She felt like an absolute idiot. It had been two days of non-stop work: she had barely slept at all, lurking about the lab and tinkering with the training bots day and night. She wasn't sure what was driving her, but Bulma felt an urge to complete this task as quickly as possible. She didn't use to care if Vegeta was disappointed or irritated with her. But now she was compelled to accomplish this for him as soon as possible.
And finally, she was done. It was roughly 3 in the afternoon, and she knew he was off in the desert, most likely destroying the entire landscape.
He had told her that if she needed to reach him or get his attention, she just needed to raise her ki…her life force…and that would do it.
She felt herself blush, thinking about it. She wasn't sure why, but it sent a shiver down her spine when she considered Vegeta sensing her energy. She couldn't sense energy herself, and she knew a lot of her friends were able to sense ki without any technology helping them. But when he told her he had sensed her energy the day she was upset with Yamcha…
Her stomach fluttered inside her.
It felt strange. Like it was something deeply personal. She had only heard of the others sensing energy in terms of fighting. Goku and the others only mentioned feeling energy when they were expecting a battle. But he had felt her emotional state.
Bulma had never considered that she even had ki. She wasn't a fighter. Her ki had to be infinitesimally low. But her disturbed energy got Vegeta's attention right away. He also sensed that it was different than usual.
Did he frequently sense her energy? Was it something he had to focus on, or something that was always running in the back of his mind? Could he always tell what mood she was in?
He brushed it off, saying he could sense everyone else's energy nearby. But her instincts told her this was different.
It felt like he had been taking a peek into her soul.
And now, she was inviting him to do it again. She felt herself blushing so much that her ears felt warm. She was sure she looked like a fool right now.
She stood outside the gravity chamber, the high sun beating down on her skin. A small trickle of sweat dripped down her spine as she attempted to imitate what she had seen her friends doing over the years.
"Ha…..HYAAAAAAAH!" She planted her feet firmly into the ground, her hands in fists. This was how you raised your energy, right?
She had been trying this for about an hour to no avail. She groaned in frustration, standing up straight and forgetting the stupid 'power up pose' she was trying.
This was getting her nowhere. Maybe she was just going about this the wrong way. As much as she didn't want to think about it…She brought herself back to those feelings of betrayal. That's what had worked before, after all.
She remembered the first time she had caught Yamcha kissing another girl (when they were still young, she was barely 18). The time she found a bra that was decidedly too large to be hers in his laundry. The time she saw him on a date with someone else and turned tail instead of kicking his ass like she should have.
She let herself open that wound, she welcomed that pain. She kindled her anger like she was giving life to a flame.
Bulma let herself sit with a feeling she didn't usually ruminate on: her own insecurity. Was she not good enough? Was she not smart enough? Pretty enough? Sexy enough? Fun enough? How could she not be enough for him? Just his goofy smile was all she needed. All she wanted was his love and his loyalty. And he couldn't even give her that.
Her heart was pounding as she held back tears. Why wasn't she good enough? Why couldn't she keep him happy?
"Are you finally finished with my bots?"
She practically jumped out of her skin, her pulse shooting up to an incredible speed. Vegeta was next to her, but in her teary state, she hadn't even noticed he landed nearby.
"Y-yes," she stammered out, attempting to compose herself.
She looked up to see him frowning at her. That wasn't that unusual, but he seemed to be thinking hard. He was wearing a tank top and shorts, and was covered in sweat from a day of working in the desert sun. "What?" she asked, trying to throw a sour attitude his way and failing.
"Is this the only way you can raise your energy?" His voice was calm and steady, the exact opposite of how she was feeling.
She sniffled, closing her eyes and taking a deep, calming breath. "So it seems."
"Pitiable. You should work on that. No use working yourself into a state of tears every time you need me." With that, he left her for the gravity chamber.
Bulma blinked a few times, absorbing what he said.
How often did he expect her to need to reach out and ask him for something? Her brows knitted together, confusion written on her face. He needed her more than she ever needed him, afterall.
Or was that an invitation?
She felt heat on her face again, but this time she couldn't blame the sun. Her mind instanyl conjured up an image of Vegeta, shirtless and covered in a sheen of sweat, smirking in the darkness of her bedroom doorway. "Need me again?"
She swallowed, glancing around her as if someone would be nearby and reading her thoughts. She decided she could use a nice, cool shower.
—
Vegeta wasn't sure how much time he spent in the gravity chamber. He was relentless, more determined than ever before. Now that he had these improved bots, he wasn't going to ease up on his training. It was time he accelerated himself to another level.
It was time he reached Super Saiyan.
Vegeta was taken aback at first by how quickly the bots were able to reflect the ki he threw at them. But no matter, he was faster. As he got worn down, however, their quick reflection turned into a bit of a problem. He was slowing down, but they were not.
He released a low growl of frustration. His brow was furrowed from concentration, sweat pouring off of his body. Exhaustion was imminent. But there were no breaks on the path to Super Saiyan.
He decided on a new approach: he quickly dove through the heavy air, launching a ki blast behind him at a curved angle, hoping to blast the bot into pieces from the side in a surprise attack. He turned back with a smirk, preparing to see the bot explode before him.
He stopped abruptly in midair- what was going on?!
The bots were each reflecting that single ki blast back and forth between each other. He didn't know they could do that…
This entire time he had been facing them head on, deftly maneuvering away from their reflected blasts.
Now they were all zapping the same bolt of energy he had hurled at them between themselves. They were bouncing it back and forth more and more quickly, with an insane amount of speed.
Before he could react, his own energy was fired at him. The massive, scorching blast shot him into the hard floor. He grit his teeth in pain, raising his eyes in time to see another blast somehow coming his way. Were they storing energy this whole time?!
Unable to move further, he instinctively raised his arm and released as much ki as he could muster. The two bursts of energy collided like bright comets. He put as much strength and power into his blast as possible, pushing it further and further into the reflected blast. He had to push it back, no matter the cost.
Pressure began to build up all around him. He continued to push through the pain, the exhaustion- he had to do this.
Suddenly, an explosive force burst all around him- the gravity chamber erupted, and the world went dark.