-1Arms Of The Angel

Chappie 18

Shopping Trip!

By

Bulma

-Next Day!-

-Early Morning!-

-Bulma!-

Late at night, Bulma finally dragged her tired body to bed and only expecting to go back and do her whole day over again. She was so tired. Tired of doing work day in and day out, but what could she do? Her life and the lives of the once was her world is at stake. Failed to fulfill Prince Vegeta's demands, and it would be the lives of her friends to pay for it. Bulma let out a sigh as she laid in bed and started at her digital clock. The red numbers flooded. "9:30am" in the morning. Bulma knew she should be getting up and getting ready…but she couldn't find the will to do it.

"Come on Bulma, time for you to get up and get moving! The work isn't going to get accomplished if you lay in bed all day." she told herself. And at that very moment, the doors to her room were burst opened as Andrea and Venux looked ready to kill. "Come on Bulma! Up! We have major mall shopping for the Ball tomorrow!" Andrea added as she barged into the room and threw the comforter off of Bulma. Bulma sat up and looked between her two friends confused. "Shopping? Girls, I can't go shopping!" both Venux and Andrea had their mouth's hanging wide open. She had uttered the forbidden sentence. "BULMA ARE YOU SICK!" Andrea cried. "Do you have a fever!" Venux asked concerned as she felt her forehead.

Bulma rolled her eyes at her friends' concern. "Seriously, you guys, I'm fine. It's just I don't' feel much like shopping, and what for anyway? I've had too much work I need to do for the Prince and besides; I'm not going to the Ball anyway! It's stupid and pointless!" Bulma snapped. Once again, both girls were bewildered and shocked. "Yes, she is defiantly sick." Venux spoke after finding her voice. Andrea shook her head in agreement. Bulma let out an annoyed growl.

"Look you guys, I just don't want to go! Is that so hard to understand!" Then it suddenly hit Andrea. "You don't have a date do you?" A light crimson spread like wildfire across Bulma's cheeks as she looked away embarrassed. "Ah ha, so that's the real reason! Well Bulma Briefs, you are going weather you want to or not!" she challenged Bulma. "So Bulma, you can get dressed the easy way or our way. But you are going miss! I don't' care what the hell you say!" Andrea agreed with Venux. Bulma looked bewildered at her 2 so-called "best friends".

"You guys can't be serious!" "We are. Now do what we say or we will do it for you." Venux threatened in a deadly tone. "Make me!" Bulma challenged back with her arms crossed. "Don't say we didn't warn you!" Andrea stated matter-of-factly. Bulma couldn't help but feel this was going to get ugly as they both advanced upon her.

-3 Hours Later!-

-Mall!-

Bulma sulked deep inside a waiting chair as her 2 friends tried on dresses for the ball tomorrow evening. "Are you 2 almost done yet? I want to go home now!" she complained to them in the dressing stalls. "Bulma, you know perfectly well as I do, that this is a delicate and long taking procedure. Besides, you did not hear either me or Venux complain when we went with you to the Mall for almost 10 hours, while you searched for your perfect Prom dress. So stop complaining! Besides, my dress has to scream out perfect! So this is gonna take a while." Andrea told her.

"Come on Bulma, you should try on a dress and say hell with everything and go!" Venux begged once more. "What part of NO and I'M BUSY do you both not understand!" Bulma snapped. "Seriously Bulma, there has to be a good reason for not going! And don't you dare say you have work to do! You are 3 weeks ahead of schedule and not mentioning the fact, you never take a break!" Venux popped out of the dressing room in a gorgeous dress a she stalked over to her sulking friend. Bulma averted her eyes away from Venux as she stood in front of her. "You don't' know what you are talking about. Just pick your stupid dress. The sooner I can get out of here, the sooner I can get back to work." she grumbled.

Andrea emerged from the dressing room and came to the site of Venux confronting Bulma. She let out a sigh. If they wanted any answers outta Bulma, this was not the way of getting them. "Hey you guys, after we finish up here, let's go take a break with some ice cream?" Andrea cutted in. Venux and Bulma looked at her and Venux got what she meant. "Sure. You know, I think I like this one. I'm going to get it." Venux smiled. "Yeah, it does look good on you." Andrea continued to lighten the mood. "Whatever." and suddenly the mood went from happy to depressed because of Bulma. Andrea let out an agitated sigh and went back to change into her own clothing.

-Ice Cream!-

3 girls sat and quietly ate their ice cream. Venux and Andrea stole glances at one another as Bulma kept eating her ice cream. Andrea was the first to speak. "Listen Bulma, there was a reason we are doing this." Bulma looked at her 2 friends as she felt an entire lecture coming on. And of course she was right.

"Okay, I'll bite, what's the reasoning for this entire pointless day?" "First off, it's not pointless. We really needed to do some major shopping and bonding. Bulma, listen to us. What you are doing is not healthy. We talked to your parents and…" "YOU TALKED TO MY PARENTS INSTEAD OF ME!" Bulma cried out in anguish of her friend's betrayal. "Venux, how could you both do that to me!" "Will you stop making a scene? Besides, you wouldn't talk to us and kept yourself looking up in your lab!" Andrea explained to her. "But you had not right to go to my parents!" "Bulma, we DID have every right to talk to your parents. You were locking yourself up from everyone. And the main thing is, Yamcha would have not wanted you to be unhappy. He would have wanted you to go to the ball, take a few breaks, and enjoy life to it's fullest. We only live once." Venux spoke to her.

"It's not about him anymore you guys. It's something and someone else." Bulma turned away from them. Venux and Andrea were defiantly not expecting this and did not like where this lecture was heading. Venux exchanged confused and curious looks to Andrea. They needed to get to the bottom of this. "Who Bulma?" Venux asked. "None of your business." Bulma quickly replied. "Oh it's defiantly our business now! Either you spill or I won't let you borrow any of my newly bought mangas!" Andrea smiled, knowing she was going to win this war, one way or another. "You wouldn't dare!" Bulma cried. "She would and so will I." Venux also threatened. Bulma bowed her head. She knew she could never win.

Andrea placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Listen Bulma, we are only doing this is because we are concerned about you. You are hurting yourself and we don't' want to see you do that. So please, let us in. tell us about what is going on. We are your best friends after all. If you can't trust your parents, then trust us. We have never done you wrong. So why would we start now?" Bulma stared at her friends in understandment. "All right…if you put it that way…" she quietly responded. Andrea smiled and Venux braced herself for a rather interesting explanation.

Bulma let out a sigh as she found her hands folded in her lap quite interesting at the moment. "Well…a couple of nights ago, I had another nightmare." "Yamcha again?" Venux asked. "Yeah…so anyway, I headed to the labs to try and get some work done if I couldn't sleep. Well one memory led to another and I began to get upset. Then Prince Vegeta showed up…" "THE PRINCE!" both girls cried surprised. "DETAILS! WHAT HAPPENED!" demanded Andrea. "Well we talked and well he told me I should wear this more often…"

Bulma reached for the locket around her neck and pulled it out to show her friends. "Bulma…are you seriously wearing that? Oh my gosh, what about giving this to your first born?" Andrea was the first to ask. Venux turned a bit pale as she thought to herself. ("My gods, Trunks has the same damn necklace. This is so surreal…") "Well, Prince Vegeta told me that it would be more meaningful if I wore it and then gave it to my first child…and then we almost kissed." "KISSED!" once again her friends screamed at her. "Guys, keep it down and almost! We were interrupted by the Royal Guard. I believe his name was Koji. Basically, it was before the war." Bulma tried to calm her anxious friends.

"So that is the real reason? You have feelings for the Prince and you don't' want to deal with it?" Venux spoke knowingly. "I do not like the Prince!" Bulma cried outraged. "Please Bulma, you are one of the smartest people around and yet you can be so dense sometimes. Your expression says it all and denying it, just proves us more correct. So drop it. You're not fooling anyone, especially us!" Andrea smiled triumphantly as she knew she won this one. "Whatever." "No not whatever! So you like the Prince, why not tell him?" Venux suggested. "NO!" both Bulma and Andrea cried.

"Venux, you know that is THE #1 Rule about crushes! You don't tell them you have feelings for them! Especially since the crush is the PRINCE OF ALL SAIYANS! Are you insane!" Andrea cried at her friend. "Listen you guys…let's not make a big deal out of this. Besides, he is a Prince and he doesn't feel a thing for me. So it's nothing and I don't really want to go to the Ball anyway." Bulma told them. "Bulma, you should take the risk. He might not turn out as you expect him to be." Venux explained. "Please Venux, I'm not dense when it comes to it. He's so arrogant and prideful! And besides, it's one sided anyway! So, can we drop the subject?" "Sure." Andrea replied.

-Later!-

-Venux/Trunks!-

Shortly after the talk with Bulma, the girls returned from an accomplished day of shopping, for tomorrow was the ball. As Bulma excused herself from her friends to get back to work in the lab, Andrea disappeared to get ready for some much needed rest. Leavening Venux to her thoughts. Venux decided to think in her room as she dropped her things in her room; she walked out to the balcony and over look this foreign planet. It was hard to believe Trunks came from this place. When she really thought about it, there was so much of him that was still a mystery to her. She knew nothing of his past. Just how did he get involved with Frieza's affairs?

"How was shopping?" as a voice from the balcony's doorway interrupted Venux's thoughts. Venux turned around and was shocked to see Trunks leaning against the wall, smiling like he always does. "Oh, it was all right. Apparently I got to the bottom of your Mother's depression as hell and hiding from everyone." Venux told him. Trunks' features turned to one of concern. "What? Something is wrong with her? Why didn't you tell me! I have to see her!" he voiced. He turned to go find her, only to be stopped by a pull of his arm.

"Trunks, I took care of it. Besides, it's no use. Her mind is made up." Trunks looked at her confused. "Venux…perhaps you better explain this fully to me." "Sure. Let's sit down." Both sat upon Venux's bed and she revealed the whole store to Trunks. He sat there as he listened, staring at the ground. The story came to a close and Venux looked at Trunks' non-moving form beside her. "I-I had no idea she was suffering so much. She lost so many things, I should've talked to her when I first saw her…now she feels Dad won't love her." "Trunks, they will find a way to each other. You will see." Venux comforted him.

"What if they don't V? What if I am never born? What if Dad really hates Mom? I want to be born. I want to exist." he spoke softly. "Trunks…" Venux took his face in her hands. "Trunks, stop worring so much. They will end up with each other." "Venux…I never knew them…I barely remember their faces. Dad used to smile and Mom was so full of life and spirit…now Dad is cold and I feel Mom is slowly dying inside." Venux couldn't stand it anymore, tears fell from her eyes and she wrapper her arms around his torso. Trunks just stayed still in her embrace and head resting on her shoulder. "Trunks, don't give up hope. Trust me, they will end up together. Somehow they will. I just know it."

"I don't know anymore. I just don't' know." such pain and sadness swirled within his blue orbs. His Mother's orbs. "You know Trunks, it's okay not to know. You just have to play things out and go with everything." she sobbed. "Venux…why are you crying?" "Because you won't allow yourself to! You bottle everything inside and don't allow anyone in. I'm crying for you." she spoke softly. "Venux…" "Shhh, its okay." she made him look at her as tears cascaded down her flawless cheeks. A small smile placed on her lips. "Trunks, tonight, all I ask is that you stay with me…please…let me hold you. Just tonight." He nodded and collapsed in her arms and onto her lap.

C'ya

Bulma

P.S. MOMENT OF ZEN!

…This is the part where I nod my head and pretend I am listening…

Matt Say: That is my trick!