(A/N) I am very sorry about the long delay, I have been busy, but mostly just lazy . a thousand apologies :( anyhow I hope to get back into the swing of writing now!
The days in the jungle had not been kind to Bulma: the weather had not been pleasant to say the least, tropical rain had plagued her, the humid air only adding insult to injury. The last few days had been spent stumbling around in the mud, cursing the Saiyan Prince for all he was worth, despite her ample time in the jungle, she had yet to find any trace of civilisation. Despite her dire situation, considering she had found nothing worth eating, and no sign of water, she was not thirsty or hungry. After she had been unceremoniously dumped in the wilderness, she had considered this before going to sleep, planning to resolve it the next morning, however, in the morning she discovered that some capsules had been left for her, containing food and supplies. She briefly considered this, maybe Vegeta did not want to leave her here to die after all!
"Argh I can't take it any more!" Bulma cried, collapsing on the mattress of mud beneath her. Curling up for warmth, she attempted to get some rest in the sweltering heat.
"Foolish woman" Vegeta smirked as he spoke to himself. After he had approached her during the night, he had been careful to keep his distance, as the mud was doing nothing to remove his deep desires. Sighing and looking down from his tree, he considered this briefly before settling in for some much needed sleep, despite how little he usually slept, this was pushing him.
The night brought with it a danger for the blue haired heiress; from the shadows a panther watched her sleeping form in the cleating, the gentle rise and fall of her chest confirmed that she was indeed edible. Gently the beast stalked over to her sleeping form, sniffing her as he drew closer, hunger evident is his eyes. Snarling he rose his claw, as he eyes fluttered open at the sound.
Frozen in shock, Bulma could only watch as the large cat prepared to end her life, she didn't think this was how it was going to end! Looking into the merciless eyes of her killer, she silently prepared for the pain that was to follow, a tear forming in her left eye. Shutting them, the tensed and prepared for the strike, her last thought cursing Vegeta. What did she do? Why did he have to leave her in this god forsaken place, even with all this life, her last few days had been a living hell, which was coming to an abrupt end. But the blow never came.
Bulma heard a soft crack, and opened her eyes, the panther was slumped down upon her with a gloss over his now empty eyes. Scrambling away from his limp form she looked around for what had saved her, her eyes landing on another set of, normally merciless eyes. Not tonight though, the mask had cracks in it tonight, for behind the sheen of indifference she could see fear and care in those dark eyes, staring out at her from a face worn away from pain, till only the mask remains. Silhouetted in the moonlight, he continued to stare into her deep blue eyes, until she broke the silence, hesitantly she called out his name.
"V-Vegeta?" Whispering into the dark, she waited as she saw his head move, acknowledging her.
Turning away from her he gazed into the undergrowth, pausing before he spoke.
"Woman, it's time to go, I hope you learnt from this experience" Vegeta considered this statement at the back of his mind. What has she learnt? That I will be there? Unsatisfied with this he pushed these thoughts away, and picked up the trembling woman.
"Consider yourself lucky, I won't always be there to save your ass" Attempting to convince himself, Vegeta voiced his disagreement, shaking his head slightly, that was hardly convincing. Coming round from the shock of her near death experience, Bulma noticed his face was set hard against the darkness of the sky, attempting not to show any of the turmoil that raged inside him. Noticing this, Bulma decided to test this new theory of his.
"Oh really?" and with that, she wriggled free of his grasp and fell through the layers of cloud, surprisingly not scared, before she felt strong arms capture her, and lift her to the sky. Giggling slightly she looked up at the deep frown on his face. Grumbling he responded to her accusations.
"Well, since I put you here I have to make sure you leave in a similar condition to the one you entered in, I would never here the end of it from Kakarot or his howling mate." Considering this a suitable excuse he turned to face her. "Anyway, you where nearly killed, how are you so...happy" Bulma looked up into his confused eyes and shrugged.
"Well, I don't know, maybe it's because I know you won't let me die if you can help it...its that damned pride" Bulma signed and was surprised to see Vegeta's eyes furrow in annoyance. He looked away and flew faster over the ocean. Almost to himself, he muttered, despite the roaring ocean below Bulma caught his words as they whipped past her ears.
"It's that pride that has protected my sanity." The shield of indifference was briefly lifted from his eyes, and Bulma saw more than twenty years of pain and death haunting those black orbs. Then it was back again as the approached the shore. She shuddered to think of his life before earth and wondered if he would ever open his past to her, looking at the rapidly approaching C.C complex, she closed her eyes and rested her head against the cushion of his chest, it fit perfectly against her. Vegeta landed on Bulma's balcony and looked down at her, he was stunned to see how comfortable she looked in his hands; hands that had so much blood on them that her preferred not to dwell on it for to long, when you have a photographic memory its best not to think about the atrocities that you committed. Growling he dumped her harshly on her bed and stormed of in a flash to make up for some much needed training.
Bulma woke suddenly, only to see the princes retreating figure as it jumped of the balcony.
"Asshole" was all she could muster before collapsing in the bed she had missed so much in her stay in the jungle, though the dark haired Saiyan still resided in her mind, the moment his eyes where not guarded still floating around her head ash she drifted of to sleep.