Chapter 18
Apparently Vegita valued food more than Bulma gave him credit for, because, despite her concerns about his behavior not being up to par, he was pretty much behaving himself. Although he spent much of his time sulking and grumbling, he really did appear to be making an effort to take it easy. And as a reward, Mrs. Briefs took the opportunity to treat him to the most scrumptious dinners she knew how to make, being sure not to forget the all-important quantity factor while she was at it. Suffice it to say that when dinnertime rolled around, Vegita didn't do much complaining.
Still, his relatively good behavior was beginning to prove to be short-lived after only a couple of days. Yamucha had gotten wind from Bulma what was going on, and he found Vegita's predicament very hilarious indeed. He made it a point every day to walk conspicuously out to his gravity room when he knew Vegita would be skulking about along the way. And on top of that, he was sure to send him a mocking sneer for good measure. Understandably, this was a tad displeasing to the proud Saiyan prince, and after only a couple of days of letting Yamucha get away with it, he finally lost his patience with him.
Yamucha realized his fun at Vegita's expense had finally run its course when, growling angrily, Vegita grabbed him by the front of his shirt and lifted him a few inches off the ground.
"You have a problem you'd like to share, worm?" He growled at Yamucha, who had turned very pale indeed.
"H- hey, don't get so worked up, Vegita!" Yamucha laughed nervously, holding his hands up defensively. "It was all in fun!"
"What a coincidence," Vegita snarled. "I'm in the mood for a little fun myself. And my idea of fun is your bloody carcass flying at 300 mph into a nice solid building. Doesn't that sound like FUN?!"
"Vegita!" Came a sudden, angry yell from behind him. "You put him down right now! What the hell is it this time?!" Bulma - fortunately for Yamucha - had been en route to the workshop when she had heard the commotion. And was she ever furious!
Snarling impatiently, Vegita flung Yamucha aside. And after sending a rather nasty glare at Bulma, he took off into the sky and was soon out of sight.
"That man's unbalanced!" Yamucha spat, scrambling to his feet and dusting himself off in disgust. "His temper flares up at the drop of a pin!"
But Bulma wasn't buying it. "Okay, Yamucha," she said sternly. "What was it this time? You were teasing him again, weren't you, you dope? Honestly, you must have a death wish or something. Much as Vegita would love to smash you to a bloody pulp, he's actually got a fair margin of self-control. He's not going to fly off the handle at the mere drop of a pin. Not unless someone throws a whole lot of pins at him," she added, eying him suspiciously. "Spill it. What did you say to him?"
"I didn't say anything!" Yamucha cried indignantly, his voice cracking a little despite himself. "Here I was, minding my own business, walking out to my gravity room. All I do is glance at the man, and he goes ballistic on me! I tell you, Bulma, he's deranged!"
Bulma crossed her arms and glared at him. "All you did was glance at him, huh?" She said, her voice not exactly exuding confidence in his legitimacy. "Must've been some glance."
"Honest, that's all it was!" Yamucha exclaimed, crossing his heart and flinging his arms into the air. "Nothing else!"
"Humph," Bulma grunted, obviously still not convinced. "Well, I'll talk to Vegita about it then. I won't put up with any more shenanigans between you two. Do you understand?" She glared so menacingly at him that Yamucha actually cringed.
"Absolutely," he said, nodding vigorously. "Uh… are you going to go talk to Vegita now?"
"No," she replied tersely. "Not while he's still angry. And certainly not until I've cooled down either!" And with that she turned on her heel and marched off for the workshop.
That evening Vegita came back just long enough to wolf down his dinner. Then he slunk back out without so much as a word to anyone. Yamucha hadn't shown up for dinner at all. He'd said something about eating out that night.
"What's eating Vegita?" Mrs. Briefs asked Bulma as she helped her clean up after dinner. "He isn't really much of a chatterbox, but he sure seemed eager to leave tonight. Did you two have a lovers' quarrel or something?" She laughed, elbowing Bulma in the ribs.
"Ha ha. Very funny, Mom," Bulma snapped. "No, that isn't it. He and Yamucha almost got into a fight today. Geez, that guy can't even go a whole week without causing trouble! I say we just give him bread and water tomorrow!"
Mrs. Briefs laughed. "Actually, I'm not really surprised this happened," she chuckled.
"It came as no great shock to me either," Bulma grumbled. "It's actually more of a surprise to me that it's been so long since those two last bumped heads."
"That isn't what I meant," Mrs. Briefs said with a frown. "The man's bored, Bulma. You've robbed him - even if only temporarily - of his only means of occupying his time. It's no wonder he's gotten so irritable. He's got nothing to do."
Bulma sat down then, and a thoughtful look settled on her face. "You know, I never considered that," she admitted. "I've got my inventions to tinker with, and I can go into the city for fun too. But he has nothing."
"It's a wonder the poor dear hasn't said anything about it," Mrs. Briefs said, sitting across from her. "It must be dreadful for him."
"Don't misunderstand me, Mom," Bulma said with a sardonic smile. "I don't feel THAT sorry for him. Boredom alone is no excuse for doing what he did. But still, I do think that maybe I ought to devise some sort of amusement for him. After all, I'm the one who's forcing him to take this little vacation. And I haven't been true to my word anyway. I told him I'd help him learn how to relax, and all I've done is ignore him. He still has over half the week left to go, so I'm going to try and think of some way for him to pass the time without his having to kill anybody."
Bulma pondered the matter for all the rest of the evening, but no really good ideas came to her. What else did a guy like Vegita enjoy doing besides fighting and training? She didn't want to do either with him. That's precisely what she was taking a break FROM.
"Maybe you should take him to visit the guys at the turtle hermit's place," Mrs. Briefs had suggested. "I'll bet he'd enjoy getting away from us and the city for a while, at the very least."
Bulma had laughed at that. She could just see Vegita knocking that obnoxious pervert halfway across the ocean. That in itself would make the whole trip worthwhile. But she knew better than to bring such a time bomb onto that tiny island. Besides, she'd be hard pressed to drag Vegita out to hang out with some of her other friends.
But as it turned out, her mother's idea hadn't been a total flop. It actually lead Bulma onto the path of a much more agreeable - not to mention plausible - solution. It was going to take a little trickery on her part, but not only would it probably keep Vegita amused, but it would also keep him away from Yamucha for a few days - long enough to give both those hotheads ample time to cool down.
The next morning she began to make the preparations she'd need to set her plan in motion. She got up early and made a quick trip into the city to buy the supplies she figured she'd need, and then she rushed back to the house for the other things she wanted to bring along. By then her mother had gotten up and come downstairs to begin breakfast. The scene she met when she went into the kitchen made her cry aloud in astonishment. Bulma had groceries, whole wardrobes of clothes, and a suitcase full of capsules spread out all around the kitchen. She looked up at Mrs. Briefs and grinned.
"Morning, Mom!" She exclaimed. "Don't mind me. I'll have this stuff all packed up in a jiffy!"
"What IS all this?" Her mother cried incredulously. "You look like you're stocking up for world war five!"
Bulma laughed. "Close," she said with a grin. "Nah, I'm just gathering the stuff I'll need to keep Vegita fed for a few days."
"Oh, but you don't have to do that, Bulma dear!" Mrs. Briefs cried, looking in dismay at the havoc Bulma had wrought on her kitchen. "You know I go to the grocer's every morning to buy the things I'll need for the day! I don't like stocking too much extra food at one time!"
"Calm down, Mom!" Bulma laughed, holding her hands up defensively. "This stuff isn't for all of us - just Vegita and me. I only hope I don't kill us both with my cooking," she added with a good-natured laugh.
"Oh?" Mrs. Briefs said, arching an eyebrow in interest. "You and Vegita have something planned, hm?"
"Well, not really," Bulma replied with a mischievous grin. "It just so happens that he has no idea about my little scheme. And he won't either. Not until I'm ready to take him where we're going."
Mrs. Briefs laughed. "It sounds like you're plotting to abduct the poor man!" She chuckled. "Just what exactly did you have in mind, Bulma?"
"I guess you COULD say I'm kidnapping him," Bulma laughed, shrugging her shoulders. "But I don't think it will go all that badly for him. All I want to do is help him learn to relax."
"My, but you are an aggressive thing!" Mrs. Briefs exclaimed, eying her daughter in surprise. But the blank look of puzzlement Bulma sent in reply made her quickly change the subject. "So where are you taking him then? With all these supplies, I'd think it must be someplace awfully cut off from civilization."
"That I won't say," Bulma said mysteriously. "But I will say that neither I nor Vegita will be coming back here for at least three days. Hopefully by then I'll have calmed him down some."
Mrs. Briefs smiled and shook her head. But then her countenance fell a little. "Does Yamucha know what you're up to yet?" She asked with a worried frown.
"No," was Bulma's emphatic reply. "And I don't want him to either. He still thinks Vegita's just waiting for an opportunity to pounce on me or something, and I know all he'll do is worry. Besides, he might even try to come find me, and that will defeat the purpose of my doing this in the first place. I want to get Vegita to take some time away from this place, and from us. Truthfully, I probably shouldn't stay with him either, but someone's gotta make sure he behaves himself." She said this with such a serious expression that her mother found it awfully hard to keep from laughing.
"Well, at any rate," she said, smiling despite herself. "Don't overdo it, Bulma. Vegita isn't going to tolerate it for too long if all you give him is orders and bossiness. Don't be afraid to just step back and let him have his way now and then. He is a man, after all, and men have a tendency to act very much like spoiled children - especially when they don't get their way."
Bulma made a face. "You're making me sound just as obnoxious and bossy as he is," she said stuffily.
Mrs. Briefs wasn't going to touch that one with a ten-foot pole. Why bother when Bulma made it so easy? She only smiled and shook her head. "So when are you leaving, and how are you going to get the man of the hour there?" She asked her.
Bulma smiled mysteriously. "As to when, that will be as soon as I get all this stuff set up and stowed away out there. Then I'll come back here and nab him."
"'Nab' him?" Mrs. Briefs asked, arching an eyebrow. "I must say, I am curious to find out how you're going to make off with him without so much as a struggle. It's my understanding that Vegita doesn't take too well to being forced to do anything."
Bulma grinned. Although her mother was aware that Bulma had abilities far exceeding those of most people, she didn't really know what they were. She'd seen her daughter zipping around in the sky above Capsule Corporation a good many times, and that was proof enough for her that Bulma had remarkable abilities. She'd never really asked her to go into much detail about any of them before. Although she'd heard Bulma mention her teleportation to Kuririn and Yamucha a few times, she really didn't know what it was. The first - and only - time she'd ever seen it in action was when Bulma had transported Vegita and herself away from Capsule Corp. a few days ago. She might have forgotten, Bulma thought to herself.
"Would you like for me to demonstrate?" Bulma said with an impish grin. "I COULD show you, Mom."
Mrs. Briefs saw the obvious mischief in Bulma's eyes, but her own curiosity was far too powerful for that to dissuade her. "Really?" She said eagerly. "Here? Now?"
"Yep," Bulma said, the grin still stuck to her face. "Are you sure you want to experience it first-hand? It'll probably shake you up a bit."
Mrs. Briefs laughed. "Don't try to scare me, Bulma dear. I'm too excited! Come on! I'm dying to find out what it's you're going to do to Vegita!"
Bulma laughed. Her mother was gutsy to a fault sometimes, but she loved her for it. "Okay Mom," she said with a nod. "Just focus on where you are now. Then you'll get the full effect of it."
"Okay!" Mrs. Briefs cried, grabbing onto Bulma's arm excitedly. "I'm ready!"
"Here we go!" Bulma said. "On three. One… Two…" She stopped time then and gently lifted her mom into her arms and trotted out the door with her.
"This'll most likely land me in a world of trouble," Bulma laughed, sailing up into the air a hundred or so feet. Looking eagerly at the now miniscule buildings far below them, she let time flow once again.
"Three!" She cried, laughing at how bewildered her mother had suddenly become.
"What in the…?" Mrs. Briefs gasped, looking around. She glanced downward, and with a yelp of surprise, clung to her daughter with a tenacity that surprised even Bulma.
"My goodness!" She gasped. "How on earth did we get all the way up here?"
Bulma chuckled. "Sorry Mom," she said with an apologetic grin. "I know you aren't too keen on heights, but I just couldn't resist. You were asking for it!"
"Yes, I suppose I was," Mrs. Briefs laughed somewhat weakly. "But I think I've learned my lesson now, Bulma. What say you take me (slowly!) back down to solid ground?"
Bulma grinned and nodded. She flew back down to the ground and gently set her mother back on her feet. "Better?" She asked.
"Much," Mrs. Briefs replied, nodding emphatically. "Um… Bulma?" She said, eying her curiously. "Could you tell me… just how you were able to do that?"
"Well," Bulma said uncomfortably, her cheeks flushing a little in embarrassment. "I can try… but I'm not sure you'll be able to understand."
"Just the same," Mrs. Briefs persisted, "I want to know. Please try."
"Okay," Bulma said with a shrug. "It's like this. I don't know how to put into words how I do it, but I can stop the flow of time with my own power. It allows me freedom of movement in a completely unresponsive environment, and I can do pretty much whatever I want. It doesn't take that much energy to do it either, especially after all the training I've had from Vegita."
Mrs. Briefs appeared to go a little pale for a few moments, but not for long. "How long have you been able to do this?" She asked Bulma, her expression strangely serious.
"I'd perfected it well enough to use in battle by the time Vegita and Nappa had arrived on Earth," Bulma replied, not sure why her mother seemed so earnest and serious. "But it wasn't until I experimented a little with it on the way to Namek that I realized what enormous potential it had."
"Did anyone teach it to you?" Her mother continued, all the while beginning to lose her color again. "Yamucha, or Goku perhaps?"
"No," Bulma answered, shaking her head. "I sort of discovered it on my own. It's funny, though; I've tried to teach it to the others, but I haven't had any success. None of them can seem to make it work. Not Kuririn, Yamucha, Vegita, or even Goku. And Goku even has the remarkable knack of mimicking moves he sees only once or twice. It bothers him to no end that he has so much difficulty figuring it out, I can tell you!" She laughed, shaking her head. But her mother did not laugh. She only seemed to have gone more pale, as if Bulma had just confirmed something terrible.
"Mom," Bulma said, suddenly noticing her mother's unusual pallor. "Are you okay? You don't look so good!"
"I was just remembering something," she said in a faint, somewhat disconnected voice, her eyes seeming to stare through her instead of at her.
"What is it?" Bulma asked, beginning to get really concerned. This was really unlike her mother. Maybe she'd given her too much of a shock earlier. She began to regret teleporting her to such a height, but Mrs. Briefs interrupted her thoughts.
"Oh, don't worry," she said cheerily, waving it away and turning to walk toward the house. "It was nothing, really. But what I think we ought to do now is get all your stuff together and ready to go. Your father will be getting up soon, and you know what a bear he is if he doesn't have a hot cup of coffee waiting for him when he comes downstairs!"
"Okay," Bulma said, following her, and trying to figure out why - for the first time she could ever remember - her mother's cheerfulness sounded so forced.
Mrs. Briefs helped Bulma pack all her groceries into Capsule Coolers© and her and Vegita's wardrobes into separate Capsule Closets©. But she paused when, while packing Vegita's clothing, she ran across a particular article that interested her.
"And why might we be packing THIS?" She asked Bulma, holding up a dark blue pair of swimming trunks and arching an eyebrow.
"Oh come off it, Mom!" Bulma laughed. "It just so happens that where we're going has some prime swimming possibilities, and that's all I'm saying about it," she added, sticking her tongue out.
"Well it's a very clever pretense for getting to see so much of his skin," Mrs. Briefs remarked in a very impressed tone of voice, packing the swim trunks carefully away in one of the corners of the closet. "Yep. There's no denying you're MY daughter, Bulma!"
Bulma turned a deep shade of crimson. "MOM!" She yelled a little more loudly than she had intended. "That's not why I… You know I wouldn't…! I mean, that is…" She stared in consternation at her mother's obnoxiously polite and attentive face, but could add no more than another "MOM!!"
Mrs. Briefs laughed gaily. "Oh Bulma, you really are a sweetheart!" She laughed, a smile of pleasure having permanently fixed itself upon her face. "If there was ever one moment of your life I'd love to have on film, it's this one!"
Bulma didn't know what to say to that, so she just clamped her mouth shut, and angrily resumed stuffing what remained of her own clothes into her closet. Beaming, Mrs. Briefs went back to packing Vegita's clothes and, out of sympathy for her very flustered daughter, didn't say another word.
It didn't take them too much longer to finish packing up, and when they did, Bulma converted all the coolers and closets back into capsules and put them carefully in preselected slots of her capsule suitcase. All in all, there were seven of the coolers, four of the closets, and over a hundred other capsules of various sizes, colors, and purposes. After a thorough check of her list, Bulma was sure she had everything.
"All right," she said at last. "I'm going to teleport out there with this stuff and set things up. When I've gotten everything ready, I'll come back and get Vegita. It'll take me a good couple of hours to get things set up, so if you see either Vegita or Yamucha, just act naturally. Please don't blow my cover, 'kay? I don't want to give Vegita time to make up his mind about anything until he can see what I have planned for him in its entirety. And I don't want Yamucha finding out about any of this at all!"
"You can count on me, dear," Mrs. Briefs said firmly, nodding at her. "But what should I say to Yamucha when he notices that you and Vegita are both gone? I mean, he may not be the brightest bulb in the box, but he isn't stupid either. He's bound to notice something's up."
Bulma thought hard for a moment, but then she shrugged. "Tell him I'm on vacation, and that Vegita got disgusted with the lot of us and took off for God knows where. He'll be back in a few days, but I'll be staying out there an extra week. Then I really will be on vacation!"
"All right, Bulma," Mrs. Briefs agreed. "Now what about your father? He'll notice you're gone too, and I can tell you now that, as much as he teases you about compromising situations and all of that, he isn't going to be exactly pleased that you're going to be spending a few days alone with Vegita. What should I tell him?"
Bulma smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "You can tell him the truth. And you can also tell him that Vegita and I aren't going up there for a wild sex party or anything. We're just going to take it easy. Oh, and I almost forgot!" She exclaimed, smacking a fist into her hand. "Tell Dad that on Thursday Vegita's free to use the gravity room again, so I'd like for him to fix it for me late Wednesday night. It'll be a really simple fix. He only needs to replace a couple of wires and that panel I punched through."
"Okay Bulma," Mrs. Briefs said. "Anything else?"
"No, I think that's it. I guess I'll see you in about a week and a half," Bulma said, hugging her mother and giving her a kiss. "Kiss Dad for me, okay?"
"Sure," Mrs. Briefs said, smiling. "Bye Bulma."
"Bye Mom," Bulma said, waving. In the next instant, she and the capsule suitcase had disappeared. Mrs. Briefs sighed. Poor Vegita wasn't going to know what hit him.
And he didn't, either. When Bulma came back a couple of hours later, she found Vegita still in his capsule house, and still quite asleep. Chuckling quietly in amusement, Bulma stopped time and, plucking Vegita from his bed, set out with him for her mysterious destination. Vegita was in for a rude awakening indeed!
When Vegita woke up, he didn't suspect at first that anything out of the ordinary had happened to him. Why should he? He was tucked away nice and snugly in his blanket, and he really was quite comfortable. So much so was he, in fact, that at first he didn't want to get up right away. But soon enough his stomach started growling, so he, growling irritably along with it, opened his eyes and sat up. He was surprised and (it had to be confessed) a little bewildered at what he saw. This wasn't his room! Where in blazes was he, and how did he get here? He heard a muffled sound below him, and he silently leapt down to the floor. He couldn't sense anyone in the room with him, so he pressed an ear to the soft carpet beneath his feet and listened intently. He could hear the soft singing of a female voice. He realized that, wherever he was, there was at least one level below the one he was on. Well he was going to get to the bottom of this! Rising to his feet, he crept silently to the door and turned the knob. Finding it unlocked, he stepped stealthily out into the hallway and listened. The singing was a bit louder now, and he realized with surprise that he smelled food. His infernal stomach growled again - this time much more ferociously - and he grimaced. First he had to figure out what was going on. Then he could eat. Nevertheless, he followed the inviting scent down the hall until he came to a staircase leading down. Setting his jaw, he crept noiselessly down the steps just far enough to peer around the wall adjoining them. His eyes opened a little wider at what he saw. He was looking into a fair-sized kitchen, in the middle of which stood a small table that was covered almost to the point of overflowing with mountains of food. And just beyond it was Bulma, dressed in summer clothes but wearing an apron, singing softly to herself as she slid something out of a sizzling skillet and into a large bowl.
At first Vegita didn't know what to think, much less what he was supposed to do. But the smells emanating from that table full of food made him forget a little of the awkwardness of his situation for the moment. He cleared his throat rather conspicuously and walked nonchalantly the rest of the way down the stairs.
"Good morning, Vegita," Bulma said without turning around. She was still trying to prevent the smile that was just below the surface from bursting forth on her face. She could almost see the bewildered expression on his face. "I've almost finished making breakfast, but you can get started on what's there if you like. I was about to go get you up in a moment anyway, as a matter of fact."
Vegita gaped at her for a few moments in silent bewilderment. What did it mean? How had he come to be in this unfamiliar dwelling with her cooking him breakfast and acting as if it was all as normal as could be? It didn't make any sense to him, but one thing was certain. He was going to make sense of it, and he wasn't about to do anything she said until she explained herself.
He remained standing where he was, glaring impatiently at her, as she finished seasoning a large bowl of scrambled eggs. Finally, she turned around and set the bowl down on the only empty spot visible on the whole table. Then she looked up at Vegita in surprise.
"Why aren't you eating?" She asked in amazement. "You should be famished! Why, you've gone a whole…" She checked her watch. "…Twelve hours without food!"
Vegita glared angrily at her. "I'm not doing anything until you tell me where the hell I am, and why the hell I'm here!" He said in his most irritated tone of voice.
"Oh, don't worry about that," Bulma said, shaking her head and waving it away. "I'll explain all of that after breakfast. But first we eat."
She removed her apron, sat down, and laid her napkin on her lap. Then she picked up the plate of pancakes.
Growling, Vegita marched forward, snatched the plate out of her hand, and slammed it back down on the table. "No!" He barked. "First you're going to tell me what the hell is going on here! I'm in no mood to put up with any of your silly games, you damned fool woman!"
"Well I'm in no mood for cold food!" Bulma barked right back at him. "I'm hungry even if you aren't, Vegita! So just sit down and wait patiently, or I'll just take the food and go elsewhere to eat my breakfast in peace!" Then she snatched back the plate of pancakes and shoved a generous stack of them onto her plate.
Vegita wasn't ready to admit defeat, but a Saiyan's stomach can be a tremendously persuasive force. Instead of arguing further, Vegita scowled horribly, plunked down in the chair opposite Bulma, and began wolfing entire platters of food, not even bothering to put any of it on his plate before shoveling it into his mouth.
"Maybe he thinks that the sooner the food's gone, the sooner he'll get his explanation," Bulma thought bemusedly to herself. "There's no denying the man eats as much and as fast as Goku. But at least Vegita knows how to demolish a platter of rice without getting it all over his face and his side of the table."
By the time Bulma had finished her stack of pancakes and the helping of eggs she'd managed to grab before Vegita had gotten to them, Vegita had completely obliterated breakfast. There was nary a crumb left on any of the dishes.
"How was the food?" Bulma asked him, noticing with a barely suppressed grin that he'd even eaten the stick of butter she'd laid aside for the pancakes and toast.
"Pitiful," Vegita replied with a disdainful scowl. "Not even Freeza served his men such swill. No doubt I'll be seeing it all again before the day is through. Especially if you're the one who prepared it."
"I suppose that's why you devoured the whole lot of it," Bulma laughed, unable to restrain her mirth any longer. "Honestly Vegita, you're a terrible liar sometimes."
Vegita grunted. "So out with it," he commanded impatiently. "I want to hear your explanation, and I'll tolerate no more stalling."
Bulma smiled. She had figured that Vegita would be more civil once he had a semi-full stomach (no amount of food ever seemed to satisfy him completely). It was nice to know she'd finally found an effective way of dealing with him.
"Here's the deal," she began, folding her hands and leaning onto the table a bit. "In a sense, I've kind of kidnapped you." This time Vegita arched one of HIS eyebrows. "I've taken you to stay here with me for the rest of your time off the gravity room," she continued. "I'm making you take a break from Capsule Corporation and the city too now, because I think you need to get away from both to really relax. Unfortunately, I'm going to stay here with you, because I want to make sure you really do relax. Although," she added with a grin, "at least this way you'll have someone to cook your meals for you. I'm not as good as my mom, but no one's died from my cooking yet, and you're bound to get a bit more variety from me than you would from fending for yourself."
At first Vegita didn't say anything. His mouth twitched a little, but he never broke eye contact with Bulma while he considered what she'd said. Finally he spoke. "And you think you can force me to stay here, do you?" He said quietly.
Bulma looked down then, and she tightened her knuckles rather nervously. "Of course, I can't MAKE you stay," she admitted, biting her lip a little. "I was actually hoping you'd WANT to." She looked back up at him hopefully. "It won't really be all that bad, Vegita," she said in a fast, earnest voice. "I thought you would enjoy some peace and quiet away from the compound before you started training again, but I was afraid you'd just refuse if I simply brought the idea up. And besides, there's lot's of stuff to do out here…"
"Where IS here?" Vegita interrupted her. "So far all I've seen is the inside of a building. I could get that back at the compound."
"Come on! I'll show you!" Bulma exclaimed, jumping to her feet and walking hastily into the next room. "In here, Vegita!" She called to him.
Allowing himself only a brief smirk of amusement, Vegita casually stood up and followed her into the large living room. Bulma was standing next to an enormous window covered with Venetian blinds. When Vegita entered she grabbed onto the rope and pulled. The blinds shot up, and Vegita was treated to a grand view of the place Bulma had chosen to set up their Capsule house. The large window granted them an excellent view of the lush tropical vegetation surrounding the house, but it gave way in the center to a sandy path leading to a beach of pure white sand. It was bordered by a deep blue ocean that stretched out unobstructed for as far as the eye could see. Unimpressionable though he was, even Vegita could see what Bulma had seen in this place. Its lush, untouched beauty wasn't entirely wasted on him. Of course, one didn't just mention such things aloud. So he didn't say anything. Rather, he crossed his arms and looked sternly back at Bulma's eager face.
Bulma's countenance dropped almost immediately. "You don't like it?" She asked, biting her lip again. "I… I guess I have your answer then, huh?" She said with a feeble laugh that did nothing to hide the disappointment in her voice.
Vegita growled impatiently and, crossing his arms, turned to the side a little so that he was looking askance at her. "Whether I waste my time here or at the compound, I suppose it doesn't matter," he grunted indifferently. "I'll stay here. At least this way I won't have to look at that little worm again for a few days."
Bulma didn't know why she felt so happy to hear those words. But she did. For some reason, Vegita's deciding to go along with her idea and stay here with her had filled her with such relief and joy as she couldn't describe. She walked over to Vegita and hugged him, surprising him very much indeed. But this time she wasn't acting only on impulse. This time she had truly wanted to do it.
"Hey! What're you doing?!" Vegita stuttered, having forgotten all about sounding irritated. But Bulma didn't recoil in horror as he'd expected her to do. In fact, she didn't even let go of him. Instead, she rested her head on his shoulder and held him more tightly.
"This is my way of saying 'thank you,'" she said softly. "Whether you agreed to stay because you really wanted to, or simply because you didn't want to hurt my feelings, it doesn't make any difference." She leaned back a little so that she could look him in the eyes. "Either way," she said with a happy smile, "it was really nice of you, Vegita. Thank you." And with that, she leaned forward and - ever so lightly - kissed his right cheek.
When she stepped back away from him, there was no mistaking the astonishment on Vegita's face - nor the flush that had risen on his cheeks. However, the color that had risen in Vegita's visage was strikingly similar to the shade of pink that had appeared on Bulma's. She had kissed Vegita deliberately, of course, but she was nevertheless unable to prevent herself from blushing a little. She really didn't know why, but she had suddenly felt that Vegita deserved a kiss for being so agreeable, and that she wanted to give him one. Simplistic though it had seemed at the time, it was now sending a virtual maelstrom of emotions careening through her mind all at once, and Bulma was suddenly quite unsure of what to do with herself.
"For the next few days," she said, trying to sound normal but failing miserably, "this house and this island are yours. Your sleeping quarters are upstairs in the room where you woke up. There's a closet full of clothes in there for you too." She was looking down at her feet as she spoke, and rather than subsiding, the color in her cheeks had deepened to a furious shade of crimson. She suddenly felt rather shy and awkward around him, but she didn't want to leave until she'd at least told him how she'd set things up for him. "My room is down here at the end of the hall. If you need anything at all, just tell me and I'll get it for you." She looked up at him again and smiled somewhat bashfully.
Vegita, still looking very astonished, simply nodded his head in reply. Bulma nodded too, then turned and walked toward the door.
"I'm um… I'm going to go out for a walk," she announced rather breathlessly. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Feel free to explore the house and the rest of the island while I'm gone. It really is beautiful!" And, still blushing furiously, she ducked out of the door and disappeared from sight. A few moments later she could be seen through the massive window, running swiftly down the sandy path toward the beach.
"Yes," Vegita murmured. He lightly touched his cheek where she had kissed him. "Beautiful." He watched her turn right as she reached the soft white sand of the beach, and then disappear behind the thick foliage at its edge.
On to the next chapter!
