© All you need is love ©

Chapter 1: It's over, move over now

Sighing, Bulma hung up the phone. Yumcha had just rung, complaining of a headache and telling her they would have to postpone their anniversary celebration for another week. Bulma was sick of waiting. Not that this was unusual for him, far from it actually; he kept about as many promises as nudist kept clothes.

Sighing once again, she remembered back to the beginning of their relationship, things had been so simplistic, there were no complications and she honestly had believed that what she had felt was love. Not anymore. Now she realized all it had been was, simply, a fling, a long one perhaps, but still one at that.

Inside, not far from the place where people keep their deepest secrets, Bulma admitted furtively that she had only stayed with him all these long years so that she wouldn't feel… alone. She shuddered. Especially now, knowing what she must do, it was almost impossible considering that her darling parents had gone to god-knows-where leaving her with only Mr. High And Mighty to keep her company, if you could really consider him any company at all, leaving her all alone and with a lot of time on hands.

A feeling of suffocation struck her, as though the walls of the house, in which she had lived all her life, were closing in on her, becoming a cell and finally trapping her and leaving her abandoned and isolated just like her darkest dreams had always foretold.

Bulma shivered, feeling the silver tears running down her cheeks in little rivulets but making no effort to stop them, instead she slumped onto the couch and left her emotions to do their worst.

Damn Yumcha for never trying.

Damn her parents for leaving her alone.

Especially damn Vegeta for being an emotionless asshole.

Hang on Bulma's subconscious mind whispered what does he have to do with this?

Confusion adding to all her conflicting emotions she wailed even more.

"I hate them, I HATE THEM ALL!" She screamed into the silence.

Slowly exhaustion took over as she fell into her own anguished dream world.

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

Scowling, Vegeta slammed his fist down onto the control panel, smashing it to pieces.

"Damn that idiot woman," he muttered silently as he opened the door of the Gravity Room and stepped outside into the cool night air. "Her stupid wailings' so annoying I can't even concentrate."

He made his way stealthy towards the front of the capsule house. So silently became like a night creature searching casually for its next victim, searching for blood.

Reaching the door he opened it only to find the woman asleep on the couch her face tear stained and hollow of all expression.

Staring down at her, he felt pity stab at him, so deep it almost could have been compassion. He growled.

Stupid weakling emotions, he thought, pushing all feelings away and stating the obvious in his mind. Obviously she's had another fight with that weakling mate of hers but there was something different there this time, an emotion so dark etched in her face, in her soul, that it made him sub-consciously shudder.

Maybe this was really there was their end.

"About time," Vegeta mumbled proudly to himself, glad to finally get the fool out of his hair while beneath the surface another reason nagged that was dismissed so quickly that it might never have been there at all.

His hard gaze beaming down on her Bulma shuddered at an instinctive degree from a primal fear that all beings possess. Vegeta, noticing this, weighed it down to the fact that she was cold, something he had never even known of until his experience with the Earthlings and their nearly extinct ki.

Pathetic, he let himself think as the deepest instincts he had never known clicked in and he carefully gathered the earthling beauty in his arms, carrying her upstairs to the bedroom where she had slept from the day of her very first birthday and placing her gently on her bed.

Standing back his instincts were replaced by a deep longing as he admired his temptress.

Your temptress? WHAT? Vegeta's mind screamed as he woke from his semi-conscious daze and stepped back rapidly in shock at what he had just done. How did the woman manage to bring his emotions so easily to the surface whenever she was near him; cognizant or otherwise?

He stared at her for a long time, puzzlement evident, before finally snapping himself out of the oblivious state that had taken control and leaving to go train (and forget) once again.

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

Bulma woke up suddenly, sitting bolt upright, her hands flying immediately to her mouth to stifle the immediate shriek of terror at what she had just prophesized. Her hands violently clenched her temples as the painful memory came fluttering back into the light of her conscious self.

*Flashback*

The happy couple are eating contently at a fancy restaurant for their anniversary and talking life, love and other various chatter. Suddenly a red headed vixen appears out of the blue, like a dark omen from some illustrious fairytale, and starts flirting with Yumcha. Bulma, being irritatingly used to this sort of thing, chooses to turn away from the pair ignoring their obvious statements of attraction but suddenly Yumcha stands and, whipping her head around, Bulma watch's as her ever faithful boyfriend and the waitress drift further and further away from her staring love-struck at each other hand in hand.

"Yumcha what are you doing?" Bulma calls, panic-stricken and angry.

"Well babe you know you're my number one girl, but sometimes you just can't seem to satisfy my needs and what I really need right now is a good fuck, which Celeste here is very willing to give."

Bulma pauses taking it all in and, flushing in rage, she turns on her abandoning partner.

"Yumcha you little-"

"Sorry," Yumcha cuts in. "But you know that I'm never gonna be as faithful and committed as you want me to be, probably not even close, you may as well get over it."

As Yumcha drifts further away the room becomes darker and darker, the feeling of suffocation sets in again and darkness is all she knows as she sits alone in her own nothingness.

True fear nags at her and Bulma begins to scream realizing this is no dream; this is what will be, the way she is meant to live, destined to be alone forever!

*End Flashback*

Thoughts of her foreseen ultimate fate fill her mind; the silent tears of utter anguish begin to stream down her face, like the tears of a drowning child, once again.

For a second her head tries desperately, reasonably to dismiss the dream as just that and only that but her heart shakes its head and she silently submits.

She had always known, even if it was deep, deep inside that Yumcha had never been completely faithful.

What could you except from a desert bandit? her mind screamed in rebellion.

But every time he showed up an hour late for a date with the faint smell of woman's perfume on him she would just pass it off too chance while her mind screamed otherwise. Or whenever he would flirt with a waitress or a girl they just passed on the street she would just say to herself "He is what he is." But now it suddenly dawned on her what she hadn't been able to realize the whole time they'd been together: he had always had too little valid alibi's and too many cases where he was the prime suspect.

Resolute she smiled, a funny smile, which could have almost been a grimace. Time to end it.

"Funny," she said to herself waking up from her comatose state of contemplation. "I could have sworn I fell asleep on the couch last night. Oh well, maybe I sleepwalked or something."

Yawning, she glanced at the clock beside her and was so surprised she almost fell out of bed: it was 10:00am. Vegeta would normally have interrupted her sleep 2 hours before hand banging relentlessly and screeching at Bulma until she became so annoyed that she would get up and make his breakfast just to shut him up and get some peace and quiet. But not today and that was strange.

He probably went to Goku's to spar or something, her mind reassured her as she got up checking out the window to see if the gravity room was on or not. Sure enough, no signs of life were coming from her backyard except the constant chirping of the summer crickets.

That's it, obviously my Fight Bots aren't good enough for his Majesty, Prince of the non-existent monkeys, and he's just gone to have a real fight, as he so pompously puts it.

"Well," she said in a defeated voice. "I guess it's just me, myself and I today."

She hazardly through on the clothes she had been wearing yesterday; a very short, very tight yellow sundress that molded to her curves perfectly and was, surprisingly, one of the most comfortable things she owned; and she made her way down to the kitchen to fuel her aching belly which had had no nutrients since yesterday afternoon.

So, Bulma pondered. How did I manage to get to my bed last night I could have sworn I fell asleep on the couch… I mean no one could've moved me unless… No, it couldn't be… Vegeta? Bulma swiftly pushed the thought out of her mind. No way, god this solitude must be driving me insane. Why would Vegeta do something like that? He hates me. At least I think he hates me. For all the emotion he shows me I might as well not even be here at all. No, he cares for only one person and I sure as hell aren't they. God Bulma, for someone so smart sometimes you can think up the most ridiculous things!

Shaking her head, Bulma continued walking around the large compound towards the kitchen. But one little thought kept nagging at the back of her mind, which she couldn't seem to dismiss.

Bulma almost whooped as she finally made her way to the kitchen, smiling contently at the possibility of drowning her thoughts she almost jumped in shock when she found Vegeta sitting at the table, arms crossed, his usual look of annoyance plastered to his face. She smiled faintly as she noticed Vegeta's momentary loss of composure at the sight of her tight fitting outfit.

"See something you like, Vegeta," Bulma purred seductively as his arrogant stance returned to him as quickly as it had left.

"Of course not woman, what do you think I am… blind?" Vegeta smirked evilly causing Bulma to scowl. "So did that weakling mate of yours dispose of you again? You seemed very upset last night, so that must be what it was."

Bulma's jaw dropped. She couldn't believe it. How did he know about that? Maybe he had been the one who'd shifted her after all. She marveled at the possibility of a caring side locked someone deep inside the hard Prince's cold exterior.

Noticing the flash of recognition flutter across Bulma's face Vegeta tried desperately to cover his tracks.

"Although if he did I can't say I blame him. I can understand why any mate of yours would need to consistently find other whores to please him. If I had an ugly, stupid and exceedingly annoying mate like you I'd definitely do the same thing."

Bulma almost blew her top fuming; all thought that Vegeta might have a caring side disappearing instantly.

"Annoying, Stupid… Ugly? Why you ungrateful little son-of-a-bitch. Here you are, staying in my house, wearing the clothes and eating the food that my money paid for and all you seem to be able to do is consistently bitch and insult me. But I suppose that I'm so much lower than you that my feelings can't possibly matter, all mighty prince of bastards," she yelled out her voice dripping with sarcasm and cracking as her eyes started welling up with tears, no matter what she did to try and stop them. She couldn't believe she was about to cry over something this stupid bastard had said to her, what was up with her recently? Every cruel little thing the arrogant idiot said had been actually hitting her hard, lashing out at her like a whip. She couldn't possibly be developing feelings for him… could she?

No way I'm am, that's ludicrous, that I'd fall for emotionally de-attached dirt bad such as him. She mentally slapped herself for even thinking such things but still the tears fell, refusing to accept the hollow reassurance.

"Why do you always have to be such an asshole?" she sobbed, barely able to control herself. "I hate you, Vegeta. I HATE YOU!" she screamed and ran out the kitchen crying uncontrollably.

Vegeta couldn't believe it. Trying to get her into one of their usual sparring had brought pain where it had only ever brought anger and he certainly hadn't expected her to break down like that. He just couldn't understand that woman. She was a complete enigma. Something inside, next to the place where his pity had come from, a voice screamed at him telling him to go to her, comfort her, but his pride stopped him in his tracks it would never let that happen, never let him even play with the idea that he, The Prince of all Sayains might be… wrong.

Slowly he exited the kitchen, intent on training in the gravity room or sparring with kakarott, anything to get his mind off the women who had been occupying his thoughts more and more recently.

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

Bulma ran to her bedroom as fast as her legs would take her, intent on getting as much space as possible between herself and that emotionless dick head. Reaching her bedroom she sunk down into her bed, the tears now flowing freely.

Vegeta, what are you doing to me? she thought as she tried non-successfully to stop her flowing tears. Every time I think of you I get so… confused. But I don't understand why. Could it be because…

As her thoughts drifted into unknown territory she was fiercely brought out of them by a loud knocking from downstairs.

Great visitors, just what I need right now.

Painstakingly, she wiped away her tears, daring a quick look at the mirror as she exited her room and groggily made her way down the endless corridors of Capsule Corps., to a sound that was undoubtedly an unwelcome guest. After what seemed like an eternity she finally reached the front door and was un-surprised by the sight of her soon-to-be ex-lover, Yumcha, cheesy grin plastered to his face, flowers in hand and the unmistakable scent of woman's perfume, the showers had been unable to remove, encompassing his body.

"Hello, Yumcha," Bulma said, feeling more dejected and angry than anything else.

Yumcha must have been more accompanied to Bulma than she had first thought because, she noticed triumphantly, he had started to fidget at the anger underneath her forged calm glare.

"What's the matter, babe?" Yumcha said trying desperately to act as though nothing was wrong and that the question he had just asked was as simple as a mere hello or goodbye, but at that moment Bulma's anger got the best of her.

"How dare you," she hissed, her rage now building to Godzilla-like proportions.

"Babe, what-"

"HOW DARE YOU!" she screamed. "How dare you sleep with other women behind my back, how dare you lie to me time after time, how dare you constantly break my heart and after all that how dare you call me babe as though it's all nothing, as though I mean NOTHING!!!"

For a moment Yumcha just stood there cowering, no less than a meter away from Bulma, looking genuinely dumbstruck. But he quickly regained his composure and the look of fear turned into one of obviously faked disbelief.

"Bulma, what are you talk-"

"No more lies," She said coldly, her composure regained and all anger disintegrating to be replaced only by stone cold resolution.

Yumcha quivered at the de-attached tone in her voice. There had been many fights, mostly over his un-admitted but palpable unfaithfulness, there had been the usual yelling and screaming and then one of them left, only to return and begin playing happy couples a few days later but that coldness had never been there before and, although Yumcha was not the smartest man in the world, far from it actually, he knew what it meant. He bowed his head in a sub-conscious defeat.

"We're through Yumcha, for good."

He flinched at her words. So cold.

"Now please, leave me," she added, maybe more forcefully than she had first intended and, to her complete amazement, he did, straight away, without saying a single word in his defense. A look of thorough and complete defeat settled upon his face and, for a few minutes, utter disbelief kept her glued to the spot, but that soon left and she slumped onto the living room couch, a million thoughts running through her mind, expecting the tears that never came as she fell, once again, into her world of private dreams.

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

At Midnight, Vegeta decided it was time to finally call it quits after a full day of hard-core training. It was no use; training, let alone turning SSJ, was impossible when he couldn't manage to get his thoughts off the stupid woman. The same woman that had plagued his dreams and was now plaguing his mind.

Eventually he made it to the house, his thoughts wandering once again and him trying aimlessly to stop them, and was surprised to see the woman asleep once again in the living room but the thing that surprised him, maybe even shocked him the most was the look on her face. It was a deeply etched look of complete and utter loss and loneliness, the look of a father when informed his family are dead due to a crime to horrific to speak of, a look that says that if there was no tomorrow it'd be a blessing, a feeling no living creature should have to be subject to.

Vegeta knew it well, he had felt like that many times and, in that instance, he wanted to go to her, comfort her and make them both forget there feelings of pain and despair. But his pride alone was enough to stop him dead in his tracks. No, he could not get too close to this woman it would be a weakness, a weakness he could not afford to have on the road to his ultimate goal.

Silently he made his way up stairs to the bedroom she had given to him, hoping that sleep would not come for fear of the dreams that would follow.

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

She was having the dream again. Lost in the darkness, by herself and screaming at the top of her lungs, for anyone, anything to save her. But suddenly she quieted feeling a presence. The comforting force of someone familiar to her and she looked around expecting to see Yumcha, arms open wide, beckoning for her to come to him, knowing that she would go to him, but again all she found was darkness, knowing someone was there just beyond her range on vision and then, in a instant, she felt it. Callused hands caressed her skin gently, soft lips kissed her deeply, passionately almost violently and a deep voice purred in her ears.

Losing herself in the feelings and emotions she looked up into the eyes of her fantasy lover and was shocked to find a hard ebony stare piercing her own. She stared back for a moment unable to find her voice, drowning in the pools of black that paralyzed her and then she spoke the first thing that came into her mind and asked the question she already knew the answer to.

"Vegeta?"

Two doors away Vegeta awoke.