Vegeta watched from the shadows as Bulma walked past him up the stairs. Once she was gone, Vegeta walked out into the light that shone from the foyer. He stared at the stairs the blue-haired woman just walked up. He was mulling over the way she looked. Bulma looked unhappy and had obviously been crying.

He had of better not hurt her. Vegeta thought angrily as he sauntered into the kitchen to fix himself a sandwich. Vegeta sat in his chair, slowly chewing his sandwich as he thought about everything that had happened over the past couple of weeks. His mind relived the time when Bulma cared for him when he injured himself in the gravity room. He remembered how his heart would jump whenever he heard someone approach his door. Whenever it was someone other than Bulma, his stomach would feel sick with disappointment. I can't possibly care about the woman. "This is stupid," he growled to himself. As he argued with himself, his mind went back in time to when he was injured.

Vegeta slowly opened his eyes and looked over to his right. There sat the Earth woman. Why is she here? Vegeta asked out loud. He watched her breath as she slept hunched over the night stand. He took this moment to stare at her all he wanted without having to worry about her catching him. He found he had been doing that a lot lately: staring at her. It took him a while to realize that the reason he stared at her was because he wanted her. But he could not have her, she belonged to another: that idiot Yamcha. He thought to himself with disgust. It made no sense. Here he was, a Saiyan prince, and some bumbling weakling gets the prettiest woman on Earth—no, in the world. Vegeta sighed heavily and turned his attention to his battered body. He examined his body, taking in the damage done.

Slowly, Bulma stirred awake and looked over at Vegeta through sleepy eyes. She rubbed her eyes and looked at him again.

"Woman, why are you here?" Vegeta asked in a gentle tone.

Bulma smiled at him as she leaned over to check the bandage on his head. "Well, it looks as though I'm taking care of you."

"Why?" Vegeta demanded, although the tone was still strangely gentle.

Bulma smiled. "Because I want to." She simply stated.

Vegeta smirked. "I doubt your boyfriend would approve.

Bulma blushed hotly. "Look! I'm just taking care of you. We're not dating or anything, ok? Sheesh!"

Vegeta smirked again, noticing the blush. He knew otherwise. She wanted him. He could feel it somehow. As Bulma went about changing the bandage, he looked into her eyes. When she finished, she still stayed close to him, looking into his dark eyes. She leaned over and kissed his lips quickly, pulling back as though his skin burned her. Vegeta gasped and stared at her.

"Why did you do that?" Vegeta asked her, angry but excited at the same time.

Instead of answering, she fled the room.

As he sat there in the kitchen, Vegeta replayed the kiss over and over in his mind, smiling slightly. He thought back to when he first saw her on Namek. She had been with the short cue-ball head guy, Krillin. She was absolutely gorgeous. Vegeta remembered hearing her speak for the first time. Oh, how that silly banter would get on his nerves. And the yelling! But yet, after a while, he found himself wanting to hear Bulma's silly banter and chattering. He even enjoyed arguing with her. He tried denying it to himself. He would ridicule the silly things Bulma said while at the same time he was amused by it. He was and still is utterly intrigued by the fact that this woman is not at all intimidated by him. Bulma sees things in life and obtains joy from life that Vegeta cannot see, but yet wants for himself. Through Bulma, Vegeta can feel joy and contentment. And Vegeta is disgusted with himself for wanting that.

What a weakling I've become. I actually feel happy when Bulma is around. Hmpf! I even break the machines on purpose sometimes just to have an excuse to be around her. So I do care for her. Vegeta sat there, stunned and angry, while some part of his brained cheered the fact that he finally admitted it. Don't forget, Vegeta, she has a mate. That moron Yamcha. At that thought the smile dropped suddenly from his face and was replaced with an angry scowl. The more he saw Bulma and Yamcha together, the angrier and more jealous he grew. Still scowling, he marched upstairs to his room to get some much needed sleep. When he got to Bulma's door, he stopped and slowly laid his hand on her door. He stood that way for a minute and then walked into his room next door and went to bed.

As Bulma slept she tossed and turned, reliving the breakup scene with Yamcha over and over as she whimpered and cried in her sleep. When Vegeta's hand touched her door, she suddenly stopped and fell into a more restful sleep.

Vegeta woke up around 8:00 am, despite having been up practically all night. His body was like an alarm clock. As Vegeta sat up in his bed, still thinking about his dream of Bulma. He was still sweating and breathing heavily. He could almost feel her still lying under him, moaning in pleasure—STOP IT! He yelled at himself mentally.

Vegeta then decided to go downstairs to get breakfast before training. He saw Bulma in the living room, sitting on the couch staring at the wall. His eyes took in her blue hair, her big eyes, her face. Then they traveled to her heaving chest and all the way down to her shapely legs peeking out from under her baby doll nightie. Seeing her there stirred up foreign emotions in Vegeta, and the Saiyan prince did not like it one bit.

"What are you doing up at this hour?" He barked at Bulma.

Bulma jumped at the sudden noise and turned to face Vegeta, as she turned, Vegeta could see the bouquet of roses she held in her left hand. No doubt from that idiot Yamcha Vegeta could not help but feel anger and jealously towards the desert bandit who possessed Bulma's heart.

"What do you want?" Bulma asked, annoyed at the tone in Vegeta's voice.

Vegeta stared angrily at the roses in her hand.

"Well?" Bulma demanded.

Vegeta snapped out of his daze. "Fix me breakfast," he grumbled and quickly turned to leave the room.

"Creep!" Bulma yelled after him. Then she returned her attention to the roses. Rereading the card Yamcha had sent. It was for the best. I am not angry with you. Love, Yamcha. PS: I would have married you.

Amazed, Bulma sat there on the couch. She had always complained that he was never serious. She waited so long for that proposal as all her friends got engaged, got married…some even had kids now. While Bulma Briefs, the catch of the city just sat around with her shy, scared boyfriend. For so long she wanted that ring. She thought that the revelation Yamcha was prepared to propose would upset her, but it didn't. That was the weird part. She felt…relieved that she ended it before it got to that point. But why? She asked herself, dumbstruck. Because he's not the one, Bulma. Bulma sat there, pondering that thought. Bulma suddenly felt a lot better and the card did not sadden her. Yamcha was not the one and now Bulma was free to pursue whatever life had to offer.

She pondered over what Yamcha had told her in the restaurant about her always talking about Vegeta. What scared Bulma was how correct he was. Vegeta consumed her every thought and her dreams. So many mornings Bulma woke up panting and in a sweat. In her dreams, Vegeta was never harsh or mean. He spoke to her gently and his touch lit her body on fire. Bulma moaned softly out loud.

"WO-MAAN!" Vegeta yelled angrily from the kitchen.

"UGHH! JERK!" Bulma yelled back as she jumped up from the couch and stormed into the kitchen where the Saiyan prince was sitting with his arms folded over his chest. Seeing him sitting there, Bulma stopped being angry and smiled at the image of him. He looks so cute when he's mad.

"What are you smiling at, woman?" The prince demanded.

Bulma turned to him and smiled sweetly. "I'm just happy about life, you silly goob. And my name is Bulma, duh!" She whistled as she prepared breakfast for the two of them.

"I'm assuming that idiot weakling Yamcha sent the roses?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow as he awaited an answer.

Bulma stopped whistling and frowned, which caused Vegeta to raise an eyebrow out of surprise. "Of course," Bulma replied softly. She was in no mood for snide comments about Yamcha and she refused to give Vegeta the satisfaction of knowing they were no longer dating. Besides, it was none of his business. "A beautiful girl like me always has adoring men sending her flowers." She told him nonchalantly as she winked at him.

Vegeta blushed pink and turned away. "Damn woman." He mumbled to himself. After breakfast, Vegeta left to train in the gravity room. He did not even glance over at Bulma as he walked by.

Bulma looked at the doorway where he walked through and paused. Suddenly realizing she was staring off into space again, she resumed cleaning up the dishes and went upstairs to change into her clothes for today. As she dressed, she looked outside toward the gravity room. Her mind went back to this morning's conversation with Yamcha. He had called to talk to her about what happened and to make sure she got his roses. Bulma kept replaying what he told her: You're in love with Vegeta. Everyone can see it. Why can't you see it? Bulma had yelled at him, denying it. Surprisingly, Yamcha did not yell back at her. He sounded tired and defeated.

"In love with Vegeta! Hmpf! That's just ridiculous." Bulma told herself and then went downstairs.

"Bulma? Could you help me out in the lab, dear?" Dr. Briefs called out to her from the laboratory doorway.

"Coming, Dad!"

Bulma walked into the lab to see more broken robots strewn about. "Dad, what happened? There must be at least 30 robots in here!"

Dr. Briefs sighed heavily and the black furry cat on his shoulder meowed sadly. "Well, Vegeta broke quite a few today, I'm afraid. He's not even done with his training yet and already he's screaming at me to fix robots. He just keeps chucking broken robots out the gravity room door. I wonder what's gotten into him lately? He's even more ill-tempered than before. Why, Kitty and I are afraid to come out of the lab anymore!" Dr. Briefs sat at his worktable with his tools and began repairing a training robot.

Anger boiled up deep within Bulma. "That jerk!" She marched out of the laboratory.

Dr. Briefs looked at Bulma, worried. "Bulma! I wouldn't! He's pretty angry today!"

"I'll be fine!" Bulma yelled through gnashed teeth.

She approached the gravity room door and threw it open.

"DOOR OPEN. GRAVITY RETURNING TO NORMAL" A loud female voice boomed throughout the room.

Angry, Vegeta glared at Bulma from the floor as he was in the middle of a one-armed pushup. His other arm folded behind him. Sweat glistened all over his body and poured down his face. His angry black eyes pierced through Bulma's bright blue ones.

"What the hell are you doing, woman? Shut the door and get out of here!" Vegeta screamed at her, enraged.

"NO! Not until you tell me what your problem is! My dad is in there fixing at least 30 robots you destroyed. I'm starting to wonder if you're doing this on purpose. Are you angry at me?" Bulma stared at Vegeta, awaiting her answer.

"Angry at you? Why should I be? I'm busy training. I have no time for your meddlesome problems." Vegeta stood up, glaring at her.

"Look, you're acting like a bigger jerk than usual. What is your problem, you idiot!"

Vegeta simply stared at her.

Bulma sighed heavily. She threw her hands up in the air. "That's it! I've had enough. I can't take anymore. I've lost my boyfriend, you're driving me nuts—"

"What did you say?" Vegeta demanded. Suddenly his scowl was replaced with a look of curiosity.

"What do you care?" She yelled, in return.

"Woman! Where is that idiot of yours?" Vegeta demanded, walking towards her.

"We broke up," Bulma murmured, watching Vegeta slowly approach. Suddenly she felt as though she was being hunted. It excited her, but also scared her.

Only a foot away, Vegeta stopped. "Why?" He demanded.

Bulma looked at him and smiled. "We weren't right together. We don't belong."

As Bulma stared at Vegeta, a strange feeling began in the pit of her stomach and warmth spread from there to her whole body. Her heart pounded in her chest so loudly she swore Vegeta would hear it. That was when she realized everything Yamcha had accused her of was true. She did love Vegeta.

Bulma tentatively touched Vegeta's face. The Saiyan looked at her in shock. Then, slowly, she inched her face towards his to kiss him on the lips. She kissed him gently and was surprised when his arms encircled her tightly. He returned her kiss savagely and held her so tight it almost hurt. Bulma moaned.

"I fixed them!" A voice called out as it approached the gravity room.

Vegeta roughly shoved Bulma away from him and turned his back to her. Hurt, Bulma looked at Vegeta, astonished.

"Don't ever do that again, woman." Vegeta hissed angrily.

"But I thought…" Bulma whispered.

Vegeta turned abruptly to glare at her. "Get this through your head, woman. I am a prince. You are a lowly earthling. How dare you think you can kiss me? Go back to Yamcha, woman. There's nothing for you here."

Sobbing hysterically now, Bulma turned and ran from the room, practically knocking her father over in the process.

"Now what was that all about?" Dr. Briefs asked as he turned his head to watch his daughter flee into the house.

"Damned if I know," Vegeta smirked. "Put the robots down and leave." He told Dr. Briefs harshly.

Dr. Briefs sighed heavily, setting the robots down on the table. Then he walked out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

Vegeta stood there, staring at the closed door. What the hell did I just do? Vegeta could not believe that he had shoved her away. The beautiful woman, who haunted his dreams, plagued his thoughts for so long. He had wanted her all this time and when he finally had her: he rejected her. She'll make you weak, Vegeta.

"But I want her." He told the empty room.

Vegeta stood there, deciding what to do about this problem. He reached the conclusion that pushing Bulma away was the right thing to do. He didn't need anyone messing things up for him. All that mattered was becoming stronger than that third class soldier Kakarrot and killing him along with the rest of this planet. Power: That is what matters.

Vegeta stormed out the door of the gravity room and stormed towards the house. He threw open the front door and went up to Bulma's room where he barged in without knocking. A sobbing Bulma sat up suddenly in her bed, glaring daggers at Vegeta.

"Don't you knock?" She yelled.

Ignoring her outburst, Vegeta ran across the room, seizing her shoulders roughly

and lifting her to her feet. He scowled as he stared into her big blue eyes. Bulma felt truly afraid of Vegeta for the first time

"You listen, woman! And listen well! I don't know what the hell that was back there, but I don't want it! I don't need you! I don't need anybody!" Vegeta screamed in her face.

Bulma nodded numbly, crying hysterically.

Vegeta felt his resolve crumble upon seeing Bulma so afraid of him. He felt like he was going to vomit. STOP IT! YOU HAVE TO DO IT! IT'S FOR YOUR OWN GOOD! YOU DON'T NEED HER!

Vegeta turned to leave.

"Vegeta!" Bulma choked.

Despite his will, he stopped, shoulders slumped and staring at the floor. He glared at the carpet as he listened.

"Please, don't run. We understand each other. I understand you."

Angered, he ran back to her, looking down at her as he stood next to the woman's bed. "Understand?" He asked incredulously. "Understand what? That you're in love with a murderer? Do you even know who I am?" He leaned closer to her and she cringed away. "Dammit, woman! I want to kill you and your friends!"

Swallowing hard, it took all her courage to say, "No, you won't kill us. And you certainly won't kill me."

"What makes you so sure?"

Bulma looked deep into his eyes. "Because you love me. And now I finally realize that I love you, too."

Vegeta just stood there, blinking repeatedly, staring at her. "Why are you doing this to me? It's like you have me ensnared in some spell. Release me at once, woman!" Vegeta snarled.

"No," Bulma said simply.

Vegeta stared at her in silence.

She really does love me! Vegeta was confused. He had never encountered this before. He repulsed everyone, yet nothing he did could turn this stubborn woman away. He had fought for so long to keep her away, convincing himself he was doing it for his own selfish needs. Now, Vegeta finally realized he had been doing this to protect her.

"After everything I've told you, you want to be with me? " Vegeta asked her softly.

"Yes," Bulma nodded. "But you don't want me."

Vegeta smiled and Bulma watched him smile, her mouth open in shock. He walked over to her bed and sat down. He put both hands on her cheeks softly. "Yes, I do," he told her softly. "Everything tells me not to…but I do."

Then he suddenly kissed her lips with so much hungry passion, it took Bulma's breath away. Bulma eagerly entwined her arms about his neck, hugging him tight to her.

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I'm actually surprised I got this up so quick. I don't exactly have much in the way of free time these days. We'll see how this goes….

To my reviewers:

saiyanprincesscat: Thanks for reviewing so soon after I posted! Your feedback was helpful to me. I like knowing what the readers enjoy. Hope you keep reading!