What an odd life she had. Who else could say they wished their dead boyfriend back to life. Yamcha had been dead. Blown up by an alien. And yet, here he was, sitting on her couch. Like nothing happened. Well, that wasn't really the case of course. In fact, so much had happened. And Bulma had been in the middle of it all, Yamcha had not. Therefore, he could never really understand. To be fair, she left the most important thing out. Her captivity with Frieza. As far as Bulma was concerned, no one would ever know what she had gone through. Heck, she barely knew herself. She still could not remember most of it. Only a few snippets had come back to her. She figured at this point, the memories would stay away forever. Probably for the best. What haunted her the most, and what she remembered above all, was how she felt. How she fought and defied to no avail. How it was almost like, her soul temporary left her body, so it would seem it was not happening to her. Maybe it wasn't just the drugs that kept her from remembering. Maybe her brain was blocking the memories to just keep her from falling apart.

One person did know. Vegeta. He found her in the cage. He had seen the damage done to her body and mind. But he had never pitied her. He had been brutally honest with her. She actually felt comforted by him. Which was insane. Bulma hadn't forgotten who he was, and what he did to her friends, but the Saiyan was probably the best person to understand what she had been dealing with.

Vegeta had left the second he heard Goku was still alive, not wanting to come back to Earth yet. The gravity room she made for him, was a spaceship, almost an exact copy of the one Goku used to get to Namek. Of course he did not hesitate to take it. She really didn't care. But Vegeta had been gone for several months now, and a peculiar feeling had been nagging her. "Am I missing that asshole?"

"You ok babe? You wanna watch something else?"

"No this is fine Yamcha." She gave him a smile.

He focused his attention back on the screen. Bulma watched him for a while. Yamcha was a very handsome man. Kind. A bit naive maybe. She loved him. But she had to come to terms with the fact the she was no longer in love with him. He had been trying to get close to her ever since he was wished back, physically and emotionally. But she would not let him in. Yet she had opened up to Vegeta. Why?

Maybe it wasn't so much that she was missing her Saiyan houseguest, but maybe she missed having someone who she could be herself with. Ever since Yamcha was back she had to pretend to be fine, act normal, lie. It was frustrating. With vegeta, she had been utterly herself. Traumatized yes, but herself. She could be raw and emotional and real. It did not matter how it made Vegeta feel or how it made him see her. And even though Bulma had been at rock bottom for a moment, she felt Vegeta had done nothing but respect her.

She was suddenly aware the movie was nearly ending, which meant they would be going to bed soon. She was dreading it. She had put on old, grey sweatpants and a baggy tshirt, trying to look as unappealing as she could. Hoping Yamcha would not initiate sex. She wasn't ready for that.

When the end credits started to roll down Yamcha got up from the couch, and planted a soft kiss on Bulma's forehead. This caught her by surprise.

"I think I'll go home, is that ok?"

"Yes, of course."

"Get some sleep." With that, he walked out the door.

What was that all about? Maybe he was tired of her restlessness at night. Or maybe he was just tired of her all together. She hadn't been the best girlfriend lately. She had thrown herself into work. Long days she would spend at the lab, working with her dad. Often, she would go to the gym afterwards, before passing out sleeping on the couch. It was working best for her when it came to her nightmares. Keeping her brain occupied during the day, wearing out her body at night. She would get a few hours of dreamless sleep that way.

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

Another Namekian year had gone by. They had wished Chiaotzu and Tien back to life and the Namekians left for New Namek. They had only been gone for a few hours, but she missed them already. Even though she hadn't spent all that much time with them, they did bring a certain cheeriness to the place. She stood in the middle of the dome where they had stayed. So quiet and empty. Her parents were surely going to miss them as well.

It was cold, an icy wind made Bulma shiver as she walked back to the house. The past few months she had spent more time with her parents. Yamcha and her had taken a break from each other. It was actually Yamcha who had asked to spend some time apart. She understood. Yamcha wanted to live, have fun, be happy. He had been dead, given a second chance at life, it was only natural he was not willing to deal with her problems. Bulma was glad she did not have to feel pressured anymore to commit to Yamcha. But saying she didn't miss him would be a lie. Aside from everything, they had been friends a long time. And now that she was starting to feel more and more like her old self, there was a void of normal, human interaction. She just wanted to...have fun..maybe..? Some laughter, something light, not heavy. She didn't really have any girlfriends. She used to, but when Bulma's career had really taken off, and she became a well known person, her so called friends would be much more interested in the money tabloids offered them for gossip then in her. So that was that. And Krillin, Goku and the whole gang, well they didn't really get together all that often. But Yamcha had always been there. Maybe she should meet up with him. It was probably time they had a serious talk anyway. She hoped he'd agree that they were better off being friends. She decided she would call him in the morning.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A strong hand ran up her thigh. Hot breath in her neck. Her eyes were closed. They refused to open, taking in all the sensations that lingered on her skin. Her body craved to be touched. Her hands felt his muscular back, his thick black hair. Yamcha changed a lot since the last time they were together like this. Stronger, harder, better. It must've been all the training he did at King Kai's. A moan escaped her when she felt his tongue in her neck. Sending shivers down her spine. When he hovered over her, he gave a soft kiss on her lips. She opened her eyes to meet his, only to realize, she was not with Yamcha but with Vegeta. His dark, obsidian eyes staring right back at her. For some reason she didn't freak out. Like it was supposed to be Vegeta all along. "Woman, you want me to stop?" His husky low voice giving her butterflies in her belly. "No." She said. When he crushed his lips to hers, her eyes flew open. She was in bed, by herself. A dream. She tried to steady her breathing, waiting for her heart to stop pounding. Did she really just dream that!? Her fingers touched her lips. It was, so intens, so real, so...good. What the hell was that all about!? Vegeta!?

" I'm going insane." She walked to the bathroom to get some water. She could see the sun was just rising, starting a brand new day. She could not believe it was morning already. She had not woken up even once. No nightmares. Just one vivid sex dream involving a certain Saiyan . She should probably be relieved to have a normal, fun dream. Maybe it meant that she was ready for such…. activities. But the fact that it was with Vegeta, threw her off. Although it was just a dream. People dream the weirdest things without them meaning anything.

"Just take the win Bulma. You finally got some decent sleep." She said to her reflection. She studied her face for a moment. Definitely started to look more like her old self. Her confidence was coming back to her as well. Things were looking up. If she could just manage to mend her friendship with Yamcha, almost all would be right in the world again.

AAAAAAAAAA

Bulma was sitting in a diner sipping her coffee. She used to come here all the time. It felt like a lifetime ago. She loved looking out the window, watching the people passing by, each following their own path. She was sure though, that her life was most likely way more interesting than that of the people passing by her window.

She saw Yamcha was making his way to her, waving enthusiastically when he saw her sitting in their favorite spot.

" Hi babe!" He gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek.

He gestured to the waitress to bring him some coffee and sat down. He took her hands in his. " How are you?"

He was really asking. Not to just be polite.

"I'm actually feeling better. More like myself."

The waitress came over and gave Yamcha his coffee.

"Good, I'm happy to hear that."

"I do feel I owe you a bit of an explanation…."

" No Bulma, let me stop you there. I have actually been feeling really bad about this. Clearly you went through something. And whatever it was, if it shook you up like that, it must've been bad. Because you're the strongest person I know. Maybe its best that I don't really know what happened to you, because I don't think I would be strong enough to handle it. My point is, I left you when you needed me. And I'm sorry."

Bulma was moved by his words and felt her eyes becoming moist.

"Thank you Yamcha, that means a lot. But I really was in a bad way. And I don't think I would've have been able to let you help me. I wasn't ready."

He nodded. Taking a sip of his coffee.

"Do you think there is any way where we can get back to where we were, before I died?"

"I actually wanted to meet with you, to tell you, I think we should just be friends." She could tell it wasn't what he wanted to hear.

"I love you Yamcha, we have seen so much, done so much. It has been one heck of a ride and I do not regret one second of it. But I don't see us going back to that. Not as a couple at least."

Yamcha looked down. He was hurting. She hated being the one to hurt him. He clearly felt differently.

"I'm so sorry. I hope you'll still be my friend because I miss you. And I need a friend right now. I want to laugh with you, have fun with you. Hang out. Like the old days. Without all the relationship hassle."

It was quiet for a while. She could tell Yamcha was gathering his thoughts, composing himself.

"Idon't think I can." He looked up. "Do all those things with you, while I'm still in love with you."

Bulma nodded. "I guess I kind of expected your feelings would have changed as well. You were the one to suggest we take a break."

"Yes, I couldn't take seeing you like that anymore. I was hoping you would start missing me, missing us."

"I do miss you, as a friend…"

"I can't be your friend. At least not yet. I need to fall out of love with you first. So….it's probably best if I don't see you for a while."

This hit Bulma hard. Tears started to form in her eyes.

"I still feel we belong together Bulma. But we will see what the future holds in store for us. Maybe I'll move on, or maybe you'll realize you made a mistake. Right now, I cannot imagine we won't get back together."

He got up from his seat, threw some money on the table and gave Bulma a soft kiss on her lips.

"Bye Bulma."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

A week had passed since her break up with Yamcha. She had felt empty. Emotionless. Like always, she threw herself into work. Mostly on new medical equipment. It wasn't the most interesting for her, but it made her feel good to know she was contributing to the world. She had no superpowers like Goku, but in her own way, she did help a lot of people.

She was on edge, because a few hours ago, Bulma received a maintenance update from the spaceship Vegeta took to go look for Goku. It had taken some damage and was running out of fuel. This worried her. Was Vegeta ok? Was he stuck somewhere? Or would he be coming home soon. Home. It wasn't his home. But Bulma doubted he'd ever had a place to stay quite like this one. Where he was welcome to come and go as he pleased. A nice bed. Warm shower. Food. Bulma wasn't sure how she felt about seeing him again. She was nervous about the idea that he could just, be here, at any moment. But also, she felt…giddy …maybe. The sex dream she had about him probably didn't help with that. It made her happy to know she could dream about such normal, fun things, but it did worry her slightly that it was Vegeta who had left her hot and bothered when she woke up.

Her stomach told her she had skipped lunch, again. When she walked outside towards the house, she noticed what a lovely afternoon it was. Brisk, sunny. She decided she would go for a run.

AAAAAAAAAAAAA

An hour later she was dressed in black sports leggings and a blue sweatshirt with the cc logo on it. Her curls in a high ponytail. She breathed in the fresh air. "Just what I need"

She took her usual route. Around the city. Where there were trees and ponds with bridges to cross them. She was completely in the zone, focusing on her breathing and enjoying her surroundings, when she noticed a man running behind her. Probably a coincidence, but to be sure she made a few turns left and right. He was still behind her. He was carrying what looked like a camera bag.

"Fucking paparazzi." She muttered to herself. She turned around deciding to confront him. The man came to a stop immediately, facing Bulma.

"Hey buddy, take another route."

The man said nothing but had a nasty grin on his face. Then he took the camera out of his bag.

"Don't you dare take a picture of me." Bulma said, giving him a menacing look.

But the man did just that, a flash went off in her face.

"What the hell!" She closed in on the man and gave him a push. "Leave me alone."

Another flash.

Then she tried the grab the camera. When they both fought over the camera it fell to the ground.

"No! Do you have any idea how expensive that thing is?! Fucking bitch!"

Something snapped. Bulma launched a fist towards the man's face, punching him in the nose. He took a few steps back, bringing his hands to his nose. There was a lot of blood.

For a second Bulma was shocked by her own actions. But then she smirked. "You had that coming asshole. Now leave me alone!"

She turned around to continue her run. But the man wasn't done with her.

"You broke my nose!." He grabbed a rock from the ground and threw it at her. Just as Bulma turned around to yell at him some more, the rock hit her in the head. She fell to the ground. She felt a drop of blood stream down the side of her face.

"You motherfucker." She said in a threatening voice. Bulma saw red. She got up and ran towards the man, throwing herself at him. She grabbed the camera and started beating him with it. The man tried to defend himself, protecting his head. He was no match for her.

Bulma was blind with rage. Tears were in her eyes. It was not about this man anymore. She was letting all of her frustration out on him. It was like in her mind, she was beating up Frieza.

A strong hand grabbed her upper arm. Pulling her away from the man.

"Calm down woman, you'll end up killing this piece of shit."

She rubbed the tears out of her eyes. "Vegeta."

"You can kill him for all I care but I doubt your conscience will let you move on like nothing happened. And you have work to do. The GR is broken."

She gave him a slight nod. She could not believe Vegeta was here. How had he found her? He was dressed in his old Namek battle suit. The hole in the middle, where Frieza had killed him, still there. His gravity defying hair swaying slightly in the wind.

She snapped out of it when the man stumbled to his feet, grabbing the damaged camera from the ground. He gave Bulma a death stare.

"Give me the camera." Bulma said. After all that, there was no way he was going to get away with those pictures. She'd most definitely see them in a magazine soon.

"No."

Vegeta rolled his eyes. He easily took the camera from the man and crushed it in his hand. Then he threw it in the pond nearby. Having nothing left to fight for, the man stumbled off.

AAAAAAAAAA

Vegeta had forgotten how beautiful she was. Well, that really wasn't true. But the dreams he had about her, hadn't done her she clearly had been taken better care of herself. She seemed much stronger and brighter than the last time he saw her.

"My head hurts."

He nodded. "You should have ducked."

"You saw that?"

"Yes." He smirked. "I was going to step in, but turns out, you didn't really need my help."

Bulma shrugged. "I didn't know I was so...angry. I couldn't stop. Thank God you were here, I could've killed him."

"Hahaha, I strongly doubt that woman, you don't have the stomach for that. You would have stopped eventually."

"I guess so." She inspected her head with her fingers. There was quite a bit of blood. "I want to go home."

Vegeta nodded and without warning he scooped her up in his arms and took to the sky. He felt Bulma stiffen against him, holding her breath as he gained altitude. She had her arms wrapped around his neck. Almost hugging him. When he slowed down a bit, Bulma let out the breath that she had been holding. He could feel her relax against him after a while. He hadn't been this close to her before. She smelled good. He enjoyed it much more than he should.

"Did you find Goku?"

"No."

"Where did you land the ship?"

Vegeta stopped moving forward and just hovered in the air. "Yeah, about that..."

Bulma followed his line of sight and gasped. The GR was crashed into the side of the dome, where the Namekians had stayed. She could see her parents were already starting the clean up.

"Dammit Vegeta..." She said, lacking real anger.

"So how long till the GR is up and running again?"

He received the angry look he expected. He liked getting a rise out of her. Blue flames in her eyes. He smirked.

"Well, I can't tell from here! And how about I clean up first. My head is bleeding you know."

He was about to land when Bulma stopped him. "No not here, I don't want my parents to see me like this. The balcony."

Vegeta put her down softly, and followed her inside her bedroom. Her smell was strong here, clouding his senses. Bulma took off her sweater and threw it on the floor. Joining several other items. "Damn woman, how can you live like this?"

Bulma shrugged. "I'm messy. All geniuses are."

She walked into the bathroom. Leaving the door open. "How did you find me?"

Vegeta stepped into the doorway, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed.

"I sensed your energy, obviously."

" Oh."

He left out the only reason he could sense her weak energy from further away. It was special. At least to him, it stood out. And he had grown so accustomed to it since the last time he stayed at CC.

He watched her figure in the black tight leggings and short tank top. Part of her toned belly visible. Scenes from his dreams flashed before his eyes. He sighed, annoyed with himself. Back when Bulma had first finished the GR for him and he was finally able to train at a decent level, he did manage to push her to the back of his mind. His deepest desire was to become a Super Saiyan and defeat Kakarot. Being able to go all out every day fueled him with a fire to push harder to achieve this goal. Then when the GR broke down in space and there was no solid training, Bulma showed up in his thoughts again. Mostly his dreams, which he couldn't control. He suddenly felt very frustrated he had no place to train.

He watched Bulma trying to assess her head injury. It was on the side of her head, in her hair, she could not really see it properly. She was a mess. Blood in her hair, face and neck. She tried to clean herself with a wet towel.

"I can't see. Do you think I need stitches?" He rolled his eyes. Was he really helping her again!? A frustrated sigh left his mouth but he walked in and tooka look at her head. He couldn't see much of anything with all the blood and hair.

"Wash the blood out of your hair."

Bulma turned on the shower and awkwardly leaned forward, only getting her head under the water.

She hissed in pain. After a minute she turned the water off and gently dried her hair with a towel. She stepped towards Vegeta who laid a hand on her head and parted her hair, exposing the wound.

"Might need stitches."

"Damn, I don't want to go to the emergency room. Can't you do it?"

"No, one wrong move and I'll jam a needle into your brain."

She looked at him with bewildered eyes. "You stuck a needle in my vein back on namek."

He shrugged. "Got lucky."

"Are you serious though? You can't do it?"

"Do you have any idea how strong I am? It's such precise work, if I lose focus or you move..."

"I know, I know, needle to the brain. Maybe I have something else."

She took a first aid kit from the bathroom cabinet and rummaged around. Vegeta was losing his patience fast.

"Dammit woman, just get your ass to someone who can help you so you can get started on the GR."

She turned around with a smile on her face. "Glue! This might work."

She handed it to Vegeta. "Fine."

To her surprise he put his hands on her waist and lifted her on the counter of the sink cabinet. He ripped the package open and took out the glue. He stood right in front of her, between Bulma's legs. She looked to the side and Vegeta applied the glue to the wound. "Ow." Bulma said, grabbingVegeta's wrist.

"Stop your wining, it's done."

When she faced him again, he was suddenly very aware of how they were touching. Her inner thighs against his hips. She seemed to blush a little.

"Thanks." She said.

Vegeta noticed she was cold. Goosebumps on her skin, her nipples slightly visible through the black fabric of her shirt. A vision of him running his tongue over them...

When Vegeta met her gaze again it was like she had read his mind. She bit her lip.

"Buulmaaa. Darling! Are you in there? Vegeta landed on our dome, silly boy. We could use some help!"

Vegeta helped Bulma off the counter and watched her head to the bedroom. "Yeah mom, I'll be right there!"

When she turned around Vegeta was standing at the balcony door.

"The Gr." Was all he said.

"Of course Vegeta, I'll get right on it."

He nodded and left.

AAAAAAAAAAAA

In the week that followed, Bulma devoted all her time on the GR. For some reason she felt like she owed Vegetathat.

She had not spoken to him once since he helped her with her head. She'd often wonder if there really had been a ...moment, between them. Or was it just in her head. She could have sworn she saw lust in his eyes. But this was Vegeta. Bloodlust, sure. But could he really want her in a sexual way? Was he even attracted to her? They had spent the odd moment together here and there, she couldn't remember ever having caught him staring or something like that. Maybe it was all her imagination, because it was really the other way around. She found Vegeta wildly attractive. Ever since her dream, it was obvious. That mixed with the fact that he had shown compassion towards her made him hard to resist. But when she looked back on their interactions, she found it hard to believe the feeling was mutual. Because most of them involved a very depressed or sad and pathetic Bulma. That was not sexy in any kind of way. A sigh escaped her lips. She was tired. But the Gr was nearly done and she wanted to keep going for one last time till she could sleep for a day straight. Even though Vegeta hadn't shown his face for a week, Bulma knew he was watching. Probably checking in on the Gr on a daily basis.

She was wearing blue overalls with her hair in a messy bun. She checked her watch. 3 in the afternoon. Where was that damn last part she ordered. Wasn't it supposed to arrive this morning? She checked her email for the delivery status. "Fuck." It would arrive a day later.

"Now what?" Vegeta said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry, I was hoping to finish it tonight, but the last missing part won't get here till tomorrow."

Vegeta pinched the bridge of his nose. He was clearly, very annoyed. He wore black sweatpants and a navy blue sweater. Very handsome, Bulma thought. Why was it that he always showed up when she looked like shit?

"One more day, I promise."

He turned around to leave when he came to a stop suddenly, his body went stiff, eyes wide open in shock.

"You ok?" Bulma asked.

No answer.

"Vegeta?"

She walked closer to him, the look on his face scared her.

"No, it can't be." He muttered to himself

"What are you talking about?"

"Kakarot didn't ..."

Then his eyes met hers. And she knew. Frieza was alive, heading for Earth.