By: Kichi
DISCLAIMER: Dragonball Z belongs to Akira Toriyama. Characters are being used without permission, but don't sue me because I'm broke.
A/N: I beg pardon of anyone following this fic. I know this has taken ridiculous time getting out but I've had a mental block lately and I didn't want everything to sound the same. Gomen.
Chapter 7 - Feelings are Stupid
It was Déjà
Vu reversed. Once she had watched him heal, so he watched her now.
Why was he doing it? It was horrifying the depth which he suddenly
felt. Many unfamiliar feelings ricocheted through him, some too quick
to identify. He experienced an unfamiliar tightening in his chest
whenever he looked upon the battered female.
He was concerned about
the human girl. He was more than concerned. He had been positively
frantic after she had gone down. And the anger he'd felt… he
couldn't begin to guess the last time he'd felt that much rage.
For so long he'd felt
nothing. And he'd liked it that way. It had gotten to the point
where nothing Frieza or his lackeys said to him could bring about a reaction.
Not even anger or slight resentment. Just slight annoyance which
was easily brushed off.
Sometimes he just
ignored everyone and didn't even hear what they said, as he dwelt on other
things. But more often, he heard and he just didn't care. He
had stopped wasting his energy on underlings long before Namek. Only
two things really occupied his days. Training and destroying.
Destroying whole populations of planets large and small. Killing
on such a huge scale… It boggled the mind. Vegeta couldn't count
the planet's he'd cleared, much less the amount of creatures living on
them. The last week he'd spent on Frieza's ship had been over two years
ago, but to Vegeta it seemed like only a month or two had passed.
Kuui, of course, had stopped
him his last few moments as a member of Frieza's army. His petty
insults had gone through one ear and out the other, but when he'd realized
that Frieza had heard of the Dragon balls, he'd suddenly listened.
But that was then, and
his only chance had slipped through his fingers anyway. What had
become of Frieza and Kakarotto now? Their power levels, huge as they
were, were too far away for Vegeta to pick up. Not that he was that
skilled at sensing chi anyway.
But he was practicing
the little trick now. Sensing the female's ki was hard enough already
being so small, but now it was even more elusive. It angered him
beyond reason that she was so fragile. She needed constant protection
as she could not defend herself. Even if she could fight, her ki
was still too low to do real damage. She might have enough to fly
and throw a ki blast. But the blast would never hurt him, even if
it went off point-blank in his face. And, regrettably, there were
stronger fighters other than him. But not many. Less if Kakarotto
defeated Frieza.
He grimaced at the thought.
Kakarotto, a third-class fighter, the legendary Super Saiyan. So
what did that make him? He was supposed to be the legendary.
Not some brain-damaged, Earth-raised, soft-hearted, piece-of-shit baka!
How more fucked up could his life get? A lot more judging by the
present company he was keeping. His enemy's "oldest friend" as she
herself had put it. He grit his teeth at the thought. Why was
it that he had sat here since he had put her in the regeneration tank?
And why did it piss him off that out of all of the baka weaklings on earth,
she was the weakest he'd met so far? Obviously it meant he'd have
to watch out for her more than he had previously. But he'd never
stuck his neck out for anyone before, and he felt strange doing it.
And it felt even weirder to want to look after her.
In the back of his mind
he guessed what could be happening- this sudden concern for the weak onna's
welfare- but he refused to acknowledge it. And yet he could no longer
persist that he cared for her only as a pilot. He had to admit his
attraction to her. Strange though it was. He sensed her fear
of him. But it was harder to sense as each day passed. And
as her fear of him diminished, she grew more and more insolent and demanding.
But for some reason, he could only summon annoyance. She'd never
really made him angry. And it was strange because if anyone else had spoken
to him as she did, they would have died.
Stranger still, he didn't want her to be
afraid of him. She had to trust him on some level, she had called
him- twice now. And she'd done it unintentionally...
His frustration grew
each day. What did she matter to him? Why did he care what
she felt or thought? What did he care if she got hurt or died?
He could figure out how to fly the ship by himself. He wasn't stupid.
The ningens handwriting was unintelligible, true. It was comprised
of strange symbols that he couldn't even begin to decipher. But so
what? He was beginning to wish that he could just leave her here.
But he knew he couldn't and it was infuriating because he didn't know why.
Why did he care?
Why had his heart leapt into his throat when he'd seen her lying at the
feet of her attacker? He might have been attracted to her, but he didn't
actually like her… He began to kick rocks in his frustration as he
paced back and forth before the healing chamber. He might be able
to lie convincingly, but never to himself.
She had about ten minutes
left inside. And he had ten minutes to come to a decision as to what
to do with himself and her.
Takezo was sort of nice,
but did he want to be stuck here forever without knowing anyone?
Maybe it was the best idea. He'd been alone for so long.. But
something nagged at him, insisting that he keep going.
Reinforcements would possibly
arrive soon and he already had found their ship. They could leave
whenever…
When the onna woke up.
What would she say? Would she be angry that she'd been attacked?
They had both agreed that she'd had to get down and out of his way during
the fight earlier. Why did he care? It was her own fault she'd been
attacked.
He sighed, tugging a spiky
lock of hair. He almost rolled his eyes at his own stupidity.
It wasn't her fault. She couldn't sense ki and she was slow as hell.
He was, in fact, surprised she had survived the attack. Again he
remembered his inappropriate reaction. He had been so pissed!
Unbelievably pissed, now that he looked back on it.
The alarm sounded. He
was jolted out of his thoughts and whirled, startled. She was awake and
staring calmly at him with her strange eyes. Of all the creatures
he'd seen, he'd never seen such blue eyes. Not that blue- like the
ocean on a perfect day. He began the draining procedure, his gaze
never leaving hers. And for once he could not summon his regular
scowl or smirk. They merely locked eyes as if in a battle of wills.
She slid out of the hatch,
her clothes dripping. Their eyes were still locked and Vegeta wondered
what she could possibly be thinking.
"Thank you." She murmured
almost shyly.
"Just returning a favor."
He said almost as soft.
"How long was I in there?"
she asked, motioning towards the tank.
"Roughly 45 minutes."
She nodded and turned away to gaze across the landscape. Smoke still
billowed into the sky from fires among the wreckage of the base.
Only the healing chambers had been left intact. She could hear nothing
but the wind, the crackle of fire, and Vegeta's soft breathing mingling
with her own. She turned back to face him, strangely unfazed to see
his eyes had never left her.
"So, are you staying here?
Or are you leaving with me?" she asked, her voice still a low murmur.
"I'm not staying here.
In fact, the sooner we leave the better." Bulma stumbled forward a step
and Vegeta caught her effortlessly. Their eyes locked again.
"W-why did you help me,
Vegeta?" His head tilted as he regarded her with narrow eyes.
"Were your ears damaged?"
he grated out, sounding far more harsh than he intended. She flinched
and he unconsciously smoothed his voice and said softly. "I said
I was returning a favor."
"Oh." She said with a
small nod. Her eyes fell to her feet as they began to walk and he
couldn't help but think that she seemed disappointed.
He led her back to the
ship, but as he slowly walked she wondered why he'd helped her. She
was beginning to think there was more than his need for her as his pilot.
True, he'd said he was just "Returning a favor" which was a convenient
excuse. But she was beginning to wonder if that wasn't all it was.
An excuse.
When the thick healing fluid in the tank
had been draining she had locked eyes with the Saiyan no Ouji and she'd
felt something snap inside. Like an old tie, breaking. But
instead of feeling sorrow at a seeming loss of a bond, she felt joy.
When she looked into his eyes she saw something alien and frightening,
but intriguing and desirable all the same. For the life of her she
wasn't sure what it meant. But she felt as if all things old and
familiar had been washed away and was slowly being replaced by something
new and far from ordinary.
And she felt no fear. Far from it,
she felt powerful and invigorated. As if she was beginning a journey
which she knew must end in her victory. And nothing short of that
would suffice.
They had been careening
through space for three days and each had been nearly silent the whole
time, absorbed in their own thoughts. Bulma often had felt a pair
of smoldering black eyes on her back only to turn and see Vegeta looking
somewhere else. Each time it happened, she opened her mouth to say
something, but always snapped it shut again. She didn't know what
to say anyway, and she was afraid of Vegeta's reaction if she asked him
something as inane as: "Were you just staring at me?"
She could just imagine
Vegeta's reaction. And she almost giggled at the thought of him yelling
at her for an hour before he decided to just glare at her angrily for a
few days.
If Vegeta's mood swings
were anything, they were predictable. She was learning just
how easily and what topics set him off on the fourth day of travel when
she could bear the silence no longer.
"Vegeta." Bulma said, her
voice echoing alarmingly through the ship.
"What?" Vegeta said, about
ten times louder. They both cringed as his voice echoed harsly.
"What's up?"
"Huh?" he turned to face
her, swiveling his chair around.
"What are you doing?"
"What the hell does it
look like I'm doing onna? Have you lost your sight as well as hearing?"
Bulma smiled, which Vegeta found a little disconcerting.
"I'm just bored, and we
never talk. I know your not doing anything. What are you thinking
about?" He frowned and his gaze grew abstract as if he himself was
trying to remember what had just been going through his mind.
"Uh.. I was thinking
about how bored I am."
"Me too. So let
me ask you, what about this place we're going now?" He frowned.
"I'm hoping its still
in one piece. AND that none of Frieza's bases are there. Me
and Nappa were supposed to wipe out the inhabitants on it but then.." he
grimaced as if he'd just tasted something foul.
"What?"
"Radditz was killed on
Chikyuu and we heard the Namekian talk about the Dragon balls. So
we left and were going to go back and finish later.." he trailed off.
"Why did you kill Nappa?"
she boldly asked. She was surprised to see a shadow of sorrow flicker
across his usually stoic features.
"I don't know why anymore."
He said with a sigh. He glanced out the view portal and watched stars fly
past. "At the time I was angry. I was pissed because he lost
to Kakarotto. If I would have known how he was able to increase his
power three-fold for a short time, perhaps I wouldn't have been so quick
to blow his ass up." Bulma blinked, sensing that she had just received
a grave confession. "I shouldn't have done it. I've never really
regretted anything I've done. Even when I purged planets for Frieza
that I had never been to and had no reason to destroy. I never felt
bad for that unless I liked the planet itself.
"But.." he trailed off
with a sigh. Bulma said nothing. It had obviously been weighing
on his mind and she didn't want to say anything that would anger him and
shut him up like an oyster. He tugged a thick, black lock of hair.
She had noticed him doing it often when annoyed or perplexed.
"I don't know. It was a shitty way to repay him for practically raising
me."
"Nappa raised you?" Bulma
said, softly, considering the idea. The Nappa she'd seen on TV had
seemed like a psycho on PCP. The thought had never crossed her mind
that he'd actually cared for someone younger than himself. "For how
long?"
"From the time I was about
three or four. That was when I started training. He used to
always laugh at me because he said when I first met him I was scared of
him and ran away." He chuckled lightly and a ghost of a smile crept across
his features. Bulma grinned at the thought. She could well
imagine it.
But his smile faded shortly. "That
didn't last for very long. I was the strongest Saiyan on Vejiitasei
by the time I was seven." Bulma blinked in surprise. She didn't
miss the emphasis placed on 'was'. But the thought that he was the
strongest on his planet when he was still a young boy was amazing.
"I can't imagine what
that would be like." Bulma marveled. "To be stronger than anyone,
and so young too!" She noticed the odd look that Vegeta shot her and her
awe turned quickly to unease when she saw fury alight in his eyes.
"Yeah, look what it got
me!" he snapped bitterly. He turned back to the window and said nothing
more. Bulma bit her lip, knowing that it would be in her best interest
to keep quiet. If it had been anyone else, she would have badgered
them until they spit out the rest. But it was obvious Vegeta didn't
want to talk anymore and bothering him further was just asking for trouble.
She sighed and leaned
back in the rather large swivel chair. Damn it. She was still
bored! She cursed for not thinking to put a TV/VCR into the design
of the ship. She could at least watch a movie.
She went downstairs and rifled around under
the bed until she found her capsule case. Inside were tons of books
and magazines, but she'd read them all. She drummed her fingers in
frustration. She popped the next capsule and found a small CD player
and a few CD's she had presumed stolen, lost, or "borrowed" by Yamcha.
Yamcha… she sighed.
How long had it been since she'd seen him? How long since they'd
shared a simple date or kiss? It seemed like eons. And now
look at her. Stuck in space, her only company an angry and annoyingly
quiet Saiyan no Ouji. No matter what she did to initiate a conversation
it always seemed to end with Vegeta yelling at her and lapsing into bitter
silence. Just like he had not five minutes ago.
She suddenly realized that she'd yet to shower
after coming out of the regeneration tank. She smelled like she'd
spent the day in the pool. She decided that worrying wasn't going
to help her but she could occupy a few minutes in the shower.
She ran down the stairs
and into the bathroom. She quickly disrobed, impatiently dropping
her clothes on the floor. She pulled the frosted glass shower door
open and was greeted by what looked like a ten pound spider sitting in
the bath tub.
A hysterical shriek burst
from her lips and she threw herself at the door. She fumbled with
the door knob and pounded and kicked when it wouldn't open fast enough.
"VEGETA!!!" she screamed.
TBC..
I HATE SPIDERS!!!!!!! The next chapter is gonna be great! I hope! I hope I'll be done with it sooner than this chapter….
Chapter 8
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