Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Friend in Need ❯ Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Nope, don't own it, not making even half a cent on it. You get the drill.


Vegeta opened his eyes. He'd had the strangest dream. He had been forced back into Frieza's service and things hadn't been going well for him, but someone had arrived from out of nowhere and helped free him of the evil lizard's clutches. He couldn't tell who his ally was at first, but was surprised to see that it was Bulma when she turned to face him. The nameless boy from the future appeared and killed Frieza, then disappeared as quickly as he'd arrived. Satisfied that Vegeta was all right, Bulma smiled and waved to him before she began to walk away. But he hadn't wanted her to leave, so she'd stayed.

Vegeta turned his head and to his surprise, Bulma was in his room, asleep with her head on the table beside his bed. What was she doing there? Had she really stayed with him all night, as she'd stayed with him in his dream?

He reached over to touch her, just to see if she was really there or if he was still dreaming. If this was a dream, he didn't want to ever wake up. When his fingers came in contact with her soft blue hair, he knew that he was awake.

She drew in a deep breath and her eyes opened. "Hey," she said sleepily. "Good morning, Vegeta."

"Good morning, Bulma." Vegeta couldn't help but imagine what it would be like to wake up with her lying beside him every morning, her hair all tousled and sleep lines on her pretty face, but forced himself to put the thought aside. "Why are you here instead of in your own bed?"

Bulma couldn't bring herself to tell him about the nightmare, which might embarrass him if he knew she knew about it. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right in your room," she said.

"Oh." Vegeta had a feeling that she was not telling him the whole story, but decided not to press the issue. "Thanks."

"Of course." Bulma smiled at him, and he felt his heart skip a beat. "I'm sure you're hungry," she commented, rising up and stretching with her hands up over her head. "I'll get us something to eat."

Vegeta watched her leave the bedroom and let out a long sigh. Watching her stretch like that had gotten him all aroused, as he could see the feminine shape of her lithe figure beneath her thin nightgown. Most likely she hadn't even been aware of it. He rested back down against his pillows. It was depressing being stuck in bed like this. At least he had breakfast with her to look forward to.

Maybe afterward she would stay.

***

"Hey Vegeta, want to play a game?" After getting dressed and fixing her sleep rumpled hair, Bulma had gathered up some board games. She felt badly about his nightmare the night before. Maybe playing a game or two would help him get his mind off of the bad memories bothering him.

Vegeta looked at the boxes she set down on the table. He never played games, but if it pleased her and meant he would have the pleasure of her company a while longer, he'd do it. He wasn't sure why she was spending so much time with him other than her claim of wanting to get to know him better, but hey. Who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth if a beautiful woman wanted to spend time with him? "Sure, I suppose."

"Cool." Bulma smiled as she sat down at the side of the table facing his bed. "What do you want to play? We've got a deck of cards, checkers, chess, backgammon, Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Scrabble, Operation..." She giggled at the thought of Vegeta playing the last one and being startled by the unexpected buzzing noise and blasting the game.

"I don't know what any of those are," he told her. "You'll have to show me."

"Not a problem." Bulma pulled out the checkerboard.

***

Mrs. Briefs was heading up the stairs with a capsule containing Vegeta's lunch when she heard a shout of indignance come from his room.

"Hey! You can't do that!"

A chuckle. "Why not?"

"Because it's cheating," came the irritable response, "so stop it!"

"Oh really? As I recall, you played four Skips in a row last hand, so an equal number of Draw Twos cannot exactly be constituted as cheating. By the way, Uno."

"Ugh! Fine. I'll just play this card then. Now, Draw Four and make it red, ha!"

There was a pause and Bulma giggled. "I'll get you for that, woman."

Mrs. Briefs poked her head into Vegeta's room. Bulma was sitting cross-legged on the bed next to Vegeta's broken leg. She had no fewer than twenty cards in her hand compared to Vegeta's five, which were rapidly being added to as he tried in vain to draw a red card. She giggled. "Hello there. Are you two having fun?" she asked cheerfully.

"I think we were, but Vegeta's pouting because he doesn't have the right card," Bulma teased.

"I am not pouting," Vegeta contradicted her. "You were the one having a fit just a minute ago."

Mrs. Briefs giggled some more. "Oh, Vegeta, you're just so cute." She was glad to see both of them in good spirits.

Vegeta frowned. "I'm not cute!" Puppies and babies were cute, not him. How ridiculous!

"Sure you are," Bulma insisted. "You have a nice smile." Her eyes widened and she blushed when she realized what she'd just said.

Vegeta thought she looked lovely with her pink cheeks and the way she ducked her head, but he couldn't tell her that. "Yeah, sure," he mumbled.

Mrs. Briefs smiled. They were both adorable, suddenly looking so shy around each other. Maybe Bulma would decide that she liked Vegeta. He was a sweet boy and a handsome young man. She was sure that if they got together, she would get some good-looking grandchildren. "I brought you some lunch."

"Thanks Mom," Bulma told her, grateful for the change of topic of conversation. She was forced to admit that she did find Vegeta to be handsome, and the more time she spent with him, the more she was starting to become attracted to him. But was it too soon to feel this way about someone else after breaking up with Yamcha? She was so confused.

"You're welcome, dear." Mrs. Briefs set the capsule on the table. "Let me know if you need anything else," she said as she left the room.

"Sorry about that," Bulma said apologetically. "Mom just gets excited sometimes."

Vegeta shrugged. "It's okay," he told her. "Now, should we eat lunch or would you like to lose another hand to me first?"

Bulma's eyebrows rose in mock affront. He was sitting there grinning at her, teasing her. "You're goin' down, buddy."

***

"Well, young man, it appears that your arm is fully healed," Dr. Briefs noted, peering at an x-ray he had up on a light board. "I can remove that cast, but your leg needs a little more time."

Vegeta grumbled something about needing to train but didn't argue.

"Hey, be glad you heal faster than humans do," Bulma spoke up as her father left to get what he needed to remove the cast from Vegeta's arm. "You'd be in that cast for weeks instead of days."

"I am glad," Vegeta agreed. "I can't stand sitting around doing nothing." He looked up to her. "I appreciate you spending time with me the past few days."

"Vegeta, you're my friend. I enjoyed spending time with you." Realizing that she really did see him that way, Bulma gave him a shy little smile.

"Hmph. No accounting for taste, I see," Vegeta responded.

She could see he was teasing and laughed. "You're funny, Veg."

"Veg?" he asked, his eyebrow rising.

"Yeah. So get used to it." Bulma stepped aside as her father returned to cut off the cast. "Do you need any help, Daddy?"

"Sure. You can fill this small tub up with a hot water and vinegar solution to soak the cast in, and then make sure that his arm stays still while I remove it," Dr. Briefs told her. He turned his attention to Vegeta. "Ready?"

***

"Good morning, dear!" Mrs. Briefs sang as she brought in Vegeta's breakfast. "Are you hungry?"

"Of course," Vegeta responded, sitting up a little straighter in his bed. What a question. He was always hungry first thing in the morning.

"Good, because I cooked you plenty of food," Mrs. Briefs told him as she opened the capsule. "Just let me know if you need anything else, okay?" She turned to leave.

Vegeta frowned. "Where is Bulma?"

"She went back to work today," Mrs. Briefs told him. "She had a lot to do and couldn't stay home any longer."

"Oh." Vegeta tried not to sound too disappointed. He really had enjoyed Bulma's company. "Thank you for the food," he mumbled.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Briefs told him. "Bye-bye!" she sang with a little wave as she left the room.

Vegeta sighed, trying not to feel too depressed at being alone and unable to do anything for himself. Now what was he going to do all day? He hardly felt like eating his food anymore.