Couples Retreat

Authors Note: I want to thank everyone again for the positive feedback. These next two chapters are a bit short, so they'll be posted in quick succession.

Chapter 6

Survival mode kicked in immediately as Vegeta watched his ship unexpectedly propel into the atmosphere after it had been struck by lightning. For all his missions and battles across the universe, he had never been in a situation like this. No supplies or clothes on his back and now he had his wife to protect who was in a state of shock at their predicament. Vegeta quickly observed the lighting appeared to be striking the water behind them and any spot without trees. Why was it not hitting the trees? The forests that surrounded what had been their campsite had not been hit once since the storm began. Vegeta put his arm around Bulma's waist and quickly dashed over to the woods. Maybe these trees could shield them from the fire and bolts shooting down from the sky.

As the two got deeper into the woods, the sun finally disappeared behind the horizon and night had fallen. Vegeta remained calm as he stood in the darkness planning his next move as the winds picked up and the rain hammered down on him and Bulma. It seemed he was correct, for some reason the trees did seem to repel the lightning which was striking the clearing at an alarming rate a short distance away. He also observed they gave off a faint trace of ki. Maybe their energy and connection via roots to more energy deeper inside the planet was why they repelled the storms.

Bulma was not handling the turn of events well. As Vegeta set her down, she realized she couldn't see even very far around her in the near pitch blackness of the woods combined with the wind and rain. She was afraid, cold and completely exposed to Kami knows what creatures were lurking in the woods.

This is all my fault, she thought while shivering. I didn't get the storm cycle correct and now we're both going to die on this planet.

The gravity of the situation, her lack of dress, being in this situation possibly because of her planning and being lost in general began to overwhelm her. She started sobbing quietly, hoping Vegeta wouldn't hear her. The raging gusts of wind seemed to cover her sobs. Instinctively, she tightly wrapped her hands around Vegeta's abdomen, her chest heaving and her breath speeding up. Vegeta realized his wife was having a panic attack during this storm. It was imperative to find shelter now.

Vegeta looked around the trees as the wind violently shook the tree branches and lightning flashed in the distance. As luck would have it, the lightning briefly illuminated a large hollow in one of the giant trees near the two. It looked large enough for two people to sit in. Vegeta picked up Bulma again in his arms and flew into the hollow above them. As rainwater dripped off of Vegata's body, he took a sigh of relief. The hollow was a bit cramped but proved to be a decent shelter for now away from the devastating storm. As he collected himself Bulma grabbed onto him again, still sobbing uncontrollably.

"I fucked up, Vegeta." she cried. " I fucked up so bad."

Bulma had comforted him so many times in the past. When he was injured from training too hard or the rare times when he had panic attacks and nightmares of his own. Now it was his turn to comfort Bulma. He gently put his own arms around her soaked back as she cried into his shoulder.

"Bulma... just breathe." Vegeta whispered to her as he held her in his arms. After she collected herself somewhat, she looked up at him as he wiped her tears and brushed her hair to the side of her face.

"I... I thought I figured out the weather patterns before we left. I thought... I thought this wouldn't happen." she said as her voice cracked. Still wrapping his left arm around her waist, Vegeta used his right to stroke her wet, blue hair.

"You didn't cause this storm, Bulma. Just keep breathing... I am here." Vegeta said as she wept bitterly.

"Keep holding me... I'm so scared." she whimpered.

"I do not sense any high levels of ki in these woods. Even if something is out there, you know I can handle it." Vegeta said as he tilted Bulma's head up by her chin so she could look at him. Her eyes were red from the crying. " The only danger we face is the storm itself, and we are safe from it inside here for now..."

He kept holding her close as lightning crashed outside. After a few minutes passed, the lightning seemed to be happening less frequent, but the rain was still heavily pouring down.

"Bulma... "Vegeta started. "Why did the ship fly off?"

Bulma backed up to sit down on the opposite side of the hollow from Vegeta. Her feet and legs pushed against the side of the tree where her husband was sitting cross legged. She thought for a moment. She was slowly starting to calm down. So many catastrophic things had happened in such a short time, she didn't even think about the ship.

"Oh shit..." Bulma said as she thought some more. "The ship has an emergency setting if the power gets overloaded in a dangerous environment. It's a shutdown feature I put in the ship's software in case someone or something tries to destroy it when no one is inside...it'll fly off when it's unmanned then eventually, it should return to its' previous spot."

"Well... that's good news." Vegeta muttered. "That means it will come back...but when?"

"I programmed it, and I can't even remember...some genius I am, huh?" Bulma lamented. "I'd guess eight to twelve hours after it launched..."

"And what if it doesn't return?" Vegeta asked, growing slightly anxious himself.

"Then... I guess our friends would come looking for us when we don't return to Earth..." Bulma answered. The thought was so ridiculous and embarrassing she had to nervously laugh at the thought.

Vegeta, however, was mortified at the idea of Goku and who knows who else seeing him and his wife in a state of undress.

"If that happens then I don't want to be found. I would rather live the rest of my days here than face such humiliation." he said looking out into the rainy woods outside.

Bulma sighed. Vegeta was just being Vegeta. And maybe coming here was a stupid idea on her part. Bulma stared at the ground inside the hollow.

"I guess it's my turn to apologize now, Vegeta." Bulma began. "I obviously did a really bad job planning out this trip. I'm so sorry all of this is happening."

Before Vegeta had a chance to respond, the couple heard creaking from outside the tree. Soon the upper half of the tree fell, exposing the two to rain and wind once again. Bulma looked down and sulked as cold water poured over her once again. She wasn't sure if she could muster any more tears. Suddenly, the rain stopped pelting her. She looked up and saw it was still raining around her but no longer on her. She looked up and saw a tree branch above her with enough leaves to give her some cover. She saw that it was Vegeta holding it over her, but he was getting soaked by the rain with no coverage of his own.

"For the record, woman." he started. "I forgive you."

Bulma smiled weakly as she watched Vegeta get drenched as he protected her from the biting rain.