/ ❯ Along For The Ride ❯ Preparations ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: I know I know. All of those faithful reviewers of my other stories are upset with me that I had to start another story without updating the others. Well, I updated Protecting so you can't be *too* upset... GOKU/BULMA alert!!! I guess this is *technically* my second fic with a goku/bulma pairing in it and if you guys haven't read the first, I'm not telling you which one it is... but this one will be different. It'll have a happy ending for the couple. Maybe... Geez, I'm so fickle aren't I? Okay, so without much further ado...

Chapter 1. Preparations:

There he was. The only thing I ever wanted and couldn't have. Damn ChiChi. I wondered what he wanted now. I ventured a guess.

"Vegeta said he wanted to train alone today, Son-kun."

"Well, that's good because I didn't come to see him."

Surprising. I was geniunely astonished. He giggled.

"I came to see you, B-chan."

Ha! I wish!

"Me? Or my dragon radar?"

He giggled again. How did I know? I sighed. "Come with me."

I walked to my lab slower than necessary. He was leaving again, these few moments I get to see him aren't enough. Not when the time between them spans years.

In just a few short minutes he would be off for weeks, just for the hell of it, and then another few minutes to return the radar, then another few years until he needs it again. Even when he comes to see Vegeta, they stay in the gravity room the whole time. And I wonder...

I wonder...

I don't realize I've been standing outside my lab door, deep in thought, until he speaks.

"Bulma? Do you want to go with me?"

I look up into his innocent face. Well, why the hell not? Bra is in high school, Trunks can keep her out of trouble and run a multi-billion zeni corporation.

Err... maybe not. I guess that's a talent strictly reserved for a woman. Oh well, Vegeta will kill anyone that defiles his little princess, or threatens too. Not many people don't know what he's about, so they don't try and get on Bra's wrong side.

Whatever prompted him to ask me that, I'll never know. But I do know he wouldn't've asked if he hadn't wanted me along.

He softly followed his query with a confident, "let's go get ready then."

Damn that man knew me so well. He chuckled, "no Red Ribbon Army this time, I promise."

Damn! But I had to smile, albeit shakily. Maybe it was a mid-life crisis (although I'd never admit THAT out loud) that pumped the adrenaline through my veins or my love for this man. Well whatever it was I was psyched and I didn't even have the radar in my hands. The radar? Oh damn!

I heard that beautiful laughter behind me as I threw open the door and ran to my desk. I ran past him then and up to my room to pack. Goku knew his way around enough to make himself comfortable.

I nearly ripped my closet door off its hinges in my exuberence. There in the back corner under old shoe boxes was a small black leather case. I pulled it out, shaking again in anticipation, and opened it. The capsule gleamed as brightly as the day it was made.

My excitement was hardly containable as I pressed the button and tossed it on the bed. The bag inside was just as I remembered it.

I was fastening the final leather leg strap to the holster on my thigh as my highly irrate husband burst through the door followed by a sheepish looking Goku.

Great. Thanks, Son-kun.

"Hey, sorry, Bulma... Wow! You look great!"

"Woman... what... are... you... WEARING!?"

Without missing a beat, Goku adds in, "adventure series #12. My favorite!" Then he grinned.

And without missing a beat, my husband punched him through a wall.

Lucky for me it was a Saturday and my two loving and supportive children were home. Except now they were standing in my bedroom.

"Wow, Mom! You look totally hot!"

"Dad! You are seriously not going to let mom go out in public like *that*..."

Did I mention supportive?

"Dude, Trunks! Your sister's right... your mom is totally HOT!"

Did I mention Goten hangs out on Saturdays? Well, after the glare Vegeta just sent him, I imagine he's halfway back home by now. I blink and he is gone. What a cutie... if I was thirty years younger...

"WOMAN!"

Oh damn! I was drooling again. I wipe my mouth as my daughter snickers and winks at me.

"Woman... explain yourself NOW!"

Unfazed, Goku appeared next to him, dusty but grinning. I grinned back.

"I'm going on an adventure, Veggie-kins." He growled.

"Mom! You can't leave!" Leave it to the boy to be the panicky one. "Who's going to cook for us!?!?" Figures.

My husband gave him a strange look. Okay, even for a Saiyan my cooking leaves something to be desired. What you didn't REALLY expect Vegeta to have stayed with me this long because of my casserole, did you? Try the quiche lorraine, darling! I worked all morning on it! HAH!

"Have fun, mom!"

I love my daughter. I met her smile with my own, knowing full well that after I was gone she'd look for more outfits like the tight leather pants I was wearing while pulling my closet completely apart.

"Thanks, Sweety!"

I tried to walk past my brick wall of a man, but he stood his ground.

"Awwww, c'mon Veggie-kins," Goku teased. "I'll bring her back safe and sound in a few weeks..."

"NO!"

Oh I can't, can't I?

"Listen, Mr. High and Mighty Prince of a Pebble Planet, I WILL be going on this trip because unlike YOU, I'm not going to sit around this house like a thirty year old hunting dog and develop a KEG GUT!"

Of course, I punctuated my point with a finger in his gut, and yes... it hurt. Bad.

"Woah, Dad... No more 40-ouncers for you... It's back to the 12 ounce cans now, huh?"

He huffed indignantly.

"That's right, darling. Suck it up. Maybe it won't show..."

His growls became louder and to any outsider it might look like he was going to hit me. Only the people here in this room now weren't surprised when Goku went flying through another wall.

"Dammit, Vegeta! The contractors refused to come out again twice this weekend, knock it off!"

I turned away from him then, walking way with a slight sway in my 'come-hither hips.' Yep, I still looked good for... twenty-nine.

I bent over the bed to finish packing my little 'fanny pack' and clipped it to my side. And as I placed one of my guns into the back belt holster, I threw my man a hot look. I turned away again and pulled my short hair back with a red headband. I then heard my eldest exclaim, "geez, Dad! Wait until we leave the room at least! Let's go, Bra and help me grab Goku," as two strong and sexy arms wrapped themselves around my waist. Through my thin, cotton short sleeve shirt, I could tell he had begun undressing without my help.

Two hours and one satisfied Saiya-jin later, a chuckling Goku and I were in an air car on our way towards the first dragonball.

So.......... hit the pretty button down there, see it? The one marked 'review,' and I'll get to work on chappie two... There's going to be nine in total, Preparations, Seven Dragonballs, and Aftermath. And YES, it's a Goku/Bulma!! Also, maybe in the next chapter, you'll hear the perfect song that inspired this fic. Well, you won't really hear it, but you know what I mean.

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