Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Price You Pay ❯ Chapter Twenty-Four ( Chapter 24 )

Insert standard disclaimer here.

The Price You Pay: Chapter Twenty-Four

"I just don't understand, Radditz." The Saiya-jin no Ouji began to brood. He didn't like situations like these. He didn't like situations that he couldn't explain, especially ones that involved him, and if some levity didn't come soon he had the distinct feeling he was going to blow something up.

"Neither do I, sire." Radditz stood upright with his feet shoulder width apart and his hands behind his back. It was the stance he had been trained to stand in all his life around royalty.

Yes, I have the military to thank for my perfect posture.

Thought Radditz with a sarcastic smirk.

"Why, in Kami's name, are you smirking at a time like this you fool?” the fiesty prince nearly screamed. He felt as if the muscles in his neck would snap at any moment.

"My apologies, sire. I did not realize I was smirking." Radditz immediately sobered. The prince was one Saiya-jin he definitely didn't want to piss off. He didn't really understand what had Vegeta's panties in a bunch though. What happened was disturbing, but not worth the sort of reaction he was having right now.

 

The Saiya-jin no Ouji began pacing up the crimson carpet in the hallway outside of his quarters. The mysterious onna lay inside, completely unaware of the confusion surrounding her. Vegeta glanced anxiously at the door.

"I think that for the time being it would be wise for her to stay in this branch of the palace where she is easily accessible. We know nothing about her and frail as she may seem I want to be perfectly certain that there is no possible threat brewing here." The prince appeared lost in his own thoughts for a moment; contemplating how ridiculous it must seem to call the defenseless creature a threat.

"Of course, sire."

"In the mean time, I want you to investigate her origin. Where does she come from? And more importantly, how did she get here without our knowing? She does have a pathetic ki level but not nearly low enough to be undetected," he began lecturing. There was something about the creature he just couldn't place. The way he'd brushed her hair from her eyes earlier had been complete reflex, habit. Everything was invoking such an odd sense of nostalgia. "Oh, and Radditz, a slow death will await you if word of this reaches my father."

Vegeta had already started entering the room. He made the comment as an after thought. "Of course, sire," said Radditz with confusion in his eyes as he stared blankly into the now empty hall.

Why doesn't he want the King to know?

~~~~~<(((((|||)))))>~~~~~

There was probably nothing more strange than listening to the two men converse "quietly" in the hall, reflected Bulma. Her? A threat? To what? What was going on? How was she on Vegeta-sei? Why didn't Vegeta come to her when she'd called his name earlier? What was this nonsense about not knowing who she was? She was his mate dammit!

Just as I thought earlier, this is insanity. Complete insanity.

Bulma rubbed her eyes. There was an aching behind them that she knew came with over resting. She didn't know how long she'd been knocked out. Uncertain, she glanced around for any indication of the time to no avail. Vegeta's room, which she assumed herself to be in, was shaded in darkness.

 

Her body ached all over, she noticed after a few minutes. Like it was completely drained of all its energy. Bulma squeezed her eyes shut. She felt utterly alone. It didn't help that she was lying in the pitch black of a room that smelled like her lover. The man who claimed to be her mate, Vegeta, the Saiya-jin no Ouji. Bulma sat up and wrapped her arms around herself for extra comfort. The room was permeated with his smell, utterly saturated. She now knew why scent was said to be the smell most clearly linked to memory.

Where are you, Vegeta?

Suddenly there was the sound of an opening door. Bulma's heart began to flutter and then beat more quickly in fear. It was dark. Who knew what sort of creature was lurking in the unknown shadows? She was beginning to despise her human senses—they always came up short when she needed them most. She could hear footsteps and a gentle masculine breathing sound.

"Vegeta...?" She whispered into the darkness.

"How do you do that, onna?" came an irritated voice. He seemed a bit frazzled. Clearly she'd ruined the element of surprise.

"Do what?" She was immediately on the defensive. She didn't know how much more she could take at this point. Her only response was a grunt.

Ah, back to caveman again. Where did I go wrong?

Thought Bulma with a grin.

There was a candle lit before Bulma knew what was going on and Vegeta's rich, dark brown eyes were staring at her intently, the candle light reflected in their intent orbs. She inhaled quickly, surprised by his sudden proximity and her failure at sensing his nearness. Something was wrong if she couldn't sense him. When back on Earth, the thought made her shudder and tingle, she could pick him up anywhere in the house. It was like having her own personal Vegeta radar.

"You aren't afraid are you, little one?" There was a devilish grin and Bulma could feel herself begin to relax. It was the same Vegeta, and he still got a kick out of scaring her or believing that she was afraid. But there was something behind his eyes. Something lurking in the background which gave Bulma the sense that this man, Vegeta though he may be, was somehow different, altered.

She smiled coyly. "Always, Vegeta," she responded sarcastically, emphasizing his name in a possessive way. It was meant to be playful. This confused him. His eyebrows furrowed and his gaze hardened.

"Watch who you are speaking to, onna. I am the Saiya-jin no Ouji. I demand that you respect my title." His words were hard but his eyes softened just the least bit. Bulma gazed at his tail. The tip of it was lashing around playfully.

Well, at least there's one way you can always tell how a Saiya-jin feels.

Bulma smiled again amidst her confusion.

Something is definitely different.

Vegeta was frowning and looking at her intently, as if deep in thought.

"I'm going to be direct," started Vegeta, "we don't know who you are. The head of my guard, Radditz, does not know how it is you arrived in the royal gardens without being detected, and—" he hesitated and gazed at her. Bulma found herself longing for the gold hues which had, until most recently, punctuated his eyes whenever he was around at her.

"You are unaware of why I possess a black marking of the seal of the House of Vegeta-sei on my upper back," Bulma finished for him. It was obvious that this point held some strange, distraught emotion for him. She couldn't decide what it was, or even if she wanted to know.

Although embracing him was her first instinct at sign of such an emotion, Bulma refrained. She didn't want to scare him off. Even if every inch of her body was screaming to touch him.

Ha! Scare off Vegeta? He'd probably see intimacy as an insult or a challenge.

The thought made her laugh, but she refrained from doing that too. Vegeta's frown deepened.

"It would be wise for you to start speaking now, onna. I would hate to be forced to use methods of extraction which would mar your delicate beauty." It was a threat, and a damned serious one at that. Bulma looked at the Saiya-jin no Ouji and his unfamiliar cold stare back at her. This was no idle threat.

You really don't remember?

Bulma bit down on her lower lip. She had to sober up quickly. Apparently, the situation was far graver than she had imagined. Either Vegeta was pretending not to know her, remember anything of their being mated, or it was some sort of strange amnesia. Still, neither of these situations explained the altered reality surrounding her and the fact she was on a planet which should have been destroyed close to two decades ago.

"What is this, onna? First fainting and now tears? Can we Saiya-jins do anything without ruining your ridiculously fragile psyche?" He sounded exasperated. The tender moment she thought they had been having was now just a memory, beaten back by the careless reality that she was all alone. This was not her Vegeta at all.

It was uncanny. She was never one to faint. Never one to lose it like that. There was something about this place. Something surreal. Something foreboding. She didn't like it one bit.

"I-I—“ she stuttered. She didn't know what to say. She thought about telling him the truth but as the candle light reflected upon his chiseled face, a devious, cold-hearted expression appeared and all she could do was stumble.

"Well?" he demanded. His tail was still flicking back and forth anxiously but she didn't know if it was because he was playing with her or saw her as some freakish sort of prey.

"I don't know." Her eyebrows came together and her face portrayed a sense of isolation and solitude. Her face crumpled and one lone silver tear ran down her cheek before she fainted once again. She surrendered herself to the welcoming nothingness. Only this time she wasn't so lucky, for awaiting her was an emotional pit of darkness submerged in cold words and memories of Vegeta's warm embrace which seemed just out of reach.