Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Frozen Skin ❯ Tenshi Sama ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: For those of you that read the last chapter, I hope you enjoyed it. Here's Chapter 2- I hope you like it ^_^ PS: This **==*==** indicates a dream scene.

~ * ~

It's been seven hours and fifteen days

Since you took your love away...

I go out every night and sleep all day

Since you took your love away...

The cries of a certain baby Trunks could be heard throughout the entire Capsule Corp. house. Unluckily, Bulma didn't have the helping hands of her parents to play their roles whilst she tried to catch a decent night's sleep. Dr. Briefs had whisked his wife away for a long weekend outside of the city to celebrate a new scientific success. Bulma, foolishly, had told them she didn't mind them being gone, and lied through her teeth about being able to handle everything on her own. It was only the first night on her own, and already Trunks had cried for her attention three times and it wasn't even 9 pm yet. Struggling to keep herself awake thanks to yet another night of sleeplessness, Bulma hadn't bothered to retire to her room. She'd settled downstairs in the living room, wishing Trunks' crying would cease. Realising that the longer she didn't move, the more Trunks would cry, she got up off the couch grumpily and made her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. She looked upon the distressed baby in his cradle and picked him up gently, cuddling him closely, and bounced very lightly. She rubbed his back, wondering if he needed to be winded but after five minutes, his crying persisted and Bulma felt that there was no hope. She sighed miserably and took Trunks into the spacious bathroom with her.

The cerulean-haired beauty opened the bathroom door and switched the light on. Perhaps a bath would soothe him. Bulma walked over to the bath and took out Trunks' baby tub and placed it on the floor. Trunks' crying started to quieten but occasionally he would have a quick outburst.

"Poor little thing, he must be grouchy from not being able to sleep properly."

"Ssh sweetie, it'll be OK. Mommy's going to give you a bath." Bulma smiled sweetly at the innocent lilac-haired cherub in her arms. She turned on both taps and tried to get the right temperature of water before filling the baby tub. Soon enough, she'd found the right temperature and had laid a fluffy white towel beneath the baby tub and had undressed Trunks. He began giggling once he was sat in the water. Bulma knelt down and supported his back so he could sit up and splash about.

"Oh so you stop crying now." smirked Bulma quietly as she watched her son's face light up as he splashed water onto her. Bulma reached over to the corner of the bath and grabbed a bottle of lavender and camomile baby oil. "This will send you to sleep sweetie. You'll like the smell of this." Bulma opened the flip-cap and poured in some of the oil. Trunks began to laugh and splashed the water as he watched the oil settle on the surface. Bulma smiled down at Trunks, feeling a warming sensation spread within her as she watched her joyful son. If only Vegeta could be with her to watch him too. Bulma sighed dejectedly, wondering if her lover would ever return to her and their son.

Since you've been gone I can do whatever I want

I can seem whomever I choose

I can eat my dinner in a fancy restaurant

But nothing, I said nothing can take away these blues

Bulma's sorrowful eyes met Trunks' and she was quickly reminded of the life she was still blessed to have.

"I don't know if you'd cry half as much if Daddy was with us, sweetie. I could probably get some sleep if he was with us. You're gonna grow up to be big and strong, like him. I know you'd do your Daddy proud. He even said so himself." A small yet sad smile crept upon Bulma's face. Trunks had stopped laughing, but he still had an adorable cheeky grin brightening the atmosphere. "I wish he was here so you could see what he looked like. You'd probably be the one to get him to laugh once in a while." Trunks giggled and splashed a little more. The tiny, angelic Saiyan yawned and smiled up at his mother.

Bulma pulled a towel off the side of the bath and placed it on the floor beside where she was kneeling. "Let's get you out of there sweetie. You're getting sleepy." Bulma lifted Trunks out of the baby tub and laid him on his back onto the other towel. Bulma wrapped it around him, tickling his sides and his feet before scooping him up into her arms and carrying him into her bedroom.

Bulma hadn't taken long to dry Trunks off, dress him in fresh pyjamas and put him back to bed. She hoped that he was feeling a little better now, and was soon rewarded with peace and quiet. The little Saiyan hadn't cried once after his bath. Bulma didn't bother to go back downstairs; there was no reason to now. She glanced over at the clock on her bedside table- 9:25pm. It wasn't late by all means, but her eyes could barely stay open any longer. She was eager for a bit of sleep. Bulma walked over to her dressing table at the other side of the room and opened the top drawer quietly and pulled out a set of flannel PJ's. With what little energy she had left, she removed her clothes and put on her PJ's and scrambled into bed.

'Cause nothing compares, nothing compares to you

Bulma took full advantage of the size of the bed, and laid in the centre, stretching out to feel exhaustion catch up with her quicker than ever before. She wasted no time in falling asleep, and very soon, Bulma had drifted off into a well-deserved and deep slumber.

**=*=**

I've just come downstairs to a silent house. Strange, there's usually someone making noise in this place. The TV's on but there's no one watching it, and the phone's off the hook. Weird... I wonder what's going on? I bet Mom's having one of her scatty late mornings.

"You shouldn't waste electricity. Don't I teach you anything?" I say out-loud. Who am I meant to be talking to? With a shake of my head and a sigh, I head off into the kitchen to see a seemingly unfamiliar man standing beside the oven. I can hear his voice- he's talking to someone. But who?

"Are you the one responsible for leaving the television on?" I say to him. He turns around and looks right at me and smiles apologetically. His hair's long with an undercut, and still infamously coloured lilac, but over the years, the colour's become much deeper.

"Sorry Mom. Look who's here!" What on Earth is Trunks on about? There's no one with him. He takes a step to one side to reveal a man clad in black jeans and a black wifebeater. His hair's short and spiky, his body undeniably attractive and robust. He wears a permanent frown upon his face, but over the years, I've grown used to it.

I suddenly realise that Trunks is no longer here, and I'm left alone with this man. He rests an arm on the work-surface of the kitchen and his expression relaxes slightly.

"You've been wondering where I've been, haven't you?" he says casually. I shiver at the sound of his voice. Goosebumps begin to surface on my arms and the hairs on my neck are standing on end. He's still got his power over me.

"I never thought you'd turn up again, Vegeta. I lost all hope just before Trunks' turned ten years old. And now you're here, standing right in front of me." Vegeta rolls his eyes and smirks.

"Give me some credit, woman. I'm not the kind of man to abandon my own child and leave it to grow up without a father." Vegeta folds his arms and stands solidly and rigidly before me.

"But you abandoned me too. You left me to compromise the rest of my life after you split the scene. I wondered why the hell I was left to live the rest of my life in misery. I thought about committing suicide so many times because of you! The only reason I didn't was because I had our son to raise! What do you plan to do now? Stay and make up for the seventeen years you haven't fulfilled as the role of a parent then just leave again after you're done?" My voice's very erratic and I'm shaking with shock and fury. How dare he come up in my house so unexpectedly! And after all this time...

Vegeta chortles at my words and I can't help but feel intimidated and infuriated by his lack of seriousness towards how I'm feeling. Jerk.

"Must you lose your nerve over every little thing, woman?" Vegeta unfolds his arms and a smile begins to curve the sides of his lips. He walks towards me steadily and confidently. Kami, he's never looked as good as this. Wait? What am I saying? The bastard's just waltzed into my house without an explanation! But then again, what am I complaining for? This is what I've been wanting all this time, isn't it? For him to return and life to be like it should have been.

He stops with barely an inch between our bodies, he's looking down on me as I crane my neck to look up at him. He hasn't aged a day and still makes my blood boil with desire.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I ask him in a low, seductive voice. I don't believe this; Vegeta's just returned to me after seventeen years and here I am thinking about sex! No way, I've got to control myself.

Vegeta leans forward a little and captures my lips with his own. I've missed this for so long...

**==*==**

Bulma woke up suddenly and sat up in her bed, touching her lips in bewilderment. Annoyed, she sighed at the fact that her dream hadn't been reality and fell backwards onto her pillows. She stared up at the ceiling, wondering why things couldn't go her way for once. If only she had the power to change her life at the snap of a finger.

"Kami I wish I knew where Vegeta was, then perhaps I wouldn't be suffering like this. If I knew where he was, maybe I'd be able to find him. Gods in the Heavens above, I just wish he was with me full stop!" Bulma's thoughts trailed off as she lost awareness of her surroundings. Bulma rolled over onto her left side and looked at the clock: 11:34am.

"I'm surprised I wasn't woken up by Trunks." Bulma raised her eyebrows and suddenly began to panic. "Where the hell's Trunks!?" Bulma shot up out of bed and looked in the cradle and to her horror, he wasn't there. She ran around her room, searching for her child in the most irrational places before she darted through the other rooms on the floor looking for him.

"Trunks! Trunks! This isn't happening, this isn't happening! Where's my baby gone?!" Bulma made haste towards the staircase and took them two at a time, tears not far from falling down her porcelain face. She stopped dead in her tracks when she arrived at the bottom-most stair, her ears ultra sensitive and her eyes wide and watchful. Bulma could hear a male voice and a baby's gurgling laugh... Trunks! But who was with him? She followed the voices into the living room and saw Goku playing with her son. He held a toy plane above his head and imitated the sound of its engine, swooping it around, causing Trunks to laugh in appreciation at his entertainment. Bulma swallowed hard, bemused as to what was going on, and took a step towards the pair.

"Goku?" Bulma said quietly as she looked at him deeply. "Why... no, sorry, what are you doing here?" She flinched at herself for sounding so demanding and angry. She was only curious. Goku looked up and glared at Bulma with a cute grin plastered upon his face. Trunks turned his head to look at her too and squealed with excitement. He tried to wriggle free from his fort of cushions on the sofa to see his mother. Goku helped him up.

"I came over a little while ago, I hope you don't mind." Goku smiled, but Bulma didn't seem to fully understand. "I wondered where you were, and I came upstairs and you were still sleeping. Trunks was wide awake, and looked grumpy, so I brought him down here and took care of him. Sorry if I scared you!" Bulma sighed in relief, and was actually grateful for the small favour Goku had done for her. He walked over to her and placed Trunks in her arms. Bulma smiled down at her baby boy and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks for keeping an eye on him, Goku. I needed that lie-in. I've been so tired. This little guy's been keeping me quite occupied of a night-time with his crying."

"Don't worry Bulma. They settle down soon enough. Isn't that right, buddy?" grinned Goku at Trunks.

"Would you like something to eat or drink?" Bulma asked Goku politely. "Uh oh, I don't think I should have mentioned food."

Goku's eyes lit up with delight and he answered happily. "Yeah sure! I'm starved, thanks Bulma!"

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

After a tasty and not surprisingly large lunch, Goku rubbed his stomach and burped in gratitude.

"Oh that hit the spot! Thanks Bulma-chan! I needed that." Bulma smiled in reply and took a sip of her coffee and looked at Trunks. He was busy amusing himself with a small set of coloured blocks and random jigsaw-puzzle pieces. "How're you doing Bulma?"

Bulma was suddenly awoken from her daydream-like state and looked at Goku. "Sorry, what?"

"I asked how you're doing, I mean without, well... you get the picture, I'm sure." Goku was unsure about whether Bulma was comfortable, or strong enough, to talk about Vegeta. Bulma's eyes looked somewhat hollow and see looked down at her cup.

"I... I guess I'm doing OK. I mean I can't waste my time dreaming about him can I? I've got Trunks to look after. In a way I guess I'm free from him." smirked Bulma, knowing full-well she missed Vegeta far too much.

It's been so lonely without you here

Like a bird without a song

Nothing can stop these lonely tears from falling

Tell me baby, where did I go wrong?

"So are you getting over Vegeta then?" Goku asked a little more confidently. He took a sip of his own coffee at waited for Bulma's response. She looked at him in a slightly menacing manner, shooting daggers at Goku for ever saying such a thing.

"Get over him? Get over him!? I couldn't get over Vegeta even if I wanted to! I thought he'd be with me forever, I mean, that's why he and I bonded! That's what it's about isn't it: sharing an eternal bond? And there he went without a trace and left me alone with Trunks! I knew Vegeta was big on pride, but to the extent of leaving me as a single mother? That's got to be the lowest thing anyone could ever do! And to think, I loved that man with every piece of my heart! I offered him a home, I offered him a bit of compassion and friendship, and I devoted myself to him and supported him in everything he did! And he just... just... left! Oh Kami sama! I'm so confused... I don't know what to do!" Bulma buried her face into her hands and began to sob, softly at first, until her breaths became laboured and she was bawling her eyes out. Goku got up out of his seat and walked round to the other side of the table and put his arms around the distraught blue-haired beauty.

"Don't worry Bulma, we'll help you through it, me and Chi-Chi, and all our friends of course. Why don't you go for a relaxing bath? I'll watch Trunks for you." said Goku soothingly, his voice being the reassurance Bulma desperately needed in her time of crisis. She lifted her head up, sniffed and wiped away her tears.

"I think I will. Thanks Goku, you're such a good friend." Bulma gave a small yet clearly appreciative smile and kissed her kind friend on the cheek before heading upstairs. Goku seemed quite astonished at Bulma's forwardness of gratitude, but his thoughts were interrupted by Trunks, who had began to cry for a little attention. "Sorry buddy," grinned Goku. "It's a nice day outside, how about we go out into the garden and see if we can spot any butterflies?"

Trunks seemed to understand and clapped his hands together and giggled. Goku chuckled and lifted Trunks out of his high-chair at the table and led him outside.

Meanwhile, upstairs, Bulma was soaking in a hot, steamy bubble bath, trying to forget about everything that kept on creeping into her mind. She didn't need anymore thoughts to aggravate her. But first, she had to understand her thoughts before she could discard them and start focusing on the present and future.

"How on Earth am I going to put everything into perspective? Everything's so hard to make sense of; I've never felt so overwhelmed in my entire life. I don't understand why I had to be the victim in this nightmare. It almost feels as if I'm a character in an overly-dramatised romance novel. Perhaps that's the problem: maybe I'm making a mountain out of a molehill. I'm a strong, independent woman. I could do fine without Vegeta. After all, if he was in my situation, he wouldn't care, and wouldn't have a clue about how to raise a child.

"Out of all of this, I'm being the stronger person: I'm fighting a battle most people couldn't face. Pride and fucking honour. Give me a break. The only 'pride and honour' he has comes from the imaginary world inside his head, and the dead race he's prince of. That's actually quite embarrassing, being a prince of an extinct race. What power does he get from that? I'll tell you what power he gets: none.

"Who am I trying to kid? I love Vegeta more than anything in the world, well, besides Trunks, and my life feels incomplete without him. I keep on telling myself that I can get through this and do well as a single mother and raise my child to be the best person he can be. It won't be any of this 'pride and honour' shit, and definitely none of this emotionless, cold-hearted, blackened soul business. He'll get married one day and have a beautiful family. No damn Saiyan custom of incisions or biting or the mixing of blood. Hopefully, he'll want to be married in a fantastic church and invite everyone he knows, have a wedding reception and a proper honeymoon. I wish I had one, I would have loved to see the exotic parts of the world. I've always wanted to go to Borneo.

"I've never understood why Vegeta was so big on tradition, seems quite pointless to me. There's no one from his monarchy to commend him on his practices, no matter how alien or unorthodox they are to Earth. At least he's got better table-manners than most men, but one of the worst attitudes. I wish he knew the common etiquette of how to treat a woman. There's a lot more to a marriage, bond or whatever than rough sex. I'll admit that the Saiyans are way ahead of the human evolution as far as strength and fighting are concerned, but we're millions of years into the future when it comes to the mind. We surpass them with intelligence and inner-understanding. That's what makes the human race a lot more tactical than the Saiyans.

"Why couldn't Vegeta be like Goku? He's one in a million, he's such a wonderful man. Chi-Chi's so lucky to have such a loving and openly affectionate husband: everything I ever wanted. There was just something about Vegeta that I couldn't resist... and it wasn't his sex drive! I saw through Vegeta's outer-image, and it didn't take him long to realise that I knew everything he said was a cover-up for what lied within his soul. Maybe that's why his aggressiveness toned down so much when he was around me: he knew I'd seen him from the inside out and was relieved that I hadn't thought him for being weak. To be honest, I thought that made him stronger. Perhaps that's why he loved me too..."

I could put my arms around every boy I see

But they'd only remind me of you

I went to the doctor's and guess what he told me, guess what he told me,

Girl you better try to have fun no matter what you do,

But he's a fool...

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

"New appeals have been put forward to the local council about housing for young people. Members of the public and post-graduate students say that the cost of housing is ridiculously overpriced and a closer look should be taken at the problem by the government and that independent funds should be offered to students unable to support themselves for full-time education and accommodation. Officials say that due to budget crunches, there is little the council can do unless a grant is approved for by the government. Li Otsuko reports." The news-reporter drawled on with herself as Bulma focused her attention on feeding Trunks his bottle. He had already drank half of it, but was now finding it tedious and wouldn't stay still, and Goku was no longer here to entertain him. It was almost four o'clock and Goku had returned to Chi-Chi an hour before, leaving Bulma to spend a little quality time with Trunks.

"I'll be damned if anyone actually takes interest in this drivel. Come on sweetie, just have the rest of this and then you can play." Trunks grudgingly obliged and obediently drank the last of his bottle. Bulma placed the empty bottle down on the floor and proceeded in winding Trunks. He was entranced by the television as Bulma rubbed his back. Every now and then, he would let a tiny burp escape his mouth.

"I know, we can watch a video together! We can watch Fantasia, your favourite!" smiled Bulma as she finished rubbing and patting Trunks' back. She set up a couple of cushions to support him as Bulma crawled onto the floor and searched out the video and pushed it into the VCR. Bulma grabbed the remote from the top of the TV and pressed 'Play' and fast-forwarded the video to the start and returned to her place on the couch. She sat Trunks on her lap and bounced her knees a little, provoking a small giggle from him. Bulma always loved to watch videos with Trunks, but loved spending time with him in general anyway. She felt that if Vegeta was here doing his bit as a parent, Trunks would spend less time with her because of the parental division, and though she was devastated about Vegeta not being around, a part of her was thankful that she was able to be with her son without him.

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

The movie had long since ended, and so had Bulma's and Trunks' attention spans. Bulma rested her head on a cushion near the arm of the sofa, and held Trunks tightly to her as both of them slept peacefully. The VCR had automatically stopped the video from playing once it had ended, and all that was left was a faint high-pitched tone and a blank screen from the TV. There was nothing but silence throughout the rest of the house, and neither of them stirred in their sleep.

The sky was beginning to darken outside as the sun started to set, leaving a mix of dusky pink with serene cobalt blue painted across a canvas of wispy cloud. The inside of the Capsule Corp. house also began to darken, and as if by instinct, Bulma awoke slowly and motionlessly. She looked down at Trunks and smiled in awe. "Such a little cutie."

Bulma sat up carefully, cradling Trunks in her arms and decided it was best to put him to bed. Bulma commenced in walking up the stairs to her room and opened the door, grimacing at the loud squeak one of the hinges gave. She walked over to the cradle and lay Trunks down gently and pulled the covers up to his waist. She stroked the side of his face in a feather-light manner and exited her room, leaving the door ajar.

Once Bulma was downstairs, she switched on a couple of lights and turned the TV and VCR off, not bothering to rewind or eject the video. She made her way into the kitchen and filled the kettle up with water and flipped the switch when she returned it to its base. As she was about to reach for a cup from the cupboard above her, the phone rang rudely, and not to mention, loudly.

"There's no such thing as a perfect day!" grumbled Bulma to herself as she rushed over to pick up the phone. "Hello?" said Bulma as sweetly as she could.

No one replied.

"Hello?" repeated Bulma, slightly irritated at the disturbance. She huffed and furrowed her brow. "Look if this is a prank call, I've got two words: fuck," The person on the other end put the phone down before Bulma could finish her sentence. "Off." Bulma replaced the phone and sighed. "Idiots." Bulma heard a small 'click' come from the kettle and returned to make herself a cup of cocoa. Bulma took the jar of cocoa powder and put a couple heaped-teaspoons full of the mix into her cup and filled the rest up with boiling water. She always loved her cocoa sickly sweet, and added two teaspoons of sugar and a couple of marshmallows. Bulma always said that it gave it texture.

Bulma stirred her chocolate concoction and made her way back over to the couch and settled down, paying little attention to anything and simply revelled in the sheer bliss of ignorance. Her eyes wandered from wall to wall, fascinated by anything that came into her view. Bulma swept away a tendril of her cerulean hair away from her face and took a sip of her hot cocoa, feeling the hot liquid warm her insides. The heat of it almost made her sweat, but Bulma ignored the temperature and continued to drink her beverage slowly and contently. Once again, she was disturbed by the ringing of the phone, and angrily placed her drink down on the floor next to the couch and got up to answer it.

"Hello?" she said in an irritated tone. Again, there was no response. Bulma couldn't deny that by now she was feeling a bit freaked out. "Look you moronic bastard, whoever you are, I demand you stop ringing this fucking number!" Bulma was about to hang up when she heard slight shuffling on the other end, and a sound which resembled a heavy intake of breath. Bulma listened hard, her heartbeat throbbing loudly in her ears and her blood turning cold. Finally, she heard something.

"Bulma..." The line returned to it's usual dial tone and Bulma replaced the phone shakily. She took a deep breath and tried to reason with herself.

"It's just some stupid teenagers who know your number and are trying to fuck with your mind. Pay no attention, they have no lives at all." Bulma took another deep breath and sat down at the couch again, her foot accidentally knocking over her cocoa. She looked down to the floor and cursed at her clumsiness.

"This is just great." growled Bulma. She picked up her now empty cup and frowned at the mess on the floor, but something caught the corner of her eye. She turned her gaze a little more to the right and saw a white corner peeking out from underneath the couch. Hesitantly, she pulled the small piece of paper from the floor and looked at it for a moment. She unfolded the single crease in the piece of paper and stared, terrified, at it. Upon the paper were words written in plain black ink in scratchy handwriting. It looked as if it had been written with a quill. Bulma re-read the words over and over again, feeling a little more fear spread through her veins the more she looked:

I love you, tenshi sama...

~ * ~

A/N: The lyrical excerpts were from 'Nothing Compares to You' by Sinead O'Connor. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please have the common courtesy to leave a review!! Thanks - Exodia

PS: Tenshi sama means 'my angel'... (or at least I hope it does!!)