Disclaimers: Don't own, don't ask, don't sue.

A/N: Well, it seems to me that if I get up early enough, and work until lunch, I can get out one chapter...but I shall hopefully get out another tonight when my cousins go to bed. But the countdown is now at three days before I leave. My friend has the net, so I should still be able to put out a few more chapters before I vanish for some time, may be two weeks, may be two months, but that doesn't mean I won't be working on this while starting my new life. Don't worry your pretty little heads, for when I get back in the game, I'll have more than enough chapters to make up for lost time.

Black Sunrise

She looked up from her spot on the floor as she was doing her regular morning workout, now onto crunches and happened to chance a look to see who was watching her, and for what reason. Vegeta was smirking, holding a black mug in his hand, sipping occasionally. She rolled her azure eyes and continued with her routine pretending that he wasn't there.

He was impressed and thought that after the first hour, she'd have given up. Adjusting to the new life of an instant family seemed to work well for Vegeta as he took care of Rayne and made sure she was happy before he looked after himself. Bulma knew this and felt that it was time she started to slip back into her old habits of waking up earlier to get in three hours of hard a hard workout every other day.

When she wasn't working out in the mornings, she was on the phone with her mother as she typed away furiously on the newly purchased laptop she had bought one morning after sneaking out of the house in the early hours to go and look at the ruins of her house, and then decided that she wanted to go shopping. Needless to say a couple hundred thousand dollars later, Rayne had her own room set up with everything the little girl would need, and then some.

On top of the new clothing for both herself and her daughter, she had picked out a few little items to place around the bedroom that the two almost-adults shared. No longer was Rayne sleeping in between Bulma and Vegeta, but sleeping in the room next to them, baby monitor always on the nightstand closest to Bulma in case the little girl happened to wake up in the middle of the night fussing over something or another. But those were rare nights.

On top of her morning workouts, and work sessions over the phone with her mother, she was often jogging with Rayne, pushing the athletic stroller in front of her while she kept up a steady pace; but never once had she asked Vegeta to go with her. Not that he minded, for she was still the same old Bulma and it felt like those few special hours on Halloween were just distant memories now.

At least he had something to reminisce, something wonderful. She really was beautiful, but her temper sometimes eluded him and would often lock herself away in his bedroom, refusing him access until she had fully calmed down, or he apologized.

"Woman. You almost done?"

"Fuck you Vegeta." She purred sweetly, hands resting lightly behind her ears as she continued to do her crunches.

"Give me a time, and a place and I'll make sure you're there and well satisfied." He chuckled, taking a sip of his black coffee.

"I'm sure you wouldn't even know how to satisfy a goat Veg-Head."

"You're nothing but an ugly fat sow."

"Sticks and stones Vegeta, sticks and stones."

He said nothing as he watched her legs keep the exercise ball steady as she rested her long limbs on the black rubber, making her have to work just that much harder to complete her crunches. After a few more minutes she pulled her legs to her chest and kicked the ball away from her gently, making sure not to knock anything over. Lying flat on the floor, she pressed her palms beside the back of her head, about a shoulder-width apart from each other and braced her feet on the floor and lifted herself up, back bending inwards and up as she posed elegantly in a bridge.

Vegeta cringed as he heard her back snapping, afraid that one day she'd push herself too hard and wind up landing on her head, but he knew she was more careful than that and let a small smile grace his lips as he watched her kick her legs towards her head while pushing up with her arms resulting in a perfect back-flip that landed her on her feet. Walking to Vegeta in her usual outfit of baggy gray sweats, a pale pink sports-bra and black gloves on her hands, she snatched away the mug of coffee in his hand and took a long swallow.

"Is Rayne up yet?"

"How the hell should I know woman?"

"You left her alone, without taking the baby monitor with you? Are you a fucking idiot?" Her blue eyes flared causing them to darken in her suppressed anger. Her fingers tightened around the black ceramic in her hand, knuckles turning white as she narrowed her eyes.

Vegeta chuckled and reached behind him, pulling out the baby monitor from his back pocket with a grin. "I'm not that neglectful." He whispered, wiggling the object in front of her face.

"Oh, what? Are you saying that I'm neglectful?"

"No, I just wanted to let you know that I'm quite capable of looking after the little sprite while you go about doing your things in the morning. If you want more time then go ahead. I don't mind."

"FUCK YOU!" She screamed, Isis jerking her head up as she heard her mistress' voice lift an octave higher, whining. Her chest was rising and falling rapidly as she stared long and hard at Vegeta. If she wasn't holding the coffee mug in her hands, she would have given him a black eye to sport around... But face it Bulma, you're attracted to him and wouldn't want to mess up that beautifully sculpted face of his...he's a living, breathing Greek Statue... She growled out loud, mostly at herself as she handed him back the coffee mug, jerking the baby monitor out of his hand as she roughly shoved his shoulder as if pushing him out of her way, though both knew she had enough room to walk around him.

She stomped out of the room, bare feet slapping at the ground as she made her exit. He knew where she was going; she was like an open book...in some aspects of her life. When she was enraged by something he had either said or done, she went to the gym and started to beat the stuffing out of the punching bag, not stopping until he either pried her away from the bag, or she got out all of her anger.

Sometimes she would be down there for over an hour, the telltale rattling of the chain that suspended the bag from the ceiling clanging together in a consistent melody, often mingled with snarling curses as she beat up the inanimate object. A small cry came from his back pocket and he let out a little sigh as he bounced up the stairs to Rayne's room and pulled her from the crib, setting out to get her changed, dressed and ready to go. Today he was going to take her to the zoo because Bulma had an important phone meeting with her mother and father.

"Well, looks like it's just you and me Squirt." He grinned, tickling Rayne under the chin as he straightened her yellow shirt, tucking it into the blue shorts she was wearing. He was a little uneasy around Rayne for the first few minutes, but instantly found himself smitten with the little girl. When she opened her eyes from her sleep and looked up to see him, he could almost melt as he saw the recognition within her two-colored eyes as she gazed up from her crib, chubby arms held up. Luna looked up from her spot under the crib to see Vegeta's legs and began to affectionately chew on the dark jeans.

He carried her down the stairs, bouncing and jumping, grinning like mad as she giggled, Luna bounding down after them. Vegeta brought her to her mother and noted that no longer was she expressing her anger, but was wiping her face off with a clean white towel; pulled back hair damp with sweat and water. Her eyes brightened at the sight of her daughter only to darken as they settled on Vegeta. She wasn't going to forgive him easily for not only pissing her off, but also making her feel like a horrible mother.

"Is mommy's girl going to be going to the zoo with the mean and grumpy Vegeta today while mommy has to sit at home and pretend to care about what grandpa has to say about the company? You're such a lucky little girl!" Bulma cooed, straightening the hat on her daughters' head. Tucking a stray clump of hair behind her ear, she nodded to Vegeta.

"The stroller and diaper bag are at the front door, Mitch knows you're leaving now so he's all ready made some toast for Rayne and packed a bag full of Cheerios. Her bottle is filled with watered down apple juice and she is to have that after she eats something."

"Goodness woman, you would think that I've never looked after your daughter before. I know to keep the top of the stroller up because the sun will burn her, and I know to make sure that she's always got water in her bottle, not to let her out of my sight, not to let Luna out of her sight...what else...I know not to let her sit in a wet diaper for too long..." He was about to continue when Bulma narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "I'm quite able to look after the little girl. Don't worry about her. Have a good day and we'll be home before 5."

Bulma kissed her daughter and nodded to Vegeta, who turned and walked to the front door to find his car all ready waiting for him with the doors open. He buckled Rayne into her car seat and handed her a piece of toast which she gnawed on happily as they headed off towards the zoo.

She headed up the stairs and into the bathroom that was connected to the shared bedroom and took a long shower, letting the hot-water beat upon her shoulders, melting away the tension in her muscles. Her abs were sore, and her knuckles hurt but neither of those uncomfortable pains could match her bruised pride. Once she got out of the shower, she dressed in a pair of black sweats and raided Vegeta's closet, pulling out a white muscle-shirt which she wore over a black bra and padded down the hallway, and the stairs to the living room, cell phone in hand as she dialed her parents and began the long process of listening to the even longer explanation of what was happening this month, and how neither of them would be able to talk for too long, or too often.

Three hours later, she hung up her phone and put it on the charger. A knock came from the door and Isis started barking right away. Making sure to keep the chain-lock firmly in place, she looked through the peep-hole and let out a pent up breath. It was Star, hopping from one foot to the other. Bulma opened the door and held it out for her friend. "Well, it's about time. I heard Isis before I heard you. What were you doing? You look frazzled. Where's Vegeta? Does he know that you're wearing his shirt? Does it smell like him? Do you like living with him?"

She held up her hands, waving them in front of her body as she laughed at her hyperactive friend. "Talking on the phone with my parents, yes I'm frazzled. He's at the zoo with Rayne. No he doesn't know I'm wearing his shirt. Yes it smells like him, and yes I like living with him."

"Well that's good. Want to go out and do something? Go for some lunch, or to the mall, or go see a movie?"

"Sounds good. Hope you don't mind but I'm just going to bum it today..."

"I don't care. You're allowed to dress the way you want too."

"I know, and that's what's so cool about it. I don't have to care at the moment."

"How was your work out?"

Bulma shrugged as she pulled on her white skate-shoes. "Fine."

"He pissed you off huh?"

"Yes."

"Get over it. You always do."

"But he does it so often, and so thoroughly..."

"You've also only been living with him for two weeks, and he's gotten right used to everything that you do and doesn't mind when you do something your own way...so I think he's a pretty cool guy."

"He's cool all right, but sometimes he just gets on my nerves, know what I mean? He's just awesome with Rayne, and he's nice... sometimes, but that just doesn't make up for his attitude. Why can't he just be like he was on Halloween?"

"Because he's not sure of himself...you know? He doesn't know how to do that all the time and I think it would almost kill him to know that in order for you two to get along well, he'd have to be nice. But it's not all his fault you know. You've got your moments, and your points that piss him off."

"Oh?" Bulma asked, transferring the objects from her black purse into her white one. Shouldering the bag, she checked to make sure that Isis had her leash, make sure she had Vegeta's keys and then closed the door, locking it. "Well? Where too?"

"How about we go to the mall and just, hang out there? It's my mom's birthday next week so I want to pick her up something..."

"Sounds good." They got into Star's truck and took off, leaving for a few hours. When she returned, she tossed the keys into the glass bowl that was on the table beside the front door and looked around. She saw Vegeta's shoes, but couldn't hear him, or Star.

Checking her watch, she noticed that it was after 5:30, and she wasn't expecting to be home so late. Kicking off her shoes Bulma made her way into the kitchen to grab a glass of water and then walked upstairs to see if they were there.

Their bedroom door was open just a bit and she peek in through the crack and smiled tenderly. Walking to what she used as an office a few doors down, she grabbed her camera and crept back, pushing the door open slightly. Walking quietly, she took a few steps into the room and put the camera up to her eye. After walking around the bed a few times, she finally settled on an angle, camera facing Vegeta and Rayne, catching the setting sun and red curtains in the background.

Vegeta was lying on his side, back to the window with his left arm curled under the pillow, right arm draping across his hip with his hand on Rayne's stomach while the index finger was clasped in the little girl's chubby fist. The red satin sheet was pulled up over his legs, stopping just under his exposed bellybutton. His black muscle-shirt had bunched up slightly leaving some of his tantalizing stomach bare. Thick black lashes fanned over the tops of his cheeks, she could see his perfectly white teeth between the ever so slightly parted lips of his relaxed mouth.

She took a few steps back and focused the camera and took a picture. Sneaking out of the room she quietly closed the door and bounded down the stairs ready to waste the rest of the film. Isis was sleeping on the dark gray run in the living room and oddly enough, so was Luna. The two were curled together, heads resting on the back of the other, and Bulma took a few picture of them.

Vegeta must have been sitting in the living room before taking Rayne upstairs for a nap letting Luna sleep on the rug for a while and when he went up, he must have forgotten to wake her.

But that was only 4 pictures taken that had been taken. She put her shoes back on and walked outside to the flowers in the front, taking pictures of a few of them, getting close-ups at her favorites. A lady bug was sitting on the petal of a startling white lily, and she snapped off a few more pictures of the bug.

Satisfied that she had taken enough, she walked into the house, grabbed her keys and purse before she went and got into the black mustang, taking off into the city to get those pictures developed.

It was only when she got to the photo shop that she had noticed Isis wasn't there with her. Shrugging it off, she darted into the shop and handed over her film. "I want those developed right now. It's important that I get back home before my daughter wakes up."

"Yes Miss." The man behind the counter took the film and put it into the machine and in a few minutes, Bulma was walking back out with an envelope in her hands. She parked the car in the garage and was about to open the door when something caught her attention. There was a small twig on the doorstep and she knew for sure that it wasn't there before she left.

Throwing the door open she darted inside and locked it. Isis jumped up, shaking herself off at being woken up and then trotted happily to Bulma who leashed her, and then nudged Luna awake, leashing her as well. She walked up the stairs, pictures under one arm, tethering Luna to the doorknob of the room where her daughter and Vegeta were sleeping and then went into her 'office' and locked the door; unleashing Isis. She pulled the pictures out and smiled, happy with the shots and turned to her easel, clipping the picture of the sleeping pair to the corner.

Christmas wasn't too far off, and if she wanted to get the painting done before the holiday, she needed to work long and hard on it. Pulling the borrowed shirt up and over her head, she tied her hair back into a knot and then put a bandana on. Walking over to the set-up workstation where all of the new paints were held, she picked up a few paintbrushes, clasping them lengthwise in her mouth as she began to squirt out paint onto the art-tray. Setting the black paint down, she licked on her stereo and closed her eyes, head tilting to the side as she prepared herself for the task of painting, something she hadn't done since Matt died.

She sat down on the wooden stool, feet perching comfortable on the bars, she took a deep breath and made the first downward stroke. She had no idea how long she had been painting for, but knew that it must have been a while, as she had to turn on a lamp, and leave the room to get a drink. But every time she left when she returned, she locked the door.

A light knock came from the wood and she turned around, Isis jumping up, stump wagging rapidly. "Hello?" She called out.

"Woman, what are you doing locked in there, and why am I locked out of a room in my own house?"

"I'm working Vegeta, what do you want?"

"Open this damned door."

"Give me a minute..." She got up and turned the easel towards the wall and tucked the paintbrush in her hand behind her ear. Dusting her hands off, she walked to the door and unlocked up.

Vegeta was furious that Bulma had let him sleep for that long, and now he was going to be up until who knows how long, and when he went downstairs to find that she wasn't there, and then she wasn't outside, he called for Isis, and knew that if the pup didn't respond then she wasn't outside. The only other place Vegeta could think of checking was the study Bulma had taken over.

He had gone to turn the knob to open the door, but found it locked; but when it opened, his eyes widened. Bulma stood in front of him, right hand holding the side of the door as she removed her hand, leaning casually against the doorframe. Her right cheek was smeared with black paint, while her arms and stomach sported red and yellow freckles. There was some purplish-gray paint on the top of her left hand and she had even managed to get pink and orange paint in her hair. "You're a mess." But a beautiful one...

"Probably!" She grinned. The black bandana that she wrapped around her brow had fallen down around her neck and she had just noticed. Trying to untie it, she found that the knot was too tight for her to do and she tried to slip it over her face and off her head, but that didn't work either. She struggled for a few more moments before Vegeta bat her hands away and tilted her head up so he could see the knot.

"What were you doing?"

"Painting."

"Obviously, but why did you have the door locked?"

"I didn't want to be disturbed. I knew that you were sleeping, and Rayne was down for the night, but I still usually paint with the door locked..."

His fingers found the knot and slowly started to pull it apart. Once it was loose, he let his fingers trail up the sides of her neck, caressing her soft cheeks, and then gently tucked back a few loose strands of hair behind her ears. "Am I bothering you?"

"Yes." She sighed, pushing him away. She swayed on her feet, having to clutch the door for support before she shook her head.

"You all right?"

"Yeah. Just, dizzy."

"When was the last time you ate?"

She shrugged her shoulders and was about to close the door when Vegeta stuck his foot in the way. "You're going to come downstairs, and you're going to eat something."

"I'll eat in a little bit. I'm just... Vegeta, you have to understand that I haven't painted since...since Matt died...probably even before that..."

"I know. My mother has your last painting. When she saw it, she demanded that she have it. Paid a good chunk of money for some stupid paint on some canvas." He regretted the words that had just come out of his mouth when he saw tears spring up in her eyes.

"Leave." She whispered, head dropping to her chest. He saw the first few precious drops of liquid diamond roll off her cheeks, dropping to the floor, and he could almost hear the ting as the droplets met with the hardwood floor.

"Bulma, shit...I'm sorry..."

"Leave..." she whispered again, hands balling up into fists as her perfectly manicured nails dug into the flesh of her palms. He nodded once and turned away, walking down the hall. She closed the door with a kick of her foot and stomped back to her stool. Pulling off the drying canvas, she placed it lightly against the wall under the window and put a blank one onto the easel. Another few hours passed when she heard Vegeta knock softly on the door again, but she only turned up her music, making him knock louder, which resulted in her music becoming louder. She listened tentatively as he walked away, socked feet making almost no noise as he left the closed door. Crossing her arms, she tossed her paintbrushes down and sighed. Now she wasn't in the mood to paint.

Creeping out of the study, she walked downstairs and into the gym and stopped dead in her tracks. Vegeta was doing what she had just come down to do, fists flying against the black bag, eyes narrowed as his lips were set in a grim line.

She wasn't going to stay in the same room as him, so she walked back upstairs, picked up her baby monitor, made sure that Rayne was enclosed in a wall of pillows so she couldn't roll out of bed, and grabbed her book. After making sure that Luna was still in the room with Rayne, Bulma walked into one of the guest rooms at the end of long hallway and closed the door. She was hurt, not only was her pride still hurt from the run-in with Vegeta this morning, but also now her heart hurt.

Baby Blue used to be one of the greatest painters of the new age, capturing images perfectly while adding her own style. People bought the originals, others gobbled up the prints like they were candy, and to know that one of her friends thought that all she did was put paint onto a canvas...she fell face first onto the bed and started to sob quietly.

Isis sensed her distress and jumped up on the bed, chin resting on the shaking shoulder of her mistress. She let out a gentle whine, nose nuzzling into the pulled up blue locks, wishing she could ease the distress of her companion.

Vegeta stopped punching the bag when his knuckles started to ooze blood and shook his hands out at his sides, crimson drops flying over the floor and his pants, but he didn't care. He had hurt Bulma, and he felt like such a jerk. Of course he thought that her paintings were more than just a picture, it showed the people the gentler side to her soul as her soft brushstrokes and loving care to mix the paint colors expertly reflected her personality and fragile state.

He wounded her in a way that would probably take more than I'm sorry to fix. He needed to show her, needed to let her know that her art was something he needed, something his mind craved. Her art was the window to her spirit, and he was afraid that he had just slammed the window down on her fingers, damaging something that was unfixable. He punched the bag once more and turned, slamming an open palm against the wall the loud smack drumming in his ears as his mind frantically tried to figure out how he was going to apologize.

On top of everything else going on in her life, all the stress that she was under, she didn't need this from him. She needed his support, his strength, and hopefully, his friendship. He wiped off his knuckles and walked to the first-aid kit as Mitch materialized beside him. "Master Vegeta, what is bothering you tonight?"

"Nothing Mitch..."

"But you've only caused yourself to bleed when you've had a run-in with your sister..."

"It doesn't matter."

Mitch cleaned up the young man's knuckles, and wrapped gauze over his hands. The older man looked to the distraught person with sad brown eyes. "Miss Bulma isn't in her room and she isn't in the study...I do fear for her...it is your duty not only as a friend, but as a person she looks up too, to help her."

"Hn." Vegeta muttered, walking out of the gym and up the stairs. He needed a shower before he climbed into bed, but then soon came to a quick conclusion that he'd just go to bed, as the water would sting his knuckles. Walking into his room, he looked to the bed and only saw the small outline of Rayne sleeping in the nest of pillows he had set up to ensure that she would stay in one spot. Luna lifted her head from her paws, head tilting to the right as she stood up and walked to Vegeta. A soft pink tongue darted out and licked at his fingers, but he pushed her away and walked to his closet to change. After getting out of his sweat-soaked clothing, he donned a pair of loose blue plaid pants, tightening the draw-string before pulling one side of the wall built from pillows down, and curled his hand over Rayne's small form.

Sleep found him and his dreams were plagued with the bluest eyes filled with the deepest sorrow, and the only time he had seen eyes like that, Bulma's eyes like that, was in one of the pictures on her file. He had sworn to himself he would never hurt someone like that, and he and failed.