeta, I got you goooood. And it feels great!"
Vegeta couldn't help a small smile, but he turned his face away so Bulma didn't see.
"Admit it! Admit it! Hey Gohan, did you see how good I got Vegeta?" Bulma asked as they stepped out the exit.
"Yeah. But I got stuck in a jam in the end. This kid I bumped into a wall came up behind me and knocked me sideways. What a mess." he said enthusiastically. "Can we go to the hall of mirrors next? They have hoses that squirt you. It's right over there."
"Go for it, kid. But I think I'll sit this one out. The last time I went in one of those wasn't pretty. I'll be on this bench." Bulma said, sitting down.
"Okay."
Gohan ran off through the crowd, narrowly avoiding collisions with three strollers, five parents, and a trashcan. Vegeta sat down next to Bulma. Bulma found herself determined to make him talk, but not before she had a little fun first. "There's a two headed bird over there." she said, suddenly pointing past Vegeta, who was sitting to her left.
Perhaps a minute of silence passed between them.
"A real two headed bird?" Vegeta asked reluctantly.
"Ha! Gotcha! Hehehe." Bulma gloated once again.
'Darnn! I really should stop watching those nature documentaries.' Vegeta though, scowling. "Nice one." he said sarcastically.
"I know it was a little low, " Bulma admitted, "but it was all in good fun. And I was convincing, wasn't I . . . Aren't you glad you took a day off from training for this?" she asked.
Vegeta knew he was treading dangerous territory. If he said no, Bulma was likely to yell at him and cause a scene. He didn't really mind when she yelled, but he wasn't in the mood to be embarassed just now. Besides, she'd probably yell and scold all the way back and then blow up his new GT or something. And wasn't there a part of him that wanted to make her happy, keep her happy? Wasn't there? And it wasn't just because he was tuned to her emotions, emotions which flickered and changed so fast it was overwhelming. It was because making her happy made him happy. Being near her made him happy. It wasn't because she was gorgeous. It wasn't because her family was rich. In fact, it wasn't because of anything. It just was. And he sensed that she felt the same way. After all, why had she brought him here? To make him happy, to keep him from harming himself by going back to training too early.
And because she felt this way, he could simply reach out and take her, never admit that he felt this way. But in the end she wouldn't be happy and he would hate himself even more. And he knew she wanted to be wooed and won. She wanted 'romance' as these human females were so fond of calling it. And he couldn't help but give her what she wanted, wasn't that also true? After all, he'd come here. He'd been civilised the way she'd wanted him to be. He did like the rides, ha had to admit that, the speed, the small risk of danger. But he loved to hear her screaming in delight - to see her wet and dripping - to smell her smell, so sweet and light - to feel her next to him on the ride, or clinging to his arm. And he wanted, oh did he want, to taste her. To taste her lips on his. But this was hardly the place and not the time. And she was waiting for his answer, a smile on her exceptional face. It was a pretty face, but that didn't really matter. It was her face, Bulma's face.
"Yes." Vegeta answered.
Bulma's surprise soon turned into a smile. "I didn't think I'd get it out of you so easily." she admitted.
'And touch, he needed to touch her again.' As if she'd read his mind, she took his hand and gazed into his eyes, searching. 'She knows. She knows.' Vegeta thought as he held her hand and looked back at her.
"You know, I wondered if I'd get over Yamcha. I was surprised at how soon it happened. I just want you to know that." Bulma said. "And I'm not sorry I black-mailed you into coming here either."
"Maybe we could talk later then." Vegeta was surprised that his tone was almost shy. It certainly contained none of the scorn or demand his voice usually did.
"Okay." Bulma said. They sat quietly, contented until Gohan came running back. They stood, each letting go of the others hand in an unspoken agreement as Gohan oncce again avoided collisions with an unrealized grace. "Bathroom break." Bulma announced. "I'll be right back guys." she strode purposely to the women's restroom and entered.
"Vegeta?" Gohan asked. He was sopping wet from being sprayed from all angles in the hall of mirrors, but looked happy. "I noticed you were kind of green in the car," he started in a rush, "and I knew it was probably because of the music. I only brought it 'cause my dad said it would make Bulma happy so she wouldn't yell at me. And I'm happy it worked, but I saw an arcade store over there, so if you've got enough zenii left it might be a good idea to buy a video game. They're fun, but they're addictive so you can tune out the music."
Vegeta looked down at Gohan. 'I guess this kid isn't as dumb as his father after all.' "Sure kid. Let's go. Bulma won't be out of there for a good fifteen minutes anyway." he smirked.
Gohan looked relieved.
