Hey guys! How're you liking the ficcie so far? Well, I hope you like it at least! :) To the person that asked me about writing a B/R ficcie.. I'll let you in on a secret.. There will actually be a ficcie dedicated solely to them coming out sometime in the near future. If you wanna be notified of updates and such, just send an email to Vegetas-Princess-Update-List-Subscribe@topica.com
Pretty nifty, huh?
Anyway.. I think that's all...
ON WITH THE FIC!!
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Mark of Destiny
Chapter Four: ...By the fortress of light...
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"Who else is going?" Bulma asked excitedly as the two women packed her clothes.
"Well... You, me, Maico, and Rayne.. They're both rather sweet girls, and you should all get along quite nicely.. Of course, they're sort of workaholics, if you follow me, so there's a chance you won't be seeing them for a while. Now, hush and get back to packing.. Someone will be here in a few minutes to retrieve your things, and the last thing you want is to keep them waiting." Kyra answered.
As if on cue, there was a knock at the door. Bulma rushed to open it, still in her robe, only to come face to face with Prince Vegeta.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Bulma cried as she grasped firmly at the flimsy robe, in a desperate attempt to cover herself from view.
"Woman, I can assure you, there's nothing under that robe that I haven't seen before." he spoke, his voice calm and collected. On the inside, however, was an ENTIRELY different story. To be perfectly honest, had be not had the control he had, his tongue would have dropped so far from his mouth that it would have reached the floor.
"I'm sure you have, sire." She replied dumbly, before yet again beginning to fidget with her robe. She finally realized that he was waiting for her to invite him in, and did so, quickly, her words coming out in on large burst. "Oh,I'msorrywon'tyoupleasecomein?"
He eyed her for a moment longer before stepping around her and into the spacious room. "Why does it not surprise me that Raditz gave you one of our best rooms?"
"I-I-I have no idea, my lord." Bulma replied, her eyes locked firmly on the floor.
"Indeed," He replied, before casting a look toward her bedroom door. "Kyra, by all means, if you're going to eavesdrop, then do so more quietly."
Kyra exited the room quickly, her face as red as a ripe tomato. "Pardon me, my lord. I was just leaving anyway..." She stated hurriedly before practically running from the room.
"So tell me, little minx, do you return Raditz' feelings? Or is he just a simple way to escape your...work?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about!" Bulma snapped, before realizing what she'd done and bracing herself for death.
"Stop acting like an idiot and look at me!" Vegeta roared, for some reason distraught at the girl's fear of him. Bulma did as she was told, however, and looked, albeit reluctantly, into his eyes. "answer my question. Do you, or do you not return his feelings?" He asked as he walked toward her, eyes still locked firmly into place. He moved so close that their noses were practically touching, before cocking his head to one side, as if drawn by some outside force. They stood there for a moment, lips less than an inch apart, warm breath assaulting the skin of each others faces.. Vegeta finally leaned in, the gap between their lips growing smaller. Until finally, their lips were so close that...
And then the sound of a throat being cleared broke whatever spell had been weaved, sending them bother reeling backward. Vegeta caught himself about three steps back, but Bulma wasn't quite as lucky and fell unceremoniously into a heap on the floor.
Raditz stood nonchalantly in the doorway, arms crossed, eyes locked with the Saiyan Prince's. "Prince Vegeta." He spoke, but his voice held none of the almost friendly familiarity that it normally contained.
Bulma glanced between the two men quickly, unsure of what to make of the situation. She knew Raditz was debating fighting the Prince, and from the looks of it, Vegeta knew as well. Before Raditz could make a deadly mistake, however, Vegeta stalked past him, and into the hall, leaving Bulma alone with her Saiyan lover. She scooted back quickly, obviously frightened by the fire she'd seen burning in the pits of his eyes.
When he looked at her, however, his eyes softened, and he reached out a hand to help her to her feet.
"Raditz.. I don't know wha--" She began, but he cut he off before she could finish.
"Shh... It's in your job description, remember? I knew what kind of odds I was facing when I came here last night. I'd just hoped that he, of all people, never fell for your charm... that's all."
"But Raditz..."
"We'll talk on the ship. Oh, speaking of which, Prince Vegeta himself gave permission for you to house with me... If you want, of course."
"And you actually need to ask me that?" She replied with a smile, before leaning up and placing a kiss on the Saiyan's cheek.
"Let's get your things." He replied, before taking note of her attire. "And you might wanna change."
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Vegeta stalked angrily down the hallf away from Bulma's room, and the utterly baffling situation that had taken place there. In all honesty, Vegeta would have fought Raditz, and won, had it not been for Frieza and the nearly unavoidable uprising of the Saiyan people. When that happened, they'd need ever bit of manpower they had...
And Raditz was one of the best.
He grabbed a case full of flowers from a nearby table and threw it to the other end of the long corridor, where it smashed into a thousand pieces. he growled at an onlooker, before continuing his angry stalk to his own chambers where he proceeded to sulk.
Yep, you guessed it...
Angrily.
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"Kyra! You don't understand!" Bulma cried to her newfound friend.
"What's there to understand? You almost kissed Prince Vegeta! As long as I've been here, I've NEVER known Vegeta to call on a concubine... You must REALLY have intrigued him..." Kyra answered, before giggling like a preteen school girl.
"But... it was more than that! It was like.. like we had no say in the situation. Like something else was controlling us. Something one hello of a lot stronger than me, and I'd be willing to bet something stronger than him as well." She replied, her eyes taking a far off look to them.
"What matters is the end result... You. Almost. Kissed. Vegeta!"
"Yes, Kyra.. let's play rub the bad shit in Raditz' face game! Because, you see... Seeing her almost kiss Vegeta wasn't enough to kill me... I think you should rub it in until hearing about it does." Raditz spoke quietly, obviously hurt by the situation.
"Forgive me, Raditz... I didn't know you were standing there, and I meant no harm either way." Kyra apologized.
Raditz ignored her, however, and turned his attention back to Bulma. "Like you were being controlled?"
"No...Yes... Sort of.. I don't really know how to explain it.., It's like one minute I was me, then the next I wasn't me, but I was still me... And the other me was supposed to say something, but this me couldn't get it out... It's like I couldn't have left there... even if..."
"Even if you'd wanted to?" He asked softly, finishing her sentence for her.
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"Yes." She answered truthfully, and whether she knew it or not, he was thankful for that. At least she hadn't tried to lie to cover it up.
"I don't understand what's happening... and I sure as hell don't like it." She whispered, before taking another look at Raditz' pained face. "I just need to be alone for a little while." She commented, before running from the room.
"Fuck!" Raditz roared, before pulling back to deliver a solid punch to the wall. He remembered, however, that he was no onboard a ship that departed in less than half an hour. If he busted a hole in the wall, the prince would use Raditz' ass to patch it.
Literally.
"Oh, get over it! You sit there thinking only of yourself, when she's tearing herself apart over what she THINKS she's done. It's such a shame this had to happen today.. The poor girl could use some happiness in her life.. She's been through so much already." Kyra reprimanded, before going back to unpacking her clothes.
"What would it matter if it were today, or next week? It would have hurt no less." Raditz answered, his voice troubled.
"Is that so? So, you mean to tell me that it hurt Bulma no more because today is her birthday?"
"Her birthday? I had no idea..." He answered.
"Figured as much." She replied smugly, before taking note of the grim look he shot her, and quickly attempting to remedy the situation. "All I'm saying is that maybe you should take into account the fact that she's not exactly thrilled about the way this is turning out either."
"Why shouldn't she be happy about it? She's managed to catch the attention of Mister Wonderful. Now she can run to him when she feels like being treated like a whore." He shot back without thinking.
"Is that what you think of me?" A voice from the doorway asked, and Raditz shot around, shocked eyes coming to rest on the rather unhappy face of Bulma.
"I didn't mean..." He began, but was quickly silenced by her hand as it connected with his face.
It's a well known fact that Raditz could dodge any attack Bulma threw at him...
But for some reason, he didn't. He stood there and did nothing as she slapped him, and even he had to admit, it hurt. Even if it was just a bit.
"You son of a bitch." She spat out before turning on her heel and marching from the room. She silently thanked Kami that her tears, both from the pain in her hand, and that in her heart, had gone unnoticed.
She glanced behind her quickly as she rounded the corner and headed down the hall. What she saw nearly caused her to turn back.
Raditz' hand was clasped firmly over his cheek, and his knees buckled, nearly sending him to the floor. A hand shot up to grasp the wall in a desperate attempt to steady himself, but after a moment he decided it wasn't worth the effort, and fell to his knees anyway, completely crushed.
She kept walking.
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Raditz entered their chambers sometime later, still more than a bit distraught. To be honest, however, he was feeling more than a little better. After pounding the living hell out of more than one Elite Guard, his Saiyan instincts had kicked in, and he'd decided to take action, rather than sit around and wait for her to speak to him.
He'd just have to win back her trust, that was all.
He glanced at the clock in the small kitchen area as he walked past, silently praying to Kami it wouldn't be too late to carry out what he had planned.
10:15.
Plenty of Time.
He entered their bedroom stealthily, worry that she might not even be there setting in just as the door swung open. A quick glance at the bed, however, quickly quelled those fears, and helped instill a new sense of calm in the, until now, panicked Saiyan.
"Bulma?" He asked softly as he shook her arm. It looked as though she hadn't awakened, so Raditz decided to take a new approach, and gently ran his hand over hers, earning him a sharp gasp in reply.
She quickly jerked her hand away from his, and he gave her a dismayed look in reply.
Was it possible she was still that upset? So upset that she would recoil from his touch as if...
As if he'd harmed her.
It was then that he noticed two things about the hand she'd jerked away from him.
First, it was the hand she's slapped him with earlier.
Second, it was swollen to about twice the size as normal.
"Idiot female." He growled, before pulling her body into his arms and heading for the bathroom.
"What the...?" Bulma asked as she woke to find herself being lifted into a set of strong arms, and carried away from her warm bed.
"What in hell's name were you thinking?" Raditz asked gruffly as he deposited her on the bathroom sink.
"What do you mean what was I thinking?" She asked, confused, but confusion died out and quickly turned to pain as she tried to push off of the counter. "Fuck.." She mumbled, before reaching up to cradle her injured hand.
"You do realize how stupid it was to SMACK me, right? I mean, you could've done serious damage to your hand.. Provided, of course, that you haven't already. Next time, if you're going to hit me, at least throw some inanimate object. That way I'll be the only one hurt." He tried to joke, but his heart fell when she neither laughed or smiled... She just continued staring off into space. "Don't try to move... I'm gonna go call the Med bay. Hopefully someone's still there."
She never acknowledged him.
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After making the call to the medical wing of the ship, Raditz returned, only to find Bulma in the exact same position as she'd been in before, glaring at the wall, injured hand cradled carefully to her chest.
"Well, at least you listened." He mumbled, before walking over to her, and attempting to pull her closer to his chest.
She jerked away from him.
"Don't touch me." She growled, and it was all Raditz could do to not back up several steps at her tone of voice.
There was a buzz at the door then, and Raditz silently thanked Kami that he was able to leave the room. The situation between them was obviously worse than he'd first imagined.
He greeted the man at the door warmly, well, as warmly as one Saiyan can greet another. He motioned to the bathroom, and the Saiyan doctor followed, as did the two Saiyans who were currently wheeling the regen-tank.
"She's in here." Raditz spoke as he pushed open the door. However, nothing could have prepared him for what happened next.
Bulma let out a shrill scream before backing up as far as she could on the counter. Her face paled visibly, and for a moment she actually thought she might lose consciousness. When she found her voice again, she uttered one of the many words that she hadn't been able to speak since the day her world had exploded.
"Goku?"