Oh wow, I didn't expect such a great reaction from the last chapter! Especially since I left you all in a cliffhanger, muahaha! I know some of you were unhappy out about being left hanging, but I hope I've made up for it with this extra long chapter!

To all you new readers and followers, I want to say welcome, and thank you for giving my story a chance! And to my loyal, faithful readers, your continued support humbles me. You guys are so awesome…I don't know what to say to all of you besides THANK YOU!

I know you've all been waiting patiently, so here it is! This chapter was an absolute JOY to write! It's by far my favorite chapter of the story so far. I've put a lot of love and work into it, and I hope it shows. I really, really hope you love it as much as I do.

A/N: This chapter is not for the squeamish.

Alternate meaning of pulse: the underlying feeling, emotions, or sentiments of a group of people.

Chapter 6- Stormpulse

"Vegeta!" Bulma managed to blurt out in surprise as she was pushed backwards away from him, managing to catch a glimpse of the angry Saiyan blasting off from the doorway. She stumbled backwards, losing her footing as the back of her legs bumped into the arm of the couch. She fell back onto it ungracefully, pushing her hair away from her face as she scrambled to get up. "Shit!" Bulma cursed out loud as she gathered her bearings and hurried outside her front door. She ran out into the yard, stopping abruptly, desperately looking around for them. She looked upward, only to see bursts of light in the darkness, accompanied by startling booms and brief glimpses of the two men fighting, as they phased in and out of her sight. "STOP! BOTH OF YOU!" Bulma shouted in vain.

Like that was really going to work.

Bulma heard Yamcha's choked growl, even though her eyes couldn't follow their movements. "I'm going to kick your ass, Vegeta!" he grit out a muffled threat, as Vegeta currently held him in a headlock. He was clawing at Vegeta's arms, trying to get him to release his iron grip.

Vegeta tightened his arm around Yamcha's neck, twisting it upward into an awkward and painful position. "Not if I snap your neck first!" he growled through his clenched teeth, his voice laced with impending promise that he would go through with it.

"Vegeta, no!" Bulma yelled out in alarm, as panic began to overtake her. "STOP!" she pleaded to him. Momentarily distracted by hearing the woman's plea, Yamcha took advantage and elbowed Vegeta forcefully in his stomach. Vegeta's hold loosened around Yamcha's neck as the move had caught him off guard. It was just enough for Yamcha to take full advantage as he managed to free his head from Vegeta's strangle. Without hesitation, Yamcha span around, aiming and releasing a very powerful, concentrated ki blast directly at Vegeta's chest. Bulma's eyes had seen them for a moment, and they widened in horror as Vegeta was thrown back from the force of the blast that had hit him.

"NO!" Bulma cried out, seeing Vegeta clutch at his chest. She feared the worst…that Yamcha had actually managed to blast a hole through him. She was overcome with a torrent of emotions, fearing that Vegeta was gravely injured. "YAMCHA!" she screamed up at him in rage, not believing what he had just done.

Yamcha panted heavily, his arms still outstretched, as he waited for the smoke to clear, to see if he had caused Vegeta serious harm. He had put a great amount of energy into his blast, enough to really hurt him, or at the least disable Vegeta from the fight. A trickle of sweat ran down his brow, as his senses indicated that Vegeta's ki level was just fine. Yamcha had a horrible, sinking feeling that he was going to pay dearly for that. A chill ran up his spine as he heard a wicked chuckle, as the smoke began to clear. Vegeta continued to hover in the air, looking no worse for wear from Yamcha's most powerful attack. Yamcha fisted his hands in a fit of disbelief. "WHAT?! But how?!" he stammered.

How could that blast NOT have hurt him?!

Bulma couldn't help but let out an unsteady breath, grateful to see that Vegeta was okay. However, her relief was short-lived as she saw the two fighters squaring off again, and she was filled with a renewed sense of panic. She wasn't sure how long the fight would last, but either way, it wasn't going to end in a stalemate. She knew Vegeta was insanely powerful, and that he was holding back entirely from blasting Yamcha into mere ashes. She didn't understand how Yamcha could think he was going to win this pointless and senseless battle…he was either blinded by anger, or unbelievably naïve and delusional.

Vegeta smirked with twisted mirth, glaring at Yamcha with the lethal, predatory look of a panther. "That might have actually killed me, if I was as weak as you are." he chuckled darkly, looking even more pissed off. The woman had distracted him, and Yamcha had exploited his momentary lapse in concentration. His breath had been knocked out of his lungs for a moment, but he was fully recovered now. "Is that all you've got?" Vegeta taunted, going into another battle stance, holding his hand out and beckoning Yamcha to come at him with all he had. "I hope that wasn't the best you could do against me, weakling."

Yamcha snarled in anger. Vegeta's mocking words, along with his infuriating arrogance, grated his very last nerve. "I'll show you what I can do! You're going to regret this!" Yamcha shouted back at him as he powered up and flew off in a streak of light, aiming at Vegeta again. Bulma watched as Vegeta phased out of her vision, and she searched anxiously through the night sky, trying to track the both of them as they continued fighting. She took a couple of steps backwards in an awed sense of disbelief…Vegeta was toying around with him, and Yamcha had been stupid enough to have pissed off Vegeta and let this get as far as it did. She didn't have any sympathy towards him for it either.

Their fight continued, and Bulma winced as cracks of thunder resounded from their colliding energies. The streetlights around and throughout the compound had come on, as well as the pathway lights that lined the edges of the sidewalks. Even so, she still had trouble tracking them, and now and then she would see a beam of energy zip around. Flashes of light flickered like fireflies in the night, and it was almost all Bulma could see as Vegeta and Yamcha threw blows, getting out whatever anger and frustration had overcome them.

She could hear them yelling and bickering back and forth at each other as they brawled in and out of the shadows of light, but the sounds from their moves drowned out the clarity of their words, and she could not understand what they were telling each other. After a few moments, the ground suddenly jolted beneath her feet, and Bulma yelped out in alarm as she was thrown unsteadily to her knees. Someone had landed brutally into the ground, as a cloud of dirt and chunks of earth and rock erupted into the air. 'Shit!' Bulma yelled in her mind, getting up off the ground and running towards the decent-sized crater that had formed from the impact.

"That will be enough from you!" Vegeta raged as he appeared again in mid-air, glaring down at Yamcha in a spiteful way. "You need to be put in your place, human, and I'm more than willing to teach you that lesson!"

Yamcha spat blood out at the ground, showing insolence to the Saiyan prince, as he shakily stood up. He was pretty bruised and battered, but tried hard to not show it. He glared up hatefully at Vegeta. "Fuck you! I don't give a shit who you are, Vegeta! You're nothing but a stupid monkey." Yamcha yelled. "And you can't kill me! She'll never forgive you!" he defiantly challenged, in reference to something said previously.

Bulma brought her hand to her mouth as she gasped in shock, seeing it was Yamcha who had been thrown to the ground. She had felt bad for him at first, somewhat concerned about his well-being, until she neared closer and heard his atrocious words to Vegeta. Her eyes widened at Yamcha's still-existent defiance towards him, as he used her as his trump card! Did he really believe that he could say what he wanted to Vegeta, and treat him in such a disrespectful way without serious repercussions?! Hearing Yamcha's words enraged her. She wasn't sure what exactly triggered this fight, but a wave of trepidation hit her. Yamcha was no match for Vegeta. Hell, the fact that Yamcha was still alive was a testament to Vegeta's restraint. Any other creature in the universe would have been dead already, if they even spoke half as disrespectfully to Vegeta the way Yamcha currently was. Bulma knew that this brawl had just turned into a battle of respect and pride, and both men would not back down until only one was left standing.

"Oh, I'm sure she'd forgive me…someday." Vegeta said calmly, his voice venomous, his threat lingering. "I would risk having the woman hate me for all eternity, if it meant we would finally be rid of the likes of you. Care to test out my theory?" Vegeta smirked, cracking his knuckles and rolling his neck, eager to show Yamcha that he held more sway over Bulma than the scar-face had previously thought.

Yamcha gulped, knowing Vegeta was getting serious. He wasn't one to be full of empty threats. Yamcha wanted to punch that smug smirk off his face! He burst forth from the crater, shooting back upwards towards Vegeta. The prince confidently brought his fist back and threw it forward, punching Yamcha back down into the crater. "Stay down!" Vegeta warned harshly, seeing him crash land on the ground again. Yamcha managed to get onto his feet once more, yelling out in a fit of rage. He powered up, and blasted off the center of the crater again, in another attempt to punch Vegeta's face in. Vegeta scowled, his dark eyes flickering with anger, quickly losing his will to show restraint as he coiled his fist back yet again, and threw it forward more forcefully this time, smashing Yamcha back down to the ground.

"I said, STAY DOWN!" Vegeta roared with authoritative command. He was done holding back. He was done showing restraint. His Saiyan pride demanded that no one, especially the weakling, continue to insult and challenge him. Saiyan law required that he no longer live, but scar-face was not a Saiyan, and could not hold him to the Saiyan ways. His pride did demand justice…perhaps he wouldn't kill him, but beating the weakling to within an inch of his life might teach him an important lesson. Vegeta shot down to the ground, landing next to Yamcha, and picked him up by the collar of his shirt, and growled into his face. "If you know what's good for you, leave here NOW, before you lose your life."

Yamcha responded by spitting the blood in his mouth onto Vegeta's face.

It was the last straw.

Vegeta snarled inhumanely and let go the hold on his shirt, throwing his fist back and upper-cutting Yamcha powerfully in his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Yamcha gasped in strain, trying to will the air back into his lungs, as Vegeta continued his brutal assault. Yamcha desperately tried to defend himself against Vegeta's aggressive attacks, but he was already pretty beaten up, and highly weakened. He wasn't fast enough, even at his best, to dodge all of Vegeta's blows.

Vegeta landed a sickening jab at Yamcha's face, breaking his nose. As Yamcha clutched at his face, Vegeta threw a cruel punch against his ribcage, effectively breaking some of his ribs. As Yamcha cried out and doubled over in pain, Vegeta swiftly brought his knee up into Yamcha's face, fully breaking his jaw and sent him flying up in the air. Vegeta flew up to grab him, twisting Yamcha's arm behind him painfully. "So, what was that about earlier, when you said you were going to kick my ass?" Vegeta mocked dangerously. Yamcha continued to cry out in pain as Vegeta continued to torque his arm, giving it an awful twist as a sickening crunch was heard. Yamcha screamed in agony as Vegeta broke his arm. The prince sneered as he pushed the weakling away from him, and watched as he clutched at his disfigured arm with his good one, barely having the energy to remain floating in the air.

Vegeta wiped his face of the weakling's blood. He glared at Yamcha with a fatal promise. "My patience with you has just about run out. If you value your life, leave and don't come back here." he couldn't help but smile wickedly. Oh how he wanted to end his pathetic life! Vegeta was somewhat amused that the weakling still hovered defiantly. He just didn't know when to give up.

Yamcha's body trembled, as the trauma he endured began to grip him fully. His energy level was rapidly depleting, and his body felt like it was going into shock, as random parts of him began to feel numb. "Fuck you! This is my home, Vegeta, not yours! You can't stop me from being here!" Yamcha managed to grumble, despite having a broken jaw. His words sounded muffled and slurred, but he was sure Vegeta could understand him. "Why don't YOU leave? You don't belong here anyway, you belong with all the other fucking monkeys on your zoo planet!"

Vegeta growled as he phased in front of Yamcha, gripping his good arm forcefully, spinning him around in the air in a dangerous whirlwind, before throwing him down back at the ground. Yamcha landed brutally as Vegeta and Bulma heard the break of bones again. Vegeta sneered, hoping that it was Yamcha's neck that had snapped this time, but unfortunately, it had only been his legs.

As the fighting had continued, Bulma stood mesmerized, like a deer in the headlights…too stunned by awed shock. She was horrified as the situation took a dangerous and serious turn for the worst, as Yamcha crossed the line, and Vegeta began to seriously hurt him. Bulma stood in dismay as the fighting continued. If she didn't step in and do something, Yamcha was going to die. "STOP IT!" Bulma screamed out again, panicked. It had gone too far! Vegeta wasn't going to stop until Yamcha was dead, and Yamcha was so sure that Vegeta wouldn't kill him. She frantically tapped her hands to the outside of her pockets, trying to find her cell phone to call Goku. He was the only one who could stop this fight. Where was her phone?!

Shit! She had broken it earlier!

"Fuck!" she exclaimed, as she turned and ran as fast as she could back towards the house. "Kami, I can't believe this!" she complained loudly. "Mom!" she yelled as she ran into the house. "MOM!" she rushed into the kitchen to grab the phone, only to be met with a hole in the wall, where the phone used to be. "What the hell?!" Bulma yelled out in surprise, not believing her luck. She looked around, and saw a similar hole in another kitchen wall. "Vegeta!" she growled unhappily, somehow knowing he had caused the damage.

She had to hurry and find a damn phone!

"What?! What is it?!" Bunny called out, alarmed at hearing the scary sounds outside and her daughter screaming bloody murder somewhere in the house. She turned the corner and stood in the doorway, seeing Bulma in the midst of a panic attack.

"It's Vegeta and Yamcha! They're fighting! He's going to kill him!" Bulma said frantically, not clarifying which man was killing which.

"Quick, call Goku!" Bunny said instinctually, as she ran into the kitchen to grab the phone. Belatedly she remembered Vegeta tearing it away from the wall earlier. "Oh dear…" Bunny murmured, looking at the hole in the wall, realizing the gravity of the situation they were in. How could they call someone, when the phone lines were down?

Bulma looked helplessly at her mother. Time was of the essence, and it was running out. She was on the verge of tears, not knowing how to get in contact with Goku. She couldn't find a phone!

"Your father!" Bunny realized out loud. "He's in his lab!"

Her mother was brilliant!

"Dad!" Bulma yelled, running out of the kitchen, speeding down a few hallways and downwards to her father's lab, continuing to yell for him the entire way. She burst through his lab door and looked around for him in a panic. "Dad! DAD!"

Dr. Brief had dropped his mug of coffee he was sipping from, startled from his daughters abrupt entrance into his lab. It crashed to the floor, the ceramic breaking into many unrepairable shards. "Sweetie? What?! What is it?!" he voiced in concern, hurrying over to his daughter and placing his gentle but strong hands on her trembling arms, trying to assess if she was hurt in any way.

"Vegeta and Yamcha are fighting outside! I can't stop them!" Bulma's quivering voice indicated she was on the verge of tears. "I need your cell phone! I need to call Goku!"

Dr. Brief swiftly removed his cell phone from his lab coat pocket and handed it to Bulma, who quickly dialed the Son residence. The seconds felt like eternity as she impatiently listened to the phone ring. "For the love of Kami, pick up the damn phone!" Bulma yelled out in frustration.

"Hello!" Goku greeted happily.

"GOKU!" Bulma yelled into the phone, making the good-natured Saiyan on the other end wince. Sometimes having more sensitive hearing wasn't always an advantage.

"Bulma, what is it?" Goku asked, his tone of voice turning somber as he heard her distress.

"I need you over here, now!" she emphasized with grave seriousness.

"On my way." was all she heard as Goku suddenly appeared in front of her. Thank the Yardrats for their instant transmission technique! He was about to ask her what was the matter, until he felt Vegeta's angry energy and Yamcha's dying one. He met Bulma's eyes in alarm, and before she knew it, Goku quickly phased outside.

Bulma had no time to sigh in relief. Just because Goku was there, it didn't mean that he was going to be able to stop the fight. He was the only one close enough to Vegeta's power level to even try. As powerful as Goku was in his own right, having him come over was a dangerous move in and of itself. She knew that Vegeta could just as easily start fighting with him….and that was something that she and Goku were risking.

Goku appeared right smack in between Vegeta and Yamcha, managing to intercept Vegeta's fist in mid-air as he was swinging it towards Yamcha's torso. Vegeta snarled at him. He had felt his ki arrive inside the home a few seconds ago, and knew the woman had called him there to stop him. It irritated him to know that the woman didn't trust his self-control! Vegeta looked past Goku at the weakling, who, in the brief reprieve, had succumb to his injuries. He watched Yamcha collapse to the ground, lying crumpled, broken, and bleeding profusely.

Well, maybe her fears weren't completely unfounded.

"Vegeta, that's enough." Goku said sternly, letting go of his fist. He stood unyielding in front of his rival, friend, and above all, his prince. He dared not take his eyes off of him to tend to Yamcha. It was a risky move for him to interfere in Vegeta's affairs, but from what he felt from their energies and saw with his own eyes, Bulma had been right to call him over. "You're going to kill him."

Vegeta glared at Goku spitefully. "And?" he said, wiping Yamcha's blood off from his hands onto his shirt.

"Whatever this fight is about, it's over. He doesn't deserve to lose his life like this."

Vegeta's fur on his tail fuzzed up in irritation, as he growled deeply in his chest. "It's a bold move, Kakarot, for you to step in and interfere in business that does not pertain to you. He asked for this."

Goku remained silent for a moment. He wasn't sure what happened for this fight to have gotten to the point that it was at, but whatever it was, it must have been serious. He knew Vegeta had been suffering from insomnia lately, and was past the point of exhaustion, not to mention he sensed there was something else bothering him. Yamcha must have really pushed Vegeta's buttons to be in the condition he was currently in. Vegeta had shown exemplary willpower to have not killed him yet. Goku looked off to the side, choosing his next words carefully. "Maybe he did ask for it. Maybe he didn't. Either way, this is an unfair match."

Vegeta scoffed. "And so now here you are to rescue him." he said in a mocking tone. "Apparently you think you have the right to stand up to your prince, so perhaps you want to take his place and fight his fight for him?" Vegeta asked in an threatening tone. He looked menacing, as the shadows of light and dark from the outdoor lighting gave Vegeta an almost unnatural, sinister glow.

"No." Goku assured him, raising his hands up slightly to show he was no threat, lowering his tail between his legs in a show of submission and respect to the Saiyan prince. "I'm not dumb enough to challenge you, Vegeta. You're my prince, but Yamcha is my friend, and I protect my friends."

Goku's respectful actions didn't go unnoticed by the prince. It was clear that Goku wasn't there to fight him, and Vegeta found himself disappointed. He still had a lot of pent up energy, and he wanted another body to take his anger and frustration out on. The prince growled, crossing his arms across his chest, as he wrapped his tail around his waist. "Always so noble, Kakarot. You're becoming more human than you are Saiyan. It disgusts me."

Goku shrugged, and remained standing firmly in front of Vegeta, not feeling any shame for what he so deeply believed in. Having sensed that Vegeta was calmed down enough, and reasonably sure that he wouldn't resume his violence, Goku turned slightly and looked down at Yamcha's broken body. Yamcha's ki was dangerously low, and he needed to get him to Korin's Tower for a senzu bean as soon as possible. "Vegeta, he's dying."

The prince scoffed, uncaring. "He deserves to die."

"And what about Bulma? What does she think about this?" Goku asked softly, nodding his chin towards her direction. Vegeta frowned for a moment as he turned in that same direction, seeing the woman slowly approaching them in the veiled light, walking over to Yamcha very timidly.

Bulma had initially rushed outside after Goku had disappeared, hoping he was in time to stop the fight. As she jogged down the front steps of her home and hurried across the lawn, she saw Goku standing between Vegeta and Yamcha. Her breath hitched in her throat, seeing Yamcha's body on the ground, very still. From her vantage point, she couldn't tell if his chest was still rising or not, but she saw Goku and Vegeta standing tensely, and feared the worst.

She slowed down to a lingering walk, as she felt her heartbeat in her throat. How in hell did things get this bad? She neared Yamcha…already she noticed his face was swollen and bruised, especially around his chin and jaw line. That must have been from when Vegeta broke his jaw. She looked at his bruises, and observed glints of white protruding from his legs and his arm. They were his bones. She saw his crimson red blood seeping from what seemed like everywhere. Her stomach felt nauseous, but not from what she was seeing.

Bulma had spent about half her life on Vegetasei. Saiyans were a proud, strong warrior race. Fighting was common amongst them. Strength decided what class everyone was in. Strength and battle prowess decided military rank. Strength decided the worthiness of a mate. More so, they even held tournaments, for the pure love and sport of fighting. She was no stranger to seeing bloody and bruised up beings. She was not unfamiliar with the gruesomeness of broken bones and damaged organs. She was pretty much immune to the sight of blood. So seeing her fiancée in this current state, one would think that she'd be in hysterics, crying over him, and having a panic attack, wanting to get him healed as soon as possible.

Instead, all she could do was intensely stare at Yamcha's chest. The dim light from the nearest streetlight enabled her to see that it still rose and fell, but just barely. Her nausea wasn't from the sight of horrible gruesome body that was on the ground. It was from the fact that she had never felt so much panic and concern for Vegeta. When she saw Yamcha blast him point-blank with that ki beam, she thought Yamcha had killed him. No words in her vocabulary could describe that feeling of rage and heartbreak she had at that moment. When she saw that Vegeta was okay, she spent the rest of the fight worried about the both of them, but for different reasons. She was worried that Yamcha was going to get himself killed, but what scared her the most was that she was more worried about was Vegeta having such a serious blemish on his already unclean record. What would her parents say, if Vegeta had killed him? And the Z-fighters…what would they have said?

No one would understand. How could they? They didn't grow up around Saiyans, or in Saiyan culture like she had. They would never be able to trust Vegeta again. They would never forgive him, and they would try to see that he never stepped foot on Earth again. She wasn't even sure Goku could forgive him, and he was the most kind, forgiving person she knew! An overwhelming feeling of distress and confusion engulfed her. She didn't want Yamcha to die because she loved him, she just didn't want Vegeta to kill.

Vegeta's fame was universal, not only for being the prince of the strongest race in the universe, or for being one of the strongest individuals himself, or for his intelligence, or for being a master tactician and strategist when it came to war…but he was also famous for being ruthless when he had to be, and he was not only admired and respected throughout the universe, but he was also highly feared. Bulma knew the fact that Yamcha was still alive reflected a grave hit to his pride that he was inexplicably enduring. He had shown admirable restraint against killing Yamcha, and she knew that his pride was unforgivably insulted…even more so for not killing him after such disrespect was shown towards him. Vegeta was not known to suffer insolent, disobedient, disrespectful beings for long. No one knew Vegeta like she did, and she knew this was something that would burn and seethe within him for a very long time.

Truthfully, she told herself, the most unnerving aspect of it all of it was that she wouldn't have blamed Vegeta if he had killed him…and she wouldn't have hated him for eternity, like she had heard him say earlier. Bulma felt numb, as if she was in a dream. She felt detached from the sight of Yamcha's dying body in front of her, and felt bad that she didn't feel bad for him. He had almost pushed Vegeta to his final limits. He said horrible things that would have gotten anyone else quickly killed. If Vegeta had it set in his mind to kill Yamcha, he would have already done it before anyone could stop him. Vegeta was a proud, irritable, temperamental, stubborn, hot-headed Saiyan, but he was also one of the most intelligent and rational people she knew, when he wanted to be.

She was a terrible person, she reasoned with herself. She was choosing to side with Vegeta on this one.

Vegeta tightened his tail around his waist, seeing the woman approach her fiancée's body in deadly silence. He tensed up, having expected her to go off on a flying rage at him for beating up her man, but as the quiet seconds rolled by, he tried to study her face, attempting to get a read on what she was thinking or feeling. It frustrated him that he couldn't tell what was going on inside of her head, and he mentally cursed, wishing she had a damn tail so he could read her.

Goku had stood shell-shocked as well, seeing that Bulma was eerily calm about Yamcha's condition. True, she couldn't sense power levels or ki, but surely she could tell that Yamcha was in critical condition. He studied her for a few moments, and then noticed a rather large, darkening mark on her arm. It looked like a decent-sized bruise was forming. Goku wondered where she got it from. Had she been caught early in the fight between Vegeta and Yamcha? How'd she get hurt?

Goku frowned deeply. Vegeta would never hurt her, intentionally or accidentally. He was always so careful and mindful of her presence. And Yamcha would never hurt her either. So what happened, he wondered? The pieces of the puzzle failed to fall into place as both he and Vegeta were jolted out of their respective thoughts as Bulma's voice broke through. "Goku." she more said than asked. Her tone of voice reflected nothing Vegeta could decipher.

"Right." Goku nodded, understanding what she meant, as he walked over and kneeled down next to Yamcha. His ki was very low. He placed his hand on his shoulder, and raised two fingers to his forehead, ready to teleport to Korin's for a senzu bean. Probably two beans, by the looks of it.

"Your sentimentality is a weakness." Vegeta said, directing his comment at his Saiyan rival. He knew where Goku was taking him. The weakling would be all healed in mere minutes. The top half of Vegeta's tail uncurled and flicked irritably. So it all amounted to nothing. It left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Goku looked up at Vegeta with a knowing look on his face. "Protecting the people you care about is not a weakness. It gives you amazing strength." he responded, as he looked over at Bulma's bruising arm, his vision lingering there for a couple of seconds. Frowning, Vegeta's eyes followed Goku's, and saw that he noticed the bruise on her arm as well. Vegeta growled in annoyance. The double-meaning held behind Goku's words was not lost on him.

Vegeta and Bulma watched as Goku teleported Yamcha away. Bulma then sighed deeply, covering her face with her hands and rubbing them downwards over her eyes and the rest of her face. She looked up at the sky for a moment in contemplation, before turning to face Vegeta. She looked at where he was standing…just outside a circle of light that shone down from a streetlight. She felt like it was déjà vu. It was almost like her dream she had the previous night.

Seeing her turn towards him, Vegeta crossed his arms across his chest and curled his tail back around his waist again. He stared down at the ground beside him, unwilling to apologize, if that is what she wanted from him. Her scar-faced weakling was getting healed in minutes, so he had done nothing to regret. He visibly tensed up as Bulma approached him. He didn't know what tactic she was going to use on him, but he was prepared. Let her yell, let her scream. Let her beat her tiny, fragile fists against his chest. Let her slap him if she felt like doing so. He would not hold it against her.

Imagine his surprise as she stepped into the light and stood in front of him, studying him for a moment. To anyone else, he might have looked intimidating. The shadows of light and dark that crossed his face made him look that way, but all she saw was a man, whose presence and place in her life she still could not clearly define. "Are you hurt?" she asked him, giving Vegeta a quick glance-over, seeing most of his body covered in dirt and sweat and blood.

"No." he simply stated, suddenly finding interest with a rock in the patch of grass he had been staring down at. Her tone of voice was unnerving. Why wasn't the woman yelling his ear off? He was sure she was going to flip a bitch on him any second.

Bulma didn't know what compelled her to do so, but she tentatively reached up and gently touched her hand to the exposed area of Vegeta's chest, where Yamcha's ki beam had hit him. It had burned a circle-shaped hole in Vegeta's shirt. The area of his skin was red and felt warm to the touch, but other than that, there was no wound. She just had to make sure.

Vegeta turned his gaze from the grass, down to her soft hand on his chest. Was she concerned? Didn't she know that it would take much more than a weak ki beam to hurt someone as strong as him? He looked up at her and their eyes met. His onyx eyes were indecipherable. Her sapphire eyes were unreadable.

Vegeta wasn't sure what compelled him to do what he did next. Maybe it was from his exhaustion and lack of sleep that he was suffering from lately. Maybe it was because her calm demeanor somehow soothed his tension also. He uncurled his tail from his waist, running the tip of it very lightly across the bruised area of her arm. Feeling the feather soft fur and the light caress of his tail, Bulma looked down at the side of her arm. It was then that she realized she had a bruise forming. She knew Yamcha had grabbed her arm there a couple of times during their argument, but hard enough to have left a bruise? She vaguely remembered that it had hurt, but paid it no mind when Vegeta appeared.

Bulma continued to look down at his tail as it continued to lightly skim over the bruise. She recalled her dream from earlier, when her and Vegeta were in the darkness, by a ring of light as they talked. She remembered how Yamcha had clutched at her arm in the nightmare. She remembered how her and Vegeta were up at the altar, and he had caressed her arm in that same general area. Bulma turned her gaze from his tail on her arm, back up into Vegeta's eyes, her own reflecting a deep, disturbing confusion.

The parallels between her dream and reality were unsettling. The similarities had to be some sort of an anomaly. Dreams couldn't foretell aspects of the future, could they?

The woman's hand on his chest made him uncomfortable. Maybe it was because her behavior was not what he expected of her. Wasn't she still angry with him from earlier? He just beat the shit out of her future husband, to within an inch of his life. Shouldn't she be utterly infuriated with him? The woman wasn't in a fitful rage, destroying his hearing with her angered complaints about how he almost killed her man. She wasn't clawing at him, trying to beat him up and let out her wrath and frustration. Not that she could hurt him anyway. She never took out her aggression on him physically, and if she started now, he would not find it unjustified. So when Bulma looked back up into his eyes, he saw that they reflected nothing like that at all. Instead, her hand had lingered on his chest, all the while his tail seemed to have a mind of its own.

Vegeta then took a step backwards, separating himself from her touch. He was alarmed at their mutual, somewhat affectionate actions towards each other. "Put healing salve on that." he recovered quickly, wrapping his tail back around his waist securely again, as he nodded his head towards the bruising area of her arm. "I won't accept an injury as an excuse for not working on fixing my machine."

Bulma quickly recovered also, pulling her hand back and placing it self-consciously over her bruise, trying to shield it from his vision. She rolled her eyes at him. "Typical. Thanks for caring."

"Hn."

Bulma then looked around, and saw the door to her home open, and what looked like her mother and father standing in the doorway, watching them. Likewise, Vegeta followed her gaze to the door and saw them also. He frowned, and turned away from Bulma, looking up into the night sky…which was a much different direction than her home and the gravity room were located. She could tell he was intent on leaving somewhere. She hoped it wasn't to the Lookout to hunt down Yamcha, since that was the general direction in the sky he was looking at. "Where are you going?"

"Back to Vegetasei." he stated calmly, looking back over his shoulder at her expectantly. "Coming with me, woman?"

It was a veiled question. Bulma didn't realize that he didn't really expect her to come with him. She didn't realize that even if she did decide to go with Vegeta, that he wouldn't demand that she fix his machine tonight. She didn't realize that he was leaving Earth because he didn't want Yamcha seeking him out for vengeance and risk killing him the second time around.

They both didn't realize that he wanted her with him.

"No." she said reluctantly, knowing it wasn't the answer he wanted to hear. The anger she had felt towards Vegeta earlier had been forgotten. She wasn't going to go with him tonight for a different reason. She saw Vegeta's demeanor darken slightly, knowing he was not pleased. "I need to stay here." she stated, knowing she needed to be on Earth and try to fix the rift between her and Yamcha, which was worsened by tonight's events.

Vegeta knew she was going to stay and try to check up on scar-face. He said nothing. He had nothing to say. Well, he had many choice things he could say, but chose not to. He was not overly concerned though…he would make sure Goku remained on Earth with her, in case Yamcha tried to hurt her in someway again. "Being number four is really starting to piss me off." Vegeta said seriously.

Bulma studied him, knowing he was irritated with her still, by the way the tip of his tail flicked against his hip. "I'll have Goku take me sometime tomorrow afternoon." she promised. "Then maybe I'll work on your machine."

"Hn. I think it's time for me to find another genius female who has her priorities straight." he threatened lightly.

Bulma rewarded him with a slight smirk. "Asshole."

"Just add it to the list, woman." Vegeta smirked back, as he flew off, heading toward the direction of the Lookout. Bulma sighed and ran her hands through her hair, watching him take off. She hoped he was just going to find Goku to have him teleport him back to Vegetasei, and not go to the Lookout to antagonize Yamcha. Shaking her head, she walked back towards her home, noticing her parents weren't standing at the door watching them anymore. She didn't think anything of it as she stepped inside and closed the door, leaning her forehead against it. She closed her eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowly let it out a shaky breath.

Bulma felt the stress on her shoulders increase tenfold. What the hell was she supposed to do now? Her loyalties were clearly torn. She wasn't sure how things were going to play out with Yamcha. They both needed some time to cool down, and try to salvage what was left of their relationship, if there was anything left to salvage there at all. She was sure that he might just call off the wedding now, and part of her hoped that he did. And as for Vegeta…

Her reaction to thinking he had been gravely injured or killed was a sign she couldn't deny, since it was in stark contrast to her lack of emotion towards her fiancée's injuries. Her feelings for the prince were starting to push through, and she couldn't stop how she was beginning to feel for him. Still, she pushed it aside and ignored it. She reasoned she only cared for Vegeta because he had been around her ever since she could remember. They were very close, closer than either one of them would ever admit, so of course she'd be so overly concerned about him. How could she not be?!

It seems her heart had already strayed, long before she was ever aware.

So, I'm thinking this is no longer the short-story I initially intended it to be! The more I'm writing this, the more it's looking like this is going to be a long journey, and it's one I'm hoping all of you will keep joining me in!

How'd you like this chapter? It's my first time trying to write a fight scene, and I'm not sure that I did as well of a job as I could have. It was still exciting to write, nonetheless! Did you catch the correlations between Bulma's nightmare, and the events that happened? I'm pretty proud of myself for working that into the story. And how about the tender moment between our favorite couple? Thought I'd throw in that little teaser.

Thanks for reading! Leave a review and tell me what you think! And please stay tuned for chapter 7!