The next morning Vegeta woke Bulma up at the same time as usual - just as he'd promised. And, without any indication that he was even considering the agreement they had made the night before, he ordered her to get ready so they could begin their search for the next ball.

"Oh, we aren't doing that today." Bulma replied with a grumpy yawn as she pulled herself up from the floor. This was the second consecutive morning that Vegeta had woken her up by prodding her from the couch, and she had no idea what it was that put him in such a sour mood so early.

"What are you talking about?" He demanded with a scowl.

She was about to yell back, but when the Bluehead stood and got a good look at him, her demeanor softened. "Hey are you okay?" She asked. "You look like you didn't get any sleep."

His facial expression was much harder than usual this morning and his hair, which was usually styled in a slick spike, looked nearly disheveled with unruly strands poking out in different directions. It almost looked like he had been tossing and turning all night. And if this wasn't enough to make her think he hadn't gotten any rest, then his reaction to her question certainly did it. As soon as she asked, the saiyan's face soured more than it already was, and he angrily unsheathed the whites of his teeth. "I am fine!" He snapped. "Get ready, Woman!"

"We can't search for the next ball today." Bulma repeated, stretching her arms over her head as her body came to terms with being awake.

"Oh? What makes you so bold?"

"We need to go back to my parents' house." Bulma replied. "The plans I had conducted for my project all looked good yesterday. I'm ready to start on the next phase of work - to bring it all to fruition."

"Does this mean you will tell me what it is you are creating?" Vegeta's glare relented - but only by a tad.

"Not if you're going to wake me up every morning by knocking me off the couch and yelling at me!" Bulma hissed back, turning her nose up at the man in front of her.

"Why should we need to go back to gather supplies?" Vegeta grumbled. "You can just use that machine from the other night. Have your father transfer them to you."

"That won't work for this!" The Bluehead was folding up the blanket she'd been sleeping under, fighting back a yawn as she tidied up the couch. "That receiver is only useful for small things, such as paper. It breaks the substance down into microscopic particles so they can travel at a quick rate before arriving to its destination. The tools I need are too dense to be able to do such a thing, and then re-materialize with accuracy. We have to pick everything up in person."

"And how long is that going to take?!" The saiyan crossed his arms, looking more in that moment like a spoiled child than the brute of a man that he always boasted to be.

"It's going to take us a couple of days to get back there." Bulma sighed, rolling her eyes before the saiyan had a chance to interject. "Look, we've already found three balls. It's been less than a week, and we're almost half way done. We'll get the rest in no time, but if you even want to think about my project then we need to get the supplies for it. And if you want the project even faster, then you'll give me some time to work on it at my home lab before we start traveling again."

"My patience is wearing thin." Vegeta growled through tight lips.

"Well, maybe that's something you should work on." Bulma replied. "I'm making myself some breakfast before me leave, I'm starving."

.

The day passed without the two exchanging too many words. In fact, it was Bulma that did most of the talking, while Vegeta had taken to communicating with only facial expressions and growls.

Any sign of deep thought or softness that he had been looking at her with the night before was now gone, and in his eyes was a hostility that came off as both exaggerated and childish each time his hissed under his breath. He hadn't been acting like this at all when he'd left her alone in the bathroom the night before, so where had this come from? The Bluehead might have assumed that his sour mood came from her announcement that they needed to head back to West City, except that he'd been so obviously moody even before she'd told him. Something must have happened overnight – but what?

He seemed to be lost in his own aggravated thought as the two ate breakfast in silence. And, after Bulma capsulated the house and the two took off in her pink jet, Vegeta was quick to move to the cabin while she directed the plane towards West City. He spent the entire flight working out in the back of the plane, in the same area that Bulma had spent so much time working on her plans the day before.

She could hear him back there – huffing, growling, and muttering under his breath as he pushed himself through a set of one-armed pushups – but he never uttered a word in her direction. Bulma wasn't sure why this bothered her so much. She'd been quick to realize that he was a man of few words just after they'd met, but he'd been speaking to her more than ever during the last couple of days they'd spent together. Now he seemed to be almost irritated by her presence, and it left her with a ridiculously sour taste in her mouth that made her feel silly in just thinking about it.

At the end of the day, after they had landed and set up camp for the night, the two sat across from each other as they quietly ate the dinner that Bulma had prepared. She had been growing increasingly frustrated with his attitude throughout the day, and now that the sun had set and they were getting ready to wind down for the night, she wasn't so sure if she could take any more.

"Well." Bulma finally said, pushing her empty plate away and glaring at the man across from her.

Staring down at his plate as if it'd just said something insulting to him, Vegeta was stubbornly taking his time chewing on a piece of meat. He'd heard what she said but didn't bother responding, furrowing his eyebrows as he considered what the rest of the night would consist of.

"You've been ignoring me all day." Her voice was a few octaves higher than normal, as if the words actually stung to say out loud.

Finally - finally - he looked up at her, gulping down his food before licking teeth clean. "Craving my attention, are you?" He said, unable to resist the snide comment from escaping his lips. Despite how frustrated he was with the girl in front of him and how determined he was to make some kind of point with his muteness, teasing her had been so easy in this moment. She'd set herself up for such a comeback, and it had just been too good of an opportunity to pass up.

"I couldn't care less if you never give me attention again." Bulma retaliated, but the narrowing of her eyes seemed to indicate that she felt quite opposite of what she was currently spouting. In fact, she actually looked a bit hurt... "I just find it interesting, is all... Don't you dare think, for even a second, that I'll forget about the promise you made simply because you're acting so hostile towards me."

That was just it - Vegeta leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. He really had been acting hostile towards her, but it hadn't necessarily been intentional. He knew he was being selfish, and he knew he was trying to make some kind of point to her, and yet he couldn't help it. There was a lot more to it than simply wanting an escape from what he'd vowed to do the night before. He wasn't a coward - he had made a promise, and he would stick to it.

What made him act so bitter - so silently moody - was a warm cocktail of tension that didn't quite have one specific cause. It was an array of things that put the saiyan so on edge, and the fact that he hadn't gotten any sleep the night before only served to exacerbate his foul mood.

To think that he hadn't slept at all also added to his frustration, because it was the girl in front of him that had kept him up all night long. Thoughts of how oddly intimate the night before had felt with her, and in more ways than just rubbing healing serum into her wounds. The fact that he had so instinctively wanted to care for her when she was hurt - how thoughtlessly quick he'd been to try and soothe her worried when he'd realized that she was afraid.

… The alarm that flashed through his mind when he saw her getting knocked in the sea by the ugly creature…

No, he hated to think it. But last night, as he pulled himself on the bed and closed his eyes, Vegeta made a startling realization that he had grown fond on the Bluehead sitting in front of him...

He'd developed fondness for female creatures before, though it had been quite some time since he'd allowed himself such a pleasure. The last time had been when he was still a teenager. And even then, he couldn't associate a name, let alone a face, with any of those girls. It had only been a handful of encounters at the most, and long ago his memory had grouped all of them together as a nothing more than a disgusting lump of regret.

Four had been willing - or, as willing at one could be when just trying to find a distraction as a slave on a warship. They'd each served him dinner in his quarters at one point or another, and each of them had flirted with the then-pubescent saiyan the entire time they'd unloaded their trays. Their behavior had all been the same, giggling with feigned bashfulness as they cooed words of adoration about his looks.

His raging hormones had depleted his rationale enough that he'd indulged in their cheeky suggestions - but on his terms. He'd snogged them, gotten close enough to them that he understood what it felt to have a bosom pressing against his chest. But instead of continuing into something further, he'd always pulled back to demand that they continue their desperate compliments if they even wanted to think about receiving more. His adolescent body chemistry may have reveled in the feel of their lips and skin, but their words of praise resonated deeper with the disgraced saiyan's blood – far more than any physical touch ever could.

It was his rightful place to receive such comments, and if he'd still been on his home planet he would have been hearing these types of praises every minute of every day. He'd been robbed of that, but these wenches were willing to give it. So, he would demand more - more words of affection, more worship on his strength and looks. He'd sit back on his bed and watch, amused by their words as each girl listed every desirable trait they could. And, when they began speaking in circles and repeating observations they'd already made, he'd crudely send them away.

Not one of those girls had meant anything to him, but the fifth girl had been so willing and enthusiastic – so blunt with her attraction - that he'd gone much farther with her than even he had intended. Waking up a few hours later and thinking about what he'd done had disgusted the prince to the point that he'd spent the next four hours scrubbing himself in the decontamination chamber, trying to purify his skin of its soiled state.

None of them were worthy. Not a single one of those touchy females. Never in his life would he meet another being deserving of his flesh, of his spit, of his blood. He decided it on that very day, years ago, after skipping his first meal and scouring at his skin with a sponge so hard that it bled. If he couldn't have one of his own then he would simply never indulge again. …It was his duty, the last ounce of dignity he could maintain, considering his disgraced title. It would be his legacy...

No - while he may have been fond of what they said to him in the moment, he had never cared for any of those girls. And after the encounter with that fifth girl, Vegeta developed a reputation for violently casting the slaves away if they had enough of a nerve to even bat a seductive lash at him. He'd never cared for any woman, and he never would…

At least, he didn't think he ever would. But last night, as he lay in bed and replayed the last several hours with that Bluehaired woman, he realized he'd been wrong in this premonition. He hadn't just become fond of Bulma - he'd felt as if he'd yell his voice out in trying to warn her to get away from the sea. He'd considered her well-being before his own when coming up with a battle plan against that wretched sea worm. He'd felt so strangely proud to see her shooting it with that weapon of hers, so livid when he'd thought she might drown in the clutches of that disgusting creature… So pleasantly relieved when he knew she was okay...

... He cared for her...

"Vegeta!"

The tone in Bulma's loud voice was enough to tell him that she'd been trying to get his attention for some time. He was still leaning back in his chair, and his arms were still folded over his chest. The Bluehead had nearly crawled on the table at this point as she scowled at him. "Hey!" She glared. "Vegeta!"

"What is it?!" He snapped back, pushing himself up from his relaxed position and growling at the woman in front of him.

"You said you'd tell me about your past!" She scolded. "You promised me!"

"Alright, alright! Enough of this! Stop with your whining!"

"I'm not whining!" The Bluehead said. "You've been ignoring me!"

"Just... stop it, already!" Vegeta bit his lip to keep from lashing out. She made a good point, but it still didn't sit well with him to be regarded in such a disrespectful manner... He took in a deep breath, clamping his eyes shut as if he were afraid that one of them might bulge out if he didn't. "Okay." He finally sighed, trying to think of a good starting point. "What exactly is it you want to know, again?"

"I want to know where you're from! What happened to Goku? How did he end up on this planet? Is there anyone coming after you, and why do you want the dragonballs?!"

"Okay." Vegeta muttered, taking a moment to consider the best way to approach the subject. He'd been trying to decide this all day - how he would convey his history to her without having to go into too much detail, and without him reliving so many disgusting events that he ended up in an even worse mood. Finally he sighed again, and he opened his eyes. "You are a smart one, after all. You were right in deducting that the one you know as Goku came from the same planet as me. But he did not go by such a name to my people. His birth name was Kakarot."

He was only twenty seconds into his explanation, and already he'd had to tear his eyes away from hers and stare at the table instead. The curiously shocked expression on her face was too distracting for him to look at while he spoke. "He and I are both native to a planet titled Vegeta, though he was years younger than I and we never formally met."

"Planet Vegeta?"

"Yes."

"But... isn't Vegeta your name?"

"Yes. Why?"

"You were named after the planet, then?"

"No, the planet was named after my family." Vegeta rolled his eyes, an act of exasperation of having to explain such a concept - as if she should have already known. But Bulma could see that he was starting to ease in his posture as he spoke, and she began to take note that he enjoyed speaking of his lineage far more than he wanted to let on.

He then went into explaining with more detail how society on his planet was established. Those who were born on Planet Vegeta made up a race known as the saiyan, and the saiyans were categorized into different rankings based on their strength and skill. Apparently, as he described it, one's value was based simply on how strong they were, and the higher the strength, the higher the social class. All of this was interesting enough to imagine, but what Bulma hadn't been expecting at all was when Vegeta nonchalantly mentioned that he and his family were among the highest in rank.

"So." Bulma said thoughtfully, trying to imagine a society that was orchestrated in such a way. "You and your family were the highest ranking... Which means you are-"

"It means that my father was King, and I was to one day take on such a title as well." Vegeta muttered, and with this the Bluehead could see that his voice was taking on a bitter tone once more. Bulma could easily tell that something must have gone wrong for him to be using past-tense verbs, and she knew she was running the risk of striking a sensitive spot with him, but she couldn't keep herself from prying further.

"Vegeta... what happened? Why aren't you king now?"

She had been a bit worried that this question might set him off enough that he'd announce their discussion was over before storming off to his room, but he didn't even blink at her words. It was as if he had been waiting for this moment, and when she asked her question he looked up from the table and into her eyes. "I initially was not planning to share this with you, because I didn't want it to overwhelm your simple brain. But I see now that you won't let the matter drop until you know, and perhaps you're intelligent enough to grasp the concept after all."

"Don't insult me." She chimed in, but Vegeta continued without acknowledging her comment.

"To put things bluntly, my planet was destroyed by a tyrant. Only a few saiyans were spared from perishing along with the planet, including Kakarot and myself."

He said it so matter of factly that Bulma felt compelled to try and mask her own surprise. Her eyebrows threatened to rise and her lungs instinctively expanded to let in a gasp of air, but she tightened her lips and resisted the reaction. Instead she watched him, wide eyed and blinking, waiting for him to continue.

Vegeta had been expecting a tangent of questions to be thrown his way after announcing his planet's fate, but when they didn't come he licked his bottom lip. Pleased that she was giving him leverage to detail his story at his own pace, he continued.

"The one who destroyed our planet is well-known among the universe. Much like myself, he was born into a family of elite warriors known as the Cold Empire. They outranked even the strongest of the saiyans, as much as it disgusts me to admit. While he and his direct family were strong, they were few. We were able to hold up well during battle because we outnumbered them so greatly. After years of brutality, when my father was a boy, a treaty was established between our empires. We both agreed to cease with fighting in exchange for certain deeds. To simply put it, we were of use to one another."

"How?" Bulma breathed. Her heart was racing - this all was so surreal to hear. She felt as if she were listening to the screenplay of a brilliant film rather than the tale of a mysterious man's past. Without even knowing it, she was on the edge of her seat, leaning closer to the handsome man in front of her as if she might otherwise miss a word he said.

"As I said already, there were few in their empire. Not more than ten men. The elites of their race were brutally strong, but all of the commoners were as weak as the people living on Earth. What the elites had in strength, they lacked in numbers. They required an army, and that we could easily provide."

"So the saiyans began to work for the Cold Empire." Bulma sighed, her heart panging with dread. She began to understand the doomed direction that this story was heading in.

"Right. The commoners born under the Cold Empire were laughably weak, but they were skilled intellectually, and were one of the most technologically advanced empires in all of the Universe. In exchange for our labor, Planet Vegeta was provided with the same technology that was being used by them."

"But they grew tired of sharing." The Bluehead guessed softly, lowering her eyes from Vegeta's face. She held her breath, waiting for him to respond, but silence only fell between them instead. She listened to the wind blowing outside, the clatter of some night animal collecting seeds for dinner by the window. She listened to Vegeta's deep breaths as he sat across from her, but he did not respond.

Finally, after what felt like minutes without hearing his voice, Bulma looked up from her hands to see him staring at her. He was watching her, with a look on his face that was impressed – probably at how she'd guessed the ending to his tale. Yet he also looked nearly mental - as if he were on the verge of becoming overwhelmed with thoughts that were hounding his mind. When the two locked eyes his pupils seemed to come back to reality, and he nodded. "Yeah."

Bulma bit her lip. This was more than she'd ever been expecting to hear, and yet there was still so much more that she felt she needed to know. How had Vegeta escaped such a fate that the rest of his planet faced? How had Goku ended up on Earth at an age so young that he didn't even remember his previous life? Was the one who was coming after him a member of the Cold Empire? She needed to know, but she just couldn't bring herself to ask Vegeta - not now.

Not when he'd already told her so much.

All she could tell with the insight she now had, was that it was most likely he wanted the dragonballs so he could exact revenge... She was sure of it. "An entire planet..." The Bluehead whispered, more to herself than to the man in front of her, thinking in horror of what such a fate must be like.

"Do you want to know more about the saiyan race?" Vegeta suddenly snapped, jumping from his chair. He was speaking loudly now, but he didn't seem angry at all. In fact, he sounded excited. As if he'd just come up with a brilliant idea!

"Vegeta," Bulma said softly, looking up to watch as he made a dash across the room.

"I can tell you what saiyans are capable of. What it means to be a member of an ancient warrior race." He said, a laugh lacing his tone. "In fact, I'll show you - it's far too great to limit to simple words."

With that he pulled the door open and marched outside, and Bulma ran after him. "Vegeta!" She called, stopping in the doorway and watching as he marched across the grass.

"Watch and see what a true saiyan is capable of!" He called.

Where was he coming from? What was with the sudden change of mood? The Bluehead clutched the doorframe, feeling uneasy as the scene unfolded in front of her.

"There is no full moon out tonight." He called, looking down at his wrist as if he were checking the time. He placed his finger on it, clicking a button on a device that Bulma had never noticed him wearing before. As she watched, still standing in the doorway as a dark feeling of dread began to set in, something large seemed to shoot from the saiyan and into the sky. She looked up, and her eyes widened to see that there was now a large, round moon in the sky, where the crescent moon had once been.

"Are you ready to see what saiyans are capable of?" Vegeta called. He nearly sounded like a mischievous child that was getting ready to do something bad, his tone excited and ready as he reveled in the knowledge of what he was about to do. He laughed eagerly, balling his hands into fists.

The Bluehead looked back at Vegeta, who was gazing up at the moon now with his arms held out to his sides. "Don't!" She called in horror, remembering much too well what would happen to Goku during such circumstances. Her core was suddenly quivering with panic, her mind racing as she quickly rushed to think of what she could do to survive the night…

It was clear from her reaction that she had seen this happen before, but Vegeta was too far gone to take note of the terror in her voice. The saiyan could feel his skin starting to warm as he continued to stare up at the moon, taking in its shape, absorbing the light that was glistening down on him.

Suddenly Bulma covered her head protectively and broke into a run for the nearby woods, knowing that she'd be too easy of a target if she tried to seek refuge in the capsule home.

Vegeta noted her passing by, but he was too distracted to do anything to stop her. As he continued gazing up at the full moon he began to feel his muscles twitch. His blood was growing so hot that it seemed to steam the walls of his veins, a ringing in his ears as his body chemistry rapidly changed. He could feel it - the hairs shooting from every pore of his body, his skin pleasantly burning from the stretch. He blinked as his vision grew sharper, and he looked down to see that he was rising higher off the ground.

"He did it on purpose!" Bulma panted angrily, crawling over a fallen tree stump as she made her way as deep into the woods as she could. She knew too well that she would only have a few seconds before he completed his transformation and would be mindlessly wrecking destruction in his path. She needed to make sure that, no matter what, she didn't find herself in his way.

But, to her horror, she could already hear the loud foot steps approaching her from behind as she ran. How could he do this?! How could he knowingly inflict such a thing on himself, with no regard to her safety at all?! Bulma couldn't help but to feel a swell of betrayal brewing in her stomach as she ran, thinking that she'd never forgive him for turning the night into such a struggle to survive.

She had no way of telling how old Vegeta was, but she knew he was a lot closer to her age than Goku had been, which meant he was likely stronger with his experience. He'd said he'd been the strongest on his planet, hadn't he?! How would that equate now that he had become a giant ape?! Goku had been so dangerous after he transformed - even as a child!

She was racing for cover behind a large tree when she felt it - something warm and large wrapping around her figure. She let out a scream, thinking that she would either be crushed from his tight grip, or that he would quickly cast her across the sky in a mindless act of rage. But neither happened, and instead she was being lifted meters into the air. Bulma clutched the inside of his fingers, gasping desperately as she tried to think of what she could do to get away. She could feel the sensation of her body growing heavier as he lifted her even higher into the air, and when the Bluehead finally opened her eyes, she was looking right into the face of a large ape.

She blinked, too overwhelmed to think as she waited for what would inevitably happen.

He was watching her, staring back at her with his giant red eyes. Looking at her so deeply that it seemed to penetrate her skin and left her feeling as if he had somehow cracked her mind open and was now reading her thoughts. So much time passed that he watched her that Bulma wondered if nothing might happen after all. Then, he opened his large snout. Instead of a deranged animalistic call as she had come to expect from one of these large apes, a single word came from his throat instead. "Bulma."

His body being as large as it was meant that his voice came out so loud that it made her eardrums throb, and she jerked in his hand from the shock of it. She bit her lip, cringing before looking back up at his hairy face. "Wh-What?"

But he didn't respond, still staring at her as if lost in thought.

This was different. Never had Goku spoken an articulate word when he was in this state. He had always acted as if he had no memory of his friends at all, with only chaos and destruction seeming to be his natural instinct. But here stood Vegeta, terrifying, hairy, and large, and he was calmly watching her after speaking her name.

"You... You recognize me?"

His eyes flashed, and he looked at her as if he wanted to snap "of course!", but no words left his mouth. Instead, he gave her one last exasperated look as if she were blind to the obvious, before pulling her back from his face. Bulma let out a screech, having nearly grown calm under his gaze, and she clamped down on his fingers once again.

She hadn't been expecting it when he pulled his hand up to place her on his shoulder. The Bluehead, aware of how high she was in the air and terrified at the prospect of falling, scurried over to Vegeta's large neck and grabbed two handfuls of thick brown fur for leverage. The ape didn't even hiss as she yanked on his hair, and Bulma couldn't help but wonder if he could even feel such a thing with how large he was.

Perhaps she was wrong in assuming such a thing, though, because as her eyes clamped shut and she counted back from ten, she felt something. His large hand had reached up, and he was now dragging a single rubbery fingertip across her back. Her blue eyes popped open, gazing out at the night sky as he slid his finger over her body. But there was no malice in his touch. In fact, it was almost as if he were… trying to sooth her?!

He began to walk then. Now, instead of yanking on his hair, she was hugging his neck. Her whole body was encompassed by his thick fur as he moved. She was quickly understanding that he had no intention of actually hurting her, and she stared out at the forest below with sobered thoughts… Now that she was able to think about it, Vegeta was a giant ape - just as Goku had become - but he wasn't destroying everything around him in a primal act of chaos like her friend had... In fact, he had even recognized her, and in his own way he had told her not to be scared... It was as if he had managed to somehow maintain his consciousness despite his change... But how? How could it be?

"How long will you stay like this?" Bulma whispered, and she was surprised that he even heard her with how breathlessly she spoke.

"All night." He replied, and his booming voice came out with a tone that indicated he was trying not to speak so loud this time.

She nodded her understanding, and finally she summoned the courage to look ahead. "Oh," She gasped. It seemed that they were so close to the stars as she stared out at the forest below. The lights from the moonlit sky cascading down upon the sleeping wildlife, reflecting off the trees in a way she had never imagined before. "It's so pretty..." She breathed, hugging his fur tighter just to ensure she was secure…

… After his transformation had completed and he'd turned for the Bluehead, he could tell by her reaction that it was obvious she'd seen the great ape formation before. It was clear that Kakarot had changed in front of her – Vegeta could tell with how desperately she had been trying to get away, and how violently she was shaking when he had taken her into his hand after catching her. But Kakarot had been a low-class brute – there was no way he would have been able to control himself during such a state. Of course she was frightened! The fool had likely tried to kill her. He couldn't help but wonder how she had avoided such a fate, but now was not the time to ask.

To know that she had already been aware that a saiyan could become a great ape came as an unexpected disappointment to Vegeta. He was surprised, even at himself, of how much he had wanted to be the one to introduce her to the concept – to introduce her to this completely different aspect of being…

Perhaps she may have already known that such a capability existed, but it was obvious that she only knew of the destruction a Great Ape could cause. She had no idea what else it could entail… And so Vegeta began to walk through the forest with her, his head hanging above the trees, trying to give the woman on his shoulder a good view of what things were like from his perspective. She would never be able to change form the way he could, but perhaps she might still be able to understand the power that came with the transformation…

He has restrained from speaking to her any more than necessary. Even his voice, magnified and booming at his current size, was enough to make her heart pound so hard that he thought she might keel over. So he simply had given her a slight rub to indicate that she shouldn't be concerned about her wellbeing, and then he'd begun his stroll.

That night he walked her around the entire forest, which only took a couple of hours with his large strides, and the woman hadn't uttered more than a few words. She hadn't said anything for nearly an hour. When he made it back to where the capsule house was located, he had expected Bulma to jump from where she was and eagerly await him to put her back down in the grass, but she didn't move.

The ape closed his eyes and focused on her aura. It had been so clear that she'd been afraid earlier that he hadn't even bothered to trace it. But now, as he narrowed in on her ki – so warm and calm - he recognized it to be the same aura she always had when she was asleep.

Vegeta stepped even closer to the capsule house, taking the opportunity to sit down near a large tree that was settled on the boundary of forest. The house was about twenty meters away, and as he lowered himself towards the ground he knew that Bulma would jump at the prospect of being so close to the grass. But she didn't even move.

Curiously, Vegeta lifted his large hand and carefully placed his open palm against his shoulder. He felt her – laying down and nuzzled into his fur, and he quickly retracted.

It was true – she really had fallen asleep on him…

Intoxicated with the light of the moon, which his dark fur was still thirstily sucking up, and amazed that she had even been able to become so relaxed during their walk, Vegeta didn't even think to block her warm ki away like he was usually so quick to do. Instead he allowed the sensation to linger, trailing through every synapse of his spine and pumping through his veins, and he pondered on the girl that was now carelessly dozing into his hairy skin…

...This little Earth woman really had such a comforting aura when she wasn't upset, and it seemed that the more he encountered this sensation, the more satisfying it was to feel... The more difficult it was to let it go…

.

.

...Dawn was settling upon the field, and Vegeta could feel the soft rays of of the morning light clapping against his eyelids. He turned his head as he stirred, and in his movement his chin nudged against something firm. The saiyan opened his eyes to see that Bulma was laying against his chest, her arms wrapped loosely around his muscular frame. He took in a sharp breath, which caught in his throat, as realization fell on him.

The last thing he remembered was admiring how warm her ki was...

Now the sun was rising and he was laying with her in the grass, no longer in the form of an ape. He must have fallen asleep, and yet he had no recollection of it. One of his arm was thrown over her, as if he'd encouraged her current position at some point during the night.

He turned his head to see that they were laying in the same spot that he had sat down at the night before. From where they were he could see the capsule house, the lights still on inside as if it had been waiting for their return all night long.

But how?

Transforming wasn't exactly a comfortable sensation – not even to the experienced saiyan. How had he managed to revert back from being an ape without it alarming either of them? He didn't remember it at all! With how happily Bulma was snoozing against him, it was easy to suspect that his regression hadn't even woken her. In fact, he knew that she had slept through it, because there was no way that she wouldn't have made a big scene from the ordeal…

The next thing Vegeta realized, as he continued to lay with this Woman, was that he still felt so numbingly pleasant in that moment, her soothing ki surrounding him as he pondered everything. It was then that he remembered that he hadn't blocked her aura away at all after reading it the night before, and he'd been drenched with such warmth ever since. The act of sensing ki was interesting, indeed…

But, then again, he couldn't determine if this was even normal for sensing ki, since the girl laying on him was the only person he had done it with so far. All he knew was that it was far too intoxicating.

She suddenly let out a soft moan, nuzzling her cheek deeper against his chest as she seemed to revel in the feel of his form. This act was enough to create a pit in Vegeta's stomach. It was clear that she would be stirring for her sleep before long, and he didn't even want to think of the questions she'd have for him when that happened. What he knew most in that moment was that he wanted to be as far from this position with her as possible before she had the chance to open her eyes.