a/n: Sorry it took me so long to update this! And I also apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes, I don't have a beta reader for this fic yet.

Dragonballgeek101- Thank you for the review!! I really do hope you enjoy this next chapter!

Shades of Crimson- :blushes: I'm so glad you like this story! I always loved your HS fics so its an honor to have you read mine. Oh! Sorry about the confusion, Vegeta wasn't in the car with her in the earlier chapters. He was waiting for her in front of her house.

Scattered Images
Part III

"It's not your fault." I said in my most reassuring voice to the Bulma's slumped form. It's not often I comfort someone; it's out of character for me. But then again, it's not often Bulma looks this depressed. She has always been so vibrant and energetic.

It's was actually starting to scare me that she hadn't say a word for almost an hour now. Barely even moved from the spot she is sitting in right now, on the sofa of Roshi's living room.

Chichi was always better at this then I was. Comforting people I mean.

"Besides, it's defiantly not the first time they laid on top of each other." I half smirked at her, placing an arm around her delicate shoulders.

"Thanks Juu." She graced me with a grin at that statement a little less tense than before.

"Don't make me sound so gay." Goku's masculine voice came into the room as he appeared at the doorway of the living room, his face was bruised: colors of blue, purple and yellow appearing on his right cheek and temple. Chichi came up from behind him carrying the medical kit back into the closet where it came from originally before walking over to Bulma, laying a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

"Well you are gay." Raddize stated in a confirming tone, coming into the room with Vegeta next to him, "I bet Chichi's grandma could have tackled better than you did back there. All that training and manage to only break one Vegeta's shoulder?"

Feeling Bulma's shoulders finally relaxing I glanced at her to see her studying Vegeta who's left shoulder was wrapped in white bandages, other than that there were no other scratches on him.

Then it happened.

For only a second I caught it: the expression on Vegeta's face when his eyes met hers. Something so soft, warm, and filled with reassurance for her.

It was masked over so fast that for a moment I would have thought that I had imagined it if it weren't for the fact that I had caught him looking at her out of the corner of his eyes when she didn't notice before; actually I had caught him doing that a lot of times before.



It shouldn't be a surprise to me, but still I felt the shock of surprise run through my body. It wasn't a surprise that Vegeta would fall for Bulma.

She is…, how do I put it?

Breathe taking? Perfect? No words could describe her since she's so unique. Her personality was what drew me to her in the first place. I'm not being modest or anything when I say this but I've never had many friends growing up, especially girl friends. For some reason it was always hard to get along with other girls. In fact, Chichi had been the only girl friend I had until Bulma came along. It had always been this bunch right here that I can call friends.

She had caught me off guard when Vegeta, Goku and her had come to pick them up from the airport.

She had worn a short denim shorts that revealed her long, sender leg. Creamy, smooth white skin with a small hint of being sun kissed. A casual white fitted t-shirt, her hair wavy a brilliant blue with natural streaks of lighter blue reached down her back. It was the kind of hair that Marron had spent years trying to dye and comb to. Her stunning eyes had caught mine and I was shocked to see how blue they were.

What was surprising, shocking really, was the tiny flashes of emotions I keep seeing on Vegeta when he watched her. It was one of those things I had put on my list of things I would never count on seeing during my life span. You know the list; things such as watching the whole world freezing over, Earth being taken over by aliens, Chichi hating to cook, etc.

I mean we are talking about Vegeta here. Vegeta who is always so unpredictable, unreadable, short-tempered, and so guarded. Vegeta who never had a steady relationship and never took any of the girls he dated seriously. I would be surprised if he even remembered any of their names. There were times when I did wonder if there was some sick family secrete that made him that way but when Bulma came in the picture, maybe it was all predestined that she would be the only one that can touch his soul.

Who knows.

My phone jotted me out of my thoughts and I noticed that Bulma had followed Vegeta into the kitchen while everyone else was engaged in a conversation Raddize had started earlier. Pulling the phone from my short denim jeans I flipped it open seeing that it was a text from Krillian, and despite myself a smile tugged at my lips.

How unusual for me to do that.

I glanced behind me to see her sit on the stool behind the kitchen counter as I dug into her refrigerator for something to drink. There was a moment of silence as she continued to stare at my back that was turned towards her.

Then, something I knew she was going to say broke the silence.



"I'm sorry." Her voice was soft almost a mere whisper, filled with guilt and shame her cheeks turned red as tears streaked down her smooth skin in a quick rate.

Shock was not something that strikes my body often. I rarely get thrown off by someone's reaction but as I stood in front of her open refrigerator, cool air pouring out, watching her cry over something so insignificant my heart seemed to crush against my own chest as each tear rolled down her face. The urge to wrap my arms around her was so great that my body was already starting to do it without a thought.

Her delicate body shaking as she slowly calmed herself, the unique sent mixed with lavender, the weight of her head against my bare shoulder, the silkiness of her blue hair against my chest, the perfection of how well she fits in my arms. I was suddenly reminded of how much I wanted to protect this, to protect her.

My body had done it without a second thought an hour back. Seeing Kakkarote running with a speed that was impossible to stop in such a short distance between them, a speed that would have crushed her if I had not been quick enough to pull her in my arms and switch places with her.

When they had landed on top of her I had heard the sickening crack of bones and at that moment fear gripped me like nothing I had ever felt before in my life. The fear of looking down to find a limp lifeless form of someone I had desperately wanted to protect from the moment I laid eyes on her.

Nothing could have compared to it: the fear of losing her, of never seeing her smile again, never hearing the clear sound of her laughter, never feel my body freeze when her deep blue eyes focus so intensely on me, of waking up every morning with eagerness for a whole new day spent with her. That fear was a completely new kind, a kind that ate at me. It unrivaled anything I've ever felt before; not even the time when my father had held me over a cliff of a mountain threatening to drop me if I didn't get the stupid science question right.

Relief had flooded through me seeing that she was blinking right back at up at me, her warm breath tickling my skin and her body breathing heavily stranding for air underneath the weight of both me and Kakkarote. I realized that despite my best effort to carry both my own weight and Kakkarote's there was a strain on my left shoulder making the left side of my body crush against her.

Then the rest was history as blind rage took over me, as I'm sure there were 50 other witnesses on the beach, watching me push a dazed Kakkarote off my back and throwing punches at his face for his stupidity.

Didn't he know how dangerous it would have been if he really did knock into Bulma? Didn't he know that a hit like that could have snapped her neck off?

She twisted a little in my arms and I realized that I must have tightened my arms around her during my train of thoughts. She placed a cool hand on my chest giving me the same look she gave me as she, Raddize, Krillian, and Juu pulled me away from a bloody Kakkarote.

I knew what that expression meant: "I shouldn't blame 'Goku' for what happened, it was just an accident."

I sighed slowly letting my arms drop to my side before going back to the refrigerator and she gave me a sheepish grin. Silently I mused at how much she can understood about me in such a short period of time.

She adores her brother. That was obviously clear, as obvious as the fact that the sky was blue.

Raddize and I were actually the first person to meet Bulma and her brother, Trunks. That was only because Roshi knew my grandfather Gohan.

Grandpa Gohan was the one that raised me and my brother since our parents died when we were both just babies. He had came home one night, slightly different than usual; deep in thought about something.

The next day he had taken both me and Raddize out to eat lunch at Roshi's place, it wasn't unusual to have lunch at Roshi's place. In fact it happens a lot, either we would go over or Roshi would be over at our place.

It was when I was walking to the beach at the back of the house that I saw him, Trunks I mean. Don't get me wrong I'm defiantly straight but you have to understand that for a guy to admit that another guy is hot, than it must really mean that he is something to look at. Clean crisp white shirt and a pair of ripped jeans, he could easily see the toned muscles beneath it. Clear masculine features, sharp strong jaws, perfectly shaped nose, dark blue hair, almost black reached to the nape of his neck was ruffled by the beach wind which I'm sure most guys spend hours in the bathroom trying to get that effect. A guy that could easily have any girl he wanted without effort.

It wasn't this guy's pretty face that stopped me dead on the back porch of Roshi's place but the girl that came up behind him. I had seen a lot of beautiful girls in my short life time, hell, I was best friends with two amazingly beautiful girls since childhood but there was something about her that set her apart.

Bulma, I had later learned her name was Roshi's granddaughter, from her mother's side.

Breath takingly gorgeous.

The expression of laugher that seemed to light up the whole beach was on her features. Instantly, I was willing to do anything to keep that expression on her. Pale, smooth skinned her long slender legs were bare since she wore a short denim, her bare feet dug into the sand. He would have thought that she was an ocean nymph if she wasn't wearing an over sized t-shirt, which most probably it belonged to the guy next to her. Blue wavy hair that was shining lusciously under the afternoon sun, reached to her lower back and was being gently caressed by the wind. When her shockingly deep blue eyes turned to focus on me, I remember I could barely breathe from awe. It was as if she could see right through my soul and hear every word I was thinking. Her eyes were drowning me and yet I was so drawn by her gaze that I didn't dare to breath for fear that she might look away that she would look somewhere else but at me.

It wasn't until Trunks had stepped in front of her, covering her protectively behind him that I realized I had been staring at her. In normal circumstances if I had been caught staring at a beautiful girl I would have scratched my head (a bad habit) and laugh my way out of it, but the intense expression on his face chocked that thought out of me.

I had seen it and felt it so clearly: the look of suspicion, of hate, of disgust, of anger close to searing rage was pounding through his veins so loud like the deep growling of a lion in front of its prey, I could feel the waves rippling off of him shake against my body.

Fear that I rarely feel was spreading unstoppably through my body.



I am, to this day, certain that in that next second he would have lash out and tore my head off if the sound of Bulma's soft questioning voice calling his name didn't reach him. She had poked her head out from behind his well defined shoulders to look up at him.

And I, from my view saw the expression he had just a second ago wiped completely off of his face into an expression of indifference right before he turned his head so Bulma could see him. It had happen so fast that I had been thrown off, feeling numb, for a second I wondered if it really happened at all.

"We're going back inside." His voice was deep, rich. Words rolled out naturally like velvet. It wasn't a command he directed to the girl behind him because I could sense a tint of coaxing in it. And despite him being clearly the older sibling, I could tell that he wishes nothing more than the please her.

His hand gripped her slender ones as he quickly walked away pulling the blue haired girl with him. He had chosen to take the side entrance of the house instead of going pass me not so much that he was afraid but more like he didn't want to take her near me.

I realized later on that day, when we were heading back to my house that Gohan and Roshi had wanted to introduce the two to me and my brother but to my guess Trunks must have said something to prevent that since Roshi had came downstairs alone for lunch.

Despite that encounter I had wanted to see them again, I had wanted to see her again. So I found excuses to go over to Vegeta's place every day for the next couple of days.

Before that fateful day of the encounter between Vegeta and her, I had not even seen a glimpse of her at the window or outside, I had almost believed that she was out of town.

Then Vegeta's football flew over the fence, they met, and then what happened afterwards was a blur to me. Vegeta had help Bulma up (which was very uncharacteristic of him) and the three of them had started talking and laughing.

I can still remember the fascination that crossed both me and Vegeta as we glanced at each other before turning back to watch her laugh, her cheeks blushing red as she held her stomach and tears collecting at the corner of her eyes, her laughter like the sound of bells, so very sweet, pure, and fresh. It was a kind of laugh that inspires great artists like Vivaldi to create the Four Seasons.



Trunks who had silently came around the house also wore an expression of surprise upon seeing the scene. I guess it was after that incident that Trunks finally cautiously began to befriend them. It wasn't hard for them to be friends; Trunks, Vegeta and me, I mean. We had a lot more in common then one would think. I had an inkling feeling that Trunks would get along with Vegeta. They were so much alike in many ways. It took two whole weeks before Bulma was finally able to hang out alone with me and Vegeta, having gained enough trust from Trunks.

Then as you know it, days that pass seemed like weeks, and weeks felt like months and it felt as if Vegeta and I had known Bulma since forever. There were endless nights of bonfire, barbeques, reckless juvenile behavior, endless stupid and pointless jokes and pranks. They were inseparable, always together until the wee hours of the night and met up even before the sun rised to cause havoc to where ever the wind blew them to that day.

During the earlier days, before Trunks had to go off to college we had already learned not to inquire about their past. You know, the whole so-what-brought-you-to-sunny-Cali-with-old-man-Roshi? questions were defiantly off limits. So it was shocking when Trunks started talking about his and Bulma's past.

It was a peaceful night, with a clear sky filled with stars, they were of course at the beach with a bonfire made and Bulma laid on the sand practically passed out from exhaustion from the surfing lessons that Vegeta and I had given her the entire day. Vegeta was already watching over Bulma from the corner of his eyes, something I also notice Trunks did quite often as well. Another realization, I had, of how very much alike the two of them were.

Trunks was like her eternal guardian, always showing up when she was just about to slip and fall or when she needed any sort of help, he was always a second away when she calls out for him. It's almost as if he appears out of thin air.

It wasn't like Trunks poured his heart and soul out that night, that's defiantly something he won't do but he can be a very calculating person I can bet you anything that he told us just enough to make sure we won't corner Bulma with questions when he's away at college. I can't help but smirk thinking back now, he was always one step ahead when it involves Bulma. That is expected of course, something so obviously important and rare in this world.

Their parents had passed away, that much was clear. He had told them that they lived through hell before Roshi came and got them from the people they were sent to live with after their parents died.

The explanation was simple and clear, yet it still left many unanswered questions.

One thing I'll never be able to forget was the look in his eyes as he watch Bulma's sleeping form sprawl out in childish innocence against the vase sky. It was a haunted look, a look of fear for Bulma's sake. Then that expression passed and a smile of amusement was on his lips, "I don't think she has slept this peaceful for a long while." His voice deep but filled with gentleness and softness that he would only use for his sister.

On the beach earlier today, I had been glad that Vegeta had punched me, you have no idea how stupid I felt for forgetting how delicate Bulma could be. I had grown up with Chichi, who was strong and knew how to fight back if you threw a punch her way. I had been use to Juu who had once crushed my figures while arm wrestling me. Both of them play rough, sometimes even 

rougher than us boys. She is always so head strong, so determined, so sure of herself. I keep on forgetting how breakable she was and how prune to bruises she is.

So when Vegeta had punched me over and over again despite his broken arm I had silently welcomed it. I'm sure if it was Trunks, he would have had my head drifting in the ocean without a second thought already

Bulma adores her brother, like I said. And Trunks? He devoted his life to her, it seemed like the very essences and purpose he was in this world is to protect her.

And that is something I can see Vegeta mirroring.

a/n: So what did you think of this point of view from Goku? I know 18/Juu's was a bit short, but maybe I will show a bit more of her thoughts in the future.

Tell me what you think please! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!