The chapter 10 preview teaser I left you was evil, wasn't it?

So…the reason we are all V/B fans?

They are the love story of a lifetime.

Ladies and gentlemen, it's only just begun! I leave you with this quote to ponder over as you read this next chapter. Enjoy!

'And think not you can direct the course of love, for love, if it finds you worthy, directs your course.'

Chapter 10- Divine Intervention

Bulma groaned miserably as the loud hammering and annoying construction noise awoke her. She huffed her bangs away from her face as she stiffly sat up in bed, attempting to stretch out her limbs. The nap she took on her lab desk had left her muscles sore and her restless tossing and turning all night did nothing to lessen the discomfort. She looked over at her clock, reading how early it was. 'I swear, I'm cursed to never get a good sleep ever again…' she griped to herself, throwing her sheets and comforter off from herself in one big sweeping motion as her moodiness set in. Bulma reluctantly got out of bed, lazily making her way over to her closet to pick out an outfit, passing by her mirror when something caught her eye.

It made her stop and backtrack a couple of steps to look at herself. It was the dark bruise on her arm that had grabbed her attention. 'Crap, I forgot to put salve on it.' she thought as she examined the purplish-blue mark on her fair skin. 'Stupid Yamcha!' she thought grumpily, still taken back by how much force he had to have put on her arm to have caused it to bruise. She guessed her mother was right, perhaps Vegeta really was trying to protect her.

Vegeta.

Bulma sighed half-heartedly, not knowing what to think or feel anymore when it came to him. Scratch that. She knew exactly what she was thinking and feeling when it came to the prince. The difficult part was accepting and owning it. She inwardly cursed her logical, scientific mind. Were these feelings just circumstantial, or were they part of some larger grand design that she struggled to comprehend? Why was this equation so impossible to figure out? Lately she had been deeply confused and understandably doubtful about marrying Yamcha, but now after the events of last night she felt traitorous to him and even to her own self. When did this all start?! She wasn't supposed to have such thoughts and feelings and dreams towards Vegeta like this! She wasn't supposed to be so distant and cold-hearted to Yamcha, who had proclaimed himself to be her soul mate and the love of her life. This wasn't the way things were meant to happen, not when she was getting married to him in just a few days! 'Then again, I have to see if there is still a wedding to be had.' Bulma thought, continuing to tread down a troubled path whose outcome even she could not hypothesize.

She really had wanted to go with Vegeta when he had asked her last night. And quite honestly, she was regretting her decision not to. She did not feel up to seeing Yamcha today at all. Sitting him down and having a talk with him about last night…amongst other things…seemed a daunting task. After all, their attempts at a talk last night had ended horribly, but it was what she had chosen to stay behind on Earth and do, so now she had to do it. Bulma grumbled at her situation, glancing down at her bruise again and reminding herself to put salve on it as soon as she got out of the shower. She had an odd feeling telling her that showing up to Vegetasei with it would bring unwanted attention to not only her, but to Vegeta as well.

"Good morning sweetie!" Bunny's overly-chipper voice greeted Bulma, somehow still ringing out loud and clear over the construction noise going on next door in the kitchen as the contractors worked on restoring the phone lines and repairing the damaged walls.

"Morning." Bulma winced, annoyed at the noise as she descended the stairs into the living room. She glanced towards the direction of the kitchen. "Did you guys really have to make them come in so early?"

"Oh, the noise woke you, didn't it?" Bunny murmured apologetically. "I'm sorry honey, you probably didn't get much sleep, did you?"

"No." Bulma ground out sullenly, trying to shake off her grouchiness. "Maybe if I'm lucky, I can get a good night's sleep at least once before I die."

Bunny frowned slightly at the morbid comment, but then perked up a bit. "I'm sure you'll get plenty of rest during your honeymoon." Bunny teased, expecting to see a blush cross her daughters face, only to be met with moodiness.

"I doubt it." Bulma scoffed. "There has to be a wedding first before there can be a honeymoon."

Bunny wasn't sure if her daughter was hinting that her wedding with Yamcha might not be a sure thing anymore. Bunny had been referring to her having a Saiyan honeymoon, like she had joked with Bulma last night about a Saiyan wedding, but apparently her daughter had not caught on to her attempt at humor. Sensing her daughter's grumpiness, she decided not to press either issue or idea. "Since the kitchen is under construction, I went to the bakery and got us some pastries to eat. I brought you a large cappuccino too."

Bulma instantly felt bad for her grouchiness after realizing what her mother did for them. "Aww mom, you didn't have to. Thank you though." she said, seeing the box of pastries on the coffee table, along with their coffees. She picked up her cappuccino and drank from it gratefully, knowing she would need the caffeine gods to show mercy upon her today. She was starting to run on empty. Hell, she was running on her reserve tank, and she needed all the energy she could get. "Where's dad?"

"He's at headquarters already. You know him, he works so hard! I managed to make sure he ate a cheese danish before he left." Bunny said proudly.

"Ah." Bulma commented, feeling bad that her father had an extra work load because of her upcoming wedding and the honeymoon vacation she would be going on. Her father had been extra busy lately, as he was trying to get as much of the 'executive' business part of the job done before she got married this weekend. She knew so many things were already starting to run behind schedule at Capsule Corp, and she vaguely wondered if Yamcha was really going to be okay with their life together once she took over the reins to the family business. Would he be able to cope, knowing that she was going to be obsessed over her work, drowning in deadlines, projects, inventions, experiments, press meetings, board meetings, and everything else that came with the job?

Bulma knew that her mother had been aware of what she was getting into when she agreed to marry her father. He was rarely home, and when he was, the majority of the time he was working in his home office or lab. Yamcha was a man who, when he was around, needed all of her love and attention, all the time. Many times throughout the years she was unable to give him that emotional support while she was preoccupied with her inventions and her family business, and it would cause horrible rifts between them. She was going to always be busy and gone from home the majority of the time, just like her father. But that didn't mean a marriage couldn't work under such challenging and stressful conditions. Her mother and father made it work, and there seemed to be no bitterness or anger between them. If anything, it seemed to make those moments that they were together even that much more meaningful and special.

'With Yamcha it's the same old song and dance. The issues we have now are the same ones we've always had ever since we've been with each other. Vegeta and I are already apart a lot, and working all the time. At least it wouldn't be something new to us...if anything, he'd understand...and he's not clingy like Yamcha can be, although he does demand my attention, just in a different way…' Bulma caught herself to what she was thinking, quickly turning away from her mother and looked out the window, trying to hide the blush that betrayed her cheeks. She then saw Yamcha's car parked outside, and for a moment she felt a jolt of panic run through her. "Yamcha's here?"

"Huh? Oh, no dear. It's just his car." Bunny said, walking over and looking out the window also. "He must have left it behind last night." she stated simply, not wanting to touch the sensitive subject too deeply.

Bulma was relieved. She didn't know what she was going to do if Yamcha had appeared on her doorstep again. She was unprepared to speak with him, and honestly, a little scared of having last night somehow repeat itself. She knew it was silly to worry now, since Vegeta was back home, but chances were that Yamcha and her would not have a very calm, amicable conversation, and if he got rough again, she was left on her own. She took a collective breath, steadying her nerves. What was she thinking? He was her fianceè. He loved her. Things just got out of hand because Vegeta was around. It would be different today. "All the well. I need to talk to him anyway, I might as well do it sooner than later." Bulma murmured, walking over to the key rack by their door and grabbing the capsule that held her motorbike. She put it in her pocket, and took another sip from her cappuccino as she looked at her mother. "I guess I'm going to go find him, since there's no way of calling him right now." she said, giving the kitchen area an evil glare again, as the hammering and sawing continued. "I'll be back soon."

Bunny nodded. "Ok, be careful." she said as Bulma opened the front door and began to head out. "Wait! Don't you want to eat something?" Bunny called out to her.

"Nah, I'll eat something when I get back." Bulma reassured, content to have only her cappuccino to keep her company as she went to track down the man she wasn't sure she loved completely anymore.

Bulma had spent the early morning searching for Yamcha. She had gone to his apartment first, looking at his empty designated parking spot. When did things change?, she wondered again. Chances were, any other time she would have towed his car away, or worse, probably have it taken apart for scrap metal and parts in retribution for the shit he had pulled the night before. Somewhere along the way her heart had begun to change, and she figured this was one of the symptoms of it. Bulma had gone up two flights of stairs to his door, and had knocked on it softly at first, nervousness and apprehension over washing her. She hadn't known what to expect from Yamcha, and more so, wasn't sure about knowing what to expect from herself. She had continued to stay there for a couple of minutes, continuing to knock loud enough that he would have heard it if he was there. Realizing Yamcha was not home had immediately relaxed Bulma's nerves, and she walked back down the stairs and took out her capsule again, pressing the button and releasing her motorbike in a brilliant puff of smoke. She hopped on it and left the apartment complex, headed to the next place she thought Yamcha might be.

Bulma had rode by the baseball stadium, expecting to see cars in the parking lot. She thought the Taitans might have had an early baseball practice, but the lot was almost completely void of cars. She furrowed her eyebrows a bit and shrugged to herself as she continued on her journey, heading to a smaller baseball complex a few miles away, thinking that maybe Yamcha's team was practicing there. She arrived at the smaller complex, only to find it empty as well. She huffed a bit in irritation, mostly feeling that this had been a waste of her time. She didn't even have her cell phone to try and call him either. She was slightly confused on Yamcha's whereabouts, but she wasn't exactly worried or mad about it either. It was a stark contrast to yesterday when she was irritated over Yamcha's missing presence at Capsule Corp, and livid at the inability to get in contact with him most of the day.

Bulma then decided to start making her way home. As she rode through the city streets, her mood began to lighten up more and more as she neared Capsule Corp. Now that she didn't have to spend her morning hashing things out with Yamcha, she could go to Vegetasei and get an early start on repairing Vegeta's gravity machine. Spending a day on her beloved red planet sure as hell beat spending the day on Earth. As she passed the security gates without a hitch and drove through the winding roads of the complex, she couldn't help but notice the bad shape the ground and their landscaping was in as she neared her home. There was uprooted dirt and earth and rocks and grass all over the place, not to mention a few craters here and there. Bulma bit her lower lip, seeing more evidence of the fight from last night that she hadn't been able to see in the dark. She had been lost in thought as she pulled up to the front door of her dome-shaped home and turned off the engine to her motorbike, as Goku suddenly appeared in front of her.

"Goku!" Bulma said, partly startled, and partly excited. "Good morning! I swear I'll never get used to you doing that!"

Goku grinned. "Good morning, Bulma! Sorry, didn't mean to startle ya. I came to see if you were ready to go to Vegetasei, since I'm headed there right now."

"No worries." Bulma said as she looked into the smiling face of her best friend. "And I was just going to try to call you also so you could take me! Perfect timing! If I didn't know any better, I'd say you planned this out." she joked.

Goku scratched the back of his head sheepishly with one hand. "It's not like I was following you or anything." he said as he laughed a little too nervously for his own good. He saw Bulma eye him with veiled suspicion, and he suddenly felt exposed, thinking he had given it away. It's not like she needed to know that Vegeta had set him to be her bodyguard while he was off-planet! Goku had been keeping tabs on Bulma's ki since he felt her wake up, tracking her as she left her home and traveled to Yamcha's apartment. He had teleported there, making sure to stay out of her sight as he watched over her protectively, just in case Yamcha showed up. Goku had watched her take off and followed her energy signal to the baseball stadium, teleporting there also. He figured Yamcha wouldn't be around yet, but he couldn't be sure. If he had shown up there, he doubted he would have an all out argument with Bulma in front of his teammates and other people, but he couldn't be too careful. It was the job that Vegeta entrusted him with, and he would have followed her and stayed nearby her all day if he had to.

After the conversation he had with Yamcha the night before, and this morning...he wasn't going to put anything past him now.

"Really?" Bulma said suspiciously, raising an eyebrow up in curiosity, knowing something was up, but not knowing what. Was he covering for Yamcha? Did Goku know where he was at? "You wouldn't happen to know where Yamcha is, would you, Goku?"

The look on his face darkened a bit. Yes, he knew where Yamcha was at.

Was he going to tell her? Not at all.

To tell the truth, Goku wasn't sure Yamcha would still want to be his friend after what he had done to him. Yamcha would never understand the reason behind it.

Hell, Bulma would flip out if she knew. Forget Bulma! Vegeta would be the one that went into a rage over what he was doing. Honestly, Goku hoped he could keep his mouth shut about things. All he wanted to do was bring Bulma to Vegetasei and get going with what he discussed with his father this morning.

Goku shook his head 'no', lying to her about Yamcha's whereabouts, and as he did so, he couldn't help but wonder….had the fates decided this? Or the stars? Or the Kai's? Whatever the divine beings and forces that resided in the universe had planned for Bulma and Yamcha, or Bulma and Vegeta, he did not know. And although Goku knew he should feel like he was meddling, everything inside of him told him that what he was doing was right. And who was he to question the fates, if they decided to use him and others as a tool? Goku could not feel bad about what he had done to Yamcha….not after the disturbing talk he had with him the night before. He still considered Yamcha a friend, but Bulma was like a sister to him, and he was afraid that his blue-haired best friend was blind to the truth of things. After talking with his father earlier this morning, it only brought to him a more deeper, relaxed, calming sense that they were helping to fix a mistake that never should have happened.

There was a blurred line between fate and free will, so as the divine forces continued to weave an intricate tapestry of destiny, Goku hoped that Vegeta and Bulma would decide for themselves the path in life they decided to take with each other, now that they would have their chance.

Bulma was quick to notice Goku's darkened demeanor, as he looked lost in deep, disturbed thought. "How did things go last night….at Korin's?" she asked softly.

"Good. Got the beans to Yamcha just in time. He's all healed now." Goku kept it short, sweet, and to the point, knowing it would be wise to leave out Vegeta's visit to the Tower.

"That's good." Bulma murmured, knowing there had to be something more to it than just that. "Did he…say anything…about what happened?" she asked tentatively.

Goku sighed, knowing Bulma was just trying to get a read on what Yamcha's current state of mind was. After talking things over with Yamcha this morning, he knew exactly what Yamcha's feelings were towards this situation. Goku would not tell her of their conversation that morning, but he felt he owed it to his best friend to tell her briefly about what they had discussed the night before. "I had told him he was lucky to be alive. He didn't think luck had anything to do with it. He was pretty confident about Vegeta not ever being able to kill him."

Bulma clicked her tongue to the roof of her mouth. "Yeah, I gathered that much as well." At seeing Goku's confused look, she explained herself. "I had overhead them as they were fighting. I heard him use me as his 'shield.' You wouldn't believe some of the things he said to Vegeta."

"Oh, I can imagine." Goku said. "He made Vegeta pretty angry. I don't think I've ever seen him so angry before. I'm glad you called me over in time. If not…" he trailed off, as the implications were not lost on both of them.

"Yeah, thanks again Goku. You're a great friend." Bulma smiled at him, subtly letting him know that she wanted to drop the subject, which Goku was all too happy to oblige. "So, how about we get to Vegetasei? Come inside…" she gestured as she got off her motorbike and capsulated it, heading to her front door, "…just gonna grab something to eat, and grab something from my lab, then we'll head over there. My mom brought pastries if you want some."

"Sounds great, thanks!" Goku said light-heartedly, as he followed Bulma inside her home. "And I'm starving too!" he said, covering his stomach with a hand, laughing as it growled in confirmation. "Chi-Chi made me breakfast, but I'm still hungry."

"Goku, you're always hungry!" Bulma laughed as she left Goku in her living room with her mother, whisking off to her lab to grab some back-up discs for the data she needed to download from her lab on Vegetasei. Meanwhile, Goku had greeted Bunny and helped himself to a few pastries as he waited for Bulma.

After grabbing the discs from her lab, Bulma took a detour and went to her bedroom, wanting to change her outfit into something more appropriate for Vegetasei. She chuckled to herself...appropriate for Vegetasei would be if she showed up dressed in Saiyan armor. She scanned through her wardrobe wanting to look extra nice today since she hadn't seen everyone in a long time. After deciding on an outfit and changing into it, she went to her vanity to touch up her makeup and lipstick, and fix her hair since it had been whipped around while riding her motorbike.

Ten minutes later, Bulma descended the stairs to the living room, dressed in a black strapless tube top and a short, dark blue jean skirt. Her outfit showed a hint of midriff, and her skirt was long enough to be appropriate, but short enough to show off her shapely thighs and legs. She wore a comfortable pair of strappy black sandals, and her aqua-blue hair was elegantly pinned up and held together by black ivory chopsticks, a couple of thick strands framing her beautiful face. She was dressed for the warmer climate of Vegetasei, and her outfit was simple but sophisticated, flirtatious but tasteful. She was beaming with happiness, the sparkle in her eye was unmistakable. She couldn't wait to get there.

"Oh sweetie, you look gorgeous!" Bunny gushed. She hadn't seen Bulma dressed up and looking so nice in quite a while, mostly because lately she hadn't had much of a reason to be.

Goku smiled at seeing how dolled up his best friend got. "There you are. Wow, you look great, Bulma! Just who's attention are you trying to get? "he joked.

A light blush graced Bulma's cheeks."No one's! I just want to look nice today. It's not everyday I get to go to Vegetasei, you know. It's been months…almost a year, actually..," she covered for herself, self-consciously smoothing out her jean skirt of imaginary wrinkles.

"Oh, you're going to Vegetasei right now?" Bunny asked, surprised as she looked at Goku first in veiled excitement, and then at the clock. It was barely going to be 9am. "Did you talk to Yamcha already?"

"No, I couldn't find him. He wasn't at his apartment, and he wasn't at baseball practice. And I don't have time to waste all day trying to find him." Bulma said, shrugging her bare shoulders. She knew she should be making more of an effort to find her fiancée and talk with him, but at the moment, she didn't care to. She just wanted to go to Vegetasei, see everyone, and work on Vegeta's machine. She was so close to breaking free from her imaginary bonds on Earth, she could taste it.

"Well okay honey, have a nice time! Oh! Why don't you take Vegeta a cupcake? I think he'd like that." Bunny said, motioning over to a second box of pastries that Bulma hadn't noticed earlier.

"You read my mind." Bulma said, opening up the box and seeing a variety of cupcakes in it. She could tell Goku had already gotten into the box, seeing how half of the cupcakes were already gone. "Mom, did you happen to get marble ones?"

Bunny smiled. Of course her daughter would make sure to get Vegeta his favorite ones. "Yes, I think they are the ones with chocolate sprinkles and butter cream frosting."

Bulma selected one that her mother had described and peeled back the liner, biting into it. She saw it was indeed a marble swirl cupcake, and she couldn't help but smile. She knew Vegeta would enjoy it every much. It was delicious. She proceeded to place two of the marble cupcakes into one of her hands, holding her own cupcake in the other. She looked at Goku with a smile. "Ready, Goku?"

"Yep!" Goku nodded, finishing off his last cupcake as he lightly rubbed his hands together, brushing crumbs off of them. He placed his hand on Bulma's shoulder, ready to teleport them to Vegetasei.

"Oh, Bulma dear, don't forget! The dressmakers are coming by later today for your final dress fitting." Bunny reminded her. "I'm not sure you can postpone it any longer."

"I'm just going to be gone for a few hours, mom. It shouldn't take me long to fix Vegeta's gravity room and see everyone. I'll be back in time for the fitting." Bulma said hurriedly, a nervous excitement filling her as she silently pleaded to her mother with her eyes to just let her leave.

"Alright sweetie, just don't forget. And tell Vegeta and everyone I say hi." Bunny said, as she looked at Goku meaningfully for a moment. He nodded once at her. The exchange between them was lost on Bulma as she nodded her agreement, eager to get going. Goku then touched two fingers to his forehead. Bulma's face beamed with happiness as Goku took on an intense look of concentration as he used his instant transmission to teleport them to Vegetasei.

Bunny watched as they zapped out of sight, and she smiled…a conspiratorial smile…as she walked over to the phone in the living room and picked up the receiver, hearing a dial tone. Finally! 'It pays to be rich and powerful sometimes, it gets the job done quickly.' she thought to herself as she dialed a number, waiting for the other side to pick up. She had called the dressmakers, telling them to bring the wedding dress and leave it at Capsule Corp, but to not expect Bulma to try it on or to plan on any alterations for it that day. She smiled as the dressmakers reluctantly agreed.

Bunny hung up the phone, grabbed her croissant and sat down, crossing her legs as she munched on the pastry. She knew her daughter would not be home on time today, if at all. It didn't take a genius to know that her daughter would more than likely spend all day on Vegetasei. Even so, one could never be too careful as she, Bardock, and Goku made sure that Bulma and Vegeta would spend some quality time together today.

In the blink of a moment, Bulma found herself on her beloved red planet, inside the grand mess hall, where many of the Saiyan militia were finishing up on their breakfast. Everyone noticed Goku's sudden appearance as their scouters briefly blipped from the ki spike, since it was a regular occurrence for Goku to appear out of nowhere. At first they paid him no real attention…until they noticed the special parcel he had brought along with him. Most of the soldiers paused momentarily, gazing upon the blue-haired beauty as their tails swished happily, glad to see their favorite human female back on their planet again. The mess hall greeted her with resounding cheers and whistles, bringing a blush to Bulma's cheeks as she greeted everyone back happily. The soldiers then quickly returned to their food and light chatter, knowing they had training and sparring to do soon. Some gave each other knowing looks, finding Bulma's sudden presence back on Vegetasei quite a coincidence after all. The rumors going around about their prince's arrival last night had spread like wildfire.

"Figures you'd land us here." Bulma chucked as Goku gave her a sheepish grin.

"I told you I was hungry!" Goku chuckled, avoiding a gentle, playful elbow in the stomach by Bulma as he seemingly scurried off to grab some food before the kitchen shut down to clean and get ready for the lunch rush. She lost track of him as she shook her head in amusement. She turned and walked out of the mess hall, greeting random Saiyans as she freely traveled through the palace, carefully carrying the cupcakes she held in her hands. She wondered where Vegeta was at, but then she wasn't quite sure how she would feel about seeing him after the craziness of last night. Was he still irritated that she hadn't come with him? What would she feel when she saw him?

The guards nodded their heads at Bulma in recognition as she made her way outside the palace through a side exit, deciding to cross through the beautiful courtyard and take the scenic route. She took a deep breath, relishing in the freshness of the new day as she looked up into the reddish morning sky, silently greeting the twin suns that shone down upon her. She continued to walk through the lush, perfectly landscaped courtyard, making her way over to the huge science division, until she saw Nappa and Raditz nearby. She looked around. Well, if they were nearby, then that meant Vegeta had to be around also. His familiar black flame of hair caught her attention as she scanned over the Saiyans, and her face immediately betrayed a scowl as she saw him outside in the courtyard also, surrounded by quite a handful of female Saiyans vying for his attention and possible affections.

Bulma rolled her eyes and scoffed, suddenly feeling twinges of jealousy hit her. She wasn't sure what had just gotten into her, but seeing Vegeta surrounded by all those beautiful, strong, Saiyan females made her feel territorial. She continued to stand there a moment, looking at Vegeta, as if she was expecting him to come to her.

Vegeta had felt Bulma's ki signal the moment Goku had arrived on Vegetasei with her. His tail had swished contently, pleased that Goku had taken care of her, and glad to finally have her here with him. Perhaps the females gathered around him had mistakenly misread his contentment, because after seeing their prince seeming to enjoy their company, their flirtatiousness and flattery was given to him triple-fold. Each of them were trying their hardest to gain the prince's attention. As the women talked with him, he kept his arms crossed across his chest, not paying them much attention as he followed Bulma's energy signal throughout the palace and coincidentally outside to the courtyard where he had currently been, waiting around for the Acrosians to arrive at the conference room so he could get on with the damned meetings.

Vegeta subtly studied her as she strolled across the courtyard. She was hard to miss. The flash of blue hair and fair skin, amongst the sea of black hair and tanned skin, stood out like a lit match in the darkness. And like a moth to the flame, he was inexplicably and irrevocably drawn to her. He felt her gaze on him as Vegeta excused himself from the group of females hovering around him, walking across the courtyard to seek out the human female, much to the disappointment of the female Saiyans. Some of them saw Bulma and glared at her, while others knew they had no chance with the prince when it came down to them against the genius, exotic alien beauty.

Vegeta approached Bulma, perking an eyebrow up at her. "You're here early."

"Observant, aren't we?" Bulma said slyly, holding out her arm that held two cupcakes, giving him a teasing smile. "Here, I brought these for you."

"Trying to appease me, woman?" Vegeta smirked, taking the cupcakes from her hand, unraveling the liner from one of them as he began to eat it. It was his favorite type of cupcake. His tail swung lazily behind him in contentment, as he enjoyed not only the cupcake, but the other treat that currently stood in front of him.

"Me? Appease you? Never." Bulma smirked right back as she took another bite from her cupcake, enjoying their moment of bantering and peace between them. It was obvious he was not irritated with her about last night, and the fact that he left that group of women around him to come to her had ignited a sense of satisfaction within her…she trumped them, and Bulma rewarded Vegeta with a brilliant smile. "I have some extra time to kill, so I figured I'd come early and get a head start on fixing your machine."

"It's about time you got your priorities straight." Vegeta mused, taking another bite from his second cupcake as Bulma playfully hit him on his arm, earning her a curious look from him.

"You better enjoy being my number one today, because it won't last long." Bulma said, finishing up her cupcake.

"Oh really? Scar-face isn't on the top of your list today?" Vegeta said, his curiosity piqued.

"No, not today." Bulma said simply, not wanting to taint their pleasantries with talk of her fiancée.

"I take it your talk with him didn't go well?" he said in a sarcastic tone, glancing over her to see if she had any other visible wounds on her that he might have missed from the previous night.

"There was no talk to be had. I couldn't find him this morning. Doesn't matter…" Bulma said, waving a hand in the air as if she was swatting away a fluttering insect, "…I have more important things to do than track him down today."

"Hn." Vegeta said as he continued to look her over. He knew Goku had stayed near her to protect her, but he needed to make sure as his dark eyes quickly roved over her exposed flesh, taking in her voluptuous body in the process. He wasn't sure why Bulma seemed to stand out so much to him today. It wasn't like he never saw her body before. In fact, he'd seen her in bikinis when she went swimming plenty of times, yet she never seemed as appealing to him as she did that very moment. His troubled thoughts quickly disappeared as he saw the yellow-beige tinge on her arm, the remnants of her bruise from the night before. His handsome features darkened as his eyebrows furrowed.

Bulma felt her stomach flip-flop as butterflies fluttered within it, unsure if she wanted to analyze the thoughtful look on his face. She saw his look suddenly turn serious, and she followed his eyes to where they were looking. "It's almost gone." she said in a quieter tone, not wanting any prying ears to hear her.

Vegeta took a step closer to her, taking his eyes off of her arm and looked into the endless oceanic depths of her blue eyes. "The salve didn't work?"

"It did, I just forgot to put some on last night. I barely put some on a couple of hours ago." she admitted, wondering why he cared so much about her arm. It wasn't like Yamcha had broken it. In fact, it was almost fully healed. Maybe Vegeta was concerned that she wouldn't be able to work on his machine? "Dont' worry, I'll be able to work on your gravity room."

"I'm not worried, woman." he said in a softer tone, glancing off to the side, seeing that he and Bulma were holding the attention of many other Saiyans in the vicinity. He inwardly grumbled as he turned his attention back to Bulma. "You should go see Bardock."

"Oh, so you're not worried, huh? Sounds like you are." Bulma lightly teased him, as he gave her a stern glare.

"Go fix my machine, woman."

"Only if you say please."

"Don't start with me." Vegeta softly warned, no real threat in his voice as he kept tabs on his behavior with her. What was it about the woman that made him drop his guard? What was it about her that could make him feel like nothing else mattered other than what was going on between them?

"You're such a grouch." Bulma murmured gently, taking a step closer to him as she reached up to smooth out a ruffle in his red cape around the button-clasp of his shoulder armor. It was another token of affection, a subtle one, but one that spoke volumes. Vegeta watched her actions, intrigued and confused. Rare were moments like this between them when there was no bickering, arguing, or yelling. He of all people enjoyed that inner fire of hers, and even though she could drive him to insanity, she was one of the very few people that could hold her ground to him in a battle of wits.

As much as he enjoyed ruffling Bulma's feathers, it didn't mean he didn't like being able to get along with her from time to time.

"Just add it to the list." Vegeta mused, earning a playful roll of Bulma's eyes at him.

Bulma, satisfied with unfolding that wrinkle near the clasp, retracted her hand reluctantly from him. "It's getting to be a very big list, Vegeta. You're running out of room." she mused also, smiling slyly at him as she looked him over. He was dressed in his 'business' gear. His bodysuit was black instead of the usual dark blue, and his armor was blood red, trimmed with a pearly white outline. He looked every bit like the prince that he was, standing strong and unyielding, as his cape moved gently in the light breeze. Saiyan or not, Bulma couldn't to deny herself the honest fact that Vegeta was a handsome man. Had it taken this many years for her to notice it, or had she known all along? It seemed like everything about him was designed to draw her in, everything from his dark, dangerous eyes, to his handsome face, from his physique to his intelligence, from his wit and dark humor to his self-assured arrogance and unrelenting pride. Her mother was right, Vegeta was her match in every way...not to mention his good looks did rival her own. Not that she would ever tell him…his ego was already larger than life. Her eyes must have been roving over him for longer than she thought, as she then saw a strange glint in his dark eyes.

"See something you like, woman?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Bulma cleverly responded back, recovering quickly from her dangerous thoughts as she flashed Vegeta a flirtatious smirk, crossing her arms under her bosom, daring him to play with her.

Vegeta eyed her, unsure of what game she wanted to play with him, but he would not back down from Bulma's challenge. Hell, two could play this game. "Actually, I would like to know." he coaxed, borderline flirting with her. He didn't have time to try to analyze his behavior with her. Whatever was going on between them, it was happening. It didn't make sense, but at that moment, it didn't have to. Bulma bit her lower lip slightly as Vegeta's tone of voice suddenly sounded so appealing to her. She was quickly losing some of her resolve to play with him as those butterflies began to flutter in her stomach again.

"Your armor looks good." she decided to say, trying to side-step what she had really thought about him only a few moments ago.

"I know I look good." Vegeta arrogantly said, tilting his chin upwards a bit in pride.

"I didn't say you looked good." Bulma said, rolling her eyes at his arrogance as she couldn't help the amused smile that graced her lips.

"You didn't have to, woman." he said, returning her flirtatious smirk from earlier.

"Didn't we already talk about this last night? By human standards, you're ugly." Bulma teased, reverting back to the very dinner topic that had caused a rift between them the night before.

"And by Saiyan standards, you're hideous." Vegeta said, not missing a beat. "Like I said, you stand out like a sore thumb around here."

"Hmph. This place needs a little more color if you ask me." Bulma said, pretending to flip her hair behind her shoulder, mocking his arrogance as she tilted her chin up also.

"Is that so? I suppose that's why I seek you out." Vegeta said, watching as Bulma gave him a curious look.

"Aww Vegeta, do you miss having me around?"

"No. I miss having a functioning gravity machine. I'll bare to stand your blue hair and blue eyes around here if that means you'll fix it." he smirked, seeing her start to pout.

"You're impossible, you know that, right?" Bulma huffed out, irritated that he had the upper hand in their banter now as she playfully stuck her tongue out at him.

"So I've been told." Vegeta responded, his tail curling and uncurling in complete enthrallment of the blue-haired woman in front of him. Suddenly his scouter beeped as he received a call. He quickly lowered the red eyepiece over his left eye and pressed a button. "What is it, Tarble?" he growled out a bit, annoyed that his rare moment of playfulness and flirtation with the woman was being interrupted. He listened to his brother and let out a irritated sigh. "I'll be right there." and with that, Vegeta pressed the same button on his scouter, ending the transmission. He looked at Bulma, almost regretfully. "I have to go. The Arcrosians are ready." he grumbled, their moment effectively ruined.

"Ah yes, intergalactic conferences. Sounds fun." Bulma muttered in sarcasm. She was no stranger to them at all. Still, she didn't think they were as bad as the boring Capsule Corp board room meetings she had back on Earth. She sighed, not wanting to end their rare moment of peace and playfulness either. "So you'll be stuck all day in the conference room?"

"Unfortunately."

Bulma frowned. "That sucks. I don't have to be involved in any of the discussions, do I?"

"Not as far as I know." Vegeta said, curling his tail back around his waist. "Although that may change once my parents find out you are here."

"You didn't tell them I was coming here today?"

"No."

"Alright, well if you're still in there by the time I'm done fixing the gravity room, I might join in anyway. I've been gone for so long, I have no idea what's going on around here anymore! At least I can keep you company...we can both be horribly bored out of our minds together." Bulma smiled at Vegeta, trying to get him to lighten up about being stuck in intergalactic meetings all day.

"I don't want your company in there."

"What if I want yours?" Bulma reasoned, suddenly feeling a wave of heat hit her cheeks. She wasn't sure if she meant for her honest words to come out the way they did.

Vegeta sighed, looking past her, off into the distance. The tip of his tail flicked against his hip. "You are not here to work. You are here to fix my gravity room."

"That's work, Vegeta." Bulma said, studying him as he seemed deep in contemplation.

"It's not the same. Now get to fixing my machine, woman." he said, gently pushing her away from him and towards the direction of his gravity room.

"Alright, alright. You're so pushy." Bulma huffed a bit, placing her hands on her hips. "I swear Vegeta, all you ever want me to do is fix your machines."

"Not true. Sometimes I want you to shut up also." he baited her, smirking as Bulma glared at him in a veiled warning.

"You want to be number four again?" she threatened lightly.

"Tch. You're on my planet now. Your threats mean nothing to me." Vegeta chuckled casually, continuing to bait her into a light verbal spar.

"It's my planet too, Vegeta." Bulma countered, as the prince's scouter flashed and beeped again, more urgently this time. They both knew why he was being contacted, as it effectively ended their verbal spar before it really had a chance to begin.

"Hn." the prince acknowledged. "We'll continue this later."

"Right." Bulma nodded, knowing that his royal duties awaited him. "See ya later then?"

"Maybe." was all he could tell her, as Vegeta turned around and walked away from her, reluctantly heading inside the palace to the grand conference room. The more steps he took away from her and to the meeting room, the grumpier he became. Why was he being forced to spend his day surrounded by politics and negotiations, when he would much rather enjoy the woman's company?

Bulma sighed half-heartedly, watching Vegeta walk away from her. She knew he hated the diplomatic meetings as much as she hated mindless, boring business conferences at Capsule Corp. She looked around, watching as dark eyes quickly looked away from her, feeling as though she was under a microscope being studied. She shook off the feeling as she decided to head to the medical ward and see Bardock first, before going to work on Vegeta's machine. It would be nice to see him and she could get more healing salve on her arm while she was at it also.

"It's nice to see a little color around here." Bardock grinned as Bulma strolled through the medical ward, heading over to give him a big hug.

"It's nice to be back! I've missed you Bardock, it's good to see you." Bulma replied, as he returned a gentle hug back to her.

"It's good to see you also, Bulma. You're a breath of fresh air around here. Speaking of, what brings you to Vegetasei? Oh, wait. Let me take a wild guess…you're here to fix Vegeta's machine?" Bardock said slyly.

"Of course, why else would I be here?" Bulma joked, as she looked around the medical bay. "That, and I've missed being here. I hate being Earthbound sometimes…" she grumbled, mindlessly toying with the hem of her skirt. "I wish there was more need of me to be over here."

Bardock looked at Bulma incredulously. "Bulma, you're always in need around here. There are machinery and spacecrafts that need constant repair and maintenance. There are always Saiyans that need to be healed, and I'm sure the King and Queen want you around during negotiations, since you're as much a part of the royal family business here as you are in your own back home."

Bulma sighed half-heartedly. "I know Bardock, I know. But sometimes it doesn't feel that way though."

"We all know you have a life on Earth, Bulma. You have responsibilities there that are just as demanding and tasking as they are here. We know, and that's why we're not having Kakarot constantly bring you here…not when we can handle things ourselves." Bardock assured, gently placing a hand on her shoulder. "When we run across something we can't handle, you better believe we'll go get you."

"Yeah, I guess. But you better get the word out...no matter how busy I am, or how busy everyone thinks I am, if I'm needed for anything, I better be told."

"Bulma, the only one who doesn't care how about busy you are is Vegeta. And it seems like he has no problem letting you know that." Bardock teased knowingly, watching as Bulma seemingly became embarrassed. "Then again, you don't seem to mind interrupting your busy schedule for him."

"Bardock, I swear you've been talking with my mother." Bulma murmured, glancing away from his piercing gaze as she pretended to look around and observe the room. "I'm here because Vegeta needs me to fix his machine, which means he must have really damaged it if the mechanics here couldn't repair it. Then again, I can't complain. I've missed Vegetasei so much, and I'll accept any reason to come here. I'm glad to be home." she said the last part softly, knowing it would fill Bardock with great pride to know that after all these years, she still considered Vegetasei her home away from home.

"And I'm glad also. Now, let me look at that bruise." Bardock said, taking her arm and holding it out to examine it, seeing the yellowish-beige mark on her arm. His face betrayed his concern…it was larger than he had initially thought.

"Vegeta told you?" she asked.

"He did." Bardock said, trying to imagine what the bruise must have looked like when it was fresh and darkened on her skin. "Why didn't the salve work as well as it should have? Did you not put enough?"

Bulma shook her head. "It's my fault. I forgot to put some on last night. In fact, I just put some on a couple of hours before I got here. It doesn't look too bad, if you ask me."

"Well, let's get some more salve on you then." Bardock said, glancing over at the time displayed on a computer screen, before heading over to grab a tube of healing gel. Bulma held out her arm lazily as he rubbed a different colored salve on her than she was used to seeing. "This will work faster. I engineered a new formula that absorbs quickly into the skin and penetrates the dermal tissue faster, repairing wounds in half the time."

"You're brilliant, Bardock!" Bulma gushed, feeling the salve soak into her skin and tissues. "This will be gone in no time! Have you used those same intensive healing properties for the gel in the rejuvenation tanks?"

"Of course I have. And who better to test it on, than Vegeta?" Bardock chuckled. "His wounds heal in almost half the time they normally would take."

Bulma furrowed her eyebrows slightly, not liking to hear the implications of how injured Vegeta always got. "He's relentless with his training and his sparring. I swear one of these days he's going to get himself killed. You aren't letting him overdo it over here, are you?" she eyed Bardock suspiciously.

"No, no, we monitor him very closely. Besides, half the time he's not even here, he's on Earth with spending time with you. I mean...he's on Earth training." Bardock smirked, giving her a knowing look, watching as a blush graced the beautiful scientists' cheeks. "After all, you and Vegeta are a packaged deal. Can't have one without the other. Amazingly, one of you can never be too long without the other either…" Bardock trailed off, grinning mischievously as Bulma rolled her eyes, placing one hand on her hip, and shook a pointed finger at Bardock with the other.

"Ohhhh no you don't! Don't you start either! It's bad enough I have to hear it from my mother, and now you? There is nothing going on between us!"

"Sure there isn't. Just keep telling yourself that." Bardock smiled, gently turning Bulma around and guiding her out of the medical ward. "Now get to fixing Vegeta's machine. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can spend some time with him."

"Bardock!" Bulma complained as she was being led out of the medical ward. He dropped the subject as he waved goodbye to her, promptly shutting the entrance doors to the bay. She huffed, giving Bardock a glare through the door window as she turned and walked off, shaking her head. She couldn't believe it! And as Bulma swore to herself again that Bardock and her mother were somehow in league with each other, she headed over to the gravity room. She was anxious to see what damage Vegeta had caused to the gravity room that warranted her such a rare visit to Vegetasei. It was a visit that was not unwanted though, as she mentally prepared herself for the amount of work she might have to do.

Meanwhile, Bardock couldn't wipe the smirk off of his face as he sat down on a chair, leaning back on it. He crossed one ankle over the other, clasping his fingers together as they cradled the underside of his head. By now, Kakarot should have done what he had asked him to do, and a conspiratorial smile crossed his lips.

He told Vegeta that he would find a way to get him out of his meetings.

So, where is Yamcha, and what exactly did Goku do to him? Looks like Bunny, Bardock, and Goku have something up their sleeves, but what?! And things are starting to warm up between Vegeta and Bulma, but is it too late now? Is there still a wedding to be had? So many questions! Thanks for reading, everyone! Please leave a review and tell me what you thought of this chapter! I'm eager to hear what you're feeling!

And by the way, what a great response from the last chapter! Thank you all so much for reading it and leaving reviews! I was happy to know that all of you are liking where this story is going! I'm glad Bardock got such positive reviews also!