A.N. - Well, that first chapter only merited a few reviews, but hey! It's better than none, ne? Now here's a shout out to all those people kind enough to review for me!
PANDORA001 - Ha! What CAN'T I say to you?! You are just the best beyond all mortal comprehension! If none of you know Pandora, you should! Thanks also for being the first to review! That means so much to me! ! I finally got around to reviewing your last two chapters! Aren't you proud of me?! I know I am. Anyways, this is about you so, you rock on girl! Viva Pandora! Viva DBZ!
maz2 - Thank you so much!!! I believe that this story will be a knock-out as well, and it's nice to know someone agrees! My good feeling never goes away! Here's chapter two, and I hope you enjoy it!
Shades of Crimson - What can I say? When ya got it...well, ya know. No, I'm just kidding! Thanks for the words of encouragement! I do love doing Trunks' character as a kid! He rocks my socks. I can't believe this fic has groupies already! I LOVE YOU ALL!!! But as for the B/V...it shall be a surprise only the Goddess of Fanfiction shall know! Mwahahahaha! (Pandora! how dare you rub off on me!)
This chapter is all for you guys and anyone else who reviews today!!! Enjoy it!!
Chapter I
England, 1700s (still)
The cool breeze from the ocean whipped her hair about her face and neck. Normally, she would have been furious, cursing the wind at mussing the hair she took hours to prepare, but today that wasn't the case. Her hair had been put in a rather cute style, she thought, but looks weren't at the top of her list now. Now, she was anxiously waiting for Sir James to dock in the bay.
She held her elbows and squinted to try and see when he would be coming into port as she had been for the past hour, but no such luck. She let out a bored sigh, and brushed a piece of hair from her mouth.
"James, you had better not be late! Okay, if he's not here in 5 minutes, I'm going alone." Of course she would never go to the ball alone because she hated being a wall flower, but right now, she wasn't a ver patient person,especially when it came to grand balls.
A hand tapped her shoulder from behind her.
"Bulma!"
She turned around, and her face relaxed, seeing a familiar face.
"Chichi! You know better than to sneak up on me like that!"
" Sorry! I was just wondering where you were. The ball starts in less than an hour!"
"Yes, I am aware of that! I was just hoping that James might port sometime before then."
"James? Why are you waiting for him?" her friend asked quizzically. She had heard rumors that James fancied the Italian heiress, but she thought they were just that, rumors. And now she knew the rumors were true because Bulma looked at her as if she had 5 heads.
"Have you been under a rock for the past week? James de Barlow is taking me to the ball! He asked me a few days ago."
"Bulma! I can't believe you've been holding out on me! Sir James de Barlow, THE Sir James de Barlow, asked you to Lady Aubrianna's ball, and you've been keeping it a secret all this time!"
"Oh, please Chi! It's not that big of a deal! He's not all the legends crack him up to be, and even if those legends were true, he still acts so normal and charismatic that
you can hardly tell."
"Oh please, Bulma! I know you. You didn't say yes to him just because he's a Prince Charming." Chichi said skeptically, crossing her arms over her chest.
"Chichi! Just because you are attracted to fancy royal knights who've slain every dragon within 500 yards doesn't mean that that's all there is to them." The blue-haired lady said matter-of-factly.
"Well, Bulma, I'll have you know that the man I have now hardly has a title at all! In fact, he's only in here on account of his brother, Sir Radditzu."
"Sir Radditzu?" Bulma laughed, mostly at the hilarity of the man's name, and fact that Chichi found anything to do with the Spanish men intriguing.
"What?" her raven-haired friend replied, with a tinge of annoyance in her voice. "What is so funny?"
"Please, ChiChi, tell me you are joking!"
"I would never joke about something like that! Sir Goku is a gentleman!"
"And a…did you say Sir Goku?"
"Yes."
"He's Sir Radditzu's brother?!"
A smug smile fell upon Chichi's lips. "Of course. Hard to believe, right? Sir Goku has much more manners than his brother." It was rather hard to believe; the two are two extremes away from each other. Sir Goku was a gentle, naïve' but well meaning gentleman, while Sir Radditzu was a manipulative, loud peacock with horrendously long black hair. He had tried to make a pass at ChiChi several times, but she declined him. Radditzu was something of a ladies man, and was always seen with at least one girl on each arm on any occasion. Sir Goku really had no interest in the ladies, even though he did have the looks. He was more interested in the variety of foods that decorated the buffet table.
" How, or why, did you snag Sir Goku for the dance?"
"Well," Chichi straightened her dress as she began her story. " I was standing along the wall talking to Rain, when out of the corner of my eye, I saw him approaching us. I knew that he knew that Rain had someone to go to the dance with so I knew he must be coming to ask me to the ball this weekend. I was so happy, that I could barely stand it, but when he did get there, he had just come to ask me to move because I was standing in front of the pastry table. I was so infuriated, that I yelled at him and told him how rude it was to order people around just to fill his empty stomach. He apologized, after filling his bottomless stomach, and asked how he could make it up to me. So I told him that he would be my date for the ball, dress nicely, trim his hair, and don't be late coming for me. And that was it."
Bulma couldn't believe it, of course it did sound like her. She tended to be overly bossy at times, especially when it came to her men. She proverbially kept them in check at all times.
"Well, I'd go up and check on him and make sure that he's actually trimming that bush of black he calls hair." Chichi laughed. They both knew that Goku was a man of his word, even when it was someone else that made it.
"He will if he knows what's good for him. But I'm going in anyway. I told Rain I'd meet her date before the ball. You be inside soon!"
"I will! I'm counting on James, and he gave me his word that he'll be here, so I'll wait for him. I'll meet you and Rain inside."
"Okay. Bye!"
"Bye!"
As Chichi departed Bulma, she turned back to the sea, searching for any sign of a ship. Nothing.
"Damn." She thought. "Where are you James?"
Another hand grabbed her shoulder, and she whirled around. This time, she was met by a pair of twin golden brown orbs.
"James." She whispered breathlessly. He softly laughed.
"Did you give up on me?"
"I almost did! Are you aware that the ball starts in an hour?"
"Yes, I am milady. But I had some problems with rookie pirates attempting to steal our cargo."
"James! Pirates?" An amused smile played on his lips as he saw the worry on her face.
"Don't worry. They were amateurs. One of them even had the gall to threaten me with a wooden sword. Can you believe that? Now, let's go inside shall we?"
Bulma followed him, but continued interrogate him on the attack.
"Are you sure they weren't related to any big names like the Black Dragon or something?"
"Bulma, I'm positive. Don't worry about it. I have it under control." He replied calmly. "Now I'm going to go clean myself up. You might want to do the same."
"I am cleaned up!" James looked at her with a look of shock on his face as his eyes scanned her. That look quickly turned to embarrassment.
"Oh, right. You do look lovely, but you might want to comb out your hair. It looks windblown."
"MY hair looks windblown?! I'm not the one who's been out at sea battling pirates!"
"Ergo, I'm going to clean up! Now just do this…" His hands played with the few loose hairs in her face, putting some up inside the hair style, and a few he curled in front of her face.
"There. Beautiful." He said with a smile. He had a wonderful smile, the kind of smile that seemed to make the sun shine and the world go round. Girl's legs went weak and their hearts beat much faster. She adored his smile. She softly blushed.
"Thank you, Sir James."
"My pleasure, Lady Bulma. Please, go enjoy yourself at with your friends. I'll be down after awhile."
"Okay." She said softly, almost to herself. He shot her his million-dollar smile at her once more, then departed down the hallway with a swoosh of his cape.
*~*~*
"And then I told him to him that he should just marry his ship if that was the case!"
The group of women bubbled with laughter at the end of the Rain's story. Rain Wallington always had a way of enchanting a group with her witty tales. Of course, being the daughter of the Lady of the house, it was only expected. Even though she was a few years younger than the rest of the women, she always acted much older. Bulma had become quite close with Rain, and loved being with her at Lady Aubrianna's parties, but tonight, she had hoped she would be in the company of her date.
"He must have issues with being late." She thought to herself. And almost as if he could read her thoughts, there was a hand on her shoulder and a voice.
"Pardon me, Lady Bulma, but I couldn't help but noticing that our song is being played. Would you do me the honor of dancing with me?"
She turned around smiling, "And yet, he always seems to make it up to me with his endless charm."
"That I would. Excuse me ladies." She stepped away from the group, as he held her hand and led her to the dance floor, leaving the group of ladies with looks of either jealousy or surprise. James de Barlow was the perfect catch. and only she was lucky enough to snag him.
A slow waltz began as he took her hand, bowed, and begun the dance.
"You look absolutely stunning this evening." He began, cordially starting conversation.
"This evening?" she inquired jokingly, James softly laughed.
"All of the time." He replied joking along. She smiled at him. He was so cute!
"You flatter me far too much." They both laughed. She loved spending time with him, he was like the best friend or big brother she never had. Joking around with him when they were outside the palace was the best. They would even call each other by their first name, which was a big no-no in the Big Book of Royal Etiquette for Dummies.
"So, all flattering aside, my father got a new ship this past weekend."
"Quanto meraviglioso! What does he call it?"
"He calls her: The Stealthwing."
"Wow, what an name!"
"I know. It's also the name of his horse. In fact, I don't think he owns a thing not named Stealthwing."
She laughed. His father was probably the greatest legend in all of England. Back in his day, he was an Admiral for the Queen, and fought with the Royal British Navy. He was known for being the man who, single-handedly, defeated the crew of Jean Tate, the most notorious pirate back in that day. But his father was also known to have gone a little loony over the years searching for the fabled Sapphirine Orbs.
"Well, that's understandable. At least you're father doesn't spend all of his time in his laboratory, concocting formulas to diseases that will only happen in the future."
James softly chuckled. If not any way, this was the way they connected. Both their fathers were very odd people who were in some way considered geniuses.
"How would you like to be one of her first passengers?"
"Are you inviting me to take a ride on the ship with you?"
"Only if you want to."
She wanted to shout: "Ohmygosh James I would love to! I've been waiting forever to ride with you! I love you, I love you, I love you!" But being the lady she was, it wasn't dignified and against her proper upbringing. So she just settled to say:
"I would love to." She acquiesced to him with a smile.
"Splendid." James just looked as if you told him he was king of the Earth. "I've got to leave tomorrow bring it over to this port, so you'll have to wait until the day after tomorrow to ride. Is that okay?"
"Just as long as I get to ride with you, I don't care!"
"That will be fine. I can't wait."
"You're a doll."
"Would you expect any different from me?"
The song ended, and then both bowed to one another. Then as he rose, he smiled brightly to her.
"Another dance?"
"You have to ask?"
The night drew on, but they continued to dance in each other's arms until the party ended, but Bulma couldn't think of any better way to spend her night.
Translations:
"Quanto meraviglioso!" – "How wonderful!"
Now, review, review review!
*Griffyn ^_~
