Things had been the same for a couple of weeks now. Goku and Bulma were closer than ever, even Turles was included in a lot of the fun. Vegeta would often pick fights with the blue haired beauty just to see that brilliant flash of indigo in her eyes, if nothing else. Goku revamped his mechanic knowledge and even began working on cars with his remaining relatives, minus his father. As the days went by, Kakarott was emerging, something everyone seemed to approve, even ChiChi. For Bulma though, life soon took an unexpected turn for the worse.

Bulma sat on her bed, her head in her hands, rubbing her throbbing temples as Brolly burned a hole in her carpet. She looked at him with eyes full of dispair.

"Brolly, tell me you're kidding.." Bulma whispered.

No, this was not happening. She loves him, he loves her, right?

"Azure, we've drifted apart since moving here. We need to let go before we ruin our friendship. Enjoy life while you're young, find someone new." he stated as he walked up to her and knelt in front of her. He lifted her chin up to meet his eyes. They were glistening with unshed tears.

"It's for the best." he said softly.

Bulma wouldn't believe him. They were so happy just yesterday, then he pulls this bullshit from nowhere? There had to be a reason. They had gone through so much together just to throw it away over a silly little move. So many memories. What had she done?

"But-"

"You know i'm right," he cut her off, before she could even start her sentence, "i'll always love you." He stood and kissed her gently on the forehead, then turned and walked out. She heard the front door open then close, and a car start and pull off. She honestly didn't know what to think at the moment in time. Did all that really just happen, or is this a dream?

Then, reality hit, and her world came tumbling down.

He left her.

Simple and plain. She was all alone. She sat there for hours until she found the will to crawl under the covers. The same thing kept replaying in her head.

'Azure, we've drifted apart since moving here. We need to let go before we ruin our friendship. Enjoy life while you're young, find someone new'

Did he even know what he had just done? He was the only one that had ever held her heart, and he just threw it over a cliff and watched it shatter in a million tiny pieces. She felt like shit. She didn't know what to think.

'I hate him for this. He left me all alone, and he knew it too. I was supposed to be happy here.'

All she could do was stare off into space until her eyes became too heavy to hold open. This was no peaceful sleep. No, it was filled with heart-wrenching memories of her and Brolly. Memories she needed to forget, but they kept replaying like a broken record.

It was a week later when the gang was found beating on Bulma's doorstep. No one had seen hide nor hair of her since they had went to the club the previous weekend, and they were starting to get worried, minus Vegeta of course.

"Maybe we should just walk in." ChiChi suggested as they all stood rather awkwardly on her porch.

"That's rude, Chi." Launch piped in.

Turles couldn't take it any more. Sure, it was normal for Bulma to disappear for a couple days, but never this long. Something had happened, he just knew it.

"Move aside," he snarled at the two girls, "this is my cousin we're talking about. This isn't right, i'm going in whether it's rude or not."

Most of the guys agreed with him.

"Yeah, this is kinda strange." Goku stated while he scratched the back of his head.

"Well, are we going to stand here all day or go inside. You dragged me here after I said I could care less about the loud harpy, i'm not going to waste my time any longer." Vegeta growled as he pushed past the group in walked inside.

He headed straight for Bulma's room once he had checked in all of the other rooms. They had been there plenty of times to know where most everything was. As he glided up the stairs, ChiChi and 18 stopped him.

"It's best if we go first, just in case she's indecent or whatever." 18 stated in her monotone voice as she walked past him.

He mumbled something incoherant as he allowed the girls to go in front of him. They slowly peered into her bedroom and gasped. As they pulled the door the rest of the way open, everyone else edged to the opening and stared wide eyed.

There Bulma was, sprawled out on her bed, with numerous sleeping pill bottles strewn all around her. By looking at her, one could tell something was not right. She was pale, more so than usual, she had bags under her eyes, and blood stained all over her sheets and clothing. She was, in one simple term, a wreck.

"Bulma.." Goku whispered as he slowly crept to the edge of the bed. He sat down beside her and shook her gently.

She didn't move. He tried a little harder and emitted a groan from her. He shook her even harder, causing her to bolt up in a sitting position. She gasped and coughed a litttle, then turned bloodshot eyes to Goku.

Pain, sadness, grief, rage, heartbrokeness, and then nothing. That's what he saw, and it kind of scared him.

Krillin stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"What's wrong B?"

She looked at him next; he shuddered. He took a step back. It was so, so, empty. Absolutely nothing.

"Yeah, you haven't been at school for a week. We were starting to get worried." Yamucha chimed in. Launch nodded whole-heartedly as she smiled a bright smile. When she looked at the duo, they actually flinched a bit.

Piccolo sat in the background along with 18 and Vegeta, like they normally did. He didn't have anything to add to the conversation so he merely kept his thoughts out of it. Vegeta, on the other hand, was growing restless.

"Woman, what the fuck is your problem?" He was the only one to hold her gaze. Inside, he cringed a bit, but he kept an annoyed look on his face. He growled, signaling his impatience.

"I asked you a question wom-"

Before he could finish, Bulma cut him off.

"He left." she whispered.

"Who?" Goku and Tien asked at the same time. They looked to one another, then back to Bulma.

"Brolly." she answered, still looking Vegeta in the eyes.

"When?" Turles questioned as he raised a brow. Bulma getting lovesick over some boy? Not likely.

Bulma was quiet for a minute.

"Saturday." she replied in an almost inaudible voice.

Everyone looked genuinely confused. He left this morning, why was she missing for a whole week, and why in seven hells did she look like this?

"This morning?"

"Last Saturday." She let out an exhausted sigh and rolled over, her shirt riding up a bit to expose her ribs, which you could plainly see each and every one of. Everyone gasped.

"Bulma!" ChiChi shrieked, "When was the last time you ate?"

Now they were actually getting scared. Bulma ALWAYS kept up with her figure. This was way out of character.

"Leave me alone." she whined as she covered herself with the covers.

"Bulma Son! Get out of bed right this instant! You are getting some food in you right this minute!" ChiChi stomped down the stairs to the kitchen. A couple of minutes later, pots and pans were heard clanging against one another as she began to prepare lunch for her withered friend. When Bulma didn't move, Vegeta lost it. He sauntered over to her and hoisted her up over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She hung there lifelessly, a very un-Bulma like trait.

Turles shook his head. 'What's gotten into her?' he thought to himself as he followed the rest of the group down the stairs.

"Will she be alright?" Launch inquired as she peered from behind Tien.

Goku furrowed his brows.

"She should be. She's strong, but now I can see she felt deeply for Brolly. How could he leave like this? He knew this would happen. I've never seen her so vulnerable." he trailed off as he lost himself in thought. Piccolo shook his head as they entered the kitchen.

Vegeta dropped her unceramoniously in a chair and watched as she slid down it, without saying a word.

He was stunned. The Bulma he knew was arrogant, fiesty, stubborn. Not lifeless, quiet, and emotional. He didn't understand.

ChiChi was soon finished cooking and sat a bowl of soup in front of Bulma, along with a grilled cheese and assorted fruit. Bulma slowly started eating, her color regaining with every bite she took. One could tell she felt better as well. She propped her leg up on the chair and 18 gasped.

"What happened to your leg?" she yelled as she looked wide-eyed at the huge gash running from her knee down to her ankle.

Now that everyone was watching her, she sighed before closing her eyes. She opened them then looked down at the cut and shrugged.

"I don't know. Must've gotten cut by something."

She quickly dismissed it like it was nothing, returning to her meal.

"No shit." Vegeta mumbled as he crossed his brawny arms over his chest and leaned against the counter, his normal scowl in place.

Bulma sent a hard glare in his direction.

"What do you mean y-" she cut Yamucha off.

"Kakarott." she stated blankly as she turned her gaze towards the unsuspecting man.

Everyone leaned forward a bit to hear better.

"What's up, B?" he replied as he cocked his head to the side, waiting for her question.

She looked at him a good few minutes before she spoke again.

"Take me to see father."