I could honestly kill myself now. I have subjected myself into the whole "Buruma and Vegeta go to Namek to find the dragon balls" and "Buruma and Vegeta go in outer space" common story line. It's because of that reason that I have found this to be one of the hardest chapters to write as I try so hard to stay away from your average v/B fic. Over all, I hope you all will still continue to support this story and not roll your eyes or be like "Oh I've read this a million times." I promise to stay away from overused story lines for the rest of my days! (That is, if you ignore the whole Vegeta is still prince of Vegetasai, Buruma is a princess, and they are betrothed thing. This whole story is fucking me up…)
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"Introducing, the great Princess Buruma!" The doors to the great ballroom were opened and a young woman with a tall, and rather muscular Saiyan guard, entered. Buruma wore a dark silver gown that accented her blue hair and eyes quite nicely. It was an off the shoulder, corset like top, the sleeves on it rather poofy. The actual skirt of her gown was a bell shape (think of Anna in the king and I when she dances with the king, only silver). Her hair was a mass of curls pilled on top of her head. Tonight was her beginning of truly being a lady of higher society. As nice as that was, she was no longer allowed to have her hair down when in public or in front of any males, including her own husband. No big deal really, she hardly ever wore her hair down anyways. The only thing to get used to was wearing the damned tiara that was pinned in her hair. Due to the necessity of it looking regal, it was covered in sapphires, diamonds, and the tiniest pearls. Beautiful, indeed, but heavy as well. She was still trying to figure out how it wasn't crushing her skull.
She looked around the room at all the smiling guests. This was her official engagement party. It also tied in with her leaving for Namek the next day, and due to that, that is what most people considered the party to be for.
Buruma held onto his hand as if it held the elixir of life. Not knowing what she was expected to do she felt trapped. She smiled weakly. The crowd whispered. OK, so maybe that wasn't it. Thinking like a true Saiyan, she quickly turned her face into a snooty scowl and lifted her nose into the air. 'Act like you are better then all of them. You can do this Buruma.' Clinging tighter to her unnamed escort, the young woman let him lead her across the ball room floor to stand before a different, more matured woman.
After her escort bade her goodnight, Buruma turned to face the other woman. This Saiyan, obviously in her late fifties, looked haggard. Her brows were knitted in raw curiosity. "My lady, what have I done to deserve your attention this evening?"
Buruma tucked a piece of her lavender hair behind her ear, a nervous habit she swore she would one day rid herself of. "Please, Mother, don't be like that." She seated herself across the table from her mother. "I have come to visit, this is, after all, the last time you'll see me for a few months."
The other woman scoffed, "You always were soft. I blame myself, really, but what can I do to change that now?" She sighed and a small smile graced her lips, causing her miniscule wrinkles to almost double in number, "What do you want of me?"
"How's Papa?" She looked around the room, "I thought he'd be here."
"You know how he is. I doubt he'll ever attend any celebration again. The last one he attended was our bonding ritual." She sighed, "He's just obsessed with his duty to his king and the Saiyan empire. Nothing more, nothing less. You get used to it."
Buruma frowned. Yes, she was lucky that she had the rare Saiyan parents that showed even the slightest bit of caring for their young. But still, she figured her father would appear to see her off. She was scheduled to leave 15 minutes after the gala ended.
She let out a withered sigh, no, that would be too much to ask for. She was, after all, not exactly going on a life or death mission. She would be back with the dragon balls in only a few weeks and it would be as if she never left. She found comfort in the idea that if she had left, say, for something as a purging mission with elite squadron, that he would have definitely shown up. She wasn't a terrible fighter at all, it was just that she valued science and education far more than sneaky ninja skills. 'I'll have to work on that when I get back, I suppose.'
Before her thoughts could trail any farther, she heard the familiar sound of the blaring trumpets, alerting the crowd that the king was on his way to the ball room. Sure enough, the large oak doors were opened and in strutted the king proudly. Beside of him was his son, the crowned Prince Vegeta, and following was newly appointed Commander of his Majesty's Royal Army, Brolli (yeah, Buruma made sure that the king went a little overboard with Brolli's promotion). The mass of people in the ballroom, including Buruma, struck their right fist over their heart, bowed their heads, and bowed deeply for their sovereign. If they would have looked up they would have seen their mighty king doing a little booty dance. Something he enjoyed doing whenever the crowd did something to praise his regality. Hey, everyone has to get their kicks somewhere. When they stood up, they were greeted by the site of their King smirking to his son who was rubbing his temples.
"My dear subjects," began the king, though in all reality they were really his royal court and royal guests. A young Saiyan warrior, obviously a rookie, whispered the kings error to his ear. The king turned to him and shot him through the chest with a small bit of ki out of his pointer finger. He then turned to the crowd again. "My dear friends!" There was an obvious rise of approval at this. "We have come here today in celebration of two great forces coming together. My son, Prince Vegeta the…well every royal is called Vegeta and we all know his number in lineage so lets move on, and his joining with the royal princess, Buruma!" There was a soft applause as Buruma's escort once again took her by the arm and led her to the stage. She joined Vegeta's side, and he quickly took her arm in his own. The escort bowing before leaving their sight.
"And now, let us have a toast to our most promising young couple. To the strongest warrior and the most intelligent scientist our mighty planet has to offer. May your future sons be proud warriors!" To this, the room drank.
Buruma was repeatedly led around the room by strange royals or members of the kings court or cabinet. She dared not imagine how many she danced with, spoke politics or science with, or how many she had charmed. Over all, it seemed there was no one the princess could win over. She looked across the room. Her fiancé had just kissed the hand of Buruma's mother, one of the women he was forced to dance with due to royal protocol. So far, the couple themselves had yet to dance, something both were strangely relieved over. In previous engagement balls, whenever the couple themselves danced, the rest of the party would remain still and observe. It was almost as if being put on display, something neither of them felt like dealing with. However, she certainly lost her breath when she heard a minister from some neighboring planet come over the microphone. "Since we have yet to witness this dance, could our dear Buruma and Vegeta please grace us with a dance." However, she had to laugh when the King Vegeta, and not the prince took her hand to lead her to the dance floor. Being intoxicated, the king had no comprehension of what the minister had truly intended. And, being king, no one dared to tell him he had mistaken.
She was waltzed around the floor, dipped, and spun like a top before the orchestra took mercy upon her and ended the song quickly. The king kissed her hand, "You dance divinely princess."
"Thank you my lord." She then added through her teeth, "You dance far better than I though."
"Just been around a bit longer, just a bit." He let out a loud laugh which caused the yelp of a poor unsuspecting woman. "Well, I think I shall call this a night. Please wrap this up," he added to Brolli.
Brolli went to the front of the stage, and gave a confused look to the king as if to ask what to say. Eventually he just clicked on the mic for a minute just to say, "Go home" before turning it off again and escorting the princess to her room. They would leave tomorrow, but she counted her blessings. She took it as a great sign that though it was an engagement party for her and the asshole, she never once had to deal with him. Perhaps their marriage would be like that too.
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The first day wasn't so bad as you would tend to think. In fact, though conversation was limited to Buruma asking questions and Vegeta replying with either a grunt or scowl, it was down right peachy. Not one real argument occurred, but that could be over looked because there wasn't exactly a friendship brewing either. It seemed that both parties had accepted that this had to be done together and the best teams were created because of some sort of understanding. Yeah, right.
In all reality it was driving both of them insane. Before their departure both tried with all their being to find some sort of ticket out of this "adventure." Vegeta had suggested that such a task was demeaning to his status as the prince of Vegetasei. Buruma had researched Namek and found it to be a peaceful planet. Due to this, a lower warrior could be sent instead. Upon her suggestion of sending Brolli with her, the king pleaded with her how that would look upon the common folk. The princess with an available Saiyan for over a months time alone? It was best to send her with the prince so gossip could not begin.
However, Buruma was not to be denied what she wanted. She agreed to go on this dragon ball hunt only if provided by some sort of company. She was granted permission and so the three, Vegeta, Buruma, and Brolli, began their journey.
So now they sat across a table from one another, staring at a hologram outline of the planet, Namek. Buruma had already began making plans for something she called a "dragon radar." Though it could not be completed until finding at least one dragon ball (so she could put in a unique material the ball was made of into the machine to locate it), she could at least put in the map of Namek into it. Brolli, watched her work, occasionally handing her whatever tool she asked of him. Vegeta, on the other hand, had nothing better to do than train, just in case they ran into unexpected troubles. Instead he spent his time keeping watch over the other two members of his party. He told them that he could not be defeated by anyone, so the prince had instead decided to spend his time memorizing the terrain of Namek. This way, he could have some sort of familiarity with the grounds and any type of hiding places the planet had to offer. 'Those weak creatures probably will run for high ground or those caves…pathetic.'
Buruma looked up when she heard her fiancé snort loudly in disgust. "What?"
Vegeta looked at her quickly, it was the first time in five hours that she had tried talking to him. He simply stood up and left the room, making sure to lift his head in a demeaning manner, suggesting she was lower than him. Instead of retorting back to his rude behavior, Buruma just shrugged and continued her work.
Maybe this would be a long trip.
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I stole this from a story this girl at college told our class in orientation. They were doing the play Camelot and when everyone bowed to King Arthur, he mooned them…on opening night!