(A/N): You will recognize several clips taken from DBZ woven into my story here. I know you will recognize them and I do not take credit for them in the least. I am trying to make my story as canon as possible, thus am framing the story so you know where we are in the overall story line. Enjoy!

OlOlOlOlOlO

Bulma nailed it. It took Yamcha about a month – three and a half weeks to be exact – to show his face at Capsule Corp after their fight about Vegeta.

Vegeta, in the gravity room as usual, noted Yamcha's presence and he stopped his training for just a few seconds to think about what this meant. He's back, he noted. I wonder how the woman is going to feel about this.

"I'm sorry, Bulma," said Yamcha. "I shouldn't have tried to control you like that. He does live here, after all."

"You got that right, Yamcha," said Bulma. "Sounds like you've been thinking about this for a little while."

"I have. I didn't want to lose you as a friend over him. He's not worth it," said Yamcha.

"I wish you could see Vegeta like I do. I know you only see him from that one day when he attacked the earth, but he has definitely changed. He's no threat now," she said. "The way he talks just makes him seem that way."

Yamcha let out a slight grunt of disapproval and disbelief.

"He has actually been nice at times…in his own way," said Bulma.

KA-BOOM!

"What on earth was that?" shouted Yamcha.

Yamcha and Bulma both instinctively ran towards the explosion. When they ran outside, they instantly knew what had happened. The gravity room didn't exist anymore. It was reduced to a pile of twisted metal and concrete – and somewhere in the debris was the Saiyan prince.

"Vegeta!" Bulma yelled as they neared the rubble.

She knelt down next to the wreck.

"I knew this would happen," said Yamcha. "He's been trying to do the impossible. I saw it when I was in there - "

"Where is he?" asked Bulma, showing definite signs of desperation. "Vegeta?" she said to herself and she started to piece through the smaller pieces of rock that apparently covered him up.

Just then, an arm shot out of the rubble. Bulma screamed and jumped back from the scare. She knocked into Yamcha and they both fell backwards. Vegeta emerged and stood.

"You…ok?" asked Bulma.

"Of course I am," said Vegeta.

Bulma exhaled, satisfied that the Saiyan was going to be alright. Then her demeanor went from concerned to pissed in one second flat.

"How dare you, you dweeb! You almost wrecked my house!" she shouted at Vegeta. "What are you trying to prove?"

Vegeta did his best to stay standing as he laughed – but he ended up right back down on the ground again due to his injuries.

"What? Oh no, you're hurt!" Bulma ran to him and propped him up.

"No, I don't need help," said Vegeta. "I've got training to do."

"You've got to stop training for a while," she insisted. "I mean, look at you, you're a complete wreck!"

"But I feel fine. I'm a Saiyan. I can take a little pain. It means nothing to me," he replied. "And I have to get stronger than Kakarrot!"

"Ok sure, we all know you're a tough guy, but you need to rest now," she said trying to comfort him.

"I take orders from no one!" Vegeta shouted. He tried to get up one last time before falling over sideways for good.

Yamcha could only look on.

Dr. and Mrs. Brief arrived within a few seconds of Vegeta passing out.

Upon seeing the injured Vegeta, Dr. Brief said, "He definitely needs some medical attention. We need to get him into the medical ward." He ran back to get a few others to help get him move the Saiyan prince.

Capsule Corp had a fully functional medical ward for a couple of reasons. First of all, the company developed the latest technology for the medical industry and they needed somewhere to test it out. Secondly, because they were so ahead of their time in their equipment development – and because much of the prototype building and testing took place on the Capsule Corp grounds – the Brief family decided it would be best to have facilities on-hand to treat any injured employees who might need medical attention. Now Vegeta was one of the injured who would be spending some time there over the next few days.

OlOlOlOlOlO

"Is she still there?" asked Mrs. Brief to her husband at breakfast the next morning.

"Yes, dear, I'm afraid so," Dr. Brief answered.

"I'm worried about her. The doctors said he could be out for days. She still needs to eat and sleep y'know," said Mrs. Brief.

"There's nothing you can do about it," said Dr. Brief. "She's an adult now and a very stubborn one at that."

Mrs. Brief sighed. "I've never seen her quite like this. I wonder if she has something going on with Vegeta."

"I doubt it," said Dr. Brief. "I was always under the impression they hated one another."

"Hate is a strong word," said Mrs. Brief.

"Ok, they dislike each other - a lot," said Dr. Brief.

"So what are you going to do today, dear?" asked Mrs. Brief.

"They are coming to clear away the gravity room debris this morning. I want to see if I can find any clues as to the cause of the explosion. And, I guess, I need to get started building a new one, too," said Dr. Brief.

"Are you sure, hon?" asked Mrs. Brief.

"You know Vegeta. As soon as he is better he'll want to start training again," said Dr. Brief. "If I don't start now, he'll only get more upset when he finds out we waited."

OlOlOlOlOlO

It was late afternoon when Dr. Brief went to the medical ward to visit his daughter. He walked into Vegeta's room and found Bulma still sitting by his side. She was sitting at a desk reading a book while Vegeta remained motionless with his eyes closed.

"Good evening, dear. Any change?" Dr. Brief asked his daughter.

"I'm afraid not, Dad," she replied.

"I'm sure he'll be just fine. He's one tough cookie," Dr. Brief said.

"Did you need something, Dad, or are you just checking up on us?" asked Bulma.

"As a matter of fact, I did come here to tell you something," said Dr. Brief. "The old gravity room is now at the junkyard. But while they were taking it away, I found this." He held up a small black box.

"That's the real-time history of the gravity room!" Bulma said as she perked up. "I thought for sure it would have been dust after that explosion."

"Nope, it survived just fine. It's probably that new alloy casing we developed two years ago," said Dr. Brief.

"Did you access what happened yet?" asked Bulma.

"Yes, but you aren't going to like it," he replied.

"I already have my theories," said Bulma. "It was his fault – again – wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," said Dr. Brief. "Tried to go to 450 times gravity on his own."

"As smart as he is, sometimes I think he has rocks for brains. He should have known better. I even told him that at this power requirement, any mistakes could lead to an explosion," said Bulma. "I wonder why he did it."

"My dear, I think we need a better overall system to handle Vegeta here," said Dr. Brief.

"I agree. Have you started working on the new design yet?" asked Bulma.

"You know me so well. I'm starting tomorrow," said Dr. Brief. "But I already have a plan."

"I'll be there," she replied.

OlOlOlOlOlO

Vegeta was running. Towards what, he didn't know. At first, it looked like lightning surrounded him. Then the lightning dissipated and clouds appeared. Then it was a strange vine-like monster surrounding him and casting a net around him. But he kept running as fast as he could.

Kakarrot appeared and smirked at the Saiyan prince. Vegeta kept running and finally caught up to the third class warrior. But as soon as he reached him, Kakarrot disappeared and everything went black.

Vegeta sensed someone behind him. When he turned around, he saw the lavender-haired teenager who had beaten Frieza staring at him. Vegeta lept towards the teen and tried to punch him, but he also then disappeared into the blackness.

Out of nowhere, both Kakarrot and the boy appeared in front him, almost on top of him. They both went Super Saiyan at the same time. Vegeta powered up to the highest level he could go, but was still greatly overshadowed by the power level of the two in front of him. To rub it in, both the super Saiyans powered up to their max in front of Vegeta. Vegeta went crazy and started yelling at them. He could not believe there was not one, but two, who were stronger than him – and here they were flaunting it in front of him.

Vegeta fell back from yet another power spike by the duo. He caught himself and launched himself towards them, but they backed away so fast that even he could not keep up with them. It was almost as if it was their power could never be his.

He couldn't believe that he, a Saiyan Prince, was not the strongest. He fell back in disgust. His thoughts turned to his father who once told him that someday he would be the strongest in the universe. He began to daydream about a childhood event back on Planet Vegeta that he barely remembered. He was standing by his father's side watching the weakest of the Saiyans be sent to far-off planets where they would not be threatened by their enemies. King Vegeta told his son how his bloodline was strong and that he had the potential to be among the super-elite of all Saiyans. He added that he should train hard and if he worked hard enough, some day he might become a Super Saiyan.

Vegeta took heed of what he was remembering and reassured himself that he would someday be the strongest. He would achieve Super Saiyan.

Suddenly, Vegeta woke up from his dream. Everything had been so vivid – it took him a few seconds to realize that it wasn't real. His oxygen mask fell onto his chest as he lunged forward. He couldn't believe all that had just gone through his mind.

Soon, everything started to sink in and his head fell back onto the pillow. He continued to ponder the message from his dream.

Suddenly, a realization came to him. He sensed a presence near him. It was the woman sitting at a desk next to his bed. She had fallen asleep while reading a book. "What is she doing here?" he said aloud to himself. He thought a few seconds more. She….must really care.

OlOlOlOlOlO

Vegeta didn't last very long in the medical ward at Capsule Corp. Bulma insisted that he stay until the doctors told him he was free to leave. However, that next morning when Bulma finally left to go help her father with the gravity room design alterations, Vegeta simply got up and walked out.

Bulma met her father in his private lab and they worked most of the day on the new design. They were both very happy to discover that what they wanted to do was actually compatible with a new rocket ship that they already had in the works. It was more than halfway built and upgrading so that it met their new safety specifications (so no more violent explosions happened) wouldn't cause any delay in its manufacture. At the rate things were going, it would be ready in two months time. Not only would it not explode, but Bulma made sure that it could withstand the power required to pull 1000G for the Saiyan prince. In the meantime, Vegeta could use one of the older models – but he would be restricted to 400G once again.

He's going to be so happy to get this new gravity room we're building, she thought. Well, as happy as Vegeta can get. She smiled at that last thought.

She went back to the medical ward just before heading home for dinner. She discovered his bed and his room were empty.

Idiot!