Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Frog Prince ❯ Promises ( Chapter 2 )

Last Time: Prince Vegeta of the Saiya kingdom has been cursed by the evil sorcerer Freeza and taken far away from his kingdom.

Chapter Two

"Promises"

Princess Bulma sat by her window and sighed. The sun was shining, the birds were singing, but still she was not content. In all her seventeen years she had never been in love, though she desperately wished it so. Once she believed she was but it had been nothing but a childish illusion. For months she had seen the eye of the royal stable boy, Yamcha, turn her way. He was terribly handsome and the deep scar on his beautiful face made him seem all the more dangerous and a tad mysterious. He made her heart beat faster whenever she arrived at the stable for her weekly lessons. It had taken her months to work up enough courage to look him in the eyes without blushing. One afternoon after her riding lesson Yamcha had brushed a stray wisp of hair from her brow and whispered to her that she was beautiful. He had moved in closer and closer till his lips brushed against hers in her very first kiss. Ever since that moment she had been walking on the clouds, that was until this morning. She had been strolling past the stables, though it was not her riding day, in the hopes that she might catch a glimpse of Yamcha, and see him she did. He was twirling his fingers in the aqua hair of one of house maids. Her name was Marron. (Krillan's sleazy ex-girlfriend, not his daughter.) Marron giggled as Yamcha littered kisses down her neck and over her bosom. Bulma ran straight back to her room, never alerting the entwined couple of her presence. Throwing herself onto her large, plush bed, she cried her heart out.

A knock on her chamber door broke into her sad thoughts. "Enter," she called with a voice dull and void of emotion. The maid that entered was around the princess's age. Her smooth black hair was pulled into a simple bun with two wisps falling about her face. She was petite, pretty, and Bulma's closest friend. "Hi ChiChi," Bulma sniffled.

"Your Highness," ChiChi came to stand by her friend's side.

"ChiChi, we've known each other for years. Call me Bulma. Father won't be angry he knows that we're friends." She gave the maid a watery smile.

"What's wrong?" ChiChi asked soothingly.

The princess's lips trembled slightly and her eyes filled again with tears, "Oh ChiChi," she cried. "I'll never have anyone to love me like Sir Goku loves you." Goku was top knight in the king's brigade. He had been desperately in love with ChiChi since the day he set eyes on her.

"Hush now," the dark haired maid hugged her friend. "You will find someone in time, I just know it. But you need to be patient. True love will find you when the time is right."

The princess sniffled in a manor most unbecoming of royalty and wiped her tears with a dainty handkerchief. "I do so hope you are right," She sighed before turning a forced smile on her beloved friend. "How fairs your love?"

ChiChi blushed and looked down at her folded hands. "Sir Goku has asked for my hand in marriage," she spoke quietly. She almost felt guilty, having such joy when her best friend was so sad.

"ChiChi!" Bulma squealed and threw her arms about the young maid in a sisterly hug. "This is wonderful news." She took ChiChi's hands in her own, smiling like a church beacon. "You must have the wedding at the castle. I insist," Bulma added when she saw her friend about to object.

"Oh thank you," The dark haired girl smiled. "Well, I must be going. I have lots more work to do and I want to finish early so I can spend more time with Goku," She shyly ducked her head before leaving the princess at her window.

Bulma may have been smiling at her friend, and she was genuinely happy, but it only reminded her of the loneliness she felt inside. Sighing, she looked about her grand room. So many riches, jewels and finery, and yet she was not content. Perhaps it would be best if she found some place to clear her head. The sunlight glinted off a golden ball set on a satin pillow next to her bed. A single red star blazed across the smooth gold surface. Her parents, the king and queen, had entrusted her with one of the legendary dragon balls for her last birthday. Delicately picking the small orb in her hand she slipped out of her room and left the palace headed to the one place that had always given her comfort.

* * *

Sunlight filtered through the trees in glittering shafts of light. They illuminated patches of forest, making the greenery seem to glow an ethereal emerald. Delicately stepping through the grass and fallen leaves, Princess Bulma made her way to a small pond located in a grand clearing. The sun shone down uninhibited, dancing off the water's surface in shining diamonds of light. Folding her legs beneath her, she smoothed the wrinkles of her light pink summer gown and took the dragon ball from her pocket. As a child she had frequented this place. On numerous occasions a maid or nanny would be sent on the king's orders to this clearing to drag the princess, sometimes kicking and screaming, back to her lessons. The princess was a naturally intelligent girl and she found her tutors to be tedious and, for the most part, ignorant. With years of practice she became a master of slipping out from their sharp gaze to escape the insufferable prattle of history and philosophy.

Turning the golden ball round and round in her delicate hands, she tossed it up and caught it just as easily. She continued her game while her mind wandered back to the trouble in her heart. She had no love to speak of and no prospects for the future. Royal decree would never have permitted a relationship between the princess and a stable boy such as Yamcha. But still it had been nice to have a man show her favor. If her father had known of their stolen kiss and flirtatious talks then Yamcha would probably have been banished from the kingdom. His Royal Highness was famous for holding an over-protective rule over his only daughter. While most girls her age were marrying, the king had yet to let a single suitor woo the princess, though many had tried. Bulma was a great beauty, one so great that tales of her favorable looks spread far and wide through out the kingdom. But, unlike most girls of the times, the only thing that surpassed her beauty was her wit. Men seemed to shy away from a wife with more intelligence then they.

Bulma became so tied up in her thoughts that when she sent the ball aloft it missed her delicate hands and fell to the ground before rolling into the nearby pond. "Oh no!" she cried. Getting to her knees she rose in time to watch the ball roll deep into the murky water till it could be seen no more. "Oh father will punish me if I lose one of the sacred dragon balls." Tears filled her crystalline blue eyes. Her parents had entrusted her with a great responsibility and they would be desperately disappointed in her if she returned to the castle with out the golden treasure. Before she knew it she was weeping. She wept and wept till the woods were filled with heart breaking sound of her sobs.

Her cries were so loud and sad that they woke up a certain sleeping frog who had been resting on a rock by the bank of the pond. Vegeta opened his eyes to see a lovely girl. Her hands covered her face, but he could clearly see the rest of her. Flaxen blue hair fell past her shoulders, the ends curling slightly in soft waves. Her frame was slender and petite. She couldn't possibly be older then sixteen, seventeen at the most. She was delicate and frail with skin so light it gave her the illusion of looking almost ethereal. Her sobs could melt a heart of stone but his heart must have been made of thicker stuff yet, for all he heard was the piteous wails of an angel brat and he sorely wished she would desist that racket coming from her mouth.

"Girl," he croaked, sounding as angry as a frog can. "Will you quit that hideous noise, you're hurting my ears."

Bulma's weeping was interrupted by a rude voice coming from near the pond. She looked all about her but all she saw was an ugly old frog, it's bulging eyes looking directly at her. "Did you just…speak?" She asked tentatively.

"Yes and I was telling you to stop that pitiful wailing," He glared as her from the water's edge.

Beyond her amazement at a frog speaking, she was over come by anger at his disrespectful tone. "Why you horrible creature," she said with disdain. "I am princess of this land and may do as I please." She held her head high and wiped the tears from her face.

A princess, this was interesting news. If she was the princess of this land then perhaps he could learn of his whereabouts and news of his kingdom. But this one seemed like a spoiled, sniffling brat not inclined to talk politics with a lowly frog. Perhaps he could trick her somehow into taking him to the palace, or at least pointing him the direction of it. "Do as you please, your highness," it took all his restraint to speak to her in a pleasant tone. "But, please, do tell me what trouble has befallen your grace so that you may cry so broken heartily? For a girl of such beauty, your tears would melt the coldest of hearts," he purred as best he could. A little flattery always went a long way in winning a girl's favor. She seemed the naïve type to fall for simple compliments on her looks.

Bulma noticeably preened at such flirtatious words for she took great pride in her looks. But she soon remembered her predicament and her lovely face crumbled again to tears; "I have lost one of the royal family's gold dragon balls into this pond here and cannot see it. If I return to the palace without it my father is certain to punish me. The dragon balls are a beloved treasure to our kingdom," she cried.

"Perhaps I can be of some help," Vegeta baited.

The princess's delicate lips curled back to a sneer. "What ever could a lowly creature like you do other then sit in this pond and croak with the other frogs?"

Vegeta bristled at her snobbish words. He was a prince and guilty of a little condescension him self, but no where near so great a brat as she. Someone, he silently decided, should really teach her some humility. A small, evil smile slid across his rubbery lips, unable to be seen by the human eye. He could get what he needed, information on his homeland and his location, but he might also have a little fun in the process. "This 'lowly' frog," he started," would be more then pleased to retrieve your lost plaything, if you would make me one promise."

She eyed the frog warily, "What is it you want from me? My cloths, jewels, my golden crown?"

"Your clothing, jewels and crown are of no use to me. All I ask is that you take me to your palace. Let me be your companion. I will sit with you at table, eats from your plate, drink from your glass and sleep in your silken bed. Promise me this and I will fetch that which you have lost."

Bulma was shocked at all he asked. This was no simple promise. How humiliating would it be for the royal court to witness her eating with a frog? But if she didn't get that dragon ball…. Her eyes searched the water for any sign of the golden orb but there was none.

Vegeta took note of her wondering gaze and decided to take advantage, "Well, if you'd rather wade into the water and get it yourself. But do be careful of your pretty dress, you know how pond water can stain."

Bulma looked at the water in horror. Water spiders skidded across the slightly filmed surface. I have no choice, she thought. I will promise him what he asks, but once I have my ball back safe and sound I'll leave him here with the other frogs, she decided secretly. "Fine," she told him. "I will agree to what you ask as long as you deliver what you promise." She looked down at her hands folded in her lap, deeply ashamed at her own deceit. But she could not have a frog for a companion; it would make her the laughing stock of the kingdom.

Once he heard her agreement, Vegeta dove beneath the water's surface and searched the murky depth till he espied the golden ball. Taking it in his large mouth, he swam back to the surface and spit the ball out on to the grass. Upon seeing this, the princess hastened to retrieve her property. When once she held the dragon ball in her hand, she took back to the forest and headed straight for home. Though she felt disgust with herself, she did not turn when the voice of the lowly frog rang through the trees, "Come back here, you promised!" But still she did not turn back.

Vegeta watched carefully and memorized the direction that the beautiful princess ran. No little brat was going to get the best of him. He would make sure that she made good on her promise.

* * *

Author's note: There's chapter two. I hope I did it OK. I wanted to make Bulma a little less of a jerk then the original princess so at least she felt kind of bad about lying to the frog. Plus, I still wanted to reserve Vegeta's veggie-ness thus the evil desire to humiliate the princess a little.

Next Chapter: How will Bulma react when the 'lowly' frog shows up at the castle. And what will King Briefs do when he finds out that his daughter did not keep her promise? (Well if you read the original story then you already know. ^_^)