A long night

Days turned into weeks and weeks into months. And those months flew by and oddly enough, Bulma found herself settling just fine between the many different races and adjusting to her new life. Her daily calls with her parents, though sometimes with bad connection, made it feel like she was on some sort of long-term journey for work.
After all, the little downsides weren't all that unfamiliar. Bad connection, bad food, noise keeping her up, long days… But there were also exciting new projects, new material, more experience. She was living in a constant state of learning new things, something that made her genuinely happy.

All in all, it created a rather odd feeling inside of her of belonging where she didn't truly belong.
There were moment she couldn't remember if she truly had been taken away from home and wondered if she hadn't went along willingly.
Even her parents, after all the anger and disappointment they endured, had adjusted to this new far distant relationship. There were days she believed that they would soon be reunited again and be freed of what she felt was more of a temporary life.

Though Bulma missed her dear parents more than she was willing to admit, even to herself. Her parents themselves rarely brought up the subject. Not without having tears in their eyes.
It had become a painful subject neither wanted to acknowledge its existence of. So, they more or less ignored the uncertainty and longing feeling inside.

But there were days where she felt that if she did not recognize the aching hole in her heart, she would crumble completely. She still missed the comfort of home, her own culture, her old life.
She had started a grieving process the moment she had woken up here the second time and, in her whole life, had never felt quite so out of place as here. Which contradicted the feeling she got when receiving praise and respect for all her hard work.

Even the prince had showed her respect, by giving her time when she asked him to be patient and not constantly bothering her to see if her work was completed yet.

On rare occasions, and only when they were alone, he'd show her that same side of him during the shutdown. Unusual soft mannerisms followed by a nonchalant question she caught herself willingly answering without thought or reason. Neither would ever admit to it, nor label it that way out loud, but he had become somewhat of a companion. As if their battle back on Earth had created some sort of bond between them.

'Hey Bulma!'

Libelle excitedly yelled while rushing next to her. Quickly she asked her when she would be taking a break. Bulma shrugged in response. Her mind had not been able to focus all day. Realizing that perhaps she was overworking herself, she agreed that taking a break was not a bad idea.
Looking down at her work, Bulma had to conclude she had hardly made any progress at all.

'I think I might quit early today,' Bulma admitted while getting up from her desk.
The little pink girl let out a delighted squeal and grabbed her hand while begging her to accompany her.
'Where to?'
'Well, remember that Saiyan I haven't seen for a while?' she started. 'I know where he is but I'm not really sure if we are even allowed to go there but I really-really want to! Please Bulma, please?'

Like a young child, Libelle begged her to come along. Adding the good argument that she hadn't seen much of the ship yet and this would the perfect opportunity to do so. Letting out a sigh, she shook her head in disbelief but agreed to the offer anyway. Some diversion would do her good. Libelle let out another excited squeal.

The girl reminded her of her younger self at times. A genius… with a dash of airheadedness.

Surprisingly, Bulma did enjoy a stroll around the ship. Libelle made sure she saw all the more interesting rooms and places before going on their small, and perhaps a bit rebellious, detour.
They were walking through a bridge entirely made of glass. Space was all around them, in all its divine beauty, halting them and demanding to be looked at.

Bulma took minute to take it all in while Libelle mindlessly chattered away.
The dark blue sea of endless beauty and opportunities… It thrilled her and saddened her at the same time.

The artificial light she had been living in for so long did not give the warmth of Earth's sun. The bright blue sky from home had been absent for so long, she was starting to forget how many different shades of blue it was exactly made out.
Letting out a deep sigh, she couldn't push out the sad feelings lingering inside of her.

I miss home, she then admitted to herself.

Her hand pretended it was sensing the reassuring squeeze of her father's hand, cheering her up and assuring her they would find a way. Like always. And everything would turn out alright.

Perhaps it's been this long journey. When he said a few months, I hadn't realized I would be stuck here for so long. Though this place is huge, I can't help but feel claustrophobic at times...

'So, ready for our little detour?' Libelle asked, disrupting her sorrowing thought.
Asking with such enthusiasm, Bulma would've followed her anywhere to at this point.
'Unless,' she playfully added, 'you want to go see the prince? His training room is like right over there!' she said while pointing at Bulma's left.

'No, thanks,' Bulma laughed. 'I think one should not seek his attention when not being summoned to his great, angry presence.' Her refined way of talking made Libelle laugh far too hard.

Bulma had to confess that she enjoyed her daily small talks with Libelle. Even her little tics and overly girly reactions were things she had come to adore. Her bright presence, and not just the color of her skin or hair, lightened up this dim-place. Libelle definitely made this place more bearable.

Leaving her gloominess behind, Bulma followed Libelle's lead again. This time asking her where exactly they would be going but Libelle muttered she wasn't quite sure herself since she had never been on this part of the ship before either.
The answer made Bulma waver for a second, alarm-bells going off inside and telling her not to get herself into trouble.

But because of her disarming way of speaking, Libelle got away with a lot of things. And Bulma even caught herself making excuses for her instead of stopping her.
Libelle was well-liked around the ship. And she didn't just treat the Saiyans as allies, but rather as friends of some sorts. Bulma supposed that for Libelle, she felt that she belonged with them. They were her home.

Teebs, a short, slender-looking man was one of the first decent and friendly Saiyans Bulma had met, called out to them. Nervously looking around, Teebs hushed Libelle when she wanted to greet him loudly.

'You owe me one!' he whispered.
'I know! I know! But thank you so, so much, Teebs!' Libelle said giving him a bright, unharming smile.
Hushing her again and then hastily pushing them through a door, he told them they did not have a lot of time before shutting the door behind him leaving them standing in an odd round room with five more doors surrounding them. The door behind them opened again, Teebs head peeking out,
'He's in A3.'

Bulma quirked up an eyebrow and looked around confused while Libelle went straight to the door with A3 on. She opened the small hatch on the door and stood on her toes to peek inside.
'Kakarot?'

Bulma's eyes widen when she heard her call out that name. And for a moment her entire body froze up before the heat of anger made her lose her temper completely.
'Kakarot!' Bulma yelled upset. 'That's the Saiyan you like— 'Libelle send her a deadly glare, and despite her anger, Bulma managed to finish it with, 'wanted to visit?'
Libelle hushed her, reminding her that others could hear her if she kept yelling. Saiyans had great hearing!

'My, my, aren't I lucky! Not one, but two beautiful visitors,' he snickered, giving Bulma an appreciative look while greeting Libelle with his façade of fake friendliness.
Unfortunately, the girl seemed to be deaf and blind to his deceit. She was also deaf to Bulma's rants of protest.

Only Kakarot's eyes were visible, the rest of his face remained hidden behind the solid door.
'I'm so glad you came by to visit, Libelle. And you brought a friend!'
'What happened to you, Kakarot?' Libelle asked with deep concern while ignoring Bulma's huffs of unbelief and growls of anger.

Bulma's head was spinning and suddenly she was aware that just because Libelle was lighthearted and young, she didn't have to act like an idiot herself!

'I'm afraid Raditz and I did something rather stupid,' Kakarot explained while his eyes went to Bulma, 'But the prince was in a generous mood, so our punishment isn't too severely. Well, actually we won't know until we arrive on planet Vegeta.'
'Where is Raditz?' Libelle then asked, looking around in the small room he was staying.
'You'll have to ask Teebs.'

They had some small talk and it was obvious that Kakarot was well aware of how easily influenced the naïve young girl was. But Bulma did note that for once, the look in his eyes held nothing malicious. At least not towards Libelle. Though he probably didn't care for her like Bulma herself did, he didn't mind answering her questions. Or the obvious type of attention she was giving him.
He behaved like a teacher that didn't take the young girl's school crush too seriously but was well aware of it.

Libelle turned around, informing Bulma she was going to see how Raditz was doing, after Kakarot had said he was a bit worried about his poor older brother. Bulma had rolled her eyes at his obvious fake concern. He was probably making her leave so they could talk. Without even being able to say another word Bulma saw the girl disappear and immediately felt his eyes on her.

She let out a deep sigh, 'What do you want?'
'Well, freedom would be nice,' he snickered. 'But that is not possible.'
'I thought Vegeta would've killed you,' Bulma bluntly stated.

'Vegeta?' Kakarot sneered, 'Yeah, he considered it. But he feels that it is a much better punishment for me to live knowing I will never be as strong as him. And as his servant, I am to do the worse jobs first. I won't be doing anything fun for awhile.'

Crossing her arms and giving him a glare, she simply said, 'Don't expect me to pity you.'

'I would like that,' he said while his eyes wandered over her, which not only irked her but embarrassed her at the same time.

'It wasn't my idea, you know,' he then said. 'After I met you, I didn't feel like it anymore. I don't care for leadership. I mean I had fun fighting Vegeta. I wouldn't mind a rematch, though…'

'What do you mean, after you met me?' Bulma asked, then letting out a mocking laugh, 'You had a change of heart because of me?'

'No,' he admitted, she could hear him laugh through his voice at the mere suggestion of that. 'But you had this defiant look in your eyes. A fierceness that I enjoyed thoroughly. I found you interesting and admit I had become a bit curious of what exactly you were going to wish for to stop us.'

'Who says I didn't get my wish?' Bulma triumphantly said while watching his eyes go wide. For the first time, it was her turn to smirk in response to him.

'Interesting. Is that the reason perhaps why you are on this ship…?'
Again, he eyes her when asking that and the small hint of what he was insinuating, that sounded perverse in her ears, annoyed her so much she lost her calm.

'Everything is just game to you, isn't it?'

'Not at all,' he answered. Though Bulma couldn't see his mouth she was certain he was smirking.

'Aren't you even a little worried about your brother?' She then asked, noting he hadn't really seemed all that concerned about him unlike Libelle. He gave, what she assumed, a shrug and muttered that Saiyan weren't all that spiteful towards one another, so he didn't have to worry. She quirked up an eyebrow at that so, he then further explained,

'It's far worse to be a strong Saiyan who does not dare to fight, than to be a weak one that simply can't fight.'

Spending so much time with the Saiyans made her able to understand what he was trying to tell her. Everything was about power, honor and pride with them. They took proud in their power. Every battle was about honor. To be defeated, if it was by one of the greatest, was not considered shameful. She had heard of the many sparring battles with the prince and it seemed plenty of his men took pride in being able to fight him, even if defeat was a certainty.

I'm losing my mind by surrounding myself with these barbarians and trying to understand them!

Yet, she saw something here on this ship that she rarely encountered on Earth. Or perhaps it had existed at one point, but modern day had erased it.

Although harsh and crude, Saiyans did seem to have this strong sense of camaraderie. Though never for those who had threatened or mistreated them…

Honestly, should she not have seen the living proof before her at this moment, she would have never guessed that someone like Vegeta could be so lenient. Kakarot was imprisoned, not dead.

The prince just kept surprising her. Perhaps her prejudice of him had blinded her.

'So, you two aren't going to be imprisoned for the rest of your life because of your treason…?' Bulma asked intrigued by what she was hearing.

'Well,' Kakarot, gave her sheepish look, 'It's not like you get away with everything. But it would be a shame to lose good warrior. And it is settled; Vegeta won and that is sort of my punishment as well. Like I said, we just won't be doing anything fun for a while.'

Bulma stayed silent, letting it sink in. They seemed more refined for the moment then some Earthlings, who were far more spiteful against one another. The thought kind of shocked her.

'And when I say fun, I mean guarding the beautiful blue-haired scientist from Earth.'

Bulma rolled her eyes in respond, 'What do you want me to say to that?'
His grin widened while she shrugged at him, deciding it was time to leave. Turning around, he halted her, asking her to stay for just another minute.

'Do you hate me?'

Bewildered at the question, Bulma stayed silent. She hadn't ever given it much thought.
To be honest, Kakarot had kind of disappeared out of her mind. Life was easier without his constant presence to remind her of how everything could be a trick. She had not missed him eying her so deliberately that it made her feel uneasy like he had just done a few times in the short time span she had been standing here. She had not missed his taunting voice at all.

But hate? He did not evoke that emotion within her. But she hadn't really felt anything lately.
Not even hate for the Saiyan Prince, though she supposed she should have since it was him who forced her to come along. No, no one evoked anything inside of her.

'I think you are just another Saiyan,' Bulma simply said with a tired sigh, turning around with the intention to leave this time. She gave him a look over the shoulder, and her eye caught a vague look of disappointment in his eyes, making her swallow her words of hoping to never see him again.

'Later… Kakarot'
'See you around, Bulma.'

Standing outside was she assumed was a prison, Bulma took a much needed deep breath. Her head was spinning from the strange turn of events. That Libelle! She wasn't half as innocent as she looked! Going with her hands through her hair and letting out a deep sigh, Bulma decided she had enough of adventure for today and wanted nothing more than to go to her personal chambers and relax.

Though that was also a problem, she had no idea what to do in order to relax…
There wasn't any type of entertainment around here. At least not for her kind, the one that that wasn't into fighting. She had vaguely remembered some Earthlings playing a game of checkers once. Checkers! Of all games!

Another deep sigh left her lips and she let her shoulders hang in defeat. Ahh! I'm so alone here…

'Bulma! Bulma!' Libelle yelled while hurrying to her. 'I'm so sorry! I got caught up talking to Raditz and then Teebs mentioned a problem in the engine-room! And first I thought, do I go now or see Bulma first? But then I realized you'd might be waiting for me and I hadn't said goodbye to Kakarot yet and I feel—'Breathe, Libelle,' Bulma said calmly while placing a hand on her shoulder and stopping the young girl.

Libelle gave her grateful smile in return, obviously already forgotten Bulma's fury from earlier and behaving as if they had not just crossed the line by visiting those Saiyans.
'I'll say goodbye to Kakarot now and then I kind of have to go, you know duty calls! But why don't you come with me?'
Bulma took a second to let her speech sink in before realizing that she had enough of the girl for today, and though she was no longer angry anymore, she longed for some time alone now.
'Tell you what, I'll find the way back by myself. I'm a big girl, I can totally do that!' Bulma said, mimicking her way of talking in a teasing matter. 'You go ahead. We'll talk tomorrow!'

'Are you sure you are going to be ok?' Libelle asked, not completely convinced.
Bulma grabbed her phone, 'I'll call if I can't find my way back.'
'Ok! Good! Good! See you later!'
'Bye!'

A heavy feeling that had lingered on her shoulders fell off when she heads back to the other side of the ship. To be honest, she had kind of wanted to keep a low profile and not get into any trouble. So, visiting an imprisoned Saiyan hadn't really been on her list…

Once finding herself back on the bridge made of glass, she halted to stare at the magnificent view. This darkness depressed her as much as it amazed her. She realized that missing the blue sky and the sun wasn't it. It was also the wind. Rain. The smell of nature.

Hearing a door behind her open, she turns around to see who it was. She was more than startled to see the Saiyan Prince staring at her. Bulma let out a gasp when their eyes met. The same mysterious glint in his eyes lingered, one she was unable to decipher. He also looked different without his usual armor on. A tad bit odd to be honest.

'Vegeta,' she simply said.
'What are you doing here, woman?' he asked on a demanding tone, yet his expression remained stoic.
'Just out for a walk.'
'Without anyone escorting you? Who gave you permission to do that?'
Feeling caught for some reason, Bulma's cheeks reddened. She couldn't betray Libelle, so she simply muttered she had made that decision on her own accord.

'Are you a fool?' he asked her, getting angry now. 'You can't just walk around on your own.'
'Excuse me?' She retorted, getting angry too. Why did he always have to be so controlling? He had gotten what he wanted; he didn't have to remind her every time he saw her that she was his unwilling ally!
'I can walk just fine by myself! It's not like I can run off, you know! So, there is no need to be so hostile!'

His eyebrows shot up, surprised at her responds. He then shook his head and asked if she was being naïve or just plain stupid. Bulma wanted to yell in response but he cut her off,
'I didn't say you weren't capable of being on your own nor am I being hostile. You know for a genius, you are quite dimwitted at times,' Bulma shot him a glare but he only smirked in response. 'You do realize as a woman in a ship full of men, you are perhaps always in a certain type of danger?'

Paling at what he was implying, simply not being able to utter out a word in response, Bulma froze in fear. She hadn't even thought of that! Vegeta's smirk fell, followed by a harsh look of disapproval.

Sighing, knowing he was absolutely right, she glanced at the view again, begging it for help.
Knowing that she wasn't going to be seeing the incredible image or feel the freedom to simply observe it whenever she wanted, she tried to hold on to the moment.

This endless sea of darkness is representation of how my life is at this moment. I'm having the longest night of my life and I feel tired all the time, but I can't find any rest…

'Sorry,' she muttered, knowing he was right. It came with being a woman, no matter how much she disliked that thought and she found it utterly ridiculous. Though she was very capable of fighting back, as she always carried a capsule with a laser-gun, there was no guarantee for her safety.
'I just hadn't thought about that…'

I guess the freedom to work whenever we choose comes with a price. Sure, there are no guards around to control us but none to protect us either… She cursed at herself, even from our own stupidity!

'No, I suppose you didn't,' he said, surprisingly agreeing in a rather polite matter.
His eyes followed her stare for a moment, staring into the universe. They then went straight back to the sight of her and Bulma felt his dark eyes go over her, followed by an expression that made her question how she must've looked. Glancing at him a few times, she eventually kept her sight on the sea of darkness before them.

'Where have you been?'

Bulma's head turned to him, giving him a puzzled look. He didn't bother repeating himself but did walk closer to her, crossing his arms once he halted before her.
He must be done with his training for today, she noted when seeing him look so different without his usual gear on. He looked almost ordinary. As if he is just a man and not that alien, barbaric prince of Saiyans.

'Well,' Bulma didn't quite know how to answer that question without causing problems. Since he was being rather polite, she didn't want to ruin his good mood by mentioning Kakarot. Though she had been curious about a few things…

'Just walking around.' Trying to be nonchalant by shrugging it off as she said it.

His stoic expression didn't tell her a thing, so she couldn't tell if he believed her or not. But apparently for now, he was going to let it be, following her gaze once again to stare at the view outside.

'Don't you…' Bulma halted, wondering what on earth possessed her to talk like this. But it was too late, he wanted to know what she had wanted to say.

'Spit it out, woman,' he growled impatiently, making her wince.

'Don't you miss being outside? I feel so… down. Not just because of leaving Earth. I miss the clean air and nature and… Well, just things that I guess I've taken for granted. I just don't know how to distract myself since I can't go out.'

He stayed silent for a moment, and for split second she thought he might give her a genuine or at least kind answer, until he said,

'That is something only a pathetic weakling like you can long for.'

'Argh! Can't you just be nice for once?'

Since you are the only man I can stand to talk to! She had almost wanted to add that random thought but swallowed the words immediately and dismissed the thought completely, not understanding where that had come from and not ever wanting to think about it again either.

'I'm being very lenient with you,' he growled back, and for some reason he looked a bit taken back by her reaction. But his stern expression quickly covered it up.

'Fine,' she said while rolling her eyes at his usual threats. 'What do you do for fun, your majesty?'
She couldn't help but spit out his title with mockery. To her surprise he gave little to no reaction to it.

'I have to lead an entire army— 'Oh, don't give me that excuse!' Bulma interrupted, 'Right now, there isn't that much you can do! We are heading towards your home-planet!'
'I train,' he then said.
'No, I mean what do you do for fun?' she asked again, emphasizing the word. 'Answering that question with training, is like me saying working on a new project. I mean, yes, that is fun because we both love to challenge ourselves but that is not what I meant. I mean a relaxing type of fun, that asks no effort whatsoever,' Bulma explained. She then took a breath and within that moment realized what she was doing.
Gosh, I'm becoming so lonely that I am actually trying to befriend this man!

As unreadable as his expression was, he seemed to be contemplating on what to answer. After a moment of silence, he concluded he didn't know but didn't say so out loud. Instead he did tell her,

'You are the first to ask me such a question.'

'So you never do anything fun?' Bulma answered, slightly baffled by the answer.

It was obvious he didn't know what to make out of this odd conversation they were having and so suddenly he turned into his usual arrogant self,

'Well, I do a lot of fun things,' he gave her a meaningful smirk, 'On a certain time and place but I didn't think anything of that sort would interest you. Or does it?'

The insinuation was crystal clear, making Bulma roll her eyes. For some reason she couldn't help but laugh and only shook her head in response while being perplexed by how he had chosen to answer that question. Can I really call it a sense of humor, though?

'Thanks for that typical manly answer,' she said using a deadpan tone.

Bulma didn't know how she had done it but for the first time she had managed to genuinely amuse the prince of Saiyans.

'Woman, most people get blasted for being so disrespectful towards me,' he said while starting to walk. 'Come, I'll escort you back to your quarters.'
Following his lead without thought, she answered him, 'Well, I'm not most people.'

'Most people are wondering why I'm so keen on keeping you around,' he muttered under his breath.

That remark made Bulma's eyebrows shot up, as she had wondered about that herself numerous times. Once she was walking next to him, she flat out asked,

'Why are you so keen on keeping me around?'

He gave her a look, one that told her she shouldn't be so brash. And perhaps even warning her to not push her luck any further. But Bulma kept her eyes on his, knowing the look she was sending him was perhaps a defiant one but one without any hateful intent, as she did simply wanted to know the answer to that question.

'Instinct.'

A long night… and a long chapter! I had to divide this chapter in two because it was way too long. Hopefully I can post part 2 soon! I'll do my absolute best to post it this week : )

As always, thanks for reading! And please, don't be shy to comment/review!