Chapter 3. Enjoy!

BTW: Thank you to Smalsa and Cara2012 for reviewing! I really appreciate it!

Twenty-four hours later Bulma's wounds had stopped bleeding… Well at least the ones she had dared to check. She hadn't removed the fabric from her leg because she was afraid it would still be bleeding and didn't want to see anymore blood. Bulma was set for life on the sight of blood.

Bulma was still incredibly thirsty and that sink water started to look more and more appealing by the minute. It was close to the afternoon now and Bulma was thirsty and woozy feeling. Bulma set her hands in her palms and fingered at her blue hair.

Just as Bulma considered going back to sleep she heard footsteps. Loud ones; as though someone was stomping. Bulma backed up to the wall of her prison cell and prepared for the worst. The footsteps were coming closer, Bulma shut her eyes tight.

The footsteps stopped and after a few minutes Bulma opened her eyes and nearly jumped out of her skin at the sight of a man in front of her. Bulma looked at this man. He had tan skin, dark eyes and tall black hair. Like a raven's wing. This man looked human but Bulma doubted it. He had a sort of look about him that hinted he had a hidden source of power. This man wore a grimace of anger and worst of all, he reminded her of Goku… Thinking of Goku was painful.

"Well? Are you coming Earth-woman?" The man demanded. Bulma felt anger throb within her but walked forward anyway. This man had no right to call her 'Earth-woman', he could call her by her real name, she thought angrily.

The man held out a small tray of food with-Water! Bulma grabbed the tray greedily and turned to place it on her small blanket 'bed'. Before the man left Bulma ran toward the bars and placed her pale face through them.

"What is it now?" The man demanded scowling. Bulma blushed.

"What's your name?" Bulma asked her voice barely above a whisper. It was a silly question but right now she didn't care. This man was the first to be nice to her on this ship; besides the fact he called her 'Earth-woman'.

"Vegeta," The man grunted. Vegeta? That was his name? Bulma was surprised he answered at all. The man turned and started to walk away.

"Thank you, Vegeta…" Bulma's voice was still fairly quiet but she knew Vegeta heard her because he paused. Just as soon as Vegeta's loud footsteps stopped, they started again. Bulma still sat there with her head between the bars, listening to his footsteps until they died completely. And then Bulma was alone again.

Bulma inspected her food. It was nothing she recognized or knew of on earth so she was cautious about eating them. However, she took the water and rationed it. It was a small glass so Bulma only swallowed a few gulps.

Bulma picked up what looked like an earth's pomegranate except it was purple. She had been taught to look for stars of fruit to know if they were eatable or not. You know how you cut an apple in half and there's a star in the center with seeds in it? Or a blueberry, how on the top is a star shape where it used to connect to the stem?

Bulma looked over the purple pomegranate and found it had a star shape on the top. Just like regular pomegranates. Bulma dug her fingernails into the skin of this strange fruit and found out just below that hard skin was a layer that felt like purple pudding.

Bulma gasped in disgust but then licked her fingers. The purple pomegranate was okay, it was gross without a doubt but at least she recognized the flavor. It tasted like salmon. The good kind, all baked and crispy. But the fact it was in a disgusting liquid form almost made her gag.

Bulma sucked the juice out of pomegranate and gasped in pain as something touched her lips and burned them; like acid. Bulma looked inside the empty pomegranate shell and found seeds; giant ones about the size of strawberries.

She put her hand inside to grab the seeds and as soon as her skin made contact with them they burned her. Bulma observed her sizzled fingers and remembered just how delicate she was at the moment. Without that hair tie I'm nothing, Bulma thought grimly. Those must hurt like hell if those still sting through the power of my hair tie/shield.

Bulma decided she would save them and carried the empty pomegranate shell over to the corner of her cell where they would be overlooked. Never know when one of those could come in handy, Bulma thought.

She finished the rest of her meal which consisted of some sort of gray jelly that tasted like salt and a piece of really hard bread that scratched her throat as she swallowed it. Bulma's stomach still felt empty even though she had eaten all those things.

Bulma felt sick to her stomach and it wasn't just the fact that the bench had crushed her a few days ago. It was the fact Bulma was dehydrated. She felt sick and was tired. Bulma knew she would retch up everything she put in her stomach if she didn't get more water into her system.

Bulma decided against her idea of conserving the water and swallowed the remainder of it slowly. She swallowed it slowly only to make sure it would properly digest. She sat and waited rubbing her stomach; waiting for the water to kick in.

When it did she was relieved she felt better but angry at herself for drinking all of her water. What Bulma wanted more than anything now was rest. She hadn't gotten a wink of sleep ever since she was on the ship because quite frankly she was afraid something would happen to her as soon as she did.

Bulma sat on her blanket 'bed' and curled up in a ball. The cement floor was cold and the blanket did little to keep out the cold. She felt like a dog. Bulma wondered briefly how she had ever been reduced to feeling like a dog.

Bulma lay with her eyes closed tight, shivering waiting for sleep to come. Sleep finally did come and Bulma was grateful for that. For once she felt relaxed.

Bulma had a dream that night.

He knew this was a dream but still couldn't avoid being sucked into it. Bulma sat on a picnic blanket with her parents. It summertime again and boy, was it hot! They all ate sandwiches and enjoyed lemonade. Bulma received a hug from her father before sitting between him and Yamcha. Yamcha leaned over and gave her a brief kiss on the cheek. Bulma's mother leaned over and offered her another sandwich. Bulma accepted. What could it hurt? It was just a dream. Bulma sipped her lemonade and watched Goku wrestle with little Gohan while Chichi scolded them. Times were good! Krillin walked over along with Oolong, the shape-shifting joined the lovely picnic. Bulma laughed as Krillin tripped on his way to get a sandwich. Krillin blushed as usual; he was a sucker for any pretty girl. Bulma remembered Krillin used to like her. Yamcha got up and in a result spilled Bulma's lemonade all over her. He muttered apologies and offered to get stuff to clean her clothes and then the image changed. Yamcha warped into Vegeta. The man who had given Bulma her food. Bulma's eyes widened and she reached forward as if to save Yamcha's image but it was too late. Bulma's hand traveled uselessly through his body as though he were a ghost. Yamcha was gone and now all that remained was Vegeta. Bulma looked around. Everyone and everything was gone. It was just an endless black space. She turned back to Vegeta in horror. Why was she having a dream about him? How dare he intrude her pleasant dreams! Vegeta grabbed Bulma's hand and held it in his own. He looked into her eyes and for a split second Bulma swore she knew him. Like they had grown up together or something… He smiled.

Bulma woke up with tears in her eyes. Dreams lied; they showed her, her family and friends all together. That would never happen. Bulma would never see any of them again. It made her mad enough that she kicked the prison bars.

But Vegeta… Why was he in her dreams? Suddenly Bulma began to feel very sick to her stomach and ran to the toilet so she could puke her guts up. None of that food stayed down and she never absorbed that precious water.

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