"Why can't this last forever?"

"Because forever holds no guarantee...."

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The soft fall of footsteps could be heard, faintly echoing off of the plaster walls of Capsule Corporation. Four grown men could be seen creeping stealthily down the hallway, none daring to utter even a single syllable, for fear of waking the monster that was currently sleeping in the next room.

They could see the kitchen, and the back door, from where they stood... Just a few more steps, and they'd be home free.. A few more steps and they could escape imprisonment....

"And where, pray tell, do you think you're going?" A feminine voice asked as they entered the room.

The world's strongest fighters did the only thing they could do.

They screamed.

Yamcha was the first to regain composure, and also the first to try to use reasoning to control their angry captor.

"Bulma, please.. Y..You know we have to go train!" He began, but was quickly cut off by his, rather unhappy girlfriend.

"I understand you need to train, and I've already told you I don't have a problem with that. But the last time you four ran off together, you were all in the hospital for over a week. I just wanna go along with you. That way, if anyone needs serious help, I can at least do SOMETHING."

Tien, Yamcha, Goku, and Krillin all dropped their heads at the mention of their last sparring session. It HAD been a disaster...

"But Bulma... What if you get hurt?." Goku tried to protest, but his attempt was as futile as the other had been. He was silenced by nothing more than a raised hand.

"I don't wanna hear it. You either take me along, or you don't go." She replied, her anger evident on her face.

"Bulma, I don't mean to sound rude or anything.. But, be honest.. What makes you think you could stop us?" Krillin asked, for once, seemingly unafraid of the blue haired woman.

"Oh, I don't think I'll be able to stop you on my own.. That's why I recruited a little bit of help." With that said, she motioned to the doorway behind them, where what had been called the fiercest woman on Earth stood.

"C....chichi?!?" All four men exclaimed at once, before backing up a couple of paces.

"Don't Chichi me, you imbeciles. I've sat here and listened to you rant and rave for long enough. If Bulma says she's going with you, she's going with you. That's final.. End of discussion.... Finito.. Finished.. Done.. Caputted... OVER. Any objections?" She asked, her voice having changed from venomous to soft. Yamcha had just opened his mouth, before he noticed her grab her trademark frying pan off of the counter beside her.

He closed his mouth again.

The men relented quickly, albeit a bit reluctantly. To be honest, it wasn't because Bulma might get hurt that they didn't want her to go, or even because she'd be in the way. There were some things that even THEY knew shouldn't be said in front of a woman.. And most of what they said on their little sparring trips fell under that category.

"Good, I'm glad we've reached an agreement." Bulma stated happily, before hopping down from where she'd been seated on the kitchen counter

"Yeah, Bulma.. you win.. Why don't you go upstairs and grab your stuff?" Tien asked, in what was, truthfully, a last ditch effort to escape the two women.

"Wow, I bet you guys would just LOVE that, wouldn't you? Too bad though, I'm already packed." She replied smugly, as she held up a capsule.

"You've really thought this through, haven't you?" Yamcha asked, dejectedly.

"I have. And I'm going."

"And just how, pray tell, are you planning on getting there? It's too far for one of your little planes to carry you, you know." Yamcha continued, the only one of the group who was still hopeful that she'd stay behind.

"I have my ways."

"If you think I'm carrying you all that way, you're sadly mistaken."

"Fine then. Be that way, but I hope you enjoy sleeping alone." She replied with a smirk, before turning to face the rest of the group. "Krillin..."

"Sorry Bulma, can't help you. I've gotta carry supplies. Besides, I'm short.. You'd be uncomfortable if I carried you." The bald man replied, hopeful they'd finally figured out a way to dissuade the woman.

"Ugh!!" She cried, before turning to face Goku. She never opened her mouth to speak, however, the death glare she received from Chichi being more than enough warning for her. "Well, that leaves Tien... And I'm assuming you've got some strange excuse as to why I can't fly with you too, huh?"

Tien glanced nervously around the room for a moment, noting the pleading glances from the others. He tried to will his mind to lie, tried to get it to work..

But it refused.

"No, I don't have one. I'll carry you, Bulma."

The others let out a collective groan.

"Hi, people… Do I need to remind you that I'm standing right here? You could at least wait until I'm out of the room to start your whining!" She berated, before finally giving a little sigh. "Look, guys… I know you've got this whole male bonding thing going on here.. But you're my friends! I worry about you!" She tried to explain, but the looks on their faces showed her that they were way past the point of joking. "I'll make a deal with you… I'll go along for a week. If it doesn't look like you need my help, I'll come back, and you'll still have the remaining week all to yourselves."

Their faces all brightened significantly then.

"Wow, Bulma.. You'd do that for us?" Yamcha asked, suddenly in a much better mood than before.

"Not for you, Mr. I Can't carry my own girlfriend. I asked for your help, and you refused… As far as I'm concerned, you can blow yourself up." She replied smugly, before placing a small, dainty hand on Tien's arm.

"Ready?" She asked softly, before casting a heated look over to her boyfriend.

"As I'll ever be, I'm afraid." Tien answered, before pulling the blue haired woman into his chest.

Yamcha moved to protest, to tell Bulma that he'd changed his mind, but she must have seen it coming from a mile away.

"I gave you fair warning, Yamcha… Besides, I'm sure Tien can keep his hands to himself." She said with a laugh, before punching the man in question lightly in the arm. Tien merely blushed slightly.

She could have sworn she heard Yamcha mumble something along the lines of "He'd better..." But before she could question him on it, she found herself to be no longer in her nice, warm, kitchen, but instead in the not so nice, cold, early morning sky.

"How bout a little warning next time?" She mumbled, before grasping more tightly to Tien's neck.

"Hey, YOU were the one that wanted to come. I'm merely an innocent bystander in all of this." He replied with a grin, before casting a glance over his shoulder to Yamcha, who was at the moment shooting him as dirty a look as possible.

"I could be mistaken, but I don't get the feeling Yamcha likes this." He told her, before motioning over his shoulder.

"Yeah, well, that's his problem... HE was the one that said he wouldn't carry ME, remember? Besides, what's there to be jealous of? It's not like I'm gonna run off with you." She replied with a smile, before looking once more over Tien's shoulder.

Yamcha REALLY didn't look happy.

Just as she was about to make a rather obscene gesture to her boyfriend, her support seemed to drop out from under her. She let out a tiny shriek as she, seemingly, plummeted to the ground.

"Yeesh, calm down. We're here. I have to land." Tien answered, before situating her safely on her feet.

It was all Bulma could do to keep from bending down and planting a firm kiss on the rocky terrain.

"So, my little ships wouldn't be able to make it, huh?" She asked the group, rather accusingly.

"Last ditch effort." Yamcha replied with a shrug, before plopping down in a shady spot under a tree.

"Look, Yamcha, I don't know what crawled up your ass and died... But get over it. Because I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit here and deal with it." She snapped, before turning on her heel and stalking away, angrily.

"Man, Yamcha… Lighten up on her. She's just here because she worries, that's all. To be honest, I don't even think she WANTS to be here… It's just something she feels like she needs to do. You're lucky to have her." Krillin said, the telltale signs of sadness playing around his eyes.

"Yeah, well then, YOU try living with her." The other man grumbled, before standing, and dusting off the seat of his pants. "I just don't know why she doesn't trust us enough to stay out here alone. We've been doing this for years! Why does she feel she needs to prove something now?"

"Look, whatever, ok? It doesn't matter what she's doing here. That's in the past. I, personally, came here to train, and that's what I intend to do. So, if you ladies are done bickering amongst yourselves, let's get started." Goku cut in with a smirk, before falling back into a fighting stance.

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Hey guys! I know, nothing's really happening yet, but I wanna see if there's really gonna be anyone interested in this fic before I put bunches and bunches of it up. Sooo.. lemme know what you think, good or bad, kk?

Also, if anyone wants to be added to the mailing list, just email this little addy right here Vegetas-Princess-Update-List-Subscribe@topica.com

Lovies!

~*VP*~