Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Prince and Princess Diaries ❯ Sontoku ( Chapter 18 )

Chapter Eighteen: Sontoku (Loss and Gain)

Bulma patted her hair one more time before giving herself one last quick glance in the mirror. She was dressed in a simple dark gray mourning dress. It was comfortable and not too elegant, which was exactly what she was looking for. She did not want it to look like she was trying to impress a certain someone.

She left her room, closed her door, and started walking to the suite next to hers. She was nervous, but excited at the same time. She wondered what Vegeta would say or do. Hopefully it would not be something ignorant or hateful.

She stepped up to his door, noticing the light from beneath it. He is in there, all by himself. Good.

Bulma rapped lightly on the door, praying to whatever gods were listening that nothing bad would happen.

"Go away."

Bulma smiled at his deep raspy voice. He sounded irritated, but it did not sway her. She knocked again, hoping that he would invite her in and give her flowers and candies and treat her like a lady. However, those were foolish girl dreams.

"I said go away, damn it!"

She could hear him curse, and she took a small tentative step back when she heard his angry footsteps approach the door. He sounded pissed for some reason, and she wondered briefly if it was because of her.

"What do you-Bulma?"

Bulma smiled softly when she saw the beyond shocked look on Vegeta's face. He opened the door wider, and she took in his appearance with awed-filled gasp. The light behind him made it look like he was glowing with otherworldly light, almost as if he was a god ascended from on high just to see her. He was wearing a nearly transparent white button-down shirt, which was opened at his throat. She could see the top of his chest, and she stared at the strong exposed muscles. She remembered how before he had left that he had been very built even at eighteen years old, but now, at twenty-one, his musculature was even more defined and sculpted. She nearly had to fan herself.

Vegeta felt his eyebrow jut up at the sight of her staring at his chest. She seemed thoroughly absorbed at the sight. He held back a smirk when she snapped out of whatever had held her in thrall, and she took in the rest of his appearance. She seemed just as interested in his black tight-fitting pants and leather riding boots. She must have noticed that he had been out riding at the state of his attire.

Bulma gulped and forced herself to look up at his handsome face. He was so-

"Your highnesses!!!"

Bulma and Vegeta jerked towards the sound of someone yelling for them. The same manservant that had escorted Bulma to his door earlier nearly ran headlong into Bulma, and she had to hold her hands up to force him to stop before he collided into her.

"Your highnesses," he breathed heavily, trying to catch his breath desperately. He leaned against the wall and took a few deep breaths.

"Your highnesses, I think the king might be dead!"

Bulma felt all the blood drain from her face. She did not even bother to look at her husband or wait for him, just took off down the corridor. She ran as fast as she could, and by the time she got there, she could hardly breathe. Now she knew why the manservant had been struggling to get air into his lungs. Each of their suites was huge and housed several different rooms, and by the time you got the next suite, you were ready to die from trying to get air into your body.

Bulma ripped open the door to her father-in-law's suite, only to encounter pitch-blackness. The drapes were covering the windows, and not even a speck of light filtered in. She flicked on the switch by the door, and stiffened.

Vegeta nearly ran straight into his wife standing in the doorway. He could see her pale face and wide eyes staring at the bed, and he moved around her to get to the bed.

When he saw his father, a million different things popped into his head at the sight of so much blood. No, his father has not been assassinated. No, he had not killed himself. The plague had got him too.

Nearly black blood seeped out of the king's eyes, ears, and nose. Spots on his skin had broke open and blood poured out of the wounds with a slow, oozing trickle. The fallen king lay in a puddle of his own life's fluid, his dead eyes staring at the top of his curtained bed. No one had been there for him...he had died alone.

Vegeta turned away from the sight. Bulma had not moved away from her spot, and she was so pale that she looked like death. Little did he know what was going through her head.

Bulma felt like she was outside of herself. All she could picture was the horrible death of her mother-in-law. The blood, the gore, the suffering. All the choked cries and meaningless hours of death. It had been so hard to thrust the images of Hokora like that out of her head. She'd had so many nightmares the first night of her death, and the three days after that. Last night had been the only night she had not dreamt of Hokora's death.

But now all the images and scenes flashed before her eyes, startling her with their strength and viciousness. The king was lying dead in his bed, dark blood flowing from him like a fountain. It reminded her so much of the way Hokora had died. Except this time it was worse. Now she had to deal with the thought of two of her family members' deaths.

The manservant that had told them finally managed to get to the door, his breathing even more labored. Vegeta looked dejectedly in his direction, and then at his wife. He felt his eyes widen slightly at the sight of tears running down her pale cheeks, and her hands clutched desperately over her heart. He could see her trembling even from where he was standing.

He hurried to her side, only to run the last few steps when her eyes rolled back in her head and her feet fell out beneath her. He caught her at the last second, mere inches from the ground. He pulled her against his chest and swiped her soft blue hair out of her eyes. She had put it up in a ponytail, but now it was falling apart. He did not bother with it, for there were far more important matters.

Vegeta looked at the manservant standing still in the doorway. He seemed extremely affected by the king's death as well. Vegeta cleared his throat and lifted his wife gently into his arms.

"See to it that the palace physicians are alerted. I will leave you in charge of King Vegeta's care. Bring the princess's maidservant to her quarters immediately as well," he ordered, leaving his deceased father's room.

The manservant gulped and nodded, exceptionally honored and nervous at the same time. He would make sure that King Vegeta was given the best care, but first, he would get the princess's maid.

********************

"Bulma, my love, wake up."

Bulma felt her eyes flutter, but she willed them to stay closed. She never wanted to open them again. All she wanted to do was keep sleeping and continue her wonderful dream. It had been so lovely. The sky had been a bright blue, just like on Anausia-sei, and she had been sitting underneath a Rayling tree. Its beautiful branches had been swaying in the wind, and its red flower petals drifting around her. Vegeta had been there, sitting next to her and holding her close. He had just told her that he--

"Bulma, my love. Wake up. I am going to take you away from here. I will make sure nothing bad will ever happen again."

Bulma smiled dreamily. She opened her blurry eyes to see spiky black hair and a distorted face. It was Vegeta!

She threw herself into his arms, sobbing her heart out. She felt so many emotions collide together inside her that she could barely hold them back. All she wanted to know was that Vegeta was there and he finally cared for her and he really wanted to take her away....

"Oh, Vegeta. I cannot believe that he is gone. He was such a wonderful person; he was like my second father. I never thought it would happen to him too...."

Yamcha blinked and pushed her away. "Bulma?" he said, looking into her dilated eyes.

Bulma blinked back her tears, forcing her vision to clear. She gasped loudly at the sight of Yamcha, who had been the last person she had expected.

"Yamcha, what are you doing here? You should not be in here...Vegeta might come in and see you. He might-"

"Vegeta?" Yamcha snarled, instant fury seething inside him. "I will kill the bastard! After everything he has put you through, he should be drawn and quartered! I promise I shall avenge you, Bulma!"

Yamcha stood, ready to kill something. The Saiya-jin prince would finally get what's coming to him. But first....

"Bulma, are you alright?" he asked gently, sitting back down on her soft bed. She gave him a confused look, and he drew her into his arms. She tried to push away, but he just would not let go. Oh no, she thought, what if-

"What is going on here!"

Both Yamcha and Bulma jerked towards the open door. Vegeta stood there, a glass of water held in his hand. Bulma pushed away from Yamcha just as the baron stood up and glared at her husband.

Yamcha took in the small, scrawny prince. How could Bulma see anything in this guy? He is tiny compared to me. I will kill him, and then Bulma shall be mine forever!

Yamcha charged Vegeta, his angry yell filling the room. He threw his fist at him as he neared him, only to have Vegeta sidestep and stick his foot out to trip him. Yamcha hit the floor hard, and Vegeta took the chance to kick him in the side as he struggled to get up. Yamcha stumbled away, and then came back at Vegeta with another cry. Vegeta rolled his eyes and smashed his fist into the weakling's face. Yamcha promptly fell over and grabbed his now broken nose to keep the blood from streaming everywhere.

Bulma took this chance to jump in when she noticed Vegeta was about to give him a finishing blow. "No, Vegeta, stop!" she cried, running over to his side and nearly tripping on her nightgown. She grabbed his left arm, which still held the glass of water. Not even one drop was spilled in that squabble. Wow, he is good.

Vegeta turned to his pale wife, noticing that she was scared. For who, that weakling fool? Or perhaps me? He smirked triumphantly at the thought.

"Who is this idiot? What is he doing in your chambers? I should kill him for being in here with you!!"

Bulma felt oddly touched. Maybe he does care for me. He is defending my honor.

Bulma looked pathetically over at Yamcha. He looked to be in extreme pain, but he said not a word. She licked her dry lips and tried to help the situation.

"Vegeta, this is Lord Yamcha, one of your barons. He is my friend," she said softly, trying to calm her seething husband. He seemed to calm at her words, but she could still feel his stiff muscles beneath her hand. She stroked his arm to calm him further.

Vegeta wanted to pound the fool into the ground. He wanted to chop him up into a million pieces and feed him to the dogs. He wanted to--

"Yamcha," Bulma said, seeing the nearly insane glare in her husband's eyes, "maybe you should go. I will talk to you later."

Yamcha nodded to her in respect. He left the room without bowing, and slammed the door behind him.

Bulma let out a sigh. What an experience that had been. She had always wondered what a confrontation between Vegeta and Yamcha would be like. She had expected something like that.

Vegeta seemed to let himself relax after the baron left. Bulma took notice of it and released his strong arm just in case he did not like her touching him. She had enjoyed it immensely, but that was just her.

Vegeta watched his wife walk over to her bed and crawl under the blankets. She drew them up to her chin, and Vegeta sighed to himself about her virginal qualities. Oh well, it could have been worse.

Vegeta walked over to her bed and handed her the glass of water. He had been sitting by her bedside all night long, just to make sure she was alright. He had left a while ago to get her a glass of water for when she awoke, only to return and see some idiot sitting on her bed and holding her. He had felt unexpected emotions fill him at the sight, like protectiveness and anger at someone touching something that belonged to him. Even if the fool had not attacked him, Vegeta probably would have. He never wanted another man in her room...ever.

Bulma sipped daintily at the water as she watched he husband stare at her. She just knew it was coming....

"I never want to see him in your room again. On second thought, I never want to see any man near you again. You are a princess of Vegeta-sei, soon to be queen of Vegeta-sei, and no one but me is allowed near you. Is that understood?"

Bulma nodded, trying not to smile. She liked his protectiveness. Usually she would have put up a fight about something like this, but right now she needed to know that he cared.

"Yes, Vegeta. I understand," she said, staring up at him. He seemed shocked at her words.

Vegeta frowned. "You are not mad? Are you plotting something?" he asked, immediately suspicious of her. She never gave up this easily, especially when it came to him and his orders.

"No, I am not mad. I would not like a woman in your room either, let alone near you," she said, letting the last part slip on purpose. She wondered what he would think.

Vegeta smirked at her, making her nearly drop her glass of water. Damn his sexy mouth!

He never said anything, which nearly drove her insane. She kept wondering what he thought, but she knew deep down that she would never find out.

Vegeta turned away and walked towards her door. "I wish to see you dressed promptly so we can begin our day. We have a lot of work to do, and you lying in bed all day is not acceptable."

Bulma snickered behind his back. Do this, do that. I might as well be his slave. "Yes, Prince Vegeta," she said sarcastically, but he did not seem to notice. He just nodded and left, closing the door behind him.

********************

She was ready within the next half hour. She was dressed in a light gray dress this time, for she was going to be in mourning for the next month. On Anausia-sei they mourned for the death of a loved one for over a year, depending on how close the person was to you. But here on Vegeta-sei they only mourned for the maximum of a month. She was personally thankful that she did not have to wear a gray or black dress for a whole year.

She left her room, seeing that her husband was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. She thanked him for waiting for her, and he grunted a response.

"Since my father is dead, we both have to make the preparations for our coronation ceremony as the king and queen of Vegeta-sei. That will take a while. We also have to make the burial arrangements for my mother, and get an appropriate coffin made for my father." He talked as he started walking, expecting her to follow. She had to skip to catch up.

"We also have to figure out what to do about this virus. I assume that there is some research being done on this in the secret lab?" he asked, hoping that she knew about it. He would be sorely disappointed if she did not and she had not kept up with her duties.

"Yes, there is. My father is actually here, helping as well."

Vegeta nodded, and Bulma was stunned for a moment at how regal he looked. He is everything that a prince could ever be, if not more.

"Has your father discovered anything? I have only met him a few times, but from what I know of him, he is a genius. We get most of our technology from him. He has made us very rich."

Bulma frowned at Vegeta's words and thought for a moment. She had always noticed a big difference between Vegeta-sei and Anausia-sei. For one, she knew that King Vegeta had wanted an alliance with Anausia-sei because of her father and everything he could give them. That was where her and Vegeta had come in. They had basically been pawns in a game for more power and money. Vegeta-sei had wanted Anausia-sei's technological genius, and to get it, King Vegeta had arranged a marriage between her and his son. Very convenient for Vegeta-sei, she thought sarcastically.

However, there was one thing she did not understand. If her father had been selling off his technology all these years, why were they not filthy rich? Why were they not rolling in mounds upon mounds of riches? True, Vegeta-sei would have all the technological expertise it could ever wish for, but you would think that Anausia-sei would have all kinds of money in the deal. But why was Vegeta-sei benefiting? She had noticed since her arrival to her new home that Anausia was lacking in the money department. Her home planet had been more of a natural looker, not an awe-inspiring look-at-those-huge-buildings looker. Vegeta-sei and Anausia-sei were two completely different planets, and she wondered why.

Bulma looked closely at her husband and blurted her thoughts out. "Why would Vegeta-sei be so rich? Would my father not be rich from selling to you? I noticed from the first day I came here that Vegeta-sei had a lot of money, but I also noticed that Anausia-sei did not have as much as it should from all the inventions my father has created. Would it not make more sense that my father would be rich instead of you?"

Vegeta swallowed, uncomfortable with the subject. "Yes, that would make sense," he said weakly. "My father more than likely robbed you father from the profits he should have gotten."

Bulma stopped at the top of the grand staircase that led to the main part of the palace. Vegeta was three steps down by the time he noticed, and he turned to look at her.

"Vegeta, if you knew of this, then why did you not do something? That is horribly wrong. You should have told your father not to do that, especially if he knew you were going to marry a princess from there!" she cried, feeling hurt. If Vegeta had known about this for many years, had known that his father was deceiving hers, then why had he not stopped it? He should have gotten the guts to stand up to his father. She'd certainly had enough to stand up to his father from time to time.

Vegeta frowned deeply at her. "Bulma, it was not my fault. At the time I had no control over the Saiya-jin Empire. Whatever my father chose to do was his decision, not mine. If I would have said something, King Vegeta would have just laughed in my face."

Bulma still felt angry, at both her now dead father-in-law and her husband. She did not care if he would have laughed in his face or not. He still should have said something.

She started walking down the stairs again, her chin held high. "Well," she said haughtily, "if such a situation ever occurs again, you shall hear from me. And make sure as well, Vegeta, that you cease the trickery."

Vegeta smirked. She was a cocky one.

Bulma made it to the bottom of the staircase and turned around, seeing her husband smirking at something. She ignored its affect on her.

"So what do you want me to do? Anything in particular?" she asked, wishing that he would stop taking his time on his descent.

Vegeta thought for a moment. "I would say basically everything except the coronation business. I am going to be working all day, and it will be even harder because there is barely anyone around. Do what you can by yourself." He paused, suddenly giving her a close look. "Have you thought about my proposal for a private dinner?"

He could not read the expressions on her face, which disturbed him because he was usually very good at that. And then she smiled brightly.

"Alright. Shall I meet you in your private quarters at say, eight?"

His smirk reappeared, and she felt her knees go weak knowing that it was directed at her. What is going on with me?

Vegeta descended the last few steps until he was standing in front of her. She looked slightly flushed and nervous, which pleased him immensely.

Bulma held back a gasp as Vegeta suddenly grasped her hand and pulled it to his mouth. "Until then, my princess," he whispered, staring into her eyes the whole time. He felt her shudder as he brushed his lips against her hand, and then he smiled and walked away.

Bulma felt the breath she had been holding whoosh out. She did not know what was wrong, but Vegeta was making her feel so very odd. She decided it was a good feeling, but it scared her at the same time. She would have to be careful from now on.