Dragon Ball Z 1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. The characters belong to their rightful owners & companies. 

Things happen 

Chapter 1: Changes 

It was the usual day at the Capsule Corporation. The servo bots were humming around. Mr. Briefs was hidden in his lab developing another round of stronger fighting robots which will be hopefully not be destroyed as quickly as the others effected by a certain ever grumpy looking saiyan. Mrs. Briefs was busy looking after her darling geraniums and everything was quite peaceful. And if the neighbours of the Briefs learned something during the last year then to enjoy every quiet moment they could get. Because they usually didn't last long. The constantly humming of the gravity room should at least be heard until dinner time and it already exploded last week - so no heartattacks had to be calculated as well, so everybody was quite relaxed. 

After taking care of her flowers Mrs. Briefs went into the kitchen to fix some snacks & drinks for tea time. She was expecting her daughter back any second now from her usual shopping trip. Just as everything was set up a car pulled up the driveway. It was an open red racing style car driven by a young woman in her twens who at the moment had some trouble to grab all the bags. With some difficulty she managed to heave them all out of the backseat and stumbled towards the entrance. 

"Hi mom. I'm back. Could you please give me a hand with my shopping bags? They're quite heavy." 

A blue haired head peeked over the bags looking out for her mother. 

"Come here, my dear." 

With that Mrs. Briefs took some of the bags taking them into the kitchen. 

"Looks like you have been quite successful today." 

She said smiling at her only daughter. Not waiting for an answer she ushered her daughter out on the backyard. 

"How about we have some tea now Bulma? Come on." 

Sitting at the garden table Bulma's mother picked up her chatting. 

"So where have you been? Did you went to Macy's? I think they had a big summer sale. I read it somewhere in a magazine. And Orsay is selling to discount prices also. I saw this gorgeous dress yesterday with stripes and...." 

Bulma let her mom talking and easily blended her out. She just wanted to relax and so she just said "yes" or "you're right" here and then. She almost drifted off to sleep as she heard her mother asking her something. 

"Bulma, I didn't hear you coming back yesterday night. Did you had fun with your girlfriends?" 

Surprised Bulma's head snapped up. Usually her mom didn't ask what she was doing when she was out with her friends. 

Quickly recovering Bulma answered: "Sure. We went to the movies and in a club afterwards. We had a pretty good time." 

After some thinking she added: "We decided to meet again today. We're going to that new bar Downtown." 

Nervously she shifted in her chair to gain a more comfortable position but her mother was already talking about something else. Or rather about somebody else. 

Their houseguest. 

Bulma was still regaining her composure from her mom's inquirements about her night life as she asked her daughter: 

"Why don't you take that nice young man with you? I'm sure he would enjoy some earthly experiences." 

Bulma instantly got a coughing fit and spilled half of her tea. 

"What?!" 

She almost screamed, at once loosing her just regained composure. 

"That jerk?! Mom, that's supposed to be joke?" 

Furiously she glared in the direction of the gravity room. 

"Mr. High-and-Mighty would probably blow everything up. He's an ungrateful bastard. We took him in and what are we getting?! Nothing than insults and complains from our pampered little princie." 

Bulma made a face and grinning devishly she added: "And I don't think he can dance anyway." 

Mrs. Briefs shook disapprovingly her blond curls: "Oh honey, don't say that. He is a real nice person, he just never learned how to express his feelings." 

"If he even has them..." Bulma muttered quietly to herself. 

Loud she said: "I'm going up to my room, unpacking my shopping bags. I'll be down for dinner." She got up and went to the kitchen grabbed the bags and headed to her room. 

After closing the door she let the bags fall onto the floor. She made a step towards her closet which was across her room as suddenly her world went spinning. She let herself fall back against the door, closing her eyes she slid down the door. Breathing heavily as her heart raced in her chest. After a while it slowed down and she crawled to her bed, falling asleep as she lay her head on the covers. 

****** 

In the meanwhile a very satisfied Vegeta destroyed the last training device and with a back flip to the control panel he switched the machine off. The training went pretty good today and nor the baka woman nor her annoying mother disturbed his training today. He could feel his power raising from day to day but there was still something important missing to break the limit to become a Super Saiyan. But there was still almost two years left until the androids would arrive and he was sure he would figure it out. 

'Even Goku that baka figured it out, so I his prince should have no problem with reaching the next level. I will be the legendary Super Saiyan.' 

But in the back of his mind doubt was nagging. Angrily he punched the metallic wall which didn't make it any better. 

After a few minutes of punching a nice hole into the wall he calmed down and feeling much better he decided that he was hungry. So he headed to his room to get his things for a shower. 

As he passed Bulma's room some weird murmuring was to be heard and drawers opened and closed. 

'Probably she just bought herself more of that junk which already stuffed her closet. And now she is standing in front of the mirror admiring her oh so gorgeaus body.' He sarcastically thought. Shaking his head about that baka woman he continued his way towards the bathroom. 

But he didn't get her out of his head. Recently she was acting really weird. 

He stepped into the shower, relaxing instantly as the steaming water massaged his sore muscels. In his mind he was displaying things of the same blue haired woman who invited him a year ago to stay with her family. 

'Well, for one thing she broke up again with that weakling Yamchu which wasn't anything out of line. But she didn't respond to any of his making up offers which was very unusual. Normally she would be angry at Yamchu for a couple of days and pouting all the time and bawl her eyes out in her room. Now already three weeks went by and appearently she didn't even missed that weakling.' 

Annoyingly Vegeta had to admit that this pleased him a lot. He couldn't stand that dishonorable human imbecile one bit and he could't understand what she was seeing in him anyway. 

'Well, what is that baka in comparison to a prince.' 

Before his thoughts could go any further in this direction he focused his attention on Bulma's weird behavior again. 

So another thing was that the woman spent most of her time out of the house mostly somewhere in the city regarding to her mother's endlessly chattering. 

Often she would be back not before morning, slipping into her room and thinking nobody was noticing. 

'Well, she just doesn't know how good saiyan ears are.' 

He smirked and suddenly frowned. It just looked like the woman was changing her lifestyle. She was out with that new car of hers, sleeping till noon, she's not showing any interest in her lab and not calling anybody of the Z-gang which was even weirder considering how much time she spent with them before. 

'So maybe she just figured out what loosers those idiots are.' 

He smirked. With that thought he finished his shower and got ready for dinner. 

******* 

"Shit, damnit...where did I put them?? They're supposed to be somewhere here. And Mom knows that the servo bots have nothing to do in my room. So just where is that stupid bottle?" 

She grumbled and let herself fall backwards on her back going through all the places she could have put them. She frowned as an idea came to her mind. 

"Yeah, I know ...... the music box. Silly me!" 

She smacked her head lightly and leaned over to grab the little box from it's place on her nightstand. Usually she kept old things in there, holding memories of her childhood but today her eager fingers were looking for something else. 

After a few seconds she found the small bottle and took it out. 

She put the music box back in its place and walked over to her bathroom. 

A look in the mirror told her it was really time. She already looked quite pale and her eyes looked funny. The blood pounded in her ears as a new dizzy spell hit her. She tumbled and almost let the small bottle fall. Luckily Bulma caught herself at the sink and slowly lowered herself to the bathroom floor. Breathing slowly she waited for the dizziness to pass. As she felt better a couple of minutes later she quickly opening the bottle to fumbled out a simple white pill. 

She tossed it into her mouth and tried to swallow it but her mouth was too try already. With all the strengh she could muster she pulled herself up again. Grabbing a glass from the sink she filled it with water and was finally able to drown that white pill down her throat. As soon as she swallowed it utter relief washed over her. 

'Now everything will be fine. I just have to hold on a little longer.' 

A smile on her lips she let herself sink to the floor waiting for the pill to take effect. 

'I made it. Again.' 

*************************************************************************** 

Say what do you think? In my country pretty much everybody is obsessed with DBZ. The only thing I think is interesting is the fanfiction dealing with Bulma & Vegeta. I loved to read those great stories about them, and one day I wrote this but never actually finished the first chapter until today. It's a long time I read or saw something of DBZ so it would be nice if I kept everything in line. 


	2. Raving towards the end

Things happen 

Chapter 2: Raving towards the end 

It was late in the evening as Bulma Briefs called her good-byes to her mother who was already on her way to bed. Bulma was ready to meet up with her friends. The gravity room was still humming so at least she could avoid his stares. During the past couple of days she couldn't get rid of the feeling that the saiyan was watching her every move. 

He never actually talked to her – no demanding of food, no fixing the gravity room – he had been unusually quiet towards her and that unnerved her. She actually began to miss their verbal sparring matches which had started ever since she invited him to live with her family. 

She made her way towards her car already waiting outside in the drive way. Flashing a look to the gravity room she stopped wondering of what was going on in the ever grumpy saiyan's head. Suddenly the humming stopped and the door opened revealing a very worn out looking Vegeta. He sensed her the moment he stepped out of the gravity room. Surprised he looked at her. 

Nobody uttered a word both were simply starring at each other caught up in the tense air between them until Bulma broke her gaze away hurrying off to her car, starting the engine and driving off. She still felt his stares at her back and her heart was racing in her chest. Bulma actually had a hard time concentrating on the traffic. Something like that never happened before between them. 

She took the exit leading towards the Downtown area of her home city. Soon enough she forgot about Vegeta and happily sang along with the radio looking forwards to meet her girl friends. 

****** 

Vegeta had been staring after the woman until he couldn't see her anymore. He couldn't really describe what just happened between them but it confused him to no end. He couldn't remember ever having felt like this. His body was vibrating with warmth and he had the urge to fly after the woman to steal her from that noisy machine of hers to loose himself in those sky-blue eyes to finally... 

'Whoa, what was I thinking??!!' Vegeta could feel his cheeks flush. That was certainly no manner for a prince. 

It wasn't his nature to be embarrassed of anything but still he couldn't do anything against it. 

'I do hope that nobody saw me gazing after her like in idiot.' He thought to himself while leaving for the kitchen to demand his supper. At least the woman's mother was still in the mansion so he wouldn't have to deal with the strange machines in the kitchen. He already had some encounters with them and in the end the kitchen would be a mess, the blue haired vixen would yell her head off and he had to stay hungry for the rest of the day. 

No thanks, he couldn't use that tonight. Too many thoughts kept him busy - the blue haired scientist not free of fault - and he feared he might hurt himself being so distracted at the moment. So he called out for the annoying mother of her. Thank goodness she came right away providing him with a large portion of food. That was really too bad in one way because he felt like yelling at somebody. 

Vegeta felt extremely distressed by the moment between him and Bulma in the front yard. Sighing he started to eat planning on being rude to the one responsible of this mess later on. 

****** 

The air was heated and sweat was shining on Bulma's skin. The lasers were bathing the club in a mysterious light. She and her girl friends were in their favorite club dancing for hours to the entrancing beat. They were five all together. All high society ladies like Bulma herself. She never felt so right in a place. The five of them belonged together. They first had met here a couple of weeks ago when everything started. The connection between them was simply there, they were bored, spoiled and looking for adventure. Things they missed at home. Bulma felt accepted in their small circle. She was secretly sick of always having to measure up to her strong friends and to be left behind. Nobody really cared about her. At least that what she thought pretty often lately. 

All what she had was her genius mind and her beauty. 

Yes, her beauty. Ever since she was a young girl she learned how to use it to get her way. 

To convince, to play, to manipulate, to hide, to win. 

But she had lost. Failed. 

She hadn't been able to keep Yamchu by her side. She had tried so often but no matter how hard she tried he always found an excuse to slip away from her. She lost him but thanks to her new found friends she got past him. 

Forgot about him. Yamchu was no longer important to Bulma Briefs. But that was only half the truth. She hadn't failed once but even twice. A crack for her self esteem what had suffered since the z-team came to action. 

As Goku and her first met everything was easy and the things went as she wished - well most of the time. 

Now everything was different - complicated. 

Especially since a certain saiyan had entered her life. Vegeta kept invading her thoughts whenever she expected it the least. Like now. In the midst of people she should rather enjoy herself than think about his majesty. Raving together with the mass all night long. 

The sound switched to another beat and Bulma signaled her friends that she would take a small break. She pushed her way through the moving mass towards the lady's room. She was alone as she entered the pale room. From far away she could still hear the bass and the floor was vibrating beneath her feet. A look into the mirror told her that it was time for another round. She pulled out the small bottle with the white pills, picking one out, she swallowed it quickly. She never dreamt that this small pill could rid her of all her insecurities and doubts. Maybe it wasn't a very clever thing to depend on those pills but it made life more bearable and happier. 

The Bulma in the mirror smiled back at her - devishly. It was time to have fun. The night was still young. 

Bulma left the bathroom going straight to the bar to have a drink. She decided for a cocktail. Seating herself on a bar stool she had an amazing view on the dance floor. She waved to her friends who looked like they had pure fun. She turned to look to her right side as she felt somebody watching at her. A guy she had never seen before had taken the seat beside her. He did look good with his dark unruly hair and intense black eyes. 

Bulma was lost in his eyes. They reminded her on someone but the pills started to kick in and her thoughts became foggy. Only the now and then mattered and nothing else. Without uttering a word the mysterious man grasped her hand and pulled her onto the dance floor. 

Bulma didn't resist. She was too drawn to the man who was now encircling her. Together they were moving to the monotone beat. Her blood was rushing through her veins and her surroundings were a rush of colors. She closed her eyes to the beat as his hands closed around her waist and his lips found hers - a burning sensation. 

The world was lost to them as he guided her away from the masses. Seeking the quietness in one of the secluded rooms upstairs. Bulma felt like floating above the ground being caressed by warm hands seeking for more. 

She could feel the soft fabric beneath her as suddenly the air left her lungs. 

****** 

Vegeta couldn't sleep. After supper he had been going back to train in the gravity room some more but he couldn't quite focus on destroying the small robots provided by Bulmas father. So he decided to rest instead but now he was already laying for hours in his bed trying to figure out why he had this unsettling feeling in his gut. 

It was already after 2 a.m. and although saiyans didn't really need a lot of sleep he felt very tired so it was kind of annoying. Mostly his thoughts about the blue haired woman kept him from falling asleep. She still hadn't returned from her nightly trip. Something tugged at his heart as he imagined her all by herself in the middle in the night. There was so much evil out there. Who knows what that foolish woman would do? But those thoughts were ridiculous. Vegeta groaned. It wasn't the first time he caught himself worrying about Bulma. He hadn't felt like this in a long time and he knew he didn't like it one bit. 

'Why couldn't she just stay here...with me?' 

That startled him. He figured out already on Namek that she wasn't just a regularly weak little human. She had her qualities, was strong headed, clever and well very beautiful. Bulma seemed perfect to him but so different in another way. He knew somehow during the last year she became important to her. Vegeta couldn't quite tell what feelings he had for her but there was something that felt missing when she wasn't around. So he laid there in bed contemplating what to do now. 

Time passed and the feeling in his gut kept getting worse and worse. Finally he had enough and jumped out of his bed, pulling on some clothes and flew into the night to look for the blue haired woman who didn't let him sleep. 

****** 

She felt dizzy now. Her skin was hot and something tickled her below her belly button. It was difficult to breathe and she began to see black spots. The colors were gone and suddenly everything was too bright and the walls seemed to close in. She wanted to scream but not a sound left her throat. Her heart was racing in her chest, the blood pounding in her ears. From far away she could hear a soothing voice but she couldn't see anybody. 

Suddenly she felt cold - so very cold. Was she going to die now? Was that her punishment about being so carelessness? But she didn't want to die. Not now and not like this. And there she lay in silent agony. 

****************************************************** 

Well, that probably wasn't very entertaining writing but I want to finish the fic because I don't really feel into writing DBZ fics anymore. Like I said before I'm not very interested anymore in it. But I still wanted to finish this fic and probably there'll be only one more chapter to finish it. Still reviews are appreciated. Maybe some suggestions about the ending??!! 

Oh, by the way in my country 'raving' has also the meaning of dancing. Like being totally lost in the music and dancing to techno music. In case you're confused about the meaning of the title. 


	3. Catch me

Chapter 3: Catch me 

Vegeta had been flying towards the city center for quite awhile now. The streets were bustling with activity although it was past midnight. He could feel Bulma's ki somewhere below him but he had trouble locating it. For a reason unknown to him her ki was flaring, unstable and to his dismay it seemed to getting weaker every passing second. 

'What the hell is going on down there? I never had trouble before finding her ki.' 

Vegeta flew further down landing softly on one of the higher buildings. Somewhere in his gut he had the sickening feeling that something was very wrong with the blue haired woman. 

****** 

Heaven felt never closer before as felt hell. Bulma was torn between ecstasy and utter despair. She was panting, her heart raced in her chest as she tried to focus on the person ravaging her soft flesh. 

"Please." She mumbled. "Help me. Can't breathe. My chest is going to burst. Please." 

She was choking now on her sobs. Her vision blurred as tears streamed down her cheeks. He wouldn't stop, he couldn't hear her. Did she even said it out loud? Bulma wasn't so sure anymore. She could no longer divide between reality and hallucination. Everything seemed surreal. And the heat seemed to crush her as the intensity of emotions hit her and a strangled cry escaped her throat. 

****** 

There. 

A wave of energy hit him but was gone as soon as it came. Vegeta tensed hoping for more to come. But nothing. Still it would be enough to find her. At least she was near by. He pushed himself off the ground following the trail, the energy had left. 

It lead him to a huge building with lot's of light, people and very loud music. Vegeta winced at that. He disliked the thought of having to go in there. His ears were very sensitive and it surely gave him a hell of a headache afterwards. But he would put up with it as long as he found Bulma. 

He decided not to take the main entrance but rather let himself in through a window. The club had several floors and it seemed like he happened to pick the chill out zone. At least that's how Bulma had called it while babbling on about stuff concerning life on earth. God knows why he should have to know something like this. 

Vegeta frowned at the sight before him. Soft quiet trance music was playing and people were sitting or lying on plush cushions on the floor. They kind of seemed spaced out not really seeing him and some of them looked like hell. Dilated pupils, pale sweaty skin and way too thin. 

Vegeta was disgusted, he couldn't understand how those people could just let themselves waste away like this. He had lived to learn that his body was the only thing he could rely on in a fight or in life generally so he made sure his body was in perfect health. Vegeta shook his head muttering something about "stupid humans" and made his way through the dark hallway. Bulma's ki was close by. 

He raced to the next door and burst into the room. Vegeta stumbled to a halt. His eyes rested on a figure laying motionless on the crumbled bed sheets. Blue hair spilled over a dirty pillow, the pale body sprawled onto the bed covered by almost nothing but goose bumps. Eyes staring unseeing up to the white ceiling. Vegeta couldn't move, his body began to shake as the emotions began to curse through his body. 

Anger, fear, sorrow, loneliness, pain and...and something what could have been love. 

An anguished scream echoed through the floors as the prince of the saiyans dropped to the floor denying what his brain kept telling him. 

Bulma Briefs was dead. 

****** 

It was foggy and cold. Looking down her body she found that all her clothes were gone. 

'Where am I?' 

The little girl looked around but there was nothing just white thick fog. 

"Hm, what should I do now?" 

She rolled one of her blue strands around her index finger slightly pulling on it. She had no idea how she got here but she wasn't going to cry. She was a big girl. Finally she just went ahead figuring that if she only went straight the fog would have to end at a certain point. After a while she reached a small pond. The little girl dropped to her knees to drink a bit from the water. 

But as she looked into the water it was like a picture was reflected on the surface. She tipped with her finger in it and the picture changed became clearer and she could see a small room with wide windows from the bottom up to the ceiling. It was dark in the room just some lights from the outside lit the heavy darkness in the room from time to time. It looked like laser beams in different colors. She thought it looked pretty. There were also people in the room. A dark haired man sat in one corner. He looked kind of spaced out not really seeing what was going on around him. His clothes were a mess and his whole appearance gave her sick feeling in her gut. She didn't know why but she just knew she didn't like him. 

Somebody else caught her attention. Another man was kneeling in front of a bed - the only one in the room. She would have almost laughed because of his funny looking spiky hair but he looked so sad and lost. It would be really mean. The girl couldn't see his face because his head was lowered in his hands. Curiously she leaned closer to the water trying to see the man more clearly. Obviously he was suffering a lot of pain. His whole body shook. But he wasn't crying. She didn't knew that man but she somehow knew that this man wouldn't cry. She simply couldn't imagine that. Now he crawled to the side of the bed clutching the bed sheets and a limp hand. 

There was another person. It was a woman laying on the bed. She didn't move. The girl became scared, she didn't want to watch anymore but she couldn't tear her gaze away as if something made her watch the scene. By now she could see that the man was yelling at the woman. Too bad she couldn't hear what he said so she leant even more closer. Looking at his lips trying to catch the words. As suddenly the air was filled with a loud humming. It sounded like lot's of bees all around her. And suddenly she was drawn into the water. 

****** 

"Wake up I said." 

Vegeta clutched Bulma's hand pleading with her to open her eyes. He fought back the wetness that seemed to linger in his eyes. He couldn't cry. If he allowed himself to cry he would break down. He couldn't do that. 

'Why does she have to mess up my life like this? I just got used to the idea of her being something special to me and then she's doing something like this. Why?' 

He looked once again at her deathly pale face. It still hold all her beauty but it was cold and still. Nothing was left from the cheerful woman with such an annoying temper. No, he wouldn't cry. Vegeta felt the need to be angry. To hit something or someone in that case. 

His gaze fell upon the man huddled in the corner and he knew instantly that this man carried all the fault why his woman was laying there unmoving on the bed. 

Yes, his woman. And that man would pay for it. 

Vegeta slowly pushed himself off from the floor, anger radiating from him, coloring his ki in a dark bloody red. He made his way over to the corner and picked the half conscious guy up from the ground. The man even managed to crack an eye open and all he said was. 

"She was good. Wanna have a round with her?" 

That was all he said before Vegeta lost it and let his anger flare up to take it all out on the man who had raped Bulma. 

****** 

She felt fuzzy as she slowly opened her eyes. Somebody was screaming and yelling and it hurt her ears. She wanted him to stop. To stop being so ruthlessly loud. Her body hurt all over and her head was spinning. Confused she slowly sat up taking in the sight in front of her. A man with spiky hair was punching furiously into the slim frame of a now nearly unrecognizable young man. 

God, that must have hurt she thought as something cracked under a hard punch into the rips of the poor guy. What was going on anyway? As she tried to stand up the world went into a blur and she stumbled through the room. She fell against the wall and a low cry emerged her throat. It was enough to get the spiky haired man's attention. He dropped the other man and starred wide eyed at her. 

'Why's he looking at me like that? Do I look funny or what?' 

He did look familiar but she couldn't quite place him. Her brain felt all mushy so she decided not to think too hard now. 

Suddenly she felt arms grab her dragging her away from the bed closer to the windows. Bulma could smell alcohol and she felt sick as his hands roamed over her body. 

'No, no..' 

Her mind screamed as the memories flooded back into her brain. 

The night out with her friends, the pills, the guy at the bar and then..... 

She squeezed her eyes shut and a strangled sob escaped her lips. Her knees seemed to give out under her as she fell backwards against her captor. 

"You don't want her? Well, then I just keep her." 

The man giggled madly to himself. Bulma struggled to get free but she only managed to slip and the guy let her go. A crashing sound could be heard as glass splintered everywhere. Bulma tried to gain back her balance but to no avail. Her eyes met Vegeta's who stood frozen in place as she fell backwards through the shattered window into nothingness. 

***************************************************** 

Ah well, so much for wanting to finish the story. As you see it didn't work out. *sweatdrop* 

Let's see if I can bring it to an end in the next chapter. I mean I can't let it end like this. What do you think? A happy ending or not? Tell me what you think. 


	4. Confessions

Chapter 4: Confessions 

Glass was flying everywhere as the young woman crashed through the window into nothingness. It replayed a hundred times in slow motion in Vegetas mind before he finally jumped into action. He shoved the drunken man out of the way and jumped after her. He lost her once he'll make sure that it didn't happen again. Vegeta could see her a few meters below and he pushed himself to fly faster. He could almost reach her. 

*** 

Bulma felt like something was sucking her down. The darkness was calling her again. She felt cold and dizzy. She was scared and as she slowly opened her eyes it felt like a dream as she could see the windows rushing in a blur past her. The night sky was a dark blue and she could see the stars sparkling above her. Her arms flailing helplessly at her sides she slipped in and out of consciousness as she seemed to fall for an eternity. Her head felt so very heavy and her body was numb by the cold night air. Finally Bulma managed to steady her gaze and it fell straight into coal black eyes looking anxiously into her slightly glazed blue ones. 

The monster called darkness didn't grab after her anymore. 

The falling stopped. 

She found herself wrapped up in Vegetas arms pressed tightly to his chest as if he was afraid that she might slip away from him. Bulma snuggled closer to the warmth that surrounded her. For the first time in weeks she felt safe and welcomed. Vegeta hugged her closer raising his ki to keep her warm. She didn't really want to think about what he thought of her state. She barely clang to consciousness as the pain in her body returned. But as the minutes passed she slowly blacked out. 

*** 

It was warm. Comfortable. As Bulma slowly opened her eyes she registered that she was back in her room laying in her bed. Somebody had tended to her injuries and dressed her in her pj's. Her head hurt as she sat up trying to register what had happened to her. Some things were still fuzzy but the full memory would come back sooner or later. 

'Wait a second. Somebody tended to my injuries and dressed me in my pj's. Oh, my god. That's bad. Very bad.' 

Bulma panicked and dragged herself out of her bed. She remembered going to her favorite club with her friends last night and she thought she had hooked up with a good looking guy but she wasn't so sure about this anymore. 

'God, do I feel sore. And just where did those injuries come from and how did I get home?' 

Bulma sighed. 

'Maybe I should really stop taking the pills. It's certainly not doing any good to my memory. I don't remember being out for this long before.' 

"Although one more time can't hurt." 

She said to herself and leaned over to the small box where she usually kept the small bottle. But it wasn't there. 

'Damn. Where are they?' 

Frantically she crawled out of bed looking furiously for the pills. She could feel the need crawling up her throat and her heart began beating faster in her near panic. 

"Are you looking for those?" Said a deep voice behind her. 

Frozen she stopped in mid-movement and slowly turned around to come face-to-face with Vegeta. He leaned at her door frame holding up the small bottle with the pills she needed so badly. Coming out of her stupor she hissed at him. 

"Those are mine. How dare you search through my stuff! You better give them back right now or I...I..I..." 

Bulma was at a loss. 

"You what, mhm princess?! Come and punch me with that puny small fist of yours. Well, you could try although it'd be doing your more harm than good in your state." 

Bulma unconsciously flushed at his words. She was still in her Pajamas and she felt like shit she probably looked like hell as well. It only made her more angrier. 

"What are you doing here anyway? Aren't you supposed to be training or something? Go and annoy somebody else! My head hurts like hell and I don't wish to put up with your attitude right now. Just leave me alone already and before you leave hand over those damn pills." 

In an instant Vegeta stood right in front of her. 

"So you care more about those pills more than yourself?" 

Bulma was slightly taken aback. 

"I never said this." 

"But I can see it. See how desperately you're trying to hold yourself together to get your hands on this tiny bottle." 

He wiggled the bottle in front of her face. The pills clucked together. Bulma grow more irritated with each passing minute. Since when did Vegeta take so much effort and cared about what she was doing. And how she hated him for teasing her if he knew full well what was going on. 

'Wait a sec. He knew. ..... He knows what those pills are. Oh my god. How? Oh shit oh shit. This can't get any worse.' 

Bulma had to knew and headed straight to the point. 

"Did you follow me last night?" 

This wiped the knowing smirk of Vegeta's face and was replaced by a frown. 

"So if I did it's none of your business. I can go where ever I want to go." 

He almost sounded like a small boy caught by doing something forbidden. 

"Oh really." Bulma was being sarcastic now. "Well listen up princie. I want to know exactly what you where doing there last night! And no excuses. You better spill it now." 

Bulma prayed silently he would do as she asked hoping he would bring some light into the blackness that were the hours of last night. 

Vegeta watched her closely and knew right away that she had a black out about what happened last night. He didn't knew if he should be happy or angry about it. For one thing it was probably better if she didn't remember what had happened to her but it was still annoying that she also didn't know that HE rescued her. Unconsciously he sighed. 

Bulma was wondering. 

'Just what is going on in his thick head.' 

Suddenly Vegeta began to speak. 

"Yes, I followed you yesterday night but only to the club. You didn't actually think I would follow you into there. My ears are way too sensitive to put up with this terrible loud noise you call music. So I just flew back here, trained some more, took a shower and went to bed. There, satisfied?!" 

He looked at her in challenge and Bulma could only nod dumbly. "What about my pills?" She piped up again. 

"What about them?" Vegeta couldn't resist to tease her some more. Even though she looked ruffled and worn out he wished he could stay longer in her presence. Since last night he figured so much that he was drawn to her and it was hard not to gather her up in his arms to kiss away all her pain and confusion. Yep, she was confused. Most definitely, and now she would get angry at him again and yell something like... 

"Vegeta, you baka. Stop playing with me. All you ever do is piss me off and annoy the hell out of me. Why can't you even be once considerate enough to see that I don't feel well and not making this any harder on me as it is." 

Bulma had to fight hard not to start crying and she believed she could see something like hurt in his eyes which was replaced by worry a second later. 

'Great. Now I'm already hallucinating. Since when would the almighty prince of all saiyans care about something lowly as me.' 

And she hated to admit it to herself but it was painful to realize that she had been in love with Vegeta all along and still she couldn't have him. 'That's it. That's it.' Suddenly Bulma's eyes were wide and she started screaming at Vegeta. 

"Get out. Get out of my room. Get out of my life!" 

Vegeta was too shocked by the sudden turn of events to do something about being pushed out of the room. In a matter of seconds Bulma had the door slammed into his face and Vegeta just stared dumbly at the door. 

'Well, this didn't go too well.' He thought sadly. 'But it wasn't to expected that she would suddenly think she could feel something for me.' 

Vegeta retreated quietly to his room only to pause at the bathroom to flush the pills down the toilet. They already had done too much damage. He would make sure she wouldn't take them again. 

The rest of the day went by without any incidents. Bulma briefly wondered why Vegeta didn't take up his training already. Their encounter occurred around lunch and since then she didn't see or heard of him. Maybe she was too hard on him. Bulma carefully made her way back to her room. She had just eaten some dinner. And didn't plan on throwing it up again. Her parents were out for the evening and so she had the house to herself. Well, besides Vegeta. But Mr. Grumpy didn't even come down for dinner and she probably would have apologized for being so rude but since he preferred to sulk in his room it can't be helped. 

Bulma made her way into her adjacent bathroom having a nice long bath in mind. She let the warm water flow in and now all she needed were some of those calming essences her mother got her for her birthday. 

"Geez, it's supposed to be somewhere here." She muttered to herself as she rummaged through the cabinet. She climbed up on a small stool to have better access and leaned forward on her tiptoes to grab the bottle on top of the cabinet. "Yay, that's it." 

But since she was still feeling weak from last night she lost her balance and crashed onto the floor along with some bottles from the cabinet. 

*** 

A faint noise awakened Vegeta from his light sleep. He sat up in his bed listening for more but nothing came. Frowning he let himself fall back onto his bed thinking about a way to fix the situation between him and Bulma. He hadn't wanted to make her mad at him. She just looked so beautiful when she was angry and he simply couldn't resist. And the other problem was her obvious dangerous life style. Vegeta was mad at himself for not figuring out sooner that something was not right with the woman. He groaned and combed with his fingers through his unruly hair. 'I should go and train. I really should. It would help to take my mind of the woman.' 

*** 

It hurt. God, it hurt so much. Bulma felt numb as she regained consciousness. A small trail of blood trickled down from her temple. 

'Oh, that's just great. Well done, Bulma." 

She tried to sit up as her gaze came across blood. On the floor. She could feel it trickle down her thighs. 

A familiar feeling. 

Hands reaching out for her. Groping her. Touching her. 

_Raping her._

Bulma's eyes flashed open as the memories from yesterday night came back full force. 

"No. No this isn't happening. Not to me. No no no." 

Bulma cradled her head in her hands as she let herself fall back onto the ground. The night in the club. The man at the bar. The single room with windows from the bottom up to the ceiling. The hands reaching out for her. Touching her. Claiming her. Raping her. Again and again. 

"No. Oh, god please no. No no no." She chanted to herself. Unwilling to accept the truth. 

And she remembered something else or better somebody else and her eyes snapped open as realization hit. 

"He was there. He watched me." She whispered to herself. 

And then she fell through the window. That was when she thought she would die. Smashed on the cold ground like a worthless porcelain doll. But he caught her. He had saved her. 

"So it was him who brought me home, tended my wounds and changed my clothes. Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. This can't be happening." 

Bulma hid her face in her hands. "But why didn't he tell me right away what happened yesterday night? Why did he have to lie?" A strangled sob escaped her throat. 

'Oh Bulma you're such a fool to believe he would actually care about you....Probably he is disgusted by me. Who wouldn't be? Used, raped, dirty and addicted to drugs. Way to go Bulma.' She thought bitterly. 

And the tears flooded from her eyes as she curled into a tight ball on the bathroom floor tiles. As she pulled her knees up to her chin she connected with something like a bottle. Probably something what fell along with her onto the floor. Bulma opened her eyes and to her amazement she found a bottle containing a handful of pills. 

Just like the one Vegeta had taken from her while she was asleep. Reaching out with her hand she grasped the small bottle. Slowly she opened it spilling all of the pills in her open palm. 

'Looks like this is it. I never thought it would end like this. I mean considering what kind of adventures I'm through. But I don't care anymore. I don't intend on putting up with this shit anymore. It's enough.' 

And before she could change her mind she dragged herself up to the sink, swallowed all of the pills and spilled them down with lot's of water. After doing this her gaze fell into the mirror. For an eternity she simply stood there and stared at her reflection. Tired blue eyes with shadows beneath them looked back at her. Limp hair and skin so pale you could have thought she was already dead. A thin hand traced the features in the mirror. 

'What have I done to myself? This isn't me. This isn't me.' Bulma shook her head violently and screamed at the mirror. 

"THIS ISN'T ME!!!" 

As her fist connected with the mirror sending it crashing into a thousand pieces. The sudden movement made her dizzy and the world began to spin as she dropped to the ground where already small puddles of water were beginning to form dripping from the already full tub. 

*** 

Vegeta was almost down the floor as he heard the angry scream and the crashing noise. 

"Alright. This one was real." 

He spun around and raced back to Bulma's room. An uneasy feeling crept up his back at the sudden silence in her room. 

'Please let her made nothing foolish. Just hold on.' Vegeta pleaded silently to himself as he burst through her door and headed straight for the bathroom as she was nowhere to be seen. The saiyan almost yanked the door out of the frame anxious to see what had conspired the crash. But he was not ready to see the picture displayed on the naked tiles. Bulma's pale wet body lay motionless on the floor. Her hair cling to her head sticky with her own blood that trickled from a small wound on her head. 

Vegeta was confused. 'Did she hit her head and blacked out?' After awhile he realized he was standing in water and he moved to turn off the water and pulled out the plug. The water was already cold. Vegeta carefully gathered Bulma in his arms. She was cold as well. Vegeta began to panic. Something was definitely wrong. He just couldn't figure out what....wait, she wasn't breathing. 

'Oh fuck. What did she do now?' In a rush he took the surroundings in and his gaze fell on a small bottle which was still clutched tightly in her left hand. 

'Oh no not again. You don't get away from me like this.' Vegeta quickly checked her pulse. It was there even if faintly and as he took another look at her he saw that she was still breathing but it looked like it was slowing down until eventually it would stop. Vegeta's mind raced as he carried her quickly into her room. He dropped her onto the bed and flew to the main bathroom down the floor to get to the drug cabinet. He pulled out a small bottle which he knew would trigger a need to vomit. Vegeta managed to get her to take it as she opened her eyes at one point of the ordeal. Bulma managed a soft moan. 

"What are doing to me?" 

"Shhh, stay calm, everything is gonna be okay. I promise." 

Shortly after Bulma began to throw up. According to the time of the intake of the drugs she probably had got them all out of her system. She would be left terribly weak for a couple of days but it should pass. It was only his luck that he had already ran a check up on these drugs as he got them from her purse last night. Living around two scientist it was easy to pick up a thing or two. He grumbled to himself after he cleaned her up already the second time within two days. 

"You silly thing." He said affectingly. "How can you put me through something like this? You really drive me insane you know. You're constantly in my dreams. Geez, I already started daydreaming about you in case you wondered why I'm not training in the gravity room. You're such a distraction. You're not good for me, I know but I still hope I could stay with you." 

Vegeta sighed as he put her carefully into her bed and turned to go. But before he could get up fully from the bed a hand snaked around his wrist lightly pulling him back down onto the bed. 

"Please. Stay." Came the small whisper. 

Vegeta didn't know what to do. She wasn't supposed to hear what he just said but seeing her so vulnerable he couldn't just yell at her something in his usual manner. Before he could say anything she beat him to it. 

"Why did you save me? - Twice." She added with an after thought. This made Vegeta uncomfortable and Bulma could see this but she wouldn't back down. He had pulled her from her only way out of this mess. 

"Why did you try to kill you?" 

"Oh common Vegeta don't play this game with me now. You know full well why I tried to kill myself." 

She saw him wince at her harsh words. 

"I hadn't meant what happened last night. Don't you think those pills wouldn't have killed you sooner or later? Why did you wanted to throw your life away?" 

Bulma looked into his dark eyes for a moment. He was serious. He wasn't playing. 

"Okay, if I answer your questions you'll answer mine. Agreed?" Vegeta nodded. Bulma was silent for awhile before she began to speak. 

"You see I had everything since I was a small girl. I was rich, used to be in the center of attention, I could get whatever I wanted. Then I came across Goku-san. And through our adventures together I made a lot of friends. I never had any real friends before. That may sound arrogant but my supposed friends at school simply couldn't live up to me. There was always a big gap between us. Even my looks were different. As a small child they used to say I'm a clone made in my Dad's laboratory because of my blue hair. Children can be really cruel you know that." 

Bulma paused flashing Vegeta a look. He was still listening quietly. 

"Anyway since the saiyans appeared on earth everything became different. They are all wrapped up in their own lives now and the battles against our enemies are getting crazier and crazier. Or maybe it's just me going insane. I needed something to escape to have some room to breath. I'm not strong enough to deal with reality. Guess you were right from the beginning. I am weak. So I really don't understand why you didn't just let me die." 

Vegeta was stunned by this confession. He hadn't expected that Bulma had so many worries and insecurities hidden beneath this beautiful facade. He always thought she led the perfect life. 

"I'm sorry. I guess I was too engulfed with my revenge to see that I hurt you." 

Bulma bit her lip. She hadn't said anything like that to deserve such an answer but he could look right through her. 

"You wanted to know why I saved you, ne?! Well, I think you already heard what I said when you were supposed to be asleep." 

Vegeta frowned at that and Bulma blushed. He got up from the bed and began pacing the room running his hand through his unruly hair. 

'This wasn't supposed to be so difficult. Why can't I just say that she's important to me? Argh! That woman!' 

Bulma watched him with an amused smile from her bed and decided to cut him some slack. 

"Do you care? About me?" 

Vegeta stopped his pacing and looked at her. Finally gathering his courage he answered. 

"Yes, I do care. And I'm so sorry that I couldn't prevent what he did to you." 

He dropped his chin on his chest feeling suddenly ashamed. Another feeling he didn't came across for years. 

'Hell this woman stirs feelings in me I didn't even know I possessed.' 

Vegeta walked over to her bed and dropped to his knees. He carefully traced her cheek lost in her beautiful eyes. 

"You know I think you are the most beautiful thing I ever met." 

He said wonderingly more to himself than to Bulma. She smiled at that. 

"Well, don't you want to kiss me? All the super heroes do that at the end." 

She grinned mischievously at him. Vegeta smirked back. 

"Nah, how could I pass on that my princess." And with that he leaned over to capture Bulma's lips in a sweet kiss. 

************************************************ 

Yay, I'm done finally. I know it's pretty long in comparison to the other chapters and I could have split it up but since I wanted to get this story done I simply left it like this. Since a lot of people who reviewed me were sad that I didn't want to write any DBZ stories anytime soon again I changed my mind. I decided to dedicate the deathly sin "Pride" to DBZ Vegeta & Bulma. It will be the third story of my "The seven death sins" arc. I mean are there any anime charas out there who would be a better match than those two to this sin? Alright thanks for reviewing my story. Love you all. ^_^ Hellcat 


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Dragon Ball Z, Angst, Romance