Bulma curled herself closer into the old, pilled blanket and threw her arm over her eyes to block out the streetlight. Her bare foot knocked against the back bench seat as she shifted, and she yanked it away from the frigid steel with a hiss. She tried stuffing herself into a tense ball against the cold, her knees in her chest to keep out the shivers. So far, sleep alluded her, and she stared at the metal base of the front seat a few inches from her face.

Sleeping in her bus wasn't working out as well as she'd hoped.

A wave of resentment crashed over her, followed by a stronger wave of despair.

It was the third night she'd achieved getting no sleep in her bus, and truth be told, she felt like she deserved it.

Vegeta no Ouji was giving his intern a shake down, and everyone in the office knew it.

"Oi," Nappa grumbled, glaring at his computer screen as he pulled the newspaper further over his ears to block out the sounds of a super pissed no Ouji and the crying of another intern lost.

Raditz swung his feet and rested his heels on Nappa's desk with a bang, running his fingers around a lock of hair that had escaped his ponytail.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Raditz complained, ticking his shiny black shoes back and forth. Nappa swatted them off his desk and pulled the newspaper down over his eyes.

"You know exactly what the big deal is," he contended with annoyance.

Raditz rolled his eyes and turned his head to gaze out the long windows that looked out over the West City horizon, just as Bardock appeared behind him and smacked him in the back of the head.

"Ow! What the—"

Seeing it was his father, Raditz just sunk farther into his seat and pouted with a huff.

"Why is it every time I come around this corner, neither of you are doing any work?" Bardock snapped. He leaned against the cubicle wall. "Remind me again how you two dumb fucks got through school and got the certs to become actually functioning attorneys?"

"Raditz blew off all his teachers," Nappa sniggered, his shoulders shaking as he erupted into a fit of giggles. Raditz rose to smack him but Bardock slammed him back into his chair with a hand on his shoulder.

Bardock swung his body into an empty chair before rolling forward and putting his feet on Nappa's desk authoritatively.

"Oh my god, what in the hell is wrong with Vegeta lately," Bardock griped, resting his head in his palm with a look of supreme irritation.

"He hasn't been getting any," Raditz suggested with a shrug.

Bardock snorted. "I don't know what in the hell that no Ouji does in his personal time, but I doubt getting laid will fix that boy."

Nappa and Raditz shared a look.

"Dad," Raditz began slowly. "What if I told you something...something highly confidential. Something that wasn't allowed to pass the confines of this sacred circle."

"Let's pinky swear on it." Nappa was already leaning forward and extending his crooked finger out to Bardock, who swatted it away.

"Don't tell me you guys know what's wrong with the kid. Vegeta is always a ball buster, but this is getting ridiculous. I'm about to go have a talk with him. Our clients are going to run away in terror if he keeps this up. I can't promote him if he scares away all our business."

"Maybe you should go talk to him about Bulma Briefs," Raditz suggested delicately. He and Nappa shared a look.

"Bulma Briefs? Why does that name ring a bell?" Bardock frowned at them.

"She's the owner of B's Dubs," Nappa offered. "The monkey wrench in the cogs of this stupid Freeman case."

"Not the Freeman case." Bardock whined. "If I never have to hear that fucking Congressman's name again….What does she have to do with it?"

Nappa and Raditz shared another look.

"Just tell me already!" Bardock yelled.

"Welllll," Raditz began. "She's stalling the case, summoning up all sorts of ghoulies and shenanigans for the prosecution, right? She's a Brief—as in, the Briefs of Capsule Corporation." Bardock was resting his hand on his knuckles, scowling in consideration, but nodded at his son to continue. "She's got friends in high places and she's a smart cookie. And B's Dubs is in the heart of the gerrymandered district and she just happens to be a charitable, bleeding heart liberal..."

"That's been established," Bardock complained, although he listened raptly.

"Yeah, well, anyway," Raditz continued.

"Vegeta fell for her," Nappa interrupted.

Bardock's head swung sharply to Nappa, who swiveled in his too small chair with glee. "What?" He snapped.

"Vegeta likes her. I think they had a thing going on," Raditz said conspiratorially.

"How do you know this?"

"The guy punched out her ex at Antonio's pub the other day."

"Vegeta's a hot head. So what."

"No. Like, he saw her come in and couldn't take his eyes off her. We were worried he was going to have a nuclear melt down watching her and her boyfriend."

"Ex-boyfriend," Nappa reminded him.

"Whatever."

"Don't forget he flattened us when we called her a bitch that night at the game."

"Yeah, and he wouldn't go to Bazooka's with us."

"Yeah."

"What in the hell does that have to do with anything?" Bardock asked, repulsed. "Vegeta's not scum like you two. When does he ever go to Bazooka's with you anyway. I thought he was asexual, frankly."

Raditz and Nappa shook their head, lips thinned conspiratorially.

Nappa leaned forward over his desk.

"We saw them one night," he whispered. "Doin' it. In her car."

Bardock narrowed his eyes at them.

"Are you sure?" He asked quietly.

"I wouldn't forget a pair of tits like that," Raditz assured him.

Bardock leaned back and ran his finger thoughtfully over his chin. "That's against company policy," he said to himself thoughtfully.

"Exactly," the two told him simultaneously.

"What, you think he broke it off with her or something? It's not like Vegeta to put anything before work. Anything," Bardock argued. "Least of all a woman. I was starting to wonder if he swung the other way."

"No man." Raditz shook his head forcefully. "No man, I would know."

"Hmmm." Bardock stared at the ceiling. "She's gotta be using him," he concluded.

"I've known Bulma for awhile," Raditz offered, before swiveling in his chair. "She has a heart of gold. It's disgusting. I don't think that's the case here."

"Yeah, well, what do you know." Bardock stood up suddenly. "You've got a case that needs reviewed by Thursday and you're back here circle jerking."

"Dad," Raditz interrupted him. "Ask Goku."

"About what?" He asked incredulously.

"Goku's harpy is best friends with her. They even live together."

"What?" Bardock asked sharply. "Is Chi Chi in on this, too?"

"Just...just ask him about Bulma and Vegeta, Dad. That's all I'm saying."

"Yeeeeah, whatever," Bardock said dismissively, already turning away.

Nappa and Raditz shared a look.

"You know Vegeta's going to kill you if he hears about this."

"Yeah, well, I owe him forty bucks anyway." Raditz shrugged. "I have it coming."

"Chi Chi," Goku whined, "all I'm saying is, we need to eat. It's nine o' clock. I haven't eaten since 4. Cheech, you gotta get off the couch so we can go grab something."

"Touch luck, Goku," Chi Chi bit out from beneath the blanket on the couch.

"But I'm hungry," he complained.

Chi Chi yanked the blankets down from her face and stared at Goku sternly. "Go pick something up, then."

"What, without you?" Goku looked genuinely confused.

Chi Chi sighed and sat up, before pulling her man down next to her to lean against him companionably.

"I'm sorry," she said listlessly. "I am just not in the mood to eat right now."

Goku moved a stray lock of hair from her face. "Cheech, this isn't like you."

Chi Chi hung her head. "I don't wanna be me right now, Goku," she said softly into her lap.

"Cheech. You've gotta tell me what's wrong." He looked at her grimly. "What happened between you and Bulma?"

Chi Chi's head came slowly up, and her dark eyes watered with effusive guilt. "If I tell you, you can't think less of me."

"Chi Chi," Goku sighed, "I won't. Just tell me." I'm hungry, he thought to himself.

Chi Chi exhaled deeply and clasped her hands together in her blanketed lap. "Well, where should I start. I...I kind of...Well. Yamcha contacted me recently. He was very sweet and polite and we reconnected over old times."

"Did he make a move on you?" Goku interrupted with sudden anger.

"No!" She crowed. "Really, Goku. He's not my type. Anyway. He kinda, well, insinuated he wanted to get back with Bulma. And...I kind of took up his offer."

Goku looked at her with steely concentration. She shrunk into herself.

"I kind of...set them up behind her back. And it went awry. And she found out. And she moved out." Her lower lip shook.

"Chi Chi," Goku reprimanded her gently.

She threw her small hands up in the air. "I was just trying to help her out."

"Cheech, if she doesn't want to date, you shouldn't make her date."

"I know!" She whined defensively.

"You tried to get her with the one person you really shouldn't have, too. You owe her an apology."

"I know!"

"Why would you try to get her back with him, anyway? He's a terrible choice for her."

"What do you mean?" She looked warily at the man who was suddenly the prestidigitator of matchmaking.

"I mean, she was just really unhappy with him. And he didn't treat her right. That makes you look like you don't care for her happiness. Anyway, I thought she was seeing Vegeta."

"She wasn't seeing Vegeta," she said with a sarcastic chuckle and a small eye roll. "She was just...seeing him without his pants on."

"I don't think you know your friend as well as you think you do," he said roughly, and she flinched at his tone.

"What do you mean? I've known her for years! I think I know my own best friend," she contested snappily.

"No, I don't think you do. I think you were being meddlesome, Cheech, and I don't know that you deserve to be forgiven."

Chi Chi's eyes widened, and watered.

"Bulma doesn't go lightly into a relationship. Bulma takes her friendships seriously, and I think she's just as sensitive about who she chooses as a romantic partner. She obviously likes Vegeta, and I know he likes her, too. And she told you flatly she didn't want you setting her up with anyone. So why would you go against her wishes?"

Chi Chi's voice warbled at his obvious disappointment with her. "I just...I wanted my friend to be happy. And I wanted to go the next step with her. I didn't want to leave her behind." Chi Chi began to sniffle, her voice getting thick. "She hasn't been herself since she left Yamcha," she began sobbing. "I don't care what she chose to do with her life. I don't care that she's a mechanic and not a lawyer. She's like her dad; she's an absent minded genius, and that's great. I don't care that she comes home dirty and that she eats too many chips and swigs down too much soda. She just brings out all these maternal feelings in me sometimes. I just don't want her to feel stuck and alone while we all move on without her." She buried her head in her hands.

"I don't think Bulma would feel the same way," he chided her gently, gripping her chin lightly to look her in the eyes. "I think Bulma knows exactly what she's doing. She's trying to figure out what she wants in her life, after trying to make other people happy for so long. Maybe she hasn't gotten to the point where she really knows if that's where she wants to settle, but you can't rush a person's learning experience, Cheech. She has to come to another relationship on her own time. She has to decide for herself what she's willing to clean up and what clutter helps her be creative. You can't do that for her."

"I know that! I knew that the whole time!"

"Then I think you've got some explaining to do to yourself, too."

Goku stood up.

"Where are you going?" She cried out.

"To get us some food," he explained somberly.

"You're coming back?" She asked, her voice breaking.

"Yes," he sighed. "I'm coming back. I'm not gonna leave you, Cheech. But I can't tell you if Bulma will. I don't know that she should." He stepped backwards with a sober expression.

"Kung pow chicken?" He asked softly.

Chi Chi nodded without looking up from her hands and sniffled.

"Alright. Turn on West City Idol, and I'll be right back."

Goku hopped from foot to foot in the cold as the phone rang in his ear. "Thanks," he said quickly to the cashier who handed him his coney dog from the food truck, and he smushed it into his face as the phone on the other line picked up.

"Hello?"

"Bulma?" He asked through a mouth full of cheese dog.

"Goku?" She asked uncertainly.

Goku swallowed the bite whole and cringed as it stuck in his throat. "Hey, yeah, it's me."

"What's up?"

"Oh, I'm just picking Chi Chi and I up some food at China Ma Ma Express. Well, I stopped to have a hot dog while I waited for my order, to be more specific." The door to China Ma Ma Express rang as he walked back inside, and he sat down at an empty booth with his foil wrapped hot dog.

"How is Mai Lee's uncle doing?"

"Oh, he's fine. He's out of the hospital now, and she has some sort of weird condition now where she has to get her toe fungus water boarded out or something every week," he informed her through another mouthful.

"Lovely. Well, I will make sure to send them a get well card."

"From where, might I ask?"

"Huh?"

He swallowed and cleared his throat. "Where exactly is the return address from?"

He heard Bulma sigh.

"Did Chi Chi put you up to this?"

"No." He tried to assure her with as much sincerity over the phone as he could manage as he licked ketchup from his upper lip. "Not at all. Really, she didn't. She's on the couch at home right now, wallowing in guilt."

Silence.

"I'm not saying you should feel bad about it. In fact, I don't think you should. That's not why I'm calling. Actually, I was hoping we could talk about something else after Chi Chi and I eat. I'm just...wondering where to show up."

Another sigh. "Please don't make me regret this, Goku."

"I won't," he assured her implacably.

"Meet me at my shop."

"You got it."

"Goku!" Came Mai Lee's shriek from behind the counters. "Yours is ready!"

"Gotta go," he whispered conspiratorially as he stood, fumbling with the phone and his hot dog and confused for a second by which one to put to his ear. "See you in a few."

Goku and Bulma lay side by side on the hood of the old VW Scirocco, watching the stars wink at them from the velvet night sky with their heads pillowed on their forearms.

"Look, there's Venus." Bulma pointed low on the horizon where a bright star glittered.

"How do you know?" Goku asked, relaxed.

"By how bright it is, and its position in the sky. Look, it's passing through Aries right now."

"How do you know that's Aries?"

"It looks like a ram's head. And it's always in that northern celestial hemisphere, over there."

"Oh. Aries, like the astrological sign?"

"Yeah, kind of, if you wanna get pagan and fun with it." She smiled at him warmly.

"Vegeta is an Aries," he said quietly, thoughtlessly. "His birthday was last Sunday."

She stared at his reposed features stiffly. "Hm. I can see that."

"I'm a Leo. What are you?"

"I'm an Aries, too," she issued quietly.

"Bulma, I don't remember your birthday being any time soon!"

She kicked his foot. "It's next week, and you know that."

"Yeah, Chi Chi has only told me a thousand times." He smiled at the sky before turning toward her. "Have you really been staying here the entire time?"

"Yep," Bulma confirmed wryly.

"In Barnaby?"

"Yyyyyep," she drawled again, before sending him a quick smile at his use of her pet name for her bus. He was the only one who found her obsession with old VW's interesting. "Until I said screw it and started camping out on a spare bench seat behind the cash register."

"You don't have heat in there either, though."

"Yeah, but I can safely hook up a space heater in there. Might cause a fire if I did it in the bus."

"Oh."

They stared at the night sky in companionable silence.

"How long are you planning on crashing in your shop?"

Bulma rolled her head on the backs of her arms to gaze at him soberly. "As long as I have to."

"No one's making you do this, Bulma," he countered gently. "No one wants you to do this."

Her brows dipped into a severe scowl, and she turned from him. "I don't care what anyone wants."

"Why not crash at your parent's house? I mean, they only live on the other side of the city. You're close to them. They wouldn't mind. Think of all of the cookies your mom would bake for you," Goku finished dreamily.

"I don't want them to think I'm a failure," she replied softly.

"They wouldn't."

"Everyone else does."

"I don't."

"You're a gem, Goku. Not everyone is as awesome as you are."

"You know who is awesome?"

Sensing where he was going, Bulma turned her head in the opposite direction stubbornly.

"You are."

She huffed.

"You're one of the coolest people I know! You're a successful business owner. You're a champion for civil rights. Everyone in this neighborhood adores you. Your parents adore you. Yamcha thought you were so cool he tried to get back with you."

She snorted.

"Don't let anyone make you feel worthless," Goku finished softly. "Not even Chi Chi."

She turned to him then, eyes brimming with emotion.

"Bulma," he continued, less gently, "you hold several doctorate degrees and honorary degrees. You're super smart. You're super talented."

"Maybe I've peaked. Maybe I'm destined to be a crazy cat lady the rest of my life."

"No, not you. You're too full of energy. Especially when it comes to people. You're always there for your friends, even when they mess up and forget to be there for you."

A tear escaped the corner of her eye.

"You're a total catch." He said with as much valley girl twang as he could manage, winking at her, and she smiled back at him. "If you wanna date, date. If you don't wanna date, don't. Don't base your worth on what other people think of you."

"She's my best friend, Goku. If she thinks I'm fucking up, I must be fucking up."

"Chi Chi is just a very maternal person," Goku tried to explain, slowly. "She didn't have a mom, and she kinda had to be her own mom. She had to take care of her dad. You're just so laid back sometimes, she gets to thinking she needs to encourage you, help you out. She does the same thing to me."

"She's controlling," Bulma bristled. "I had enough of that dictating with Yamcha."

"Yeah, but she genuinely cares about you. With all her heart. When I left her tonight, she was crying into her pillow. She knows she did wrong. She owes you an apology...but I think you might feel better if you forgave her, too."

Bulma suddenly hopped off the hood of the car and took a few steps in the other direction, before sending Goku a frustrated, pained look. "You said you weren't coming over to reconcile us."

Goku sighed. "I did. And I wasn't lying." He sat up and put his elbows on his knees. "I actually have something I need to give you."

"What is it?" She asked with confusion.

Goku hopped off the car agilely and made his way toward her.

He stood in front of her, towering over her, before he pulled something from his pocket and extended it to her, the object tucked loosely between his fingers.

It was a business card.

She pulled it daintily from his grip and took a look at it.

It was Vegeta's business card.

Her expression grew dark.

"Turn it over," Goku instructed her.

She did.

I'm sorry.

Her head snapped up to regard Goku with contempt. "I don't care." She let the card slide from her fingers and flutter to the ground, where it rested askew on the gravel in the dark.

"An apology from Vegeta is a rare thing," Goku explained with a hint of worry, but Bulma just continued walking back toward her shop, stopping at the front door to look over her shoulder.

"And my getting walked all over will be, too." She opened the door and slipped inside, and Goku heard the slide of the lock, shutting them all out.

Today was the day.

She had made sure Roy and Bev found somewhere to sit where they could rest their canes without tripping anyone. She'd chauffeured Maria and her oldest children in the Bus, since they didn't own a vehicle and the public Metro would have made them over an hour late to the ruling. She'd cleaned out the Bus last week, so they could jump around the old thing with excited abandon. She'd let Marco honk it as they pulled into the court house parking lot, alerting everyone that they'd arrived on such a grim day with hope and courage.

Getting out of the Bus in heels wasn't as easy as she'd hoped, but she managed it with dignity. Little Mariana commented on Bulma's bright shade of red lipstick, and Bulma had thanked her with a tickle. Even her father and mother had made it, and her mother complimented her on her dress and blazer, ooh'ing and aww'ing at her heels, which were a whole scandalous two inches from the ground.

She'd forgot just how much strength and purpose could be found in helping others, and she was respecting them by expecting as much grace from herself as possible.

They'd filed into the court house, and once she'd accounted for everyone, she made her way up to Eighteen, who stood at the head of the defense, surveying the room with a cold, calculating gaze. Her grey suit jacket and skirt were severely tailored to her slim, tall form and made her look even more austere. She watched Bulma walk toward her without giving away any emotion, until Bulma reached her side, when she leaned down and said into Bulma's ear, her cornflower, iron straight hair brushing Bulma's neck, "Look at how foxy Bardock looks today."

Bulma fortified her mental walls and glanced over at the defense.

Bardock leaned his hip on the table, talking quietly with Congressman Freeman. Turles sat in one of the seats, his fingers steepled against one another, swiveling impatiently back and forth in his chair.

"Vegeta isn't here," Eighteen answered for her.

The floor was spinning. "Where is he?" Bulma asked dumbly.

"I thought Goku filled you in on that," Juu said dryly.

Bulma frowned. "Goku just gave me his stupid business card."

Eighteen smiled coquettishly.

Bulma eyeballed the room, looking for the elusive, spiky-haired jerk.

"He's not here, Bulma, and he's not going to be here. Just sit down. We have this covered. You can rest easy."

Bulma made her way back to her seat beside her mother and father and hoped to Kami that things started making sense soon.

And given that Eighteen and Baba smashed the defense into smithereens—and given that the official adjudicating the case called Freeman a feckless bastard who would doubtfully see another term in office—and given her neighbor's shrieks of joy at the hard won ruling in their favor—

—and given that Bardock had stared at her lividly from across the room once the court house had started emptying—

nothing seemed like it would make sense any time soon.

In fact, it wasn't until Raditz and Nappa showed up at her shop the following week with a 30-pack of cheap booze in each hand and crooked smiles that things started to make sense.