Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Two Worlds, One Woman ❯ It's a Matter of Trust ( Chapter 3 )

Author: Murasaki Rose
Email: jianu_dbz@hotmail.com or murasaki_rose@dbzmail.com
Archive?: Go for it! Just let me know where so I can link to ya!

Warnings: Mary Sue, minor swearing, violence
Author's note: ~ ~ indicate telepathy and ' ' indicate thought

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Two Worlds, One Woman
Chapter 3~It's a Matter of Trust

((From the diary of Jeanne: Supplement to March 24, dragon year 775))

{And the day started out so nicely . . . I'd say it ended badly but it all worked out it in the end. Oh and guess what? Turns out I'm pretty strong, but I couldn't fight my way out of a paper bag. The karoake trip is out for now, I'm not going anywhere until I get a senzu. Jianu said I picked an awfully painful way to earn Vegeta's trust. Like I did this on purpose, yeesh.}

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Jeanne looked around in awe, the mall was huge! "Ohya!"

Bulma chuckled at the girl's wide-eyed expression, "Nothing this big back home, na?"

Jeanne shook her head and smiled at the older woman, "Actually we do. There's even one that has an amusement park with a roller coaster inside." She grinned sheepishly, "I've just never been to one this big."

Blinking momentarily, Bulma quickly recovered from her surprise, "You are going to have to tell me all about your world, but first . . . Let's shop!!"

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Lunchtime . . .

Wild laughter pealed about the food court from the table where Jeanne and Bulma sat. Bulma held her stomach, tears leaking from her eyes as Jeanne told her about some of the fanfictions written about the Z senshi. "Y-you can't be s-s-serious!" she exclaimed breathlessly before breaking into another giggle fit.

Jeanne swallowed half of the burger she was holding in one bite and nodded vigorously, "Totally. It's a very popular genre."

"But Son-kun and VEGETA?!!!"

Giggling, Jeanne went on, "I know it seems crazy, but it's true.

Settling down, Bulma sat up and wiped her eyes, an occasional snicker escaping, "That's too funny."

Gulping down some pop, Jeanne smiled back, her eyes sparkling with mirth. "You should see the pictures."

Bulma's eyes got huge and she stared at the younger woman, her mouth agape. "PICTURES?!!" she shrieked before dissolving once more into maniacal laughter. "I wish . . . hee hee . . . I wish . . . I wish I could see!" she managed to say between giggles. (A/N: Don't get me wrong minna, I'm a huge yaoi fan myself. This is just how I thought Bulma might react if she knew someone was writing those stories.)

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Hours later the two women were walking down the street of one of West Capital's largest shopping districts, the sun slowly setting. They had long since finished at the mall and were rounding out their day with a little outdoor window-shopping. All of their purchases were on their way to Capsule Corp and Jeanne had finally, albeit grudgingly, accepted the fact that Bulma was *not* going to let her pay the older woman back. Curious as to the tests Bulma would be performing on her, Jeanne asked and immediately regretted it. The blue-haired genius had promptly launched into a lengthy explanation which Jeanne could barely follow at first and soon lost the thread entirely. A sharp pain in her heel brought her to a halt, "Hold on Bulma-san. I think I've got a rock in my shoe." Placing one hand on the building for balance, she removed the offending shoe. Oblivious to her companions absence, Bulma continued down the street, still talking about the experiments. Jeanne smiled and shook her head, Bulma was really excited over those "tests". Focusing on the task at hand, the demi-saiya-jin tried to find the tiny piece of debris. "Demon rock, come out of there!" Giving her shoe a violent shake she was rewarded with a small click as it fell out and to the ground. "Finally," she breathed, slipping her shoe back on and wiggling it around to be sure the rock was gone. It was about then she realized that she couldn't hear Bulma anymore. Looking up she found she couldn't see the older woman either. A wave of panic washed over Jeanne at the thought of being alone in an unfamiliar place, with a tail, in a dress. "Settle down girl. She can't of gone far," Jeanne muttered to herself. "Bulma-san!" she called out, walking down the street. "Bulma-san!" A quick glance down a small alley on her left and Jeanne passed it by. She hadn't gone two feet when a familiar wave of dread washed through her body. Without a second thought she did a complete 180º and ran down the alley. There at the back was a group of thugs surrounding someone they were trying to keep quiet.

"Keep quiet and you might enjoy yourself."

"Aaa! She bit me!"

"Just for that, I'm gonna mess you up little lady."

Jeanne's eyes went wide as one of the thugs pulled out a wicked looking knife. Fear and rage warred within her and she froze in indecision.

"Heeeelp!!!"

"Bulma-san!!" shouting the other woman's name like a war-cry, Jeanne waded into the group of thugs. Grabbing the two directly infront of her, Jeanne threw them into a wall. Something cold slid against her right arm just before she punched the third thug, knocking him down then twisting about and hitting the last one with her left arm.

"Jeanne-chan!" Bulma exclaimed in relief, climbing shakily to her feet.

"Daijoubu ka?" the girl asked, her tail lashing agitatedly.

"H-hai, thanks to you." Bulma gasped in shock, "You're bleeding!"

"I am? Where?" The demi-saiya-jin quickly checked herself over, blue-gray eyes widening further when she saw that her right arm was covered in blood from a deep cut on her upper right arm. "Eh heh. That's gonna hurt."

Bulma stared at Jeanne as though she'd gone insane, "It doesn't hurt?!"

"Nope. Must be the adrenaline."

"Must be," the older woman agreed weakly.

"Well it ain't gonna help you."

Bulma shrieked in terror and Jeanne whirled about coming face-to-face with her first life or death situation. Growling, Jeanne stepped in front of Bulma, her eyes narrowed. "This is bad."

"M-maybe we should get out of here," Bulma's voice quavered in fear as she watched the other thugs regain consciousness.

"How?" Jeanne asked, the two of them stepping backwards. "They've got the only exit blocked!"

"You mean you can't fly?!"

"SHUT UP!!!" the lead thug yelled firing off a shot. Their wasn't even time to scream. Faster than the human eye could follow, Jeanne pushed Bulma out of harm's way, but not herself. Uttering a shriek of pain, Jeanne fell to her knees, clutching her left shoulder.

"Jeanne-chan!" Bulma tried to crawl to the young woman but was restrained by one of the recovered thugs. "Let go of me!" she screamed, flailing her arms and legs in a vain attempt to get free.

The thug with the gun slapped her face, "Shut up bitch, or your little friend dies."

Bulma stiffened in fear, she couldn't let them hurt Jeanne! With all her heart and soul she sent out a silent cry for help, ~Vegeta! We need you!~

"Now to deal with you," the thug turned to face Jeanne who was trying to stand.

"Hey boss! Check out the accessory!" one of them yelled grabbing Jeanne's tail and squeezing hard. The demi-saiya-jin let out an ear-piercing howl of pain, nearly passing out on the spot. Startled by her extreme reaction, the one holding her tail let go, allowing her to curl the sensitive appendage around her waist. "W-what are you?" he gasped.

"Whatever she is, she's had it," the "boss" said, aiming his gun at her head. "Time to die, freak."

"Nooooo!!" Bulma screamed, squeezing her eyes shut as the gun went off.

"What the hell?!!"

Opening her eyes Bulma was greeted to the most wonderful sight. Her husband Vegeta casually beating the hell out of the three thugs surrounding Jeanne. The one holding Bulma was terrified, he hadn't even seen the man arrive!

Vegeta glared darkly at the remaining thug, "Let go of my mate, now." The thug complied and was promptly smashed into the brick wall behind him. Dusting off his gloves, Vegeta spat to the side, "Worthless trash." Smirking he scooped Bulma up with one arm and Jeanne with the other, the young woman having passed out from blood loss.

"She saved my life Vegeta," Bulma told him as they flew home.

Vegeta merely grunted in reply, staring thoughtfully at the unconscious girl under his arm. ~Brat!~

~What?!~ Jianu snapped, she *hated* it when he yelled at her telepathically.

~The girl's been hurt. One of you get the doctor, and the rest of you Guardian brats find out if anyone has a spare senzu.~

~Hai!~

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Vegeta's feet had barely touched the ground when Takeshi came barreling out of the compound. "Jianu said Jeanne got hurt and Yamcha-san didn't have any senzu!" he yelled as he ran.

"She did," Bulma said miserably when the young man reached them. "She was trying to protect me."

The three of them headed to the infirmary, the ouji still carrying Jeanne. "Dende! She's covered in blood!"

"Calm down brat. It's not as bad as it looks," Vegeta's tone was gruff, yet he lay Jeanne down with care. "Her arm's been cut, she's got a bullet in her shoulder . ." he cut off when her tail spasmed. Gently uncoiling the wounded appendage, the prince carefully examined her tail. Squeezing delicately to feel for any breaks. "They grabbed her tail?"

"H-hai," Bulma nodded sadly.

"Hmm," Vegeta scowled, if he had known that, he'd have succumbed to his initial urge and killed the thugs. A saiya-jin's tail was sacred, you just didn't touch it without permission. Unless, of course, you have a death wish. Jeanne winced suddenly, but Vegeta could feel nothing broken. "Her tail's bruised." Bulma stifled a sob, she knew how sensitive tails were. Without another word, Vegeta stood and put an arm around Bulma's shoulders. "Take care of the cut on her arm boy. You know how. Leave her shoulder for the doctor."

"Hai, Vegeta-san."

"Let's go woman."

"Oh Vegeta! It's all my fault!" Bulma wailed, wrapping her arms around his neck. Sighing, Vegeta picked up his sobbing mate and carried her from the room. All the while assuring her through their bond that it was *not* her fault.

Grabbing the iodine and some cotton wipes, Takeshi carefully cleaned around the wound. It wasn't until he put iodine *in* the cut that Jeanne hissed in pain. Wincing he looked up, only to find her looking right back at him. "Gomen."

"S`okay," she replied. "It doesn't hurt as much as my left side anyway."

Takeshi grinned, "That's `cause you only got cut on this side. You got shot on the other and the bullets still in there."

"Don't remind meeee!!" she yiped as he finished swabbing out her wound.

"All done. But you may need stitches."

"Stitches?!"

"Oi minna! Goku-sama didn't have any senzu either," Jianu interrupted poking her head in the door, "and neither did `Kaasan."

"Jianu take a look at her arm, ya think she needs stitches?" Takeshi asked, missing Jeanne's cringe at his mention of stitches. She hated needles.

The strawberry-blond haired warrior came up to her bedside and examined the cut. "Lessee . . . about three inches long and about an inch deep. Nasty."

"Thanks," Jeanne replied sarcastically, wincing as her left shoulder throbbed.

"Man that looks painful. Shouldn't Chu-kun be back with the doctor by now?"

"Yah, I can't figure what's keepin' him."

"He'd better have a good explanation when he gets back. And no, the cut doesn't need stitches, those little binding tapes should do the job."

"Okay," he said and before Jeanne could even flinch, Takeshi had bound the cut, leaving her to wonder just how those little tapes stayed on? "Now don't move too much or they'll pop off," he admonished her. Jeanne flicked her tail in annoyance, but said nothing, she wasn't a child!

"I don't think she's going to do a lot of moving Takeshi," Jianu commented dryly.

Takeshi blushed, but was spared further embarrassment by the arrival of Chujitsu.

"Gomen minna, we'd have gotten here sooner but Dr. Nintai was in surgery."

Stepping into the room behind Chujitsu was a pleasant, middle-aged man with a friendly smile. "Now what seems to be the problem young lady?" he could see the painful wound on her left shoulder, but with these people he knew it could be any type of wound.

"I got shot," Jeanne replied sheepishly.

"Oh dear. You kids never cease to surprise me."

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Hours later, Jeanne had finally managed to fall asleep. No one had had any senzu and Karin said that the new crop wouldn't be ripe for another three days. Takeshi smiled softly at her and pulled the blanket up to her chin. He'd been by her side the whole time, even when the doctor had removed the bullet from her shoulder. The demi-saiya-jin had nearly crushed his hand too. It was just . . . for some reason, he didn't want to leave her side. He felt *drawn* to her somehow. A flicker of movement caught his attention and her looked down to see her tail waving lazily. Grinning, he reached down an petted the tip, thinking back on her behavior earlier. After she'd been cleaned up and moved, Jeanne had continually apologized for causing so much trouble. She'd nearly been in tears when she'd learned how upset Bulma was and did start bawling when she realized the dress she'd been wearing was ruined. Everyone had assured her that it wasn't her fault, including Bulma who gave her as big a hug as she could handle. 'She's definitely unique,' he thought, blinking in surprise when he realized her tail had coiled around his wrist and the demi-saiya-jin was purring lightly. Very carefully, he freed his wrist and left the room only to be greeted by Vegeta.

The saiya-jin no ouji grabbed the young senshi by his shirt and slammed him into a wall. "Now listen brat. Don't *ever* touch a saiya-jin's tail unless you plan on being their mate. Understand?" he snarled into the green-haired boy's face.

"H-hai Vegeta-san."

"Good," dropping him, Vegeta turned to leave. "When she has recovered, you and the other brats will teach her how to fight."

June 02, 2002

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Disclaimer: Here we go. I do not own any of the characters from Dragonball, Dragonball Z, or Dragonball GT. They are all the property of Akira Toriyama, Bird Studio, Toei Animation, and Funimation Inc. However, all the other characters in my stories are mine. I'm not making any money off of this, its just for fun. And to top it off I'm a college student who works part-time at Wal-Mart so you know I don't have any money. So if you sue me you won't get anything.

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Nintai-patience (something you'd have to have a lot of to be the Z senshi's doctor)

A/N: Is it just me or do the thugs' lines sound like they came out of a 70's cop movie?

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