DISCLAIMER: DBZ was created by Akira Toriyama.  If I had made it there would be no need for FanFic authors because I would have left little to imagine. And Vegeta never would have grown a mustache.

Bulma woke as the sunlight hit her in the face.  She groaned and rolled over and came face-to-face with Vegeta who was still sound asleep.  He muttered something she couldn't quite make out, but didn't wake from her movement.  She realized it was the first time she'd ever gotten to see him sleep peacefully. He looked almost innocent.  The permanent scowl was gone replaced by a soft look of contentment.  She never truly realized how good-looking he was until that moment.  She'd been attracted to him before, but she'd always wanted to see him smile, just once.  Or not look so damn angry all the time, just to see what he'd look like with a different expression on his face.  She reached out a tentative hand to gently touch his cheek.
His skin was amazingly soft.  Not a hint of a stubbly beard.  But then, she'd never seen Goku with any facial hair and so assumed it to be a Saiyan trait.  She definitely liked it and her hand moved forward to cup his cheek.  Vegeta's mouth opened and he began to lightly snore.  She smiled at the soft sound.  At least he didn't snore really loud like her father, but then again, if he opened his mouth any wider, he could definitely reach that volume quickly.
She also noticed that his skin was no longer red but a deep olive.  Very nice.  She had thought that his skin had grown lighter since coming to stay on Earth, but wasn't really sure until now.  He looked as he did on Namek, dark-skinned and foreign.
For the first time she found herself wondering.  Not so much about his time with Frieza, (although she was curious about it) but before that.  The time when he'd been a chibi no Ouji on Planet Vegeta.  What had he been like then?  What was his planet like?  She began to realize how little she knew about him and frowned.  Had he been an arrogant little bastard before becoming Frieza's slave?  Or was Frieza totally responsible for his rosy outlook on life?  She smiled half-heartedly at her little joke.  It really wasn't something to laugh about.
Then she remembered the time she had seen him sleep before.  But not like this.  Nothing near so calm as this.
 She'd come home from a night out with ChiChi to find him asleep on the couch.  He'd been thrashing and kicking, in the throes of some nightmare she dare not guess at.  She gently shook his shoulder to wake him and he awoke with a start,  'No! Don't!' he cried, flipping the couch on its back in an effort to get away from her.
'Vegeta!' she'd cried as he jumped to his feet.  'Its just me!'  he stood for a moment gasping for breath and she could see from his silhouette in the moon light that he was shaking like a leaf.  She tiptoed closer and he immediately stepped back.  She sighed and attempted to pull the couch back to its original position.  She tugged it until it slowly began to right itself and the solid wooden foot landed squarely on hers.  She cried out in pain and fell on her butt.  Her toes were broken, surely.  Vegeta edged closer and lifted the couch a little.  She pulled her foot out from underneath and began to cry.  The pain was horrible.
She suddenly felt arms lift her and set her down on the couch.  From that brief contact, even through the haze of pain, she could feel him still trembling.  What the hell could scare Vegeta so bad?  She'd never seen him afraid of anything.  She felt his shaking hands grasp her foot and she hissed in pain.  But he said nothing, only took a deep breath and held it.  She guessed he was trying to calm down.  She decided to follow his example and sucked in a breath through clenched teeth and held it until she thought her eardrums would pop from the pressure.
He knelt in front of her and grasped her toes one by one and tried to move them.  Her big toe was fine, but the second and middle couldn't be moved.  She had to bite her lip to keep from screaming and making a fool of herself.  Instead she whimpered loudly causing Vegeta to glance at her.  She prepared for some rude comment but he kept it to himself if he even had anything to say at all.
'These two are broken.' He'd said, in a low voice.  He was obviously more skilled at calming himself than her, because she was ready to burst into tears.
'Next time I'll remember never to wake you up.' She sniffed. He murmured something unintelligible.  'What?' she demanded angrily.  It was his fault she was hurt after all and pain angered her beyond tolerance.
'Thank you.' He repeated, only a fraction louder than before.  Bulma's eyes widened fractionally in her surprise.
'For what?' she sniffed.
'For waking me.' He replied and lowered his eyes in shame.  Bulma frowned again.
'Are you ok?' she asked, suddenly concerned.  He'd never once thanked her for anything.  Her injuries were almost forgotten in her concern for him.  She'd never seen him vulnerable before now.  For some reason it made her heart ache.
'Yes.' He murmured, not looking up.  Against her better judgment she leaned forward and embraced him, pulling him close.   She expected a protest.  She expected him to shove her away and storm off in a rage.  She didn't expect him to not only lean into her embrace, but wrap his arms around her as well and gently squeeze.  His head rested on her stomach and she felt a soft smile touch her lips, despite the fact that she could still feel him slightly shaking.  She rubbed his back,
'Relax.' She murmured in his ear.  'I won't do anything bad to you.'  Something about that statement drew a quick gasp from him and he began to shake again.  She grimaced as the pain in her heart intensified.  She responded by squeezing him tighter.  She wanted desperately to know what he'd dreamt of that had bothered him so much.  She'd never seen him so upset.  But then again, she'd never seen him display any emotion other than anger and disdain.  She knew deep in her heart that it had to be something from his past that was bothering him, but he'd never tell her what it was.
Suddenly she found herself shoved back into the couch cushions and Vegeta was halfway down the hall.
'Wait!' she'd gasped and hopped up on her good foot and began to hop down the hall after him.  She heard his door slam before she reached the bottom of the stairs.  She got on her knees and climbed up the staircase and hopped to his door.  As she reached for the handle she lost her balance and fell against the door.  It burst open to reveal Vegeta lying in bed, curled in a ball.  She tried to hold onto the doorframe as her momentum sent her sprawling.  She landed on her hands and knees with a grunt but she hadn't re-injured her two toes so she ignored the slight pain and staggered over to Vegeta's bed.
'Why can't you ever just leave me alone?' Vegeta murmured as Bulma plopped down on the edge of the mattress.
'Because your always alone.  Why can't you just accept the fact that someone might actually care about you?' she'd replied.  He snorted in derision.
'Why bother?' he said, his voice flat and hollow.
'Because.' She replied simply.  Vegeta raised his head and eyed her distrustfully for a moment before his head flopped back down on the pillow.
'Your wasting your time.'
'Why?'
'Because.' Bulma huffed in annoyance.
'I don't see it as a waste of time, Vegeta.  Just because you had a difficult childhood doesn't mean you aren't worth anything.  I know you killed all those people, destroyed all those planets, but if you were still that person you would have killed us all already.'  He said nothing so she continued.  'I know all you wanted before was to become Super Saiyan, and now you are.  And the fact that you haven't killed everyone after Cell was destroyed, well it makes me think that you aren't the same Vegeta that came to Earth with Nappa.'
'So what?' he snapped.  'Do you want me to kill everyone?'  Bulma smiled.  Vegeta blinked in confusion.
'Of course not.  Then you'll be more alone than you are now.'  He glared at her, incredulous.
'So what?' he demanded again.  She sighed, running her fingers through her hair.
'The point is, I know you’re the last living Saiyan besides Goku, and no matter what you say, it has to be difficult having no one to relate to. And no one deserves that.  I'm just trying to tell you that I'm here for you and I care about you even if you don't.'  for a long time they merely stared at each other.
'Whatever.' Vegeta said.    Bulma grinned.  Score one for Bulma!  She thought triumphantly.  The small concession was more than she could have hoped for.
'Good!  Now do me a favor and help me get up.' She said.  The corner of Vegeta's mouth twitched upward.  He stood and picked her up and carried her to her room.

She sighed at the memory.  It was the first actual conversation she'd really had with Vegeta.  Arguments didn't count to her. And now here they were, in the same bed.  She never thought she'd see the day come after Trunks was born.  And she was thrilled.  She never really thought about her feelings for the angry Saiyan until now.  And she hoped he felt somewhat similar.  She knew he had difficult expressing any emotion other than anger but she at least knew he trusted her somewhat.  And who else on earth could claim that?  She reached out again and lightly ran her hand up and down his arm until little goose bumps appeared on his flesh.  He murmured something and began to wake up, his eyelids fluttering.
His eyes slid open and Bulma smiled.  He raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"What time is it?" he said before yawning.
"About that time." He rolled his eyes.
"Seriously."
"The same time it was 24 hours ago." She said her grin getting wider.  Vegeta smirked.
"Ha ha." He said trying to sound unamused.  But his smirk was getting a little wider.
"OK." She conceded.  "It's half-past monkey's ass, quarter to his balls."  Vegeta snorted and grinned and Bulma was stunned.  A genuine smile on his face while he was awake!  She had a cheese grin on at that point.  Vegeta looked away trying not to smile.
"Are you trying to keep me from training?" he asked lightly, then bit his lower lips to keep from grinning.  The onna was positively silly at times.
"Yes." She said.  Their gazes locked in a battle of wills for a moment.  Bulma closed her eyes and leaned forward.  She planted a small kiss on his lips.  "It's 10:30."  Vegeta closed his eyes and stretched.  Bulma openly admired his body as he did, running her fingers over his skin lightly.  Her fingers lightly traveled down his side and he suddenly squirmed, sitting up. "Ticklish?" Bulma said, her eyes and grin growing wide.  Vegeta's eyes narrowed as he looked at her, his arms wrapped around his sides for protection.
"No." he mumbled.  Bulma laughed, diving on him.
"Lies, lies!" she cried tickling madly.
"GAAH!" Vegeta cried, falling off the bed.  Bulma took the initiative and dove on top of him, still tickling.  "STOP!" he cried and for the first time ever, she heard him giggle.  Of course it only spurred her on and when he grabbed both of her wrists she began to head-butt his chest.  Then she began to rub the top of her head back and forth, occasionally head-butting.  Vegeta began to laugh.
"What are you doing?"
"Burrowing." She said.  She heard him snicker.
"Stop it."
"Make me." As soon as he let go of her hands she began to tickle him again.
"STOP!" he bellowed.  She ignored him and continued.  He thrashed underneath her.  Suddenly he burst out laughing and flipped onto his stomach.  Not willing to end her game yet, Bulma began to poke his back.  She poked his waist right next to his spine and his whole body jerked.  "NO!!" he cried, squirming.  Bulma held onto him with her legs and continued to poke, laughing madly.
"Vegeta's ticklish!" she chanted, laughing.  Suddenly he turned the tables and began to tickle her back.  She shrieked with laughter but refused to stop tickling him to protect herself.  She was laughing so hard she felt tears coming to her eyes.
"Give up!" Vegeta demanded between bouts of laughter.
"Never!" Bulma cried.
"Oh, you two are so cute!" They both froze and turned towards the door to see Bulma's mom.  "Oh, don't mind me!" she chirped, seeing their red faces.  "I just wanted to let you both know that breakfast is ready.  Be downstairs in five minutes!" she giggled before practically skipping back to the kitchen.
Bulma glanced at Vegeta and noticed his cheeks were bright red.  She giggled and poked him in the ribs.  He glanced at her and laughed quietly.
What was it about Bulma that made him act so foolish, and yet even after being caught he didn't care that her mother had seen them acting like children.  Besides, first of all it was Bulma's mother.  And secondly, he didn't care what people thought of him, and finally, that small part of him that was willing to do whatever Bulma wished was only becoming more dominant.
And he didn't care.  He was Super Saiyan, that was what he'd wanted for so long.  And having that kind of power meant nothing to her.  She probably would have felt the same towards him if he was as weak as that fool ningen Yamcha, he was sure of it.
She cared about him, not his power or useless title.
"Are you hungry?" She asked.  He nodded, saying nothing.  She felt his eyes on her and they locked gazes again.  "You know what?  You've been living here for about four years, right?" he nodded.  "I just realized how little I know about you."  She said, examining  his face.  Vegeta shrugged.  His past wasn't common knowledge, and he would of liked to keep it that way.
She stood and walked over to her door and pushed the intercom.
"Mom."
"Yes dear?"
"Could you please bring breakfast up here for us?"
"Of course dear." Her mother giggled and the intercom fell silent.  Vegeta frowned, he knew where this was going.  She sat down on the bed and patted the mattress next to her.  Vegeta sighed in resignation and sat down next to her.
"What was your planet like?" she asked, immediately diving into to interrogation.  But Vegeta realized that he didn't care if she wanted to know about him, in fact he felt a little flattered.  But if she began to ask about Frieza, the conversation would be over.
"A desert, for the most part." He replied, leaning back against the headboard.  "Two suns, one moon.  Only one third of the planet had vegetation.  And Vejiitasei was the size of three Chikyuu."
"What did you like most about it?"  He gave her a questioning glance, but shrugged as if he really didn't care why she wanted to know.
"The heat.  Everywhere else has been too damn cold."
"Really?  We're in a tropical region right now.  We're pretty close to the equator." She said.
"But you only have one sun."
"At least we don't live in Siberia." She said, with a half-smile.  He didn't know where Siberia was so he ignored the comment.  He looked like he wasn't about to divulge any more information so she decided that she'd have to keep questioning him.
"What were the girls like?"  he appeared thoughtful for a moment.
"I.. don't really remember.  There was never that many female Saiyans in the palace except the girl that raised me.  The rest were slaves from other planets."
"Do you remember the girl that raised you?  She wasn't your mother?"
"I never met my mother as far as I know.  The girl… what the hell was her name?" he paused for over a minute trying to remember.  "I should know her name at least." He frowned.  "Neko.  That was her name. She was only thirteen I think when my father appointed her to look after me until I was only enough to train."
"How old was that?"
"Three."
"Damn." Bulma murmured.  "Well, it's a little early but not by much.  I went to preschool when I was four."
"Three is old enough for a Saiyan.  You humans don't live as long as we do."
"Oh yeah." Bulma murmured.  There was a knock at the door and Bulma's mom came in bearing trays of food.  She'd made pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream on top.  She also made eggs and bacon and plenty of toast.  They silently decided to continue the conversation after breakfast.
Once they were finished and Bunny had returned to clear away the dishes they resumed where they left off.
"Did you have school and training at the same time?" Bulma asked, diving right in.  Vegeta rolled his eyes at the memory.
"Yes.  I had to learn all I needed to know to rule the planet, and diplomatic garbage.  Reading and stuff, some history."
"Math?" she asked.  He grimaced in distaste.
"I hate math.  But yes, I learned math.  Not like I need it or anything."
"I can't really imagine Saiyans writing anything.  What did you read?"  He smiled at her accurate assumption.
"Really weird stuff from other planets.  A lot of it I really didn't understand, but I could read it so that's all that mattered."
"So, how did you learn to speak Japanese and English?"
"Radditz." Bulma blinked, not understanding.
"He transmitted broadcasts to me from Chikyuu on the way here.  The pods that we came in had some type of chemical sedative so we would sleep the whole way here and while we slept all the information was coming in through the scouters. Most of the time I never bothered, but I knew I'd have to ask someone how to find those stupid dragon balls, so I had to learn."
"That makes sense.  What about your father?"
"What about him?"
"What was he like?"
"He was the King."
"So was he mean?" Vegeta snorted.
"He was," he paused, trying to find the best way to describe his old man.  "He wasn't that bad.  But when I was little I was afraid of him." He smiled at the memory.  "The first time I met him I hid behind Neko.  I think it pissed him off, he thought I was weak and he killed her on the spot."  He ignored Bulma's gasp and continued with a shrug.  "It was his duty, I accepted it after I realized why he'd done it." He paused.  "I really don't know what he was like.  I only saw the King.  Not my father.  I saw how other Saiyans treated their children, they weren't half as demanding as he was.  I don't think he ever told me he was proud of me.  But he taught me all I was supposed to need to know."
"That's terrible."  He shrugged indifferently.
"What does it matter?  I haven't seen him since I was eight."
"Do you ever miss him?"  he raised an eyebrow as if considering the possibility.
"No, I just wish I could ask him a few things."
"Like..?" Bulma prompted.
"Like why he sold us off to Frieza.  When he let that bastard take me.  But I know the answer so there's no point in asking even if I could."
"Why did he?" He snorted.
"You should know the answer to that.  He couldn't say no.  He did everything that fucker asked, we all did, and in the end it still didn't matter."
"Yes." Bulma said.  She scooted closer to Vegeta and rested her head on his shoulder.  "What about friends?  Did you have any friends at home?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"They're considered a weakness, a distraction.  I had too much to do.  Even if I'd been allowed to have friends I wouldn't have had time for them."
"Oh."  She yawned.
"Am I boring you?" he asked, slightly mocking.
"Not at all.  I'm just tired, and I'm comfortable here. It's making me sleepy."  Vegeta nodded and uncharacteristically wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer.  She draped her free arm across Vegeta's waist and smiled.
"Is there anything else then?" he said.
"Not right now.  Just…" she trailed off.
"What?" he prompted.
"Stay here with me awhile.. before you train.  Please?"  How could he say no?  He wanted to stay with her, she hadn't asked him anything that would be upsetting, she was curious about him and he really didn't mind.  And he trusted her.  The only human, the only person ever.  He wanted to do what she asked and it wasn't an unpleasant request, quite the opposite.  He would love to lay there all day with his beautiful female.
"Alright." He said.  He nuzzled her hair, inhaling the scent of strawberries and cream shampoo and gave her an affectionate kiss on the top of her head.  He hadn't claimed her as his mate, but he knew then that it would only be a matter of time.  And he felt certain that she would wait for that day, no matter what.
 
 

The End.
 

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