**Hey guys! That's right! I'm finally back to writing! I won't bother you with a bunch of blabbin' right now, but I do have some things to say after this chappy, so please don't skip the author's notes at the bottom. Arigatou!**

Chapter 24: Consequences

"What did you just say?" demanded Bulma, startled by his heady words.

"I said, 'who said anything about sleeping.'" repeated the prince, pulling her even closer to his body, his breath lightly tickling her ear.

"Just checking." Bulma stated, relaxing in his grip and slowly turning to face him.

"Why? What did you think I said?" asked Vegeta curiously, cupping one of her rosy cheeks in his hand.

"The same thing, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't hearing things." the woman answered, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs about his waist. "Can we go further inside now? I'm still cold standing here."

"Why not?" stated Vegeta, smirking as he made his way to the back of the cave, his steps somewhat awkward. Only seconds after they stepped inside the cavern, the sky alit with blue lightning and sounded with angry thunder as millions of tiny little raindrops came falling onto the ground.

When they reached the opposite wall, Vegeta knelt down, gently depositing Bulma on the ground before standing back up and turning from her. Bulma immediately crossed her legs and gripped her feet with her hands, looking curiously like an eager child right before Christmas. Her eyes followed the Saiyan as he strode about the cave, picking up dry grasses and twigs from off the ground. Placing the timber in a careful pile in the middle of the dusty floor, Vegeta lifted an index finger. Slowly, a small ball of ki grew above the point. Satisfied with the energy's size, the prince shot it at the mound of materials, watching as they burst into flame on contact. In no time a small fire was quietly roaring before them. Without hesitation, Bulma scooted forward and placed her hands near to the blaze, sighing happily as she warmed them up. Vegeta took a seat behind the human, offering her the rare opportunity to lean against his strong chest. Bulma did so, staring at the dancing flames as if hypnotized by their movement and colors.

"You know," she began, "I feel kinda like a cavewoman who's seeing fire for the first time."

When she didn't get a response, Bulma tipped her head back to look up at her companion. The tiny fire before them reflected in his ebony eyes, the vivid hues making him seem even more fearsome than usual. Despite her obvious stare, Vegeta did not meet the woman's gaze. An occasion twitch in his upper-lip let Bulma know that he was deep in thought. Not wanting to disturb him immediately, the woman turned her attention back towards the flames, watching as the blaze's seductive dancing made interesting shadows upon the cavern's walls. After two minutes or so of complete silence, the Earthling could stand it no more. It was not in her nature to be so quiet.

"What are you thinking about, Vegeta?" Bulma asked, inclining her head once more.

"Power." was his blunt reply.

"Power?" Bulma repeated. "What about it?"

"I was thinking of how, if we hadn't been dragged to this damned back-water planet, I would most likely be a Super Saiyan by now." Vegeta answered, finally dropping his eyes to meet hers.

"Oh Vegeta, I'm sorry. I know that there's nothing you want more than to become a Super Saiyan, I wish I could help." Bulma sighed, crossing her arms beneath her chest.

"You can help. You can help me temporarily forget." he offered, softly gripping her chin and moving her around to face him.

Bulma rotated towards him without refusal. His dark eyes looked very sad and lonely just then, and she wanted so badly to erase the disappointed look that shadowed his otherwise handsome features. As her eyes traced over his lowered brows, sharp, aristocratic nose, and frowning mouth, Bulma realized that this arrogant Saiyan Prince was the most beautiful, ferocious, dangerous, and appealing male she had ever seen. He was the unbridled image of perfection. Vegeta was unpurged of his most basic and natural instincts and the proud Saiyan was as wild as the wind and mysterious as the stars. Without a second thought, Bulma wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled his lips down onto hers, boldly making the first move.

The hairs on Vegeta's neck bristled angrily as Bulma forced his face upon hers. Did this female have no respect? Didn't she know that it was supposed to be the man's job to instigate intercourse? Her foolish move angered and embarrassed him; it was like she didn't trust him to act quickly enough. But, during one of those ever-fleeting moments, Vegeta simply brushed his pride aside and let her have it her way. He was content with the knowledge that this was only the foremost piece and that there were many more things to be started and finished before the night was through. With this settling thought in his head, Vegeta slowly lowered Bulma onto the ground, draping and locking his arms behind her waist before finally coming to rest comfortably atop her.

The kiss shared between the two soon became a passionate lip-lock, and they parted their flesh at the same time, allowing their tongues to playfully fight inside the confines of their mouths. Suddenly, however, Bulma began giggling furiously against Vegeta's lips. The prince pulled away, confusion flickering in his endlessly deep eyes.

"What is wrong with you now, woman?" he demanded, placing his hands on either side of Bulma and pushing himself up above her slightly.

"Y-y- you're tickling me!" she squealed, giggling harder.

"Bulma, I am doing no such thing." protested Vegeta, staring hard into her brightly flushed face.

"W-well, if you aren't tickling me.then what is?" Bulma asked. "Ew! What if it's a rat?!" she shrieked, quickly sliding out from under the Saiyan and coming to sit in front of him.

Vegeta lowered himself onto his hands and knees, warily looking between his limbs to try and spot the culprit. What he saw there shocked him.

"What the hell?" he crowed, suddenly sitting on his haunches with a furry, black-brown tail clasped in his hands.

"V-Vegeta? Does that belong to you?" ventured Bulma timidly, reaching out a hand to stroke the tail's thick fur. A low, provocative growl emanating from the Saiyan's mouth answered the question for her. "It is, but how did it grow back?"

Vegeta was silent, searching his brain for the response to Bulma's question.

"How could it grow back? On Namek, you were put into the Isolation Chamber to be healed, right? So how come it didn't grow back then? Why now?" demanded the human.

"Because." Vegeta started, realization dawning on him. He lifted his eyes to meet Bulma's, and she noticed a mischievous glint in them. "A Saiyan's tail only grows back when he or she is extremely excited." he finally replied. "And this little development means that tonight is going to be much more exhilarating than I had originally planned.both for you and for me."

The woman heard the implication in Vegeta's voice and smiled coyly, knowing full well what he meant. As the Saiyan began to crawl over her again, Bulma caught his tail and began to lightly pet its surprisingly soft coat. Another groan of longing exited Vegeta's throat as he reclaimed Bulma's swollen lips with his. The human was about to release his tail to lock her arms about the prince's neck when she discovered that it had wrapped its fuzzy self around her wrist. Left without a choice, Bulma stroked the tail ineptly with one hand and drew Vegeta's head ever closer with the other.

The only point at which they separated their lips was when Vegeta paused to remove his and her clothing, careful not to rip the already delicate fabric of Bulma's ruined gown. His most difficult item to get rid of on both of them was the increasingly bothersome belts. But his nimble fingers eventually found their clasps and he triumphantly removed the gaudy decorations. Freed at last from the bothersome articles, the couple again met lip-to-lip, relaxing in the comforting grip of each other's arms.

**All righty folks, now's the time to break out those dirty little imaginations! Enjoy working up your own ideas of what is to happen next, my hentai readers!**

* * * * * Dawn had finally arrived when the sun of Kraston slowly clambered up from its sleeping hideaway situated beyond the mountains. Its stunning beauty and comforting warmth went unnoticed by the occupants of a nearby cave. Inside the hollowed-out boulder slept two intertwined figures, cuddled together and seemingly undisturbed by the light shining down upon their sweat-drenched faces. After boldly forcing its glistening rays through the couple's eyelids for almost an hour, the enormous star was at last rewarded for its patience by a slight stirring from the unclothed Saiyan male.

Vegeta opened his eyes slowly, quickly blinded by the bright light falling on him from the sky. He attempted to put an arm out in an effort to block the piercing rays, but found that the small Earthling hugging him prevented any and all movement of his limbs. Her legs were wrapped and clasped tightly around his and her arms held his ebony head near, so that their foreheads were almost touching. He in turn was holding her surprisingly close, with his arms about her waist and his legs clinging securely to the backs of hers. The position wasn't uncomfortable, but he realized humorously that he had apparently lost all feeling in his right arm.

Ignoring the tingling sensation that had not bothered him until his awakening, Vegeta gazed into the face of his companion, his mate. Her oceanic locks were strewn about her head, giving her a soft but thin pillow. Some of the hair fell across her face, draping over her cheeks and forehead with their unusual color. The aqua hues strongly contrasted to the creamy skin that barely hinted the existence of a long-gone tan. As gently as he could, he lifted his left arm from its position across Bulma's shoulders and raised it to softly whisk away the hairs from her face, kissing her full on the lips before pulling away, watching as she gradually came awake. The woman smiled dreamily as Vegeta's face came into focus.

"Just the person I wanted to awake to." she sighed happily, nuzzling the curve of his neck.

"I was going to say the same, until I woke to find an Earth wench at my side." teased the prince.

"Nothing you could possibly say can upset me today, Vegeta. I'm in far too good of a mood." rebuffed Bulma gently, flicking his nose playfully.

"Too bad, harassing you is the highlight of my days." replied Vegeta, rolling her off his arm and sitting up to massage blood into his depleted veins.

"Guess you'll have to live with it." Bulma stated, also sitting up, glancing quickly at her partner's exquisite body.

"Feel free to look all you want." prodded Vegeta slyly. "Kami knows I will."

As if to prove his point, Vegeta halted his rubbing and looked the woman over from head to foot in satisfaction. Feeling somewhat violated for no particular reason, Bulma blushed red and did her best to cover up her exposed body, sitting sideways and folding her arms across her breasts. Vegeta's face darkened in visible disappointment.

"You've nothing to be ashamed of." he said seriously. "Though I may never say it again, you are a truly beautiful woman."

"Thank you kindly, but I already know it. I don't think I have to remind you of your glorious self." replied Bulma with a wink, staring avidly at her favorite part of him.his smooth, hairless, heavily muscled chest.

"Nope." replied the Saiyan, standing up in front of her proudly.

Bulma quirked an eyebrow at his brazen move, and followed it in kind, shyly removing her hands and standing before him. "I'm not one to be outdone by a stupid monkey." she growled playfully. "Everyone can see I'm ten times better than you."

"Oh really? Says who?" demanded Vegeta.

"Says every man I've ever been with." shot back the woman, realizing her mistake before the words finished leaving her mouth.

"What?" asked Vegeta, his voice nearly a whisper.

"Oh, Vegeta, I didn't mean it like that! What I meant was-"

"You meant what you said." cut in the Saiyan sharply, all mirth gone from his eyes, leaving simply a steely glare that chilled Bulma to the bone.

"Vegeta, let me explain! Please!" pleaded Bulma desperately.

"NO!" shouted the prince, startling her. "You've said quite enough! I'll not listen to anymore lies!"

Bulma didn't have time to reply as he ran stark-naked out of the cave and into the woods. He was gone in a matter of seconds, an angrily twitching tail being the last she saw of him.

"Vegeta!" Bulma called, grabbing her dress and covering herself as she stumbled quickly to the entrance of the cave. "Vegeta wait! Please come back!"

But the Saiyan was out of hearing distance, not that he would have responded if he were able to hear her cries. Dejected, Bulma trudged back into the cave, already knowing that the one careless slip of her tongue had ruined the delicate relationship she had so meticulously erected between her and the prince. Too much damage had been done, and she was the cause. The emotional strain was simply unbearable, and she sank hopelessly to the ground, crying silent tears of remorse.

* * * * *

Ungo glanced up at the screen, smiling wickedly at the charts.

"She's very upset." he observed quietly. "Now's the time to move."

The doctor turned to the male behind him. "You know what has to be done. Get the girl and bring her to me."

The shadowed being nodded in affirmation, bowing and exiting the mutant's company.

* * * * *

Vegeta slowed his pace to a haughty gait, pounding his feet deep into the ground with every angry step he took. His fury knew no outlet, and his ebony eyes burned with a familiar hatred. She had lied to him. She told him she was chaste, innocent, untouched. And like a fool he had believed her every word. He should have known better. Bulma was wild, a free- spirit. In all of her travelings it was highly unlikely that she had never once found a man worthy to share her body and her bed in the ancient art of intimacy. There was no way she could have kept her sheer perfection hidden from the world for all these years. Every man who laid eyes on her most likely imagined what it would be like to wake up above her at one time or another. His stomach sinking deeper, Vegeta didn't want to imagine the dozens of filthy hands that had caressed her smooth, creamy skin, the millions of lusty men who had satisfied themselves within the unfathomable depths of her body. And yet the images flooded his mind, enraging him even more and tearing him apart from the inside. He should never have allowed himself to succumb to her feminine charms, to so eagerly fall into her open arms and kiss her sweet mouth, to find blissful pleasure in simply holding her close to him. As with everything else he had ever allowed himself to become fond of, she had betrayed him. Told him lies to woo him and render him helpless. She knew what she was doing, she was most likely an experienced seductress, so easily luring him into her arms and ripping out his heart as she had. Deep inside, the rational part of Vegeta knew he was making too much of this, that it was his exaggeration and not Bulma's words that were upsetting him so. But what reason had he to be rational, when the only one he cared for had wounded him so severely?

* * * * *

The woman walked through the forest with a heavy heart. Her mother had always warned her to think about what she had to say carefully or suffer serious consequences, and this catastrophe only served to strengthen that sage advice.

Almost an hour had passed since Vegeta ran off. Bulma had cried and cried until her tears dried up and her voice was hoarse. She finally gathered herself together enough to get dressed and collect the Saiyan's clothing into a neat pile within her arms. In her distress, the human neglected assembling the belts that lay discarded in a darkened corner. Their apparent symbolism of a union merely twisted her heart into an even bigger knot. Inhaling the musky scent of Vegeta's tunic, she stumbled into the trees and began walking. She had no idea where she could find the fuming man, and had no way to contact him. In his rage, Vegeta had apparently locked up the mental link between the two without even realizing it. Her heart tightened even more painfully as she recalled the broken look on Vegeta's face. Her words had cut him deeper than any weapon could, and she had let them fall so callously out, not bothering to consider that he might misinterpret their meaning.

She hadn't lied about her virginity, as Vegeta most certainly thought. What she meant was that she had done.things. Wet t-shirt contests, skinny dipping, stripping drunkenly.they were her meaning. In her early twenties, she had been a regular party girl, doing lap dances and parading around in nothing but a string bikini most of the time. And each chance a man such as Yamcha had, he would pull her lithe form to him and compliment her on it. Every guy she had ever been with, as in dated or met, said she had the perfect body. She never meant for the words to come out and hint at a sexual meaning. And Kami knew that the last thing she wanted to do was hurt Vegeta so badly. She had just naturally assumed he'd know what she was talking about. But then, he wasn't from Earth, so he didn't know of the double meanings employed to nearly every innocent or not statement.

Bulma sighed. It was one thing that she had mistakenly worded her sentence, but it was quite another that her so-called "prince" was so eager to believe she had deceived him. Had he no faith in her? She didn't say the words to be cruel; she had merely been answering his question. From that moment on, Bulma vowed never to speak again, not that that was even remotely possible for a Chatty Cathy such as herself. If only she could learn to keep her damn mouth shut!

* * * * *

The tall male swerved about the trees with the skill acquired only by years of relentless and outrageous training methods. His vivid sense of smell had never failed him before, and it apparently wasn't disappointing him now. The woman called Bulma was very near to his position, and his lips trembled as he inhaled her distinctly female scent.

Leaping over a bush, Ty-io found himself right in front of his quarry. His face showed as much shock as hers.

* * * * *

Bulma didn't know what to make of the tall figure that suddenly appeared right in front of her. Her first instinct was to run, but as she turned to dart in another direction, dropping the bundle in her arms, the man grabbed her wrist and held her firmly, gently.

"Let go of me!" she commanded, struggling to pull from his grip.

"Please, Bulma, don't run away." requested Ty-io.

"Who the hell are you?" the woman demanded, temporarily stopping her fighting and turning to look at him. She took in an eyeful, and found his appearance to be strangely pleasing.

The man before her had the most golden hair she had ever seen. It was cut short and stopped just above his ears. He was as tall as a basketball player, she supposed he was nearly 6 ½ foot in height. His eyes were a beautiful shade of green, as bright as the leaves on the trees of Earth. Slowly, her blue orbs swept over his deeply tanned skin and muscular form, and she realized that he appeared to be a human. A green tunic complemented his eyes oh so perfectly, and he wore sturdy brown boots that ended just below his knees. Looking him up and down, Bulma felt as if she recognized him from somewhere.

"D-do I know you?" she murmured.

"You do not." he replied, smiling at her nonetheless.

His perfect, white smile nearly blinded Bulma. And with his hand grasping her in such a careful way, she felt as though she were going to melt into his arms.

"Who are you then?" the woman queried lightly struggling to keep his handsome face in focus.

"My name is Ty-io." he answered lightly, staring deeply into her azure eyes.

"I'm Bulma." she whispered back, she could feel herself falling before she even hit the ground. What was it about this man that made her so lightheaded? True he looked like a god, but. Her train of thought ended as she closed her eyes and surrendered to the impending darkness. Ty-io grinned as he hefted her onto his shoulder and took her back to Ungo.

* * * * *

"What have you been up to, Doctor?" asked Celeria, stretching as she walked from Ungo's office, having just awakened from a morning nap.

"I sent out Ty-io." Ungo replied.

Celeria blinked her large eyes quickly. "Ty-io? Do you really think he was necessary?"

"He was. His exhaled breath has the power to knock out any beast." retorted the doctor matter-of-factly. "I had to use him; I needed to get the woman back without Vegeta's realizing it. In case you didn't already hear, my plans have taken a turn for the better. Our little friends had quite the mishap this morning and so it is no longer necessary to avoid capturing them until it is time for the child. Vegeta left the female over an hour ago and doesn't show any intention of returning to her soon. This development makes things so much easier and more promising for me."

"Sure thing, you're the boss." Celeria said with a shrug. She bent over and lightly kissed the repulsive man before taking a seat in one of the chairs, punching in a command and watching as the computer did its work. "But I still say it's a bad idea." she finally added.

"Your opinion on the matter is not relevant." spat back Ungo bitterly.

"Suit yourself." the Saiyan female said with another shrug.

* * * * *

Vegeta was walking through the forest now. He was no longer stomping or trudging angrily, all of his anger had slowly dissipated with the passing of time. The stoic prince now only felt pain and anguish at his supposed mate's betrayal. How could she do this to him? Did she have no idea that she had ripped out his beating heart and crushed it before his very eyes? He had given himself wholly to her, and had in turn learned that she was not being truthful towards him. It was too late to take back all that they had done together. With the pain he was feeling right now, his mind had subconsciously severed the telepathic link between the two of them, possibly forever. He still couldn't live without her, of this he was certain. They would find a way back to Earth, he would leave to train and gradually force himself to be able to survive, even if not fully, without her. This was the last time he would ever let some measly human woman hinder his progress. She wasn't worth his dreams, and he had already given her all she was going to get from him. If only he could convince himself of that same thing.if only.

The Saiyan halted suddenly. He could smell Bulma's sweat hanging in the air. It was somewhat stale, but that didn't prevent it from permeating his senses. Had she somehow managed to get ahead of him? Or was he going in a circle? Vegeta sniffed the air again, and smelled something else. It was a chemical, one whiff of it and he began to get slightly dizzy. Some other creature had passed through here with the woman.

The prince turned and followed the scent, watching as the trees thinned and the small Yangh settlement came into sight. Crouching behind a tree, Vegeta surveyed the area, surprised that no one was around. His eyes darted from one small structure to the next, deliberately passing over the bright-white pyramid standing at the very center of the village. Finally, he set his sights on the temple he and Bulma had been escorted to earlier, during that weird ceremony thing. He watched as a small crowd of jackal- faced Yangh slowly made their way into the gothic building. Switching his senses back onto the smell of Bulma, Vegeta managed to pin-point her location as being once again inside the Main Lab.

Sighing, Vegeta sullenly wondered how many times that woman would be drawn to the damned building before they finally found a way home. He was about to step out from his hiding place when he realized he was still completely nude. Normally this wouldn't bother him, but he was determined not to walk into the settlement without the proper coverings. An opportunity to remedy his predicament came along when a solitary, brown-furred Yangh male passed by his tree. Waiting until the alien was a good distance away; Vegeta quietly crept up to the man and landed a powerful jump-kick to his head, knocking the beast out. Not wasting any time, the Saiyan Prince stripped the clothing from his victim and quickly dressed himself. The gray tunic and white undershirt fit Vegeta surprisingly well. Satisfied with his stolen attire, Vegeta stealthily made his way between the buildings and towards the pyramid.

* * * * *

Bulma slowly came awake, the first thing she noticed being the startlingly handsome man from the forest. He was standing above her and Bulma realized with a groan that she was strapped down to some sort of table. She lifted her head a bit and saw Ungo bent over and examining her most intimate place. The doctor had an electronic checklist of sorts and every few moments he would straighten a bit and mark something off.

"Get the hell away from there, Mister." commanded Bulma in her most intimidating tone, her rage apparent in her voice.

"Now, now, Miss Briefs, I promise not to hurt you. I am merely making sure that everything is all right." soothed the doctor, but Bulma was too angry to listen to his affectionate and strangely endearing words.

"I said back off." she ground out.

"Hmm." mused Ungo to himself, he obligingly moved away from his spot and up to her head, staring interestedly into her eyes. "Tell me, Miss Briefs, how long do you suppose it will be until your conception?"

"What?" Bulma asked, disbelief in her voice. "How did you-?"

But Doctor Ungo cut her off, "My dear, I am no sloth when it comes to biology. And it only takes once for a female to become with child. But as to the question you most undoubtedly want answered right now, your little ear cuff was how I knew of your.how you say...activities with the Saiyan, Vegeta."

"It may only take once, but it is highly unlikely that a few hours could get me pregnant." she growled angrily.

"Bulma, please, I answered your question, now be a good girl and answer mine. How long do you suppose it will take before you are, without a doubt, pregnant?"

"I thought you were keeping tabs on me. If you were, then you'd know that a test has to be done to know for sure. Then a doctor has to be called in to confirm it. And it takes at least 24 hours before anything can be said for certain." the woman grudgingly replied. "But if you were a good doctor, you'd already know that."

Ignoring her insult, Doctor Ungo turned to his companion. "Ty-io, remove the straps and see to it that she's made comfortable for the evening. We'll continue our research later tonight."

The other man nodded and began unbuckling Bulma's restraints. Ungo moved away in anticipation of the release of Bulma's anger in the form of physical violence, and wasn't disappointed by her feisty kick in his general direction. After the woman was completely freed from her thick bindings, she sat up on the table and rubbed her sore limbs. Ty-io offered her a hand down, but she slapped it away and jumped to the ground. Planning to make a run for it, her idea was foiled by the large fist that grabbed onto her elbow, lightly pulling her towards a room across from a massive computer screen. She gave Ungo her most bitter of glares before being gently pushed into the quarters and watching the door slide and lock behind her.

"Why did you not just use the IKU to speed up the process?" asked Ty-io, the first time he had spoken all day.

"Because, my friend, human anatomy is extremely complicated, there are many factors that could inhibit pregnancy. I would have sped up the conception if I had more information regarding her species, but I'm afraid we'll just have to be patient, it's better than taking such an extreme risk. Once I am sure that a child is growing inside her, I will use the machine to develop the infant more quickly. Humans have a pregnancy that lasts 10 months*, if my memory serves me, I will simply use the IKU to whisk her through the three trimesters necessary and the child will be with us in less than a month.providing that all goes as planned."

Satisfied with the doctor's answer, Ty-io bowed and made his way over to a couch, sitting down on it and closing his eyes to meditate.

* * * * *

Bulma sat down in a chair, one of the only pieces of furniture available to her in the room. For a while she had thought about screaming and pounding on the door, demanding to be let out, but bruising her fists and wearing thin her voice just didn't seem all that appealing to her. So instead, she settled on being quiet and behaving.

The woman draped a hand across her flat belly, mildly wondering if she was indeed carrying Vegeta's child. Wouldn't that shock the arrogant man. Vaguely, she wondered how he'd react, would he be happy? Angry? Would he blame it all on her? Abandon her? Deny he was the father? The last one was by far the worse. It was one thing to shrug off the mother, but an innocent baby too? She hoped like hell Vegeta wasn't like that, such abandonment could only cause the child severe emotional anguish. Why was she even bothering herself with such thoughts? She wasn't pregnant; there was no way that one night of passion could lead to the endless responsibilities of parenthood. And if she did become pregnant, she knew what she had to do. There was no way she could raise an illegitimate infant, and a Saiyan infant nonetheless, she had an image to keep up as the heiress of Capsule Corp. Her parents would disown her if it came to pass that she was pregnant.

Shaking her head to rid herself of the unpleasant thoughts, Bulma attempted to shift her attention to another subject. The only one that came to mind was Vegeta. Not wanting to move herself to tears for a second time that day, she closed her eyes and begged for slumber. She was granted her wish, but it was a light, dreamless sleep.

* * * * *

(Earth)

"Naiyah, I'm sorry babe, but it's got to end. Bulma's coming back soon and I've decided that I'm gonna marry her." stated Yamcha over the phone.

"You can't mean that, Yammy. You know you love me too much to stay away for very long." pointed out the woman angrily.

"Sorry Naiyah, but I've gotta go, there's someone on the other line." Yamcha said.

"Fine! But don't come crawling back to me when that bitch dumps you!" shouted the woman before slamming down the phone.

Yamcha sighed and clicked onto his second line, "Hello? Chica? It's Yamcha. Sorry, but I'm breakin' up with you, sweetheart."

"Okay!" giggled the girlish voice on the other end. "I'll miss you, Love Machine!"

"I've got another call. Talk to you later." the scarred human hit another button on his phone, switching to the final caller. "Shasta, Shasta, Shasta." he murmured.

"Yeah, ChaCha? You wanted to tell me something?" purred the female.

"Yes, I'm gonna ask Bulma to marry me, but you'll still hang around for me, won't you? I may need an occasional distraction, I hear married life can be hard."

"Of course I will, Yamcha. With all the money that girl has, it will be like you're the king and I'm your mistress!" squealed Shasta all too eagerly.

"Yep, that's what I'm hoping for, Doll. As much as I'd love to talk to you for even longer, I've got a baseball game today, will you come see me play?" asked Yamcha.

"Sure thing, Sweetie, I'll clear my schedule!"

"Great. It's at Yuki Stadium. See ya soon." Yamcha said, hanging up the telephone. 'That was all too easy.' he thought. 'Soon I'll be sitting in the lap of luxury with nothing stopping me from getting what I want. It will be perfect.just perfect.'

* * * * *

**A/N: That's the end of Chapter 24. And 25 will be out as soon as I can write it. I hope this one was at least decently long, cuz Lord knows I tried to make it so. I'm really sorry for the long delay, but as you all know, it was my computer's fault. Oh, and the little * by the "ten months" piece was just there so that you would understand that I recently took a Child Development course at my high school and learned the interesting fact that it takes 10 months, not 9, before a woman gives birth. I just didn't want anyone to yell at me for that.

Anyway, I had some things I wanted to say, remember? So here it goes:

I want to thank everyone who has been so nice when reviewing my story; it makes me feel good that you guys don't hate me for taking so long in updating. That's why I worked so hard to make this chapter a good and long one (it is exactly 10 pages in size 10 font on my computer). Thanks for your continued patience!

Recently, I read a really good book by Madeline Baker called Comanche Flame. The reason I'm mentioning it is because I noticed that when reading it, the characters and situation reminded me a lot about the entire Bulma/Vegeta relationship dilemma. Call me crazy, but you should read it and find out for yourself. It takes place in the early 1800s and is all about an Indian outlaw who meets an Eastern beauty, rescues her, then battles his growing feelings towards her as she does the same with her feelings of him. He's wild, hotheaded, a murderer, and total babe while she is beautiful, prim, and proper - - raised "right." They're from two different worlds but somehow they find that they are perfect together. Does it sound at all familiar? The book is quite long, my summary doesn't even cover a fifth of what happens in it, and it is in the romantic genre. If anyone's looking for a good read to satisfy them when their computer is out of order, I highly recommend it. I'm not going to be giving regular reading suggestions, but this one has quickly become my favorite love story and it is one of those books you can't put down no matter how hard you try. Read it if it interests you, and lemme know what'cha think!

In case you couldn't tell, DCT is finally beginning to wind down. I estimate that less that 5 or 6 more chapters will be written before I end it with the epilogue. But before you tell me that it's "about time" or that I haven't written enough, I wanna just say that I have already decided precisely how to finish it, and still let its outlandishness fit neatly into the regular DBZ timeline. So, since I know what the end is gonna be like, and I know what I want to happen before then, delays in future updating shouldn't be too long or many in number.

The final one, I got my first flame a few weeks ago. Luckily for me, all the girl complained about was that my story was a "cheesy comedy." I laughed when I realized that she probably hadn't gotten through the first few chapters, which I meant to be somewhat odd. If you'll all recall, I said at the beginning of Chapter 5 that "this is where the REAL plot begins." So to Deborah, thank you for your input and next time, don't be so scared about signing anonymously, I promise that I'm not going to have anyone hunt you down and skin you for your comment. You were merely being truthful, and I am just happy that your complaint was so minor. Sad to say, it affected me about as much as a fly landing on my head.

Okay, my ramblings are done. Thank you for staying to read them for this long. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and will come back to read more. Domo arigatou to EVERYONE!!!**