Hello, my awesome readers! How are you all doing? I'm sure you're doing better now that I'm updating! I want to thank all of you for your continued support, and it was great getting to chat with some of you! As always, I appreciate your time and your reviews! You all help shape me into a better author with your constructive comments, and I'll always be thankful for that.
I decided to split this next installment into two chapters because it was getting too long, so I hope you enjoy chapter 5! Grab your popcorn, sit back, and enjoy the ride!
A/N: I wish I owned DBZ. That way I could make Chris Sabat speak to me in Vegeta's voice all day, everyday. Hmm…that's a good idea. I'm off to hunt for the dragonballs. Don't wait up for me.
Chapter 5- The Calm Before The Storm
Bulma moodily stomped her way down to the large, luxurious study. She strongly pushed the huge solid oak doors open as she entered the room, and plopped herself down on the leather couch in an angry huff.
'How dare he!' she grumbled to herself. She was certain that her blood pressure must have measured off the charts throughout most of the day. There was already too much stress she had to deal with, most of it was legitimate, while the rest was self-imposed. Vegeta being a big jerk didn't help things either.
She wasn't sure if she was angry with him because he spoke the truth, or because he didn't have the sense to keep his mouth shut when he should. Couldn't he see how much anxiety she was already under? Her rocky relationship with Yamcha was nothing that Vegeta and her parents didn't already know about...but to have him throw it in her face, as if she had never considered it before! Her mind and heart were already overloaded with so many doubts, fears, and growing regrets. Lately there was hardly a moment that went by that her thoughts weren't on Yamcha and their upcoming wedding. She was already starting to consider that marriage to him would be a mistake. Having Vegeta so insensitively remind her of Yamcha's faulty traits that she was desperately trying to forget about….well it just confirmed that no matter how much she was trying to rationalize her fears and doubts about Yamcha, the more serious the situation really was becoming.
Not to mention she was also feeling highly insulted and utterly pissed that Vegeta had practically told her that she was ugly and not attractive to a Saiyan! 'Hmph! What does he know? All Saiyans look the same…dark wild hair, dark eyes, tan skin, brown tails, and too many muscles. No wonder they see a little coloring like I have, and think it to be ugly!' she mentally gritted. She then thought about Chi-Chi. She had dark hair and dark eyes, and she was a good fighter. Even Goku had chosen a woman who was physically more Saiyan-like than she was! Bulma crossed her arms over her chest defiantly and brooded in self-doubt, sinking herself into the plush couch.
She was beautiful, everyone said so! So what if she had sky blue hair? It was exotic! Her matching azure eyes were like jewels of the sea! She may not have been born a Saiyan, but almost all remaining aspects about her were Saiyan! Vegeta could go to hell if he couldn't see that in her! And Yamcha, he could go to hell also, for taking her for granted and not appreciating her! As far as she knew, she didn't want to see either one of them for a while. She remained secluded in the study, grabbing a book to read in an attempt to take her mind off of things. If Vegeta knew any better, he would leave her alone until she cooled off. And if Yamcha had any common sense, he wouldn't call or stop by this evening at the compound.
Almost an entire hour had come and gone since Bulma told Vegeta off and stormed away to some random place in her home. Annoyed with the divide between himself and the woman, coupled with his tantrum over the phone call with scar-face, Vegeta had locked himself up in the gravity room. He didn't hesitate in setting it to the maximum gravitational setting, and activating the bots into a survival-mode program. The energy burning within him seemed ever-flowing, as he focused on the 400x gravity. He was so fired up, that the 50G increase seemed to have little effect on him as he worked on blasting away the bots.
So what if the woman warned him not to max out the gravity?! She didn't tell him what to do! He was pissed, knowing that she would not go to Vegeatsei with him anytime soon, not after having enraged her so. He felt a slight sting of regret in his chest that he forced himself to ignore, knowing that he had hurt her somehow. He wasn't sure if it was because what he said about her precious scar-face, or when he was jabbing at her about her looks. She was a vain woman, and knew it was a topic she was overly sensitive about. He growled, realizing his thoughts about her were distracting him from his training again.
A few more minutes passed, until Vegeta felt the faint flicker of a very familiar ki nearby. The ki of the weakling. What the hell was he doing here?! A violent growl emitted from his chest, as he felt the ki approaching his home. Vegeta's harsh training had done nothing to soothe his irritation at Bulma, or his anger at Yamcha. He paused his training for a moment, recalling the woman's complaints of her fiancée, and of the phone exchange he had with him. His anger flooded his veins, remembering how he had wanted it to be Yamcha's head he snapped off, rather than the phone from the wall. He fisted his hands at his sides, and closed his eyes, reigning in the willpower to not confront the weakling and make a scene. Bulma was already pissed off enough at him as it was, and picking a fight with her intended mate was something that would only exacerbate tensions between them.
Dusk was in full-force as Yamcha pulled up to the entrance of Capsule Corporation and lowered down his window. The security guard looked at the sticker on the bottom left corner of the windshield, and looked at the driver. Seeing it was the heiress' fiancée, he quickly waved him through the security gates. Yamcha drove throughout the grounds, until he reached a second checkpoint. A few security guards greeted him this time, making sure whoever was in the vehicle had permission to enter private grounds. Seeing it was Bulma's fiancée, they waved him through. He took a couple of turns and drove up to the entrance of the dome-shaped home, and turned off his sports car. He took a deep breath and let it out, brushing a hand through his hair as he glanced at himself in the rear-view mirror. He hoped Bulma had calmed down since their conversation a few hours ago.
He exited his car and strolled up to the front door, straightening out his shirt and dusting imaginary dirt from himself, trying to smooth his shirt and his nerves. He rang the door bell twice, and stood there waiting in slight apprehension. The cheery doorbell rang throughout the home, as Bunny hurried to open the door. Very few people had access to their private home on the compound, so whoever it was, she knew it was a close family friend. She opened the door, and could not hide her perplexed look as she saw that it was Yamcha at their doorstep.
"Oh, Yamcha!" Bunny said, surprised, as she turned on the porch light to see him a little better. It wasn't quite night yet, but it was getting dark outside, since the streetlights were coming on. A slight shiver went through her…tensions were thick in the air as she held the door halfway open, not quite sure if it was a wise decision on her part to let him enter their home. There was an irritable and temperamental Saiyan on the grounds, and an even more irate and high-strung daughter. Bunny looked at Yamcha with a concerned look, vaguely wondering if he had any realization of the potential trouble he could be in.
"Good evening, Mrs. Brief. I'm sorry for arriving unannounced. Can I come in?" Yamcha asked, trying to look past her into the living room. He was trying to see if Bulma was anywhere nearby, although he was more concerned about Vegeta still being around.
Bunny hesitated in letting him in. She gave Yamcha a scolding look, placing one hand on her hip. "Yamcha, I'm sure Bulma doesn't want to see you right now. She's been fuming all day about you not being here earlier. Frankly, I'm disappointed in you also."
He knew Bulma must have been an enraged inferno, since Bunny would tend to downplay her daughter's temper. He felt ashamed, being scolded by his future mother-in-law. Yamcha looked down at the ground sheepishly. "I know, I know. But I really do need to speak with her. I called earlier and tried to talk to her, but Vegeta wouldn't let me." he complained, emphasizing his name. "He hung up on me before I could get a chance." he grit out the last few words, fisting his hands in irritation, remembering how the line went dead when he had demanded that Vegeta pass the line over to Bulma.
Bunny was about to tell him that Vegeta wasn't the type to simply hang up on someone. He was the type to rip out a phone from a wall and smash it against another wall. And that was him being in control. But surely after all these years, he must know that, so she decided to ignore Yamcha's gripe about Vegeta. She sighed. "Just wait right here dear, I'll go and get her. She still might not want to see you right now, I'm giving you a fair warning." Bunny cautioned, leaving the door partly open as she headed straight for Bulma's lab, thinking she would be in there.
Bunny punched in the security code to Bulma's lab, and entered. She expected to see her daughter either at her desk, drawing up schematics, or busy welding and fixing something, or even working on some sort of half-completed project she had lying around. Instead, the lab greeted her with silence and emptiness. Bunny's face furrowed in concern. Bulma always went to her lab when she was in a foul mood, and usually worked on her beloved machines to calm down. That only meant that she was in the study, and that was a bad sign.
Bunny knocked on the solid oak door and waited a moment. After not hearing a peep, she entered the grand study, and saw Bulma sitting at the large desk, intently reading from a book.
"Honey?" she asked tentatively, standing in the doorway. She saw her daughter's shoulders immediately tense up. It meant that Bulma was not distracted and enthralled with her book. It meant that Bulma had been thinking, and therefore, she was not in any better of a mood than when she had first entered there.
"What?!" Bulma snapped.
Bunny sighed. She swore if her daughter had a tail, right now it would be lashing back and forth. "Yamcha's here to see you."
Bulma instantly slammed her book shut, and whirled her office chair around, glaring at her mother. Her demeanor instantly darkened at hearing his name. "I don't want to see him."
"I know you're still angry and in a bad mood, but I think you should at least hear him out and let him try to explain himself."
Bulma glared darkly at her mother. Those weren't the words she expected to hear from her. "Why should I?" she challenged. "I already know the bullshit excuses he's going to give me. And I am not up to hearing them!"
Bunny took one careful step further into the study, smoothing out the front of her dress and clasping her fingers together, as she looked into her daughter's beautiful but angry eyes.
"Because you're getting married in a handful of days. You both need to resolve your problems now, not later." Bunny advised. Her words held a double-meaning to them, which they were both aware of. "Time is no longer a luxury, Bulma. You told me last night that you love him and that you're marrying him. That means listening to him, whether you like it or not, no matter how angry you are. And that means forgiving him when he asks for it." Bunny turned away from her daughter and walked out of the study. She made one last attempt to get through to her daughter as she called back to her. "After all, he will be your mate." She made sure to use the term 'mate' when she referred to Yamcha, hoping the gravity of that word, which was predominantly a Saiyan ideal, would make Bulma realize the path in life that she was choosing.
Bulma knew that what her mother was saying was true, but she didn't have to like hearing it. At all. Her demeanor darkened even more, hearing her mother's last words. Right now she didn't want to see Yamcha, let alone be reminded of a possible mistake she was making in marrying him. She growled in frustration as she stood up from her chair and exited the study, making her way through her home to face her issues head-on.
Damn it, today was one hell of a day. She was glad it would be over soon. Maybe she could actually get a good sleep tonight.
After what felt like never-ending minutes, the front door suddenly swung open, startling Yamcha. His breath hitched in his throat as a pissed-off Bulma glared at him. He swallowed with difficulty. "Hi babe." he managed out weakly, clearing his throat as he tried to calm his faltering voice. "I was worried you didn't want to see me."
"I don't want to see you right now." Bulma emphasized. "I'm still fucking pissed at you, Yamcha!"
He winced, expecting that reaction. "I'm sorry! What else am I supposed to say?"
Bulma's eyes widened at his audacity. "What do you mean 'what else are you supposed to say'?! How about realizing that even though planning a wedding is something that supposedly you're not 'good' at, or something that you might not 'want' to do…that you should still suck it up and be there for me and have some involvement!"
"Aww...but c'mon babe!" he pleaded.
"Don't you 'c'mon babe me!' " Bulma warned, placing her hands firmly on her hips.
Yamcha threw up his arms in exasperation. "I've told you from the beginning that wedding planning isn't my thing, and you've been just fine with it this whole time. What suddenly changed?!"
"Maybe I got tired of being the only one getting ready for our wedding!" Bulma spat out, pointing a finger at him. "I have been doing everything! I've found the damn time between helping dad run Capsule Corp, inventing, working on Vegetasei, and so many more other things in between! And what about you?! What have you been doing?!"
"I-I've been busy too!" he stuttered in defense. "If you've forgotten, I have a baseball career with the Taitans! When it's not baseball season, we're at practice! And when I'm not at baseball practice, I'm training out in the wilderness!"
Bulma couldn't help but scoff. He called THAT being busy?! That was a damn luxury vacation compared to what her life was like everyday. She glared at him, knowing how he left out the details about how he had the time to go out clubbing, almost always without her. Amazingly he also left out the part about going to fancy fundraisers and red-carpet events when he could, without her again. "So, is that it?! What the hell is wrong with you?! Is your baseball career and your training that much more important than our wedding plans together?!" Bulma yelled, deciding not to bring up the latter thoughts she was having.
"Now that's not fair!" Yamcha ground out. "You know that's not true! I just forgot about today! I swear, babe!" Yamcha saw the dangerous glint in her eyes, and he decided to switch tactics and tried to plead with her. He couldn't best her in an argument, but surely the puppy-dog eyes would work.
She was not having any of it.
"Hn." Bulma scoffed, pointing an accusing finger at him again. "Nice to know that you can forget something so important as our wedding…" she mocked, "even when I left quite a few text messages, and you probably had at least 5 missed-calls from me! You're telling me you didn't pick up your phone at least once all day to check it?!"
Well, shit! How was he going to get out of that one?! "I put it on silent this morning while coach was talking to us in the dugout, and then we started practice right away, so I just shoved it in my duffel bag! It was early and I thought maybe you were still sleeping! Then I forgot about it! I swear, I wasn't trying to avoid you or the wedding planners today!"
"Hah, what a convenient excuse." Bulma smirked with mirth. Yamcha always had his cell phone glued to him. He usually had it in his baseball pants' pocket when he practiced, and during breaks, he would at least send her a text message once in a while. She felt she caught him in a lie, and it infuriated her.
"It's not an excuse, it's the truth!" Yamcha defended himself, quickly seeing how his tactic wasn't working. This was turning from bad to worse. "Babe, I told you, I just forgot about today. I'm sorry, and that's the bottom line. Now can we just move on?!" Yamcha started to get irritated as Bulma started to get catty about things. He admitted that he fucked up and apologized, wasn't that good enough for her?
"Well then, seeing as how I couldn't count on you today, I suppose I shouldn't count you to be there for our wedding rehearsal at the church, or rehearsal dinner….or hell, even at the altar!" Bulma snapped in rage. All she could think about was how embarrassed and angry she was, coming up with excuses to the wedding people on why her fiancée wasn't there. Throughout the day, as people were coming in and out of the ball room, they had all asked her where Yamcha was. She had felt shame over the situation she was in. She couldn't contact him half the day, and that was amazingly frustrating. She thought about how easily he blew off her feelings when she had finally contacted him. More importantly, Bulma couldn't stop thinking about what Vegeta said. He brought up Yamcha's very real, serious faults, which were exactly reflecting what she was feeling about him lately, especially at this moment.
"Shouldn't count on me?! " Yamcha yelled out incredulously. He couldn't believe what she just said! "Just hold on a damn moment, now you're taking this too far!" Yamcha growled dangerously.
"No, Yamcha, I'm taking this exactly where it needs to be." Bulma seethed. "We're supposed to be getting married this Saturday, and you know this whole week is full of 'wedding stuff'. There are NO excuses that you can give me for not being here! Your baseball team knows you're getting married. Hell, the entire world knows it! Even if you really "forgot" about today, you're telling me they wouldn't understand if you took off right in the middle of practice to be with me while we finish up with our wedding arrangements?! That's fucking bullshit, and you know it! There's NO reason for you to not have been here, unless you were in the hospital or dead, and you know I'm right!" Bulma yelled furiously as she stood strong and unyielding in front of him, crossing her arms over her chest and scowling at him with an intimidating look that rivaled Vegeta's .
Yamcha was temporarily taken aback by how much Bulma looked like the Saiyan. For some reason, that really infuriated him. "No! You're being unreasonable right now, and making a big deal out of something that is really nothing!" Yamcha yelled back. "What the hell kind of shit is this? You 'shouldn't count on me'?" he repeated her last words in a scathing tone, pointing a finger back at her. "We've been together for a long time, Bulma, and I've always been there for you, taking care of you and protecting you as much as I could, whenever you were here…" Yamcha spat, showing bitterness at her frequent absences on Earth. "Even through everything we've been through, I still love you and believe it or not, still want to marry you! And trust me, being with a woman like you hasn't been a walk in the park, because honestly, Bulma, you can be a real bitch sometimes! I don't think anyone else in the world, besides me, could be with someone like you!"
If Bulma had been angry earlier, then she completely skipped being enraged and went straight to being overcome with hellish wrath. His last words hit her hard, as she was reminded of the conversation she had with her mother the night before. Her mother had been so sure that she could find another man to love her for all that she was. Bulma had been certain that she couldn't find anyone else to love her for who she was, and not for any other reason. Then she remembered how Vegeta had said that no Saiyan would want her as a mate either.
Hell, even her own fiancée stood in front of her, telling her about how difficult it was even for him to still love her and want to be with her. Was she really that terrible of a person? Was she just trying to find faults with him, when it was really faults within herself that were causing all these problems? Either way, she was infuriated, and deeply hurt. She forced herself to shove the hurt deep down to deal with later. Right now, she wanted to bathe in the fire of her volcanic temper. Let him see just how much of a bitch she could be!
"Get off my property, now, before I call security to escort you off the grounds permanently." Bulma snarled, her blue eyes ablaze with fury.
"What?!" Yamcha yelled in anger. "You can't DO THAT to me, Bulma!"
Did he not realize who the hell he was dealing with?
"I said get off my property, NOW!" Bulma yelled at him.
"NO!" Yamcha defiantly disobeyed her. "We're going to talk, right now, whether you like it or not!" He reached out and grabbed Bulma by the arm, intent on pulling her out of her home and flying the both of them somewhere secluded, where they could fight and hash out their argument.
"Let go of me, Yamcha!" Bulma yelled again, trying to pry her arm away from his strong grip.
"We're going!" Yamcha gritted, tightening up his grip on her arm more, inadvertently causing her pain and probably a bruise.
Vegeta had shut down the bots minutes ago, and was restlessly prowling back and forth inside his gravity chamber. He kept feeling their ki, sensing it ebb and flow in an all too familiar pattern that indicated that they were arguing. It took all his restraint and willpower to not 'escort' the weakling away from the compound.
It wasn't until Vegeta felt the woman's ki spike up in alarm, and in pain, that something dangerous and wicked snapped within him.
Before either one of them knew what happened, Bulma's arm was easily pulled away from Yamcha's grasp, as Vegeta suddenly appeared, looking very much like the dark prince that he was. His eyes were menacing, flickering with some sort of long-hidden bloodlust. He was poised to kill, as his tail lashed behind him in unbridled anger.
Bulma was temporarily speechless as she was completely caught off-guard by Vegeta's sudden appearance. She thought that he'd go back to Vegetasei, after she had told him off. He had to be pissed off at her.
Yet, here he was.
Startled, she took a small step back as she mindlessly rubbed the sore area of her arm, not understanding why Vegeta was still there, and what had him so riled up. She figured it was because their yelling was disruptive to his sensitive Saiyan hearing.
"Vegeta!" Yamcha growled out, immediately taking a battle stance against him. Yamcha was still angry about being hung up on earlier, having it in his mind that the phone call was what the Saiyan was still angry about also. Vegeta's dark countenance wasn't going to intimidate him! Unfortunately he didn't realize Vegeta's reason for his aggression derived from something beyond that. Hell, even Vegeta himself did not fully comprehend his suddenly brazen behavior. "What the fuck is your problem?!" Yamcha bit out.
"You are." Vegeta snarled in an uncharacteristically calm, even tone.
Bulma looked at back and forth with apprehension at both Vegeta and Yamcha. What was going on? She racked her brain to quickly assess the situation and figure out what they were so on edge about. What the hell had she missed?! They looked like they were ready to throw blows! Yamcha looked angry and tense, but Vegeta…damn, he looked like he was ready to kill someone.
"I think you need to leave, Yamcha." Bulma warned, as she found her voice after her initial shock. She had no sympathy at the moment for the situation Yamcha had found himself in. He hadn't respected her by leaving when she demanded. Even threatening him with the security guards didn't phase him. Now he had to deal with someone much worse.
"I think it would be wise for you to listen to her."Vegeta growled deeply, as he absent-mindedly placed a step in front of Bulma, his body shielding her partly from the scar-faced weakling.
Yamcha looked at him incredulously for a moment, seeing the subconscious, protective move the Saiyan made towards Bulma. Something akin to alarm and jealousy gave way inside of him. Who the hell did Vegeta think he was, to protect her from him?! Vegeta was the ruthless, temperamental, violent one! He gave the prince an angry, hateful glare. "Fuck off, Vegeta! This isn't any of your damn business! This is between me and Bulma! I'm warning you…get the hell away from my girl if you know what's good for you!"
Vegeta's tail snapped back and forth in rage. "How dare you speak to Saiyan royalty that way, you insolent, weak, pathetic excuse for a flesh bag. You are treading lethal waters. Continue to provoke me, and I will not hesitate to extinguish the very ki that keeps you alive!"
"Get off your fucking high horse, Prince Vegeta!" Yamcha mocked his royal title. "You're not on your planet right now, you're on Earth! What the fuck are you even doing here anyway?! Don't you have your own damned monkey planet to rule over?!"
Vegeta growled as he fisted his hands, his arms trembling from the fury that lay just beneath the surface. He was reigning in all of his remaining willpower and restraining himself from snapping the weakling's neck like he had thought about earlier. Bulma's azure eyes widened as she heard Yamcha's dangerous words. The situation quickly turned south. She knew Vegeta…and all things considered, he had amazing amounts of patience with her, but not with very many other people. Yamcha was in grave danger and she needed to step in and do something, fast, before Vegeta did something that she couldn't blame him for, and before Yamcha's idiotic foolishness got himself killed.
"Yamcha, get the fuck away from here, now!" Bulma yelled out as she managed to sidestep Vegeta, and bravely stood in the line of fire between them. She was hoping her mere presence would make them second-guess starting a brawl right then and there, lest they injure her in the process. She glared up to her fiancée with bold authority. "I don't know what in Kami's name has gotten into the both of you, but you need to leave.." she emphasized, pointing her finger to Yamcha's chest, '…and you need to calm down!" she finished, turning to Vegeta, laying her hand tentatively on his forearm in a pleading gesture. She was alarmed at how hot he was to the touch, as though his blood was literally boiling right beneath his skin.
Bulma's words fell on deaf ears, and her actions amounted to nothing, as both men refused to back down from each other. Neither one of them would yield, neither would submit. In a brash, ill-realized moment of absolute stupidity, Yamcha grabbed Bulma's arm again and turned her around to face him, dead-set on taking her away from the furious Saiyan so that he could have privacy with her. They needed to argue and discuss their problems without any interruptions.
Bulma heard a vicious snarl from behind her, and that's all the warning that she and Yamcha ever had, before Vegeta's fist flew past her head, striking Yamcha squarely in his jaw. She distinctly heard the sound of bone cracking as Vegeta's punch sent him flying into the air, clear across the front yard. She gasped in distraught alarm as Yamcha brutally landed and scraped across the asphalt of the street. He looked like he was trying to reach out and clutch randomly at anything to slow down his momentum as he finally came to a halt.
Yamcha quickly staggered to his feet, wiping blood from the corner of his lips, cradling his jaw with one hand as he moaned in pain. He had cuts and scrapes on his arms, and his clothes were slightly tattered up from the asphalt. He was infuriated…the bastard had all but broken his jaw! He glared back hatefully towards the domed house, shouting loudly and powering up, blasting off from the street and flying back in a rage towards Vegeta, ready to knock his fucking lights out.
He had just inadvertently challenged the Saiyan prince.
Bulma quickly turned around to face Vegeta, and he growled deeply at the situation. Her shocked and fearful look, coupled with the silent plea in her eyes as she looked into his, did little to quell the tempest brewing within him. He was already angered at the weakling's stupidity for grabbing the woman's arm harshly again, but as he felt Yamcha's ki spike in rage, he became enraged at his foolishness. He sensed Yamcha flying back towards him at full power, and Vegeta's anger then turned to realization, alarmed that the weakling was reckless enough to try to fly back to the doorway where he and the woman were still standing at.
Didn't the idiot realize that the woman might get hurt?! That her parents might get hurt? That their home would get destroyed in the process?
Before Bulma could cry out against their fight in protest, Vegeta stepped forward and barred his arm across her, pushing her back behind him in safety as he let out a ferocious yell, powering up and blasting off from the front door. He met Yamcha close to halfway across the property as their energies collided with each other's fists, causing something similar to a sonic boom to resonate throughout Capsule Corporation grounds.
Did I just leave you at a cliffhanger? I think I did! ^_^ I figured here was a good place to stop at. Ok, so it isn't, but I'm evil like that! I hope it'll keep you coming back for more! What did you think? I hope you'll put your two cents in and leave a review. This chapter was lots of fun to write, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did!