Last time:

"Hello?" came a groggy voice at the other end.

"Rikyu," she sighed, slumping down on the closed toilet seat. "We need to talk…."

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Bulma heard Rikyu straighten up on the other end of the line, taking a deep breath before he said, "Talk? What about?" She was about to answer when- "Listen, I'm really sorry about the other day, I was a complete jackass, and I-"

"I kissed Vegeta." She said it so quickly she wasn't sure the words passed her lips at all, but judging by his silence, they had.

"You-You what? When?" He didn't sound angry, so much as shocked out of sleep; his eyes must have been wide.

"Last night, during the play."

"Oh Bulma, that's just acting." He tried to make himself sound reassuring, but his composure was leaving him, he knew that's not what she meant.

"No, it wasn't. It was the bedroom scene, and we were behind the curtain, and I kissed him." She glanced down at her hands. They were trembling. Had she ever been this scared before?

"Bulma," he sighed, no anger in his voice what so ever; she almost thought she heard relief. "Bulma, listen. You were caught up in your acting, I understand. I'm not mad at you."

"Y-Y-You're not? B-But-"

"No, I'm not. Acting can carrying you away, I know that, my mom used to act 'til my dad died."

"I-I-I-Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure. Now, are you going to come over or am I going to have to drag you here?" he laughed playfully, reassuring her that everything was in fact fine; but why? Why had he taken it so easily? Why wasn't he angry with her? She sure as hell would have been angry if he'd done something like that. And why wasn't she ecstatic about the news? It was almost bad news that he wasn't mad.

"I'll be over as soon as I can." She tried to sound confident, like she wasn't questioning his motives. "Just need a shower and to drive Chi home. I'll see you in a few."

"Ok….I love you."

Bulma's breath seemed to catch in her throat, her voice completely gone. Had he just said what she thought he had?

"E-Excuse me?" was all she could manage to muster.

"I said, 'See you.'"

"Umm, yeah. Bye then."

"Bye."

She hung up the phone so quickly she thought it might fall to the floor in her haste. Why had it made her so scared when he'd said that? Surely she'd known by the way he always looked at her that he did love her. Surely this wasn't something knew. So why did it feel like it was hitting her like a ton of bricks?

She sighed deeply, deciding to not dwell on it at the moment; she had more important things to do.

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"She didn't!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, slapping Vegeta on his muscularly toned chest. He winced, not from the pain, but from her high-pitched voice; he hated when she did that. The others in the room starred at him in disbelief; he ignored them though, continuing to feed Trunks his juice.

"She did," Vegeta said calmly, not wanting to startle his son.

"What do you think's going to happen?" 18 asked, tilted her head to the side, trying to decide whether it was a penguin or a panda on Trunks' bottle; the conversation really didn't interest her, she was positive that Bulma and Vegeta would get back together eventually.

"Bulma won't leave Rikyu," Goku offered sadly as he brushed Gohan's unruly hair out of his eyes for the tenth time.

"You don't think she'll tell Rikyu what happened? I mean, you know Bulma, she's not one to keep something like that secret, it'd kill her," it was Krillin who gave his opinion this time.

"Of course she'll tell him. But do you think, he'll leave her? He's really attached and-"

"He won't leave her out of spite. He knows she'll come back to me if he does and that's the last thing he wants," Vegeta growled, cutting Goku off. "Kami forbid she does what she wants."

"Vegeta, I hardly see any reason for your bitterness." 17 had just entered the room, rubbing his eyes after having just been woken up, hearing the entire conversation through his wall.

"And why's that?" It was so hard for him to keep his voice low and calm.

"Because, you're lucky she's even talking to you, much less being friendly about it. I'd be happy with what I could get if I were you."

"You're contented to watch Bulma screw her life up with that moron!" Almost immediately Trunks and Gohan erupted in a fit of crying; Chi-Chi glared at him.

"Take it outside if you're going to yell," she snapped, grabbing Trunks from Vegeta. 17 looked confused for a moment, then walked out into the hall, Vegeta following.

"I never said I liked what was going on," 17 sighed, grabbing the orange juice carton and plopping down in the nearest kitchen chair; Vegeta chose to stay standing. "But you have to remember that she's stuck in a hard spot. She loves you but you betrayed her, and Rikyu loves her and didn't betray her and he excepted her after she kissed you, supposedly." Vegeta was almost too surprised at 17's words to answer; he hadn't even flinched when he said she loved him.

"Why does she put herself through all that shit though?" he grunted, falling back into the wall only inches behind him. "She could easily be single and not have him running around to make sure she's not cheating on him. And for Kami's sake, how can she stand such jealousy!? H-"

"Vegeta," came a familiar voice from behind him, just outside the kitchen doorway in the hall. He turned around slowly, coming face to face with the woman they'd been speaking of. "Can we talk for a minute?"

"Hey B." 17 smiled sweetly at her, though her return smile was weak and faltering.

"Hey," she whispered hoarsely, looking back to Vegeta, who hadn't seemed more confused in his life. "I-er-how's the porch? I just-"

"Ok, come on woman," he sighed, trying to appear as if her presence didn't effect him, when really he wished for nothing more than to grab her up into his arms and smell her lavender shampoo. "What's this about?" he asked once they were outside and the door was shut.

"Stop with the act, ok? It's as annoying as jealousy," she spat, her brow narrowing; this were clearly not going the way she'd intended them to. "I told Rikyu-"

"-and he still wants to be with you."

"H-How did you know that?" She was taken aback, looking utterly shocked; she hadn't talked to anyone since her conversation with Rikyu.

"Because, I know how guys like him work. He's mad, oh believe me, he's furious with you, but he's not going to show it so he looks like the better guy. And he knows you won't question him, though you'll question it yourself, because it's too weird for you, nothing like this has ever happened before." He took a deep breath, sighing, almost painfully. "He knows your guilt would cause you to come back to me if he dumped you."

"My guilt? How would that cause me to come back to you? You're making no sense, Vegeta."

"You feel guilty about kissing me, correct?" She nodded. "And you think you don't deserve Rikyu now for doing such a thing, correct?" Again she nodded, though more slowly; it was like he was reading her mind. "So because he did to him what I did to you, you'll come back to me because you'll figure it's what you deserve after having done what you did to someone else. You'll feel that you should be in a relationship with a cheater when you're now one yourself." She could barely keep her mouth closed. "But, unfortunately, the bastard is too smart for that, and is going to keep you with him for as long as he can."

"You're insane," she finally said, very much angry. "You're just jealous." But she knew that wasn't true. "I can't believe you would say such a thing to try and get me back. You're pathetic, you know that? And here I was thinking I could confide in you." She turned quickly on her heel. "I guess I was wrong."

"What happened?" 17 asked, running to catch up with Vegeta, who was heading back upstairs in a haste.

"That woman is the most impossible person I have ever met!" he yelled, stomping up the stairs, leaving 17 in a daze. What the hell was going on?

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Bulma grinned wider than she thought possible as she overlooked her reflection for the hundredth time in the vanity mirror; she looked magnificent, and no one could say otherwise and be telling the truth. She didn't need a lot of make-up, for her skin was nearly flawless, only a light powder covered her face, deep black to line her eyes, and a beautiful sky blue on her lids. Her hair, which she loved second best to her outfit, was done up in lovely sweeps and curls, held together with bobby pins and strings of shining pearls and pieces of ribbon that matched her eyes. The pearls were her mother's, given to her that morning with tears in her eyes.

She took a deep breath, stood from the vanity, and made for the door.

"Bulma," came a quiet voice, followed by a soft knock.

"Yeah Chi?"

"Can I come in?"

"Of course you can," she laughed, glancing back at herself in the mirror to make sure she still looked as great as a few moments before; she did.

"Oh Bulma," Chi-Chi gasped as she entered the room. "You look amazing. Wait 'til everyone sees you." She looked her up and down with wide, jealous eyes; she didn't remember appearing that radiant.

"Yes, well, not as good as you did. Your hair is better, mine just looks weird," she sighed. "Imagine the pictures."

"Oh come on. You look great and you know it. Now, before I forget, I came in here for a reason."

"Yes?"

"He's here."

"Please tell me you're joking." She groaned loudly, leaning back on her vanity, her perfect posture dropping; what did he think he was doing?

"Afraid not. I just saw him come in, sat in the back, didn't say a word to anyone."

"Well I should hope not. He has some nerve trying to ruin my day."

"Well I suggest you ignore him. I don't think he wasn't to cause a fuss. This has to be really hard for him."

"Hard for him!?" Bulma roared. "He has no idea how hard I could make his life. He's just begun to see how miserable I can make him."

"Bulma," Chi-Chi said in her reasoning voice, "try and see how it is from his point of view. After today he'll never have another shot with you."

Bulma's face contorted into have horror, have anger, causing a start in her friend. "Another shot at me!? When did he EVER have one before!?"

"Hello!" it was 18's loud voice that drifted into the room, just seconds before she walked through the open doorway, then shut the door. "What the hell is going on in here?"

"Nothing," Bulma said shortly, turning to make sure her fight with Chi-Chi hadn't changed her appearance. "How do I look?" She tried to form a happy smile, though could only manage a meek curl of one corner of her mouth.

"Great, of course." 18 smiled warmly at her. "I have something for you."

"Hmm?" Bulma hadn't been listening at that moment, for the reflection on a far wall mirror caught her eye and she thought she saw a flaw in her make-up, but it was only the light.

"I have something. Here." She handed her a small black velvet box with a swirling silver design on it. "Go no, open it. You don't have all day," she laughed, nudging her with her elbow. "You said you didn't have something borrowed."

"Oh 18, it's beautiful," Bulma sighed happily as she held up the shimmering necklace for Chi-Chi to see. It was a delicate silver choker with small twinkling sapphires set in it; it dipped down to just about her collarbone when she put it on. "I love it."

"I need it back though," she said playfully. "It was my grandmother's."

"Oh, of course. I wouldn't take something this valuable from you."

"Ok, well, we better be going," Chi-Chi said, pulling 18 along with her. "See you in a few B!"

"Break a leg!"

When they were gone Bulma sat back in her vanity chair, looking sadly at her reflection; of course she looked beautiful, she couldn't deny that; but was she doing the right thing? Would she really be happy when all was said and done?

Sighing deeply, she picked herself up, straightened out her pure white dress, and headed for her future.

"Ready darling?" her father asked, hooking his arms in hers.

"As ready as I'll ever be," she sighed, putting on a smile.

"Have everything?"

"Old-" She pointed to her pearls. "-New-" She pointed to her dress. "-Borrowed-" She pointed to her necklace. "-And blue-" She pointed to her ribbons. "All set."

"Lovely."

The music began before Bulma knew what to think, and before she knew it she was walking down the aisle, her long white designer dress flowing beautifully behind her, as she made her way to the alter. Her father, tears in his eyes, walked beside her, never having looked so proud, while her mother cried loudly, but happily, in the front pew. All her friends and family were there, all smiling at her as she slowly passed them; this was her day, she would finally have everything she'd always wanted.

Rikyu stood before her, smiling broadly, as she carefully made her way up the steps. She couldn't believe it, she was going to solidify her relationship with Rikyu, they would be married, and live happily ever after un—But suddenly, in the blink of an eye, Rikyu's grinning face turned in Vegeta, whose sad scowl alarmed her so much she nearly tumbled backwards.

"What about me and Trunks?" he whimpered, tears streaming down his face as he held out their son, who was crying softly as well.

"I-I-What's going on!?" she screamed, looking around in all directions, but only finding her once happy guests all starring accusingly at her.

"How could you leave us for him?" Vegeta pointed a rigid finger at Rikyu, who was standing to his right, still beaming with joy, totally oblivious to what was going on around him. "Can he really give you what you need?"

"Vegeta, I-"

"No, don't even try to explain. You're pathetic." His face faded as quickly as it came, the church morphing back into its happy state, Rikyu again standing before her, his smile unchanged.

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Bulma shot up in bed, her alarm ringing in the background. She shut it off with a loud thud and leaned against her headboard, her forehead glimmering with a sheen of sweat.

What in Kami's name had just happened?

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---Chapter 15!! What do you think just happened, Bulma? Sheesh, she can be really thick sometimes. I wonder if that's because I write her that way :P Anyways, how was it? You like? Don't like? Tell me!!

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Note: Sorry it took me so long to update, but I just started school so now my updates will be further apart. But don't fret, they'll come :D