Lumpah dee doo…
~
Waking in a cold sweat, Vegeta stared forlornly at the ceiling, waiting for his breath to slow to a normal pace. His mind whirled with disembodied thoughts of Amai, Bulma, and whether either had been real. Shared dreams were supposedly a part of being mated…he hoped that that hadn't really been Bulma…if so; he had been shamed once again in front of her. No self-respecting man could have a relationship with a woman that had seen him humiliated time and again. He had long since lost track of how many times this planet and its people had cut him down.
A bitter smile lit his features; how long had it been since he'd respected himself? He had failed at everything…at life in general. How he could be one of the most powerful beings in the universe and still screw up his life at every turn was beyond him. Hell, he had even screwed up millions of other lives, including that of the woman who had been kind to him in spite of everything, had brought him into her home, fed him, built things to help him become stronger…all for what? So he could help defeat the androids? In all the years their beloved Kakkarott had been around the other 'fighters' had all proved useless. In the end it was always the same man who won the day.
In short, he found it hard to believe that was why she allowed him to stay. Surely she believed her dear friend would prevail yet again. So why? She baffled him. At every turn she showed extreme dislike towards him, and yet he stayed…she continued to feed and clothe him, support him in many ways… He had never felt so truly confused.
Closing his eyes, he could sense her own confusion as she attempted to sort things out. Echoes of her thoughts flitted through his mind, most of which he disregarded as gibberish. A part of her was panicking, watching her dreams become crushed by their 'attachment'…her dreams of a family, children, a man that would love her, be with her always. A pang of guilt swept through him, one that he quickly quieted; none of this was his fault.
A sharp growl seemed to echo in the quiet room, emanating out from his empty stomach, and he slowly stood, ignoring the pain that flashed through his head. Bulma had been asleep for an hour now, but it was restless, and she was waking again, despite whatever medication he knew she must have taken.
He kept one hand on the wall to keep steady, denying how watery his muscles felt as he slowly made his way to the kitchen. Arriving in the desired room, he switched on the small light over the stove, and turned to dig through the refrigerator. Pulling out a sizeable portion of leftover fried chicken and pouring himself a glass of milk, Vegeta seated himself at the table. Able to both sense and hear Bulma approaching, he rose and filled the teakettle with water and put it on the stove, switching on the proper burner. The last thing he wanted was a very tired human clanging around and generally increasing his headache.
Stumbling into the kitchen, Bulma stared for a moment at Vegeta, contemplating his presence before making her way over to the stove. She found the kettle full and well on it's way to boiling, and, surprisingly, failed to react. Retrieving a packet of hot chocolate from the cupboard, she poured it into an empty mug, following it with the hot water. Once finished, she seated herself at the table, curiously next to Vegeta. He shifted sideways slightly, away from her. She yawned hugely, raising the steaming mug to her lips to take a tiny sip. She seemed to be somewhat invigorated from the drink, though to Vegeta she still appeared half-dead.
"Remind me never to take a sleeping pill when I'm stressed out." She mumbled, still not looking at the man beside her.
"Never take a sleeping pill when you're stressed out," he repeated. Her head turned to stare at him blandly.
"Bastard." He let the comment lie, instead downing another cold chicken breast. "Ugh, my head hurts…" She leaned her face into her hands.
"No, my head hurts. You just feel the echo of it."
"Do I?"
"Yes."
"Oh." She laid her head on her crossed arms, leaning on the table. She yawned, eyes drifting shut. Slumber claimed her almost immediately, and she slumped sideways into Vegeta as her muscles went slack. He grimaced, frowning down at her but not moving. He finished the last piece of chicken and drank the remainder of the milk, still scowling in her direction. Leaving the dishes where they lay, he turned and gently pulled her into his arms, standing slowly and exiting upstairs. She murmured softly, turning her head towards his broad chest.
"Stupid human," he mumbled, feeling remarkably comfortable, however much he disliked the thought of feeling comfortable with her in his arms. He deposited her still form on her bed, pulling the comforter from where it was tucked into the end of the bed and piling it haphazardly on top of her. She stirred, and shivered once, and fell back into deeper sleep.
Angry at how weak he felt after such a short trip with a light burden, he retired to his own room, crawling under the covers. Sleep didn't come quickly, but when it came, it was deep, and dreamless.
~
Bulma sighed, banging her head on her desk in frustration. She couldn't concentrate for her life…she wished there was someone she could go to, who could give her advice. She had tried for hours to ignore the small ball of consciousness that now resided in her head. He was always foremost on her thoughts, and she hated it. Surely the Saiyajin race had never had difficulties with infidelity; one couldn't get one's mind off their partner.
She was still a bit puzzled over the night's events…she had vague memories of seeing Vegeta in the kitchen…but that was preposterous, she had awoken in her own bed…but not under the covers. She knew she'd fallen asleep under the covers the first time, but in the morning she was positioned atop her sheets, with only the comforter over her. Perhaps she had walked back to her room and been too sleepy to think of getting under all the covers…Yes, that must be it, she decided.
Snarling in anger, she realized she had again strayed to the subject of Vegeta. She would go talk to Goku after work…she could always talk to him about anything.
Focusing her eyes on the screen before her, she returned to work, determined to get something done before the end of the day.
~
Bulma flew out to Mount Paozu (does anyone know how to spell that damn word? I could read it if I had my manga with me…Damn I love being able to read Japanese…), following the three figures darting about in the air to the east of the house. She wanted to avoid a confrontation with Chi-Chi as much as she wanted to speak with Son alone, so she continued straight towards what she assumed to be their training grounds. Ladning just outside the circle of danger-the ground had been completely incinerated in the area they were in-she got out of the helojet, calling loudly for Goku.
The three stopped abruptly, peering down at her as one. She shifted uncomfortably; she had forgotten that she would be interrupting their training…Goku flew down, landing before her on silent feet.
"Hey Bulma, what's up?" He asked cheerily, and Bulma felt a smile tugging at her lips; his cheerfulness had always been infectious.
"Nothing too big, I was just coming to talk to you…if you're busy I'll come back later, tomorrow or something…"
"No, you're fine," he turned to his sparring partners, the much larger of the two was decidedly impatient judging by the tapping of his foot in the air. "You guys go ahead, I'll be back in a little while!" He called up to them, and with a shrug, the two continued their sparring match one man short.
"You okay Bulma? You seem troubled," he asked gently, and she felt her shoulders slump. For a man that could be so utterly thick-headed, naïve, and generally inattentive, he could be quite insightful at times. Always when she wanted nothing more than for everyone to think she was fine. But then, she had come to discuss things with him, right?
"No, I'm not okay, and it has alot to do with your telling me I'm pregnant, which Vegeta has since verified for me. Goku, Vegeta and I are…we're…" He put a soft hand on her shoulder, smiling lightly.
"I know. Congratulations!" She looked at him in horror.
"How do you know? And what do you mean congatulations? It's killing me being attached to this guy!"
"I just put two and two together…" he lied. "It's killing you? Didn't you guys want to be together?"
"NO! Hell no! We were drunk Goku, and we, we, well you know!"
"Ohhhh, you guys bonded."
"Am I the only one that didn't know about this thing?"
"No. Chi-Chi and I thought it was some side-effect of, you know. Until Vegeta told me it was a Saiyajin thing…to this day Chi-Chi still doesn't know. I'm scared of telling her I discussed that with someone, especially Vegeta. We had never talked aobut it with anyone else because we figured if no one had told us about it, it must be some taboo subject… Silly us, huh?"
"But you guys wanted to be together…" Bulma grumbled. He squeezed her shoulder once comfortingly.
"Give it time Bulma. Time can change everything…"
"The only way I want this to change is for this damned bond to go away so I can be with a man I choose." He smirked at her knowingly.
"Thanks Son, I knew I could talk to you about this." She hugged him briefly, and wondered at the fact that neither was effected by the contact with one of the opposite sex. Assuming that it was because they held only friendly feelings for one another, she released the large man, smiling once again.
"I'm always here if you need to talk." He responded warmly, closing the door for her once she was seated inside.
She took off towards home, feeling incredibly light and much better about her current situation.
~
There you are. Don't worry, be happy. Next chapter is all done…the next one after that very close to finished. Enjoy, review!!
