Chapter 19
A half an hour later found Bulma sitting alone out on the beach, her knees pulled to her chest, and still unable to stop thinking about what had happened between her and Vegita only a half an hour ago. Having reflected upon her own actions, it had occurred to Bulma that she was no longer afraid of Vegita. And for some reason, she just couldn't help feeling happy about that. She halfway wondered if it was a change that she alone had incurred, or if perhaps Vegita had played an active part in bringing it about. In any event, she knew now that the nervous, jumpy feeling she used to get when Vegita looked at her wasn't there any more. But something else had snuck in to take its place - something unfamiliar, and yet not wholly alien. And it resurfaced every time she thought about Vegita.
Bulma bit her lip and tried once again to make sense of it all. She couldn't jump to any conclusions. She had to go about this rationally. Just what exactly WAS this weird sensation she kept having? It made her nervous and excited all at the same time if she focused on it for any length of time. At times she practically felt like jumping out of her own skin. How could she possibly think rationally about something when it made her behave so irrationally? A month ago she probably would never even have considered kissing Vegita intentionally. And yet only half an hour ago she'd done just that without so much as a second thought, and she still didn't regret doing it. Was it possible that she was beginning to develop actual FEELINGS for Vegita?
"Woah, calm down, girl," she told herself, covering her face with her hands and shaking her head. "That's enough of that. I don't think you really want to continue with THAT train of thought." She got up and, dusting the sand off of herself, fished around in her pocket until she found her little travel capsule case. She picked out a small pink capsule from it and, punching in the button, tossed it out onto the sand. It popped open to reveal a large stereo system, complete with its own CD storage case - which was stocked full of CD's. She selected one from the top shelf and put it in the player. Then she walked out onto the open beach and took a couple of deep breaths.
Bulma was about to do something she had done only when she was training alone out in the desert. There was a particular kata she was fond of that fit rather well to slow, powerful music, and she needed to do something to work off the nervous energy her musings had given her. It wouldn't take more than fifteen minutes or so, and truthfully, it was no longer like REAL training to her anyway. Not after what she'd gone through with Vegita. Soon the music took off, and so did Bulma, working her way through the same steps she'd taken nearly a thousand times before.
Bulma had actually developed this kata only a year or so ago - specifically for her training during the time she spent preparing for the Saiyan threat. At that time, it had been near to perfect for her level of development, and it had served its purpose well. It involved intricate ki manipulations and difficult but rather dance-like body movements that made it next to impossible to execute correctly if total concentration wasn't used during its execution. Bulma knew it so well by now that, although it still took a good deal of her concentration to keep all the little energy disks and spheres moving in coordination, she made it look easy. Despite the fact that it was no more than a martial arts kata designed for a specific purpose (in its case, for ki control and concentration), when Bulma set it in motion, it looked remarkably like a graceful dance of flight and ki energy. Perhaps its grace and beauty was what really struck Bulma's fancy. At any rate, she'd wanted a way to work off some nervous energy, and on impulse, had decided to revisit her old training kata. It seemed to her to be a logical way to relax herself.
This did indeed seem like the logical, reasonable thing to do to Bulma at the time, but regrettably, she hadn't used a good deal of foresight. It should be mentioned that Bulma had only used this kata while she was alone in the desert. She hadn't shown it to anyone, not even Yamucha. And the truth of the matter was that she was a little shy about showing it to even him. Sure, it was a proficient enough way to train, but the fact was that Bulma thought it kind of silly, and she was terribly afraid that - if she did show it to someone - whoever saw it would think the same thing. You see, despite how fervently Bulma tried to convince herself that she was indifferent to others' opinions of her, it really wasn't so. Bulma was human, after all, and we humans ARE given to rather irrational tendencies, no matter how rational we may seem to be. In any event, Bulma had made a mistake. It wasn't so much that she'd forgotten that Vegita was here on the island with her. It's just that it didn't really occur to her that maybe someone who could sense changes in ki patterns around him might get curious if such a ki pattern were to rise in intensity rather suddenly. And it also didn't register that this said person just might decide to investigate in order to satisfy his curiosity. Unfortunately for Bulma, that's precisely what Vegita did.
On his way down the path to the beach, Vegita thought he had some kind of idea as to what he was going to find. He assumed he was going to find Bulma doing some light training down there. The scene he found as he stepped out in the open, however, stopped him dead in his tracks. There was Bulma, twirling and sweeping through the air in time to her music, with a myriad of ki balls floating gracefully alongside and past her. While some of them seemed to be chasing her, others seemed more to be moving alongside her, even guiding her movements. His well-trained eye could easily see the level of dedication and concentration it required of her to keep them in synchronization, but even he couldn't help but notice the grace and beauty of this incredible display - and of Bulma herself. Despite her own anxieties about being seen as silly, Bulma truly did look beautiful when she performed this kata, and in Vegita's eyes she was nothing short of breathtaking. Crossing his arms and leaning up against a nearby palm tree, he watched her silently, with a smile of genuine pleasure slowly spreading across his face. It is neither necessary nor proper to go into much detail about what thoughts went through Vegita's mind as he stood there and watched Bulma's beautiful kata play out before him. But it might be mentioned that, had he known beforehand what was to be in store for him today, he might not have given her much trouble at all when she'd asked him to take the week off.
All too soon, Bulma's music began to draw to a close, and as it slowly faded to silence, Bulma allowed each of the ki balls to dissipate and vanish, as she herself slowly floated back down to the sandy earth below her. Finally, all was over, and after letting out a few deep breaths, Bulma recapsulized her stereo and CD case. Then, after packing it away in her capsule case, which she stuffed back into her pocket, she finally looked up and noticed that she had an audience.
"Vegita!" She gasped, taking an involuntary step back. "I- I didn't know you were there!" She stammered.
Vegita snorted. "It figures," he said with a sneer. "Your guard was down again, as usual. You really make it easy for someone to sneak up on you."
Bulma bit her lip anxiously. "H- how long have you been here?" She asked him, unable to keep her voice very steady any longer.
"Long enough to watch you make a fool of yourself," he said, turning to the side a little, but still leaning on his tree nonchalantly.
Bulma's face reddened in embarrassment, and she lowered her eyes. "You weren't supposed to have seen this," she said quietly. She looked very much like she was about to cry.
"Oh, don't be such a fool," Vegita chided her. "Is it really such a matter of great importance?"
"No one's ever seen me do that kata," she replied, her lips quivering. She still didn't look up at him. "Not even my closest friends. You… you shouldn't have seen it."
Vegita stared at her in confusion. What was she getting so upset about? "I still fail to see what your problem is," he said impatiently. "Why should it matter so much if I see you do another kata? I've trained you myself, haven't I?"
Bulma did look up this time. She had steady streams of tears trickling down the sides of her face. "You said I looked like a fool," she said, her voice barely a whisper.
Suddenly, Vegita understood. "Well, I uh…" he said, furrowing his brow in consternation. "I guess I did. But perhaps I might have been… well, you know. Maybe I…"
He looked back up at her angrily. It was easy to see that backtracking was not his strong suit. She was listening intently to what he was saying, expecting him to finish. Well, he couldn't just say he was wrong, now could he? Finally, he just lost his patience.
"Aw hell, what are you so upset about?!" He exploded. "You looked incredible up there, all right? So just stop pouting about it already!" He had turned a brilliant shade of red by now, and it couldn't ONLY be attributed to his frustration.
"Y- you really thought so?" Bulma gasped, still quite red, but her expression beginning to brighten. "You aren't just saying that, Vegita?"
"Do you think I would just SAY something like that?!" He practically yelled at her. "God dammit, what does it take to satisfy you, woman?!"
Bulma couldn't help it. She laughed. And she just kept laughing. She couldn't stop, even when Vegita twisted his face into a very ugly look.
"And what the HELL do you find so funny?!" Vegita yelled, balling his fists angrily.
Bulma somehow managed to suppress her laughter long enough to explain herself to him. "I'm sorry, Vegita!" She gasped, clutching at her chest in an effort to catch her breath. "It's just that you… you're so… so… funny!" Another round of giggles overcame her then, and she had to wait for them to subside before she could continue - all the while watching the fury in Vegita's expression mount to greater and greater heights. "Oh," Bulma gasped, wiping her eyes dry. "I really am sorry. But it's just that it REALLY shows that you're pretty inexperienced at this!"
"What are you babbling about?" Vegita demanded, obviously very perturbed. "Inexperienced at what, pray tell?"
Bulma gave a happy sigh and shook her head. "At being a nice guy," she replied with an affectionate smile. "You're trying to be nice to me, Vegita, and it shows that you don't have a lot of practice."
Vegita didn't know whether she was insulting him or thanking him. But what she said next really managed to catch his attention.
"But still," she said quietly, looking thoughtfully down and smiling to herself. "If I'm not careful I might let it get to me."
Her eyes opened wide, and her hand flew to her mouth. Had she said that aloud? She looked anxiously up at Vegita, unsure of what his reaction to her little slip of the tongue might be. But thankfully, he seemed not to have heard her.
"Nice indeed," he snorted, scowling at her. "The day I become a 'nice guy' will be the day I lose my taste for punching that idiot Kakarrot in the nose. Don't ever call me such a stupid thing again, woman!"
Smiling in relief, Bulma nodded. "Whatever you say, Vegita," she replied. "Just the same," she added, walking past him and elbowing him playfully, "I still think you're not as much of a bad guy as you'd like me to think you are."
"Tch," Vegita snorted. "Go ahead and lower your guard if you want to," he said indifferently, sauntering along behind her and crossing his arms. "It will be your own undoing."
Bulma bit her lip again. "In a way," she thought uncomfortably, "he just might be right."
Bulma fixed them a nice large lunch, and they spent most of the remainder of the afternoon doing separate things. Vegita stepped out without so much as a word after lunch, so Bulma just curled up on the sofa and started in on a nice thick book. She spent a good two hours with it, but by then she was beginning to get rather restless. She wasn't exactly bored; she just wanted to do something that required actual physical activity. It occurred to her as she got up and looked out the window that although she'd been on this island for almost an entire day, she hadn't yet gone swimming even once. She grinned. It was time to hit the beach!
Bulma went to her room and quickly changed into her bathing suit. Then she went to the hall closet for a towel, and she hesitated. Should she only get the one? Vegita might enjoy a swim too. Shrugging her shoulders, she grabbed two and headed upstairs to his room. "Might as well grab his swimming trunks too then," she said to herself, digging around in his closet for them. She finally found them and went back downstairs. Slipping off her shoes, she ran out the door and trotted down the path toward the beach, humming as she went.
She found Vegita out near the western end of the island, where the windward waves crashed into the cliff walls. He was sitting out on one of the rocks amid the crashing waves. His eyes were closed, and he seemed rather deep in concentration. Bulma smiled. "He must be meditating," she thought as she floated out toward him. "I guess he must be getting a little bored already."
"Yo, Vegita!" She called, floating out the rest of the way until she was a few feet away from him. "I'm going swimming. Care to join me?"
Vegita neither looked up nor opened his eyes. "Can't you see I'm busy?" He growled.
Bulma made a face. He sure looked busy all right. "Come on, Vegita!" She said, using her most persuasive tone of voice. "I know I'll have more fun if I don't have to go alone. And besides, I already brought you your swimming trunks. See?" She held them up for him to see and grinned.
Vegita let out an irritated sigh and raised his head to glare at her. But when he saw her, his mouth fell open and his eyes seemed to be on the verge of bugging out of their sockets.
"What?" Bulma said when she saw his expression, and she turned around, thinking he had seen something behind her. Finding nothing there, she turned back around. "What's the matter?" She asked the dumbstruck Vegita. He gave her no reply. Instead, he just gaped at her, his eyes darting this way and that, seemingly trying their hardest to take in all the details of her body at once.
Bulma suddenly realized what had affected Vegita so much, and she promptly blushed in embarrassment. Bulma's two-piece, pink bikini swimsuit wasn't skimpy in the least, but it gave Vegita a chance to see a great deal more of Bulma's body than he'd ever been allowed to see. Blushing furiously, Bulma clutched the towels a little closer in an effort to cover herself more. She couldn't help feeling just a little bit self-conscious with him gawking at her so noticeably.
"D- do you have to stare like that?" She stammered, trying to sound angry. "It's only a swimming suit, Vegita!"
"You wear THAT when you swim?!" Vegita cried incredulously.
"Well yes!" Bulma retorted hotly. "What of it?! It's just a two-piece bathing suit! It's not as if I'm wearing a string bikini or anything!" She glared angrily at him, knowing full well that her argument was wasted on him. Vegita no doubt knew nothing of string bikinis, and it was entirely possible that the shock of his seeing her in one of THOSE would knock him right into the water.
"Anyway," Bulma growled, deciding that if he was going to gawk like that she wasn't going to hang around any longer. "You're busy, so I won't waste any more of my time here." She turned to leave, and Vegita quickly scrambled to his feet.
"Hold it!" He ordered, flying up alongside her. "If I'm going swimming, I guess I'd better go ahead and get it done with."
Bulma stared at him in angry surprise. "I thought you were busy," she said rather coldly.
"I'll be the one to decide whether I'm busy or not," he replied haughtily. "Don't try to put words into my mouth, woman, because I won't tolerate it."
Bulma rolled her eyes to heaven and shook her head. "Fine," she sighed. "I give up. Here," she said, handing him the pair of swimming trunks she was holding. "You take this and go change while I spread out the towels. I'll meet you out in the water."
Vegita eyed the trunks she'd handed him with obvious scorn. "Change?" He said loudly. "What in blazes do I need to change for?"
Bulma sighed again and turned back around. "That's YOUR bathing suit," she explained. "Swimming trunks. That's what men on my planet wear to swim. Okay?"
"But why should I?" Vegita persisted, beginning to sound a trifle annoyed. "I can just as easily swim in my own clothes, can't I?"
"Yes," Bulma replied through gritted teeth, trying with all her might to retain a shred of patience. "But then they'll get wet. This way when we're done swimming, your clothes will still be dry. And I'll be able to let your sorry carcass back in the house!" She snapped at him.
"Feh," Vegita snorted. "You humans concern yourselves with such ridiculous trifles."
Bulma groaned. "Oh all right!" She exclaimed. "I don't care then! Just do what you want! But I'm getting in the water before there isn't any sunlight left!" And with that she shot off for the beach, leaving Vegita to watch her go.
"Stupid Vegita," she grumbled, landing on the sand a good twenty yards from the water. She quickly spread the towels out next to each other on the sand, and then she took to the air. She floated out about half a mile from shore and looked down at the water. She grinned. "It ought to be nice and deep out here," she thought to herself.
Bulma now began to fly upwards, and she didn't stop until she was close to two hundred feet in the air. She hovered for a second or two, and with a loud whoop, she suppressed her ki and let gravity take over. As she plummeted toward the water, she curled herself into a tight ball. And finally, she hit the water, making what was quite possibly the largest cannonball splash in all of human history. About a half-minute later, she resurfaced, panting slightly, but still brimming with energy. The sun was setting, but she was just beginning!
After a couple more monstrous cannonballs, Bulma swam back toward the shore, content to swim in the shallow waters now. As she came closer in, she noticed a figure alone up on the beach. Vegita was just sitting up there on the beach! Bulma wondered why he hadn't entered the water yet. Her curiosity was too great to let her just float there and wonder. She was going to find out!
She swam farther in until she could touch the bottom, and then she walked in the rest of the way. Of course, flying would have gotten her there in a fraction of the time this took her, but she was still enjoying the water, and besides, it wouldn't do to appear overly interested. She didn't want him to get the idea that she cared one way or the other if he swam with her.
Vegita was sitting straight-legged on one of the towels, and as Bulma walked up to him, she noticed that he had changed into the trunks she'd given him. A slight chill went down her spine as she realized that he really did look good in those. This was more of Vegita's body than she had seen at one time too.
"Hey," she said affably, acting as if she hadn't noticed. She walked up and sat down on the other towel. "I was just wondering if you were planning on entering the water anytime soon? There's not much daylight left, and the jellyfish here are extremely poisonous. If it's all the same to you, I'd rather be able to discover one with my eyes before it discovers my skin."
Vegita grunted disapprovingly. "Weakling," he said, shooting her a look of scorn, but allowing his gaze to linger on her for longer than she would have preferred. A breeze hit her wet skin, and she shivered and looked away from him.
"I see you changed after all," she said, not looking up. "I think I made a good choice when I packed those things. You look pretty good in swimming trunks." Her hand flew to her mouth, but the damage had been done. She had let it slip before she had realized she was going to say it. She promptly turned nice and red, and didn't dare look up at him to check his reaction.
Vegita smirked. "Really?" He drawled. "You thought so too?"
Still quite red in the face, Bulma looked back up at him with an angry smile. "Yeah," she retorted. "They really help to shift the focus away from that ugly mug of yours." She stuck her tongue out at him for added emphasis.
"Hmph!" Vegita snorted, but regardless of the insult, his smirk didn't go away.
"So if you aren't going to swim, what are you going to do?" Bulma asked him testily. "What was the point of putting those on if you didn't intend to swim in them?"
"Did I say I didn't intend to swim?" Vegita asked innocently. "I certainly don't recall."
Bulma rolled her eyes in exasperation. The conceited jerk was waiting for an invitation! Well she wasn't about to beg. If he wanted to swim, he could come in when he wanted to. Otherwise, he could just stay here, for all she cared. It made no difference to her!
"Fine," she growled. "If you do decide to swim, then do it. But sitting here with you is making me nothing but angry, so I'm going back in." And with that she promptly took to the air and flew out over the water.
Vegita watched her dive in and come back up. Then, grinning devilishly, he got up and flew leisurely out after her. But he didn't get more than halfway out before Bulma spotted him and scowled.
Bulma watched Vegita warily, her expression becoming ever more sour and agitated. If that jerk thought he was going to just sashay on up to her and begin swimming next to her, he had another thing coming. Using long, powerful strokes, she swam farther out in an effort to put more distance between him and herself. She looked back when she'd gone a couple of leagues out, and she scowled again. He had entered the water by now, and he was casually following along behind her, as if to tease her. Well fine. He just had to go and push his luck. Now he was in for it.
Diving far beneath the surface, Bulma sped toward Vegita until she was directly below him. Then she shot up toward him and, grabbing onto one of his feet, yanked him down a good ten feet into the water.
Expecting to have caught him off guard, Bulma turned to swim away. But she realized all too late that Vegita must have been ready for her. When she turned around, she didn't even have time to kick off before she felt one of his hands clamp around her right ankle and give it a sharp yank. Bulma let out a cry of surprise, and didn't get a chance to do anything else, because, before she knew what was happening, Vegita had shot straight up out of the water, and had pulled her - by her foot - along behind him.
Thrashing about for all she was worth, and screaming bloody murder, Bulma let Vegita know right away that she was NOT amused by his antics. "Let go of me this instant, you barbaric cretin!" She screeched. "Or I swear that the next meal you eat by me will be your last!"
Grinning, Vegita did as she asked, and, still screaming, Bulma fell rather clumsily back into the water. She resurfaced a scant few moments later, coughing and spluttering, and in no better a mood. She glared menacingly at him as he lowered himself back into the water no more than ten feet away from her.
"Okay, you've had your fun, you psycho," she growled. "So now you can just stay the HELL away from me!"
"I seem to remember your saying something about having more fun when you didn't have to swim alone. I wouldn't want to deprive you of that," Vegita said with a sneer.
"Oh, you want me to have FUN, huh?" Bulma said, focusing her telekinetic powers on a large area of water behind him. "Then go soak your head, you jerk!" And with that, she forced a nice two-foot thick wall of water up and over his head. It landed on top of him with a loud splash, and he popped up out of it, drenched but not entirely angry with her.
"Fun loves company!" He cried, leaping forward and dunking her several feet into the water.
"That's it!" She yelled when she came back up. "You're toast, Vegita!" She lunged at him and tackled him around the waist, trying to make him lose his balance so she could flip him under the water. Of course, he had no problem thwarting her attempts, and he laughed openly at her as she flailed around ridiculously in her efforts. Even immersed in water up to his shoulders, Vegita's rigid defenses still remained intact.
"Dammit," Bulma panted when she was forced to let go of him and come up for air. "You really know how to spoil my fun, Vegita, you know that?"
"Don't blame me for your own weaknesses," he snorted derisively. "What did you expect me to do? Just roll over and let you think you'd won?"
"Hey, now there's an idea!" Bulma laughed, jumping over to him and putting him in a playful headlock. "You haven't tried that tactic out on me yet. Why don't you try it and see how well it works? Might do you some good to lose to me once in a while!"
"Weakling," Vegita grunted dismissively, grabbing her by her arms and tossing her over his head as easily as any rag doll. She landed in the water a few feet away and came right back up, shaking the water out of her face, but grinning at Vegita just the same.
"Don't hold your breath," he said scornfully. "I don't feign defeat for anyone, much less a pathetic little weakling like you. I'm not going to make any exceptions for you."
"It was just a thought," Bulma laughed, sticking her tongue out at him. Shrugging, she kicked away from him a little and floated on her back, letting the waves carry her up and down along their backs. She noticed that it had already gotten rather dark, and that many of the stars had come out. "It's going to be a pretty night," she remarked, gazing peacefully up at the young night sky. "There isn't a single cloud up there."
"Hmph," Vegita grunted, eying her as she bobbed a few feet away from him. He wasn't exactly paying a great deal of attention to the sky.
Bulma yawned. "Oh well," she said, stretching her limbs and righting herself again. "I guess I'm ready to head back in then. Want to race me back?"
Vegita smirked at her. "You don't give up, do you?" He replied scornfully. "You'd think you would have learned by now that you simply can't defeat me."
"You're too serious," Bulma laughed, waving him away. "It's just a little friendly competition!" And before he could reply, she was off, speeding toward the beach at an incredible rate.
She looked back at him after only a few seconds and was pleased to see that she was well in the lead. He had taken off after her all right, but she was still way ahead of him.
"Nyaah!" She taunted him, sticking her tongue out and making a face at him. She treaded water a little bit just to tease him some more, and then she turned to sprint the rest of the way to the beach. But when she kicked her feet, she felt something soft and squishy brush against her legs, and suddenly her left foot felt like it had been set afire.
Letting out a sharp yelp of pain, Bulma tried to shoot up out of the water, but her leg couldn't support herself when she tried to fly on it, so she only succeeded in achieving a lopsided leap out of the water and a clumsy flop back in. Pulling herself back up to the surface with her arms, she clenched her teeth and shut her eyes tightly. Even slightly moving her foot sent shooting pains up her leg. Carefully trying to keep from moving her left leg, she slowly began to lift herself out of the water, this time using her arms as the flight supports. Strange as this may sound, it was a fairly simple thing for Bulma to do, given the rigorous training she'd undergone, coupled with the degree of control she had over her own ki energy. Of course, this was only in the event of normal circumstances. But in this instance, her task had been made very difficult, due to the fact that any degree of movement in her foot caused her excruciating pain that made her lose her concentration, and it took all Bulma had to keep that foot still. She could only succeed in lifting herself at a snail's pace.
By now, Vegita had caught up to her, and he hesitated, unsure of what to make of Bulma's odd behavior. Was she trying to trick him into slowing down?
"What are you doing?" He asked warily, swimming around in front of her to look at her face. It was then that he noticed her expression. She looked like she was in terrible pain!
"Something's wrong with my left foot," she whispered harshly through gritted teeth. "It feels as though it's on fire."
Vegita began to look a great deal more concerned now. "What did you do to it?" He demanded.
Bulma opened her eyes a little and looked down. She was still immersed in the water from her waist down, and it was so dark she couldn't see anything in it.
"I don't know," she said, squeezing her eyes shut again and allowing tears to flow freely from them. "But the pain is incredible."
Setting his jaw, Vegita swam over to Bulma and, grabbing her gently about the waist, pulled her back down into the water.
"What are you doing?!" Bulma gasped, her eyes popping open. "You're making me lose my concentration!"
"Put your arm around my neck," Vegita ordered.
Bulma realized what he was doing. "Aw, come on, Vegita!" She groaned. "I can get myself to shore! I don't need to use my legs to fly!"
Vegita glared sternly at her. "Just do what I say and do something the simple way for once!" He demanded.
Glaring indignantly at him, Bulma just scowled and did as he asked. She curled her left arm around his neck and looked up at him expectantly.
"Now what?" She asked him.
"Now relax," he ordered. "I'm going to lean you back so I can slide my other arm under your knees. Then I'm going to fly you back up to the beach."
Still frowning rather disapprovingly at him, she nodded and let him lean her back into the water. Once he had his other arm under her knees, he carefully flew himself and Bulma out of the water. Bulma drew a sharp breath and winced.
"It hurts to move my leg now," she told him quietly, clutching his neck a little more tightly.
"Then I'll try not to," he said reassuringly. "Just relax. We're almost there."
He flew out over the beach and landed next to the beach towels. He gently set Bulma down on one of them.
Wincing, Bulma sat up and looked at her leg. "Oh no," she groaned when she saw the telltale, jagged red streaks encircling the greater part of her left foot. "Chiropsalmus Quadrigatus."
"What?" Vegita said, looking nervously at her foot.
Bulma grinned and shook her head. "Remember how I warned you about the jellyfish?" She chuckled angrily. "Well it appears that I don't heed my own warnings. It's a sea wasp. Box jellyfish. They're the most dangerous to people who are allergic to their toxin, and those that are run a terrible risk swimming in these waters. Fortunately for me, though, I'm not allergic. I've been tested before, and I came up negative." She looked up at Vegita and tried to smile, but the searing pain was bringing tears to her eyes.
"So what will happen to you, then?" Vegita demanded, making a not-so-convincing effort to keep his worry from showing.
"Very little if we act quickly," Bulma reassured him. "But I'm going to need your help, Vegita."
Vegita nodded vigorously. "Just tell me what I have to do," he said quickly.
"Thank you," she said with a smile. "First and foremost, I need to get what's left of the tentacles off my foot. The remains can still inject venom if we don't do this the right way. I'm afraid I have to ask you to carry me into the house. The stuff I need is in the kitchen, and I can't possibly walk on my foot with it like this."
"Right," Vegita replied immediately, and he gently picked her back up off the ground.
Bulma promptly let out a sharp yelp of pain.
"What is it?" Vegita asked anxiously. "Did I hurt you?"
Bulma forced a smile and shook her head. "It's not your fault," she said shakily. "Any movement of that leg has become excruciating. But I know I was lucky. Sea wasp stings can be fatal, even if you aren't allergic to the venom - provided the coverage from the tentacles is great enough. The little sucker only managed to sting my foot. I'll live, but that isn't going to mean anything to me for a little while. The pain of these stings is considered by many to be the most excruciating form of pain known on our planet. Even a little area like this is more pain than I can ever remember feeling."
Vegita grunted as he walked along with her. "Maybe it just seems so," he said with a frown. "Perhaps you've forgotten that little love tap Freeza gave you on Namek. And you survived that."
Bulma laughed quietly. "I went into shock almost immediately," she said with a wry smile. "I didn't feel all that much. And when he killed me I didn't have much time to focus on the pain anyway, so that isn't comparable to this either. Isn't it sad that a little brainless creature from my own planet could reduce me to this even after all I've endured from Freeza? Little bugger probably got away alive too," she added with a weak laugh.
Vegita just grunted again. They had arrived at their capsule house now. He opened the door with one of his feet, and carried her in to the kitchen. She asked him to set her down in a chair at the table, and he did so.
"All right," she said, shifting so that she was sitting with her legs out from the table. "First, I'm going to need a bucket. There's one in the cabinet under the sink," she said, pointing to the cabinet. "Yes, that's it," she said when he picked the bucket up. He brought it to her, and she gingerly set her foot down inside it.
"Now," she said, wincing as another excruciating round of pains shot up her leg. "I need the bottle of vinegar from the left cabinet above the stove." She pointed to that cabinet, and Vegita went to it and opened the door.
"Which one is it?" He asked impatiently. "Woman, there's too many damn bottles in here!"
"Calm down, Vegita!" Bulma said softly. "It's the white one in the middle… there! That's it." He grabbed it and brought it to her, scowling down at it as if it had deliberately hid itself from him.
"Thanks, Vegita," she said, smiling at him again. She took the cap off and, gritting her teeth, slowly poured its contents over her foot. The fierce burning brought more tears to her eyes.
Vegita noticed her tense up in pain, and he watched on nervously. "What is that stuff?" He asked.
"Vinegar," Bulma said through gritted teeth. "It's a rather weak acid that is usually used for cooking. But in my case, it's going to prevent the nematocysts on these tentacles from discharging."
"What language are you speaking, anyway?" Vegita demanded impatiently. "What the hell is a nematocyst?"
Bulma shook her head and chuckled softly. "Sorry," she said. "What it boils down to is that this stuff is going to keep the remains of that creature from doing me any more damage. Now," she said, having emptied the bottle and set it up on the table. "I need you to get me one more thing."
"What?" Vegita asked.
"In the bathroom down the hall," Bulma explained, "there's a first aid kit. It's under the sink in there, and it's a white box with a red cross on it. You'll see it as soon as you open the cabinet door."
Vegita nodded and walked swiftly off to the bathroom. He returned about half a minute later with the first aid kit. "Here," he said, handing it to her.
Bulma took it and smiled. "Thanks Vegita," she said. "That's all I'll need from you. You don't have to hang around if you don't want to. I'm sorry I've inconvenienced you so much."
Vegita snorted. "Just get on with what you're doing," he said, crossing his arms. "I'm staying."
Bulma looked up at him with a rather confused expression for a few moments, but then she shrugged and opened the box. She figured he was curious to find out what she was going to do with the first aid kit, and just didn't want to admit it.
"Here we go," she said, finally locating the tweezers. She took them out of the box and set the rest of the kit up on the table. "Now comes the fun part," she said with a grimace. "I get to remove the souvenirs that the little blob left me."
One by one, Bulma peeled the remnants of the jellyfish's tentacles from her throbbing foot. "There," she sighed finally, as the last one was removed and dropped into the bucket. "Stubborn little buggers, but I think I got 'em all."
"So now what?" Vegita asked. Bulma pushed the bucket of vinegar and jellyfish pieces aside and tested putting a little weight on her foot. But she drew in a sharp breath and quickly withdrew it.
"Damn," she said angrily through gritted teeth. "I know how to treat a jellyfish sting, but one thing I don't know is how long the pain is supposed to last. I'm not going to be good for much around here for a while, or at least until the pain goes away enough for me to be able to walk again." She looked up at Vegita dejectedly.
"I'm sorry Vegita," she said, folding her hands in her lap and letting out an angry sigh. "I won't be able to make you a suitable dinner tonight. Not in this condition. You'll be better off flying home and asking Mom to whip you up something. Maybe it's better that way," she said with a forced laugh. "My lousy cooking most likely would have poisoned you in the end anyway."
Vegita snorted. "Dream on," he said with a sneer. "If you think you can rid yourself of me so easily you're most certainly suffering from delirium."
"Huh?" Bulma said, looking up at him. She met his gaze with her own, and he turned to the side a little to avoid it.
"I still need you to fix my gravity machine, of course," he said with a hasty scowl at her. "Don't think I've forgotten about that. You're not getting off the hook because of some pitiful excuse like this."
Bulma smiled. "There's no need to worry about that," she said gently. "I asked my mom before we left to give Dad a message for me. HE'S going to fix it in a couple of days. You won't need me for that."
Vegita scowled. There went his excuse. Damn her. She was going to make him say it. "I'm not leaving," he growled quietly.
Bulma eyed him in befuddlement. Why was he acting so strangely? "But Vegita!" She protested. "There's no point in it! I've already said I won't be able to cook you any decent meals - at least not tonight, anyway!"
"I've been all over this island," Vegita said sternly, still not looking back at her, "and there's ample fruit growing out here to sustain me for a good couple of weeks if need be. I'm not concerned about finding food."
Bulma looked helplessly up at him. Why was he being so stubborn about this? Surely he could see there wasn't any reason for him to stay! "But why…?" She began.
"Why do you think?" Vegita snapped, cutting her off and glaring fiercely at her. This time he didn't look away.
It took a couple more seconds, but then, all at once, it clicked. Bulma's eyes met his, and finally she understood. She blushed then, and looked down at her hands uncomfortably.
"Oh," she said, fumbling with her fingers and biting her lip. "Well, I mean, I'll be all right, you know," she stammered, really beginning to fidget. "I'm not allergic to the toxin, so it only needs to work its way out of my system and I'll be as good as new. Y- you don't really have to stay here with me."
"Be that as it may," he said quietly, staring fiercely at her. "I'm not leaving. So you just might as well get used to the idea."
Bulma, quite evidently still blushing, looked up at him bravely. She studied his stern, determined face for a few moments, and then couldn't help but smile. Despite the sharp way he was putting it, Vegita was only staying to assure himself that she'd be all right. She hadn't realized that he felt that much concern for her. But what was truly amazing was that the thought didn't make her all that uncomfortable. It actually felt kind of… nice.
"All right Vegita," she said softly, looking down again but still smiling. "If that's what you really want, then I won't try to talk you out of it. I just don't want to be too much of a bother to you."
"Feh," Vegita snorted. "If that could dissuade me, I never would have offered to train you. That's all you always are anyway," he said, turning away a bit. "A bother."
Bulma laughed softly. "I suppose you're right," she replied. "I guess I don't really know how to be anything else."
"Hmph," was all Vegita said in reply.
Bulma yawned. She was beginning to feel a little drowsy. It was kind of late, after all. She looked toward the kitchen door and frowned. Now how the heck was she going to get to her room?
Her thoughts were interrupted when Vegita walked over and, swiftly but gently, swept her up into his arms. He then began walking toward the hall with her.
"What are you doing?" She gasped. He had taken her quite by surprise.
"Taking you to bed," Vegita replied. Bulma lost a little color then, and stared at him in silent shock. He scowled at her. "Your left leg is useless to you," he snapped. "What were you planning to do? Crawl to your room?"
"Oh," Bulma replied with a rather shaky - but relieved - laugh. "I see. Er… sorry to put you out like this, Vegita."
"Don't apologize," he ordered. "You're no more of a bother to me now than you usually are. So you can just drop it."
Sighing, she simply nodded and closed her eyes. Despite his harsh tone of voice and sharp words, Bulma knew that Vegita really didn't mind doing this for her. And, oddly enough, she wasn't altogether uncomfortable with letting him do it. As he walked down the hall with her, Bulma made a conscious effort not to focus on the comfortable warmth of his skin, and to try to ignore the way her heart had suddenly begun pounding. But despite herself, she laid her head softly on his shoulder and held a little more tightly to his neck. There was just something comforting about holding onto him like that. She didn't know how else to put it. She sighed again and smiled.
"What's the matter?" Vegita asked her rather gruffly.
"Nothing," she replied softly. "Nothing at all."
Vegita was quite aware of Bulma's head on his shoulder, and he was also very much aware of how tightly she was clinging to him. And he had to admit that it wasn't something that he entirely disliked. But much as he might have preferred to linger in the hallway and hold her like this, they had arrived at her room. He carried her over to her bed and, after pulling the blanket back, he gently set her down.
Bulma shifted herself so that she was comfortable, but couldn't stop herself from drawing in a sharp breath when she laid her foot down on the bed. Gritting her teeth, she finally managed to shift her legs into position and then she pulled the blanket over herself.
"I'll just sleep in my swimsuit tonight," she thought as she realized that both she and Vegita were still in their swimwear. "I can't change right now anyway."
Vegita lingered for a moment longer, and then he turned to leave. Bulma steeled her nerves and spoke.
"Vegita!" She called out to him, a little more timidly than she might have liked. He hesitated in the doorway. "Um… I just wanted to thank you," she said, flushing a little but smiling just the same. "I- I'm happy you're going to stay with me after all."
Vegita almost smiled back at her, but he caught himself in time and changed it to a smirk. "That'll change soon enough," he said threateningly. "Get some sleep. I'll be back tomorrow morning." And with that he walked out of the room and quietly shut the door behind him.
Bulma yawned again and snuggled farther down inside her blanket. What a weird day! She had some things to think about, that was for sure! One thing was certain - there was definitely something going on that she didn't understand. The jellyfish sting was one thing, but that she could attribute to bad luck and bad judgment. Vegita, on the other hand, was something far different. She smiled as she remembered being in his arms. It had felt so warm and safe there, as if nothing could go wrong. And he'd been so incredibly gentle with her. It was hard for her to imagine a guy like Vegita being gentle with anything, much less her. And yet he'd taken such great care to keep from hurting her. It was definitely strange. To think the man could act so strangely all of the sudden! But, strange or not, she had to admit she didn't exactly resent it. She actually kind of… LIKED it.
Bulma opened her eyes again, and her smile disappeared. What was going on here? Why did it seem that all she could think about lately was Vegita? Perhaps she WAS starting to like him. A little. But surely she wasn't beginning to like him so much that every conscious thought revolved around him. It was a rather disturbing idea. But still, she had to admit - even to herself - that she was beginning to find him somewhat attractive. She had spoken her mind when she'd told him earlier this evening that he looked good in those trunks. She remembered his reaction to her bathing suit, and she squirmed a little. Geez, if she'd known it was going to be that much of a shock for him, she might have chosen a less revealing suit for herself.
God, her foot ached. "Stupid jellyfish," she thought with a frown. " Stupid me too. If I hadn't stopped to tease Vegita I wouldn't be in this pickle." She was just glad she'd spent a lot of time around beaches, and had taken the time to learn how to deal with jellyfish encounters. Things might not have gone so smoothly if that hadn't been the case. And at least she had been the one who'd gotten stung, and not Vegita. "Maybe it was better for the jellyfish too," she thought with a wry smile.
Bulma yawned once again. She was beginning to nod off. But she still wanted to figure out what was really going on between Vegita and herself. Ah well, she thought sleepily. There was always tomorrow. Maybe a night to sleep on it would do her some good. As Bulma began to drift off, she smiled again, without even realizing she was doing it.
On to the next chapter!
