Inevitability
Chapter Ten: Legend
The next day, Vegeta had been called again for a gathering of the defense against the riots in the Briefs kingdom. The Saiya-jin prince had been given a schedule of his duties and his training. He was to start immediately. His charge as a personal guard to the princess, however, was never canceled. He had little time to himself and, to his own surprise, the Queen had been arguing about 'the handsome boy's spare time' and him 'not having a second to breathe'.
Not that he minded. That way he had little time to think over the Princess' strange behavior that day and he had little time to deal with her as well. Except for the moments he was 'on duty', but that's besides the point. What surprised him the most was that he had a personal maiden that readied him for his training and then cleaned any blood, his or his opponent's, splattered over him. It looked more like a whim than something useful, but the Queen had insisted that 'the handsome boy needed some female attention'.
The more the Saiya-jin thought about it, the more he became creeped out by the ruler's wife's attitude towards him. He would've liked it better if she wasn't calling him 'that handsome boy' whenever she was referring to him. He did not deny he was indeed beautiful, but... A woman twice his age repeating it didn't really fit in Vegeta's notion for a proper Queen's behavior.
"I'm not made of glass, goddamn it." His gruff voice made the concentrated maid jump a little, causing the warrior's eyes to roll. A pinch of redness covered the girl's cheeks.
"Ariane is worried about the master's wall-fare. These wounds not seem to heal, Lord. Ariane very worried." The green eyed girl set a short auburn tress behind her ear, only to have it fall back in front of her eyes.
"You do realize that you are not my slave." His eye brow quirked. "Why do you talk like an idiot? By the way you aid the warriors around I certainly don't get the impression of an absolute goof standing before me." The girl's cheeks reddened yet again. This was going to get annoying...
"Ariane not knowing Universal language well, sire. Ariane sorry for the way she sound." Vegeta's smirk stretched over his features as the maid put a bandage over the small cut on his shoulder from his previous training.
"Well, you'll get more practice as I sense being here for a long time..."
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A week later...
"The handsome young man seemed pleased by the servant he had been granted." The Queen sat in her seat for breakfast. She was soon followed by a frowning King.
"I still don't think that was actually needed." He placed a napkin in his lap.
"Since you leave him no time to even have proper sleep, that's the least you can do, dear." The blond woman scolded.
"Even if he had time, he still wouldn't sleep properly." Both pair eyes shifted to the entering princess as she sat down on the table as well with a tired expression on her face. Her mother's questioning look was far from enough to make her spill the beans.
"What has happened to you, dear? Didn't you sleep?" Bulma groaned as she too placed a napkin in her lap, though she didn't really feel like eating.
"No. I've been working all night." She looked at the huge breakfast dish and scrunched her nose up in utter disgust. No, really, the last thing she wanted right then was to eat. "But it had been worth it, for my project has been completed!" She jumped up in a rush of energy and felt like collapsing when her eye lids threatened to close over her eyes. Her mother's applause reached her ears grantingly and the young woman grinned.
"Bravo, honey. Now, will you have some breakfast? It may help you put yourself together." The elder woman suggested as the chair her daughter was sitting on slid back against the tiled floor.
"I don't have time for this. I have to get back to tutoring. I've missed a whole lot of lessons about now." She muttered walking off.
"But, Bulma, you know all your tutors tell for a couple of years now."
"Doesn't matter, I have to go back to tutoring!" The princess insisted and dragged herself to the huge wooden doors and slammed them shut behind her. Now, better begin with the piano lessons. The piano teacher was her favorite one. Mostly because she was kind and polite and never yelled at her for anything. And the really last thing on the list of 'great' things that could happen to her today was getting yelled at in the sensitive state her ears were since she got no sleep for a week or so.
She hoped the piano would help her relax some.
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As she supposed, her favorite theme made her soul relax. (A/N: Sorry for butting in, but does anyone know the theme from Sailor Moon's first movie OST: "Gekitotsu! Sailormoon Versus Fiore"? Damn, that piano theme is my absolute favorite of anything I have ever heard. And that's what Bulma is playing on her piano as well. -wink, wink- )
"Princess, how do you feel like being an adult in a few days?" Her piano instructor asked her nicely, smiling kindly at her. Bulma blinked a few times, getting her hands off of the piano's keyboard.
"What do you mean?" She asked back sincerely.
"Don't tell me you have forgotten your own birthday, Bulma-Chan." The lavender haired girl had given the woman permission to call her by her own name a long time ago. Birthday? What birthday? The princess' eye brows furrowed in thought. OooOoooh, that birthday.
"No! Of course I didn't! I just got a little... distracted, that's all!" She defended herself still feeling her lids threatening to surrender under the force the lack of sleep was implying on them.
"So you did forget." The elder woman giggled.
"No. Maybe a little... Well maybe a lot.... Okay, so I forgot." At the time, the white haired piano teacher had burst into a fit of the quiet melodic laughter she had, making Bulma's pouting expression turn into a small smile.
"I think it will be better for you to have some sleep, my lady. I heard you've been working on something really hard." The woman said as she wiped a tear from her eyes from all the laughing she had done. The princess' lavender head nodded and she stood up from her chair, bowing to her teacher.
"Thanks, Shiroi-sensei." She stood up, smiling at the woman she had known practically her whole life. "I will!" She ran back to her quarters.
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The King looked around the room. It was fully prepared to surprise his precious little princess on the next morning. Everything was perfect. They had everything ready even without that boy. The Saiya-jin had refused to admix to the heiress' birthday preparations and had gone for a long whole-day training today.
The King snorted. Well, he'd be damned if he'd have that insolent boy get the better of him. Now he had a prince and his cousin to call and no time for foolish childish behavior of someone he could care less about.
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That night....
Bulma relaxed against the cold wall of her balcony. The chilling zephyr sent shivers of content down the princess' spine. She was tired. She sighed and slid to the ground.
"You'll catch a cold." Vegeta's voice called from the balcony next to her as she looked up at the starry night sky. The butter blue coloring of it made the stars twinkle even brighter tonight.
"Oh? So now you're worried about me?" The cerulean eyes were hidden behind the creamy white eyelids of the girl now.
"You're the one that's going to sneeze, cough and complain about your weakling of an immune system." He muttered back at her, earning a laugh from her. A sincere laugh. Yeah, she was going to do that alright. He knew her better than she thought. The delicate eyebrows of the young woman narrowed at the thought.
"Look at the beautiful stars..." She whispered quietly. Somehow she had the strange feeling that if the young man had been doing something else; right now he did as she asked him. "Aren't they just so... Gorgeous?" She relaxed her arms against the railing as she stood up.
Vegeta said nothing. He just stared up as well. He let his feet leave the ground and he crossed them over one another, as he remained silent.
"Just like a dragon ball..." Her voice trailed off as she imagined how the object in question would look like. Her words gained the attention of the other youth by her side.
"Dragon ball?" He repeated, only to have her nod back.
"Yes. A dragon ball." She sat back on her butt and continued to stare mesmerized up at the sky. "The Dragon Balls are mystical objects. I have even heard they are the family treasure of the Briefs kin, or so. Anyway... There are seven balls, each one holding either one, two, three, four, five, six or seven red stars in it. It is rumored they are supremely beautiful." She sighed dreamily. "I wish I could see one... Well, anyway, once you gather all seven of them, you can call the Dragon, guardian of the balls, and it will make one wish of yours come true."
"A wish?" He repeated again.
"Yes, a wish. When your wish had been fulfilled, the balls scatter around the world once again, until next time they have been collected. But the Dragon can make another wish come true in a year gap."
"Sounds like a childish myth to me." Vegeta chuckled.
"What do you know..." He heard a mutter trail off. He took a glance at the girl, who was yet again staring emptily up, in the sky. He frowned and picked her up, setting her back on her comfy bed as she had already fallen asleep.
No, really, it was turning into a habit of hers doing so. He smirked as he remembered taking her limp nine-year-old form to her bed on Frieza's spacecraft as well. Now, he could say with a pure conscience that she had grown simply gorgeous rather than her scrawny old self. He frowned at his thoughts and went back to his own room. He had to get a grip on himself for he felt himself slipping yet again, just like almost nine years ago...
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The Queen looked happily around the room. She was so happy that her long time acquaintance would come especially for the occasion tomorrow. She was sure her daughter would be happy to see her friends as well.
Or would she?
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There you have it. Awfully short, yes. But it's meant this way. Whoohoo, get ready for some birthday partying next chapter! And what is that Vegeta is 'slipping' about?
Now, I'd like to make an announcement. I'll be thanking to every single one of you who has reviewed on every tenth chapter of this fic. Like, this one will the be first. The second will the be the twentieth, the third one - the thirtieth, if I go up to so many chapters that is, LoL. Of course, I'll thank you all in the final chapter as well and the thanking there will be updated every time a new face shows up! So, there, you're informed! LoL.
I'd like to thank to: Penthisileia (The first person that trusted my fic, read it and reviewed), VeryShortMidgetjill, DBZ-fan-JESS, KataanRoGuE-WhItE-DrAgOn, Serpant Lake, LainaHikari Heijin, Bex-chan, Pikachu Huntertrunksbabe1, another, C.C2veg-man529, Nyce456, Quoth AuroraMonika, DarkAngelius, AyakaChandaisy31, AngelKelley17, Joelie The Messanger of Deathdraegon-fire, Aikia, Dray John Perry, GothicBlacre, SailorZAnime(a.k.a. StarZ and SSzAnime if I'm not mistaking, right ;) )sal, demonman21, vegetasbluedreamAmy, Leelo77, KaityThanh, RodeoStar and that does all of them.
I haven't written them underlined, bolded and itallized by some order or importance, I felt like doing some monkey stuff like that, LoL. So... Thank you all of the above and all of the future reviewers! :) Whose names will be mentioned in chapter twenty, when I make it up to chapter twenty LoL. Anyway... -wink- I'll try to get another chapter out before the third exam! -grins- Your wonderful support is impossible to be disappointed! -grins even wider- Okay, love you all, 'till the next chapter!