Chapter 9 - So close, and yet so far
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For Bulma, time was non-existent when she was working, minutes
melted into hours with ease.  More times than not, she had to be
brought back to reality by someone else or she would spend all night
working.  So it was with a great degree of surprise when she voluntarily
slammed her folder shut.  Looking at the clock, Bulma was shocked to
see how early she had stopped.  Confused, she looked over to see the
saiya-jin prince watching her intently, his own work already put away.  A
soft blush crept across his cheeks when he realized he'd been caught
staring.  Bulma giggled and blushed in return, her Vegeta looked so
cute when he was embarrassed.  'Hold on, when did he become my
Vegeta?'
Vegeta scowled at her, but his eyes weren't in it, "You dare laugh at the
saiya-jin no ouji, woman?"
Bulma grinned and leaned over til their noses were mere inches apart, "I
dare."
Vegeta stared helplessly at her caught in her sapphire eyes.
Unconsciously he moved closer to her, wondering to himself what he
was doing.   Their lips brushed and they jumped at the electrifying
sensation.  Licking his lips, Vegeta leaned in again and Bulma's eyes
closed in anticipation . . .
"Ouji-sama!"
The pair jumped apart just as a female saiya-jin burst into the room.
"Ouji-sama, I have an urgent situation to report!"
Stifling his anger over the interruption, Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the
warrior.  Nashi was Jianu's second and would not have been so insolent
if it were not important.  "Nandato Nashi?"
"My apologies sire, but I felt that this was far too urgent a matter to
wait," she replied, bowing to him.  "Captain Nagata had returned to
Chikyuu."
Bulma gasped, this was big trouble!  Sensing her fear Vegeta reached
over and squeezed her hand reassuringly.  "What has been done about
this?"
"Well sire, Lady Jianu and Lord Oribu took their squads out to
apprehend him.  Lord Oribu was badly injured and is now in a regen
tank, his two seconds have been killed."
"And?"
Nashi gulped and ran her fingers through her auburn hair nervously,
"After Lady Jianu found Lord Oribu she ordered all of us back to the
base.   She said that she would take care of Nagata and would call if
she needed assistance."
Vegeta scowled, he couldn't do anything at this point that wouldn't
damage Jianu's pride.  "Inform me of any changes in the situation.   You
are dismissed."
"Hai!" Nashi saluted then quickly left the room.
Sighing, Vegeta shook his head, "I hope she hasn't taken on more than
she can handle."
"If you're that worried about her, why not send someone out to check
out the situation?" Bulma suggested.
Vegeta snorted, "Woman, how long have you been among saiya-jin?"
"Ano, close to three months."
He turned to face her, blushing lightly when he realized he still was
holding her hand, "And have you learned nothing about us in all that
time?"
"Well . . ."
The saiya-jin prince let go of her hand and crossed his arms over his
chest.  "It would be an insult of the highest degree.  Jianu believes she
can handle him and will contact us if she cannot.  As her prince I could
order her to take assistance, but as her friend and fellow saiya-jin I am
honor bound to respect her decision."
He turned his back on her then, making the beautiful scientist blink in
surprise.  Stepping up behind him she placed a gentle hand on his
shoulder, "Vegeta?"
He shrugged her hand off roughly, "I'm fine woman!"
Bulma recoiled slightly, feeling hurt from his curt response.  She turned
round and quickly gathered up her things, refusing to look over at him.
It wasn't until she had reached the doorway that something occurred to
her.   "Don't worry Vegeta.  She'll be fine."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'I can't believe I spoke to her in that manner!' Vegeta snarled at himself.
It was late and the saiya-jin no ouji had been training furiously in one of
the gravity rooms Bulma had designed.  He had been here since Bulma
had left him in the lab, working out his frustration, worry, and anger
through rigorous activity.  Mostly he was angry at himself, he had lashed
out at Bulma and she hadn't deserved it!  Stopping he closed his eyes in
defeat, 'I'll have to apologize to her.'  For reasons he could not fathom,
Vegeta couldn't bear having Bulma angry at him with him for any length
of time.  He'd never apologized to to anyone before, not even to
Kakarott or Jianu.  'Woman, I hope you realize what this is going to cost
me.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Easing herself into the warm bath she'd run, Bulma sighed softly.  'Poor
Vegeta, this must be driving you crazy,' she thought scrubbing at her
body with a washcloth.  'Your best friend is off fighting against an
unknown and previously undefeated warrior.  And your saiya-jin sense
of honor won't let you help her.'  Realizing there was nothing she could
say or do that would make him feel any better, Bulma lay back and
thought about what had almost happened earlier.  'He was going to kiss
me!'  Her cheeks slowly turned red, this was the solid evidence she'd
been waiting for!  Vegeta did like her as "more than a friend" and she
felt the same towards him.  But how to proceed?  The beautiful scientist
knew that her information on saiya-jin culture was inadequate at best.
She didn't want to drive Vegeta off, especially since it had taken him so
long to express in this small way, how he felt towards her.  'I'll ask
Chichi.  Afterall, she's had real good luck getting close to Kakarott.'
Bulma giggled at the thought, from the day she'd been rescued, Chichi
had spent as much time with Kakarott as possible and had become an
invaluable member of the team.
*flashback*
"What word do you have from the . . ." Vegeta tapped the desk with his
pen as he rifled through his papers.  Finding the right one he made a
face at the odd Chikyuu word, "ehyuropeian . ."
"European," Bulma corrected him.
"European," he continued, heavily accenting the word, "continent."
Kakarott cleared his throat, "Well, we have word that several of the
original governments have reformed and more are in the process."
Bulma pulled out a small map of Europe and a pen,"Which ones have
been restored?"
Smiling Chichi began reading off a list, "England, France, Italy, Ireland,
Norway, Sweden, Scotland, and Russia are all restructured enough to
begin the global unity project."  Chichi had been working closely with
Kakarott in this.  She had a natural charm and intelligence that helped
smooth negotiations.  She was also strong enough to hold her own
when they ran into any unsavory people.
Vegeta nodded and turned to face Jianu who had her feet propped up
on the table.  It was a bad habit of hers.  "And what about the North
American continent?" he asked, slapping her feet down.
Jianu grinned, "Much better than we had originally estimated.  There's
only three countries over there, all of which are on friendly terms with
each other."
The saiya-jin no ouji stared at her as though she'd gone insane.  "The
reports indicated there were over fifty governments on that continent.
How is only three good?!"
"It's simple really.  The reports were wrong."
Kakarott arched an eyebrow at her, "Really Jianu, I know they aren't
always one-hundred percent accurate, but they've never been that far
off."
"You didn't let her finish Kakarott," Marion interrupted.  "You see, one of
those countries consisted of fifty smaller governments all united under
one."
"Which means that Canada, the United States, and Mexico are all ready
to join," Yamcha added.
"Ready and eager to get started," Jianu continued.  "They were asking
when we had the first conference scheduled."
Vegeta groaned, "You're kidding."
*end flashback*
Bulma smiled to herself, that had been over a week ago and Chikyuu
was well on its way to forming a unified government.  It still had a long
way to go but they'd make it in time.  Bulma closed her eyes and
relaxed her body completely, enjoying the still-new experience of simply
soaking in a real bubble bath.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Outside her room stood a certain saiya-jin prince who was about to do
the single most difficult thing in his entire life.  Taking a deep breath
and
squaring his shoulders Vegeta opened her door and stepped inside.
Not seeing her in the front room he called out, "Bulma?"  No answer.
Fear gripped his heart and the ouji dashed from room to room searching
for her.  Fearing for her safety, he wasn't prepared for the vision placed
before his eyes when he burst into the bathroom, and froze in his tracks.
  Bulma was lounging in the bath, her aqua tresses floating elegantly on
the waters surface, the soap bubbles just barely covering her breasts.
His mind barely had time to register the image before she had jumped
up startled, unintentionally giving him an even better view.  With a
startled shriek, Bulma grabbed a towel and covered herself while a
blushing ouji turned his back to her.
"Vegeta!  What do you think you're doing?!" she shrieked.  "Barging into
my bathroom like that!"
"I came to speak with you woman!  But you didn't answer when I called,"
he growled defensively, still not facing her.
Calming herself, Bulma slipped out of the tub and stepped up behind
him.  "What did you need to tell me?" she asked softly, placing a hand
on his shoulder.
Vegeta sighed and took a deep breath, he could do this!   "Woman . . .
Bulma . . . I . . I'm . . . . . . sorry."  Bulma's eyes widened, Vegeta was
apologizing?  "I should not have lashed out at you earlier.   You did not
deserve it."  Vegeta's entire face was red now, what would he do if she
refused to accept his apology?
Feeling incredibly bold and giddy, Bulma skipped in front of him and
wrapped her arms around his neck, "Apology accepted," she murmured,
pressing her lips to his in their first kiss.  The kiss was sweet and
chaste, but still left its participants tingling.
Reluctantly, Vegeta disengaged from Bulma's arms, "Good night,
Bulma," he whispered softly to her as her left.
She watched him go, a bright smile illuminating her face, "Good night,
my prince."
 

January 25, 2002