And still Bulma's POV, hehe. It changes next chapter.
We sat quietly for a few minutes, and I used the time to study Vegeta out of the corner of my eye. He was still looking at that one spot in the sky. I turned my gaze upwards, but didn't see anything worth looking at.
"What are you looking at?" I asked finally. Vegeta only grunted.
"Nothing...I should be looking at something...but I'm not," he said tiredly. My eyebrows furrowed as I tried to figure out what he meant.
"What-"
"That's where Vegetasei used to be," he said, cutting me off. My eyebrows shot up. "At least I'm pretty sure that's where it used to be," he continued. He suddenly looked more depressed than he did seconds ago. "...don't even know where my own planet used to be..." he mumbled on.
"Are you alright, Vegeta?" I asked, probably for the fortieth time that night. I placed my hand on his shoulder without even thinking about it, but pulled it off again so fast I almost went flying over the side of the roof from the speed of it. Was it even possible for someone to tense up as fast as Vegeta just had? My eyes widened.
"...sorry..." Vegeta grumbled, looking almost as sheepish as Goku sometimes does. He wouldn't look at me though. It was a little too dark to tell, but I think he might have been blushing because of his actions. I blinked.
"Did you just say sorry?" I asked incredulously. I couldn't help myself; I didn't even think the word was in his vocabulary! Vegeta just grunted again, before his eyes suddenly narrowed and he turned to me.
"Yes I said sorry," he said bitterly. "And you know what else? THANK YOU for the sandwiches tonight. It was very KIND of you to do that for me. You're a GREAT COOK." My only response was for my eyes to get even wider. "Am I really THAT much of a bastard? That cold-hearted that I can't even apologize without someone looking at me like I've grown an extra head!" he continued. I suddenly felt really bad about what I'd said.
"Vegeta, I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that, honest." Vegeta gasped.
"Did you just APOLOGIZE?" he asked sarcastically. Crossing my arms, I glared at him. "See, you judge me on what you've heard from the others. What have I ever done to you, personally, to give you such an impression of me? You weren't there when I first fought Kakarrot," he said. I didn't want to tell him that I'd actually watched the whole thing on Babba's crystal ball, because I didn't know how he'd react to that.
"You threatened me on Namek, when you were after the dragon balls," I pointed out instead. Kami, I need to learn when to keep my mouth shut. Vegeta turned away from me for a second and clenched his fists.
"Ok then," he said slowly, as if trying to stay calm. "Ever since I've stayed at your house, have I ever really done any harm to you? I might threaten you now and then when we argue, but you know I'll never follow through with it. It's not like I have a death wish with Kakarrot or something," he said, mumbling the last part. I blinked.
"Are you admitting he could defeat you?" I asked unbelievingly. Vegeta sighed.
"Only because he's a Super Saiyan," he grumbled.
"Why are you acting like this? There is something seriously wrong here," I said, backing up a little. It was scaring me how he was acting all depressed or something.
"You want to know what's wrong?" Vegeta asked, laughing lowly. It sent chills down my spine. "I'll tell you what's wrong," he continued, standing up abruptly. "Look at me!" he said, turning to face me and spreading his arms out wide. "I'm the prince of the Saiyan race. A saiyan race that now only consists of a third class baka and his half-breed brat who know NOTHING about their own culture. My title has no meaning here. When I was younger, and my being prince actually meant something to Nappa and Raditz, I stuck to a belief that somehow I could...rebuild the Saiyan Empire after I killed Frieza. It was what I lived for, the only thing that kept me going. I seriously believed that one day I would be the one to finally end that bastard's life. And then comes along this third-class nobody, and not only does he turn into a Super Saiyan, but HE defeats Frieza, after, of course, I had already been killed," Vegeta said bitterly. He was pacing back and forth now. "And then I suddenly got wished back, entirely by accident. So I was stuck on this stupid planet with nowhere to go, until YOU asked me to stay here. And I accepted the invitation, because I had absolutely no idea what to do with myself. My entire purpose of living was gone suddenly, and I was stuck. The prince of an empire that doesn't exist, sitting on a roof, telling this to you, wearing...sweat pants and a fucking Old Navy t-shirt!" he yelled. "Oh, and to make matters worse, I don't have my tail anymore," he said bitterly, glancing over his shoulder down his back. "It was cut off by some weakling human, and I don't think it's coming back this time...the one thing that distinguishes me from some baka human..."
"Well, your hair's a little different," I said meekly. Yeah, dumb thing to say when someone finally starts telling you what's bothering them.
"Shut up," Vegeta growled at me. He was still pacing. I really didn't know what to say after that. I still couldn't believe he'd just told me all that. It was so unlike him.
"If it makes you feel any better, Goku didn't really beat Frieza. That kid from the-"
"Oh yes, let's add THAT to the list. Some unknown, supposedly saiyan from the future, who's younger than Kakarrot, can ALSO go Super Saiyan. And I...can't," Vegeta finished quietly, his shoulders slumping over. "No matter what I do, I can't get myself to transform... Some great prince I am. I just don't know what I'm doing anymore," he said, sitting down slowly and then throwing himself back into a lying position. He sighed deeply and put his hands behind his head, staring off into space again.
"Well...that should be obvious," I said, crawling over to him. He glanced at me from the corner of his eye as I sat down near him. "You're training to fight the androids."
"What's the point? I'm supposed to die anyway." I frowned.
"That's not a good way to look at it. You were given three years warning, and you should be using it to your full advantage. That way you WON'T die."
"Well then what after that? Then I'll really have nowhere to go. There won't be any point in me staying on this crummy planet anymore, and I can't go back to purging other planets."
"...You can always come back here until you figure something out."
"You're not going to want me around after I've already been here for three years. Trust me."
"You know how many guest rooms there are in this house. And it's not like I see you much now anyway," I insisted.
"Yeah well, by then you'll probably be married to Yamcha and you'll have fifteen kids or something," he muttered, saying Yamcha's name like it was some vile, disgusting thing. I looked away and sort of chuckled.
"Yamcha and I broke up three months ago, Vegeta." He propped himself up on his elbows and looked over at me.
"Seriously?" Geez, he never believes anything I say.
"Uh-huh," I replied.
"...Oh." He went back to staring at the stars, and I just kind of sat there for a while.
"What has your life been like?" I asked, breaking the silence between us. I pulled my knees up to my chest and rested my chin on them. Beside me I heard Vegeta inhale sharply, and I could feel him tense up again slightly. I hadn't even realized I was sitting that close to him, but I wasn't about to stop now. There were questions I wanted answered. "I mean, I know it was horrible working under Frieza and-"
"You don't KNOW," Vegeta growled. I looked at him.
"What?"
"You don't know," he repeated. "You ASSUME. You will never know because the bastard's dead now, but you can assume because of everything you've heard about him." I nodded slowly. That made sense.
"Well, what about your life before that?" I asked, sensing that Vegeta didn't want to talk about Frieza. "When Vegetasei was still there?" I pressed on. Vegeta gave this little shrug.
"I was the prince," he said simply. "I was expected to be strong, so I always had to train. I was well protected, and unlike most Saiyan babies, I was not sent to another planet to destroy its inhabitants. It was a normal life, by Saiyan standards." He frowned then. "Of course then my father handed me over to Frieza at the age of five, and my life pretty much went to hell from there."
"What about your mother?"
"I...don't know. I can't remember her really. When Frieza realized my potential strength, he got rid of her and made up some story. I can't recall what it was."
"He...got rid of her?" I echoed.
"Better the Queen than the King," Vegeta shrugged. "According to Frieza anyway."
"So...Frieza was...worried?" I asked trying to put all the pieces together.
"Scared, yes, that too many strong saiyans of royal blood would be born. We could have easily overpowered him, especially if a Super Saiyan was born. Even though he 'didn't believe in that child's tale,'" Vegeta spat, mimicking Frieza's voice. Then he chuckled. "He really should have checked the lower classes."
"...Why do you tense up so quickly when someone touches you?" I placed my hand on his arm to see if it would happen again, and sure enough, within a second he was like a brick wall. Then he scowled and pushed my hand away, but remained lying down.
"Training was harsh," was all he replied.
"Are you like that everywhere?" I asked, finding it kind of amusing. Not the reason behind it, mind you, just the fact that he would freeze up so abruptly like that. I reached down and put a hand on his knee, chuckling as he kicked at me lightly.
"Stop it," he growled, obviously not finding anything funny about it.
"It's not that big a deal Vegeta," I said, sitting up again. My fingers brushed by his side, but this time he didn't freeze. Instead he squirmed a little. It was hardly noticeable, but I saw it. I ran my fingers along his side again, and he tried to bat them away but his hands were moving a little more sluggishly. He looked like he was biting his lower lip slightly. My eyes widened a little. "Are you ticklish, Vegeta?" I asked in wonder. He scowled again and attempted to grab my hands, but by some miracle they were moving too fast for him. I caught a glimpse of panic in his face before I started tickling him without mercy. Soon he was laughing, real, genuine laughter, and rolling onto his side trying to get away from me. I know I was laughing too, amazed to see him like this. It was kind of weird. Finally I stopped and pulled back, panting slightly. Vegeta lay sprawled out beside me, also catching his breath. Then he growled unexpectedly.
"If I were you, I wouldn't do that again," he said, sitting up to look me in the eye. I just shrugged, unfazed by his attitude.
"Well, newsflash, Vegeta. You're not me," I whispered. Then I laughed again. "Ha! I know one of your weak points!" I exclaimed. He blinked at me, and then smirked. About point two seconds later, no joke, I found myself pinned to the floor, er, roof I guess. I stared wide-eyed up at Vegeta.
"I bet you have similar weak points," Vegeta said, reaching down with hand to grab my foot. My BARE foot. Panic set in right about then.
"Nononononononono!" I yelped, attempting to break out of his grip. I might as well have tried buttoning a zipper. Soon I was shrieking with laughter, and virtually out of breath as Vegeta used my own methods against me. It wasn't cool. He finally stopped, after I was blue in the face from lack of air.
"You dumbass," I muttered, glaring at him from beneath my messy bangs. We both knew I was kidding though. It was around this time that he actually noticed my new hair cut. Oh, did I forget to tell you that? Oops... See, the perm was coming out, and I wasn't too fond of the way it puffed up everywhere anyway, so I got a straight, simple cut. I like it a lot. I've discovered that I like shorter hair better now, I think. Uh, sorry, I kinda went off on a tangent there. Anyway...
"You changed your hair," Vegeta said suddenly, looking at my new do.
"Huh? Oh yeah, I did that about a month ago." He sat down next to me as I attempted to straighten out my hair a little. I gave up in the end.
"Have I really been sulking that long?" he asked, looking at the stars again. I glanced at him.
"Well, I wouldn't call it sulking...you were just...depressed for a little while," I said. He smirked.
"I'm probably so far behind in my training that there's no point starting again."
"It'll be more of a challenge," I pointed out. He nodded.
"Right, I have to become a Super Saiyan by the time the androids get here." He sighed again. "I guess tomorrow's back to normal then," he said gruffly. I smiled.
"Good. You had me worried for a while." Then I paused. "Actually, no, I thought you were sneaking out or something." Vegeta snorted.
"Where would I go?" he asked. I shrugged.
"No idea... You hungry?" At the mere mention of food, Vegeta's stomach started growling. I'm positive he blushed this time, though it wasn't a lot.
"I'm starving," he admitted sheepishly. I began gathering the mugs and the plate and headed for the edge of the roof.
"Come on, I'll fix you something." I climbed down the railing while Vegeta just levitated himself down. I watched him for a second, and felt this spark of jealousy that I always get when someone starts flying around me. Kami, I wish I could do that. "Hey, since it's been a while since you've trained normally," I said, on our way to the kitchen, "try not to overdo it, ok? My dad has a Capsule Corp. conference in the U.S. next week, so if you blow up the thing again I WON'T be able to fix it for a while." Vegeta grunted in response.
"How long will he be gone?" he asked.
"Uhh...I think the conference is for...two or three weeks. Three I think. And my mom's going with him, so we'll be eating takeout for a while," Vegeta nodded. When we arrived in the kitchen, Vegeta sat down at the table while I pulled out leftovers from the fridge. We'd been eating a lot of leftovers lately because every time my mother cooked, she'd make a ton of food in case Vegeta decided to eat with us again. Needless to say, there always a lot left.
I heated him up some steak from last night, and sat across from him at the table while he ate it. I still had one more question to ask him, but I wasn't sure how he'd take it.
"Hey Vegeta?" I said hesitantly. He glanced up at me. I paused, thinking of how to phrase what I wanted to say. "Do...do you think you'll ever settle down?" I finally got out. He raised an eyebrow.
"Settle down?"
"Yeah, you know, and start a family?" He chewed thoughtfully for a couple seconds, and then shrugged.
"Dunno," he said, swallowing. "I never really thought about it. If I ever do, it won't be anytime soon because of the androids, and it won't be on this planet." I frowned slightly.
"Why not?" Vegeta shrugged again.
"The women here are too pathetic. Strength wise," he added quickly when I opened my mouth to make some snappy comeback. "They might get hurt or something," he muttered, smirking. I snorted.
"Excuse me?" I asked. "Chichi had Gohan," I pointed out.
"Yes, well, Kakarrot was a lot weaker then, and his mate is one of the strongest women on the planet, is she not? And I noticed they only have the ONE brat."
"I...well...ok fine. That's true. But still!"
"Why do you ask?" He'd finished eating, so he just leaned back in his chair and regarded me with carefully masked curiosity. I debated for a second whether I should tell him or not, and finally decided, what the hell.
"I was just thinking a about that guy from future," I said, picking up Vegeta's plate and heading towards the sink.
"What about him?"
"When he came to tell us about the androids, you said he was lying about being a Saiyan. But just a little while ago, when we were outside, you said he DID go Super Saiyan." Vegeta shrugged and glanced away from me.
"He did," he grumbled. "But what does that matter?"
"Well...he came from the future, but he hasn't been born yet here. And he's not Goku's son, that was pretty obvious, so..." I raised my hands and shrugged my shoulders, trying to appear clueless. Vegeta blinked.
"What does it matter if he's not Kakarrot's son? What're you-" he paused. "Do you think he's...MY son?" he asked, eyes widening slightly. I nodded slowly. Vegeta grunted. "I hadn't thought about it... I suppose it's...possible," he said slowly. He sat thinking it over for a few minutes, and then suddenly pushed himself away from the table. He began heading out of the kitchen.
"Hey wait, where are you going?" I called out after him.
"To bed. I plan on training all day tomorrow," he answered gruffly. With a slight wave of his hand over his shoulder, Vegeta walked out and left me alone in the room, not waiting for me to reply. Well, he ended THAT conversation rather abruptly.
I turned back to the sink, playing the night's events over in my head. Vegeta had been acting strange for the past couple months, but as far as I could tell he was going back to normal again. Good thing too. You get too stressed out living with a depressed Saiyan.
Vegeta's a bit chatty there, isn't he? Heh. Oops. :)
-Maxine