Chapter Thirteen: Girl-Talk

Bulma sat, nursing her tea, a blank expression on her face.

"Well... what'd she look like?" asked Chi-Chi, sitting down across from her and setting a plate of cookies on the table. Bulma had just come over to talk; and according to her, the woman she'd seen at the party had explained the past few weeks to her, revealing the answer to the mystery of Vegeta's nervous breakdown.

"Um.. tall, black hair, kinda muscular, not too much... whatever you think a female saiyajin would look like," sighed Bulma, letting her index finger trace around the rim of the cup as she stared into the tea, a red/orange reflection staring back up at her.

Chi-Chi looked as though she were in deep thought for a moment as Bulma took a long sip of her tea, then Chi-Chi said with an air of smug confidence that didn't quite suit her, "I think I could take her."

Bulma choked into her tea as she burst out into laughter at Chi-Chi's sudden attitude spurt.

"Where did that come form?" she managed to cry as she continued to cough and sputter through her laughter.

"I dunno," said Chi-Chi, smiling and shaking her head slowly from side to side. "I guess... this Clarice lady's story just reminded me of the old days."

"Yeah, me too," said Bulma, calming down, a sudden nostalgia coming over her.

They both were quiet for a moment, then Bulma began the next topic of conversation -

"So what am I supposed to do?" she asked desperately, pouting. Seeing the look of surprise on Chi-Chi's face, she further explained, "About Vegeta? I want to talk to him, but... he might be really angry with me..."

"Well, you have to try," comforted Chi-Chi, "I'm sure he wants you back just as much as you want to be with him."

"Ah... maybe you're right..." sighed Bulma, stretching her arms out and then slouching into the chair. "But there's one problem."

"What?"

"I don't know where he is!" she cried, throwing her arms up into the air.

"Oh, he's staying with Mercy and Piccolo," said Chi-Chi, shrugging. "But Mercy wasn't too enthusiastic about having to deal with him living there."

Bulma chuckled softly, grinning down at the table.

"You really think that he wouldn't be too mad at me for blowing up in his face like that?"

"I doubt it," frowned Chi-Chi. "I would've reacted the same way if I ever saw Goku kissing someone else, if not worse."

"Goku?" cried Bulma suddenly, gawking at Chi-Chi in horror. "Is that... is it even possible?"

Chi-Chi laughed, realizing what she'd said. "No, I guess not... he'd never cheat on me. He's just my loveable Teddy bear-"

There was suddenly a loud crash from the basement, where Goku had been after Bulma'd requested he leave so that she and Chi-Chi could talk.

"SORRY!" bellowed his voice from the floor below them, sounding very muffled.

Bulma turned to look back at Chi-Chi, her eyes wide with fear and sympathy.

Chi-Chi's head suddenly fell forward in exasperation before she lifted it up, her eyes flashing.

"Excuse me for a moment," she muttered before easing her chair back and walking into the kitchen, grabbing a frying pan, and heading for the basement door.

Bulma frowned sadly, pity for Goku running through her.

Reaching for a cookie, she braced herself and clenched her eyes shut as a loud "CLANG!" sounded from the basement.

Chi-Chi walked stiffly back into the kitchen a moment later, her face flushed with fading anger.

Setting the pan down on the counter, she walked back over to the table and sat down heavily, her lips thin and white.

Bulma reached for another cookie, bit into it, and chewed slowly, watching Chi-Chi with an unblinking stare.

"So what'd he break?"

"A really beautiful vase that I bought a couple of years back," sighed Chi-Chi, frowning deeply.

Bulma smiled and continued to chew on her cookie, a million thoughts running through her mind at once.

Chi-Chi, catching this, sighed.

"You can just call him," she said simply, shrugging and taking a cookie. "...If you're afraid to talk to him face to face."

"It's not that I'm afraid of him," said Bulma in a small, mousy voice, "I just think that he'd still be mad at me. He just likes to hold grudges."

Chi-Chi nodded, picking up her own tea and taking a sip of it. After that, she suddenly put her hand over her mouth politely and let out a long yawn, her mouth opening wide.

"I think that he'll go easy on you," she said after a moment of thought. "But you have to give it a try. He probably thinks that you're holding the grudge against him. Somebody has to make the first move. And I'm getting tired, so you'd better get out of here and call him so that I can get to sleep."

Bulma laughed and looked back into her tea, her worries dwindling slightly.

"I guess you're right," she whispered. She suddenly stood up, causing Chi-Chi to stare at her.

She grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her up and hugging her.

"Thank you C.C., Thank you!" cried Bulma, squeezing Chi-Chi's back a bit harder.

Chi-Chi laughed and let her arms encircle Bulma's back, her hands rubbing up and down gently.

"No problem," she smiled, pulling out of the hug, but still holding Bulma's upper-arms. "If you ever have any more problems, I'm here. Just make sure you don't keep me up until-" she glanced at her watch, then gasped - "eleven-thirty at night!"

Bulma laughed and leaned in, kissing Chi-Chi on the cheek.

"I promise that I won't next time," she laughed, hugging Chi-Chi again.

She grabbed another cookie before waving goodbye and heading out to her car.

'Alright,' she thought to herself, starting the car and driving through the expansive field of trees. 'Time to bury the hatchet. As soon as I get home... I'm calling Vegeta.'

Hey guyz, here's a question: has anyone noticed how cool these "Thermasilk" commercials are getting? First there was the one with the dragon, then there was the one with that magic girl floating and throwing all those cool multi-colored sparks around, and now there's the one with that "Greek Mythology" theme to it, where Medusa is dancing with the fire dude and the snakes turn into nice hair... ^_^ I was chatting with my gurl Hershey last night, and she said that there was another one with a dude throwing daggers.. I'm not sure about that one. I don't remember it. But anyway, kudos to the people at Thermasilk.

~Valerie G.2-chan