Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Learning to Love ❯ Learning to Love ( Chapter 1 )

The theory behind this story comes from a few facts that most Bulma and Vegeta fan fiction writers tend to over look while writing about the couple. Most people are inclined to think of the "Magical Three Years", but I consider that severely jumping the gun. Although, it is true that Trunks was conceived during this time period, we have a propensity to forget that intercourse and children do not always equal undying love. Especially for those of us who know just how complicated a character Vegeta really is. Vegeta made his point very clearly when Dr Gero destroyed Bulma's aircraft, and he refused to save her or baby Trunks. One could argue that he knew some one else would save them, but would a man deeply and truly in love be willing to take that kind of risk with his loved ones? It becomes clear by his words to Mirai Trunks that at this point Bulma was still merely the diversion that Mirai Bulma confessed to being. Do not be disheartened by this idea, because it opens doors to new idea and creative avenues as to when Vegeta really did fall in love with Bulma. So for some thing new, I take you to the road less traveled, and present you with:

Learning to Love

In 5 Easy Steps

By: AMCM74

Lesson #1 Caring

Bulma steeled her self to knock on the door. She raised her hand and bit her lip simultaneously. The sharp rap thundered, like a semi automatic in her ears, but the answer was the same as always. Silence. She looked down at the heavy tray, laden with food. She had kept it pinned to her side in a careful balancing act. Bulma dropped her head letting the blue strands of hair fall over her eyes. Releasing one great sighed, she turned to leave, but before she could do that, there was one more thing she had to try.

Gathering her courage she shouted at the door. "DAMN IT, VEGETA!!!" There was more anger in her tone then she really felt. Forcing the unease back, she forced her self to snap at him. "It has now been SIX full days since Goku died." Bulma hoped even the mentioning of Goku's name might gain her some kind of reaction. "Just in case you haven't been counting." Falling back to let shoulders press against the door, she kicked the wood frame with her heel, for added effect. "You can't go forever with out some form of nourishment." It was amazing enough, that she was desperate enough to call in that old bluff. Well, Vegeta was a Saiyan, and that had to count for something. Bulma waited a short while, holding her position, for some sort of response her large blue eyes studying the paint on the ceiling. She would have been thrilled with the slightest sound of movement. Which would give her some kind of hope that Vegeta's funk was coming to an end.

A voice startled Bulma out of her concentrative state. "Still nothing?" Mirai Trunks appeared in the hall holding the present version of him self-high against his chest. The concerned look etched on the young man's face made her heart drop. Bulma knew that young man was anticipated for so much more then this. He had extended his time here in the past for Vegeta's befit. Instead the one Trunks longed to know had disappeared into his quarters shortly after Cell's feat, and refused to come out.

She shook her head slowly, and looked away from the soul searching blue eyes so like her own. It was too hard for her to watch Mirai's crushed expression. He had such high hopes for he and his father in this time line. There was no way that Mirai Trunks could have known what Vegeta was really like. Bulma knew his predicament all to well. She had foolishly allowed herself to be come emotionally invested in the Saiyan Prince. Now, no matter what she tried, she knew Vegeta would be in her heart for all time. There was no getting rid of him. Still, Vegeta was never going to be a loving husband and father to either of them. No matter how much she or Trunks would wish it other wise. It just wasn't in his nature.

She finally braved tossing a glance at the two Trunks before her. Chibi Trunks was sucking his thumb, and looking like he was about ready to call it a night. Mirai Trunks on the other hand, merely looked deflated and frustrated. If she didn't do something soon she was going to lose another of her loved ones. Goku and Vegeta was all she could stand at this time. She was not about to let her son, Mirai or not slip away. "Come on, if your father is not going to eat, let's not let this spread go to waste." Bulma perked up and walked past the boys. She forced a casual front for both their sake, as she headed to the television room. "Vegeta is still sulking over not being the one who defeated Cell." Bulma could sense the longing look Mirai Trunks passed to his father's door and added. "Don't worry. He should be over it soon."

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Lesson #2 Needing

Inside the room Vegeta lay on the bed staring at the ceiling. One thing Bulma had said during her tangent out there was defiantly right. He could not stay in here forever. Frowning he admitted to himself, that he looked, felt, and smelled like shit. Still what was the point? Why should he continue? All his life there was a meaning or a purpose, some sort of goal driving him onward. Now with Kakkarot's death, the road of life had hit a dead end for Vegeta. Damn the baka to HFIL! Vegeta's eyes narrowed. Not that he would be there. No, Kakkarot would be off in heaven somewhere living it up. Even in death that rotten bastard got it all. How could Kakkarot just allow himself be killed like that? He had no right! It had been Vegeta's destiny to defeat him. To lay that insolent third rate solider low, and place him where he truly belonged at his Prince's feet.

Vegeta rolled to his side and snarled. It was like life itself had been set against him from the start. Perhaps. In the end, Vegeta would find he was just one huge universal jest. A meaningless Prince, left with no planet, no people, and no power. That was the hardest part for him to swallow. That he had once dared to think he even had any power. Kakkarot had probably taken great delight in showing Vegeta how; even his own half-breed son could succeed, where Vegeta had failed.

He looked at the door to his room, wondering how long it would take before some one tried to forcefully drag him out. It was clear that Bulma and his future brat wanted him to return to the land of the living. Actually it was about time to do just that. Nodding to himself he sat up and grumbled. "What's the point? I am tired of running a race I will never win." He got up, even though he didn't even know why. Walking to the bathroom taking a fresh towel from the rack.

Pulling the gloves, boots and blue spandex from his body with swift unhampered movements. He leaned in and adjusted the water to his liking. As he stepped under the steaming droplets, he moaned with pleasure. Let them cascade over his lean form he pondered the last time he stood here. It was a week ago that he had ravished Bulma in this very shower. Just before the start of the fight with Cell. The wayward thoughts were causing his body to spring irritatingly to life. Some things just never changed. He reached down to wrap his hand firmly around his thick aching shaft. Slowly gliding his hand over the silky flesh, he leaned his head back and let the water pour over his chest. A vision of Bulma raised up to taunt him. He knew full well that all he had to do was open the door, and bellow her name. She would gladly be here to do this for him.

Still he had just emerged from his stupor. Vegeta really didn't feel like facing anyone, even her right now. So it was up to him to ease his body's demands the old fashioned way. Vegeta let his fingers touched the erection, teasing it to its full extension, before he began the actual pumping of his hand. Highly erotic images from his past assaulted his mind. They reminded him that he had defiantly been no angel during his life. The thoughts only help spur him closer to his release. That soon splattered against the shower wall before the remainder trailed over his hand being washed away by the rapidly cooling water.

By the time Vegeta's foot hit the bathroom rug his body was shaking from the cold water that he had been forced to shower in. Reaching out he grasped his towel and wiped it over his face. Then with a vicious shake, he tossed his head. Releasing the water saturating his hair about the bathroom in splatters of tiny icy diamonds, and then tossed his head back. The effect was dry enough for his hair to be restored to it natural gravity defying style. The towel worked its way over his muscled form. Before joining his dirty clothing on the floor. Snatching a clean towel, he secured it about his waist with a flip and a tug. He stalked into his bedroom, only to come up short at the sight of his blue haired woman sitting unexpectedly on the bed.

Ebony eyes clashed with the azure blue for the merest of moments before he broke the contact, and moved to his dresser. Opening it he pulled up his trade make blue spandex shirt and pants, and tossed them on top of the wooden frame. Loosening the towel he glanced up to see her staring at him through the reflection on the dresser mirror.

"I take it from all the moaning I heard in there that you enjoyed your every long, very cold shower." She arched an eyebrow at him.

"It didn't start out cold, and if I had wanted you in here," He added rudely. "I would have told you to come." Vegeta let the towel drop and exposed the rear of his nude body to her gaze. That should shut her up. He suppressed a grin admitting to him self that, it had always worked before. He pulled on his shirt, then turned watching her struggling to rip her eyes away from his male anatomy. He felt a rush of pleasure at her obvious discomfort. Leaning over he thrust one powerful leg into his pants followed by the other. Jerking them up over the star of her attention. "You can stop staring at me like I am a piece of prime beef, Bulma."

"I… I…" She stammered before coming to her feet. "Well, excuse me for worrying about you!" Bulma hid her irritation under a mask of defiance. "You could have at least had the decency to tell me to `go away' when I came banging on your door every four hours for the last six days!" Raising her chin a bit higher she added. "Maybe then I would have realized you were just brooding rather then dead." She tossed her thumb toward the bathroom, "From the smell of it, you can see why I would be confused."

"Woman, I told you before I am a warrior, not a variety of flower. If my smell offends you, then don't stand down wind." He moved to the door and reached out to open it. "Now if you don't mind, it's been days since I have eaten. So I am just going to the kitchen."

Bulma slumped back down on the bed and watched him leave the room. She raised a hand to her mouth to stifle a giggle. Now that his fighting spirit had returned she was sure he was going to be just fine. She fell back on the bed and looked to the ceiling, relief swelling in her heart like a balloon.

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Lesson #3 Wanting

The night had crept up on the Capsule Corps compound with out any one hardly realizing it. Mirai Trunks had left earlier in the day to visit with Gohan, and had yet to return. Not that Bulma expected him to. Judging by how long he had been gone she was certain that Gohan had managed to help then escape Chichi. If that was the case it was more then likely they had merely lost track of the time. She leaned back over her balcony and started up at the night sky. "Oh Goku, if only you were still here. You would have been delighted at what good friends our sons will become." She sighed thinking how odd it was that her son was also Vegeta's. She turned and looked down at the gravitation chamber. It was eerily quiet. In the last three and half years Vegeta had been completely devoted to his training in there, but since the battle with Cell, and Goku's death it had remained unused. "What are you going to do now, Vegeta?" She reached up to rub her temples with slow massaging motions.

"I have decided to return to space." The answer caused her to jump and she spun around scanning her room for a trace of the Saiyan Prince. She didn't see him until she looked up to see him hanging in the night sky above her. He hovered down and walked to the rail looking out at West City's lights and busy nightlife. "I have realized that the Earth no longer holds anything for me. Returning to space is the best solution."

"You want to go back out there, Vegeta?" She couldn't say she hadn't expected this. If course her heart was aching, but what could she say or do? Vegeta wasn't human like Yamcha was. There was no way he would ever become civilized man, akin to a trained lap dog that would fetch her slippers when she beckoned him. Actually that was what Bulma liked about him. Although sweet and dear, her Yamcha had always sought to please her. She had tormented him endlessly about women and cheating. It was the snowball affects that even when completely innocent caused him to chase and beg after her. She watched a breeze rustle her Princes hair as he brooded darkly at the horizon. Vegeta would never act like that, and she liked it. He would never chase after her and beg her forgiveness. He simply didn't want to waste the energy on that endless game, and actually neither did she.

Vegeta's words broke the silence. "So woman, when can you have a spacecraft ready for me?"

"It all depends on how long you intend to be gone." She stuffed her hands on her hips. "Will you be returning to Trunks' next birthday, or should I except to see you at his high school graduation?"

"Excuse me?" One finely etched eyebrow drew up. It was clear he was not catching her meaning.

Bulma rolled her eyes and tossed out her arms. "Let me make this simple for you Vegeta." She snapping her hand up she stuffed her finger in his face, which would have had most people cowering back, but this was Vegeta. He stood straight, only bothering to narrow his eyes at her chastising. "I understand the whole I am a Prince thing, and the I want to be the strongest thing, what I don't get is why you can't see you have duties here now. Trunks is your son…"

Vegeta grabbed her hand and fired back. "I never denied that!"

"You've never acknowledged it either." She twisted her hand away, but not in an angry fashion. "Why do you want to leave him? Why do you want to leave your home?" Bulma turned her back on him and crossed her arms. "I will never get you men, never running form a fight, but always running away from your own life. What do you expect to find out there anyway?"

Vegeta really wasn't hearing her. He stood transfixed, jaw dropped and eyes wide. "What did you say?"

"That you're running?" Bulma looked over her shoulder. Seeing his shocked expression she mellowed a bit. Had something she said really struck a cord with him?

"Before that." Vegeta clinched his fists. "You called this place my home."

Bulma felt a wave of astonishment rush over her. "Well, of course this is your home, Vegeta." She blinked at his expression. "Don't tell me you don't know? After all you have spent the last three years in this house. My parents have considered you part of the family since I told them about Trunks. We would never force you to leave here Vegeta." She watched him step away. "Vegeta?"

"I had honestly not given it any thought." Vegeta's deep voice rumbled. It was clear he was reestablishing his views and taking stock. "All my reasoning was in the fact that with Kakkarot gone there wasn't any reason for me to remain here."

Bulma smiled. "There is no reason to go back into space either." She turned from him. "But putting that reason aside I am going to start work on one of the pods. If you decide you want to leave Earth I wont try to stop you, Vegeta." She exited the room and left Vegeta alone, with only his thoughts.

They were very deep thoughts. When Vegeta had come to see Bulma he had not expected her to react in this fashion. Then again he never knew how the woman was going to react. She could be volatile or intelligent, you never knew what you were going to get.

Bulma had been very close friends with Kakkarot. It had never ceased to astound Vegeta that she had welcomed him into her home so open and warmly. Everyone had known that he was there for the sole purpose of surpassing and defeating the low ranking Saiyan warrior. There was just something about Kakkarot that made everyone associated with him relaxed and calm in the line of fire.

The others had at least had the common sense to voice some of their misgivings, but Bulma never had. She had called him cute, lightly teased his anger, and openly ignored his tantrums. Bulma had worried and cared for him through out the last three years as he trained. Vegeta could have well killed himself in his quest for ultimate power if not for her diligence.

Vegeta sighed and jumped off the balcony of Bulma's room. Why had he never noticed before how the gravity chamber had been moved to plain view of Bulma's bedroom? He had never questioned to move, merely complained about the fifteen minutes of lost training. He raised his eyes to her balcony and remembered that she had been on bed rest late into her pregnancy. How she use to sit up there, taking her morning meal. It confused him. Why did she care? She had nothing to gain from his well being.

The night air was going thick with condensation and he smirked. Then again, there was one thing she got from him. He let his mind drift back to that night. The very first night she had killed the power on the Gravity room.

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Flashback

The door came open and Vegeta stumbled out wiping sweat from his brow. The night was black as pitch with only the lights from the street and the soft glow they cast over the Capsule Corp. lawn. He looked to see the woman standing just outside glaring at him. Although he didn't like her expression he was glad she was there. It made things damn convenient for him "The power went off in your worthless piece of junk here, woman." He commanded in a tone fit for a king. "Fix it now."

Bulma shook her head. She clinched her terry cloth robe closer around her nightgown-clad body. "It didn't just go off, Vegeta." She informed him wiggling her toes in the wet grass. "I killed it, personally."

Vegeta choked at her brashness. "Damn it woman, Turn it back on I don't have time for your games."

"Forget it" She turned away. "First off you have been at this for days! Secondly, I just can't sleep at all with your infernal racket all night. It's a wonder the neighbors haven't called the cops."

"Does it look like I care about your sleep or the whiney neighbors, woman? I am in the middle of…" Vegeta jumped off the ramp and stalked after her.

Bulma felt him take her arm and snatched it away turning on him. "Your in the middle of getting a shower and taking a break. I refuse to turn it back on until I have had over eight, and I don't care if you can count or not," She held up her fingers at him, "hours of sleep. Got that Buddy!"

"I am not going to sleep, and there is nothing that you can do that will get me to bed." Vegeta scowled. "Now turn the gravity room back on before I decide to start blasting everything I see starting with…" he didn't know what he expected the Earth woman to do. The feeling of her hand diving into his hair and her lips pressing against his was assuredly not it. He stood frozen wondering just what this creature was about.

She dropped back down looking up at him with large luminous eyes. Funny he had never noticed just how blue they were before. When she spoke he let his eyes drift down to watch the tempting ruby lips. "What's the problem, Vegeta? Never been kissed before?"

"Woman…" he growled. "What possessed you to be so fool hardy?"

Bulma shrugged. "You want the truth," She looked over at him practically shaking with suppressed emotions. She wisely judged not all of them to be over powering lust, because there was a fair amount of rage stewing the pot. "I have been dreaming about you Vegeta." She admitted. "And they haven't actually been little girl fantasies either." She waited for him to respond.

"SO?" Well that was not what she was hoping for in a reaction.

"So, I want you to have sex with me. I need to get this out of my system." She bit her lip waiting for him to laugh in her face, or drag her into his arms. What she got was a lot of nothing. He simply stood there looking as if he was still waiting for his explanation. "I want to have intercourse…" Still nothing "Shag… bump and grind…fuck… Vegeta are you hearing me?"

"Yes." He turned his back on her. "What you want doesn't matter, turn the gravity room back on. I have no intentions of breeding with you now woman."

"Well why the hell not!" Bulma was nearly shaking in rage and humiliation.

Vegeta stopped and said clearly, "Because, I was in the middle of my training!"

Bulma crossed her arms and snorted, "That's just fine, but I'm not turning it back on."

Vegeta moved slowly around to face her. "Are you blackmailing me?" He stalked toward her with a menacing growl.

"I…err… I didn't mean it that way." Bulma stepped back. There was a new look over taking his features as he come up to her. "I honestly didn't want to force… you." She swallowed hard as he pulled the tattered shirt over his head and tossed it to the ground. Bulma felt her stomach clinch at the raw masculine power being so openly exposed to her line of vision. She licked her lip in anticipation of the taste of the flesh that cover the sinewy muscles. Vegeta was completely defiantly one hundred percent male in its basic components. Just thinking about him had left her wet and aching for weeks, as the time past so had her desire. Watching him train constantly, his hard body in tattered uniforms, and dripping in sweat. There was only so much temptation a red blooded woman like Bulma could take before she cracked.

"Remember you asked for this woman, and once I have done what you bid you will restore power to my gravity room." He forced her to promise him, as his hands slipped into her robe and unhurriedly slipped it open.

Bulma nodded, catching her breath in her throat. Never could she remember wanting a man this badly. It was like the weeks of torment were all coming to a head with his butterfly kisses on her neck. "Just follow me to my room, and…"

"Here."

Bulma blinked. "Say what?" The soft curves of her body quivering under his skillful hands, Kami, how had he ever become so skillful? "Vegeta, if you have… ohh ohh, that's very nice…" She struggled for control, " forgotten we are on the lawn."

"It doesn't matter." He pulled her nightgown up and let his hand cup her unprotected warmth. Instinctively she pressed against his palm, grinding against it. He let out a deep purring sound as he watched the woman's head tip back. The closed eyes, and the red lips that were opened, but a breath's with, were all signs that this woman was enjoying the fruits of her deviousness. Sinisterly he wondered how she would feel nine months from now when she was pushing out his brat. Bulma's scent fairly reeked with fertility. That is why he supposed Yamcha had disappeared for of late. He had obviously supposed wrong. He pulled the fragile material from her body and laid her down on the dew-covered grass. Had she accepted his refusal he would have been able to leave her alone despite the overwhelming urge to take what she was so freely offering.

He pulled his remaining clothing from his body and leaned over her. It had been to long since he had this sort of release, and the lust and desire pumped in his veins leaving nothing else aside both their wanting. Scooping each silken leg over his arms he lifted them high exposing her hot pink core. Damn him for the bastard he was, Vegeta smirked wickedly and then laid his claim to Yamcha's woman. Vegeta groaned at the warmth and tightness that encased him.

Bulma arched her back as her new dark lover plunged in and out of her steamy fold wringing cries of wanting from deep within her chest. What had taken her so long to seduce him? The fullness of his shaft was driving her to madness with each assertive thrust. She lost control first shivering and falling in a cascade of turbulent sensations.

The mewing whimpers of her orgasm throwing Vegeta over the edge and he released deep within her, rocking until every drop of his hot lust was spent. They lay there entwined on the wet lawn struggling for breath. When Vegeta finally rose to his knees, Bulma looked up to the night sky and brushed a hand through her cerulean waves of hair that fell damply over her face, thick with dew and perspiration.

"I suppose I can turn you gravity room back on now." She stretched out before him like a well-satisfied kitten.

Arching one midnight eyebrow his deep voice rumbled. "Don't bother, just collect your clothing and lead the way to your room, woman, I am not nearly done with you."

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Lesson #4 Knowing

Bulma was shocked when she entered her room to find Vegeta gone. She was a bit deflated by the sudden disappearance. There had been some inner peace in knowing that Vegeta would want to know about the status of his spacecraft. Which, that alone, should have kept him safely musing his future on her balcony, still facts where facts, and Vegeta was not on her balcony planning his next course of action. Bulma lifted her hand to run it over her face in discouragement. There was really nothing she could do about it. She tossed the large mechanical files on deep space travel over her dresser. Letting her hands drift out into a large stretch. A yawn escaped her and she realized the extent of her exhaustion. Bulma pulled off her robe and hung it over the footboard of the bed. She made her way over to the radio and softly clicked on her alarm. She gave the balcony one last longing look before pulling back the sheets. Things would work themselves out. She climbed into her bed.

"Vegeta." She murmured into her pillow, and let sleep over take her.

It was deep into the night when the Saiyan Prince landed soundlessly just outside Bulma's room. He walked to the sliding glass door that separated the cozy little interior from the cooling night air. Vegeta had welcomed the chill. It had served him well this night, as he had flown, pondering his path in life. It was not all that clear to him yet, but there was one person he could count on to help him see things more clearly. With a gentle flick of his finger sprung the latch open and entered her chambers. The muffled sound of the door opening was hardly noticeable, as Vegeta parted the pale blue curtain and moved into what was almost like a second room to him. It wasn't long before his eyes adjust to the dim light, not that he needed them to. Even if Vegeta couldn't sense everything in the room, he already knew where everything lay from memory any way. He stood over the bed. For the first time really noticed at the woman lying there.

She had always been beautiful, but now he saw beyond that. Vegeta placed one knee on the bed and leaned over her touching the delicate wisps of blue that trailed over her face. He watched as she sighed and pressed her cheek into his hand.

The dark eyes closed slightly. It was hard to form the feelings into words. The truth was he didn't know what they were. He had heard the Earthlings using certain terms over the years, and yet no one had ever really explained what they meant. Pain was the only thing he really understood, and right now that was exactly what he was feeling. Just as a punch in the gut he felts as if something was compressing his chest. It was like this feeling he had for this woman and her child had rose up to crush the life out of him. He hated her for it… any yet…

"Why don't you hate me, woman? I have done countless things so atrocious and repulsive that even I can't stand the memories." The bitterness of his life rose up like bitter bile, renewing his sense of personal darkness. "I am not a good person." He just didn't understand what she could possibly see in him. There was only one of two possibilities that he could conceive. Either she was an utter and complete idiot at judging his character, or Bulma could see something in him. Something that even he, in his own despair, could not recognize.

The air locked in his lungs burned to be free and he exhaled. He looked into the darkness that seemed to echo his somber mood. "I have been a killer all my life, like a rabid animal. I have destroyed countless innocent beings and laughed at their misery and torment. Then I came to Earth merely to wish for my own immortality, and to take Kakkarot from here." Vegeta looked felt the truth of his words wash over him, as the moonlight broke through the inky blackness of the night. "I never intended to let this planet survive." The confession was out. The one thing he assumed she knew, and yet how could she love him if she had realized? "I would have killed you, and everything you have ever loved, and never thought twice about it." He looked down to see the shining eyes, looking up at him in the darkness. "Why Bulma?"

Bulma rolled to him, and wrapped her arms around her dark Prince. She buried her face into the string chest embracing all that he was, good and evil alike. Then as if it was the clearest thing in the universe answered him. "Because with you, Vegeta, I have found something that I never had before." She rubbed her cheek lazily against his broad chest. The quiet voice was soft and slurred with sleep. "When I was with Yamcha, I was always jealous and upset. I just held on to him, because I never wanted to lose him or be alone." She admitted her truth freely, "But then I meet you, and since then I have learned that just knowing real love, and loving you was enough for me, and if you do decide to leave me tomorrow, I will be happy and content with the time we shared." She sighed in his scent deeply. "Just knowing I was with you is enough."

Vegeta was struggling to understand what she was trying to tell him. The concept of this kind of emotion was totally foreign to him. To hold someone else's wants and wishes above your own, that some one could feel that way about him. There were no words, no actions, and there was no way that he could convey what he was feeling at that moment. He cradled the fragile human female form to his chest, like she was some sort of secret treasure that would vanish if he didn't hold on tight enough.

Bulma stirred in his arms, and lifted her head to trail light kisses along his neckline. "Vegeta?"

He looked down and saw the sleepy questions in her eyes. Questions he didn't have answers to. Questions that he didn't want to think about just now. He bent over her letting his lips move over hers softly. Right now this was the only answer he could give her. He took his time exploring her kiss like he never had before. This was not the action of a man seeking only to satisfy his own desires. There was a deeper tender exploration. Vegeta let his hand slip under her chin to tilt it up to his own, and Bulma purred under the placid assault.

Pulling back, he smiled down at the sleepy magnificence. "I want you, woman."

He felt her shoulders shake, as a light chuckle broke free. "What took you so long?" She sat up to pull the satin gown over her head and let it trail to the floor.

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Lesson #5 Confessing

The morning light worked its way through the light blue curtains. A sweet smelling breeze caused them to sway softly, as Bulma snuggled her cheek into the warmth just below her. She became aware of the satin skin, and lifted her eyelids. She froze as she stared across the board expanse of chest. For a moment shock and fear rushed through her. Confused she sat up to see just who had made their way into her bed last night.

Vegeta stopped trailing his fingers through the blue tresses, and studied her stunned expression. She was wide eyed, as she looked him over. Reaching out a hand to touch him, checking to see if the masculine form was reality, or just her imagination.

"Vegeta…" She choked. Bulma slid back and pulled the blanket up to cover her body. Running a hand through her hair, she turned away embarrassed that he should see her like this. "What are you doing here?"

Vegeta readjusted himself, and put his hands behind his head. "I was not aware that I was suppose be absent with the light, woman." He flashed her his classic smirk.

Bulma's wide eyes opened and closed slowly. "You always have before." It was all she could think to say. Of all the times she dreamed of waking up in his arms, she had given up hope of it ever actually happening. She leaned over him to place one hand on his forehead.

Vegeta shook her off, and growled. "Woman."

"Well, damn it! I have to see if you're running a fever." She set her arm at her sides. "Where you in a fight with some one last night?" He cocked his head at her, signaling his annoyance and snorted. Bulma shrugged back and tried again. "You had a bad fall?"

"Knock it off!" Vegeta growled tossing the sheet aside. He rose from the bed, the hard curves of his back flexing with the movement. "If my presence in your bed bothers you so damn much then I…" He felt her grabbed his arm in a tight grip. He turned his head to look down at her.

"Why where you here Vegeta?" She whispered not letting go. The intensity of her eyes was compelling, and he could not look away. Bulma blushed and broke their eye contact. She kept her face discreetly turned knowing that if she were to look at him again she would be lost. She really didn't want him to read the expression of hopefulness. She had to many dreams, to many fantasies that revolved around this man to risk it.

"I needed to see you. I had important things to ask you." Vegeta moved his free arm, and brushed her hands away. She dropped the hold with out a fight, and he retrieved his pants from the floor. "I realized that I have a lot more to learn," He admitted. "If I am to remain here on Earth." He sat down on the bed and pulled the pants over his legs.

Bulma's head shot up so fast that the hair bounced around her glimmering eyes. "You're staying here?"

Vegeta sighed deeply, and looked up at the roof, the strong shoulders dropping with the movement. "I can't leave you woman." He let out an angry burst of sound. "I am not saying this is going to be easy for you. I am not a soft man. HELL, I am not even a kind man, but I want to learn to care for you, like you care for me." The sharp intake of her breath caused his head to turn to her. "What?" He glared at her daring her to comment.

"Vegeta?" She sniffed, and tried to wipe the huge tears from her eyes. "Are you trying to say you love me?"

"Love!" He came to his feet, and stalked to the middle of the room. He stood there still as stone for a long moment before firing back. He turned on her swiftly. "Woman, I don't even know what this LOVE you are always talking about is." He pointed out harshly. "You think Freiza would have found a way to add something like that to Planet Purging 101, wouldn't you."

The sarcasm was thick, and Bulma settled back on the bed thoroughly chastised. He looked over at her and frowned. He hated seeing her look so damned disappointed. Drawing on his deepest resolve he looked at her with dark eyes as he added. "But if this love is caring how some one else is feeling, or never wanting to leave their side…" He hung is head and continued, each word forced. "If love is worrying if that some one is hurt or scared." The next words where shaky, and Bulma could tell they were pulled from the very core of his being. "If love is being willing to die to protect that some one from harm, then I already love you."

"Oh Vegeta!" She sprang from the bed, tossing the blanket aside. She threw her arms around him.

"Damn it woman!!" He groaned rolling his eyes.

The end