Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, or any of its variations.
A/N: This was an idea that just popped in my mind while I was sitting outside watching the rain. I'm not sure why, but I felt that Bulma and Vegeta fit this situation the most, despite how I've never written anything in regards to Dragon Ball Z before. Well, either way, I hope everyone enjoys!
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Façade of the Rain
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"ACHOO!"
"Woman!"
Bulma Briefs shot her head up, meeting the glare of their rather permanent house guest, Vegeta. She had been sneezing quite often this morning, not that it normally mattered to the prince of Saiyans. Bulma's eyes trailed down to the unsuspecting, not to mention unintentional, target of her infectious bacteria. Normally, Bulma Briefs did not sneeze in someone's food, especially not in that of a Saiyan's.
Though, today was not normal. Indeed, she did sneeze in someone's, a Saiyan's, food. And indeed, it did matter to the prince. Slowly, Bulma lifted her eyes to meet that of Vegeta's. The Saiyan's typical scowl had intensified. Apparently, a Saiyan's food should not be sneezed on.
"Er… I'm sorry?"
"Sorry! Woman, DO SOMETHING about this! Are you expecting me to eat that contaminated… thing?" Vegeta crossed his arms, as he looked down at the contaminated food in disgust.
Bulma shrugged, unfazed at his insult towards her cooking, "Well, it was disgusting in the first place anyway… Oh well. Let me get you another plate."
Before the Saiyan made another comment, though not before he leaked an expression of disbelief, she picked up the plate and left for the kitchen. Not only had the human woman not get angry, she accepted the insult, without even the slightest bit of an attitude in her facial expressions or her speech.
Vegeta's thoughts portrayed the satisfied, though slightly suspicious, expression on his face, 'What is wrong with that woman? Just yesterday the woman wouldn't stop screaming and glaring at me. Today, I am respected. Hmph. No matter. It's about time, anyway.'
A tiny noise shook Vegeta out of his thoughts. Bulma had returned with a new plate of fresh food, and had just set it in front of the Saiyan prince. He took note of the tiny smile she had on for an expression right before she turned to leave, and became more suspicious. Vegeta took a nearby eating utensil and poked at the food.
"Woman."
Bulma turned around, with an ever so patient expression, with that same tiny smile. Vegeta stared at her, silent for a few moments, observing her eyes for any possible mischief.
He found none, hence he asked, "What did you do to this food?"
Expecting something along the lines of that, Bulma rolled her eyes, "Nothing, Vegeta. Eat it if you want. If it really is poisoned, I'm sure your strong Saiyan body could withstand the poison long enough to come up to my room and murder me and a few others to get your revenge first."
With that, Bulma headed upstairs towards her room, but not before calling down towards the befuddled prince with an even more befuddling message.
"I'm heading up to my room to get some rest for my cold. If the gravity machine breaks down, just wake me up to get it fixed. If you get hungry and there's no food, let me know!"
And then Vegeta heard a door opening and closing, a soft thud, and then silence. With a small snort, he continued eating his breakfast.
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Vegeta stepped out of the restroom within the gravity machine, shirtless, with a towel flung around his neck, apparently having just taken a shower. Just as Bulma predicted, the gravity machine did, in fact, break down. Though it had broken when it was near time for the end of his training today, anyway, so Vegeta merely decided that he would stop early, and have the woman fix the machine as he went to sleep early.
Stalking his way towards the house, a habitual way for him to walk since years past, his Saiyan ears picked up a conversation between two women. Specifically, that woman and the woman's mother.
"Bulma. It'll rain again tonight." The mother's voice didn't have its usual touch of perkiness.
"Really? Will it?" The woman, on the other hand, seemed absolutely giddy about it.
"Yes, Bulma, it will. But, maybe you should just skip this one."
'Skip? Skip what? Feh. Who cares?' Vegeta started to head inside, but stopped when the conversation picked up once more.
"Mom, you know it's best to take advantage of the rain every chance I get. Who knows when the next rain might come?"
'Rain?'
"But Bulma, dear, it's the beginning of the winter season, I'm sure the rain will come often. It's getting cold, and you're already sick from the last time. What if it gets worse?" Other than lacking perkiness, Bunny's voice was tainted with worry.
"It's okay, mom. Even if it gets worse, it won't be enough to kill me, and I'll definitely get better, okay?" Bulma's voice was rather carefree for a situation where she applied her health in.
'The woman was carefree about telling me to kill her earlier today, as well. Hm...'
"Sweetie, that was okay before because you could get all the days of rest you needed. Now, with Vegeta here, although I'm sure he's quite the gentleman, not to mention quite the looker, it's becoming hard for you to get the rest you need after the rain, since you're always fixing that little toy of his." Much to Vegeta's despair, Bunny's voice became extremely perky as she mentioned him.
"Mom, really, it's fine. Like fixing the usual problems on the gravity machine really takes up so much of my resting time. You're underestimating your genius daughter."
"Alright, dear… if that's what you really want. I'll just go put some more medicine in your room, okay?" Bunny's perkiness was returning. Vegeta could tell.
Outside, Vegeta decided it was time to head in. 'Humans and their petty problems… how annoying.'
"Woman!" Vegeta's voice boomed, signifying his entrance.
Bulma and Bunny turned to the door. Bulma rolled her eyes and Bunny eyes lit up.
"Oh, here comes the dear! Vegeta, would you like something to drink?" Bunny's perky voiced pierced Vegeta's sensitive Saiyan ears.
Ignoring the mother, Vegeta turned to Bulma. An awkward silence passes as Vegeta did nothing but stare at her. Bulma looked herself over in confusion, in case something about her was out of place. Finally, Vegeta spoke up, "Woman. Fix the gravity machine. It broke down again. I'm done for the day, but I expect it to be working by the time I get up tomorrow."
Bulma stood there and blinked at him for quite some time, before rolling her eyes and stepping out the door. "G'night, Vegeta."
Vegeta said nothing and headed upstairs towards his room.
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Vegeta was not having a pleasant night. He tossed and turned himself on the bed, trying to find a suitable, comfortable position for him to sleep in. Despite his attempts, he just could not get himself to sleep. The Saiyan prince couldn't tell if it was the rain outside, tapping against the window to his room that bothered him and wouldn't allow him to sleep, or if it was what that woman had said earlier tonight that bothered him. He was not an idiot, and he knew it was the latter that bothered him, as the things she said continued to playback in his mind, though he did not know why.
But of course, the high and mighty Saiyan prince wouldn't possibly even think about lowering himself to actually go outside in poor weather conditions to check on a lowly human. Though, of course, it's not like a little rain could harm a strong Saiyan such as himself.
'But… a human in the rain…'
Vegeta sat up on his bed quickly with a growl, setting his forehead in the palm of his hands.
'What has gotten into me? It must've been this morning at breakfast. I knew that woman did something to the food! How could I have been so ignorant? There's no way a Saiyan prince such as myself would even give an earthling a second thought given normal conditions!'
Despite his thoughts, Vegeta couldn't help but admit. Tonight, actually, this whole day, there were no normal conditions, at all.
"… Like fixing the usual problems on the gravity machine really takes up so much of my resting time…"
'If it is so simple for her… then why has it been two hours since I've felt her presence within this building?'
With a frustrated yell, the Saiyan prince got up from his bed and walked towards his bedroom window, which alternated as a balcony door.
'I'll never get any rest for my training tomorrow if I continue to act this way. I must find the woman and take care of this situation immediately for my training.'
Vegeta flung open the windows and stepped out onto his bedroom balcony. His eyes scanned the backyard quickly to locate Bulma. It wasn't a hard task, as she was the only living being standing in the midst of freezing rain and wind during this time of night.
Before Vegeta had the chance to get Bulma's attention, she turned her head towards him, as if she sensed his presence, which he highly doubted. In his mind, he quickly concluded that she had heard the noise when he opened the window. But, his conclusion was short-lived, as it had disappeared as quickly as he had achieved it, upon catching sight of Bulma's expression.
The environment around her all seemed to be a pale blue due to the moon and the night sky. The rain clouds seemed to have just left a spot open just for the moon's light to shine only on her. The weather created a small mist, giving Bulma the look of perfection, or rather, it would have, if it were not for the expression of absolute despair upon her face.
To a human eye, that would have been all they could see: the simple expression. But to the Saiyan eye or rather, his eye… The rain was an obvious cover for the tears which mingled within the rain tapping against her cheeks. The cold was a cover for the red tint found upon her running nose. The mist and lighting of the night sky was a cover for the eyes which have become swollen and red from the tears.
Vegeta was sure that, from the mere sight of the current her… any normal person would begin to show tears as well. For, even this sight had begun to make him feel a tugging feeling within his chest. The proud prince had to turn himself away from her for a few seconds to regain his composure. This look of despair… he absolutely refused to believe that it came from the same woman which he had been interacting with nearly every day for the past year.
"Vegeta…"
A soft, very weak voice carried over to his ears. The voice was so minuscule that surely no human ear would have been able to pick up. For a few moments, Vegeta had no reaction. Finally, as if it had just registered in his mind that his named was called, he turned back and looked at the woman in despair, only to find that the look of despair was no longer there, and the expression with a tiny smile which was presented to him many times today, had replaced it.
"I fixed…"
Her voice had become even smaller, and even Vegeta began to strain his ears to hear. The tiny smile plastered on Bulma's face remained as her eyes closed. To Vegeta, she was probably forcing the tears to stop flowing out. Though, yet again, his conclusion was short-lived.
"…The gravity machine."
When Bulma's voice finally carried its way over to his ears, Vegeta no longer wished to decipher the message; neither did he feel like replying. For, at that moment, the point in doing so was lost, as the woman that had never backed down from any argument with him ever since he began to live here, for a whole year, had fallen.
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A/N: And that is the end. I was actually thinking of adding more to the story, such as a reason to why she was doing the things she does and feeling the way she feels. And of course, a part which covered Vegeta's reactions, yet when I began to put in that part, I felt as if the story lost something. So I decided it was best to leave this out, and leave the rest for the reader's imagination.
For those who wish for the well-being of Bulma, this is set during the three years before the androids arrive, so she couldn't be dead. For those that don't care, the choice of her death is up to you, if you wish not to set it into the three years time, you could view this story as her death.
I hope everyone has enjoyed reading this short little one shot! Constructive criticism is always welcomed in the form of a lovable review!