A/N: Haha, yea, I know Bulma shouldn't have given into it so easily, but I couldn't resisit, I get impatient I guess, lol. Wow, I'm being a good updater, huh? Lol, I'll see what I can do about this chapter…

NOTE: I combined the first 3 chapters to make it in to only 2 chapters, so YES, this is a new chapter, I just replaced the other chapter 5, with this one.

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"To count… stars…?" she questioned. This had to be one of the most random-acting people she had EVER met… It was a bit disconcerting, but she couldn't resist going along with him. It was a refreshing break from her mapped-out life. Spontaneous… fun… new! Still a bit strange either way, however, even scary. She was letting a complete stranger drag her all around, and up into her tree house. For all she knew…

"Good, so now we know your hearing is okay," he replied sardonically.

She rolled her eyes and felt him drop her hand and hop right over the fence. She simply stood and gawked up at the top of the fence. How had he done that? It was a wooden fence that must have been six feet high.

His head appeared over the top again. "What are you waiting for?" he asked impatiently.

"What do you mean?" she responded in astonishment, "I can't do that!"

"Oh quit making such a big deal out of it." She sill wasn't moving. He sighed and told her, "Look, just jump up, grab the top, and PULL YOURSELF OVER." He disappeared, so she figured this was her chance to try without the worry of embarrassing herself in front of him. If it didn't wok, she could always walk around the long way.

She backed up a bit, then made a running start and jumped, grabbing on to the top of the fence. She was only a few inches off the ground but it felt like she was hanging off a cliff as she flailed her legs, frantically trying to get up and over the edge. She just barely got her chin over the top before falling back- right on her bum.

"Ouch!" she whined quietly rubbing the sore spot. She heard a hearty laugh coming from beside her. She looked over, mortified to see Vegeta leaning against the fence a few feet away. He was staring at her with a smirk on his face. "How long have you been standing there…?"

"Long enough."

She eyed him skeptically. "How'd you get there though? I didn't see you hop over."

"That's because I didn't 'hop'," he said, using air-quotes, "I walked around."

"So why can't I just do that?" she inquired, still sitting on the ground.

He sighed, "Because I don't want you to."

What was with this guy? Hadn't anyone ever told him you don't always get what you want? "Well I really don't care what you want, because I'm not going over that fence tonight!" She attempted to get up, but realized the grass was a bit slick just around the time she slipped and fell back again. "GAH!" she yelled in frustrating.

He snickered, then replied, "Fine, we'll have to go to plan 'B' since you're clearly having problems even standing up on your own."

"Huh?" She cocked her head at him.

He walked over and stuck a hand out. She merely stared at it a few minutes before accepting his help. He pulled up quicker than she had expected, and swung her around to face his back, then swiftly bent down, grabbed behind him for her knees, and pulled her up on to his back (in to a piggy-back).

She was stunned for a moment- he had done all of that so swiftly… and without her consent come to think of it. She pounded on the back of his shoulders, being careful not to fall however, and said, "WHAT do you think you're doing?"

"Going to the tree house," and he was off, walking right along without any ifs, ands, or buts. She nearly lost her balance at the beginning, so he leaned forward a bit until she regained it. After that, she flung her arms around his shoulders and neck in alarm. She didn't want to fall down for a third time in ten minutes.

He still smells good, she thought guiltily. She was, quite literally, taking time to smell the roses. It wasn't as if she was snorting and inhaling every two seconds, but the scent was a bit hard to miss considering her cheek WAS resting against the back of his neck.

He smirked at the feel of her skin against his. He had missed it. They had been so young back then though, and it hadn't really meant as much. Hard as it was to think about, he had missed the girl. How pathetic…

"To count stars?"

That sent him right back to reality. "What?"

"We're going to the tree house… to count stars."

"Hey, you're really catching on," he told her sarcastically.

They finally made it to the base of the tree and he let her down, and began climbing up the 'ladder'.Really it was just a mess of boards nailed to the tree. She mischievously watched from below for a few moments, admiring the view, before following in suit.

By the time she got there, he was standing up near one of the beams she had put up as a rail and looking all around him.

"It really is a nice view at night," she told him.

He turned around slightly, just enough to see her face. It really was getting dark though, and she could barely see his expression it was so covered by shadows.

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"How could you do that?" she heard a little boy scream as she covered her face with her hands and cried into them. "You can't leave me now! It's not fair!"

"What can I do?" she heard a young girl, herself, scream back in frustration.

"Tell them no! Tell them you won't do it," he begged her, grabbing her hand.

She yanked it back angrily. "You just want me to give this up because it's 'not fair'?" she asked quietly, "Now that's not fair…"

He looked up at her, most of his face covered in the shadows of all the tree branches and dying leaves and bushes that surrounded them. "If you're going to do that, then I don't ever want to see you again anyway."

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Bulma bit her lip as she thought of it. She hadn't thought about that night in a very long time… It as the night before she left to come here.

"I can SEE that it's a nice view," he replied before laying down on his back in the middle of the platform.

She laid down beside him. She supposed she couldn't just stand there like a dolt while he was relaxing. "I just figured I'd-"

"State the obvious?" he interrupted. She threw him a glare before he turned his gaze back up to the night sky. He complained quietly, "There are too many lights."

She turned to look at him and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I MEAN," he told her angrily, "that there are so many lights on around here that it completely pollutes the sky. You can't see a damn thing…" He threw his arm up arbitrarily toward the sky before letting it flop back down and across his stomach.

"What do you expect? You're in the middle of town. I hardly ever see the stars."

After a few moments of silence he looked back over at her. "What do you want to ask?"

Her eyes got large for a fleeting moment before she turned to him, "Who said I want to ask you anything?"

He shrugged, "No one said it. It's all in your body language."

Now what the hell was he talking about? It was all in her body language… Yeah right. He couldn't be that good at reading her, and she was fairly certain he couldn't read her mind either. She sighed. Even her thoughts were rambling now. She turned her head, once again, to find him staring at her.

She sighed again, feeling defeated, then tuned her head back up to the night sky and replied, "I knew you at the orphanage?"

Well it was about time… "Yes." He couldn't tear his eyes away from her now.

She closed her eyes and thought of that horrid memory from earlier. "Did you know a boy named John when we were there?"

His eyes nearly bugged out, all she could remember was 'John'? "Yes," he replied warily.

What a surprise… She opened her eyes back half way and turned back to him. She looked him up and down through her eyelashes. He didn't sound very thrilled, but she asked anyway, "Well, what do you remember about him?"

He groaned in disgust at the question. "All I remember is a rude, nasty, greedy little boy who couldn't find anyone to adopt him for another four years after you'd left," he said in a low, angry tone.

She flinched at the harshness of his words. She turned her head to the other side and didn't reply for what felt like forever before she heard, "What?"

"That's not how I remember him at all," she told him, still not facing him.

He raised an eyebrow in question, "How do you remember him then?"

Finally her gaze returned to his and she replied, "I don't remember all that much anymore, but remember he was always sweet to me, and he would play with me when no one else was around…" she thought for a moment, "and he was never greedy- except for one occasion in particular…"

He snorted, "And when was that?"

"I don't care to talk about it right now."

"Was it- maybe- the night before you left?" he asked coyly.

Her eyes got slightly larger. "How do you know that?"

He shrugged casually, "I just remember he was really pissed off after you left."

"HE was pissed off?"

He eyed her and replied, "I guess."

She rolled away from him onto her side. How could HE be pissed off. He was the one who picked the fight, he was the one who got so upset over nothing, HE was the one who got to freaking stay there while she had to leave and come HERE.

"Oh, what now?" he asked, but she refused to reply. "Come on, what's up with you?"

She wanted to tell him something, anything, but she was quite literally at a loss for words. She opened her mouth to say something, but the words wouldn't come out. She flipped back over on to her other side and stared at him blankly.

"What's wrong with the fact her was pissed off?"

She continued to stare blankly. "I don't know, but at least he got to stay there. I was the one who had to leave and start all over again."

He glared at her, "He wasn't all that happy about it."

She scoffed, "Why are you sticking up for him anyway, I thought you hated the guy?"

He didn't respond, but merely turned his gaze back to the stars.

She closed her eyes in frustration as he scowled. "What exactly did he do after I left?"

Vegeta gave her a confused glance. "What do you mean?"

"How could you tell he was so upset and all? I mean, did he act up, mouth off to the teachers, or what?"

He laughed listlessly. "Act up and mouth off? That's not even the beginning! You should've seen how many girls he went through!"

She was utterly shocked, "He dated?"

"He did a lot more than date. That guy went through girls like candy. Envy of every other male there."

Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at his face, "That's why you don't like him?"

"Well… you could say that." He looked down t her, and reached over to move a piece of hair out of her face absently. She didn't move a muscle when he didn't draw his hand back. She sat up and told him she had to go since it was getting rather late. She turned to leave and heard him get up to come along.

Ignoring him she climbed down cautiously and began walking across the grass to her back door. She was a bit startled when he slipped his arm around her waist, but didn't respond physically. When they finally reached the door, she turned around to tell him goodnight, or go away, whatever slipped out.

The second she'd turned though he pulled her close, stole a quick, but soft, kiss, and walked off. She stood, staring at his back and gawked a moment, then got over it and turned back to go inside.

She heard him yell over his shoulder, "Later, Gater."

She stopped dead in her tracks… only John had EVER said that to her…

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A/N: Okay guys, so I dunno what I want to put down here. Other than to ask what you thought, etc. Haha, and let me know if you're confused at all by the 'John' thing, but I won't give anything away.

Review you guys! I love them!