Disclaimer: Don't own DBZ and never will :(

***

 Chapter 3

That night, Bulma found it uneasy to sleep. What Trunks said that afternoon remained so vividly in her mind. She kept thinking about what went wrong; maybe it was something she did or said. If only she could do it all over again.

The city was in peaceful slumber, singing a silent lullaby. Surrounded by this serenity, Bulma fell asleep eventually. Bulma could really use some good sleep; she was so tired, more mentally than physically.

But unfortunately for her, that night wasn't the night for her to rest.  

It was about 5 am in the morning when she woke up. It was unusual for Bulma who is a deep sleeper. She found it hard to wake up at 7am even with an alarm clock! Bulma slowly opened her heavy eyelids and looked out her window. Outside was still dark and sound asleep. 

Bulma buried her head in the pillow and closed her eyes. Then she felt a tremble underneath her pillow disrupting her rest. She placed her hand underneath her pillow to examine but only to feel the bed shaking as well. Still lying on her bed, Bulma could now feel the vibration shaking her entire room like a light earthquake. 

But Bulma didn't panic. She assumed it was just her unstable mind playing a cruel joke on her. She believed it was just a bad nightmare tugging onto her half-asleep brain.

She brushed her sleepy eyes and ran her hand through her hair. She tried to shrug off the rattle by lightly shaking her head. She wanted to come back to reality; but she couldn't.

Instead, the tremble was becoming more and more realistic for her liking. She could hear a roar of engine getting closer and closer to her. Then Bulma thought of a perfect conclusion: 'Is he back?' she asked to herself.

Her eyes grew wide at her own thought. She stayed in her bed in disbelief, tugging onto her bed sheet. She just silently listened to the noises surrounding her house. Then she was snapped by the sudden disappearance of the tremble and the noise.

'I can't let him get away,' she thought as she sharply sat up. She couldn't let him leave her and Trunks again. At least not before he explain to her why he left them and why he's here now.

She ran out of her room. She quickly glanced at Trunks' bedroom to make sure he's asleep. She then carried on running down the stairs as fast as she could. She felt her emotions running with the drumming beating of her heart. Her eyes started to soften. But she dried her tears clumsily with her hand. She did not want to give in so easily.

~~~

Bulma was now walking out in the garden where a familiar ship stood; a ship that she built 6 years ago. Except this one was worn out and rusty. The paint had been peeled off in various spots, revealing the metallic colour of ship's inner layer. Also her company logo on the side of the rounded ship has faded, making it unrecognisable.

She was only a couple of metres away from the ship. She looked at the ship door and waited for it to open. She didn't have to wait very long; the ship's rectangular door slid open immediately after her arrival, as though it was waiting for her.

And as she expected, a figure with a flaming hair stood with his right-hand on his hip. Although it was just a shadow from her view, she immediately recognise the figure. How could she not?

The shadow started to move towards her way. As he came closer, the silhouette became more and more clear to her eyes. And before she could get her mind ready, she was face-to-face with her husband. 

The light from her space ship shone to reveal their faces to each other. Bulma examined her husband. As she expected, nothing had changed about him. His frame was still firm and muscular. His hair was black as always, standing tall against his widow's peak.

"Hello, Vegeta. Long time no see," Bulma greeted in a bitter, shaky voice. Vegeta just smirked, just like the last time she saw him.

'So after all these years, he just smirks at me? Bastard!' Bulma thought as she narrowed her eyes in bitterness.

"Don't look so bitter, woman," he said, as he stepped closer to her.

"Don't call me 'woman'. I have a name, you know. Although I won't be surprised if you've forgotten after all those years."

"Oh I haven't forgotten. If I'd forgotten, I wouldn't be here right now," he said with a grin.

Bulma could feel his body heat melting into hers. His arms slowly made their way around her. She let his fingertips touch her waist, before she realised what they were doing and turned them away.

"So what brings you here?" She asked coldly as she took a little step away from Vegeta.

"Still feisty. You haven't changed a bit. Except that you look a little older."

She knew he was just trying to make her angry; He enjoyed making her angry. She knew he was inviting her to play their old mind game – the game that brought Trunks into the world. She was tempted to participate, but she bit her lips to resist. She didn't want give him what he wanted until she got what she wanted - explanation.

So she tried to stay unstirred by his comment. She just stared coldly at him with her lips shut tight. Her face was expressionless. She crossed her arms and stayed like a stone.

However, clearly amused by this, Vegeta kept his trade-mark smirk. It was like he wanted to annoy her so she'd snap; and that's what he got.

"WHAT ARE YOU SMIRKING ABOUT?!" yelled Bulma, losing her cool. Then she realised she fell to his trap again. But that realisation came to late, and by that time she found herself in his arms, tasting his lips.

It had been so long since, but she could remember every single detail; and she realised nothing had changed since the last time. She felt her heart pounding while their lips were locked, like a schoolgirl tasting her first kiss. Without her mind knowing, her crossed-arms were opened up to wrap around his neck. She still felt the passion and excitement that brought them together nearly 10 years ago; and realised how much she missed them.

'What are you doing? You can't surrender to this man!!' her head told her firmly.

So against all her temptation, she pulled away. She backed away from him. She lowered her head. Then she took a deep breath and looked at him again. She gaped at his dark, gloomy eyes.

"You can't just leave without saying anything and come back 6 years after, expecting me to let you have it your way. You don't know how much things changed around here."

After hearing her, his face changed into more serious one. The smirk was now gone and was replaced with tighter lips.

He asked, "So tell me. What has changed, then?" He stood there with his arms crossed, glaring at her for an explanation.

'Did he think that I was suggesting I have someone else now?' she thought, a little scared of his sudden mood change. But she did not back away.

At that moment, in the back of her mind, she almost felt annoyed that she wasn't seeing anyone else. She could have moved on, and showed this bastard that she doesn't need him to satisfy her; that any other man would consider themselves lucky to have her. But unfortunately, this was another confirmation that he was the one she needed.

"Well… for starters… your son is 8 year-old now. I hope you haven't forgotten that you have a son," she reminded him in a snappy tone.

"Yes, I know I have a son called Trunks. Unfortunately for him, he has a terrible name, thanks to his mother."

"He happens to like his name. And fortunately for him, he's got his mother's good looks, not his father's scary face. And not to mention much better personality than his father," Bulma said as she stood cockishly, mirroring Vegeta's arms-crossed gesture.

Then she added, "Oh yeah, and also, he didn't need his father to train him. He can turn Super Saiya-jin!" After she finished, she started to regret her words immediately when she saw Vegeta's face.

Vegeta's eyes widened and his lips parted in astonishment. Bulma could tell he was sorry that he missed it, because he started looking downwards. She knew how much he would have loved to train Trunks. Bulma, feeling a bit sorry that she brought it up, stayed silent. She eagerly anticipated what he was going to say, hoping for something out of his character.

'Maybe he will finally admit his wrongdoings and admit his undying love…'

But she immediately realised that was never going to happen. And Vegeta proved it.

"Hmm, of course! He is my son!" he said as he lifted his head, plastered with an egoistical smirk.  

'I should have guessed,' Bulma thought as she rolled her eyes. Of course he wasn't going to admit his undying love for her and Trunks! He was just going to feel even better about himself! She started feel a little annoyed at herself for boosting his ego even more.

"Well, then I can't waste any more time with you, woman. I have to train my son."

He started to walk off towards the house, before Bulma stood in his way.

"He is my son too and it's five o' clock in the morning! I won't let you wake him up and train him," Bulma demanded. She had her hands on her hips and glared at the Saiya-jin. Vegeta knew better than to argue.

"In that case, I demand you cook me some food. It tastes shit but I'm too hungry to care."

"My cooking's not shit! If you don't like my cooking, you can wait for three more hours, because that's when my cook starts working!" She yelled at his arrogant comment and started to walk towards the house.

She went inside and went straight towards her room. Then she realised he was following her. Still refusing to surrender, she turned sharply, hoping to catch him off guard. But who was she kidding? He's a Saiya-jin! She can't catch him off-guard! He's always on guard. He grinned mockingly at her, as though he was waiting for it to happen.

"Why are you following me?" Bulma asked angrily.

"I'm going to my room."

"Well, this is my room so go and find a guest room or something!" she told him in an irritated voice. But it only seemed to encourage him.   

"My stuff is still in there… isn't that right?" he said confidently, suggesting that he could see right through her.

So he knew all along. He knew that Bulma would never move on from him.

That was it. Bulma could not hold back anymore. She tried to be strong. She tried to show him that she was not to be messed around with. She wanted him to see that she was okay without him. She was going to make Vegeta actually make an effort to make up for the lost times. And maybe even bring him out from his cold covers and make him more of a human. But she couldn't do it anymore. No matter how hard she tried, she could not hold back the tears now.

She felt her eyes heating up fast. Everything started to become a blur. Bulma blinked to escape her blurry vision and let loose of the tears her eyes had been holding back. She lowered her head and made a blunt effort to wipe away her tears with her hands. But she could not hide the obviousness of her weakness.

Watching Bulma break down, Vegeta panicked. Of course, he tried to look calm and unaffected by her. But he found himself stepping closer and closer to her, until he could reach her shoulders.

She looked up to him with her red watery eyes. Despite her state, he could still see the azure eyes that seduced him in so many occasions. He felt his body softening up against her. He felt the pain she was feeling slowly spreading to his body.

"Why did you leave?" Bulma whispered softly. She didn't have energy to yell at him anymore.

Vegeta paused speechless. He was trying to find the right words, but didn't know how. He didn't know if she could understand why he did leave, when he himself had been so unsure. And Bulma's tears didn't help either.

"I… I had to."

'Wrong answer!' his instantly told himself. And this was confirmed by Bulma. She narrowed her eyes and glowered at her husband.

"You… had to? Why, Vegeta? Tell me, why did you have to go?" Bulma raised her voice at the Saiya-jin. He did not answer her. He just lowered his head, trying to think of something to say. She waited while taming her own emotions. But there was no word from Vegeta. He just stayed in his place without a movement. Bulma couldn't wait anymore.

"If you can't tell me, fine. Just help yourself to whatever. Welcome home. I'm going back to sleep." Bulma shrugged off Vegeta's hands and stormed into her room. Slamming sound of her door echoed as Vegeta stood outside her room. He was about to follow her in so he reached out for the doorknob; then he changed his mind.

'I'll probably make her angrier.'

***

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who reviewed :) Tell me what you thought of this chapter! It's a pretty big chapter, don't ya reckon? I could have done it many other ways I guess, but I tried to make it very much 'in-character'. I didn't what to go OCC or too cheesy. So this is basically how I saw Bulma and Vegeta as characters and how they might have interacted. But this is only my interpretation. Wait for more, 'cause I'll update soon, really, I will!!!