'Hi everyone! Sorry that it has taken so long (for me) to post this chapter. I try to avoid writing two stories at once because one of the stories usually takes much longer, but unfortunately I did. "Creatures of the Nightmare" has taken hold, but don't fret. I shall finish "Tid Bits" and it will be good, I hope. So here we go, chapter 6 of "Tid Bits." This chapter takes place about two years after the Cell saga and guess what? Vegeta is back to training again! Yay!'

Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or Vegeta. But I do own this fanfiction!

Chapter 6

Vegeta and Bulma lay in the grass in the backyard of Capsule Corp, staring into the bright blue sky. The hot summer sun warmed their faces as Bulma's fingers ran through her prince's long black hair. A three-year-old Trunks ran around the lawn screeching and chasing all kinds of bugs that had entered his territory. Bulma's blue eyes gazed over at her almost sleeping lover as his tan face turned up toward the sun with a rare smile on his lips.

The saiyajin had just gotten done training in the new gravity room that Bulma built for him. He had only started to use it about six months ago and it thrilled her greatly. For a whole year, after Cell was defeated and Goku died, he decided to train no more. He just wasn't the same he had been. Bulma always found herself staring into the face of a broken, lost saiyajin and not the arrogant, pride-filled prince she learned to love. He had given Trunks no attention and mostly just moped around the house. Even after Bulma built the Gravity Room to connect to the house, he simply shrugged and walked away.

Even after he willingly went with her and the others to get his luck cleansed (read previous chapter) and had a somewhat funny and bizarre encounter with weird earth customs, he returned to his usual depressed self. After the whole New Year's fiasco Bulma approached him two weeks later, feeling extremely annoyed with his attitude. She remembered it clearly as she gazed into Vegeta's peaceful features.

He had been sitting in front of the TV again, his eyes glazed and bored as he looked into the screen. Info-mmercials. How could anyone watch that? Bulma felt her anger rise as she watched him, a blank expression on his face. He wasn't doing anything with his life anymore. He threw everything away just because his opportunity to defeat Goku was taken from him. For the first year she had felt sorry for him and was able to understand his pain, but this moping about was going on far too long. He spent no time with Trunks or her! With a flurry of anger in her chest, she marched up to the couch in which Vegeta was sitting.

She grabbed the remote that lay next to him and clicked the large screen off. He barely flinched or moved, except to allow his eyebrows to lower. He didn't look at her, but stared straight ahead at the now blank screen.

"I think we need to talk," Bulma snapped.

The dark eyed saiyajin continued to stare ahead. "I think I was watching that," he said softly.

Bulma sighed and looked at him. "Oh? And what was it about?"

Vegeta's mouth twisted to the side and he slowly raised his eyes to look at the woman before him, surprised to see the anger on her face. "I think it was some kind of chainsaw/pudding maker thing."

Bulma hid a smile at his strange sense of humor and regained her annoyed expression. With her hands on her hips she stood her ground and continued to glare into him. He returned the glare and the two just stared each other down.

"What?" Vegeta finally snapped.

"No more of this," Bulma replied sharply. He cocked his head to one side in confusion. "No more sitting around, wasting your life away, and pouting as you ignore me and your son."

Vegeta's lips curled angrily but he remained silent. He pulled his feet up into an Indian-style position and crossed his arms.

"Well, nothing to say?" Bulma asked, growing even angrier at his usual stony silence. "I figured as much."

"What the hell do you want me say?" Vegeta growled.

Bulma's face turned red and she pointed a finger in his face. "I want you say something for once. My God, Vegeta! It's almost been a year and half since Cell and you haven't lifted one finger to train, or help around the house, or train your son, or even communicate with anyone anymore!"

Vegeta stood suddenly, startling Bulma with his quickness. His eyes burned with a cold rage as he glared daggers into her. For once, in a long time, she felt afraid of the alien that stood before her.

"And what should I do? Should I go hang out with your friends? Take Kakerotto's place and become the hero of a now peaceful earth while remaining weaker than his brat, Gohan? I guess I should completely change myself for all these earthlings who don't give a shit about me and become someone I'm not after years of training and achieving nothing!"

Bulma felt herself begin to shake. There was no point in arguing with him. She turned quickly and rushed from the living room, running to the downstairs kitchen and instinctively started grabbing some dishes to clean. She expected this to happen. Arguing with him did nothing. He would just return to his couch and click on the TV again.

She was shaken from her thoughts as a rough hand grabbed her arm. She dropped the plate that she had been wiping down and gasped as angry eyes met hers.

"Well?" He snarled.

Bulma tried to jerk away, but he held her tight. Pushing her fear down she looked deep into the dark brown eyes that once held a unique pride. There was nothing there now but a cold emptiness.

"Why don't you want people to care for you? Why don't you want to open up to anyone? Don't you care for Trunks…or me?"

He was really getting frustrated now with all her questioning. Why humans needed to be so "in your face" all the time was an annoying mystery to him, and this particular female always felt the need to bicker at him. He released her arm as she continued.

"Why can't you just allow yourself to relax around people for once? Why can't you just be a fighter who protects others?" He cringed. She had no idea. "No one around here expects you to become a happy-going, love life, cheery person, but at least become alive again. Just because your opportunity to defeat Goku was taken away, you don't need to-"

"Kakerotto! You think this is all about him?" Vegeta hollered getting in her face. Bulma backed up against a cabinet behind her. His eyes flashed angrily and the blue-haired woman saw him beginning to shake from barely concealed rage. "This is not all about him. For the past year and half I have been thinking. I've been thinking about how much my…"

His angry face suddenly flashed confusion and he slowly backed away. His trembling hadn't stopped, but he turned away and began to walk out of the kitchen. A small hand grabbed his solid arm and he allowed himself to stop. Vegeta couldn't face her, though. He was about to say something that he would regret and needed to leave.

"You've been thinking about what?"

Vegeta sighed and slowly shook his head. "Let go or I will force you off."

Bulma closed in and wrapped her arms around her strong fighter.

"You just need to let go," she whispered as she pressed her face against his back. "You just need to let everything out. I assure you that you will feel better. Please Vegeta."

The saiyajin normally would have shoved the small woman off of him and stormed from the room, but over the past year he felt his will power slip. His once strong mental barrier was breaking from all the stress he was putting himself through. But it was so hard. He could never talk about his emotions. He was never given the chance to cry, or laugh, or complain, or care for others for so many years with Frieza's careful watch. It seemed almost impossible to allow himself to speak to Bulma, but maybe she was right. Maybe he would feel better. Of course, he could always feel much worse after, but what did he have to lose. He was on a permanent wave of depression so maybe he could talk to her about it.

Sighing again Vegeta removed Bulma's arms from around his waist and turned to face her.

"Sit."

Bulma's blue eyes widened and she quickly pulled up to two chairs from the table. Then she glanced at them and shook her head.

"The living room is better."

Vegeta allowed a small smile to pass his lips as his cheery mate bounded from the kitchen and upstairs to the large room Vegeta had once been sitting in. The two plopped down on the couch and the small saiyajin lay on his back, his head resting on the arm cushion. Bulma laughed as she sat next to him.

"I'm not a psychiatrist you know."

Vegeta shrugged. "If you want to pick through my head, then I'm going to treat you like one." And with that he swung his feet up so they rested in her lap.

Bulma laughed again and patted his legs. Vegeta was comfortable, but also, he didn't want to look her right in her eyes. He felt an uneasy tension gnawing at his stomach and he shifted nervously. Bulma cocked her head to one side and waited for him to proceed, but after a few minutes nothing happened. Vegeta strung his fingers together and lifted his head.

"Do you want me to begin?"

Bulma gave him a lopsided grin and nodded slowly. One finely sculpted eyebrow rose and Vegeta's head fell back onto the cushion. He hated "spilling his guts." He tried to figure out the best way to begin his woes and realized that perhaps it was a stupid idea to agree to talk to her. His fingers fidgeted more and he sighed.

"It just sucks," he said, surprising Bulma. " I've been thinking about how much my life sucks. I don't expect you to understand, but….well, try." His dark eyes stared at the white ceiling. "I went through a lot on Frieza's base. All soldiers were not allowed to show emotion, but he especially didn't want me to. I was taken from my planet at a young age before I could experience the true ways of the saiyajin. I didn't really have a chance to learn differently than what Frieza taught me. Even Nappa told me that. He had enough balls to tell me that I didn't fully understand the ways of true life and understanding because I had been under Freiza's wing for so long. And as much as it pissed me off, as I grew older, I realized I wasn't the same as him or Radditz. I was different. I was crueler, darker, colder….I WAS Frieza.

"So, I grew up wearing the name of the Saiyajins on my sleeve. Knowing that I was different and knowing that I was their prince was all my determination. Everything I fought for was in their name because that was the only thing I could grasp. Defeating Frieza, becoming a super-saiyajin, ruling as I was supposed to…that was my life. That was my plan. But then…everything….just...went to shit."

Bulma stared at the upturned face of Vegeta. She wished he would sit up and talk to her, but if this was easier for him so be it. But she was shocked so far. She had never known that he saw himself as different to all the other saiyajins. She had assumed that he was just like them. He continued on about his utter defeat as Kakerotto ascended to super-saiyajin as he lay buried in the dirt. She felt his pain as he described his mortification at the fact that a third-class had beaten the creature responsible for the death of his race and planet and made him a slave for so many years. But she had already known all this.

"Why didn't give up like you are now?" Bulma asked, knowing that her words were harsh. "Even when Goku defeated Frieza and you…well…died, you still came back with a vengeance. You still fought. Why stop now and give up everything?"

Vegeta didn't grow angry by this question or reply coldly. He lay there for a moment as he blinked at the ceiling. He tried to find the right words. Slowly sitting up he sat next to Bulma's side and stared at the ground.

"It's hard to explain," he said softly. "There are so many reasons, I don't know where to start."

Bulma draped her arm around his shoulder and gave a squeeze. "Just try. I think I'm smart enough," she said with a laugh. Vegeta smiled slightly and then raised his head to look at the far wall.

"I let Cell transform," he said. Bulma could feel her anger begin to rise as an image of Chi-Chi slapping her love in the face appeared. "I allowed him to become stronger because of my own ego. And then he beat me. After training so hard I was so stupid as to allow him to win. I should have finished it. I should have-"

"It's in the past. What's done is done," Bulma soothed. She could sense Vegeta getting upset and she tried to comfort him more.

Taking a deep breath, Vegeta continued. "And he killed Kakerotto. Not only him, either…but Trunks, too. And then Gohan transformed. An eleven-year-old became a super-saiyajin two. It was all too much. I just felt everything…crash. I hovered in the air after I fired the one blast that helped kill Cell, and my universe crashed in that instant. I felt a gaping hole open within me. A deep horror crept through me. It was a feeling I had felt everyday I woke up on Frieza's ship or at his base. This gnawing feeling of unexplainable dread sat within me every time I even thought about fighting again or training. Any time I even imagined facing another in battle again, I felt sick to my stomach, like I might die right there. And then it just got worse. Just like with Frieza, I expected to die at any moment. I felt like something bad would occur at any given second.

"And even worse, my obsession to defeat Kakerotto has grown since he has died and I KNOW he won't be coming back ever, and that is what scares me, too. This obsessive nature of mine is consuming me and I feel anxious, tired, depressed, and I feel as if I could go crazy any second. I have these constant images of defeating Kakerotto in several ways. I see these absurd scenarios of me winning against him, but I know it will never happen now. It was like that with Frieza. I had these obsessive visions of tearing him apart; standing over him and destroying all the evil, horrible things he stood for. And now, I'm beginning to feel these fears all over again. I just can't shake these panicky feeling of dread as images of Kakerotto and fighting enter my head. I am torn. I want to go and fight him, tear him apart…..and yet...I just want to see him again. He was the first person who was kind to me. I cried to him when I died. He treated me as an equal as opposed to slave scum or an arrogant psycho. I'm just so confused…I just…."

Bulma nodded and rubbed his back. She understood what he was saying and understood.

"You're having anxiety," she said simply. He smirked and looked away.

"I know. It sounds absurd. All this shit I have been through and I'm defeated by weak anxiety attacks." He shook his head.

Bulma reached over and cupped his chin, pulling his head to look at her. "And guilt. Deep down you like Goku."

Vegeta blanched and slid away from her. "You psycho! Don't be stupid!"

Bulma smiled sweetly and scooted closer. "You see Goku as a friend and you're guilty that he's dead. But no one saw this coming, Vegeta. Don't feel bad at all that Goku isn't back. HE chose to not come back. We wished him back, but he selfishly stayed away. Now you….you'd be back in a second, 'cuz you love me and Trunks."

She threw herself around a blushing red Vegeta and laughed as he tried to throw her off. The two tickled and squirmed as Bulma attacked him. After a few minutes Bulma lay panting against Vegeta as they lay on the couch together. He hadn't denied that he wouldn't come back for the two of them and she smiled.

"Vegeta," she breathed into his chest. "I want you to understand that these feelings come and go. They won't last forever if you decide to stop them. Only you control your life. If you want to sit around and let this anxiety and defeat eat away at you, then that will happen." Her sparkling blue eyes rose up to meet his dark brown ones. "But you are Vegeta. You are one arrogant, strong-willed, thickheaded saiyajin bastard and I know that you will not waste your life away. You never did before and you won't now. Instead of allowing this obsession to take over, put your mind to other things. Try something new. It's about time you start settling down on earth. You can't just dwell on horrible things that could happen, because that's life. See Goku as a man who was a friendly rival who is gone for now. See your life on Frieza's base as a distant dream that no longer controls you. See me now. See Trunks now. See all the others now. And be hopeful for the future."

She placed her head back down on his chest and sighed. She could feel his deep breaths and then the touch of his hand on her back. She closed her eyes and smiled.

"It'll take time, but….I'll try," he said lightly.

"It does take time, but take it slow. Take everything slow and begin all over again. The first thing to do is just get back to a nice normal life again."

She lifted her head again to see a smiling handsome prince looking back at her. She leaned forward and the two kissed, sharing the first intimate touch in about a year.

And that is where it ended. So, here the two were now, about six months after the argument/makeup and she had never seen Vegeta happier. It was hard for him to begin training again, and there were a few meltdowns here and there, but his anxiety and fear grew less and less. Bulma was there by his side the whole time, and now he was back, but different. He was more compassionate and caring. He had allowed himself to relax and was learning more and more about the ways of earth and the ways of a good life.

He had only trained for about two hours and then, surprisingly, greeted her outside where she had been laying in her bikini and tanning while Trunks played around in the grass. He was somewhat disappointed, because he really wanted to do more than lay in the grass with her while she was dressed in such attire, but she was quite particular about their ravenous behavior when the boy was near.

So, the saiyajin plopped down next to her towel wearing just a pair of black shorts and lay in the warm sun. Bulma leaned over and continued to run her fingers through his hair. Her blue eyes looked past his smiling face and into her mother's garden. The flowers she had were quite lovely, but none of them were her favorite flower, the rare and beautiful Fanasha blossom. She sighed and rolled back onto her back. The saiyajin next her heard the small noise and he squinted into the sun.

"What is it, woman?"

Bulma slid her sunglasses over her eyes as a slight annoyance overcame her. "Oh nothing, Vegeta."

He frowned and sat up, peering at her perfect body. "If it was nothing, then you wouldn't have made that noise. I've known you long enough to understand your sounds."

The beautiful woman found herself sitting up, too. Vegeta sensed the usual Bulma anger setting in and inwardly cringed.

"I was just noticing my mother's flower bed, and it holds no Fanasha blossoms."

"So?"

"So, it's my favorite flower. I've said it a hundred times, and well, there's a special occasion coming up in two days and I was hoping to receive some," she said haughtily.

Vegeta hid a smile at her arrogance. Sometimes her attitude pleased him greatly. But what did she mean in "special occasion?" He hoped it wasn't another stupid earth tradition and holiday. Without really caring he glanced at her and then quickly lay back down again. Bulma felt an annoyed sneer appear on her face as the arrogant man next to her simply ignored her hint toward her birthday.

She sat up waiting for a reply but none came. With a pursing of the lips, she turned quickly and pinched one of Vegeta's nipples as hard as she could. He sat up with a yelp, only to see her grabbing her towel and walking away pissed off. Trunks wandered up to his side and stared as his mom stormed from the yard in her blue bikini.

"What's wrong with Mommy?"

Vegeta lowered his head and sighed. "Nothing, Trunks. She's just a girl."

After a relaxing shower the prince dressed in a casual dark blue shirt and khaki pants. Pulling on a pair of brown Doc. Martins he trudged down the stairs and found Bulma's terrifyingly cheerful mother. He was just about to turn heel and run, but was brought back to the conversation he had with Bulma and her weird rage. He brought it up to the flaky woman and she giggled as she placed a delicate hand to her mouth.

"Well, of course that would anger her," she laughed. Vegeta scowled at the fact that this freakish woman was laughing at his naïve nature. "Her birthday is in two days."

Vegeta's dark eyes widened a bit but he quickly hid the surprise. Her birthday? Damn! He was right…another stupid earth celebration. He hardly even remembered when his birthday was and even if he did, it didn't matter. He seemed to remember that it was tradition on his home planet to celebrate the mother's achievement for giving a successful birth, not the one who was being born. Humans were so backward.

For the past many years he had never bothered with Bulma's birthday. She never really told him when it was, and even when he did know, he didn't do anything and he wasn't expected to do anything. But now things had changed. He was thinking of just blowing it off, but a strange gnawing feeling of guilt assailed him. He growled inwardly at the new weaknesses he was succumbing to on earth but quickly pushed them aside. He looked at the squinty happy woman who stood before him and sighed.

"If she's asking for me, tell her I went out to train for a few days and will be back later."

He saw Mrs. Breifs's face fall a bit and knew that if anyone could disappoint and make this woman upset, then it was a pretty bad deed. He had only told her half the truth, though. He was going to be leaving, but not to train. The first stop was the Capsule Corp. library in Bulma's father's study and then off he would go in search her needed presents.

He remembered her talking about another gift besides this Fanasha blossom. It was an earth sea creature called a clam that held a jewel called a pearl. He knew that the sometimes shallow woman enjoyed jewels greatly and especially grew excited at the prospect of having her own pearl from a rare giant oyster called the Candii. After researching the location of both objects, he changed into his saiyajin armor and walked out onto the balcony form his room.

He didn't really want to go searching in normal human clothes. Swimming through water and traveling through the wilderness did not sound fun if he had to wear baggy, over-heating clothing. Hopping from the balcony, he enjoyed the plunge of his stomach before raising his ki and taking to the air. The warm summer air felt good as it ran through his thick, spiky hair as he headed toward the jungles of the Amazon.

'Ok, yes, I know. A two chapter Tid Bit! I know that this chapter was a bit corny, but I just wanted to show how Vegeta decided to start training again. I hope to get the next chapter up as soon as possible, and trust me, it will be quite hilarious. Tien and Chaotzu might even make an appearance! Well, please read and stay tuned for the next great installment of "Tid Bits!"'