A/N:    Well, I don't think that there's that much to say for me, except thanks a lot for the reviews! And that I think that maybe some of you have heavily looking forward, well, maybe not really for this chapter, since you still have no idea what it'll be about, but maybe for some events taking place in this chapter…

Okay, I won't tell too much, so have fun with reading it!

Chapter 24: The Woman

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It was already close to night. Some stars could be seen in the east in the already darkening sky, while in the west the sunset enlightened the sky and the water in a beautiful golden red glow, making it look like the sea was on fire. People who were not used to that kind of sight would be astonished seeing this, but people who had the chance to see it every day would not even notice it anymore, just like the two Saiyajins who were sitting on the deck of their ship, bored out of their minds.

"It's going to be dark soon…" Radditz remarked dryly, just stating the obvious. "I think we should start now or else it'll be too late and Vegeta will be back."

"Finally," Nappa answered. He got up from the trunk he was sitting on and stretched his arms and back. He and his fellow Saiyajin were the only ones on deck. The rest of the crew was below in the common room, probably, though they weren't allowed to do it (at least not at the moment), drinking. A satisfied smirk appeared on the bulky Saiyajin's face. "I thought you'd never say this… Well, you know where you'll find me. Hopefully Vegeta won't come back too soon, so that I at least get some fun. Do you think he'll be angry… if I accidentally break her?"

A small chuckle emerged from Radditz's throat. "You know what we talked about. You can get rough, but at least try to let her survive. But otherwise, have fun."

"Okay, okay, I'll try. See ya later!" Nappa said, laughing, and gave one last wave with his hand, before he disappeared through the door that led to the different cabins below deck.

The long-haired Saiyajin just shook with his head, once his companion was gone. What was it with Nappa and the women? He just couldn't spend a couple of weeks without having one – the proof of that was to be found in the woman's cabin, formerly Nappa's. Radditz also knew that Nappa still wanted to get her back for taking what was his, but this was truly a weird way of doing so. He shrugged out of habit, though no one could see him. At least this was serving their purpose. In a few hours they would know how much their Prince was really attached to this particular woman.

Or maybe sooner. His lips curled up into a smirk that displayed a superiority that could just possess someone who knew what he was doing and that it was going to work, when he spotted a small rowboat coming from the island. Vegeta was on his way back and would be at the ship in less than fifteen minutes.

'Well, Nappa, if you still want to have some fun, I recommend you to hurry up…'

~*~

Above mentioned woman sat in her locked cabin on her bed, knees pulled up to her chest and her back resting at the wall. In her hand she was holding a small silver candlestick, her frail fingers tightly clenched around it, so tight that her knuckles were even whiter than her already extremely pale skin. Except of the golden red light of the sunset coming through the small porthole the room lay in complete darkness. Under normal circumstances she would've enjoyed the last rays of the sun as much as possible, hoping against hope that someday she would get out of this hole and feel the real warmth of the sun on her skin. But as the situation was now, at least after Vegeta had left the ship, she was on her guard all the time. Though the door to her cabin was locked, she didn't feel safe at all, knowing who was in possession of the key while Vegeta was gone.

An involuntary shudder ran through her body, when she remembered the look Nappa had given her. Since Vegeta had left – and she hadn't heard anything yet that could indicate his return – no one had been in her cabin. So, suppressing her hunger, she sat there on guard, waiting for Vegeta to come back, so that she would be safe again.

But… When did she become so dependant on Vegeta? When did she start to feel safe when he was around? Wasn't he like any other pirate on this ship? Cruel and heartless? No, a small voice in the back of her mind told her. Vegeta wasn't as cruel as everybody supposed. She had seen this in those black, bottomless orbs that were his eyes after she almost fell off the ship that one time and he had saved her. There was something. A small spark. She hadn't been able to place it then, and she still wasn't quite able to now. Still, she had this feeling that she knew what it was, because the same spark was always reflected when she looked into a mirror. A spark that cried out 'Hold me! I'm lonely!'. Loneliness? Could it really be that he was lonely? Yes, it could be, Bulma decided. The members of his crew just saw him as their captain and the other Saiyajins… Well, they were just that. Saiyajins were not too big with feelings and especially not with being friendly, let alone being friends with someone. Of course he was lonely. Who wouldn't be in his place?

The sound of someone turning the key in the lock of her door jerked her out of her thoughts. She tightened again the grip on the candlestick, swallowing the lump that had been forming in her throat. "Vegeta?" she asked almost in a whisper, when the first light fell through the gap of the just opened door.

"Not quite." The door swung open completely and Nappa stepped inside, closing the door again behind him and locking it.

Bulma flinched involuntarily, when she heard his voice and fastened the grip on the candlestick even more, if that was even possible. Taking a deep breath and gathering all of her courage, she finally asked, "What do you want?"

The chuckle that followed sent a shiver down her spine and she pushed herself against the wall, trying to get as far away as possible from this Saiyajin, who was now walking up to her. When he had reached the bed, he leaned over, breathing directly into her face. He raised his hand to brush a strand of aqua hair out of her face, before saying, "You know exactly why I'm here, woman." He grabbed the candlestick and easily removed it from her hands, throwing it square across the room, where it hit something tinny. Bulma wanted to scream, but Nappa quickly reacted and pressed a hand over her mouth. Silent tears of fear started to run down her cheeks when he raised his other hand to caress her cheek. "Oh yes, you are as beautiful as a whore… Now I just have to see… if you're really as good as one."

Bulma struggled under his touch, trying with all of her strength to get him off her, but he was just too strong. He took her blows as if he didn't notice them at all, so Bulma fell back on one of the oldest tricks in a catfight. She bit him, succeeding in a small yelp and the removing of the hand from her mouth. Nappa stood up straight again and she wanted to use the chance to make a go for the door and hopefully outside, but the Saiyajin had already recovered from the momentary shock the moment she had left the bed. "Stupid bitch!" he yelled, pulled back his hand and slapped her. Thrown to the floor by the power of the blow, she remained there, lying on her stomach.

Sobs shook her body, making it hard for her to breathe and the right side of her face burned like fire. She was quite sure that there was already a huge bruise. She raised her head a bit and could see the door. She ground her teeth. 'Come on, girl. You've never given up without a fight. Just try to win some time until Vegeta comes back,' she thought. 'But what if Vegeta had ordered him to come to you?' a small voice taunted her. 'No!' Bulma inwardly shook her head. She didn't believe that. And for the first time since she was on that ship, she did not wish for Goku to come and save her but for Vegeta to do that.

She had just gathered all of her strength left and wanted to get up again, when she felt rough hands grabbing her shoulders and spinning her around, so that she was now lying on her back. Still not wanting to give up yet, Bulma tried again to hit him, but this time Nappa just easily grabbed her hands, pinning them over her head. He held her wrists with one of his hands, squeezing them so hard that they hurt, while he stroked her jaw line down to her collarbone and in the end to her décolleté with his other hand and eventually just tore the dress on her upper body, revealing it completely.

Knowing that she was now completely at his mercy, Bulma screamed.

~*~

Vegeta still couldn't believe it. 'That little boy, that brat is the Legendary, the one fighter that I was promised to become. A third-class – a half breed for God's sake!' Oh yes, the Prince of the Saiyajins was angry, though he did not know if he was angry because of the brat's ability to reach this level or because of his inability.

So long, he had been after this for so long. In each battle he became stronger, faster, better, just to be surpassed by this shrimp. That was just… impossible. 'There must be a way for me to also become one… What is the key? There must be one!' Otherwise Vegeta could not explain the happenings of the last few hours.

Suddenly it dawned to him. The woman. She seemed to know this boy all his life, maybe she knew what made him special. He threw a look over his shoulder and saw that the distance between the small boat and his ship was a merely meters. Vegeta smirked. Just a few more minutes until he would know the secret of the boy.

The small rowboat connected with the ship with a small thud. Vegeta fastened the rope that came down from the ship at the boat, so that his men could heave it up later, and then climbed up the rope ladder, jumping over the rail, when he had reached the end. He quickly surveyed the deck, just to find out that Radditz was the only person present. "Where are the others?" he demanded to know.

"They're below deck," Radditz told him with a smug look on his face. "Shall I get them?"

His captain just nodded. "We're now bound for Frieza's island. He has the last spheres. Is Nappa also with the rest of the crew?"

"He's also under deck. What happened to the sphere on this island? I see you returned empty handed. Did my dear brother interfere again?"

Vegeta grunted. "If it were him, I would be happy. But for whatever reason, Frieza had sent Zarbon to get that sphere. And now I have to get the keys from Nappa. Do you know where exactly he is?" At that moment a piercing scream was heard from under deck. Vegeta's eyes went wide and when he saw the all-saying smirk on the other Saiyajin's face, he did not need the answer anymore. Before he stormed downstairs, he mumbled the one word he had not even thought of all those weeks.

"Bulma."

With large steps he strode through the small corridor, passing several men of his crew, leaving them behind, confused, until he arrived in front of the woman's – formerly Nappa's – cabin. He pushed the handle down, only to find it locked. Muttering a string of curses, he took a step backwards and kicked the door in, throwing it open in doing so. The light thrown in from the corridor lit the room just enough to see Nappa hovering over the almost nude form of the woman, who was lying on the floor.

He met Nappa's eyes, while the woman's were squeezed shut in an attempt to shut out everything that was happening and about to happen. But the dark eyes of the bald Saiyajin widened, when they connected with the ones of his captain. He didn't even have time to react, when suddenly a fist was flying at him, sending him off the woman on the floor next to her. Nappa barely managed to get up, before he was lifted up at his collar and pressed against a wall. "Get. Out." He just nodded and as soon as the grip on his collar was loosened, he fled the room. And at that moment he didn't know what had made the Prince of the Saiyajins scarier – the deadly calm of his voice or the fact that his eyes had flashed blue-green for a second.

After Nappa had left, Vegeta stood there, unmoving, in front of the wall with his back to the woman, doing his best to get rid of this seething anger inside of his body. When he thought that he had enough control of himself, he turned around to face the woman. But what he saw caused some other, strange feelings coming to surface. It felt as if his heart dropped and he felt the anger return. He swallowed once, closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he bent down to the woman, who was still lying on the floor, curled up into a fetal position and the shreds of her dress pulled closely to her body in a poor attempt to cover up what had been exposed before. There was a large bruise on the right side of her face and other bruises were starting to form on her upper arms and wrists. Her whole body was shaking and he could see tears streaming out of her closed eyes.

Vegeta, against his true nature, carefully reached out for her, but she flinched under his touch. He hesitated for the split of a second, before he touched her again, turning her around slowly. The whole time she didn't react at all – first when he tried to pick her up, she started to hit on him with her small fists, but her eyes were still squeezed shut. She screamed and kicked, fighting with all of her left strength. Vegeta grabbed her wrists, trying hard to restrain himself from using too much strength and maybe hurt her more than she already was. "Woman." No reaction. "Woman!" Still, she kept on. "Bulma…"

It was barely more than a whisper, but yet Bulma's eyes shot open, when she heard her name, for the first time said by this voice. And there he was, standing in front of her, his eyes locked with hers. Suddenly knowing, feeling that she was safe, she let her guard down and collapsed in his arms. She hadn't even noticed before that Vegeta was in the room. The only thing she had noticed was that Nappa's weight had been suddenly lifted from her, nothing else.

Vegeta did not know exactly what to do with the crying woman in his arms, but he knew that she couldn't stay here. The door was completely destroyed and so she was an easy victim for his men. So he gathered her in his arms and brought her into his cabin – fortunately there were none of his men in the corridor – the door of which he locked behind him, and gently laid her down on his bed before pulling the covers over her. After having done this, he turned around and walked up to one of the closets in his cabin, obviously searching for something. A look of relief passed over his face, once he held a small bottle in his hand. He put a few drops into a glass and filled the rest up with water, before returning to the bed, seeing that the woman had followed his each and every move. She had stopped crying, but he could see by the expression of her face that she was in incredible pain. He pulled a chair up to his bed and sat down on it, holding out the glass of water for her. "Drink this," he told her in a gruff voice that told her that he didn't know how to deal with this whole situation. "It will help you sleep."

Bulma gratefully took the glass out of his hand and noticed that hers were still shaking. She slowly raised the glass to her lips and drank its content with a few gulps, before giving it back. Strangely enough, she immediately started to feel drowsy and her eyelids became heavier with each passing second. "Vegeta?" she asked sleepily, getting his attention. He looked down at her with questioning eyes, when she got up into a halfway sitting position. She gently raised her hand and pulled his head down, giving him a soft kiss. Her lips lingered on his for a few seconds, before she sank back into the pillow. When her eyes were closed, she had a small smile on her face and mumbled, "Thank you."

~*~

Goku was once again standing at the bow of the Kintoun, looking at the stars, while the ship launched through the waves on her way to Frieza's island, the most dangerous and hopefully last destination for this ship. There was his last chance to get the spheres and to free Bulma, the latter being his first priority of course. His thoughts were with the events of this day. He was slowly getting tired of thinking about what Kyna had told him and yet he couldn't stop doing exactly that. He did not notice someone walking up behind him until he felt a light squeeze on his shoulder. He turned his head. It was ChiChi.

"He's finally asleep," she told him.

Goku nodded and looked back at the sea. "That's good. It was a pretty exhausting day for him and Krillin, even though Dende had healed their wounds. We can wait with the explanation until tomorrow."

"But still, there is one thing that is bothering you, isn't there?" ChiChi queried.

The young sailor sighed. "Vegeta…"

"What about him?"

"I-I don't know what to think of him anymore… I mean, he kidnapped Bulma, threatened Gohan and has killed hundreds of people. But after what both Saichourou and Kyna had told me about him and the fact that he helped Gohan and Krillin this afternoon I wonder if there's a side to Vegeta we don't know. It's really giving me a headache…"

"Then stop thinking about it," ChiChi said smiling. "But there's still another thing I wanted to ask you… Did Kyna tell you anything, I mean, anything that could mean a change for… us?"

Goku turned around, so that he was now facing her and gently stroked a strand of black hair behind her ear that had fallen out of the bun. "ChiChi… I'm sure that things Kyna told me change something between us, but I just need a bit more time, maybe a few days, to sort everything out. Can you give me a few more days?"

ChiChi lowered her head for a few seconds, but eventually looked back up at the man she loved and who was looking down at her with expectant and hopeful eyes. She blinked the tears that were forming behind her eyes away and said, "A few more days… I can't say I like it, but when you need it this time, I'll give it to you."