Chapter 8, For Hiromi

The following morning, after breakfast Bulma asked the royal family to gather in the lounge again. Piccolo joined them, and when everyone was there, she came clean. She them the truth about her healing powers.

"So you lied to me?" The King said, after a painfully long pause. She started to answer, but Prince Vegeta stood up.

"Father, she was protecting us. At the time she had no way of knowing it was King Cold who attacked them, or why. With Piccolo's new information, she realized he must have known. She's telling us now, as soon as she knew that keeping it from us wasn't protecting us." He stood beside her, and she felt better for having him there.

"So it's not any blessing from god." The king said, anger clear in his tone.

"Honey, maybe it is." Gine said. "She knows all, and sees all. She must have known this would happen, and that's why the Princess was blessed with this gift in the first place. It's still a sign, I believe we should continue as planned."

"Of course we will! I just don't like being lied too." He crossed his arms, and threw an annoyed look at Bulma. She tried to apologize, but Prince Vegeta cut her off again.

"It was to protect us. She had every reason to keep it to herself, and yet- she still healed all of us. Even Raditz, after what he did."

"She's too kind for her own good." Piccolo said, but there was a pride in his eyes when he looked at her that made Bulma's chest swell.

"There are worse things." Goku chimed in, and even stood up to go stand by Vegeta. "A kind leader isn't bad, so long as she's also strong. She lost everything and she's still fighting for her country so i'd say-"

Bulma rolled her eyes and decided to go take a seat next to Gine since it seemed like no one wanted to hear what she had to say anyway. Not that she had anything left to say anyway, other than to apologize, but Vegeta seemed eager to make sure she didn't do that. Maybe not apologizing was a show of strength, and confidence in her choice.

"Fine. But now we need to think of what to do next. We know Cold wants her, and we know why. We need a plan." The king said.

"Take back the Isle of Life's castle is the plan." Piccolo said. "Until we know more though, there isn't much to do. We're still waiting on Krillin's reply to see if he was able to take it back."

"Except wait and keep things secure here." Prince Vegeta agreed. "In the meantime, we should double her personal guard. I'm assigning Nappa to her. He's the best, and he seems to work well with Unus."

Bulma looked over her shoulder at her guard, and noted her flushed cheeks. Did Unus like Nappa? The way the woman was looking pointedly away from Bulma made her think as much.

"It's the only choice for now." Bardock, the General added. "The Southern Border is secure, for now. If they see anything that looks like the Cold's making a move, we'll get a pigon."

"Good, thank you Bardock."

"Maybe the south could arrange to send more food to the border camp?" Piccolo suggested. "Bulma, you should write to the northernmost lord- which was it again?"

She started to answer, but Piccolo remembered and cut her off.

"Oh right, Lord Brevis, your third cousin or something? Tell him to send more food to the Northern Board Camp." Annoyed at being cut off so often, she crossed her arms and nodded. She'd need to get a detailed supply list from the different keeps and towns around the country before she told anyone to part with their food. Especially since she didn't know if they'd be able to pay them for the good. Not if they didn't get the Isle of Life back.

"So the only thing to do now, is wait for replies from our allies?" King Vegeta asked.

"For now." The Prince agreed.

"Alright. In the meantime, we're still in the celebration period of my beautiful wife's recovery, so if you don't mind…" He got to his feet, and suddenly scooped Gina into his arms. She laughed and swatted his shoulder, but didn't ask him to stop as he carried her away, presumably off to spend the day in bed together. Bulma watched after them, smiling. At least someone was happy.

After lunch was served, the princes gathered in the training hall to train. Bulma had never been in here before, but as soon as she walked in she loved it. It was so warm- it was almost too warm.
"It's a hot spring." Vegeta explained when he saw her delighted expression. "Under the castle, it's a natural hot spring that bubbles up right under the floor. It's the steam that warms it so much." Bulma nodded and shrugged out of her white fur cloak, and let a hand maid hang it up. Everyone else was shrugging out of their cloaks too.

Plush sofas and lounges lined the walls, so Bulma sat next to Fasha while the younger woman got ready to join her brothers in the training. Vegeta and Goku were first up, being the eldest, and strongest.

At some point, between when Bulma had walked away from Vegeta to take a seat, and when she looked back up, both men had taken their shirts off, and now stood in the middle of the room with only trousers on. It was such an odd sight for her- that she flushed and felt she should look away. Nappa and Unus sat down on either side of her, when Fasha eventually finished removed layers until she was in only a pair of cotton bloomers, and her undershirt and got up to train with Gohan, who was also shirtless.

They started off with just fists, and Bulma found it very hard not to stare in amazement as the two powerhouses of men tried to get the upper hand. It was also kind of a treat to see them both shirtless. They were both far more muscled than she'd realized under all those layers and cloaks.

Vegeta was shorter than Goku, but just as muscled so he looked thicker. His upper body was covered in shallow scars. With each punch, his bicep would flex and brace for impact. She'd never noticed before all the ways the body twisted and slide under the skin during combat, because she'd never seen two men fighting like this.

It went on, and on but she loved every moment of it. They were so evenly matched that neither seemed to be getting hurt badly, and she got to sit and watch, and wonder what it would feel like to have Vegeta's well muscled arms around her, or what it would feel like to run her hands across his broad chest.

And they both moved so fast- and with such grace that it was almost like watching someone dance. She imagined Vegeta was a good dancer. Before she knew it, her mind was wandering, and she was deep in a fantasy that made her flush red. Luckily, it was so warm in here that she didn't stand out. Everyone was flushed.

She was enjoying the fight so much, she was actually disappointed when Vegeta twisted Goku's arm behind his back and pinned him down. Goku shouted and slapped the floor hard, so Vegeta let go, and Bulma healed him.

When his soreness vanished, he looked over at Bulma, than to Unus. When he looked back at her, he smirked and raised a brow before nodding towards Goku. She realized with a start that she haddn't healed Goku yet, and did so right away.

Bulma looked over at Unus to see what Vegeta had somehow picked up from just her face. It took a moment, but she realized Unus wasn't flushed like the Northerners were. Had Vegeta seen her face and realized that since Bulma was used to the same heat, it meant she was flushing at something else? Embarrassed, Bulma looked down at her hands and away from the rest of the training. She didn't look up until a shout of pain grabbed her eyes. She just saw blood, and healed before she really registered what she was actually healing.

They'd switched to swords, and Goku had gotten a good hit in, cutting a huge gash on Vegeta's arm. He must have hit a big vein, for it to bleed that much. She jumped up and ran over to better see Vegeta and make sure the healing had worked, but of course it had.

"I'm okay." Vegeta assured her as she frantically wiped blood away from his forearm to see the clean, healed skin. She sighed in relief, and let go of his arm, her hands covered in blood.

They had to stop training now so the staff could clean the blood up off the floor. Bulma went back to her room to take a proper bath. Thankfully, the staff had started heating water by the fire in her room a little while ago so the bath was ready when she got there. She felt bad for them, having to lug all this hot water up the tower stairs.

They left her alone for this bath, which was so odd after the way they fussed over her the first time, Unus asked what was different.
"Prince Vegeta insisted we only help her bathe if she asked for help."

"Oh. He must have heard me complain to Nappa about it." Unus said, and gave an approving little nod. "He really does seem to be looking out for you." She mused. Bulma just smiled and enjoyed the feeling of being wrapped in warm water. The tub they used this time was copper, and they put it right by the fire, so Bulma was able to spend a solid hour in the bath, just enjoying the heat and comfort.

It was the first time she'd felt this relaxed since they got to the north. While an evening bath was a bit odd, she enjoyed it all the same. She was still in a good mood when they went to dinner, despite not being able to get a word in around all the loud northerns, she didn't have anything she wanted to say so badly. Not now. Not today.

After dinner, Vegeta approached Bulma and offerdher his arm. Goku was walking Gohan out, hand on his shoulder. Curious about the change, Bulma raised a brow at Vegeta.

"Gohan got some bad news about a girl he likes." He explained, and Bulma nodded in understanding.

After watching the training earlier, it felt very scandalous to walk with her arm wrapped around Vegeta bicep like this, the thick muscle just beneath her fingertips.

He'd definitely noticed her attraction to him earlier if his smug smirk was any indicator. It was a shame, because there was no chance for the two of them. Even if he did want her, it wasn't possible unless she gave up on the Isle of Life, and that wasn't going to happen. She'd be alone for the rest of her life before she'd abandon her home, and her people.

"Do you like the west tower alright?" He asked as they walked. She nodded and smiled at him, too deep in her own head to really respond properly.

"Good. The towns people keep sending us those pelts as gifts for you. There were more than enough to cover the floor, and more keep coming in."

She nodded again, and squeezed his arm to let him know she was listening. When they got to the top of the tower, he lingered. "You've been awful quiet today. Is it because I cut you off this morning?" She shook her head and thought about it for a long moment.

"You're worried, about your people aren't you?" He asked.

She nodded.
"I'd tell you not to worry, but that's useless. Just know that you, and everyone in the Isle of Life can count on the north's support."

She smiled thankfully up at him.
"We are counting on you." Than, she did something very ill advised, and she kissed him on the cheek before stepping into her room with Unus, and closing the door gently on his shocked, flushed face.

RIP

Hiromi Tsuru

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