Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Beauty Within The Beast ❯ One Step Back ( Chapter 7 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

I'm so sorry it took this long to get this out, but I have a good reason and some bad news. Well it might not be bad for you, but it SUCKS for me. I had a plot and a plan for this fan fiction all written out in one of my notebooks. I had notes on what I wanted to happen in each chapter (ahead like maybe three or four chapters, cause I really don't know how long this story is gonna be) and I had all the little twists and turns written down and all the small details that would make this story tie together...

...And I lost it 0______0 I had it with me one day when I went out with my mom cause she had a doctors appointment and a few other things to do, so I figured that I'd get some more plans written out while she was doing that, and I'm pretty sure I left it either at the doctors office or at the downtown Library, which is huge. I called up both places and neither of them said they had a notebook found or turned in, so I'm guessing someone took it? Well that's fucked up, cause now all they have is a notebook with DBZ doodles and plans written out in my chicken scratch hand writing, and my shit ain't all neat and organized either. When something comes to me I write that shit down where ever and I have side notes and....Omg I wanna cry. T.T

I'm trying to remember everything I had planed, but God my memory SUCKS!!! Which is why I write everything down. I'm re-reading the first 6 chapters and I'm trying to remember where I was going with it all. Like the big plan I still remember, no worries about that, but it was how I was GETTING there that I'm missing..... God life sucks right now.

Anyway I'm not going to bore you with my crisis anymore... ON WITH THE CRAPPY ASS (in my opinion anyway) CHAPTER.

Disclaimer: I do not own the Saiyan's, cause if I did there would be sexy parties every day =D And I do not own the song “In The Arms Of The Angel”

Bulma found Vegeta on the floor where she left him, passed out in a puddle of his own blood. Nappa was kneeing next to him trying to assess his injures.

"How is he?" she asked as she knelt opposite of him.

"Pretty banged up, but nowhere near Raditz's condition. I don't even think he broke anything."

"Do you think he needs a tank?"

"No, his wounds are mostly superficial, it's just a lot of blood loss and exhaustion. Let's just get him cleaned up and let him rest." He pulled the younger man up into his arms and walked out of the room and down the hall. He didn't stop at the medical room though, he continued on until they reached the Prince's privet quarters in the back of the castle on the first floor. She was very surprised to find that it was much like the room she had just chosen for herself the night before. The only difference was that he had no glass dome for a roof, no furniture at all, not even a bed. He had the French style doors as well, but they lead right outside onto the cold grounds.

She couldn't help but think that if this planet had a summer, that it would be amazing to plant a garden out there.

"Bulma, in the corner over there is a fur pelt, grab it and spread it on the floor." She did as she was told. The fur was white and incredibly soft in her hands; and it was big, at lest seven feet long and four feet wide.

What kind of beast did this come off of?

She watched as Nappa laid Vegeta down on the pelt and stripped him of the upper half of the spandex suit and checked his injures. He had one really nasty gash on the left side of his torso and another on his upper left bicep, the rest were shallow and weren't much to worry about.

"Nappa, why don't you go eat something? It's only going to be you and Kakarrot doing your runs for now so you're going to have to keep up your strength. I can take care of Prince grumpy pants."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, little one. You know how...temperamental he can be," he said looking down at her injured hand. She laid her good hand on his arm.

"Don't worry, while we aren't exactly friends, Vegeta and I have an understanding." He hesitated for just a moment longer before nodding his head. She watched as he walked out the door and then she turned her attention back to the unconscious Prince. The harsh scowl that usually adorned his face had disappeared, leaving behind the face of a man that looked much younger then he actually was.

Focus, Bulma!

She snapped back from her thoughts and got a washcloth and a bowl of soapy water to wash the blood and grime off of him. The gashes were going to need more then just that, but she'd worry about that once she got him cleaned up. She knelt down next to him and started at his hands, cleaning the blood from his knuckles, palms and fingers, and making sure that she got the blood out from under his finger nails with her own. She moved up to his forearms and she started to let her mind wander.

Thoughts of her life on Earth invaded her mind; her father and mother, her best friends, Juu, Jin and Krillin. Her co-workers and employees at Capsule Corp; hell, even thoughts of her ex slipped in somehow. She couldn't help but wonder what life would be like once Frieza was gone. Juu could finally let Krillin see the sun light again, that would be interesting. She briefly wondered if the sun world burn him like some trashy vampire movie and turn him into nothing but a pile of ash.

I've been reading too many comic books, freaking geek.

She knew the first thing she was going to do was start planning Juu's wedding, whether Juu helped or not. She was going to be an excellent maid of honor. Second thing she'd do was send Jin on a mandatory two week vacation. He didn't know the meaning of the word 'fun' and it was high time he learned. Once he got back she would temporarily put him in charge of Capsule Corp while Juu was on her honeymoon, and she would take the Saiyan's and her father on vacation to Bora beach. She knew Vegeta wouldn't go, and she doubted that Nappa would, but she couldn't wait to see the look on Kakarrot and Raditz's faces when they got there. The two had grown on her quite a bit.

She wondered how Raditz was doing. Once she got Vegeta cleaned and bandaged she would go back and check. She realized that barely an hour had passed since he had been placed in the tank, but she still wanted to see him.

But she had left Kakarrot and ChiChi in there alone, so what if she walked in on something private? She didn't want to interrupt the two if they were in a serious conversation, or making out... God forbid. Those two needed some time to themselves anyway. As bad as she wanted to keep an eye on Raditz, she would either have to stay with Vegeta and watch over him, or go work on something else. No, she would wait until he woke up, to question and or lecture him about going easy on his 'pack mates', then she would go work on something. She hadn't touched the GR since they had started training, so maybe she should to take a look and make sure everything was up to par with it. Who knows, maybe something had gone wrong with it and that's why Raditz and Vegeta had been injured.

Her stomach turned at the thought of being responsible for hurting them. Yeah okay, Vegeta wasn't mister personality, but she liked him to a certain extent, and she had a very soft spot for the boys. She would have to check out the GR later; she was not going to have their pain on her head.

A soft moan broke her out of her thoughts. She looked down and realized that she had worked her way up to the gash that was on his bicep. She must have hurt him; she would have to make sure she was gentler there. She went to rinse the washcloth out in the bowl, but the liquid in it was now dark pink with grime floating in it. That would never do, so she left the bedroom and entered the bathroom where she dumped the water down the drain and washed the bowl out before refilling it with water from the fossett.

Something else the Saiyan's should be grateful to her for. She worked on the plumbing before building the GR, making sure they wouldn't have to melt snow and blocks of ice for water anymore. Then of course once she got the electricity working, it was hot showers for all.

Vegeta should have agreed to keep her alive just because of that.

Once the bowl was filled with warm water she mixed in the anti-bacterial soap, something else she had brought on her little journey. God only knew if Frieza would have any on his ship. She was worried that she might run out of soap before they got off this ice ball, but she was smart, she'd just have to figure out a way of making more.

As she moved towards the pelt, she heard Vegeta moan again. As she got closer to him she could see the frown that made its way onto his face and his eyelids were twitching back and forth.

He's having a dream, and from the looks of it not a pleasant one.

His hands gripped the fur so forcefully that he was tearing holes into it. She wanted to go over to him and wake him up and bring him out of whatever kind of pain he was feeling in that realm. But she remembered the night she found him in the medical room, she had been lucky that night, and who knew if her luck would hold up? She wouldn't wake him, but she didn't want to leave him either.

Going back to his side, she set the bowl of water next to her and watched as he dreamt. He was no longer gripping the pelt, but his face still held a look of pain.

The urge to comfort him hit her hard and was overwhelming. Where had it come form? This man had threatened to kill her more then once and had actually attacked her. He had done nothing but insult her and treat her like a common slave.

And yet, that one civil conversation they held last night stuck out in her mind. It was crazy. She shouldn't feel the need to do anything for the him besides make him stronger to free them from the clutches of the Ice-jin.

Despite all that, she felt her hand moving towards him on its own accord. She waited for the impact of him batting her away as she brushed her fingers lightly over his forehead, but it never came. Growing a bit bolder, she moved closer to him and started stroking his hair, like her mother used to do when she was a child. After a few moments of this, she found herself softly singing an old tune that her mother used to sing.

"Spend all your time waiting

For that second chance

For a break that'll make it okay

There's always some reason

To feel not good enough

And it's hard at the end of the day

I need some distraction

Or a beautiful release

Memories seep from my veins

Let me be empty

Oh and weightless then maybe

I'll find some peace tonight

In the arms of the angel

Fly away from here

From this dark cold hotel room

And the endlessness that you fear

You are pulled from the wreckage

Of your silent reverie

You're in the arms of the angel

May you find

Some comfort here"

To her complete shock, his facial muscles started to relax, and after a few minutes he looked almost peaceful.

A small smile made its way onto her face. Maybe this egotistical Prince had found a special place in her heart as well.

It was the same dream over and over again. It never stopped.

The same dream that had been plaguing him for a week now, and he was sure it was going to drive him mad.

In the dream he was on Frieza's ship and he was searching for something... No, someone, and he was frantic to find them. He couldn't recall a face or a name, he just KNEW he had to get to them, and fast. He ran through the corridors screaming something, though he couldn't make out his own words, and for some reason he didn't think anyone could hear him.

He rounded a corner and came face to face with a horrifying sight.

Frieza himself was standing in the middle of a large room, surrounded and covered in blood, and not a drop of it was his own. He saw the bodies of the harpy and the green woman lying at his feet, mangled almost beyond recognition. The Onna was still alive behind him, but she was tied up and bleeding, tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared at what remained of her friends. Nappa and Kakarrot were trying to fight Frieza, but they were failing; the Ice-jin was just too fast for them. Vegeta looked around the room once more, wondering were Raditz was... Then he saw him.

On his back in a puddle of his own blood with his head nearly completely decapitated.

Weakest, he was the weakest of their pack.

The voice whispered in his ear. He looked back up just in time to see Nappa go down. Frieza's hand pushed through his chest and tore out his still beating heart. Kakarrot screamed in rage and charged right at him but Frieza stopped him as well, wrapping his tail around his body and squeezing. From across the room Vegeta could hear his bones cracking. With one final squeeze Frieza lifted his hand and sent an energy blast right at Kakarrot's head, vaporizing it immediately. As Frieza dropped his comrades broken body to the floor, he set his red eyes on him, fixing him in his place. Vegeta could not move. His mind screamed at him to kill this bastard for all that he had done, but he could not get his body to move a muscle. The Onna was screaming at him as well from behind her gag, but somehow he could still hear her voice in his head.

"Vegeta, run! Get out of here before it's too late, run!"

Even if he could he wouldn't have. He wouldn't leave her to this monster, couldn't leave her. He was sure he was about to die, but he would rather die trying to protect her then to run away and live like a coward.

"Ah, my favorite little monkey, I was wondering when you would show up."

"You, you son of a bitch!" His mouth worked, but he still couldn't move. That was the worst thing about this situation, he was watching all this happen but he couldn't do a damn thing about it.

He was powerless.

"Such a filthy little mouth you have there, Vegeta. I should have washed it out with soap a long time ago."

"You're going to pay, you WILL pay for what you've done!"

"Oh come now, Vegeta, you and I both know that there isn't a single being in the universe that can stand up to me. Once upon a time there might have been, if those legends of your 'Awakened One' were true, but I wiped all the Saiyan's out to make sure it wouldn't happen. I left you four alive to keep me entertained, and because nothing purged a planet faster then a Saiyan. But now you've just become a bother, so it's time I take out the rest of you. Oh, wait, I'm almost done with that. You are the only one left. Tell me Vegeta, how does it feel to be the last of your race?"

His scream of rage shook the very floor they were standing on, but he still could not move.

"I was hopping to save you for last, because I so wanted this to be the last thing you see in this world." Frieza turned to the side and expanded his palm outwards, facing Bulma. Her eyes widened and her tears fell faster. A blue light appeared in his hand, and then he released it towards her. After the light faded all that remained of her was burnt ash on the floor.

Vegeta, for the first time since he was a child, felt tears sting the back of his eyes and he had no idea why. The Onna shouldn't have meant anything to him, but he knew, he didn't know why, but he knew she was important. The tears in his eyes dried up as he looked at the grinning face of his enemy, and a rage powerful and demanding rippled though his body like a title wave. He watched as a golden ora started to crackle around him, and he saw Frieza's eyes widen in shock.

Then there was nothing. He was in the pitch black again, alone. He wandered around for what seemed like an eternity before he heard the voice. He couldn't make out the words but they were soft and soothing, he realized that someone was singing. The voice wasn't anything spectacular, but it was full of warmth, something he hadn't felt in a very long time, making it the most beautiful sound he had heard since he was a child.

Then the voice stopped, and he was alone again.

Vegeta woke in a panic, looking around and waiting to see Frieza coming at him, but he was not there. He was in his room in the castle. He was safe for now.

He brought his hand up to wipe the sweat from his brow and he felt the soreness in his body. It was then he remembered training with Raditz, and the incident inside the gravity room. He looked down at his body and saw that he had been cleaned up and that he was bandaged as well. He started to wonder who had taken care of him when he finally noticed the presents to his right.

Lying next to him on his fur pelt was the Onna.

What in the world is she doing in here? He was mad at first; how dare she invade his personal space like this? But after a moment he realized that she must have been the one who took care of him.

She still had no right to be in his room, but he couldn't bring himself to stay mad at her.

What the fuck is she doing to me?

He was the Prince of all Saiyan's, he should never allow a weak, human wench to be so close to him. Yet his dream kept coming back to him, his overwhelming urge to protect her, and the white hot anger he had felt when Frieza had killed her.

Nothing made sense to him anymore.

He removed himself from the pelt and went to his washroom. Stripping himself from his clothing and bandages he stepped into the shower and turned the hot water on full blast. He hissed a little when the water pounded on the gashes in his flesh, but then the pain ebbed away like it always did. He was used to it at this stage in his life. When he was finished he dressed in clean clothes and walked past the Onna and out the French doors. The cold air whipped around his body, chilling him and numbing his wounds. The sun was due to raise again in just over an hour by his calculations, and it was always coldest before the dawn of a new day.

He stood there until he felt the rays of the sun beating down on his face. He felt the Onna starting to stir inside, but he still did not move. He didn't trust himself to speak to her yet.

It seems that she had other plans though. The second she was fully awake she joined him outside, wrapping her arms around herself in a futile attempt to keep the chill at bay. She said nothing to him; she just stood at his side and watched the sun raise the rest of the way into the sky. After a few moments of this though, she couldn't stand the silence.

"How are you feeling?" He didn't turn to her, he merely grunted and kept his eyes in the horizon. Not exactly an answer, but it'll have to do.

"I'm going to go check on Raditz in a few minutes, then I'll take a look at the GR to make sure everything is running smoothly," he grunted again. "Vegeta, I realize that it's none of my business how you train your men, but you have to be more careful from now on. We don't have a lot of the rejuvenation fluid left and next time someone could really be in trouble." He said nothing for a moment, but when he did speak, she wished she had the strength to punch him.

"You're right, it is none of your business. Now why don't you run a long and do something your good at, like upgrade that blasted machine; the gravity need to go higher."

What little tender feelings had started to grow in her heart last night shriveled up and died when he finished speaking. He was nothing but a class A ass.

"Vegeta this isn't a game. If we don't have the fluid to heal you guys-"

"Enough, Onna!" He turned towards her then, making her step back a little from the intensity in his eyes. "Saiyan's survived for hundreds of thousands of years without that fucking tank keeping us alive, and we can damn well survive without it again."

"Vegeta, please just-" His hand around her throat cut off her words. He was squeezing hard enough to cut off her air, but not hard enough to crush her, yet; she could feel the power that lay beneath his skin, and she was terrified. Her hands automatically came up to try and pull his hand away from her neck, but it was no use. She might as well have been pushing against a mountain.

"Onna, if you know what's good for you I suggest you leave me be right now and go bitch to those hags inside. I will not warn you again." He spoke to her in a low, deadly voice, and she had no doubts in her mind that he would kill her if she said another word. He let her go and she backed away from him gasping. She wasted no time turning around and running back into the safety of the castle.

After her struggle with the Prince, Bulma ran up to her room and threw herself on the bed crying. This was the first time in the five weeks they had been on the planet that she truly felt like her life was in danger. ChiChi had been wrong when she said the others would stop the Prince from killing them, she knew this now. Nothing would stop him if he wanted them dead.

She stayed curled in the fetal position on her bed for a little while longer before she decided that she couldn't hide in her bedroom for the next ten months. She got up and went into the bathroom to freshen up before going to check on Raditz and the GR. She thanked God she did, because she looked like shit. Her eyes were swollen and red, and she had dark purple bags under them that nicely matched the hand size bruise that surrounded her neck; she could even see the finger impressions.

Great. How the hell was she supposed to cover that up?

Stupid fuckin monkey, he's like an out of control beast. I should have listened to Nappa and let him baby-sit that prick.

After she applied some much needed cover up to her face, she changed her clothes and was lucky enough to find a pair of long knee socks in her pile of clothing. If she tucked the ends in it could pass for a scarf and hide the hideous bruise on her neck. Happy that the sock looked nothing like a sock, she went cautiously back downstairs and headed right for the medical room. She thank God once again that Vegeta was nowhere in sight.

She found ChiChi and Kakarrot right where she left them on the cot. Since it was still early in the morning, and there was no doubt in her mind that the two of them had been up late worrying, they were still sleeping in a rather cute manor. Kakarrot was lying on his back, one hand tucked behind his head, while ChiChi was at his side with her head on his chest and his other arm wrapped around her waist.

I almost don't wanna wake them... Almost.

She walked over to the pair and didn't make an attempt to quiet her footsteps. When she was about two feet away from the sleeping couple, Kakarrot's eye cracked open and he blushed when he saw her. Despite her horrible morning, she couldn't help the shit-eating grin that she felt creeping over her face.

"Good morning you two!" She said loudly. ChiChi came awake with a start, and when she finally got her barring she blushed just a shade darker then Kakarrot, who stood from the bed with lightning speed once she had sat up.

"G-good morning, Bulma. How did you sleep?" He asked with a nervous laugh.

"I slept just fine, thank you. I can see you two did as well." He continued the nervous laughter, but ChiChi glared at her like she was the devil incarnate. Bulma just winked at her and walked over to the tank that held Raditz and checked on his status. "He defiantly looks better then he did last night; on the surface anyway. His insides still have a long way to go."

"He's gonna be fine." Kakarrot said walking up next to her. He looked at his brothers floating form for a moment longer before turning away. "I better go relieve Nappa, he's been up all night and he took the last two runs for me." He kissed Chichi lightly on the forehead and gave Bulma a small smile before walking out of the room. She watched his back as he left.

Walking up to the younger woman, Bulma reached up and put her arm around her shoulders and squeezed once. "So...dish already woman, what happened?"

"Nothing!" ChiChi exclaimed, covering her red cheeks with her hands. "Nothing like that anyway. We just talked a bit. We mostly watched Raditz, waiting to make sure that his vitals stayed stable, but then I don't remember anything. I guess I must have fell asleep."

"Well that's good. I'm happy for you two, and I hope you have beautiful tailed babies together." She laughed as ChiChi groaned out loud and pushed her away.

"I'm going to wash up now, you dirty minded she devil." Bulma's only response was to laugh at her retreating form.

Once she was alone and the giggles finally stopped, she walked back over to Raditz's tank and stared at him. Her curiosity was killing her, she HAD to know what happened in there, but she knew she'd die before she found out.

She didn't know how long she was standing there, watching Raditz float in the fluids, but some time later she felt a hand on her shoulder and for one terrible second she thought that the Prince had changed his mind and had come to finish her off. She jumped away from the hand and whorled around, ready to scream, only to come face to face (more like face to stomach) with Nappa. His eyebrow arched in question as she let out a shaky breath.

"Geez Nappa, you scared the shit outa me."

"My apologies, little one. I didn't think you were that deep in thought."

"It's okay, it's just been a long night."

"Yeah it has. How is Vegeta doing? I haven't been to see him yet." At the mention of his name, a little shiver passed through her body that did not go unnoticed by Nappa, and she started fidgeting with her fingers. What was she supposed to tell him? Oh I think I pushed your Prince too far this morning and he was seconds away from killing me, other then that, he's fucking peachy!

"He's fine." The easy way out sometimes was the best way.

"I see."

"Yes, um if you aren't going to use it for a bit I'm going to go look over the gravity room, to make sure there was no damage done to it. I'll see you at breakfast." She went to move passed him towards the doorway when he caught her arm. Instincts kicked and she yanked it back, already having more then enough of being man handled. First Airzin, then Vegeta, now Nappa? What the hell was wrong with them all?

"Bulma, remove that scarf. " His voice was firm, like a scolding father. She had always hated it when he used her name; ever since she was a child he always called her little one, unless she was in trouble. Even though she was now a grown woman, when he used her name she still felt like an eight year old who got caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She shook her head no, not trusting her own voice to answer for her; she could already feel the tears welling up behind her eyes from the memory of earlier that morning. She didn't move though when she felt his hand on the sock, removing it himself. She felt him staring at her, but she refused to lift her head from the marble under her feet. She felt his finger trace the finger shaped bruise for a second before he pulled away. He handed her back the sock so she could rearrange it back on.

"You will stay as far away form the Prince as possible, little one. I can't defy him, but I'll do what I can to keep you out of harms way. If it's not completely necessary, stay out of his presents."

"Trust me, you don't have to tell me twice." The words were followed by a sob she couldn't hold back. She brought her finger up to her mouth and bit down on it to stop herself from completely dissolving into a blubbering mess.

The massive Saiyan didn't know what to do. For much of his life if he had a problem, he would simply blast it away. There was nothing that a good ki ball couldn't fix. But an emotional woman? He had no experience with them. Saiyan women were not very emotional creatures, only if there was a passing of a loved one, or if she was with child. Nappa never had to deal with that; he and his mate, Brussa, had never had children. They had only starting talking about the possibility of an offspring when Frieza destroyed Vegeta-si, and almost everything that Nappa loved.

His second chance at the experience had never really been a chance at all.

He came out of his thoughts when another sob racked the young girl's body. He didn't know how to comfort her, so instead he spoke the truth.

"Vegeta was not always like this. He has always been full of himself and a bit cold, but he was never the unfeeling prick he has become today. The loss of his people was harder on him then it was on any of us, and then to be ruled by Frieza, who banished us here for the time being; it's all becoming too much for the Prince to bear. He was destined to become King of a great warrior race, and then he was reduced down to kneeling before the Ice-jin. I won't make excuses for the way he behaves now; I simply give you his point of view. I still want you to keep away from him."

Her sobs became quieter as he spoke until there was nothing but a few tears left running down her cheeks. She used the sock to wipe them away, and then she took a deep breath to calm her shaking nerves.

"I, I will, Nappa. I'm going to stay as far away from him as this castle will allow, but I do have to check on the GR and make sure it's running at full capacity. I don't think he'll be in a hurry to get back to it just yet, so I'm going to do that now, okay?" He nodded at her, silently agreeing that now would be the best time for her to do her work. He had to stop himself from retreating when she wrapped her small arms around is waist in a hug. He was not used to the ways humans showed affection, so he awkwardly patted her back gently with one of his laptop sized hands until she pulled away.

"See you at breakfast," she said, then she was gone.

Nappa watched her leave, hoping that the worried feeling that was developing in the pit of his stomach would just go away.

So yeah... I'm not happy with this chapter, and it was a BITCH to get out. I swear man I would bring it up and think 'Man am I going to get some writing done today!' ...Then I would stare at it for the next three hours without writing a word. DX

Then of course the fact that I lost all my notes isn't helping much. DX

I hope you guys are enjoying my version of Nappa. I wanted to make him out to be the older, laid back fatherly type, but God only knows if I'm succeeding. Oh and yes, his mates name was a play on Brussel, as in Brussel Sprouts =D

So anyway, please accept my apologies once again for being so late, and please leave a review =)