Scientific Journey: Bulma's Story:

A.N: 13/12/04 I' soooooooo SO sorry that I've taken like, YEARS to update! I've had college & all sorts of shit goin on. I'm determined to finish this story though, and I'll try not to keep you all hanging anymore! Sorry!

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Chapter 12: A Life Less Ordinary

Through the vastness of space shone a metallic, small, spacecraft as it travelled to its destination. Inside the ship, sat Ajax, a deep frown on his face as he marked an 'X' on his own calendar.

"10 days before I arrive on Corsant." His frown deepened. "Correction, that's 10 agonisingly slow and boring days. I can't believe I didn't get a better spaceship! King Vegeta, you really are a bastard. How am I meant to escort the princess back to Vegetasei in this thing? It's a disgrace! But, you never were one for formalities were you?"

He shook his head and checked the computer data. Corsant was a planet located within the Andromeda galaxy, which is why it always took so long to reach it from Vegetasei. He hadn't been there in eight years, and wasn't particularly looking forward to seeing the place again. It was a trading planet ruled by one of the most corrupt Royal families in that galaxy. The Corsantians were naturally corrupt and vile unsocial people that Saiyans didn't really like to associate with. You could never trust them; they would probably betray their own family member if they had the chance too. What Ajax didn't understand, was why King Vegeta was associating with them. He'd heard rumours of Prince Vegeta and the eldest princess, but never thought they were true since they varied considerably. Some say that Vegeta was forced into an arranged bond in return for a treaty. Others say that Vegeta was actually 'fond' of the princess, but was forbidden to let that go any further. "What are you hiding Vegeta?" Ajax narrowed his eyes as he tried to work out the mysterious and secretive prince. "And what are you planning now my King?" The more he thought about it, the more his hatred grew towards the Vegetasei Royal family.

Back on Vegetasei, a certain saiyan by the name of Kakarot once again carried in his arms a certain human from Earth. It was silent between them, not that awkward, but neither of them had anything to say, and their slight disagreement earlier didn't really help with that either. It was much later now, probably around midnight, and Vegetasei always became very cold around that time. ChiChi therefore snuggled closer to Kakarot, trying to steal his warmth, not that Kakarot minded. A smile had crept onto his face as soon as he'd felt the woman in his arms snuggle closer, resting her head on his chest plate as she did so. The action itself wasn't strange, they both quietly thought to themselves that it seemed quite right infact, and that was probably the strange part in itself. Now, Kakarrot never really had believed in 'Soul mates,' but right now, he knew for sure that he'd finally found his.

Bulma stepped out of the shower towel drying her hair roughly, feeling refreshed and renewed. She'd managed to push that evenings event to the back of her mind, and walked into Vegeta's room to find it empty.

'Hmph, looks like someone's sleeping on the couch tonight, heheh.' She loved winning an argument, and the thought brought a huge grin to her face. 'That'll show him!'

The window had been left open, letting a cold icy breeze into the room. Bulma shuddered as she realised her breath could be seen, and made her way towards the window. As she did however, she caught sight of Kakarott returning, with ChiChi in his arms. Bulma frowned, feeling a twinge of jealousy as she leant out the window to get a better look, the cold air freezing her face. She watched as Kakarrot landed outside the spaceship serving as their temporary home. He set ChiChi down and as he did so, leant closer to her. Bulma had to squint, but noticed that Kakarrot had kissed ChiChi, on the cheek. She suddenly looked away, slamming the window shut and blocking out the cold breeze in the process. It wasn't fair, why did life have to be so tough for her? Then there was ChiChi, who snaps up a guy as soon as she arrives. And a nice guy at that, a 'one in a million' kind of guy. Of course, knowing ChiChi's past, Bulma secretly wished them well and hoped it all worked out. But the fact was, she would have to stay in the same house, the same area, while they were 'courting.' And it felt weird to know that for once, she was alone.

Feeling depressed, she slid out of the dressing gown and into her long black sleeveless nightgown. Not surprisingly, all the clothes Vegeta had given her were dark in colour, but most were in good taste. Her nightgown was silk, and had a delicate lace trim. Leaving her hair to dry naturally in it's wet state; she slipped under the covers of the black King size bed, trying to keep warm.

By the time Vegeta went upstairs, it was about 2am, and Bulma was fast asleep, snuggled in-between the mattress and blankets. He walked over, stripping off his training suit until he was left in his black boxer shorts. The room was pretty cold, so he literally jumped into bed, pulling the blankets over him. Now that he was closer to Bulma however, he realised that she was trembling, but she had her back to him.

'She's probably just cold,' Vegeta thought to himself, and closed his eyes. However, they suddenly shot open again as his sensitive ears picked up quiet murmuring. He turned his head to see that Bulma was still shaking, and rolled his eyes.

"Woman?"

No response, so he tried again.

"Woman, are you awake?"

Yet again no response, so he frowned, narrowing his eyes as he outstretched his arm, placing his hand lightly on her shoulder. She was freezing cold, and as soon as she felt the weight of his hand on her, she shrugged him off.

"Kame Woman! You're as cold as ice!" And he didn't just mean her temperature either. But still, his nearly extinct 'caring' and 'protective' side took over, and he shuffled closer to her, pulling her closer to him. She tried to refuse, becoming stiff and tense, but he was too strong, and as she rolled over onto her other side, Vegeta noticed the shinning sparkles running down her face in the dark.

"Dammit woman, you're always crying!"

She sobbed even more, becoming a little louder and burying her head in his warm and toned chest.

"What the hell's wrong with you?"

She merely pulled away and sat up, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand as she ran towards the bathroom. Vegeta sat up, completely confused. She'd just bitten his head off a few hours ago, and now, she was crying! 'Women,' he muttered as he got up and walked towards the bathroom door. 'The damn mystery of the universe!' He banged on the door, a noise so loud it would've woken up the neighbours, if he had them.

"BULMA! OPEN THE FUCKIN' DOOR BEFORE I BLAST IT OPEN MYSELF!"

He could hear her sobbing from the other side and rolled his eyes with frustration. He thought at least if he called her by her proper name, she'd react, but still no response.

"I'M GIVING YOU TO THE COUNT OF 10!"

Bulma sat on the side of the bath, desperately trying to control her sobs, but it was useless. She'd let everything build up inside her, and now, it was all flooding out.

"ONE!"

She quickly reached for some tissues.

"TWO!"

And tried to blot her eyelids.

"THREE!"

But it was no use.

"FOUR!"

The tears seeped through and trailed down her pale and cold cheeks.

"FIVE!!!"

The door suddenly burst open, taking it off its top hinges as it crashed into the wall and rested against it in a slumped position. Bulma lifted her head to see Vegeta in the doorway; it was like déjà vu all over again.

"Shit woman, that's another door I've had to bust down. You better have a good excuse!"

"FUCK OFF VEGETA! WHY CAN'T YOU JUST LEAVE ME ALONE? GIVE ME SOME DAMN SPACE!"

Oh no, she was not gonna use that excuse, especially since he'd been sitting in the kitchen for 2 hours or so, thinking things through. It had taken him 10minutes to even make it upstairs!

"I ALREADY GAVE YOU 2 FUCKING HOURS WOMAN!! BUT NO, YOU DECIDE TO KEEP ME AWAKE WITH YOUR CONSTANT CRYING! WHAT THE FUCK IS YOUR PROBLEM?"

His shouting made her cry even more, much to both their annoyance.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU CARE!?"

"I WOULDN'T FUCKIN ASK IF I DIDN'T!!"

She suddenly froze, staring at him dead-on. Did he just say what she thought he just did? Did he actually admit that he cared? Even if he didn't mean to admit it, she didn't care; he slipped up and confessed the truth!

"What? What is it now woman!? You're trying my patience already!!!"

"You...you said that, you...you actually..oh Kame." She looked away, her lips slightly parted while Vegeta stood there more confused than ever.

"WHAT!? WHAT DID I?-....Oh."

He finally realised why she was so shocked, and was even shocked himself, probably even more so. He hadn't meant to say it, but it just, came out. He stared back at her to see that finally she'd stopped crying, but her sadness had been replaced by a strange expression on her face. He couldn't quite tell what it represented, but he was more afraid of her thinking that he was a big softie or something. After all, he'd never told anyone that he cared about them before.

"Argh! FINE! Just stay here all night, I'M going to sleep!" He stormed back into the bedroom, but didn't get far until something grabbed onto his wrist, stopping him in his steps. As he turned around, two arms flung themselves round his neck, almost strangling him, and a pair of soft plump lips pressed themselves against his own.

Vegeta was lost for words, as his air was momentarily taken from him. It wasn't one of those passionate kisses you might see in movies where the guy and the girl are kissing for like, eternities. It was just a short and quick kiss, and just as soon Bulma had initiated it, it was over. Vegeta just stared down at her in disbelief as she kept her focus on the floorboards. First of all, neither knew what to say, and even through the darkness, Vegeta could see that Bulma's cheeks were just slightly flustered. Of course, he'd kissed her before back at the palace, totally taking her by surprise. But he never expected this little vixen to take him by surprise. Correction, maybe he hoped she would at some point, but not like that! She couldn't of picked a worse moment infact!

"I'm expecting you to explain your-"

His words were cut off however as she placed a delicate and slender finger over his strangely soft lips, and looked up into his eyes, something she barely did. The reason being, that the emotions she saw in his eyes scared her, and the deeper she searched for an answer his secrets, the deeper she became lost in their depths.

"I think we've exchanged enough words for tonight Vegeta. I just want to go to sleep without any more arguments. Ok?"

No, truthfully it wasn't okay, but maybe some things were best left unsolved, for now at least. So he climbed into bed, putting his back to her. Bulma's lips curled into a small smile, and she gingerly climbed in on the other side, wrapping the blankets round her to keep warm. As she closed her tired eyes, she heard a hoarse mutter from the other side.

"And don't think you can get away with that pathetic excuse for a 'kiss' either."

ChiChi danced around her small room, spinning and smiling as she outstretched her arms and spun on her tiptoes, nearly falling over as she became dizzy. She was on a better cloud than cloud 9 and hoped that she'd stay there forever and ever. She'd had a hopelessly sleepless night and had woken from her very short rest to witness the magnificent sight of the rising sun, a circle of blood red that rose through soft lilac and orange clouds. For once, she was actually looking forward to a new day.

Bulma however, was not. Even after a shower, she still felt pretty groggy and extremely tired. The moon last night had been nearly full, and even though Bulma had completely lost track of the days, she figured that she'd only ever seen one other full moon on Vegetasei.

"I can't believe I've been away from home for a month!" She sighed to herself as she stared at her reflection in the bathroom mirror.

"Kame! I look such a state too, figures." The fact that she'd woken up extremely late hadn't really helped, but it seemed that Vegeta had woken up at sunrise as per usual, and thankfully, he hadn't ordered her to make breakfast.

"Okay Bulma, pull yourself together girl! Must. Finish. Project." She groaned again and ran a hand through her wavy thick hair before leaving to go downstairs in her work clothes.

ChiChi was already in the kitchen and chirped a 'Good morning!' to Bulma as she entered the room with sluggish footsteps. Bulma merely muttered a reply and took a seat at the table, resting her head in her hands.

"Are you feeling alright Bulma? You don't look so good at all." ChiChi hovered over her and placed a glass of water on the table.

"I feel like shit. I don't think I can do this anymore ChiChi!"

"Oooh of course you can! If anyone can, then it's you Bulma! C'mon, don't go all negative on me now, I've been having such a wonderful morning!" Bulma had the suddenly urge to throw the water in her face, but suppressed the evil urge and instead, took a sip.

"I bet. How was your 'date?'" Bulma nearly threw up as ChiChi put a palm over her heart and sighed, closing her eyes.

"Wonderful! Oh Bulma, how do you know when you're in love?" The question simply made Bulma drop her head, hitting her forehead on the hard table. ChiChi turned to stir up the scrambled eggs she was making.

"I don't have the answers to everything ChiChi. I guess you just, know."

It was then that the frown lines appeared on Bulma's forehead as reality hit her. She didn't know the answer maybe, because she'd never experienced love. Of course, she was still quite young and had her whole life to live, but with her current emotional state, the whole revelation was actually quite upsetting. She began to count all her boyfriends, but even though she'd liked them, there had never been an element of love. Not even with Yamcha!

"Count yourself lucky ChiChi, VERY lucky. Listen, I'm gonna go start on my work, sorry, I'm not in the mood to talk right now."

The chair scrapped against the floorboards as Bulma stood up and swiftly opened the back door, closing her eyes as she welcomed the soft breeze and the sun's warm rays. Her fellow workers were just getting started, and thankfully were a constant reminder of her home, or maybe that wasn't such a good thing. Her thoughts strayed to her parents, and that wasn't always a good thing. Bulma shook the thoughts out of her head and smiled at 1 of the earthlings, who smiled back, giving her the thumbs up. She wondered what Vegeta would do with them all once they were done. What would he do with Her when she was finished?

'He'll probably sell them as slaves or sumthin, me included. I wonder which is better, life on earth under the Saiyan rule, or life here?'

"Miss Briefs! The shell is complete I think." She turned to look at the middle-aged mechanic who was wiping the dirt from his hard labour onto his overalls.

"Oh, thanks. Well, I'd really appreciate it if you gave the others a hand with the wire fittings. I've still got finishing touches to add to the gravitational device."

She wasn't sure how she'd managed to create such highly advanced things in such a poor workspace. Vegeta had brought back from the palace anything and everything she needed, even a laptop, but there was no doubt that it had still slowed the construction process down completely.

ChiChi still stood in the kitchen, trying to make enough food for everyone. It was the least she could do considering she had no idea about mechanics or science. She suddenly felt a presence in he room however, but didn't need to turn around seeing as two warm hands lightly rested on her hips sending shivers through her body from the surprise as she tensed up a little.

"You shouldn't be slaving away in here on your own ChiChi."

The sound of his calm but cheeky voice made her relax, and she leant back, letting her back mould against his muscular and chest.

"I've got nothing else to do Kakarott." He chuckled, resting his chin on her shoulder. His face was to close to her own, and his warm breath tickled her slender and smooth neck.

"You sure about that?" He purred, nuzzling his nose against her neck. ChiChi's breath caught in her throat as her eyes opened wide in pure shock. Yesterday her was all sweet and gentleman like, and now, he was all over her! She forced herself forward and laughed nervously.

"I'm sure! Really, I am. Don't you have erm, something to do? Aren't you usually training with Vegeta?" She tried to hint out subtly that she was uncomfortable with him there, but Kakarrot being Kakarrot didn't pick up the hints, that, or he simply ignored them.

"Not today. I know! Why don't I give you a hand in here."

"No! Really, I'm-"

"ChiChi, I'm helping whether you like it, or not." She couldn't protest now that he'd made up his mind, and simply gawped at him as he took out various pots and pans from the cupboards.

"Well, I didn't think Saiyans would want to cook!" He chuckled, brushing past her as he moved to the next cupboard, even though there was plenty of space.

"I love food too much. Guess I take Saiyan survival too far, we all know how to cook, we have to really."

"Well, you never fail to surprise me Kakarrot." He grinned and leant against the lower cupboard, folding his arms across his chest as he side- stared at ChiChi.

"I take it that's a good thing?" ChiChi stopped staring momentarily and blushed, timidly trying to hide her face.

"I didn't say that!"

"You didn't need to." He moved away and began to take some plates off the highest shelf. ChiChi couldn't take his constant flirting, it was so tempting to just give in to his battle and subdue, but she knew that he wouldn't let her, not so soon anyway.

"Is this some kind of Saiyan thing?" Now it was his time to stop what he was doing, and he turned to face her.

"Huh?"

"I dunno, you just seem a lot, different."

"It's a full moon tonight, I wanna take you somewhere special!" It seemed that he'd ignored her comment, but he'd half answered it without her realising.

"What's the Full Moon got to do with going somewhere special?"

"The Moon is very special to us, it's worshipped almost. Without the moon, we'd be weak, and we wouldn't be the planet purgers that we are today. It's our source of life and strength, of love and happiness."

"Well, what's that got to do with me?" She turned to notice him frown and realised that maybe she'd struck a nerve.

"Well, I THOUGHT you'd wanna celebrate it with me. Guess not." He slammed a cupboard door, making ChiChi yelp in shock.

"Kakarott, I didn't say I didn't want to go! I was just curious, that's all. I mean, you're so spur of the moment." She didn't admit it to him, but it even though it was worrying, it was also spurred an excitement.

Meanwhile, in the depths of the vast forest sat a certain lonely Saiyan Prince. He rested his chin on his palm and brought a piece of meat from his most recent kill up to his mouth, chewing it slowly. Usually, he would embrace the full moon, but this time, he was scared of what it might do to him. He didn't want to draw attention to himself in his isolated lodge, but his father would most likely expect him to be at the Palace for the celebrations. His father's words echoed in his skull, frustrating him even further.

{I expect you to be here to on the 8th moon phrase. The whole of Vegetasei will be celebrating the fact that you've finally chosen a mate!}

"Damn you father!" He slammed his fist against the soiled earth, kicking away the remaining carcass of the wild boar. He knew exactly who the King had chosen, it was all too obvious. The name slid off his tongue venomously, leaving a bitter taste behind.

"Ilandra.."