Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sapphire Flame ❯ Lovely in His Eyes ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ or any of the DBZ characters used in this fanfic

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Lovely In His Eyes

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Bulma sat in the kitchen, sulking. Jena was serving dinner outside and she was at the table there, about to eat with Jena. Vegeta had asked her nicely to sit there because Tamara had stayed and she clearly didn't like Bulma. When they had returned from the tree house about two hours later, Tamara had called Bulma out and they had gotten into a shouting match. So the little witch had decided to stay, at Lana's insistence.

Bulma smirked, she'd find a way to get back at that wig wearing slut. Bulma sighed, she had just met Vegeta's sister Sacoda, but not his brother, Duke, because he was on the trip with their father. Sacoda had been really nice to her and Bulma had liked her very much because she was about the same age. She had also met Emma, Jena's daughter who was sixteen.

After having dinner with Jena and Emma, Bulma walked to her room and lay on the bed, flipping through the channels of the huge TV there. She felt a guilt that was knawing at her for leaving her friends and family on the street, but soon Vegeta would start his project to help them, and she would help too.

There was a knock at the door and then Vegeta stepped in. She sat up and looked at him darkly. "Did that dirty looking ho leave already?" she asked.

Vegeta shook his head at her. "I think we are also going to have to work on your temper. Now stop acting like a brat. I came to tell you that tomorrow I am going to find you that tutor that will help you with all you need. I will be at the office, and you will stay here."

"Is your mom gonna be here too?" Bulma asked, looking unconvinced.

"My mother spends her time talking with her friends, so she really shouldn't be a problem. If she makes any comments that you don't like, please don't get into a shouting fight with her. If Tamara comes here, ignore her and go spend your time in the tree-house if you'd like, that is if you're studies are done."

"Can I visit the stables?" Bulma asked hopefully.

"Not tomorrow. Aside from the tutor coming over, you will go with Jena to some stores so that you can get some clothes of your own. I don't think Emma would want to keep sharing her clothes with you," Vegeta said.

"There's no catch?" she asked with a slow smile.

"I thought we had talked about this already," he said in annoyance.

She laughed loudly. "I know, but I mean...... it's strange for a man that I don't know to be doing these things for me. I'm confused," Bulma said as she ran a hand through the hair falling down her shoulder.

"Would you rather go back to living on the cold streets, starving to death, and exposing yourself to danger?"

"I guess not," Bulma said. "But, thank you for all this."

Vegeta just nodded and then walked out of her room. Bulma smiled to herself and thought about how good looking he was. Even Emma seemed to have a small crush on him. He was short for a man, but his looks more than made up for his stature.

It didn't matter what she thought about him because he would never see her differently. She would always be poor homeless girl that he had brought in from the streets because he was feeling generous. She had nothing to sleep in so she went to sleep in the same dress she was wearing.

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Bulma sat in the dinning room at the large table, trying to concentrate on what the tutor Vegeta had hired for her was saying. She knew how to read and write, but when it came to math and history, she was a complete blank and it was all boring. "Can we take a break?" Bulma whined.

Mr. Miles, the mean tutor that Vegeta had gotten for her, wagged a finger at her and flipped the page of the book he was reading to her from. "You just had a break thirty minutes ago. Now, at this rate, we will end up finishing this book in a year and not in a month as it is supposed to be. Now pay attention and stop slouching," he said as he tapped her back with thin baton. She sat straighter and followed along as he read.

They spent the whole morning and an hour past mid-day on her studies, which totaled into about five hours of studying and listening to boring stuff. When she was done with her homework she skipped out for a few minutes while Jena was cooking dinner early. They would be leaving soon so that she could get her new clothes.

She walked into the stables and smiled at the beautiful horses. There were a total of twenty. From the first moment she had seen her, Bronco had caught her attention. And she was looking at her as she neared. Bulma tentatively reached out to touch the horse.

Her eyes widened when she didn't move away. She slowly flattened her hand over the nose and rubbed her face. Bronco nickered and pushed her face against her hand. Then without warning she neighed loudly and stood up on her hind legs, Bulma looked on in horror and was suddenly being pulled out of the way.

Bulma stumbled but found herself held in strong arms. She looked up with wide eyes and then frowned as she pushed against his chest. "What the hell do you think you're doin'?" she nearly screamed.

The guy frowned and then pointed at the horse. "Apparently saving your life! If he had come down on you, Bronco would have probably killed you........ Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Bulma, Vegeta brought me to live here for a few days. I guess it's for a few weeks now," she said with a shrug. Then she looked the man in front of her up and down. He was very tall, muscular, and he wore no shirt with his blue jeans. From what she could tell he was bald, and oddly enough, he had a third eye on his forehead. She had seen people like him, but not many. He was handsome, but not as handsome as Vegeta was.

"Who are you?" Bulma asked.

"I'm Tien, and I take care of the horses here. You shouldn't be going near Bronco here, she's a wild stallion and she doesn't like anyone."

"She let me touch her head just now. I think she was about to attack me cause you were sneakin' around behind me," Bulma said as she placed her hands on her hips and glared at him.

"Probably," Tien agreed. "So the boss has brought you to live here for no reason?"

"Yeah," Bulma said slowly. "Well, he hit me with his car and I guess he was feeling guilty. So he said that I could stay here as long as I like," she said. He was looking at her funny, and Bulma was starting to feel weird. "I have to go," she said before she turned and walked away, sending a small wave towards Bronco, who was watching her.

She walked off quickly, sure that Jena would scold her for running off. When she entered the kitchen, Jena had finished everything and was ready for them to go. "Where did you run off to child?"

"I was in the stables, Vegeta gave me permission to go once I was done with all my homework," Bulma said as she grabbed an apple and cleaned it on her dress.

Jena frowned. "At least wash it before you eat it."

Bulma shook her head and took a nice big chunk off of it. "It tastes great like this!" she said with her mouth full.

"Don't talk with your mouth full, that is a very rude thing to do. Now come along, we want to get to the stores before they close. Vegeta told me to buy you all the clothes that you wanted." Jena grabbed her bag and they walked out towards the driver.

The rest of the afternoon they went from store to store and they really bought everything that Bulma wanted. Jena chose out some proper dresses and shoes for her too. When they arrived at the Vegeta residence they had so many bags that she, Jena, and the driver had to make several trips back to the car to get all the things.

Bulma lay in bed relaxing, thinking about the things that had happened to her in two days. It was like a dream, walking through it all in slow motion. Three days ago she had been starving on the freezing cold of the streets, trying to find food for her the youngest of her friends. Now she was here, in a huge home, eating food, and sleeping on a warm bed, with a man that was buying things for her for no reason. At least non she could think of. Then there was Tien. He was cute, she giggled to herself.

She was still giggling when there was a knock and then Vegeta walked into her room. He looked at her as if she had grown a second head. "I knew there was something odd about you, I just couldn't place it at first," he said as he walked over to her.

Bulma giggled and sat up. "Hey, that teacher that you got for me is a real stick in the ass. Why the hell do I need to be learning about George Washington? History is boring," she said as she pouted.

"It's your first day and you are already complaining?" Vegeta asked as he sat in front of her. "I told you that if you want to become someone that wants to help her friends in need, you need to get educated."

"Tell me, what am I going to use history on?" she continued to whine. Then she noticed the look on his face and smiled. "Sorry," she muttered. "I haven't been in school so long that I had forgotten how boring it was."

He looked at her for a few seconds. "Do you think you will ever talk to me about your past? About what made you run away from your home?" Vegeta asked her slowly, showing her with his expression that he was not going to force her to say anything.

"When I am ready, I will tell you everything. It surprises me that I have come to trust you like this in two days. Trust is something that I don't give anyone easily, ever since I left my family. It's crazy, but I do trust you," Bulma said seriously. "Well, at least a little," she laughed.

He smirked and nodded. "Did you buy all that you needed?"

Bulma nodded. "Yeah, I really needed something to sleep in," she said. "Oh, and Jena wanted me to buy 'proper' dresses. She chose some for me, too."

"That is good. It's almost time for dinner, are you coming?" he asked as he stood.

"I'm not hungry," she said as she lay down. Vegeta frowned. She explained. "When you live on the street, you get used to not eating too often. My stomach has gotten used to it. Believe it or not, I don't eat three meals a day," she shrugged.

"That's not very healthy," he stated. Bulma shrugged again. "Next week I will take you to see a nutritionist, it is not very good for you to be eating so little. You need vitamins and proteins and all that other crap that will make you right again."

"No matter what I will never be right again," she whispered before he turned to go.

"If you do get hungry, then feel free to get anything you want to eat," Vegeta said before he walked out of the room, shaking his head.

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A Few Days Later...........

It was her day off and she was spending the day outside. Bulma sighed, she hadn't seen Vegeta all that much in the last few days. Whenever she could, she would sneak a visit to Bronco, who seemed to be warming up to her, at least a little.

She sat in Vegeta's tree house, watching out of the window as Tien took out the horses for their daily exercise. The only one that took that exercise alone and in a pen of his own was Bronco. As she looked over Vegeta's home she realized that there were acres of land.

Tien was galloping around on Vegeta's favorite horse, Monarch. He was a large majestic horse with a gray mane and pelt. She looked at him, and when she said him, she didn't mean the horse, and once again noticed how cute he was. Tien came to stop right by the tree-house and looked up at her. "Do you wanna come ride the horses with me?" he called up to her.

"With a cast on my arm?" Bulma asked with a pout as she raised her arm to show it to him.

"I'll help you," Tien said with a smile.

She thought about it for a second. "Alright!" Bulma called as she walked over to the ladder and began to climb down slowly. Tien had gotten off the horse, and he told her to get on it when she reached him. Bulma did and grabbed on with her good hand. "Hey, you think you can show me how to ride when my hand gets straight?"

"If the boss gives us permission, then sure, I'll show you," he said as he grabbed the reigns on the left and began to walk the horse slowly. Bulma laughed in delight as the animal moved. It was incredible!

"Wow, this is such a cool horse!" Bulma said as she tried to pet it with her bad hand.

"The boss has had it since he turned eighteen, his father gave it to him for his birthday and that's why it's his favorite. I also know that this is the most expensive horse that he owns," Tien said as he took them for a walk around the pen.

"What about Bronco, what's her story?"

Tien laughed. "You have taken a liking to Bronco, haven't you?" Bulma nodded, and he continued. "Well, Bronco was brought over from England. She's wild and unruly, and she wont let anyone ride her. One of the boss's business partners died and left the horse to him in his will. The boss's biggest passions are horses, so the last owner of Bronco thought that maybe Vegeta would tame her. So far, Bronco is winning that bet and has remained wild."

Bulma sighed. "I like Bronco, she somewhat reminds me of me."

Tien stopped and looked up at her. "How so?"

"I don't like to talk about my childhood," she said shortly.

Tien noticed the gloomy look on her face and nodded. Then he grinned. "Do you want to gallop?" he asked her.

"With one hand? Are you crazy?!"

"I'll ride with you," he offered.

Bulma thought about it for a moment and then nodded. "As long as I don't fall off, okay?"

"All right, just come with me so that I can saddle up another horse. Monarch has had his run of the day, and he can go relax around the plains," Tien said as he pulled them into the stables.

He helped her down smiling at her as he did so and then unsaddled the horse for another. This time it was a she and her name was Shelly, who happened to be Sacoda's horse. Shelly was all white with a few black strands in her mane.

Tien saddled her and then helped Bulma up onto the horse's back, and then he expertly got on behind her. He grabbed the reigns and they slowly walked out into the afternoon sun. "Ready?" he asked.

"Yeah," Bulma nodded and grabbed onto the saddle with her good hand. Then he hit the sides of the horse and they took off at an incredible speed with Bulma laughing along the way. "This is great!" she yelled.

"I know," Tien said as he fixed his grip on her and they sped up. From then until sundown they spent the afternoon riding together with the horses to the point that Bulma noticed that her white pants had turned brownish because of the dirt.

Finally, Tien walked her towards the mansion while they still rode the last horse. The sun had gone down and there was a light fog coming down. "You know, I had a great time with you," he whispered against her ear.

Had they been facing each other Tien would have seen the small blush that had crept onto her cheeks. Bulma nodded and wiped the moisture of the fog off of her cheeks. "I really had a great time too, thank you for letting me spend the afternoon with you," she said.

Tien jumped off the horse and then offered a hand. Bulma smiled and gave him her good hand. Then he slipped a hand up to her waist and helped her down, but in the process she slid down the length of his body.

Bulma stared up at him with wide eyes and watched as he reached up to place a strand of her hair behind her ear. "I have to go," she whispered.

"Has anyone ever told you that you are beautiful?" he asked as he tilted his straw hat upwards.

"No," she said shyly. For some unknown reason, she felt as if she were being watched. She turned to look towards the mansion and found that Vegeta was standing there, arms crossed over his chest and a scowl on his face. "I really have to go," she said as she pushed against Tien's chest and began to walk towards the house.

Bulma looked at Vegeta with wide eyes and he moved aside to let her pass. She walked into the kitchen and found that Jena was already setting the dishes into the dishwasher.

"Vegeta has been looking for you," Jena said with her back turned.

"Is he pissed?" Bulma asked slowly.

Jena turned around. "It would do you good to stay away from that boy, man actually. Tien. He is too mature for you and you are still a child," she said softly.

"Yeah," Emma said as she walked into kitchen. "He's a real sweet-talker. He's tried it on me and Sacoda, but Vegeta warned him not to get too fresh with us. He isn't going to allow you to get involved with Tien."

"I'm not looking to get involved with anyone," Bulma said as she walked over to a plate that was wrapped in foil. "Is this for me?" Jena nodded. "Thanks Jena," she said as she took off the paper and grabbed a fork.

"What were you doing out there with him?" Emma asked as she pushed the long braid of her brown hair over her shoulder. "You're all dirty and look at your clothes," she said in a sotto tone of voice.

"We've been galloping for the past hours," Bulma whispered back.

"We can talk tomorrow about this," Emma said as she discretely pointed to her mother. Bulma nodded and began to eat her food. She wondered what Vegeta was doing. He had stayed behind when she had come in and her eyes widened. He was probably going to bitch at Tien!

She'd have to talk to him in case he felt like firing Tien because of her. When she was done with her food, she placed it into the dishwasher and pushed the on button before she turned off the light and walked towards her bedroom.

Bulma stifled a scream when her arm was grabbed and she was pulled into a bedroom. It was Vegeta. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You scared the fu-......."

"Have you looked at yourself lately?" Vegeta growled as he pointed to her attire. "You are back to looking filthy."

"You're not mad because of the way I look," Bulma said testily.

"What the hell do you think you're doing with that farmer?" he snapped. "You don't know that man and yet you are spending your day with him, doing god-knows-what. You are here to become a better person, not to get involved with a peon."

Bulma glared at him. "This was my day off and I wanted to see your horses. Tien offered to show them to me, and I even helped him with their daily exercise, I don't know why you are having a bitch-fit about it," she said with a wave of her hand.

Vegeta was in her face in a moment and his hand was gripping her arm painfully. "You don't look as if you want to better yourself," he said darkly.

"If that means being treated like a child by you, then maybe I don't!" she hissed back.

"You are a child, can't you see that?" he asked as he let go of her arm and looked into those hurt eyes.

"I am far older than you want to admit. You don't know all the things that happen on the street to make a person grow up. YOU have no idea of what I have gone through my entire life, so don't you dare treat me like a child, because that is something I am not," she growled back, her voice cracking, and her eyes watering.

"I just want you to be safe," he said as he turned his back to her. He didn't want to continue to look at the hurt in her eyes.

"I know how to take care of myself, believe me I know. I have been doing it for the past six years, I can continue to do it now," she said softly.

"This is my home and I have rules. The only thing that I have asked of you is to follow them."

"What does that mean? That I'm supposed to completely ignore Tien when I go to the stables?" Bulma asked.

Vegeta turned to glare at her. "No, don't ignore him. But from now on, whenever you want to go to the stables I will take you. I don't want you going over there alone," he said seriously. "Take it or leave it."

"Fine," Bulma said with a sigh. "Just fine," she muttered before she walked out of his room and made her way to her own.

Vegeta walked over to close the door and then leaned his forehead against it. What the hell was wrong with him? He had just attacked her for no reason and all because he had seen her getting friendly with the horse keeper.

'She's a child,' his mind chided. No matter what she said, she was still a child, not even eighteen years old for another two months. But that day when he had brought her to his home, when he had seen her clean and well dressed, something had changed drastically inside him.

There was something about her that made him feel........ he couldn't even describe it. Now, when he had seen Bulma with the horse-keeper, something had snapped in his mind, and he had warned the other man to stay away from her.

Even with dirty smudges on her face, her hair over her eyes, and her clothes dirty, she looked lovely. Now that he had seen the real person under the dirty facade of a street girl, she would forever be a lovely thing in his eyes.

These past few days he had spent as far away from her as possible because of those conflicting feelings that he was experiencing. Seeing her now in the arms of another man hadn't helped at all. Vegeta grit his teeth and forced his mind to close down any thought about the child that he refused to see as a woman, who happened to be living in his home. And now in his mind.

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"Hey Bulma."

Bulma looked up from her homework and smiled. "Hey Sacoda, what are you doing home so early?" she asked.

"We had a short day today. When you're done do you want to come and go for a swim?" Sacoda asked as she tied the long black spikes of her hair into a high pony-tail.

"I don't know how to swim, and besides, I don't have a bathing suit," Bulma said with a minor shrug.

"Well, we can hang out at the short end of the pool, and about not having a bathing suit, I have plenty so you can borrow one," Sacoda said. She walked over to look over Bulma's shoulder. "Are you almost done?"

Bulma nodded. "Just a few more questions and then I'll be done."

"All right, I'll go upstairs to change and to find you a bathing suit and when you're done you can come with me. The pool is indoors down that hall," Sacoda said as she pointed towards the hall that was behind her.

"Okay, I'll meet you there," Bulma said with a smile. Sacoda nodded and then walked off.

When Bulma was done she changed into the bathing-suit that Sacoda had brought over for her and walked towards the indoor pool. The water was warm and they didn't have to worry about getting sunburned.

The pool was large and the shallow section was shaped like a square and ahead it zigzagged towards the deep end which was another large square. In an adjacent room, there was a sunken Jacuzzi, and dividing the two rooms was a huge fish tank. There was also a pool outside that was used for hot days, but the weather had been changing and that pool was currently covered. Bulma walked into the water and sat down on the very shallow end, relaxing as the water engulfed her.

"That bathing suit looks nice, I wonder what my big brother is going to say," Sacoda said as she floated peacefully.

"What?" Bulma asked as she sat straight and stared at the other girl.

"My brother likes you," Sacoda stated.

"No." Bulma laughed nervously. "There is nothing that he could like about me. I'm nothing but a street girl that he was generous enough to help. I'm doing nothing but sponging off of him."

"Your past doesn't matter," Sacoda said seriously. "I don't think my brother would care if he ever felt something different for you. Besides, he's making you into a different person."

"Making me different isn't gonna change who I was. Besides, your brother is too mature for me. He would never look at me the way you think," Bulma said softly.

"Why not?" Sacoda asked as she sat next to her.

"Because he looks at me as a child," Bulma said sadly. And to make her feel worse, she hadn't seen him in two days. "He said it himself. To him, I am still a child. It wouldn't matter because he's gonna marry that wig wearing bimbo," she said darkly.

"No he's not," Sacoda laughed at the look on her face. "My big-bro doesn't want to marry her. It's just daddy's way of rattling Vegeta's nerves. Daddy wants Vegeta to marry the woman that he has chosen for him, but my brother is having no part in it."

"It doesn't look like that Tamara chick is gonna give up on him. She's like a leech," Bulma said.

"That is precisely why I am not going to marry her," Vegeta said as he walked into the pool room.

Both girls looked over with wide eyes and laughed. "It's not polite to eavesdrop, especially during girl talk," Sacoda said with a sniff.

"So it's polite to talk about me when I'm not around," Vegeta said.

Bulma didn't look at him, she was still a bit peeved at the way he had talked to her the day before. But from the corner of her eye she could see that he was watching her, so she turned her back to him and faced his sister.

"Sacoda, go boil in the Jacuzzi for a while," he said as he nodded towards the adjacent room. The girl nodded and got out of the pool and then walked towards the Jacuzzi with a knowing smile on her face.

Vegeta kneeled behind Bulma and stared at her long blue hair as it lay flattened to her slim back and the tips floated in the water. Then he looked at the arm that was on the edge of the pool so that she wouldn't get the cast wet. "Are you angry with me?" he asked softly.

"No," Bulma said sharply. "What do I have to be angry about?"

Vegeta smirked and then sighed. "I...... apologize for how I spoke to you the other day," he said half grumbled.

Bulma bit her lip and shook her head. "This is your home, I broke your rules. You had every right to speak to me the way you did."

He rolled his eyes at her stubbornness. "Are you going to stay sitting there until you wrinkle like a raisin?" he asked.

Bulma shrugged. "It doesn't matter what I look like. Besides, I'm done with my work so I can stay here as long as I like," she said stubbornly.

Vegeta knew that he was probably buying her with his next words. "Do you want to go to the stables with me?"

Bulma turned to look at him, eyes narrowed. "Are you trying to buy me?"

"If you'd like," Vegeta said with a shrug.

She cracked a smile and then nodded. "A towel....... please?" He nodded and walked over to the closet that was there and pulled out a big fluffy robe. He held it out to her and Bulma hesitantly got out of the water.

Vegeta stared at her body as she did so, but not to ogle her. Her pale body was scarred. There was a nasty scar that crossed from her left ribs to her stomach and some on her arms and thighs. She rushed over and put the robe on, not wanting him to continue to see her. He was still staring at her face until she looked away.

Bulma sighed. "My back is worse than everything else," she said with a bitter laugh.

"Did it happen on the street, or was it with your family?" Vegeta asked slowly as he turned her chin so that she could look him in the eyes.

"I think I'm ready to tell you some details of my life," Bulma said as her voice hardened.

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Gotta wonder what is that she's been hiding from Vegeta, right? Well she's ready to tell him and you guys will have to wait until the next chapter. I'll try to update next week but there are no guarantees. Thanks for hanging with me and I'll 'see' you guys later. Have a great weekend!

Byebye

!Joey!