Disclaimer; I loathe disclaimers.....I don't own DBZ OK
A/N; Was this not the quickest update in the history of this fic or what? As you can probably tell I've been board stiff latly so I've been writing to pass the time. Well I hope you enjoy this chapter, school is starting soon so I don't know how much free time I'm going to have, but I'll be trying my best. I seem to write best when I'm supposed to be doing something else anyway. ~D.B
And Then You'll Know
Chapter 18
Groggily she opened her eyes and looked around at her unfamiliar surroundings. She was confused and disoriented. Sitting up, she clutched the covers close to her for extra warmth. Blinking a few times, memories of the night before began to float back into her mind and she shuddered. Not all of them were good.
Rolling onto her side and burying half of her face in the pillow, she opened one of her eyes and took another good look around.
"Chi," she whispered "you awake?"
There was a loud yawn from the next bed and two long white arms stretched up high, "Yeah" mumbled Chi-chi and she rested her arms on her chest.
Bulma sat up so she could see Chi-chi better before she spoke again, "Sleep well?"
A small, sleepy smile spread across Chi-chi's face as she sat up, she nodded her head and rubbed at her eyes "I'm hungry" she said.
Bulma had to laugh "Let's go get something to eat then" she said.
"Ok" agreed Chi-chi and she climbed out the nice warm bed. She was glad she had though ahead and brought a pair of pyjamas over last time she was here. Bulma on the other hand, hadn't been so organised, and all Kakkarot had been able to offer her to sleep in was a huge blue tee shirt that hung to about her knees.
The two girls quickly fixed their hair, before they headed out in search of the kitchen. After about 10 minutes they still weren't successful.
"All right Chi, you got us lost, way to go" said Bulma, her voice was just oozing with sarcasm.
"It's ok, B. I'll just find Kakkarot, and he'll help us" said Chi-chi as she began to search for Kakkarot's bedroom
***
Vegeta pulled the pillow over his head and squeezed his eyes shut tight. Why had he agreed to this stupid sleeping arrangement?
He hadn't gotten one once of sleep all night thanks to Kakkarot and his loud sleeping habits.
Sitting up, he looked around the dark room, he couldn't see the floor due to the layer of crap covering it. Everything was in a total state of disarray, his eyes quickly swept over the room and came to rest on the soft green glow of the alarm clock, another of the contributing facts to his sleepless nigh. It read 10.19.
"Dammit" he muttered to himself as he fell back against the pillow.
Only to be interrupted seconds later by a loud banging at the door "Kakkarot!" called a feminine voice that he instantly recognised as his sisters. She didn't wait for a reply, she just pushed the door open and waltzed right in.
"Morning Veg-head" she called a sing song voice that was far too peppy for the stupid hour.
"Shut up" he groaned and rolled onto his stomach.
Chi-chi laughed as she pulled open the curtains, filling the room with early morning sunlight. "Wake up sleepy heads"
Bulma took a step into the room and leaned against the wall. "Morning Vegeta" she said through a deep yawn.
"Morning" came his muffled reply from deep in his pillow.
"Kakkarot, wake up" said Chi-chi as she reached down and pulled the covers off him. He curled up into a little ball and scrunched up his face "10 more minutes Chi" and said, though he was still mostly asleep.
Chi-chi fell to her knees and rested her elbows on the bed. "Kakkarot" she said sweetly "if you don't get up soon I'm gonna have to force you up"
The next thing she knew, Chi-chi was on her back and Kakkarot was gazing down at her, wide-awake and laughing like a maniac. Bulma snorted and then burst out laughing and even Vegeta had a slight chuckle.
"Kakkarot!" she shrieked playfully as she futilely pounded on his chest, "That wasn't funny"
"Sure it was Chi" he replied as he leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek.
***
The King sat on his throne, his facial expression showing a mix of rage and bewilderment, but mostly rage. He had been yelling at them for close to half an hour now and his throat was beginning to hurt. He just couldn't believe that his own son would break so many rules and now here he was claiming that he didn't care and that he would gladly do it again.
Krillen was standing his ground, he'd put up with too much crap from his family for long enough, and there was no way he was going to let his father punish 18 when she had done nothing wrong.
"Ah 18, it's been a while since we've spoken hasn't it. You know, there isn't another girl in the whole harem that possesses the ability you did. Sometimes I wonder why I released you from there at all. Especially if this is how you repay me". 18 glared at him, it was a look that could have killed, she was in no mood for him to pick on her.
"Leave 18 out of this" warned Krillen.
A low evil chuckle escaped the Kings lips "I don't think so son. You see, the way I see it, she has done even more wrong than you. She has broken almost every rule the slaves are to abide by," He turned his gaze from Krillen to 18 "You should be ashamed" he said.
18 looked up from the floor and took a step forward "Ashamed? Of what, having a friend? Having someone look after me and make me feel normal? That's nothing to be ashamed of" she said trying to sound like she was brave, when really all she wanted to do was go and hide in her brothers arms.
The King shook his head "Pathetic" he said, then an evil smile settled on his lips. "You both need to be punished for your wrong doings. Krillen, when the time comes, you will be sent to Namek, to take part in the war against Frieza, whether you like it or not. And as for you 18, I'm sentencing you to 12 months in the dungeons, after which you will return to your usual duties"
Both Krillen and 18's eyes grew wide. The dungeons! Both of them knew she wouldn't survive a week down there, not when she was in desperate need of medical attention already. Last night had really taken its toll on her, she was not in a good way.
"Nappa" spoke the King.
"Yes sir?" asked Nappa, who had been standing beside the Kings throne the entire time.
"Show miss 18 to the dungeons would you?"
"Of course sir" he replied, bowing deeply. The he strode over to 18 and roughly grabbed onto her upper arm, forcing her to go where he went.
"18!" cried Krillen as he helplessly watched her get taken away. There was nothing he could do, as soon as he even moved a foot to try and save her from the painful hands of Nappa, his father would have broken his leg or something, preventing him from saving her later on.
***
"Get in there" snarled Nappa as he practically threw 18 into the small dark cell and slammed the metal door shut hard and locked it.
"Let me out!" screamed 18 as she threw herself against the bars. Nappa just laughed at her "I don't think so" he said, enjoying every minute of her torture.
"Let me out", 18 was quickly getting enraged. She put her hands on the cold bars and shook them as hard as she could, but it was no use, they were to strong. Nappa watched her for a few more minutes until it wasn't interesting anymore, then he simply walked off. Leaving her there to die.
***
Krillen pushed open the big wooden doors to the slave quarters only to be slammed up against the wall, his feet dangling several feet off the ground. A pair of icy blue eyes staring into his own dark ones.
"Where is my sister?" hissed 17, his voice was deadly, it sent a shiver down Krillen spine.
Krillen broke free of 17's relatively weak grip and stood on the ground "Your sister," said Krillen "She's in trouble"
"Trouble? What do you mean trouble?" asked 17.
"She's in the dungeons. But don't worry, I'm going to get her out of there" Krillen spoke quickly so he could get it all out before 17 exploded.
"What?! What the hell happened?"
"It's ok," said Krillen "If you want I'll take you to her, but it can only be quick". 17 took a few deep breaths and nodded. He had been close to going insane with worry when 18 hadn't come home last night, and she had been gone most of the morning as well. He had no idea what had happened to her, he'd looked everywhere, but it had been no use, it was like she had just vanished.
Just as Krillen and 17 were about to leave, the door opened and Tarie popped her head in. Only to be pushed back outside by 17. "Come on," he said "He's taking us to 18".
Tarie took hold of 17's hand and squeezed it tightly, she didn't like it down here, it was very very dark and very cold. There were no windows at all down here, and only a few candles on the walls lit the halls.
"18" called Krillen quietly, if anyone knew they were down here they would also be spending time down here. "18"
"Krillen" came a faint voice a few minutes later, it was so quite the trio could barely hear it. Krillen created a small Ki ball in his hand, the light it generated was bright enough for them to see the way to 18.
"18, I'm so sorry" said Krillen as he dropped to his knees, put his free hand through the bars and took hold of 18's cold hand in his.
"18 what happened? I was so worried" said 17. He crouched down to the ground so he could be at the same level as his sister.
"It's a long story" said 18, her teeth were chattering and her entire body was covered in goosebumps. She was so cold
"I'm gonna get you out of here 18, don't worry" promised Krillen. 18 squeezed his hand hard "What if you can't get me out Krillen, than what?"
"I'll get you out. I'll give my life if I have to".
***
Chi-chi and Bulma lay sprawled out on Bulma's bed, they had music playing way to loud, yet they still managed to be able to hear each other.
"So B-Chan tell me, what exactly did Mr-you-know-who say?" Bulma's face paled, she hadn't told Chi-chi that she had run into him again while Chi-chi had been 'arguing' with 18. And that he had been a lot scarier second time around.
"Nothing much" she replied, hoping her lie would convince Chi-chi. Chi-chi sat up, an unimpressed look graced her tired face. "B-Chan, you expect me to believe that?" she said with a lot of emphasis on the last word "Spill"
Bulma rolled onto her stomach and pulled a pillow of her head, "There's nothing to tell" she said, her voice muffled and hard to understand. Chi-chi reached over and pulled the pillow from Bulmas hands, then promptly whacked her over the head with it. "What was that for?" asked Bulma as she rubbed her head.
"Are you gonna tell me or not?" asked Chi-chi as she got ready to smack Bulma again.
"Fine!" shouted Bulma in defeat. Chi-chi smirked victoriously and put the pillow behind her head.
"Ok it goes like this" said Bulma as she began the long and confusing story of her history with the notorious Yumcha.
".....And then he told me that he'd get his revenge on me when I least expected it"
"Wow," said Chi-chi, seemingly upset that the very interesting tale was over "That's pretty heavy stuff"
Bulma wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and nodded her head "I know" she said.
Bulma was about to say something when there was a knock at the door and Mrs.Briefs popped her head into the room. "Chi-chi dear, your brother is here for you," she said.
"Ok" said Chi-chi as she stood up "I wonder what he wants?" Bulma only shrugged.
"Oh well, I see ya later ok" said Chi-chi, and she headed outside.
***
Vegeta leaned against the wall while he waited for his sister. The King had asked him to fetch her and he had assumed this was where she would be.
"Hi Vegeta" she said as she shut the door to the Briefs apartment "What can I do for you?"
"Father wishes to speak with you" he replied, very un-enthusiastically.
"Daddy? I wonder why he wants me," she said as she and Vegeta headed off towards the wing of the palace where King Vegeta conducted all of his business.
"Good afternoon daddy" called Chi-chi as she bounced into the room.
"Ah Chi-chi dear, you're awfully happy today. May I ask why?"
"Kakkarot"
"That's great, I'm glad he's making you happy" said the King with a smile.
Chi-chi cocked her head to the side and gave her father an inquisitive smile, "Daddy, why did you want me?" she asked
The King rested his head in his hand and grinned "I have some news," he said "to do with the events of last night"
"Yes... go on" urged Chi-chi curiously, egger to find out what her father had to say
"Well, I have spoken to both your brother and miss 18, and I have punished them as I saw fit, I just thought you might like to know"
Chi-chi's grin faded, she was hoping to punish that bitch herself, no one messed with her – the princess and got away with it!
"Ah daddy, just what did you do with 18?"
"I put her in the dungeons for 12 months" he said with a smirk.
Chi-chi double blinked "What?" she asked, but she kept on talking before her father could reply. "I don't think that's really necessary, I am fully capable of punishing her myself, and in all honesty, that's what I would prefer" she said, her tail swinging lazily behind her as she did so.
The King let out a long confused sigh, then he looked down at his daughter and shook his head "Well if that's how you feel, I'll have her released this afternoon"
"Great" said Chi-chi as she rubbed her hands together. She was going to make 18's pathetic excuse for a life even more terrible than it all ready was, and she was going to enjoy every second of it.
***
Krillen was in the G.R working up a sweat, if he was going to Namek, he was damn well going to give Frieza a run for his money. Last time Frieza had been on the planet, almost 8 months ago, he hadn't been nearly as strong as he was now. Back then he'd only been training in about 220 times normal gravity, and today, he was having a session with the gravity increased 335 times.
It was hard work, and his entire body felt like it was about to collapses, but it would be well worth it if he could even slightly assist in putting an end to Frieza.
'Omph' Krillen slammed into the hard cold wall as one of the training drones crashed into him and sent him reeling. He slid down the wall and landed with a thud on the ground. Reaching up to the control panel, his hit the big red off switch. Terminating his session.
His mind just wasn't focused today – at least not on training anyway, and even he knew better than to fight when you weren't fully concentrating.
Picking up his towel and wiping his brow he sighed "18, what have you done to me?" he asked himself
***
"Here take this" Tarie whispered as she stuffed a piece of bread through the bars of 18's cell. 18 thankfully took the bread and stuffed it all in her mouth in about 2 bites. Swallowing it, she looked up at Tarie with sad eyes, "Help me" she whimpered. Tarie stuck her hands threw the bars and took hold of 18's cold, clammy hands.
"We need to get you out of here" she said sympathetically. 18 could only nod.
She was in absolute agony, her back felt like it was on fire, and she could feel it blistering, her head was constantly throbbing and she was dizzy, thanks to the large gash across the back of her skull. Her arms, legs, knees and elbows were all scraped and in need of antiseptic, she had a sprained ankle that hurt to walk on, and she had a large purple bruise on her to small stomach. All of her ribs were visible from lack of food, and to top it all off, she had managed to catch the worst cold in history.
"Don't worry 18. You're brother, Nison and me are going to figure out a way to get you out of here. And I'm sure that prince of yours will help out. He's got the biggest crush on you, it's sweet really"
18 managed a small smile for her friend.
All of a sudden the silence was interrupted by the sound of the heavy door opening. Fear became present in both of the girls eye, they knew what there fate would be if Tarie was caught down here.
"Hide" whispered 18 her voice full of quiet panic.
Tarie quickly stood up and quickly crept off around the corner to hide from who ever was coming.
She followed behind Nappa, not really sure of where he was taking her, he heels clicked on the old cobble stone floors as she moved gracefully along. Tucking a strand of dark hair behind her ear and wrapping her arms around her self she took a good look around, not that there was that much to look at, it was cold, boring and smelly down here.
"Here we are Miss Chi-chi, would you like me to stay here, or just leave you the key?" asked Nappa.
"It's fine thank-you Nappa, you can leave"
Nappa smiled, handed Chi-chi the big brass key and left.
Chi-chi stood there silently until she was sure Nappa had left and they were alone, then she crouched down so she was lower to the ground, and almost at eye level with 18.
"Well well well, look what's happened to you. I can't say you don't deserve it though" she said, her oozing with hate.
"What do you want with me? Can't you just leave me to die it peace?"
Chi-chi burst out laughing "Leave you? I don't think so. I have you at my mercy, and I plan to make your life miserable 18.... miserable. Your pathetic excuse for a life is worth nothing to me, and don't think I don't see the stupid, sad, friendship you have built with my lame excuse for a brother. Well don't you worry, I'll be putting an end to that as well" she hissed as she unlocked the cell door, and hauled 18 to her feet.
18 didn't make a sound, she wasn't going to let Chi-chi see how scared she was. She threw a quick distressed glance into the shadows where she knew Tarie was hiding, before Chi-chi shoved her off down the hall with much for force than necessary.
Tarie stood quiet for a long moment before she was game enough to come out of hiding, and even then she only dared to tip toe "Oh god," she muttered, her voice was muffled by her hand covering her mouth. "What's gonna happen to 18?"
***
Before everyone had realised, 3 days had passed. Chi-chi sat up in bed when her alarm went off and stretched her hands up to the ceiling. Throwing off the warm covers she climbed out of bed, padded across the floor to the window and pulled open the light pink curtains. Early morning sunlight filled the room and Chi-chi squinted against it. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, she found her slippers and slipped them on. Letting out a loud yawn, she pulled her hair back into a very messy ponytail, then she left for the dining hall to join the rest of her family for breakfast.
"Good Morning" She said threw a loud yawn. She was the last of the family to arrive at the table, so she quickly made her way to her seat and sat down, breakfast was served soon after.
The first half of the meal was silent, no one spoke, it wasn't until the meal was almost over that the King spoke up "Children, I'm sure you all know we have someone special arriving on the planet today" he said. Chi-chi looked up, "Who?" she asked.
The King rolled his eyes "Queen Kahlia is arriving today, she is a very important and powerful woman and I hope all 3 of you will treat her with the respect she deserves" he replied, looking each of this 3 children in the eyes as he spoke.
"What time is she arriving?" asked Vegeta through a mouth full of food. The King turned away from his son, "Swallow your food first," He said "She will be arriving around 3. That should be plenty of time to get ready" this time he spoke more to Chi-chi than his boys.
Krillen pushed his chair back and stood up, "I'll see you later father" he said, then he gave his sister a dirty look and left the room. He still wasn't talking to her, he hadn't forgiven her for the incident at Kakkarot's party, and he didn't plan to anytime soon.
***
"Well I think it's the perfect plan, and if you are going to wimp out at the last second then fine. I'll do it myself" came a voice from somewhere in the sea of people wandering about the middle class shopping strip.
"It's not that it's not a good plan, it's just, I really don't think it's the right thing to do". The other man was quiet for a few second before he broke into a fit of laughter that was so loud, a number of the passers by stoped to see what was so funny "Since when has doing the right thing ever concerned you man. You are a convicted criminal, I thought you'd be over the whole right and wrong thing by now"
The taller man shrugged his shoulders and sighed "I know, but I guess I'm just not feeling 100 per cent today. I mean, she almost got us busted last week at the ball"
"And we need our revenge on her!" the first one said, his voice rising considerably as he pounded his fists on the table "Don't you want your revenge?"
"No Yumcha, you want your revenge. I don't even know what this girl looks like"
"She's beautiful" sighed Yumcha as he stared off into the distance but he quickly returned to his usual self "but I don't care, she's gonna get whats coming to her, Tien, whether you're gonna help me or not"
Tien sighed and sunk back further into his chair, taking a sip of his coffee he looked at Yumcha, his best friend and partner in crime and smirked. "Fine, I'll do it, there's no point going soft now"
"That's the spirit!" cried Yumcha happily as he slapped Tien playfully on the back.
"Well what time are we going to make our move?" asked Tien
"My source inside the palace tells me there is a big event happening at 3, so that will be the easiest time to get in" said Yumcha as he cracked all the knuckles in his fingers, Tien cringed "Don't do that!"
***
Krillen pulled on a pair of black slacks and a bark blue shirt. He pulled a black tie out of his closet, but then he decided against wearing it. Wandering over to the mirror, he looked over his reflection for a minute or two. Once he was happy with his appearance, and convinced his hair was neat enough, he set about tidying his room.
But he could concentrate.
He knew 18 was in the next room, and he knew something bad was happening to her but there was nothing he could do about it. If he walked in there now Chi-chi would kill him, and then who would be left to help 18?
He could hear yelling, but he couldn't work out what Chi-chi was saying, it sounded angry though. Then all of a sudden, there was a very loud crash against the wall Krillens bed was on, he jumped from the shock of it. Then it was quiet, he heard nothing.
***
"And if you ever cross me like that again, I will kill you" Chi-chi hissed in 18's ear. 18 lay on the ground curled up in a tiny ball, in an enormous amount of pain.
"Now, I want all of that done when I return" said Chi-chi and she tossed 18 a sheet of paper and left the room. Forcing herself into a sitting position, she rested her burnt back against the wall and attempted to read the list, but her vision was blurred by pain.
"Fuck" she mumbled to herself, she had no choice but to stand up and get to work, she decided to start with an easy job, make the bed, then work her way up to the hard ones. This was going to take hours
"18," Krillen said quietly as he poked his head in the door, "Are you alright?"
18 shook her head, tears of pain welling up in her yes as she did so, it hurt her entire body to even more.
"Ok, it's alright. Stay here and I'll go find you some help" he said and he shut the door and ran off down the hall.
A few minutes later, he pushed open the big, heavy door to the slave quarters. He sighed and cast his eyes to the floor, every time he walked in here, he was instantly filled with the horrible feeling of knowing that it was because of his family that these people lived like this.
Walking into the next room, he found who he was looking for.
"Nison" he said as he approached the thin half Namekian boy. Nison looked up and smiled a bog friendly smile. IN the beginning he hadn't really like Krillen that much, because he too, cared for 18. But know he realised, Krillen could give 18 more than he ever could, and all he wanted was for her to be happy. "What can I do for you?"
"It's 18, she needs to be healed"
A looked of sorrow washed over Nison's slightly green features and he refused to look Krillen in the eye.
"Nison" Krillen pleaded with the slightly older man
"I can't" he whispered hoarsely after a few more minutes of silence.
"You can't? What do you mean you can't?"
"I mean exactly that! I don't know what's wrong with me, but I haven't been able to heal properly for days now. All I can do, is slightly heal"
"Well that's good enough for me, come on let's go.
On the way back upstairs they passed 17 and Tarie, who both seemed very red in the face and out of breath. They had decided to follow the other two, 17 needed to be by his sister's side if she was in trouble.
Krillen, 17 and Tarie all stood back while Nison tried to work his magic, but nothing much happened, a few blisters on 18's back disappeared but that was about the extent of it. Looking up at the clock on the wall Krillen yelped- it was five to 3, he had to go!
"I have to go, when 18 wakes up, tell her I'll be down tonight ok" he said and he ran out the room.
Tarie scratched her head and sighed, "Well I'll stay here and finish her jobs, you to take her back downstairs ok" she said. The other two agreed and as carefully as possible picked up 18, who was semi-unconscious and helped her out the room.
***
Bulma came up from under the water and took in a big gulp of air, it had been a long time since Bulma had been swimming and she'd forgotten how much she enjoyed it. The water was warm, and she was alone, the solitude of it all was fantastic, letting the water lift her up, she floated on her back, gazing up at the afternoon sky, the fluffy white clods floating over head only served to relax her even more.
Letting out a long sigh, she closed her eyes and smiled. Things were finally starting to go her way, things with Vegeta just kept getting better and better, she had only seen him a few times since the ball, but those times had been great. They had laughed, smiled, talked and joked with each other and she had begun to get underneath his cold exterior to the real Vegeta inside.
Turning over, she swum to the edge of pool and hauled her self up onto the side, she stood up, walked over to the diving board and jumped back in again, hardly making a splash.
When she surfaced, she was sure she saw something in the corner of her eye, but when she turned to check it out, she was alone. Shrugging her shoulders, she begun to swim another lap.
Yumcha stood at the far end of the pool, a sly smirk plastered on his face, it wouldn't be long now until Bulma poked that pretty little head of hers out the water, then he would make his move.
"That bikini doesn't leave a lot to the imagination"
Bulma jumped, she knew that voice! Spinning around, a look of absolute terror washed over her calm features.
"Yumcha?!," she cried "How the hell did you get in here"
"Quite simple really" he replied, his voice to calm for the situation.
Bulma climbed out the pool, walked it's length and stopped about a meter from Yumcha, and she too, suddenly felt like her little black bikini was revealing to much "What do you want?" she asked, trying to sound like his presence didn't faze her.
Yumcha chuckled "What I want Bulma," he reached out and roughly grabbed her arm "Is you"
"Get of me!" cried Bulma, but he only tightened his grip on her
"I don't think so, I walked away fro you once before, and I won't make that mistake again. Today it's your turn to find out what it's like to be hurt by the one you love"
***
Vegeta fidgeted anxiously with the sleeve of his black shirt, he didn't want to be here. He had no desire to be nice and hospitable with Queen Kahlia, his father had had a thing for her for years now, ever since he signed her planet into the allegiance a few years back.
"Now children, I want you to treat Queen Kahlia with the upmost respect, she is a very important women, and remember, first impressions last" said the King.
Chi-chi looked around the large docking bay, where interplanetary visitors to the palace landed their ships. Fussing with her hair, Chi-chi sighed. She had spent a good deal of time trying to pick out a nice 'acceptable' outfit, and she had eventually decided on a black skirt that fell to her knees, a red shirt and a black jacket, topped of with a nice pair of black shoes. She liked Queen Kahlia, although she didn't know her all that well. She had been on the planet once a few years back to sign allegiance papers and the King and his children had dined with her a few times then. From what she remembered the Queen was a very beautiful women. Chi-chi hoped she would get to spend some more time with her on this visit.
Krillen tapped his fingers on his chair and stared blankly at the raised platform in front of him. This was no where he wanted to be right now. As soon as the Queen arrived, and he welcomed her to the planet with rest of his family, he was outta here. He had to see 18, he needed to know she was alright. He admitted it, he had fallen head over heals in love with her and he needed to be by her side. Blinking slowly, he shifted his gaze to his sister, oh how he loathed her. One day karma was going to come back on her, and all the bad things she had done in her life would hit her 10 times harder, and when that day arrived, Krillen would be quite content to sit back and laugh at her.
10 minutes passed by in silence, and then another 10, but then a small shiny speck could be seen in the sky.
"She's here" said Chi-chi as she stood up, the 3 men in her family did the same. Not long after they noticed it, the huge ship touched down on the docking platform and the door slid open to form a ramp.
The King stepped forward and watched as Queen Kahlias guards descended the ramp, and then lastly the Queen herself.
She really was beautiful, her skin was a beautiful cram colour much the same as the Sayians, she had long, pale pink hair and the most striking green eyes any of them had ever seen. She was dressed in a beautiful long, sleeveless silk dress that was a few shades darker than her hair and it showed of all her muscles beautifully. Like the Sayians, the people of planter Bindoon were a warrior race, and they were one of the only warrior races in the universe that was run entirely by a female.
"Queen Kahlia," said the King as he held her hand and gently kissed the back of it "It's an absolute pleasure to see you again"
The Queen smiled "Please, call me Kahlia, forget the Queen business" Kahlia stepped past the King and walked over to his 3 children.
"Chi-chi, Vegeta, Krillen. Look at you, you've all grown so big" Krillen was shocked, he hadn't expected her to remember their names.
"Welcome to our planet your highness" said Krillen as he held out his hand for her to shake, she did so.
"Please you heard what I just said to your dad, you know what to call me" all 3 of them nodded. And she laughed.
"Go on, I know you're probably all bored out of your minds, go on, go find something better to do, we'll all catch up at dinner later on" she said with a smile. Relief washed over the faces of Vegeta and Krillen and they both turned and headed back inside the palace, Chi-chi however stayed behind
***
Bulma's checked heaved up and down as she panted. She was scared, and cold. "Yumcha where are you taking me?" she demanded, but all she got in reply was Yumcha's hand covering her mouth. "Shut up bitch," he hissed, "You're only making it worse for yourself by making noise"
Bulma however would have none of it, she bit down hard on Yumcha's hand and the taste of blood filled her mouth and she began to spit it all over the floor. Yumcha yanked his hand away, and Bulma took the opportunity to be heard. She opened her mouth, and let an ear-piercing scream escape her lips.
Yumcha quickly came to his senses and stoped Bulma screaming by pressing his hand to her throat, effectively gagging her. "That was not a smart idea Bulma" he said as he pushed a door open and forced Bulma inside.
The room was pitch black, but Bulma instantly knew where she was, the floor was cold and hard, they were in the foyer of the G.R's. "Why are we here Yumcha?' she asked, her voice echoing off the walls.
"You'll find out soon enough" he said.
Bulma was scared, she was defenceless here, she couldn't see a thing so she had no idea when Yumcha was going to attack, or how many more people he had hiding in the dark. But she was no air headed bimbo, already, her mind was working away, formulating a plan to save her life, she wasn't called the smartest female in the palace, or probably on the planet for nothing.
As she suspected he would, Yumcha took her inside on of the G.R's and shut the door, she gulped loudly. She still couldn't see a thing so she was forced to reply on her other senses. Luckily for her, she spent a lot of time training with Chi-chi and Vegeta, who spent a lot of time training with the elites, so she was no weak fighter, and her senses were highly developed, especially her hearing, it was excellent.
If you think you're going to kill me in here Yumcha, think again. I'm a lot more than just a pretty face you know" she said. Yumcha let go of her wrist and she listened to him walk across the cold floor, she could tell where he was going by the tapping sound his shoes made against the metal. Bulma smirked in the dark, she also had the advantage of silence, she had bare feet, and could tiptoe across the floor almost unnoticed, but she chose not to for the time being.
A shiver ran up her spine and she again noticed how much she was wearing, or how much she was not wearing. Her hair was still wet and dripping down her back, only causing her to shake even more.
She could hear Yumcha conversing with another man, but she couldn't make out the words, then she heard them both laugh and begin to walk towards her. Before she really had time to think about it, she had jumped into the sky and zipped across to the other side of the room, she had spent enough time in here to able to tell exactly where the walls were. Yet another advantage she had over Yumcha.
"Bulma, you have no idea how long I've been waiting for this day. The day I'm going to exact my revenge on you for all you out me through. Tien hit the lights".
Suddenly the room was filled with bright white light and Bulma was forced to squint her eyes shut, which was a bad idea, because it was just what Yumcha had planned.
He took the opportunity and flew up to Bulma, powering up a Ki ball as he went.
Bulma opened her eyes, and gulped loudly, there about 10 centimetres away from her face was a bright ball of crackling blue energy, "Goodbye Bulma dear" said Yumcha, but Bulma was quicker than that.
Before Yumcha realised what was happening, Bulma had him in a headlock and her own ball of energy dangerously close to his head.
"I don't think so Yam baby," she referred to him with his old pet name "You see, I have a few of my own scores with you that I would like to settle". And with that she filled him over her back and sent him crashing to the ground. She had, however, forgotten about Tien. Who didn't like to watch his partner get her, especially by a girl and in the blink of an eye his joined fists had connected with the back of Bulma's head and sent her plummeting to the ground, where she landed next to Yumcha, with a loud thud. She was up quickly though, much to the surprise of Tien.
"You don't think you can take me down that easily do you?" she asked. Tien only smirked, he didn't answer her.
"What, what's so funny?" she called to him, but she didn't get to wait from behind. Because unbeknown to her, while she had been distracted, Yumcha had gotten up. And he had kicked her clear to the other side of the room where she slammed hard against the wall. And this time, she didn't show signs of getting up in any hurry.
"Bimbo" Yumcha muttered to himself as he held out his arm and aim for her head, he was shooting to kill. The ball of energy was big and bright and there was no way she would be getting up after it. This was the end for Bulma Briefs.
Vegeta walked into the dark foyer of the G.R and flicked the light on, the first thing he noticed was the bright light coming from G.R number 4. And since almost everyone was busy fawning over the Queen, there could have only been a few people training in there. His guess was that it was Bulma.
Maybe she would spar with him, it beat training alone.
Walking up to the door, he noticed she was training in zero gravity. Maybe she just hadn't started her session yet. He also noted the door was unlocked. He shifting his gaze from the panel on the wall, to the little window in the door and his jaw dropped. Not wasting another second, he burst right into the room.
Bulma sat cowering against the wall, being knocked up against it like that had winded her and she was still trying to catch her breath. She knew she was running out of time and fast, Yumcha would release that thing any second now.
"It's revenge time Bulma" Yumcha said, laughing wildly as he did so, and he released his energy ball. But just as he did so, another blast hit him from the other side of the room, causing his own to go off course, and instead of killing Bulma, it just burnt her arm.
Yumcha went flying into the wall headfirst and sank to the floor, and he was not going to be getting up anytime soon. Smirking, Vegeta went after Tien, who unlike Yumcha was ready for him. A short fight broke out, but it only took about 3 minutes for Vegeta to pound Yumcha's buddy into the floor.
Once they were taken care of, he made his way over to Bulma. "Why is that I always seem to be saving you?" Vegeta asked with mock sarcasm.
"Very funny Vegeta" said Bulma while she allowed herself to be picked up by him.
"My legs are fine you know, I can walk" Bulma said, while Vegeta carried her towards the infirmary.
"I know"
He gently put her down on the bed, shook his head at her, then walked out the room to find a nurse.
Bulma looked at the eye chart on the wall and sighed, she'd been spending an awful lot of time here lately, she'd been having a run of bad luck. The sound of the nurse walking into the room snapped Bulma out of her thoughts, she looked up and saw Vegeta walk through the door as well.
"Vegeta, do something with them" she pleaded with out naming names, she didn't want to alarm the nurse. Vegeta nodded his head and turned and silently left the room.
"Ok Miss. Briefs, this may hurt a little, it's antiseptic and it will reduce any chance of infection, then I'll apply some burn cream for you ok" explained the nurse as she rummaged through the supply cupboard.
"Ok" replied Bulma absent-mindedly.
Bulma flinched as the nurse applied the antiseptic, but it didn't hurt as much as she though it would. "I'm going to have to bandage that for you Miss. Briefs. How do you manage to get your self into these situation?" asked the nurse, not really realising she was prying.
"It's Bulma, and it's just a sparring injury" she lied. She wasn't about to scare the crap out of the poor young nurse by telling her that somehow, her crazy murdering, rapist, ex boyfriend and his partner had managed to break into the palace.
The women laughed, "Ah, you have no idea how many of you lot we treat each day for sparring wounds. I don't remember that last time we had an actual illness to treat" she rattled on as she bandaged Bulma's arm from her shoulder to her elbow. "But don't you think if you were sparring you should have been wearing a bit more protective clothing"
Bulma looked down at her attire and blushed, "it was unplanned sparring" she said.
"Ok I'm done, now just stay in here and rest for 20 minutes then you'll be free to leave". Bulma smiled politely at the nurse, but as soon as she had left the room she rolled her eyes and groaned. '20 minutes' she thought to herself.
It didn't take long for her to start thinking, and soon what had just happened began to sink in, she had come within an inch of her life – again. Tears began to well up in the corner of her eyes and she quickly wiped them away. If Vegeta had of come 10 seconds later, she would have been dead right now, she owed him her life.
As if on cue, Vegeta strolled through the door then, a satisfied smirk on his face, but it quickly disappeared once he saw Bulma was crying. "Woman, dry your eyes" he said as he sat down next to her.
"Thank-you Vegeta" said Bulma as she wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
"What the hell for?" asked Vegeta
"You saved my life, I'll never be able to reply you enough" replied Bulma, and she as she may, she just couldn't stop the tears from running down her face.
"Woman..." sighed Vegeta as he rolled his eyes. Then he did something unexpected and wrapped his arms around her in a comforting hug. "It's ok, you're not dead, you're ok. Bulma rested her head on his shoulder and cryed, for a long time. And Vegeta just sat there, holding her, it was the least he could do.
Some time later, Bulma stopped crying, lifting her head, she noticed just how big a wet patch she had made on Vegeta's good black shirt "I'm sorry" she said, her voice barely a whisper, she had exhausted herself.
"It's ok". Vegeta reached up and wiped the remaining tear of Bulma cheeks, but ever after, he left his hand there, gently cradling her face.
Bulma found herself staring into his perfect, dark, sayian eyes and she couldn't tear her gaze away. "Vegeta....." she mumbled.
"Shhhh" Vegeta silence her.
Bulma could hear her heart beating fast in her ears and feel the flush of her cheeks. And with either of them realising it was about to happen, their lips brushed together, only for brief second, but the emotion of it left them both breathless and at a loss for words. It was Vegeta who spoke up first.
"I'm sorry" he said.
"Don't be" Bulma said quickly, trying to let him know she didn't regret it.
"No, you are my sisters best friend. We could never be any more than friends, it's not right" he said and he hoped of the bed and strode out the room.
Bulma watched him go, speechless and confused.
Where did things go from here?
***
A/N; Well what did you think of my little B/V, I've never done a B/V before and for a first attempt I don't think I did to bad. Well Did you enjoy the chap, tell me in a review. Next chapter will be out very soon and thanks for reading my fic!
~D.B