Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or the characters
A special shout out to iluvveggie, elleelle, smalsa, saiyanwarrior23, hey-sasstiel, and KKsaiyancat for reviewing the original Chapter 5. Time for a rewrite.
Now, at the time, I was reading a lot of dark fics, so this kind of took a dark plot of its own. Don't worry; for those who have read it, they could tell you it gets a hell of a lot better darkness-wise, at least. Most of my stories usually don't take this kind of a turn. But hey, the past is the past. If I changed it now, it would change the whole story, so now it's just onward and upward. Thanks again for all the support, and I hope this rewrite doesn't disappoint.
Vegeta woke up, but hadn't yet opened his eyes. This was a strange sensation. He always was on high alert. He never slept as peaceful a sleep as he did last night and he always woke up and leapt out of bed on instinct, yet his instincts were telling him to stay in bed.
Vegeta felt like he was holding on to something very tightly and he had no idea what it was. He forced himself to open his eyes and saw that he was holding Bulma in a very intimate, yet protective position, usually one reserved for mates.
What the hell? Vegeta thought to himself, blushing. Whatever. This means absolutely nothing. She's just here to help take down my father.
And that was what he was going to keep telling himself.
After getting ready for training, Vegeta walked to his bedroom door and looked back over to Bulma's sleeping form. She looked so peaceful breathing so softly, and Vegeta could see why he felt as calm as he did when he woke up. It couldn't happen again, though, for his father could always attack him or her if he wasn't on high alert. He'd have to have Nappa sneak a cot in or something. There was no way she was sleeping in his bed again. Or so he thought.
"Well, if it isn't my son, awake and ready for his long day of training," his father drawled when he passed him in the hallway. Vegeta nodded and continued walking. His father blocked him, not letting him get to the training chambers. Vegeta growled at the man, not liking the fact that he was being stopped. He didn't even like to be in the same palace as him, let alone a corridor where they stood face to face. "I can't help but notice that you don't smell of the woman you brought with you."
"And?" Vegeta snapped, desperate to get away from the man he was training to kill.
"And I just thought, that after such a long journey, the two of you would be at it for a while." His father chuckled darkly and Vegeta glared at him. Yes, this was his father, in all of his sick and perverted glory. It made Vegeta sick, the way his father was. It was disrespectful to his mother, and disrespectful to Bulma, though his father didn't see Bulma as more than his son's concubine.
"What's it to you?" Vegeta snapped, not liking his father diving into his private affairs.
His father's smirk widened and became more sadistic as he said, "Because I'd like a crack at that beauty myself and, if you aren't using her, I could definitely use her in my harem. So, I'm posing a challenge."
Challenge? Vegeta could see where this was going and it was making him feel seriously ill. "What?" he replied through gritted teeth.
The king's smirk turned into a suggestive grin. "Take her by the end of the week and if I may find her scent on you within the week, I'll leave her be in your possession. But fail and she will be mine. Deal?"
There was no other choice; he had to agree to it or Bulma would be put in an even more dangerous situation. The only problem was that if he couldn't get her to agree, he would have to prove her wrong. He would be no better than the men that took over her planet. He growled and nodded, accepting his father's challenge. His father let his arrogant smirk shine through before leaving his son to train, knowing full well that his son was training to defeat him even though he would never be able to accomplish that feat.
Vegeta let out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding. He turned to enter the training chamber and found Kakarot standing there waiting for him with his eyes widened in shock. He had heard everything said between father and son.
Bulma woke up and stretched herself onto the bed. She left out a sad sigh remembering the wonderful dream she had woken up from. She was with her parents, on a trip, with her new baby brother and, in the dream, they were still arguing whether to name the baby Trunks or Goku. It still hadn't fully hit her that that part of her life was over. She was still hoping to wake up and be with her family once more.
It finally came crashing down on her in a huge wave and Bulma broke down into tears. It had been a little over a week and she had only felt shocked and confused. She hadn't cried once since everything that happened and now she couldn't stop. She had been going through the motions and hadn't even realized it, and it had just consumed her and brought her to her breaking point.
"Why are you crying?" Bulma stopped her sobs and gasped. She turned to see who was in the room with her, but didn't see anyone. She felt something tap her lap and saw a small tail. She nearly screamed as the tail and owner disappeared under the bed.
She stayed frozen in place trying to will herself calm. Out of nowhere, a little, smiling boy popped out from the front of the bed. "Hi," he said with a smile. That was all it took to make Bulma scream.
Saiyans had excellent hearing, but it wouldn't have taken that skill for anyone in the palace to hear the girlish scream. That included Vegeta, Kakarot, Nappa, some guards, and the king and queen.
"What is the meaning of this?" the king shouted when he saw Bulma's shaking form.
"I think I scared her," the little boy said.
"Oh, the poor dear," the queen said. "Tarble, you know better than to enter a room without knocking."
"Aw, but mama, I wanted to see the girl Veggie brought back," Tarble whined. "Plus, she was crying. I only asked why."
Vegeta was about to step over to her to make sure she was alright, but his father beat him to it and sent him a warning glare for good measure. Vegeta stayed frozen in place as the others could only watch what they were assuming was to be bad news for Bulma.
Bulma was shaking, hiding within herself, and sobbing uncontrollably. "Shut up," she heard the king say, but that only made her cry more. This angered the king very greatly.
Vegeta had to force himself not to attack when his father aggressively hoisted Bulma into the air by her neck. He didn't know why he was becoming so defensive of her, other than the fact that he needed her. On that note, he felt his chest tighten in what he could only assume was fear and regret. The regret part stemmed from the fact that Vegeta himself had held her like that not too long ago. This girl did not deserve this kind of treatment from anyone let alone him and his father.
"I ordered you to shut up," the king said darkly. "Now you will either obey, or face consequences."
"Please dear, the poor girl did nothing wrong," the queen said meekly. She too feared her husband's wrath.
Bulma finally got passed her sobs to the point where she was just sniffling and, where that was still angering the king, he allowed her to fall back down to the bed and then left. The queen rushed over to her as Bulma placed her hand on her neck while gasping for air.
"Child, please tell me you're alright," the queen pleaded. Bulma looked over to her and shook her head. The queen frowned and hugged her. "Nappa, please go bring some kamormiru tea for us," she requested.
"Right away, your majesty," Nappa replied after recovering from his initial shock. He turned to face the other guards. "Get back to your posts. There is nothing to see here."
The guards all gulped and rushed back to their posts as they were told. Kakarot finally entered the room once the guards had left. He looked to Bulma with pity and then to Vegeta with worry having overheard what he had.
"I didn't mean to make her scared, mama," Tarble said with his tailing drooping to the ground in sadness. "I didn't mean to get her in trouble."
The queen smiled at her ten year old son and ruffled his hair. "Kakarot, would you take my son out for a little while? I'd like to talk to Vegeta."
"Of course," Kakarot agreed. He walked over to Tarble and picked him up. "Come on kid. Let's go break into the kitchen again."
"Yay!" Tarble cheered as the older Saiyan took him out of the room.
The queen looked at Bulma who was now curled up into ball-form on the edge of the bed. "Your name is Bulma, yes?" she asked. Bulma nearly jumped out of her own skin. She looked over to Vegeta who nodded at her. She looked back up to the queen. "My son has told me everything about what has happened and why he has brought you here. I am sorry, my child, that so much has happened to you in so short a time." Bulma didn't say anything. She didn't believe that either Vegeta or his mother would understand anything she had to say anyway. "My name is Kalina."
Bulma nodded in recognition, but she still didn't trust anyone right now. They heard Nappa clear his throat at the door. He had brought them the tea.
Bulma watched Queen Kalina prepare a cup for her, but was a little hesitant to take it. The queen saw this and flashed her a sad smile before taking a sip to show that the drink was safe. Bulma took the cup and tasted the tea. Her eyes widened in shock when she tasted it. "Do you not like it?" Queen Kalina asked.
"It tastes like chamomile," Bulma replied. Noticing the Saiyans' confusion, she elaborated. "It's a flavor of tea back on Earth. My mother and I used to drink it every night before bed."
Nappa and Vegeta didn't say anything. They weren't used to dealing with emotional girls, or victims who had lost their worlds. The queen, however, smiled and moved to hug the young girl. "I am glad that we were already able to find something to remind you of your home. I am sorry that my mate ordered it to be purged and even sorrier that others got their first."
Bulma continued to sip her tea as the queen motioned for her son to follow her outside the room.
"Yes mother?" Vegeta asked.
"You better not hurt her," his mother replied. "She's very fragile right now and frightened."
Vegeta nodded, though he didn't know how he would keep that promise. He only had until the end of the week to fulfill his father's demand and if he didn't, then Bulma was as good as dead.
A/N: This one I didn't need to edit as much. Just added some things here and there. That made my job a whole lot easier :D I hope I also managed to fix any of the grammatical mistakes I saw. If there are any others…welp 0_0