Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Unfaithful ❯ Part Three: 16 ( Chapter 16 )

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

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................................................................ ...................Rhapsody~*



________________________~* Part Three*~: Diplomacy
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When the Saiyan Prince returned to his chambers that night, Kakkarott accompanied him, saying that he wished to discuss the next day's sparring match with him. Since they had no reasons to doubt this claim, nobody questioned Kakkarott's intentions.

Which was good, considering that the man hardly even knew them himself. When he had stood to follow Vejita, he had originally intended to confront him once they were alone in the palace, just to get the horrible burden of 'the' secret off of his mind. But now that they were on their way... Well, lets just say that Vejita was not the kind of person that one would want to confront with such a thing.

"What did you want to discuss about our sparring tomorrow?" Vejita finally asked, once they were alone in the maze that was the palace hallways of Vejitasei. He sounded like he was not expecting anything more than a change of time. He was in for a surprise. "And you had better not be cancelling, you coward. I've already scheduled my day around the session. I would hate to have to punish you for the waste of time." The sarcastic tone of voice told Kakkarott that he would have no qualms about doing exactly that.

"Umm..." Kakkarott stammered nervously. "I actually didn't really want to talk about that. I really wanted to talk to you about... ummm..."

Vejita crossed his arms impatiently. "About what? Stop your stuttering, Kakkarott."

Kakkarott thought of something just then, and inwardly sighed in relief at his recovery. "Mates-- I wanted to talk to you about mates!"

Vejita lifted a brow in disbelief. It was common knowledge that the man had no such interest in those 'worthless' things. It made no sense for Kakkarott to seek him out for advice about... that. But, since this would most definitely prove to be amusing, he allowed Kakkarott to continue.

"You see, I've been hanging out with Chichi for a while now, and I think that if we did decide to... well, mate, we would get along really well," Kakkarott said awkwardly. He sounded like an idiot-- Vejita would not believe him for a second, and if he did, what the hell would he say? He had to find a way to weave Bulma into this conversation, and quickly. "And I wanted to know what you think about that. The possibility of spending the rest of your life with someone, I mean."

Now Vejita really didn't know what to say. This was certainly not something that Kakkarott would have normally sprung upon him, and that was saying a lot, considering that Vejita had known him for his entire life. There was a method behind this particular madness, and Vejita was wanting to know what it was. So he decided to play along.

"In your case, Kakkarott," he began with a smirk. "It would be a complete waste of time."

Kakkarott was shocked in spite of himself. He had, after all, only been half-kidding about his affection for Chichi. "Why is that, Vejita-sama?"

"Well," Vejita responded, still smirking at this entertaining conversation. "Whats the point in mating with someone when there is no possibility of offspring? Doing that would be rather pointless, don't you think?"

"Why is there no possibility of children?" Kakkarott asked, now genuinely confused.

"Because, Kakkarott, one cannot have children if one doesn't know how to create them."

"I know where babies come from!" Kakkarott protested, his face red with embarrassment. He did, truly!

"Sure," Vejita taunted. "You know what they told you in the soldiers barracks, but do you really know how to go through with it? I'm sure that TaTa or whatever her name is would not appreciate the experience of having an man rutting clumsily on her, without a clue as to what he's doing."

Kakkarott's face was as bright as a tomato now. "Hey! Her name is Chichi, and I'm not clumsy."

Vejita chuckled wickedly. This night just kept on getting better and better. "Sure, Kakkarott."

"I asked for your advice, not for you to make fun of me," Kakkarott complained with a frown. This was definitely not turning out the way he had wanted it to. He was making a fool of himself, and Vejita would likely never let him forget it. He had a feeling that he would be hearing about this for the rest of his natural life. "Is that truly what you think, Vejita?"

The Saiyan Prince recognized the sincerity in Kakkarott's tone, and scowled. "Kakkarott, if you want to go and mate with that third-class whore, its none of my concern. If you think that the woman's really your mate, then why the hell not?"

"Thanks for the truth," Kakkarott said. When he looked up at their surroundings, he realized that they were almost to Vejita's chambers. Which, of course, reminded him of when he had spotted Vejita and Bulma together. And that, in turn, reminded him of his real goal. To expose the bitter truth. But how to do it? "Vejita... I wanted to talk to you about something else, too."

Vejita rolled his eyes. What was next-- how to choose the right colored armor for your skin tone? "And what would that be, Kakkarott?"

The other Saiyan stopped in the middle of the hallway, then looked to make sure that they were alone. When he had confirmed this, he lowered his voice to a serious whisper. "I saw you the night of the dinner, Vejita-- you know, when you went away?"

Vejita's black eyes narrowed. Was this really happening? He supposed that if Kakkarott had seen anything of substance, he could always kill him, but it would be such a shame to lose a perfectly good sparring partner, not to mention a member of his council...

"I followed you," Kakkarott admitted. "I don't know why-- it was just a feeling that I went on. But I found you just in time to watch Bulma go into your chambers with you. And you were suppressing your ki the entire time, which leads me to believe that... you and her were... you know. I hope that I'm wrong, but..."

Vejita felt sick with the shock of Kakkarott's statement. He knew. Somebody knew. His first instinct was to maim the man, but on second thought, he couldn't. What if Kakkarott had told someone else? Worse of all-- did Magdalene know? The Saiyan Prince growled and seized Kakkarott by the throat, his angry dark eyes tinged with red as the rage took him over.

"If you utter one word to anybody about this, Kakkarott, I will use your bloodied corpse to complete the decorating scheme in my chambers!"

Kakkarott struggled to breathe within Vejita's iron grasp. "I swear to you that I didn't, Vejita-sama! You have my word as a Saiyan! As a warrior, even!"

Vejita studied him for a few moments, then reluctantly dropped him to the ground, watching as he gasped and weezed for air. He glanced over his shoulder to be sure that no one had overheard.

"Follow me back to my chambers," he ordered in a dangerously low voice. "We will discuss this further there, where we will not be overheard."
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Back in the ambassador's suite, where the human monarchs were staying, Bulma lay awake in her bed, unable to find sleep.

Yamcha had not returned yet, and likely would not until some unfortunate servant found him when cleaning the meeting rooms in the morning. Bulma didn't mind-- not at all. It was nice to be able to lay peacefully without the man fondling her any time he had the desire to. Bulma shuddered at the thought. Hopefully Yamcha would spend many nights away from their chambers on this trip. In her heart, though, she knew that she wouldn't get that lucky. So she had decided to enjoy it while she could and retire early. Some plan that had been. Now she coudn't even fall asleep.

The queen tossed over in her enormous bed, her mind still reeling from the lovely fireworks she had seen earlier that night. Never in her life had she been allowed to see such an exciting event. And she could see why now-- if everyone got to experience such things, they would never be content with their boring lives again! She knew that she wouldn't. Not after all that she had been able to do since arriving here. Swimming in the ocean, painting the sunset, playing a piano, watching boxing matches, and climbing up on a rooftop to see fireworks were hardly considered ladylike activities back on Earth. But here, nobody seemed to think twice about doing such things. Most especially Prince Vejita.

Bulma smiled against her pillows and turned over again at the thought of the darkly handsome man. She had never met anyone quite like him in her life, which may or may not have been a good thing. And, in turn, he had shown her all of the things that she had always dreamed of and more. He had been the first and only man since Byron that had shown her what true affection could be like. Even her sweet dalliance with Byron so long ago couldn't match up to her affair with the dynamic prince. For some reason, the match just seemed to... fit.

And their time together on the rooftop... Bulma felt the sensitive skin between her legs grow warm with the pleasant memory. Being with Vejita was unlike anything she had ever experienced before. Especially compared to what Yamcha did to her. When she was with Vejita, it was pleasurable for all parties involved.

Those sensual thoughts drove Bulma over the edge. She couldn't lay still anymore. The insomnia-ridden woman slipped out of her bed, careful not to wake Nataliah, who slept in her room nearby. The moonlight-bathed balcony beckoned to her.

Cautiously, she opened the doors that led outside and stepped out into the cool summer night. The soothing sounds of the ocean waves crashing below were enough to lull her to sleep already. Seeing the ocean reminded her of Vejita, which worsened her problem. No matter where she went, she could not get him off of her mind. What would she do with herself once it was time to leave?

Bulma chose not to think about that time that loomed near, and instead concentrated on the beautiful view before her. She fleetingly wondered if Vejita were experiencing the same feelings as her, and if he was missing her presence. She had never known what it felt like to be loved in return, but she was sure that it was a wonderful feeling.

With an unsatisfied sigh, the queen rested her head on her hands and allowed herself to dream.
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Kakkarott could smell the sweet scent that was Bulma as soon as Vejita opened the door. The room positively reeked of her-- a sure sigh that whatever they had been doing had caused the woman to sweat a little. Kakkarott may have been naive, but he wasn't stupid.

Vejita motioned for Kakkarott to take a seat on a very expensive-looking leather couch and fixated his infamous glare upon him. "You are treading on thin ice here, fool. Tell me what you think you saw."

The third-classed Saiyan could not think of a nice way to word what he had seen, so he went for the straight approach. "I saw you and Bulma go into your chambers, and then I felt you hide your ki, like you did today during the fireworks." Kakkarott dared to go farther. "You were with her again tonight, weren't you?"

"Kakkarott, if you even think about--"

"I won't tell anyone," Kakkarott assured him hurriedly. "But Vejita-sama, why are you doing this? It's so dangerous, to both of you."

Vejita did not answer him for moment. He averted his gaze out to the ocean view that his floor-to-ceiling windows provided. The pure blue of the water reminded him of Bulma, which would explain why he could be found by the water so much lately. He could not put into words the answer to Kakkarott's question. Maybe he had done it because of the woman's extraordinary beauty, or maybe because of her eerie knowledge of his song. It was something that he couldn't describe. "I don't know," he snapped, hating himself for thinking such 'soft' thoughts.

Kakkarott seemed to understand. "Talk about meeting at the wrong and time! Bulma would have made a great queen here, I think. And then Yamcha couldn't hurt her anymore. She could be free."

Vejita hated to admit it, but Kakkarott was right. His strength combined with her spellbinding looks would make them invincible. And, above all, Bulma wanted to be free. She had said it herself that evening. But would she really sacrifice everything? "And just what do you suggest I do about that?!" he demanded helplessly, taking out his anger on Kakkarott. "She is a human, Kakkarott. She could never rule here."

"I don't know about that," he disagreed. "She's so pretty, and everyone likes her-- even Turles, and he doesn't like anybody."

Vejita didn't want to hear all of these far-fetched things. "Who gives a shit?" he snapped. "Even if that's all true, what difference does it make? She's fucking married, and our planets are nearly at war! That is why this can never amount to anything but an affair."

"I know that that's true," Kakkarott said quietly. "But I also know that if I met someone so special that I would risk all of this for, I would do whatever it took to make sure that I spend the rest of my life with that person."

The thought weighed heavily on Vejita's mind, demanding his full attention. "Leave me now," he barked at Kakkarott. "And see to it that you keep your big mouth shut."

He didn't even notice Kakkarott leave the room. He had too much to think about.
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When dawn came, the warm golden sunlight found Queen Bulma sprawled out on her bed alone, and on top of the covers. The doors to the balcony were still open, letting in the crisp, salty morning breeze, which told Bulma that she had had a late night. She couldn't even remember going back to bed.

The Queen, who was up abnormally early, sat up and stretched groggily. Still wiping the sleep from her slanted eyes and yawning, Bulma got up from her bed to prepare herself for the day ahead of her. Judging by the lack of snoring as she emerged from the bedroom, Yamcha was still slumped over the meeting room table, cleansing the marble surface with his drool. It was a mental image that the woman nearly laughed aloud at. Almost.

She was in the middle of brushing out her own hair-- a rare event indeed, thanks to Nataliah's constant doting-- when a knock sounded on the door to the suite. Since she was in no condition to answer it, she waited for her handmaiden to do it for her. Hopefully, the Russian girl was a light sleeper.

Sure enough, the knocking stopped, and Nataliah's voice could be faintly heard. Bulma put down her brush, hoping that Yamcha had not been discovered yet.

Her prayers were answered when Nataliah approached her, alone and clutching a note. She looked confused.

"It was delivered from one of Prince Vejita's guards," she explained, handing the sealed envelope to Bulma. "I wonder what he wants. I was told that it was for your eyes only, m'lady."

Bulma took the envelope and frowned. "Thank you, Nataliah. If you would excuse me for a moment?"

She waited until Nataliah had gone from the room to open the envelope, which held a letter on which was written only two words. Two words that struck fear into Bulma's heart.

Nataliah rushed into the room just in time to catch Bulma as she fainted. The note fluttered to the floor, deceivingly harmless. The handmaiden furrowed her brows and unfolded it, wondering just what could case her lady so much distress.

The two handwritten words explained it all.

'Kakkarott knows.'
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When Bulma came to, she found herself still laying on the bathroom floor, with her handmaiden hovering over her worriedly. The queen blinked a few times to clear her blurry vision, then made an attempt to sit up.

"Oh, no m'lady!" Nataliah exclaimed, stopping her in mid-movement. "You musn't overexert yourself before I am sure that you're okay."

Bulma rolled her eyes at the girl's ridiculous exclamation. She may not fully remember why she was on the floor, but she could certainly operate fine. "Let me up, Nataliah, and give me some air."

Nataliah reluctantly moved away, but still kept a close eye on Bulma's every movement.

Bulma stood shakily and glanced at her reflection in her mirror. It appeared that she had been brushing her hair before she had fainted, but what had been the cause of her distress? Certainly not the task of combing her hair. The woman took a step back from the mirror, as if moving would bring her to a sudden revelation.

Nataliah guessed what it was that she was doing and gestured to the crinkled note on the floor. "Perhaps the message startled you, Your Majesty," she suggested timidly.

"Perhaps you're right," Bulma said, bending to pick up the paper. "As I recall, it was from Prince Vejita, am I right?"

Nataliah nodded.

"Then this must be why," Bulma concluded. "Leave me alone while I read it again, please."

"If you need my assistance, I shall be at your call," Nataliah said. She then curtsied and left the room. She remembered what it was in the letter quite clearly, and planned to do something about it, too. But for the moment, her confused mistress did not need to know that.

Bulma unfolded the paper and read the two words again. Her face drained of what little color it had, and she found it to be a miracle that she did not faint again. Feebly, she closed the bathroom door and locked it, craving solitude.

Kakkarott knew. But how? Bulma knew that she had not told. Yet, it hardly seemed that Vejita would do such a thing. He generally trusted no one with his pocket change, let alone the secret that could very well bring them all to ruin. The only way that Kakkarott could have found out was by actually seeing them together. Even that seem unlikely, as Vejita could have easily detected his ki from a considerable distance away. That left her with only one choice-- she had to contact Vejita.

"Nataliah!" she called, unlocking and opening the bathroom door. "Fetch me a pen and some paper. I wish to respond to Prince Vejita's letter."

Moments later, Nataliah appeared with the requested materials and waited patiently for Bulma to scribble down a quick message in reply to Vejita's letter. Quickly, Bulma folded the note and handed it to Nataliah.

"Take this to Prince Vejita," she ordered seriously. "I want you to personally transfer it to his hands, and his only. Can you accomplish this?"

The maid nodded. "I shall have it to him in no time, m'lady." She then wasted no time in exiting the room and hurrying off to find Prince Vejita.

Now that she was safely alone, Bulma dropped her cool act and let her emotions take over. With a shaking sob of despair, she sank to the cold marble floor of the bathroom. Smooth curls hid her face as she cried, which undid any of the good her detangling had done, but she hardly cared. Her whole world felt as if it were crashing down.

Kakkarott knew-- and had possibly taken his sensible self straight to Queen Magdalene, who in turn would have no choice but to expose their scandalous, unlawful affair. And, if nothing else, that would trigger the war that would take take a toll on both their planets. Bulma could not allow that to happen. She prayed that Vejita had convinced Kakkarott to keep the secret, even if he had felt the need to use force. There were some things that just could not be avoided.

All that she could hope for was that Vejita got her note requesting that they meet to discuss the problem soon, and would respond quickly. In this situation, time was something that they did not have. Feeling as though she could not function under the pressure, Bulma collapsed into tears again, alone on her bathroom floor.
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As soon as Bulma's quivering maid delivered the note into Vejita's hands, he scowled and nearly shoved the woman out of his chambers. Once he was alone, the prince tore open the note and read the words written in Bulma's flourished hand, a trick surely learned in a nobles' finishing school. What a waste of time-- and not to mention ink.

The note read 'I understand. We must meet at the soonest possible convienance to resolve the problem. Bulma.'

Vejita burned the note into a small pile of ash in his hand and pondered her response. He knew that they had to talk immediately, but what if her idiot husband was awake and in the room? Remembering Kakkarott's clear uncertainty, Vejita decided to take his chances with Yamcha. If worse came to worse, he could kill him (neatly) and blame it on alcohol poisoning (or maybe Radditz). Judging by the human's behavior last night, everyone would believe him.

Rather than run the risk of being spotted in the palace hallways, Vejita went to his balcony and powered up for flight. The humans' rooms were only a short fly around the building, so Vejita tok his chances. After casting one last look over his shoulder to be sure that no servant had entered the room, he took off, headed for Bulma and Yamcha's balcony.
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Rhapsody~*
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