Still Bulma's POV...
I meant to keep my eye on Vegeta, like, 24/7, but that didn't last too long for many reasons. One, Vegeta wasn't too pleased that I was suddenly hovering around him all the time and worrying about him. He told me quite bluntly to leave him alone. Actually, he yelled it at me while he was stuck on the bottom of the gravity room floor. That pissed me off. After all, I was just worried about his health! I should have known better though. He was a saiyan, so in no time all of his injuries had healed anyway. It was useless to try to have a normal conversation with him. He always had to insult me or my family or friends or something, and I always took the bait. Plus, he gets real touchy if you bring up anything about his past life. After a while I just plain got bored with watching him so much. He didn't lead a very exciting life. Plus, I had other matters to worry about. My relationship with Yamcha was steadily going downhill. He very obviously didn't like Vegeta, and he didn't bother hiding his feelings. I found this kind of annoying and told him so. He really needed to realize that Vegeta was probably the second strongest guy in our group, so we would definitely need him. Of course, he thought it was annoying that I thought he was annoying, so we ended up not speaking to each other for almost two weeks.
There was one time in my life that I seriously thought Yamcha and I would end up together, old and wrinkled with tons of great-grandchildren. I soon realized that that wasn't what was going to happen. So instead of waiting for Yamcha to come crawling back, which was what always happened after our fights, I took the initiative and went to his house. I'll admit, I half expected him to have another woman over, but I shouldn't have worried. He hadn't been with anyone else since he'd died, and I felt bad for even thinking he might of. Yamcha took the breakup pretty well. He was upset, but I think he understood the reasons behind my decision. He told me that he'd always be there if I needed him, and we promised to remain friends. Of course, this kind statement of his was immediately followed up with, "Is there someone else you've been seeing?" It took me by surprise, and he misunderstood my look for guilt.
"It's Vegeta, isn't it?" he grumbled, crossing his arms and looking away. I stared at him like he was crazy, before bursting out in laughter.
"I should slap you for even mentioning that!" I managed to get out. Yamcha looked thoroughly confused. "I haven't been seeing anyone Yamcha, I wouldn't do that," I said further. When the words sunk in, Yamcha acquired this sheepish look that could've matched Goku's, especially when he started scratching his head.
"Geez, sorry Bulma. It seemed like you really had a thing for him though, so I just assumed-"
"Just assumed is right," I cut in. "But hey, it's ok. No sweat. Just don't say anything like THAT again." He laughed.
"Sure thing."
"So, I'll see you around then, right? Don't be a stranger at Capsule Corp., 'cause I'll get bored real fast. There's still over two years before these things come."
"Right, I'll drop in every so often. Take care of yourself." We hugged each other, and for a brief second, as I smelled the familiar scent of his cologne, I almost changed my mind about breaking up with him. We'd spent so many years together, and he was pretty much the only boyfriend I'd ever had. My eyesight started to get blurry as tears got in the way when I started thinking about all the good times we'd had and all the things we'd been through together. But, life goes on, I told myself. Pulling away, I glanced up, startled to see that the look on his face mirrored how I was feeling. I gave him a small smile.
"It was fun," I said simply. Yamcha nodded, and I pressed a quick kiss to his cheek. Before I actually did change my mind, I turned and walked down the path. I could feel his eyes on me the whole time. I wasted no time in driving away, eager to get away from there. As soon as I got home though, I sat in the car for a good thirty minutes thinking abut what I'd just done. Eventually I got out, and when I shut the car door, I imagined myself closing the door on that part of my life or something. It was a little corny, but it lifted my spirits somewhat. It was still early, not even 8:00, but on my way up the sidewalk I realized something a little strange.
The gravity room wasn't on.
Instead of the usual hum I should've still been hearing, there was this empty silence, and it kind of freaked me out. Changing my destination, I quickened my pace and walked over to the chamber, wondering if maybe Vegeta was, by chance, still training. He should have been for a good...four more hours. Peeking into the window, I noticed he wasn't there. I wasn't too worried; I mean he might have decided on finishing early or something. Maybe he finally came to his senses and realized that even HE needed to rest sometimes. I walked into the house, and the silence followed me. My parents had gone out to dinner, but I'd still expected there to be some sort of noise, like from the T.V. or something. There was nothing. Vegeta was nowhere on the main floor. I climbed the stairs to my room, and after dumping of my purse and shoes, I walked across the hall to Vegeta's room. There was no response when I knocked, so I cracked the door open and peeked in.
Vegeta wasn't there.
I blinked, and stepped all the way into the room. I hadn't been in there since Vegeta started living at Capsule Corp. It hadn't changed that much, except that there was a closet full of clothes. It's not like Vegeta has a lot of stuff to put on display, unlike me who has a CD Player, makeup, and everything else under the sun spread out across the top of my dresser. I should really buy him a radio or something. I always find it easier to exercise with music, but he would probably call it a distraction. Who knows. I backed out of the room and headed downstairs, intent on finding something to snack on.
Sometime later, around 11:00 I guess, I finally headed back upstairs to go to sleep. Vegeta still wasn't back from wherever he had gone to. I figured maybe he was training with Goku or something. Anyway, come morning, he was back in the gravity room. I didn't see him all day, not even for meals, so I finally went out to see if he wanted a late night dinner or something.
Once again, he wasn't there.
That confused me to no end. How could he disappear for two nights like that? This went on for, no joke, almost three months. I hardly ever saw Vegeta, and when I did, he refused to answer my questions. I finally gave up, and pretended that he was going out on secret dates that he didn't want me to know about. It was a reasonable idea, I mean, the kid from the future had to be born somehow. What I didn't expect was for the idea to make me jealous. I guess I was upset that HE could go out and have fun when I was stuck at home. At least, that's what I told myself. I hadn't bothered to try and get a new boyfriend yet. Yamcha had already gotten over me, I knew because he'd been hanging around this other girl. He actually introduced us once, and I have to admit, she was very sweet. I kind of hoped Yamcha would be smart enough to stick with her and not do anything stupid.
Anyway, one night, I was sitting out on my balcony reading a book. It was about 8:30, and since it was still summer, there was plenty of light to read by. The gravity machine was still humming, but it was one of those sounds that you don't notice until it turns off, sort of like an air conditioner. You know what I mean? Well, suddenly the room was turned off, and I looked up sharply, noticing the absence of noise. Then suddenly an idea occurred to me. I felt kind of stupid; it was such a no-brainer thing. Why didn't I just WATCH and see where Vegeta went? So, that's what I did. He came out of the room, clad in training shorts, with a towel around his neck. His body was still glistening with sweat, and it shone in the fading light. I swear, I think I was drooling. No joke, the guy has a great body. He really does. Then I started feeling guilty, ogling this man who had come to the earth years ago intent on destroying it. But then I realized I really had nothing to feel guilty about. I was a free woman, and Vegeta was technically on our side, so I kept on staring, while at the same time trying to be discreet about it. Apparently he didn't notice me anyway. I watched as he flew up to his room, which, like mine, has a balcony. It's not too far down from mine either, seeing as his room is just across the hall. By this point I was making it obvious that I was watching him. I wanted him to notice, thinking that maybe I could get him talking. It sort of worked.
"What are you staring at?" Vegeta asked gruffly, finally glancing over at me before opening the door to his room.
"I was just wondering where you were going. Its pretty early for you to be done training." Well, not really, he'd been finishing this early for about three months.
"I'm not going anywhere," he replied. I raised an eyebrow.
"Really? Do you want some dinner then? You haven't been eating too well lately." Great, there I went with the worrying again. It was true though, and it was starting to show. His body was sort of sagged over tiredly; he'd totally abandoned his princely stance. I noticed this with some alarm, and looked at his face through wide eyes. "Vegeta, are you ok?" I asked sincerely. And worriedly. There was no hiding that tone from my voice. I was expecting him to snap at me or something, but he only sighed deeply. It was disconcerting.
"Why do you care?" I was taken aback by the way he asked that question. Gone was the sharp tone he used to use. Instead, it was like he really wanted to know. I placed my book on the table next to me and stood up, facing him.
"Vegeta, what's wrong? You're really starting to worry me." Kami, worry, worry, worry. I was acting like his mother. Actually, I had no idea what his mother had ever acted like, which brought me back to fact that I knew nothing about his past. If I played my cards right though, I might actually be able to get him talking tonight. Vegeta didn't answer me, he only repeated his previous question, only more urgently this time. I sighed. It was a good question. Why did I care so much? I racked my brain for a reasonable answer. "I just...do, Vegeta," I replied slowly. "I...I don't know WHY. You live here, so I should care what happens to you."
"You care now, but only a few months ago, you wouldn't have given a damn. Am I right?" he asked, crossing his arms. I blinked.
"Well of course." I immediately regretted the way that had come out, but Vegeta didn't seem to care any.
"I haven't changed at all." I snorted. "I haven't!" Vegeta insisted.
"You're talking to me. Goku's still alive and you aren't at his house threatening to kill him. You keep insisting that you're training so you'll be strong enough to defeat the androids, which means you will be working with us. You've changed Vegeta." He didn't seem too happy about the fact, but nodded slowly.
"I guess I have," he said dejectedly. "This fucking mud ball of a planet has been wearing off on me," he continued to mutter. My eyes widened, and I decided it was time for a subject change.
"So, where have you been for these past three months?" I asked, leaning over the railing. Vegeta blinked at me.
"Here," he replied. I rolled my eyes.
"At NIGHT." He looked at me strangely.
"HERE," he repeated.
"...Seriously?"
"uh-huh."
"...oh," was all I could get out. For some reason I was relieved, but at the same time I was also upset. Vegeta had started to enter his room again. "Hey Vegeta!" I called out. He stopped and glanced back at me. "Are you sure you're not hungry?"
"Positive." He disappeared into his room. I returned to my own, and went down to the kitchen to get myself something to eat. If Vegeta hadn't been going out at night, then that meant that he really wasn't eating well. I tried watching T.V. for a while, but I wasn't really paying attention to what was on, so I kept missing what was happening. Eventually, I turned it off and went back to my room. I stepped through the door, and even though the lights weren't on, my room was lit up. I glanced out the window and noticed that there was a full moon (A/N: Wait...wasn't the moon destroyed by Piccolo?...Oh well, we'll have to ignore that. ), thus the reason for so much light. I walked out onto the balcony without taking my eyes off of the glowing orb, as if I was in a trance or something. It was really beautiful. I leaned gently against the rail, not wanting to make any noise that would disrupt the peace. There was a slight noise behind me, and I looked over my shoulder, thinking it was a leaf or something. Instead, my eyes widened as I noticed Vegeta sitting on the roof above his room. He looked miserable, staring at some spot in the sky that wasn't anywhere near the moon. In fact, his back was what I was looking at.
I went back downstairs to the kitchen, passing my parents who had now claimed the living room, watching some old movie. And I mean OLD movie. It was black and white. Anyway, I made some coffee quickly, pouring it into two travel mugs, and threw together some sandwiches. With no clear idea about what I was doing, I rushed back upstairs and pushed open the door to Vegeta's room. Quietly, I opened the balcony door and stepped out onto the patio. He hadn't noticed me yet. I took a deep breath.
"Hey, Vegeta," I said softly. He jerked his head around to look down at me.
"What're you doing he-"
"Here, take these, will you?" I asked, cutting him off. He reached down and took the mugs from me after a few seconds, and then the plate of sandwiches. After that, I stepped up onto the rail. Vegeta looked like he was about to protest, but stopped when I easily hoisted myself up. I smirked at his semi-surprised look. "I used to come up here all the time when I was younger," I explained, plopping down next to him. "So is this where you've been coming every night?" He nodded. "How-"
"Why are you here?" he asked, this time cutting me off. Once again, he sounded like he just wanted to know.
"To get you to eat," I replied, picking up the plate of sandwiches. I shoved them at him. He looked at them, and then back at me.
"I told you before, I'm not hungry." Ah, his old gruff voice was back. I felt like jumping for joy. It was strange.
"Yeah, it wasn't a option," I countered. "And you don't have to worry. These were nowhere near the stove. All cold cuts." He smirked. We both knew how bad my cooking was. I was never a domestic type of girl. Too boring.
"Well, in that case..." He picked up one of the sandwiches and bit into it. In no time, all of them were gone, and Vegeta was licking his fingers.
"You weren't hungry?" I asked slyly. He scowled at me. I only chuckled. At least he was beginning to act normal again.
One more chapter tonight...
-Maxine