A/N: Finished College! Yay me. And now onto our story.

Chichi blinked away her sleeping state as a series of computer-like noises reached her. Stretching she got out of bed and made her way over to the makeshift bed Kakarot had made on the couch only to notice that he was sitting up with a scouter over his ear.

"Goku?" she prodded with the alternative name she'd come to prefer.

Upon hearing his Namekian name, Kakarot turned around to see Chichi rubbing her eyes. "Sorry, did I wake you?"

"It's fine, but what are you doing? Is your scouter malfunctioning?"

"Hmm? Ah, no, it's working fine. The problem is that I can't seem to contact Vegeta."

Chichi looked at the clock before suggesting, "Maybe he's not awake yet."

"I suppose there's always a chance, he was pretty tired yesterday, but I doubt it. Vegeta doesn't sleep very well so he's usually up before I am. I'm honestly a little surprised that he hasn't ordered me to meet up for training yet."

"Do you…," Chichi started, trying in vain to push her worry for Bulma being trapped with Vegeta away, "do you think something might be wrong?"

Kakarot sighed and placed the scouter on the couch before standing to look at her. "I'm sorry, Chichi, I didn't mean to worry you. I'm sure everything is fine. Vegeta may have decided to train alone or do some work with taking his scouter with him. Hell, he might even have the scouter turned off again. He and I don't use them often because we can sense energy so he has a bad habit of leaving his off unless he needs it. I'm going to head on over to his room to see what's going on."

"Can I go with you?" Chichi practically pleaded, "I want to check up on Bulma after what happened last night."

"Sure." Before he could reach down and grab his scouter, it went off. "Oh hey, maybe that's him." Upon picking it up though, Chichi noticed his good mood disappear with his smile, "Yes, King Vegeta? No I haven't heard from Vegeta this morning." Chichi watched with dread and Kakarot stiffened. "You don't need to worry yourself with that, I was about to go myself." Another pause before he clenched his fist and moved to open the door. "Very well, I'll see you there then," he said before disconnecting the call.

Before Chichi could ask what was wrong, she found herself up in his arms and moving down the hall at high speed. "Wh-what…?" She barely managed out.

"Turns out I'm not the only one having trouble contacting Vegeta. Now his Father is intent on going to Vegeta's room and seeing what's going on."

Chichi's face paled as she caught on to the problem. "No, if he opens the door and sees Bulma working on something or her and Vegeta arguing he's going to know something is wrong."

"Exactly." Kakarot said as they reached the corner that turned down to the royal wing of the ship and setting Chichi down before walking around to see the King stalking towards Vegeta's room.

Upon seeing Kakarot and Chichi, the King paused in his stride. "Kakarot, why did you bring that woman with you if you were planning on training with Vegeta?"

"Ah, well." Kakarot, scratched his head before shrugging, "I figured that maybe she could keep Vegeta's concubine company while we were out."

The King growled while rubbing his temple. "Kakarot, she's supposed to be catering to your needs, not the other way around. Seriously, I don't know who I'm more worried about in this situation, you or my son. Speaking of which," he continued to walk to the door.

Kakarot jumped forward in a last-ditch attempt to stop him. "Sire, we shouldn't barge in on him. You know how he is."

The King rolled his eyes. "If he doesn't want to be interrupted he shouldn't turn off his only form of being contacted."

Without further pause, the King grabbed the door and roughly opened it. However any words he had been planning on saying were ripped from him at the sight before him. Kakarot and Chichi joined his stupor as they watched Vegeta and Bulma startle from their previously peaceful sleep on the couch. Bulma seemed to want to jump away but Vegeta just grabbed her by the back of the head and pulled her towards his chest.

"What are you doing? GET OUT!" He yelled despite the obvious blush that covered his face from being caught in such a situation.

Not waiting for the King to take action, Kakarot grabbed the handle and shut the door. The silence hung heavily between the three standing in the hall before Kakarot looked over to the King.

"Um, sorry about that, your majesty."

Shaking his head in disbelief, the King turned and walked down the hall back to his chambers. "Just make sure he contacts me later."

"Of course, I'll be sure to tell him." Waiting until the King shut the door to his room, Kakarot let out a deep sigh before carefully opening the door.

"I HATE YOU! YOU LYING, EGOTISICAL BASTARD!"

The sudden onslaught of cursing made Chichi blinked in shock. "That is some impressive soundproofing."

Kakarot chuckled, "Lucky for us. If the King had heard that…," he trailed off since the end of his statement could be predicted by anyone.

"Listen to me! STOP SQUIRMING, DAMNIT!" Vegeta yelled back at Bulma.

"I'll stop squirming when you let me go!"

"NO! Stop being childish, you're not helping anything."

"You're the one not helping! I said 'don't touch' and you still did it. Why can't you keep your hands to yourself?" Bulma finally wrenched one of her hands free and slapped Vegeta across the face with all her might.

Silence descended over the room as Bulma belatedly realized that she went too far. Chichi covered her mouth hoping that Vegeta wouldn't snap and kill both of them, Bulma out of rage and her simply because she was only there because of his need for Bulma.

After what felt like hours Vegeta growled. "Kakarot. Leave."

Kakarot hesitantly nodded before shutting the door again.

"Are you crazy?" Chichi gasped out, "We can't leave Bulma in there; he'll kill her."

"No he won't."

"But…" she nearly cried out when Kakarot turned her towards him.

"Listen to me. You need to believe more in Vegeta's restraint. If he can control his rage when dealing with Frieza he can deal with Bulma without bringing her any physical harm."

"Goku, I…I just don't know how you can be so worry free about this."

"Because I know Vegeta. He may get angry that things are not going his way but he won't just quit and take the easy way out. He knows that, in the end, the more effort he puts into achieving something the better the results will be. Something tells me that it'll be the same for Bulma. I doubt Vegeta suggested that they relax on the couch so the fact that they were… in that situation tells me that she wanted to challenge herself. Vegeta may have pushed her past the point she prepared for but seeing that she reacted with anger instead of fear shows me that she's already made progress."

Chichi thought back to earlier when the King had opened the door. Bulma had pulled back from Vegeta before Vegeta pulled her back. If she had been intent on just getting away there'd be no point to stop her since it could have been seen as embarrassment. No, he didn't stop her because she was running away, he stopped her because she was about to yell at him.

"Maybe… maybe you're right."

"Only time will tell. Now, I'm starving so let's get some food."

Chichi couldn't help but laugh at Kakarot's childish change in subject. "You're so silly, my master."

The soft click of the door terrified Bulma. As she looked anywhere other than the furious look Vegeta surely had on his face, it was hard not to start hyperventilating again.

'What is wrong with me?' She asked herself for the hundredth time it seemed. 'How tired was I last night to even consider lying on top of Vegeta as a good idea? And then I fell asleep on him? How embarrassing.' She wondered how she would have reacted to waking up the way they did if Vegeta hadn't been touching her. More than likely she would have frozen in place unable to move until Vegeta woke up.

However that hadn't been the case. Instead of freezing at the realization that she was too close to Vegeta, she had been furious to feel that he was touching her again. Her fury increased when he had pulled her closer forcing her face into his chest painfully. Not even a second after the door had been slammed shut he let her go, letting her jump up and scream all the obscenities that had been building up in her.

Only now did she realize that, if anyone else had been at the door other than Chichi and Kakarot, she would have blown their cover yelling at him. Then she had made things worse by hitting him. Again.

"Now you listen here…," Vegeta started but Bulma cut him off.

"I'm sorry, okay," she yelled out before covering her face with her hands. "Look I don't know who was at the door but I assume that the reason you grabbed me before was to stop them from hearing me yelling at you but if you hadn't been touching me I wouldn't have needed to yell."

"Don't you dare try to pin this on me, Woman. You're lucky I didn't push you off me when you fell asleep on top of me last night. You're like a child, can't stay awake more than a minute once you lay down."

Bulma blushed, indignant that he was calling her a child. "That's your fault for being so warm, it'd make anyone drowsy. In any case, you fell asleep too. What's your excuse?"

"I haven't slept in days! We were called in to purge a planet for Frieza and then immediately went to Yapisha for a payment which we didn't receive. Even if I could have gone to sleep, I can't properly rest when I know that I'll be forced to talk to that wretched lizard."

"Well then go back to bed and rest for a few more hours if you're so tired."

"I was tired, Woman. I'm fine now. Actually," he paused seeming to think about something before continuing, "I think I slept longer last night than I have in years."

"Seriously? Vegeta, that's not healthy."

"Feh, Saiyan's don't require as much sleep as you seem to think."

"But," was all Bulma could get out before Vegeta interrupted her this time.

"Why are we talking about this? My sleeping habits aren't the problem here. The problem is that your tip-toeing method isn't working."

"It's not tip-toeing, it's calculated and it would work if you'd do your part by keeping your hands off."

"So it's fine for you to crawl on top of me, pressing yourself intimately close but the second I touch you it's over the line."

"Don't say it like that!" Bulma blushed furiously at the implication of his words. "But yes, it is over the line because when I'm in control of the situation it's fine but when you touch me it's all I can do to not flashback to the man who…"

"ENOUGH!" Vegeta yelled instantly stopping Bulma's explanation. "I'm sick and tired of hearing you talk about that man," he said before grabbing Bulma's wrist.

"What are you doing?" Her only answer was being thrown onto the couch with him soon to follow. "No, stop, this won't work. I…I can't take it."

"I don't care. I'm tired of this coming between us every time I touch you. This inane fear of yours shouldn't be controlling you life to this extreme and this plan will never work unless you face it head on."

"But," Bulma protested only to be cut off again only by Vegeta's mouth this time. Her eyes clenched shut as she once again felt him run his arm along her side. The darkness behind her eyelids was drawing her back, making it hard to breathe.

Vegeta finally pulled away. "Look at me."

"I can't do this, Vegeta, I can't. It's too much." Bulma cried out, overwhelmed by the darkness.

"Bulma!"

At her name, her eyes snapped open and focused on Vegeta's. He was so close, his nose barely an inch away from hers.

"Are you looking at me, Bulma?"

"Yes," she answered. 'Obviously,' she silently added.

"Are you? Is that why your body is tense and your eyes are clenched?"

"That's because when you touch me…"

"Are you seeing me when I touched you or are you seeing him? He is not here, Bulma. I'm the only one here that is able to touch you. Is all my touch worth to see him again?"

"It's not like I want to see him!" Bulma blinked letting the built up tears roll down her face.

"I know. It's because that one moment of fear has been ingrained onto your psyche. But you have to open your eyes and see what is before you, not what happened in the past. What happened, happened but there are more dangerous things in the universe than one random attacker you'll likely never see again."

"I know. I know that I should be more afraid of Frieza but," she shook her head, unable to think of more to say. At his snort, she looked back confused.

"Being afraid of Frieza is just as bad. Yes he's a million times more dangerous but you don't even know what he looks like so being in constant fear of him wouldn't help you. No, the only thing you should feel for Frieza is anger. An anger fueled by the murder of your Father and the destruction of the world. An anger that will not be sated until the monster responsible for it is destroyed."

Bulma jumped as she felt Vegeta's hand wrap around her wrist and pull her hand to his chest. "When it's me touching you, I don't want you to be thinking of anyone else. Whether it's fear or anger or any other feeling that invoked in you by my touch I want you to only think of me."

The feeling that shot through Bulma at his words was something like she'd never felt before. It tightened her body and gripped her heart making it hard to breath. Before she could think of anything to say, Vegeta pulled away and walked to the closet.

"Hopefully you'll be able to achieve at least that much by the time Frieza arrives. That way, even if you're still uncomfortable with me touching you, you won't have a panic attack thinking of him. Now, I have to go see what my father wanted before I find Kakarot to train. Get to work on whatever you're planning to make for me to show."

"I…," Bulma swallowed as she moved to sit up, "I'll do that. When will I be able to work in a real lab?" She asked, trying to remove the shaking from her voice.

"We'll be landing on Vegetasei by the end of the week. If the servants have any desire to remain living the lab will be fully functional then. After we'll have three weeks before Frieza graces us with his presence."

And with that, Vegeta was gone leaving the still dazed Bulma to contemplate his words.

Vegeta closed the door to his room before rubbing his face with his hands. He didn't want to admit it but every time the Woman brought up that pathetic excuse of a man that attacked her he wanted to tear the man apart, for impeding on any progress they were making, of course. However, more than his hate for this unknown man, he was annoyed by himself. There were a hundred more important things more important than the fact that, once again, she was not reacting the way he wanted but every time that was the only thing he could focus on. He was the reason she didn't react properly to his touch and that infuriated him. This obsession was quickly becoming unbearable but he couldn't stop it. 'What is wrong with me?'

Worse of all, his Father had busted into the room and had seen him sleeping with her and, while he didn't have sex with her, he knew that his father would have something to say about it.

Shaking his head, he quickly went to his Father's chambers to see what he wanted so that he could get to training as soon as possible.

Not bothering to knock, Vegeta kicked the door in before smirking at his Father's startled, then annoyed look. "You needed to talk to me, old man?"

"Really, Vegeta? How old are you?"

Shrugging, Vegeta folded his arms impatiently. "I was just returning the favor for your act earlier."

"Unlike you, I keep my scouter on so I could have been contacted. If you don't want people walking in on you, you should learn to do the same. I will say that I'm surprised that you actually indulged a bit with your gift."

Vegeta frowned as the subject predictably changed to earlier, "I didn't indulge in anything."

"I mentioned it before but a concubine isn't used only for sex but also for comfort and from what I saw you were quite comfortable."

Vegeta felt his face become flushed despite his best efforts to remain indifferent so he just looked away. "Anyway, what did you need from me that couldn't wait until later?"

"The technicians at the palace need your permission to enter your wing of the palace."

"Of all the stupid… Why didn't you just tell them yes?" Vegeta asked annoyed that this was what his Father had deemed worthy of breaking into his room.

"Because this is your ruse and you're going to have to follow it through to the end."

"Whatever. I'm going to train now. Don't bother me with anymore pointless issues, alright?" He said as he stormed out, slightly upset that he had broken the door down since he couldn't slam it. But it was all okay. Now there was another issue to focus his anger on than his problems with the woman and he'd be able to use that to fuel his training.

Cracking his knuckles, he made his way towards the mess hall. "Looks like Kakarot will be spending more time in the tank than he wants," he smirked.

A/N: There we go. Next chapter will have them finally landing on Vegetasei. Thanks for reading. Please feel free to review as I love getting feedback.