Quick author note! This is mostly a fluffy chapter, but it does start with a nightmare involving some gruesome violence against a child- if this is not for you, just skip over the italicized intro and you are good to go. Thank you, and happy reading!

Oh Kami, not again.

'I'm just dreaming,' she told herself. 'This is just a dream.'

Bulma was once again trapped under a green sky. Blue puff ball trees were scattered across the mostly barren landscape.

Unease squeezed at her chest, refusing to release her. Her anxiety reached a new height as she heard a high-pitched laugh from behind her.

No way…that had to be…

She turned and saw him. Frieza.

Half of his body was mechanical, the other half that disgusting white form, pale as death.

Her eyes darted down to what, or who, he was holding in his hand…it was Gohan!

"L-let him go!" she managed to cry out. Her lungs were going to burst.

Frieza cackled with glee. He pointed a finger at Gohan's belly. His fingernail sliced from one side of little Gohan's stomach to the other.

"No!"

His insides started slipping out. Bulma felt vomit fighting its way up the back of her throat. Gohan just stared blankly ahead.

"You bore me," Frieza said, throwing the small Saiyan child to the side, his intestines trailing after him. "You, on the other hand…" he stepped forward, making his way toward Bulma. "Could be fun."

Vegeta stirred. The woman next to him was jerking around in her sleep, kicking the bed sheets off of her body in a frenzy. In the low light he could see Bulma was covered in a sheen of sweat. Her tiny ki was in a state of panic.

"Shhh, shhhh…" He never knew what to say, but still felt the urge to say something. He pushed her hair that was stuck to her forehead back, caressing her head. "Wake up…"

Her eyes bolted open, and she took a huge breath of air.

"That's it, it was just a dream." When he was sure she was truly coming out of it, he pulled her close. Her entire body was trembling. She clung to him as if he were her salvation.

He rested his chin on the top of her head, waiting for her breathing to even out.

"It…it was terrible," she finally told him, breaking the quiet. "Frieza was after me."

Vegeta's stomach sank at the mention of his name. He stroked her hair while she buried her head in his chest. He waited.

"He…killed Gohan in the most disgusting way…" she sniffled. "Kami, I don't know how my brain thinks of these things."

"Tell your brain that Frieza is dead," he chided half-heartedly. He couldn't force his own brain to comprehend that most nights.

Bulma pulled back from their embrace and wiped her eyes. Her nightmare really affected her. "Thank you for being here."

He shrugged because where else would he be? He liked staying in her bed. He enjoyed their passionate nights and sometimes tender mornings. He wanted to be close to her, to touch her, smell her, protect her. He enjoyed it more than he could say, so he didn't bother trying.

Bulma turned over and sat up, pushing a button on her bedside table. Dim, warm lights filled the room. He braced himself. "Can we…talk about…you know…"

He waited for her to clarify. He sure as hell wasn't going to volunteer.

She met his eye. "Can we talk about what happened to you?"

He sighed and pushed himself up into a seated position, leaning back against the headboard. "What do you want to know?"

"How did you end up working for Frieza? You're royal, right? So how did you end up working for him?" Her big blue eyes were curious as ever.

Vegeta frowned, thinking. "When I was young, around five years old, my father, King Vegeta the Third, gave me to Frieza."

She looked horrified. "'Gave'?"

He nodded. "At that point, we Saiyans were already forced into working for Frieza. My father was required to go along with Frieza's demands, and I was to be his little monkey plaything until he grew bored." Vegeta took a moment to gather his thoughts. "He never grew bored, though. I was, and I still am, unbreakable."

Bulma swallowed. "You're referring to…torture?"

He confirmed with a nod. Her eyes started welling up with tears. "Don't," he growled at her, temper flaring. "Don't do that. Don't you dare pity me."

"Vegeta…" she reached out to touch his cheek, and he remained rooted to the spot, unable to move. "It's not pity. I…I care about you." She bit her lip in thought. "I wish you hadn't been forced to go through that. But I understand that's what made you who you are."

He couldn't read her. Her eyes were sparkling in the low amber light. Whether it was from emotion or some deeper affection, he couldn't decipher it.

She pulled her hand back and he wished she hadn't.

"You're kind of a marvel," she told him, flopping back into her pillows. She seemed satisfied with his short history lesson.

"Oh? And how is that?" Vegeta took her cue and laid down beside her, turning toward her and propping himself up on his arm.

"Well…you're a warrior prince from another planet who is fighting to save the world…so that's pretty spectacular." She smiled at him, and his lungs betrayed him by ceasing to function. "We'll just ignore the whole 'you want to kill my best friend' thing."

"Woman, it's not my fault that your best friend is a braindead fool-"

She cut him off with a kiss, and he let her.

Her soft, warm lips dominated all of his thoughts and senses. She finally pulled away, eyes twinkling.

"Not to mention you're an amazing lover," she added.

He felt his face growing flushed. It was one thing to have sex, it was another to talk so candidly about it.

"How did you get to be so good in the bedroom, anyway, Mr. Warrior Prince?" she asked, nudging him with her elbow. "Give me all the juicy details."

He took a breath, trying to control his embarrassment. "I…have had a few…companions over the years."

"Oh, do tell!"

What is with her? One minute she wanted to talk about his tortuous childhood, the next she wanted an account of his sexual escapades?!

"Well, there are lots of people working on Frieza's ships. You can put two and two together."

She rolled her eyes at him, which was a very annoying habit of hers. "You're no fun!"

"I don't exactly want to hear about your previous exploits, so-"

"Oh that'd be a snoozefest anyway," she assured him with a wave of her hand. "All offense to Yamcha, he was a lousy partner in every sense of the word."

Vegeta grumbled about him under his breath, and Bulma gave him a funny look. "What was that?"

"I said you outclassed him anyway."

She laughed, giving his chest a playful push. "What's that mean?"

He heaved a sigh. She was really going to make him spell it out for her. "In most cultures, there are class systems. Here on Earth, for example, you have various levels of class based on wealth, fame, intelligence, and beauty." He paused eyeing her. "You have all of those in abundance. You are considered to be S class by this planet's standards, if not all planets' standards."

Her face flushed. That was interesting. Was she embarrassed?

"The weakling is, at best, just a peg above the peasant class. If you were on Planet Vegeta, you'd be fit for royalty-" he stopped himself but it was too late. He met her eye, worried about her reaction.

Bulma's face was still a bit pink from the compliments, and now she was smirking. Great. Just what he needed, to inflate her ego. "Fit for royalty, huh?"

He fell back onto the bed, forcing himself to look at the ceiling. "It's true."

She dimmed the lights and climbed into the crook of his shoulder, snuggling herself up to him. "Thanks for making me feel better."

Her breathing eased into a gentle pace. Steady. Calm. She was asleep within minutes.

Vegeta exhaled a breath that he had been holding for a while and pulled her closer.

"Vegeta, dear, could you help me out in the garden after dinner?"

Vegeta nodded, not looking up from his plate of pork chops.

"What do you need help with, mom?" Bulma asked, curiosity always getting the best of her.

"I'm getting another dinosaur rescue and I really need someone who can help me bring it inside to the menagerie."

"What?! Oh mom, come on…"

Vegeta kept eating, not paying much mind to the two women. He wasn't sure what a dinosaur was but he was sure it would be no trouble.

"Honey be careful, the last time you rescued a dinosaur it nearly took Yamcha's arm off," Dr. Briefs said from behind a Science Monthly magazine.

Vegeta clenched his jaw.

"Dad-"

"Well you see, dear, that's why I'm not asking Yamcha. I'm asking Vegeta." Panchy smiled at her husband, her tone sickly sweet. Vegeta chuckled. These women were something else.

He pushed his plate away from himself. "Alright, show me to this dinosaur."

It turned out a dinosaur was some sort of large, scaly beast with sharp teeth. It was something that would give trouble to the humans, but was as simple as handling livestock for Vegeta.

Although he did get reprimanded for handling it less than gently…

"Vegeta dear, we are rescuing this creature, please refrain from punching it in the face! Thank you!"

He sat down at the kitchen table with a family sized bag of Cheesy Puffz that Bulma enjoyed so much. She'd probably kill him for eating them all but to the victor go the spoils, after all…

He was munching them when he saw movement from the corner of his eye. He reacted quickly, snatching the bag and lifting it up out of the air.

What the?!

That dark feline creature was suddenly up on the table, batting his paws up in the air after the bag of Cheesy Puffz!

"What are you doing, you little beast?" He had never seen it anywhere but Dr. Briefs' shoulder before.

Scratch sat on his hind legs, tilting his head to the side. "Mrow."

"I do not believe felines are meant to be eating Cheesy Puffz," he sternly told the cat.

Scratch stood up and made a rumbly purring sound, rubbing his head under Vegeta's elbow.

"Hey! Stop that this instant!"

The cat continued making the strange sound, rubbing himself all over whatever parts of Vegeta's arm he could reach.

Vegeta leapt up and away from him. "I know your game, cat," he hissed venomously. "You think you're so adorable. Cuteness means nothing to me!"

Scratch blinked slowly at him with his huge eyes, his pointed ears fluttering for a moment. "Meow?"

"You heard me! You cannot have my Cheesy Puffz!"

To show his strength to the lesser being, he plucked a puff from the bag and chomped it in front of him.

Scratch moved quickly, nearly fast enough to deceive Vegeta's eyes. Vegeta jumped back, hopping onto the kitchen counter to avoid whatever attack the beast would unleash.

His eye twitched and his jaw went slack.

The cat wasn't attacking at all.

"Mrow…"

There he lay on the kitchen table, belly up, paws up to his chest. Exposing his vulnerable abdomen to Vegeta, imploring him with his large, charming eyes. He had never seen such a thing in his entire life.

"You truly are a foul creature."

Vegeta dropped a few orange puffs down on the table and fled the room.

Thank you all so much for the kind comments, you seriously make my day! Sorry about the long wait, I've had a lot of irl stuff going on but I'm doing well and should be on track to finishing this fic. I also *may* be working on some AU projects as well...follow me on twitter electricowl_ if you want to hear more musings about all that. Thanks again for reading, thanks for the kudos, thanks for the comments, and thanks for existing! :)