Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Princess WHO of WHERE?!? ❯ Inside Info ( Chapter 24 )

Sorry this took so long you guys, but between the itty bit of writer's block I was suffering from and Road Runner being down for 4 days, it's been a while since I posted. The good news is though, that I wrote THREE new chapters.

Yup that's right THREE.

And not only that, but my promises are shortly forthcoming.

The writer's block was killing me. I knew what I wanted to do with this chapter, but I didn't know how I wanted to start it. After consulting with Kat at the Xone, I was able to form up some ideas pretty quick. I'm actually kind of tired of the bathroom scenes, but what better place for ladies to gossip than the spa?

DISCLAIMER: okay. This is the last one I'm going to do. If there are any doubts as to who owns dbz and its characters, then you're an idiot. I do own my own original characters. There aren't a lot of them, but they're mine.

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Bulma was in high spirits after her hot bath. She was toweling her hair dry and humming as she left the bathing rooms in search of a clean set of clothing. Chi Chi kept some spare clothing for her so that's where Bulma was headed. Chi Chi wasn't in her room when she got there, so she just got dressed and left without a second thought to the girl's whereabouts.

She strolled leisurely to the kitchens, not in any particular rush since she had plenty of time to bring Vegeta his dinner. Bulma entered the kitchen to find it for once in almost complete silence, except for the small group sitting at one of the counters talking and laughing. Most of the group was made up of the kitchen staff, but Bulma was surprised to find her missing friends here as well.

"Hey Chi Chi, Eighteen!"

Both girls turned to Bulma, clearly surprised to see their friend there.

"Bulma, what are you doing here?" Eighteen asked, waving Bulma over to the table they were at. "Aren't you usually out with Vegeta this time of day?"

Bulma pulled a stool between the both of them. "Yeah, but Vegeta decided he wanted to come back a little early today. I think he's upset about something."

Chi Chi snorted and rolled her eyes. "When isn't he upset about something?"

Bulma just shrugged. "What are you two doing here anyway? I thought Lord Vegeta didn't want any of the women to leave the harem?"

"I've always been of the opinion that what he doesn't know won't hurt him." Eighteen told her. "And it isn't as if anyone here is going to tell. Krillin would have them scrubbing pots for the rest of their lives." Eighteen looked pointedly at the short, bald man sitting directly across from her. He was blushing and looking in an entirely different direction, as if embarrassed to be providing her with that kind of protection.

"Well, it's the least I can do. I don't think it's fair that he keeps you girls locked up like that. Why if her ladyship was still alive she would never have allowed it, not that he would have wanted a harem anyway. Everyone knows how devoted Lord Vegeta was to his mate."

"You're talking about Vegeta's mother?" Bulma asked. "You knew her when she was still alive?"

Krillin nodded and crossed his arms over his chest and looked down as if he was in deep thought, trying to remember something he had nearly forgotten.

"I was young, but I do remember her."

"What happened to her?" Bulma asked. Everyone's eyes were now focused on Krillin as he began relating the story most had only heard in bits and pieces or as rumors.

"She was with the King when the battle was being fought. She was actually one of the first to get word of what was going to happen at the palace. She personally informed the King before Transporting herself to her own home to spread the word."

"But if she came back to warn everyone, then why did everything fall apart anyway?" asked one of the girls that worked in the kitchen.

"You see, what a lot of people don't remember is that this strike was not just aimed at the Royal Family. Our enemies were going after anyone with the remotest claim or even the possibility of a claim to the throne."

Everyone looked a little confused. "What did this family have to do with that?" Chi Chi asked. "Everyone knows that the queen didn't choose Lord Vegeta, so he lost any claim he could have had."

Krillin shook his head in disappointment. "Doesn't anyone remember just who the main target was?"

"The Queen?" another kitchen girl ventured.

"Well, yeah, her too, I suppose, but more importantly the newborn Princess."

Everyone still looked a little lost. "But what has that to do with this family?" Bulma asked.

Krillin slapped himself on the forehead, disgusted with the idiots who knew so little of their own history. "Okay. Let me spell this out in plain Kylarian for you. Getting rid of the Queen would not have been enough, there was still the Princess, who though only a few days old would still inherit the throne. Any young male that would have been the right age when the time came for her to choose a mate was also targeted, and so……………….."

"Someone tried to kill Vegeta too?" Bulma asked.

"Finally, someone here is thinking!" Krillin said. "Her ladyship died, as did the Queen, protecting her child."

"But where was Lord Vegeta?" Bulma asked.

"He was also in battle, but he was actually engaged. He couldn't actually get home until he was too late."

Krillin remembered the chaos that ensued afterwards. Lord Vegeta had nearly fallen apart. He had his mate entombed and packed up his household nearly on the same day. That's when they had came to this place, to start over again away from the horrors that had nearly taken away all of his family.

"I didn't know," Bulma said. "Vegeta never said anything to me about it."

"And he wouldn't be able to," Krillin told her. "Vegeta was too young to recall the exact events. He probably remembers the feeling of his mother suddenly disappearing from his life. I don't know if Lord Vegeta ever told his son word for word what happened."

Bulma looked thoughtful after that comment. `Is that why he's so mean to everyone? He doesn't want to form any kind of attachments to anyone for fear of them being taken away?'

"Anyway, Lord Vegeta changed into a whole different person. I mean he still ruled and took care of his people the same, but he just seemed to look at life differently. Maybe it was being faced with mortality. Kylarians do live a long time, but we're not immortal. The harem was the first clue that something was different. Before he would nearly gut a female that even dare to bat an eyelash at him, so devoted he was to his mate."

"Well, that's a bit harsh," Eighteen said. "I would think he would leave things like that to his mate."

"Yeah, well, I guess he felt that he needed to constantly prove himself to her since he was turned down by his first choice and she was his second." Krillin told her.

Bulma had already stopped paying attention to the rest of the conversation. She was thinking of all the things Vegeta had been doing for the past couple of months. A lot of them were finally making sense. Well, except for how he treated her. Was it possible that maybe he was finally trying to reach out to someone else emotionally?

"Hey, Bulma, isn't it almost time for you to take Vegeta his dinner?" Eighteen asked.

Bulma blinked out of her daze to suddenly find the kitchen alive with activity. Everyone else had already left the table, which just left the three of them sitting there.

"Oh, my," she said, giving her head a shake. "How long was I out of it?"

Eighteen laughed. "Not long. Kind of strange isn't it? How they just pop up out of nowhere and get to work."

"Surprised me too the first time it happened," Chi Chi added.

Bulma saw the huge tray making its way toward her. "Well, I guess I'll see you two later." She accepted the huge tray from Krillin, who merely nodded to her and returned to whatever task he needed to continue. She turned to leave.

"Come back with something interesting to tell us!" Chi Chi yelled at Bulma's retreating form.

Bulma was glad they couldn't see her face or they would have seen her blushing.

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Vegeta was sitting at his table, in all appearances, waiting for his dinner, but this was just the spot that he had chosen to sit at when he started thinking about this afternoon.

He had actually allowed the woman to use the sword, that he swore he would never allow anyone to handle unless he chose a mate, and then it would have gone to her. So why did he let HER use it?

The female in question suddenly entered his chambers, his dinner on hand, humming merrily to herself. He acknowledged her presence with a raised eyebrow and didn't say a word. He noticed how her eyes briefly lit up when she caught sight of him, but it quickly went before he had the chance to comment on it.

"I see we're a little impatient for our dinner?" she teased him.

He just grunted in response as she placed the food before him. As always, he was pleased with the food that he was brought. He had often thought his Father's head cook, Krillin, was an idiot, what with all the ridiculous stuff he prepared for his Father. On the contrary, he was obviously catering to each man's appetite, it was just on the evenings that he dined with his Father that he was forced to endure the outlandish entrees.

Vegeta wasn't concerned about his meal at the moment. He instead chose to stare at the blue haired girl who was going about his room cleaning, unconcerned with his current attitude.

"Woman, I know that you LET me win," Vegeta finally said.

Bulma turned to him, eyes full of feigned shock. "Me? Let you win? That's ridiculous," she said and quickly turned away before he could catch the stupid grin that appeared on her face. So he knew, well, Bulma didn't care. She rather that he sit there all grouchy than either let him cheat or make her lose face or him crying like a baby because he lost. She could almost hear the low growl emanating from his chest, which only made her want to laugh.

"You think this is funny?" Vegeta asked.

"Should I not?" Bulma replied, not even stopping what cleaning she was doing to look at him.

He didn't say anything in return, though, and soon the vague smacking noises proved that he had chosen to eat rather than argue. Bulma was picking up some tossed aside clothing when she glanced at the beautiful sword hanging back in its customary place. Vegeta had obviously cleaned it before putting it away, as it gleamed like it had never been touched. Her eyes were quickly drawn to the sapphire on its hilt, marveling at the beauty of its color and purity.

Once Bulma had gotten the stray clothing together, she went to get the basket out of his bedroom that she used to carry all of his dirty clothing to be washed. When she re-entered the sitting room, she didn't notice that Vegeta had finished and was sitting back in his seat, his fingers steepled in front of his face, still watching her warily. Had she chosen to look at him, she surely would have wondered at the odd look on his face. And if she hadn't been ignoring him entirely she would have noticed when he left his seat and came upon her silently from behind.

He grabbed her fore arm and she dropped the laundry basket in surprise. Bulma looked at him in surprise and then annoyance.

"Vegeta, what are you doing?"

"We're going to settle this now," he told her with a look in his eyes that worried her a little.

"Settle what? What are you talking about?" Bulma asked.

"Who's the better fighter, of course," Vegeta told her. "Right here, right now."

Bulma snatched her arms out of his grasp. "Vegeta have you lost your mind! I'm not going to spar you in here! Do you know what your rooms would look like when we're done?"

What was wrong with him? It wasn't fighting with him that was the problem. It was the fact that they were indoors. They would tear the place apart.

"That wasn't a request, Woman," Vegeta warned her. "Now guard yourself."

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You better R&R. I got 3 ready for you guys so I want 5 REVIEWS before I post the next chapter. If I get my 5 on the same day, well, then I'll post the same day.

Fair deal.

Oh and if anyone wants to make any suggestions, feel free. I'm not promising that I'll use them, but they may help me in case I get stuck again later down the road.