New Beginning

A week had passed since the defeat of Frieza. Now that the gang only had one more Dragon Ball to go until they could bring Yamcha back from the next dimension, Bulma found that she had the time and energy to ponder on other matters.

‘I wonder whatever happened to his Royal Highness…’ She thought to herself as she examined a new invention she was working on which she thoughtfully decided to dub the ‘Psychotron’…if she ever got it to work, that is.

She reconnected a few wires and then realized that the mind readings of her simian subjects were all off. “Damn it!” She cried, angry at the device for frustrating her, yet subconsciously angrier that a certain alien prince had just disappeared into the woods without a trace.

“I’ll get it working.” She told herself out loud, trying to suppress any thoughts involving a certain arrogant, yet very captivating individual.

Soon enough, however, she found that she was unable to rid such thoughts from her mind and she also found, to her displeasure, that they were distracting her from her work. She backed away from the Psychotron and sighed.

Bulma looked up through a window towards the heavens and snorted, “Aht, ht, Kami. You’ve made your point. He did save our lives on Namek and Yamcha’s life by thinking up that Dragon Ball idea. He’s a human bein…err…he’s a person, too, and I suppose he deserves a civilized place to live. Yeah, yeah, I know! I’ll go find him…after we bring Yamcha back, okay. Promise!”

Suddenly her cell phone rang. She put the receiver to her ear. It was Goku’s boy. “Yes, Gohan? YOU FOUND IT!! Great! Now we can wish Yamcha back! Sure, just bring it to my fronrd. rd. Good job, kiddo!”

She dropped the phone and ran outside, looking up into the blue late-morning sky and unable to contain her thrill at being able to see her boyfriend again. She had a fancy dinner to go to in a week and couldn’t dream of going without a handsome escort. What that could do to her reputation, she could only imagine.

Bulma finally spotted a bunch of tiny black dots on the horizon that appeared to be getting nearer. ‘It’s them! It’s them!’ She thought happily, hopping up and down in joy. ‘Time to call upon Shenlong to bring my precious Yamcha back to me!’

“Hiya, Bulma!” Krillin exclaimed, carrying the seventh and final Dragon Ball in his left arm as he and the others touched down to the ground.

Bulma quickly brought out the other six Dragon Balls and laid them down on the grass. “I’m so glad to see you guys, and I’ve really missed Yamcha. After today the gang will almost be complete again...with the ptioption of Goku.”

Krillin put the seventh Dragon Ball down on the grass amongst the others. "Shenron, I call upon you!" He cried. The Dragon Balls immediately began to glow and the sky grew dark.

When the Dragon appeared, Bulma made the wish.

“Your wish is my command!” Bellowed the giant beast. Then he disappeared. The Dragon Balls rose into the air and scattered in every direction.

Yamcha fell out of an opening in mid-air and landed hard on the ground right where the Dragon Balls had been. “Bulma! It’s you! I’m here! I’m back!” The two embraced.

“I’ve missed you so much, Yamcha! Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you’re finally back! Oh, thank you, Vegeta!” Bulma exclaimed enthusiastically.

Suddenly Yamcha pulled back out of the embrace. “Thank you...Vegeta?” He repeated her exact words, appearing shocked. “Why are you thanking Vegeta? He’s a murderer.”

“No, Yamcha. It was his idea to bring you back.” Bulma replied.

“Oh, come off it, Bulma! You’re a genius. You would’ve remembered it sooner or later.” Yamcha joked, gently punching her shoulder.

Bulma chuckled. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. You’re so sweet. You always are.” She leapt up into his arms again and hugged him tightly.

“Well, speaking of that ass-troll…” Yamcha replied, “Where is he? I was worried sick about you, Bulma, with that maniac loose on Earth and all…”

“o. Wo. We haven’t seen him in a week.” Bulma said, leading the group inside to celebrate Yamcha’s return.

Chichi butted in. “And it’s just as well! That monster tried to hurt MY Goku and hopefully we’ll never see his ugly face again.”

“Amen to that.” Yamcha added.

Bulma couldn’t help it. She had to protest, but she didn’t want to give her friends the idea that she actually liked the would-be Scourge of the Universe. “It’s not his face that’s ugly, Chichi. It’s his attitude.”

“Well, I suppose…” Chichi half agreed.

“He’sactuallyprettygoodlookingifyouaskme…” Bulma muttered to herself under her breath.

“What was that?” Yamcha replied, stopping dead in hiacksacks. His actions caused all the rest of the gang to stop as well.

“Nothing! It’s nothing! I didn’t say anything!” Bulma pleaded. Yamcha still eyed her suspiciously.

Bulma felt uncomfortable under his judgmental gaze. “It’s just…” She finally started to admit what Yamcha and the others were silently urging her to say with their glares, “I ally lly think he’s kind of…well…cute. But he’s an absolute jerk and the world is best off without him!!!!! Like you said, he’s a heartless murderer, Yamcha. And you’re FAR cuter than he could ever be!” She lied. Yamcha looked confused, like he was half convinced.

He decided to shrug off the suspicious feeling he was having about whether Bulma was speaking the truth or not and just get on with business. “Yeah, so, anyway, babe, would you like to go out with me tonight?” He suggested with a smile. He led her into a room away from the rest of the gang.

“I’ll make sure it’s a very special night. Promise.” Yamcha kissed her deeply, sticking his tongue in her mouth. Bulma felt like she was about to gag. She quickly drew back and suppressed the urge to throw up all over him.

“Uh, oh!” She giggled, covering up her discomfort, “Somebody’s a little impatient…”

“Well, come on, Bulma, we’ve been going out for more than a year...and you just turned eighteen. I wanted to make it up to you for missing your birthday while I was gone fighting the aliens...” He smiled seductively at her, bringing his hands up and placing them around her slim waist. Once again, he tried to bring her to him, but she pulled back.

“What’s wrong? Is it the aftershave?” Yamcha asked, putting a hand to his chin.

“No, Yamcha, it’s just that… It’s true we’ve been going out for more than a year, but we’ve had constant break-ups and partings. I just need to know I can trust you to stick around when I need you…I need to know that you’d be a good husband and father…” She lowered her head, afraid of the reaction that this plea would provoke from him.

“Bulma, I’m trying…besides, you promised…” He begged.

She quickly kissed him on the cheek to shut him up. “Tonight.” She said, putting a hand to his cheek, then slowly backed up and walked away.

Two seconds later in her bedroom…

‘Stupid, stupid, stupid Bulma!!’ She thought to herself. “Now he’ll actually expect me to have sex with him! I’m finally of legal age, and we’re going out for a ‘special’ night together! Imagine that! ME having sex with HIM!! I thought the making out alone was gross!!”

She flopped down onto her bed and buried her face in a fluffy white pillow, pondering on how she could get out of the situation. She sighed unhappily.

‘I can’t break up with him. That would hurt his feelings…and I wouldn’t have an escort to that fancy dinner next week…’ She thought.

Her thoughts began to wonder to what she considered a far-fetched alternative: Vegeta. She had a hard time admitting it to herself, but she was far more attracted to the Saiyan than she was to any human male she'd ever met. She couldn’t understand why. There was something mysterious about him…like the one time on Namek when she caught a gaze into his deep, black eyes. She could almost see something in them, something Vegeta must be hiding…some hidden emotions which made him seem almost…human. But he had turned away too quickly for Bulma to really assess him. He did leave her wondering, though.

All she had heard about him was that he had killed many people and destroyed many worlds, and had also attempted to destroy their own Planet Earth. For some reason which Bulma couldn't understand, he hadn’t. Common knowledge was that Goku had overpowered Vegeta in battle, but Bulma didn’t believe it. She had seen the power readings, and something just didn’t make sense. Vegeta had been far too strong. It had looked like they were all doomed, but then something happened. Could Vegeta have given up on purpose and allowed his fellow Saiyan to win the battle? Refused to fight any longer? What could have driven him to such an action?

She also knew that Vegeta had worked for Frieza since he was a child, after Frieza had destroyed his home and everything he had known. It didn’t make sense to Bulma why Vegeta would willingly work for such a tyrant. Bulma’s superficial side told her that Vegeta was out to gain power for himself, and that he never really cared about his family and would have very well destroyed them himself if Frieza hadn’t done so…that he betrayed them for his own selfish purposes. Her deeper, more understanding side suggested that Vegeta’s actions might not have been as voluntary as she and the rest of the Z gang had been lead to believe.

The whole matter was so confusing to her. She could easily figure out complicated mathematics, but Vegeta was a whole new mystery. What she really wanted to know was why he was so cruel, had been so cruel. She was also puzzled by the fact that she wasn’t dead yet as a result of Vegeta being on Earth with no Goku to stop him.

His words on Namek had made the Z fighters believe that he would quickly destroy all of them with the right opportunity. Now was the opportunity, so why was Bulma still breathing?

She remembered a week ago in the forest clearing when she had basically stood up to Vegeta to defend Gohan. He had insulted her and scared her by grabbing her by the shirt, but he hadn’t actually hurt her in any way, let alone actually killing her.

She wondered what would happen if she were to take this question of hers into the forest and ask it to the Prince himself. Would he kill her? Wouldn’t he have done it already? Bulma was slightly afraid, but she decided to take the chance. Her curiosity was gnawing away at her.

She quickly filled a backpack with a lunch the cook had prepared, and a gun just in case she met any wild animals…not excluding a certain Saiyan. ‘Yeah, right, Bulma. Like a weakling human such as yourself could actually hurt a Saiyan warrior with a gun. Would he even blink?’ She scoffed at her own foolishness, but brought the firearm anyway.

Once she was all set she sneaked out her bedroom window so her parents wouldn’t see her and ask where she was going.

She quickly glanced at her watch. It was noon. She had eight hours before she had to be back for her date with Yamcha, which she knew she was dreading.

She hopped in her car and drove off to the site she had been at just a week earlier. Getting out of her car, she told herself she had no idea where to start to look for him, so she just began walking in any random direction.

Three hours later, Bulma was still walking through threstrest. She expected to have found at least something by now, but there was no trace of any human…or Saiyan, for that matter, activity. Pushing aside the thick green foliage, she grunted in frustration.

Once she reached a small clearing, she stopped and looked around.

Her stomach growled, reminding her that she had brought food with her. Suddenly, however, her nose caught a whiff of something...something...raw? Like some animal had died nearby. It made her lose her appetite instantly.

“Yuck! What is that?” She complained, waving a hand in front of her face to waft away the offensive odor.

Curiosity won her over. She followed the smell, and found that it was, in fact, a dead animal that was the source of the stench. To be more specific, it was a dead dinosaur, a very large one with its innards exposed and rotting. She figured it couldn’t have been dead for more than a day or two.

Holding a hand to her nose, she neared the creature to try and assess the cause of its death. It looked like it had been attacked, partially eaten, and left to die in the middle of the wilderness.

Leaning forward to examine it, she suddenly heard a deep, raspy voice coming from behind her. “Get your own, puny human!”

She jumped around and yelped in surprise. Vegeta had his right hand extended above his head and was gathering energy into it in preparation to destroy what he thought was just a greedy little thief.

Howe the the moment he laid eyes on her face, a look of surprise flashed across his own. “You?” He slowly lowered his hand and powered down, curious to find out why the blue-haired woman he recognized from a week ago was here.

“What do you want, woman? And why are you trying to steal my food?” He hissed. She suddenly noticed what he had in his left hand—the bloody, half eaten leg of…some kind of animal.

She noticed the blood on Vegeta’s face, which he quickly wiped away with his sleeve. She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him. “Well if it isn’t the would-be Master of the Universe himself.” She said sarcastically, watching Vegeta’s shocked expression with a bit of satisfaction. “Do you actually think, your Royal ASS-ness, that I would EVER consider eating something like that!” She gestured toward the rotting dead dinosaur.

“YOU SAIYANS ARE DISGUSTING BARBARIANS!!” She screamed in his face, causing him to wince.

Her last comment, however, seemed to amuse the Saiyan Prince. He smirked wickedly at her, and tore off a huge hunk of meat from the animal leg with his razor-sharp teeth. Bulma appeared absolutely disgusted and stepped back.

The urge to throttle him was overwhelming, but she realized that such an action would not benefit her health-wise.

“Answer my first question, wench!” Vegeta commanded all of a sudden, startling her.

“Not before you answer mine.” Bulma retorted with determination.

“Is that why you’re here, woman?” Vegeta asked, “To ask me something?”

She put her hands on her hips and looked at him smugly. “Yes! I want to know why you haven’t destroyed my planet yet! I know you’re planning to! Don’t think you can get away with it either, you monster! Goku’ll come back, and if he finds that his world has been destroyed, he’ll hunt you down and KICK YOUR ROYAL ASS INTO THE NEXT DIMENSION!!!” She shouted, trying to convince herself that that was Vegeta’s plan all along.

Vegeta looked confused, “Wait…so…what exactly is the question again?”

“WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?!!!!!!!!!!!” She screamed in his face. Again, Vegeta winced at the shrill noise.

“Silence, woman! I will not have my eardrums abused in such an outrageous manner!” He shouted back at her. He had to admit he liked her spirit, but he couldn’t tolerate her yelling at him like that, with his sensitive Saiyan hearing and all.

“Don’t try to change the subject, monkey boy!” She hissed, stepping back slightly.

“Things aren’t always what they seem, woman. Failing to accept that as fact may get you into trouble some day…if it hasn’t already.” He tore off another piece of meat, chewed, and swallowed it.

“Umm, okay…” Bulma didn’t quite understand Vegeta’s reply, but she didn’t want him to think her ignorant, so she went on to her next question. “So, um, in that case…wouldn’t you prefer a CIVILIZED placestaystay? I know you Saiyans have trouble comprehending the concept of CIVILIZATION, but don’t worry, I’ll show you what I mea…”

She was suddenly cut off by Vegeta’s loud laughter. “HA HA HA HA!! YOU CAN’T BE SERIOUS!! HA HA HA!! First it’s, ‘When do you plan to kill us, o minion of Satan?’” He mocked, “And then it’s ‘May I offer you a more comfortable place to stay while you complete your plans?’ You really are a fool, aren’t you?”

“Shut up, Vegeta!” She yelled at him as he continued to laugh in her face, which only fueled his amusement further. Finally she gave up and just waited for him to finish laughing.

When he finally calmed down, she spoke up again. “Finished?”

“I suppose so.”

“Good. Then follow me.” She walked around him and started back for home.

“Where are we going?” Vegeta asked.

“Capsule Corp.” Bulma quickly replied, not turning around.

“What in the hell is Capsule Corp?” Vegeta asked, taking another bite, but not yet following her.

Bulma stopped and turned back around. “What do you THINK it is?! It’s my home. Now let’s GO already! I have to be back for my date with Yamcha.”

“Wait a minute!” Vegeta protested. “Okay, maybe YOU don’t mind inviting a ‘monster’ into your house, but the feeling might not be mutual amongst other members of your family.”

Bulma stopped in her tracks, realizing Vegeta was right. Her parents had never let her bring a stray cat home, let alone a psychotic Saiyan with a ruthless rep. She quickly tried to think of a good excuse that would convince her parents why this needed to happen, aside from the fact that she was ‘curious’ about him.

“What are you doing, woman?” Vegeta asked, noticing that she had fallen silent after his last remark.

She turned around to face him after thinking of one possible excuse. “Let ME worry about that Vegeta. Come on.” She turned, again ready to lead him out of the forest, but he didn’t follow. She turned back and looked him in the eyes.re, re, she saw his distrust.

“Why should I trust you? I’m quite well aware of how I stand among your friends.” He practically whispered, eyeing her.

“Vegeta, trust me! I basically run the place! Whatever I say goes. That’s just the way it is. Got it? I can intimidate pe toe to do whatever I want.” She reassured him, and then turned again to leave. This time Vegeta paused for a moment, but finally decided to follow her.