Disclaimer: Thousands thanks to Akira for all those wonderful characters!
A/N: Well, there's again just one thing to say… Thank your for your reviews… Oh, and by the way, I have no idea when I'll update again. Those of you, who read "Until we meet again" know that I try to get this story finished by May 12 and that could mean that I have no time to write a new chapter for this story. And then I'll be gone for a few days, in which I'll have no time to write…
Chapter 13: "Almost…"
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What was it with women and clothes? Vegeta silently mused, waiting for this damn blue haired female to try yet another dress. He just wanted to replace the torn dress and now they were already looking for something for more than a half hour! What were his men thinking of him? He, Vegeta, the Prince of all Saiyajin, feared on the whole world, goes shopping with a weak Human female! He clenched his fists. What if Frieza ever heard of this? That would just give him another chance to mock him!
Vegeta felt the sudden urge to destroy something, but he had to behave. He knew that the Nameks were peaceful and neutral people. Though knowing and maybe even fearing him, they tolerated him and his men on their island as long as he didn't do anything wrong, like destroying something. But he also knew of their strength and he knew that he didn't stand a chance when they suddenly decided to attack him. That was also the reason why he was willing to pay for what he was buying, instead of stealing it. He impatiently tapped with his foot. "Woman! Hurry! We don't have all day!"
"No need to yell," she said, looking annoyed as she came out of the small cabin, carrying a few dresses in her arms. "I'm taking these…"
Vegeta just snorted and took them. "Go outside to Nappa. I'll pay for the dresses."
"As you wish," she scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest and leaving the shop.
Outside she looked around, trying to find Nappa and eventually saw him standing a few meters away from her, flirting with one of the Namek-women. She raised an eyebrow. He hadn't even noticed her. Wait a minute! That was her chance! Nappa preoccupied with this woman, Radditz somewhere else buying provisions and Vegeta in the shop? Looking around one last time to make sure that really no Saiyajin was in sight, she started to make her way through the crowd, away from the shop, away from Nappa, away from Vegeta.
First slowly and then the more she got away from them the faster she started to run. She first stopped, as she had rounded a few corners, feeling that she was now in safety. Besides her lung burned like hell and she was totally out of breath. Ignoring the few stares she received from some of the natives, she leaned against a wall with closed eyes, trying to catch her breath. She rubbed her arms, where some bruises of the few times she ran into one of the city's inhabitants started to form. She hadn't even noticed that at that time. The only thought that was on her mind was that she could run away.
After the heavy flush on her face started to disappear and her breathing slowed down, she decided that it was time to move again. She was sure, as soon as Vegeta found out that she was gone, he would start looking for her. He still needed her, so that was the most-likely thing for him to do. But where could she go? She had to find a place where she could hide or find some people who might be willing to help her. And there was still the chance that Goku was also here, since the sphere was in this city. So, looking around warily for any signs of a Saiyajin or one of her friends, she started to walk again. Direction? Not important, as long as she wouldn't run into Vegeta or his men…
~*~
A few minutes earlier Vegeta left the store, after he had paid for the clothes the woman had chosen. Luckily they were rather cheap - otherwise the Prince would have picked one or two of them and given the rest back. He frowned. As hard as it was to admit, even if it was just to himself, this woman was making him soft. He hoped that they would soon have gathered all seven spheres so that he could finally get rid of her. He had a reputation to loose after all!
He took out the map and took a quick look at it. The sphere he was looking for was still at the same place. That was good. But another sphere seemed to move away from the first one. That was not good. That could mean that the one who was carrying the second sphere already knew were the first one was. But then, why didn't he take it. He got a thoughtful look in his face. He didn't know why, but he had the strange feeling that it wouldn't be easy to get this sphere.
Putting the map away, Vegeta looked around, searching for any sign of Nappa and the woman. He found Nappa just a few meters away from him, heavily flirting with a Namek-woman. But where was the woman? He couldn't see her anywhere. Fearing the worst he quickly walked up to Nappa and punched him square across the jaw. "Where is she?" he demanded to know.
Rubbing his jaw, Nappa got up again. "Huh? What are you talking about?" the large Saiyajin asked, sounding completely clueless.
"What I'm talking about? I'm talking about the woman! I've sent her outside to you, but you seemed to be so preoccupied with this whore that she probably used the chance to flee!" He clutched his head, feeling a headache coming. "Why do I even bother to tell you that? Listen, you go and meet up with Radditz on the market place and then you start looking for her. She couldn't have gotten so far, so we'll meet there again in one hour, understand?" Nappa just nodded mutely and took off.
Vegeta turned around and started walking into the other direction, taking the same way, Bulma had done a few minutes before. He fumed silently. How dare this woman to run off! As soon as he found her it was over with playing nice! From now on no one would accuse him of becoming soft! No one! He would show her that she wasn't on a holiday! She would find out what it meant to be a hostage!
Where would he go, when he wanted to get away? Vegeta asked himself. To the harbor of course. There would be many ships that could get her off of this island. Vegeta knew that this woman was smart. Maybe too smart for her own good. She would find a way to manipulate people to get away.
With this in the back on his mind, the Prince fastened his pace. He had to get to the harbor before she could find a ship!
~*~
Bulma knew she was getting closer. She had to get off of this island. And that as fast as possible! Vegeta had most likely already found out that she was gone and was looking for her right now. And first had just walked aimlessly through the town, until she finally got the courage to ask one of its inhabitants how she got to the harbor. Those Nameks were really nice, even though not all could speak her language, but the ones she had asked tried hard to help her.
Suddenly Bulma blinked. Did she really see what she just thought she saw? There was something black and spiky walking through the crowd of people in front of her. She held her breath. Black and spiky could just mean one thing - Saiyajin. But Vegeta was smaller than this person, Radditz's hair was longer and Nappa was bald!
She began to walk faster. She just had to confirm her suspicion. And really, as she got nearer and for one time no large body of a Namek was blocking her view, she could see him. A huge smile spread across her face. She was safe! "Goku!" she yelled waving frantically with her arms, but suddenly she felt a hand clasping over her mouth, pulling her backwards into a dark alley.
Goku stopped dead in his tracks and looked around. He could swear that he heard someone calling out his name, but he didn't see anybody he knew and also no one seemed to try to gain his attention. He shrugged and continued his way to his ship. This whole situation was just making him paranoid.
Bulma tried to free herself, as she saw Goku stopping until she felt something cold and sharp at her throat. "One word and Kakarotto will just find your dead body," a cold voice whispered into her ear.
Bulma's eyes went wide, but she held completely still. Just one thought ran through her mind. Vegeta! How did her find her so fast? She had a head start, so how… He must've known where she was heading. That was the only explanation she could find. She felt tears in her eyes, as she saw how Goku shrugged and walked on. How much did she want to cry out again, but first of all she couldn't do that because of Vegeta's hand, which was firmly clasped over her mouth and then the fact that he was obviously holding a knife at her throat, showing her that he was throughout able to kill her then and there.
"I see you understand me," he snickered cruelly and turned her around to face him, letting go of her mouth, as he was completely sure that Kakarotto was gone. "You're smart woman. You finally understand that I have no scruple to kill you. And I hope you understand now that there's no point in running away." He raised one hand and wiped a tear away that was running down her cheek. "Wherever you go, I'll find you." Then he brutally grabbed her wrist and pulled her after him. "Let's go! We've lost enough time because of you! I'll bring you back to the ship so that you won't make any more trouble than you already have! And then I'll take care of Kakarotto!"
Bulma didn't dare to say something. She was still shell-shocked by Vegeta's sudden change of behavior. All gentleness she had thought she had found in him was gone. She shuddered. His eyes were so cold and as he was now dragging her behind him, he was hurting her. Hell, he even threatened to kill her! And unlike the other times, it really sounded serious! And she had thought that he was starting warming up to her since she came to the ship. It had just been a few days, but she thought that she had found out that he had a heart. But she obviously had been wrong.
She pushed new tears back. No, she wouldn't lower herself to cry in front of him! She still had her pride! She was Lady Bulma, daughter of Lord Briefs! She wouldn't allow bringing disgrace over her and her family!
A few minutes later they arrived at the market place, where Nappa and Radditz were already waiting. Both, and especially Nappa's, faces lightened up, when they saw the Prince coming towards them, accompanied by the blue-haired woman. "I see you found her…" Nappa said nervously, as they stopped in front of him.
Vegeta snorted. "Luckily for you morons, yes, I found her. And now I'll bring her back to the ship. You two wait here for me to come back, but be careful and I warn you, don't do anything stupid! We almost had a small run-in with Kakarotto. I'll probably be back at nightfall and then we get the sphere." Without saying more to them he just mounted a horse that was standing there, pulling Bulma after him.
"Hey!" the owner of the horse yelled. "You can't just take it!"
Scowling Vegeta reached into his pocket and took out a golden coin, throwing it to the Namek. "Keep the rest…" he just said and rode off. He so didn't want to deal with this right now.
~*~
It was already late afternoon as Goku was on his way back to the house of the eldest. He had explained the current situation to the others on his ship and even though a bit reluctantly, since Vegeta was also on this island, they agreed to stay one more night, before they went back to sea. Their captain had told them to take the evening off and have some fun, but also to be careful
.
He absently took a bite from an apple he had just bought. He still couldn't get his mind off what happened just a few hours ago. He could still swear that someone had called out for him. He had asked his friends on the ship, but it wasn't them. Something was nagging him the whole time. He knew that the answer to this question was lying directly in front of him - he just couldn't grab it. There must've been something he had missed.
Something important.
But what?
It didn't take long for him to reach the old house and his family was already waiting for them. ChiChi showed him their room for the night and Gohan was playing with the small Namek-boy, Dende. Goku was glad that this boy would come with him, even though he knew that it could be dangerous for him, but with Dende on board, Gohan would have someone to play with. Someone near his own age.
Goku excused himself from ChiChi, as he saw through a door Piccolo sitting under a tree in the backyard, obviously meditating, and walked up to him. There was still something he didn't understand. He and Nail looked so much alike and yet they acted so cold towards each other. Goku knew that Piccolo wasn't a bad guy and Gohan adored him, so there must've something happened in the past. "Hey Piccolo," he greeted him friendly.
"What do you want, Son Goku?" the Namek answered in a gruff voice.
"I'm here to talk to you," the other warrior said. "You seem to know everyone here in this house and I've just wondered why you left three years ago… And besides, I've noticed a strong resemblance between you and Nail… Are you brothers or something like that? I mean, you certainly don't behave like you were brothers. Has something happened in the past?"
Abruptly Piccolo got up. Without facing him, he said, "This is really nothing of your concern, Goku. Just leave me alone and don't bother me with this matter."
"Geez, Piccolo, no need to get all cranky…" Goku said, scratching the back of his head. "I'm just worried about you, like I worry about all of my friends and I thought that you might need my help."
"I don't need your help," Piccolo said coldly and walked past Goku back into the house. "And I don't need friends…"
Even though the last part was barely more than a whisper, the Saiyajin heard it. He just shook his head, smiling to himself. Why do some people always have to be so stubborn, he thought, And Piccolo, if you know it or not, you still have a friend. When it isn't me, it's Gohan.
~*~
About the same time Vegeta and Bulma finally arrived at the ship. Throwing her over his shoulder, he climbed up the rope ladder from the small boat to the large ship. He nearly let her fall on the floor, when he jumped over the rail. But she kept quiet the whole time, out of fear that the Prince of the Saiyajins might hurt her. The look in his eyes still hadn't changed and she was really worried about what might change from now on. But one thing she was sure of. The holiday was over…
"Oh Vegeta," one of his men asked, "You're already back? Did you get the sphere and where are Radditz and Nappa?"
"No, I didn't get the sphere, yet, the two morons are still in the city and I just came back, because this woman made trouble," Vegeta answered and pulled Bulma back up. "As soon as I've taken care of her, I'll go back."
Tightening the hold around her wrist, he dragged her inside and tossed her into her cabin. She stumbled and fell on her bed. She sat up, looking at the form of the Prince standing in the door, absently rubbing her bruised wrist. "Listen woman and listen good. You won't get something to eat tonight and in the following days you'll eat what I bring you. No more leaving this cabin. In the corner is a bucket. Use it or piss on the floor, whatever you like more. I'll let someone get it once per day, understand?" He smirked cruelly as Bulma nodded lightly. "Good. You can be glad that I didn't leave you with my men on deck. I'm sure they would be happy to have some fresh meat… Well, fresher meat…"
As soon as Vegeta had left the cabin Bulma buried her head in the pillow and started to sob. She was almost able to run away! She was almost free! Almost… But did it do any good to her? No! Everything got worse now…
Vegeta stopped for a moment, when he heard the heart-wrenching sobs coming through the door. Something in the pit of his stomach told him to go back, but he suppressed this feeling. He was the Prince of all Saiyajins! He wasn't soft! He was a murderer, a killer! He would never give in to some bawling of some weak Human female! From now on, he would show her who he really was!
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Dun, dun, dun… mean, mean Vegeta!
Well, the next chapter is already in work, and even if I somehow manage to finish it today, I won't post it until next Saturday or Sunday… *evilsmirk* And in the next chapter will finally be some action… Just imagine what two full-blooded, bored and not really smart (well, at least one of them) Saiyajins would do, when they were left alone and you'll probably get the picture…
Eternally yours
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