Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Sweet Nothings ❯ Chapter Four ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own it.

Sweet Nothings

Rated R

By: MadRiver

Chapter 4

Bulma collapsed on the bed in a graceless heap, the drive back to her house only a blur to her muddled mind. Of all the things she had expected to see during her rather eventful life, she never thought that particular scene would have been one of them.

What does this mean? Was the one question that kept bouncing around her head as she stared listlessly at the ceiling.

She realized that this shouldn't be all that she should be thinking about. After all, Bulma was known for her short fuse and after what she had witnessed she should have been frothing at the mouth, heavily sedated and tied to a bed at the hospital for mental patients and under maximum security.

Perhaps she had reached such a state of fury that her system had simply overloaded and caved in on itself, so that the walking shell lying on the bed was all that was left of her former passionate self. It was possible. If there was one thing life had taught her was that anything could happen.

Whatever it was, she was happy for it since she didn't know what she would do with herself if she weren't under this state of numb shock.

Had she not seen it with her own two eyes, she would have never believed it.

Vegeta… and ChiChi.

Vegeta and ChiChi… locked in a passionate embrace, kissing as if their very lives depended upon it.

She hadn't seen much since she had only gotten a quick glance before what she was actually seeing registered in her mind. However, she had seen enough to notice just how intimate an embrace it was.

ChiChi had been sitting on top of a picnic table with her legs wrapped tightly around Vegeta's waist and her hands buried within his hair. Vegeta's hands had been underneath ChiChi's shirt doing only God knew what.

She didn't know how far they might have gotten after she left but she could guess, by what their actions indicated, that they probably hadn't stopped until they had fucked each other senseless.

It was truly a testament to how much she had been shaken that this disturbing thought didn't even make her bat an eyelash.

What I am going to do now? She thought dejectedly. There were so many ways she could go about handling this turn of events that she didn't know where to begin.

She had to admit though that she was rather proud of how well she was reacting to seeing her husband about to go at it with her friend. Numbing shock aside, she was sure she should have reacted by now and was pleasantly surprised to realize that this was probably it.

She had always wondered what would happen if she ever experienced the level of rage Vegeta was capable of and now she thought she knew.

How long had Vegeta been chomping at the bit to get back at Goku? Seething in impotence that now he couldn't do anything to reclaim his `lost' honor? And then, having to accept that there wasn't anything he could do about it now and calmly having to settle back into his new life with little to no evidence at just how much he wished he could get his hands on her dearest friend?

He had so much rage and hate swirling around in him that he simply didn't react to it unless provoked. And that's just how Bulma felt now. After all, what could she really do about Vegeta's and ChiChi's deceit?

She refused to cry. In fact, she was actively spending all the energy she had left on not crying. A lump seemed to have formed in her throat from all the pent up emotion and her heart ached tremendously but she wouldn't let the treacherous tears run their course.

She had cried so much over him already that she was sick of it. She had spent the last few years worrying about if he would be there when she woke up the next morning, or if he had finally gotten fed up and turned tail like he did before Trunks was born.

Bulma remembered that time now and all of the uncertainty and pain that came with it, and vaguely wondered if she would be able to handle it again.

How many nights had she stayed up late, rubbing her swollen tummy while looking up at the stars, wondering if that shooting star or almost unnoticeable movement up in the sky was Vegeta finally coming back to her?

She had suffered so much that she had thought she would lose the baby early in the pregnancy, from the duress her body had been under.

Yet, she had hoped and held that hope against her heart just as tightly as she had held her baby boy, when he was finally placed within the cradle of her arms after an eternity of labor.

Then, when her prince finally returned, she had taken him back, forgiving and forgetting all the hurt and resentment she had felt at his abandonment.

Her friends had been appalled at her decision and had had no qualms on letting her know this. They couldn't understand how, after all he had done, she could still accept him back and she had been quick to let them know that they just didn't understand their relationship or her.

Bulma Briefs was someone ruled by her heart and was not afraid to admit it. She was love's fool, to quote good old Shakespeare, and proud of it.

She had always felt things to the ultimate extent. She loved, she cried, she hated, she yelled and she did it all with every cell in her body, every bit of her soul.

That's why her renegade prince had come back to her, just as she knew he would. He was entranced by the passion she exhibited towards life, the kind of passion he thought was lacking in him.

And now, he had done it again.

Except that this time she didn't know if she would be able to forgive his transgression. What woman in her right mind would, anyway?

After all she had done for him. The sweat and the tears she had put into their so called relationship. The things she had sacrificed just so that she could be with him, bending to his will and being at his beck and call every hour of the day.

Was she supposed to take him back and forgive and forget this? Was she supposed to forgive ChiChi while she was at it too?

Bulma sat up quickly on the bed as she was finally hit by the wave of emotions she had been expecting long before now.

The gut wrenching pain flowed through her being like a tsunami, drowning her until she felt that she couldn't breathe and was forced to let go of her restraint and let the defiant tears flow.

Bulma felt like she couldn't get enough air into her lungs.

She struggled for the life giving air and dazedly realized that she was hyperventilating and quickly threw herself off the bed looking for anything she could use as a breathing bag until she could get her breathing under control.

She panicked when her eyes flowed over the bare room and belatedly realized that this room, being the guestroom, wouldn't hold anything that might help her. Of course, panicking didn't help since that only added more anguish to her already distressed body.

She looked around the room helplessly, feeling lightheaded and on the verge of passing out.

“Okay… Bulma girl… just… relax…focus… on… breathing…” She coached herself, remembering she had read somewhere that calming down and breathing with her diaphragm was supposed to slow down her system and get appropriate amount of air into her lungs.

She sunk to the floor, placing one hand on her abdomen and the other on the floor to brace her body and focused only on her breathing, letting the rest of the world fall away as she put all her attention into it.

Some time later, Bulma opened her eyes slightly when she finally felt her breathing returning to normal.

As she lifted her head her gaze immediately moved to the windows where she noticed that night had fallen and stars were shining brightly up in the sky.

Bulma forced her mind to go blank as she focused her attention on the sky, ignoring her ragged breath and seemingly endless tears.

She had really thought that she had nothing left to give, that her eyes had dried out long ago. Yet here she was, being proved wrong for the second time that day.

She didn't sob or let out the scream she felt moving up her gut and to the back of her throat. She didn't try to pull her hair out or start breaking things. She didn't even start pacing the room in agitation as she often did when upset.

No, Bulma simply wouldn't do any of that, not this time.

She merely looked outside with her eyes wide open for what she thought was the first time in her life.

She was still gazing at the night sky from her position on the floor when she was startled by a knock on the door.

Her eyes snapped to the source of the offending noise.

She was definitely not in the mood to pretend everything was peaches and cream and decided to just let them knock until they got the hint all on their own and left her to her misery.

When the knocking stopped, she assumed they had finally given up, so she turned her gaze back to the window and the beautiful scenery outside.

Bulma almost jumped a mile high when she felt something clamp down on her right shoulder.

She whirled around quickly, effectively removing the object and landing softly on her back to stare up at the person intently looking down at her.

Her azure eyes widened in shock as she had not been expecting this particular person to pop up any time soon, least of all now.

“What the hell are you doing here?” She hissed hatefully at the woman who she had seen, just a couple of hours ago, kissing her lover.

There was a long awkward silence as both women stared at each other. Bulma almost thought ChiChi wasn't going to answer her when she finally responded.

“I came to talk to you…” ChiChi trailed off uncertainly, her eyes roving over Bulma's prone form curiously.

“We have nothing to talk about.” Bulma told her firmly, still debating whether she should scratch ChiChi's eyes out first or go straight to the killing.

If Bulma had doubted she was angry before, she definitely didn't now. Just the sight of the black haired woman was making her see red; had she stood, she would've already punched ChiChi's lights out.

“I want to apologize, for what I said yesterday.” ChiChi finished, seemingly oblivious to the murderous look Bulma was giving her.

For some odd reason, Bulma found that statement incredibly funny and couldn't stop the laughter that suddenly burst forth from her lips. She let her head fall back as she leant back on her arms and let it all out, allowing her body to release as much stress as possible through her inappropriate amusement.

She laughed until she could feel tears form in her eyes but was helpless to stop their perfidious trek down her flushed cheeks, testament to the true despair eating away at her insides as she looked upon one of the causes of her pain.

Meanwhile, ChiChi stared worriedly at Bulma while repeating their brief exchange in her mind but failed to find what might have caused such a bout of hilarity in the blue-haired woman.

“Bulma, are you alright?” ChiChi finally asked when a few minutes had passed and the other woman still hadn't stopped laughing.

It took another five minutes of watching this peculiar behavior before it dawned on ChiChi that those weren't tears of happiness Bulma was shedding.

“Bulma, please… what's the matter with you?” ChiChi insisted, hoping to bring the distraught woman back to her senses but the question only seemed to have the opposite effect as Bulma, who had almost managed to get her body to calm down, was racked by another peal of laughter.

“Bulma… please, Bulma… you're scaring me…” ChiChi said, finally kneeling down next to the laughing woman and placing her hand on Bulma's forehead, checking for a fever.

Those words and the hand over her eyes had the desired effect.

Bulma went perfectly still, her body latching onto the fight-or-flight reflex she had let be her guide earlier that day and which had made her flee like a scared rabbit. The only difference was that this time she didn't have any where else to run; she was backed into a corner with no other choice but to fight her way out.

Bulma didn't want to be near the other woman; she could feel pinpricks where ChiChi's skin touched hers and her body was visibly recoiling from the kneeling form next to it.

Without realizing it, her lips had formed into a threatening snarl and if ChiChi didn't move away from her soon she was going to be losing that hand.

“Get. The. Hell. Away. From. Me.” Bulma hissed each word with deliberate preciseness, barely holding back the urge to kill that had risen within her.

ChiChi jumped back from Bulma, startled at the violence burning behind the cerulean eyes fixed on her. ChiChi had never seen Bulma like this and she would be lying if she said that she wasn't a little intimidated by the picture Bulma presented.

The two women stared silently at each other for an undetermined amount of time, one out of confusion the other out of anger.

ChiChi was the first to break the silence when an idea came to her.

“Bulma, I'm so sorry… I had no idea…” ChiChi said, looking at Bulma with eyes full of understanding which only earned her a disdainful snort from the blue haired genius.

“No, really. I mean… I had no idea that what I said to you had made you this angry.” ChiChi continued, not noticing the disbelief that was slowly creeping into Bulma's face.

Bulma couldn't believe the things coming out of the woman's mouth. She couldn't comprehend how ChiChi could sit there, only hours after participating in an illicit affair with her lover, and act like she gave a rat's ass about her current emotional state.

She had to hand it to her though, the woman had balls.

“You know what? I'm going to go call Gohan and tell him to come over and bring Goten with him.” ChiChi smiled at Bulma as she got up from the floor and straightened up to her full height, brushing off nonexistent specks of dust from her skirt.

“What?” Bulma let out weakly. What was she talking about now?

“Well, I can't very well leave you here all alone after the pain I've caused you.” ChiChi said as if her intentions should have been clear to Bulma.

“What?” Bulma just couldn't seem to wrap her mind around what the woman standing in front of her was suggesting.

“I'm going to stay here with you until I've made you feel better. Honestly Bulma! You would be worried too if you could look at yourself right now!” With that, ChiChi was out of the room and running down the stairs, determined to contact Gohan and put her plan into action.

Bulma was stumped. Had ChiChi just proposed what she thought she had? Was she really planning to stay in Bulma's house until she `felt better'?

Over my dead body! Bulma sprung into action and ran after the dark haired hussy.

Bulma found her in the kitchen, speaking quickly into the receiver giving precise orders to Gohan on what to bring for her and the things she would need for Goten.

This is not happening. Thought Bulma helplessly as she saw the other woman return the phone to its cradle and then move over to the refrigerator.

Bulma couldn't explain the paralysis she was currently under. She wanted to scream and yell at the woman to get the hell out of her kitchen and her house. The words kept forming in her head but they refused to be vocalized. Now she could only stand back and watch as the dark haired woman made herself at home and prepared to make dinner.

At last, ChiChi paused from washing the vegetables she was going to use in the beef stew she wanted to make and turned to the stunned beauty standing just outside the kitchen's threshold.

“Don't look at me like that, Bulma.” ChiChi chastised her jokingly, chuckling good-naturedly at the expression on Bulma's face.

Bulma looked like she had just heard Vegeta profess his undying love for her Goku. ChiChi laughed candidly at the mental image and then turned back to her vegetables.

“You are obviously in no condition to take care of Trunks, let alone Vegeta. So, why don't you go upstairs, draw yourself a bath and soak for a little while? Take a load off.” ChiChi offered, fully expecting Bulma to accept and leave her to what she did best.

There were so many things wrong with that statement that Bulma simply didn't know which part to be angry with first.

Bulma let out a frustrated shriek at the injustice of it all. She wanted to cry, laugh, and scream, all at the same time. She felt like the whole world had finally gone mad. How couldn't ChiChi see that she didn't want her there? That her mere presence was driving her up the wall?

For her part, ChiChi had turned to glare at Bulma for scaring her half to death with that inhuman screech. ChiChi was really getting worried now and she looked around for what might have caused Bulma to yell in such a way. Not finding anything out of the ordinary, her gaze settled back on Bulma who looked like she was about to jump her at any moment.

Just as ChiChi was about to ask Bulma what her problem was, the door that led to the backyard opened and Trunks rushed in looking disheveled.

“Hey mom!” He greeted brightly with youthful exuberance as he made his way to the fridge to get a bottle of water. When he had fetched his water was when he finally noticed ChiChi standing by the sink. “Oh, hi Miss ChiChi! I didn't know you were here. Where's Goten?” He said all this in practically the same breath, and then gulped down the cold liquid.

“He's on his way. Say, Trunks… could you do me a favor?” ChiChi asked kindly to the little boy.

“Sure!” He answered happily, with the level of energy six year olds always seemed to be full of.

“Why don't you take your mother upstairs and make her lie down for a while?” ChiChi looked pointedly in his mother's direction.

Trunks took in his mother as if seeing her for the first time. She looked awful. Bulma always prided herself in her appearance so the woman glaring hatefully at ChiChi totally surprised him. Bulma's hair was sticking up in all directions, doing a decent imitation of Goten's and her clothes were wrinkled. Her face was pale and her eyes were opened wide with a glazed look to them.

He nodded numbly at ChiChi and walked to a stop in front of his mother.

Bulma had been listening quietly to the whole scene, growing more enraged with each second. It was truly a miracle that she still hadn't flown at ChiChi but she could tell it was only a matter of time. She was at the end of her tether and seeing ChiChi speaking to Trunks in such a motherly way was not helping matters any.

She had been about to go through with what her brain was begging her to do when Trunks came to stand in front of her. He grabbed her hand and silently but firmly led her through the house, up the stairs and into her room. Once there, he mutely pulled back the bed covers and guided her until she was lying propped up against some pillows with the lights on low and the master remote control in her hand.

“Try to get some sleep mom; you look like you really need it.” Trunks gazed softly at her and gently caressed her cheeks with his small hands then he leaned forward and gave her a peck on the cheek.

After giving her another loving look he left the room, closing the door quietly behind him.

Bulma watched him go with tears in her eyes. It seemed she had done something right after all. She had reared a very caring little boy who, with his simplicity, had given her the peace of mind she had been craving for during the whole hellish day.

With this new found peace also came the exhaustion from the roller coaster of emotions she had been riding since the previous day.

She felt her eyelids droop and with a sigh gave up the fight against the Sandman, letting the world fall away as she fell into a dreamless sleep, completely forgetting about Vegeta and ChiChi and the nagging feeling that the bed was too comfortable to be the one in the guestroom.

End Chapter 4

MadRiver