Dangerous Bond

Chapter 33 : Warpath

Vegeta woke at 9:00 the next morning, ridiculously late for him. He would normally have berated himself for sleeping in so late, but the rest seemed to have done him some good.

'Either that or Bulma's magical tablets.' He thought to himself as he got up.

All traces of the headache were gone but his muscles were still cramped from the fight with Raython. As he stepped into a warm shower the prince wondered how many times he would regret that fight in the future and how many times he would have to remind himself why he had done it. For her of course. He couldn't help but suspect that many of his fights would be for her from now on. It was strange, having someone that meant so much to him after all these years of solitude.

Vegeta turned off the water and stepped out of the shower cubicle. Life had been so hard, an endless fight just to stay alive that never seemed to end. He had often wondered why he even bothered, it was always torture and nothing ever changed. But, as he had said to Bulma some number of nights ago, he was happy now, here, on Chikyuusei, with his onna by his side. He could not allow anything to take that away from him. Especially the baka machines that had been predicted to come. Back to training, he guessed. What else was there he could do? Nothing, just train and hope that he was nolonger hitting that damn roof he'd been stuck behind recently.

Bulma had felt her partner's waking through their link and was now standing in the kitchen, halfway through with cooking him a huge breakfast.

"Hey Vegeta," She greeted as he came in, "Feeling better?"

"Much." He replied.

She smiled at the lack of agression in his voice. She'd been half-expecting him to continue their arguement from yesterday and found herself almost swooning with relief.

"Here. Eat." She ordered, placing the huge plates of food on the table.

As Vegeta sat down and picked up his fork he smirked at her. "Only wondering, but what would you do if I said I wasn't hungry?"

Bulma grinned. "Well, first I'd take your temperature and run you down to hospital. Then I'd get Goku to come and eat all the stuff I made so it wouldn't go to waste. After that I'd probably look into creating a documentary on 'impossible things'."

She sat in the chair next to him, picking at a pancake while she watched him, perfectly happy just to stare at him, taking in everything about the mighty Saiya-jin. God did she love him. Her mind wandered momentarily to where she would be if he was to die in the android attack. After a few seconds she shivered. That was NOT a subject she wished to dwell on.

Vegeta noticed Bulma's involentary shudder and stopped eating long enough to speak.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Just stuff... Nasty stuff."

"Like what?"

"Like... Like if what the boy from the future said happened in his time happened here too." She pulled her chair closer to him and looked up into his obsidian eyes with her blue orbs, currently beginning to glisten with unshed tears. "I don't think I could... I couldn't... I mean I..."

Vegeta set his fork on a now empty plate, pushed back his chair and took her into his lap, shushing her quietly with a gentleness he had never before displayed, even to her.

"You don't have anything to worry about." He assured her, his voice deep and comforting, "None of that will happen. I won't leave you, ever."

Bulma buried her head into his chest and sobbed. "But what if... It does happen and... You don't make it... and I'm all alone and..."

"It won't happen!" He promised her, a fierce light shining in his dark eyes as he spoke, "You'll never be alone."

She sat back and tilted her face so her cerulean eyes met his once again. The prince reached up one hand and lightly brushed her tear stained cheeks, his eyes never leaving hers. Bulma smiled, a true, powerfull smile that had never before graced her lips. With Yamcha it had seemed so... forced. Now she was so deeply in love, so deep she wouldn't have beleived it is she hadn't experianced it herself.

"Thank you, Vegeta." She said, "Thank you for being here for me, for saving me all those times, for showing me this kind of love. For everything."

"It goes both ways." He answered, "I thank you for bringing me to my senses."

Outside the glass sliding doors to the patio Kiyashi watched the pair.

"I guess everyone gets their heart healed." She whispered, her voice unsteady. The tears fell.

'Koren... I failed you. I failed you so many times. I did my best but I wasn't good enough. Please forgive me... Please...'

She cried for a long time. Until Vegeta had long since gone off to the GR in an attempt to gain his Super Saiya-jin level and Bulma had returned to her lab to join her father on some particularly important project. Never before had the Saiya-jin no Hime showed this ammount of emotion, not even with her mother's beleif guiding her. She'd never let herself cry, knowing that it was the ultimate sign of weakness. Now she wasn't so sure. It hurt so much, she had to be strong to persevere. After an hour she wiped her eyes and entered the house. She took a pad of yellow slips Bulma had called 'sticky notes' and wrote carefully on the top one an explanation of her departure. Then she left.

Bulma emmerged from her lab several hours after the departure of Vegeta's sister, blinking rapidly as her overworked eyes changed from the extreme light in the lab to the darkening halls of CC. The sun was dipping low in the sky outside, its dying light painting the sky a blazing red in the west. She sighed, stretched, and rolled the kinks from her neck.

"Guess I gotta make Vegeta some dinner..." She mumbled to herself as she went into the kitchen.

He could eat light tonight, she decided as she got out a few pots and pans, she was too tired to cook his normal sized meal.

After nearly an hour of cooking and nearly falling into the food numerous times Bulma had cooked up enough food to feed two average humans. He wasn't going to be happy, but she was sure he'd understand. She was just about to serve up and get the food on the table when a pair of strong arms encircled her small waist. She leant back into him, her mind too tired to do anything else. But not too tired to realise that 'Vegeta' seemed to be a little lacking muscle wise today and had gained a little in the height department... She looked up... And was greeted by the shadowed eyes of Yamcha.

"Freak!" She yelled, "Get off me!" Bulma proceeded to struggle whole heartedly, but he simply started to caress her with gentle hands.

"PERV!!!" She hollared as her ex started to grope her breasts, "Get off me allready!"

She tried to do the same as she had in the bar all that time ago but Yamcha didn't even flinch as she slammed her elbow into his crotch with all the force she could muster. Damn, she had really wanted to deal with him herself...

'~Vegeta!~' She shouted along their bond, '~A little help here?~'

The Saiya-jin no Ouji stopped in his training, reaching out to her. Bulma's anger was aparent, the fear that lay underneath hardly even tic-sized in comparison. Whatever it was, she had called him, so he was coming. He burst into the kitchen just as Bulma's fear started to grow. Trained eyes took in everything, his rage growing as he saw Bulma backed up against a kitchen unit, the rat's hands going everywhere. Shaking with fury the Saiya-jin took a meaningfull step forward.

"Get off her!" He ordered.

Yamcha's head snapped up and glassy eyes focused on the wall behind Vegeta, as if staring straight through the stronger warrior. With unnatural speed he reached out and grabbed Bulma before disapearing with the sound of leathery wings.

Vegeta's wrath had reached breaking point now. With a roar of anger he powered up to his strongest level.

"HARATHOKINS!" He roared, "I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!"

On the other side of the country Kiyashi sat up, her senses reading Vegeta's ki level and anger clearly. She was feeling better, but he obviously wasn't.

"What the Hell got up his ass?" She wondered outloud, then took off to join him.

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