Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Unfaithful ❯ Part Three: 19 ( Chapter 19 )

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

..................................U N F A I T H F U L

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



________________________~* Part Three*~: Diplomacy
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Bulma returned to she and Yamcha's chambers that night without waking either husband or Nataliah, thank Kami. After seeing Vejita off with a burst of blue light, she remained out on the balcony, watching the waves below with wistful eyes.

This night, for some reason, seemed much more poignant than any of the lovemaking they had done in the past. They had not needed sex to make this meeting special-- all that they had needed was each other. Bulma had been shocked when, after agreeing not to declare war without a good reason, Vejita had actually decided to make decent conversation.

She had sat within the comfort of his muscular embrace, utterly enraptured, as he named off the titles of all the surrounding stars and planets, along with descriptios of their relations with Vejitasei. When Bulma had asked how he had memorized the names of the stars, he explained that it was something that all Saiyans were taught, to show them that there was a whole other universe out there. Bulma thought the practice to be brilliant-- what better way to show citizens that the universe did not revolved around their planet but literally? They had nothing of the sort on Earth-- it was the general belief that they were superior.

But what was even more amazing than the prince's stargazing was his knowledge of the sea. Apparently, here on Vejitasei, they had a popular activity where people of any status could dive beneath the surface, aided by a breathing device, and explore the world beneath the ocean. She had learned that 'coral' was not just a tacky shade of pink, and that one could find pearls-- genuine pearls!-- in the mouth of a clam. It all made Bulma feel very ignorant and sheltered, but at the same time fascinated. At that moment, she had wanted to go and see these wonders for herself more than anything else.

Their conversation had been forced to an end when the first warnings of dawn appeared over the horizon, and they both came to their senses. Bulma had cast one last, longing look at the tiny island before Vejita had taken her away and known that its location would remian in her mind forever. It was the place where she had discovered that her relationship with the Saiyan Prince was much more than lust. At least, on her end it was. For the moment, the queen was content with that.

From inside the room, Bulma heard Yamcha turn over and knew that her leisure had ended. With a sigh, she moved back into their chambers and approached the bed, where Yamcha had commenced snoring.

It was going to be a long night.

And she was correct. For almost as soon as she feel asleep, Bulma was plagued with nightmares that caused her to whimper and even cry out several times during the night.

In her dream, she was standing at the entrance of the palace back on Earth, with Yamcha standing directly behind her, as if to gauge her reaction to something. All around them, chaos stirred the night. Fires burned in the city before them, and even in portions of the palace itself.

Citizens screamed and ran, trying to shield their small children from the soldiers that attacked them from every direction. Bulma gasped and strained to see if the soldiers were human or Saiyan, but their faces were blurred in her vision. No matter what their race, the warriors visciously slaughtered the innocent humans with heavy axes, sharply honed swords, and even set them afire with torches. Bulma watched in horror as they guffawed and even went so far as to play with some of the bodies.

Yamcha did not seem at all inclined to stop the slaugther. He instead watched it like a movie, his face emotionless. When Bulma turned to him in protest, however, he grinned.

"Just think, darling," he said, his voice roaring above the noise of the attacks. "You are the reason that this is all happening!"

All of the soldiers, plus Yamcha, laughed hysterically at the horrifying statement. The victims, even the 'dead' ones, turned to her and glared. Everyone believed her husband, and looked as if they would slaughter her on the spot.

Then Lady Briefs appeared by her daughter's side, smiling an amused, taunting smile. "You see what can be acheived when you're beautiful? Hell girl, even the most coldhearted of men would start wars to have you in his bed!"

"But that will never come to pass," Yamcha assured her, as if he were comforting the queen. "You will always be mine."

Bulma shook her head, her eyes wide as saucers. "No-- I am nobody's but my own!"

"She is nobody's but mine!"

The three turned to see Prince Vejita and his entire elite guard coming at them. The crowd parted before them like the Red Sea, then continued their battle. Vejita looked especially dashing in black and crimson armor. He carried a blood-stained sword, and in the other hand, Nataliah's severed head. Why would Vejita want to kill Nataliah? Bulma briefly wondered.

"I will not leave this shithole unless I have her," he declared with a daring, almost bloodthirsty smirk. "Even if it means castrating you to acheive that."

Bulma surveyed the scene with growing terror and dread. There would be no happy ending to this situation. "I belong to only myself!" she exclaimed again. "I will go where I please!"

Suddenly, a chain and shackle appeared around her neck, and Yamcha was dragging her back towards him, with the help of her mother. Vejita raised his sword in warning. Bulma struggled against the restraints until she came to the point of strangling.

Something was happening directly above her-- a swordfight-- but she found that she could not see the action. Blood rained down on her like sheets-- Yamcha's or Vejita's, she did not know. She screamed as the blood seeped into her nostrils and mouth, almost suffocating her with its scarlet thickness.

The last thing that Bulma saw was Maylene and Queen Magdalene bending over her, and then she began to drown in the blood.
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Bulma awoke from her dream still sputtering and choking on the 'blood' that had been raining down on her. By the time Nataliah had rushed over to her side, the queen's eyes had rolled back into her head, and her desperate cries had waken Yamcha from his deep, alcohol-induced slumber.

"What the fuck is she doing?!" he demanded, sitting up in bed and blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "Silence her immediately."

Bulma looked pale as a sheet, even in the dappled morning sunlight. Her slender arms wrapped around her torso tightly, and she began to murmur almost inaudibly. Only Nataliah was able to make out her words. "I'm choking-- hold me... Prince Vejita..."

The handmaiden shook her queen awake before she could utter anything that would give her affair away. "Wake up, m'lady! You are not choking-- you are safe in bed!"

Blue eyes refocused, and Bulma looked at her surroundings as if confused. "I am where?" she asked.

"In your chambers, in bed," Nataliah reminded her. "You must have had a nightmare."

"I'll say," Yamcha complained. "You could have awaken the dead with those screams."

"I-- I am sorry..." Bulma apologized lamely. "It will not happen again."

The queen brushed Nataliah's assistance away as she stood shakily and scrambled to the bathroom. Sitting on the counter was the pen and paper that she had neglected to put away the previous morning. She tore off a sheet, struggled to handle the pen with her shaky fingers, and scribbled down a message.

'Vejita-- I have had a premonition. War must be avoided at all costs. Find me before the meeting tonight. Bulma.'

She did not know for certain whose blood she had been drowning in, but the queen was not about to take any chances. Premoniton or not, the dream could not be avoided. If a war was started, it would be the end of both empires.
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Kakkarott , Nappa, Radditz, and even Turles, who was notorious for being late to everything from casual lunch dates to royal functions, had assembled and commenced warming up before Prince Vejita arrived, barechested with a towel slung over one shoulder. The men, who were accustomed to having Vejita arrive hours before them, at the crack of dawn without fail, were shocked to say the least. It was only Kakkarott, however, that could take an accurate stab at where he had been.

"Good morning," Turles greeted sarcastically. "Am I mistaken, or is His Highness late this morning?"

Vejita didn't even favor the man with a glare. As he spoke, he busied himself wrapping his knuckles in preparation for the boxing they had planned to do. "No. I am only late when I choose to be. If I arrived even an hour from now, I would not be late-- you would be early. And you are not at liberty to talk on the matter anyway, Turles. If I am recalling correctly, you were forty-five minutes late for your own coming-of-age party."

"But people expect such from me, Vejita-sama," Turles protested in defense of himself. "You, on the other hand, are known to always be prompt, so its hardly the same."

"He's got a point there," Radditz said. "I mean, without you, how could we possibly go on with our small, meaningless lives?" The man then burst into peals of laughter, along with Nappa.

"Aw, leave him alone," Kakkarott interuppted. "One of these days, he will be your king, and you three's comments will earn you a beheading."

"A beheading?" Vejita shook his head. "I had something much slower and agonizing in mind..."

"Oh, come on," Nappa pleaded. "You've known us too long to kill us."

Vejita smirked. "You're right. Since I know you so well, I know that death is much too kind a fate for the likes of you." And with that, the conversation quickly ended, because no one was really sure whether or not the volatile prince was serious.

Predicatably enough, Vejita found himself with a grim-faced Kakkarott as a boxing partner, and rolled his eyes. "Here to mother me again, third-class?"

After checking to make sure that the others were out of earshot, Kakkarott spoke between half-hearted blows. "You might laugh at me now, but when war comes you'll be singing a different tune."

The mention of singing reminded Vejita of his planned meeting with Bulma in the room with the piano later that day. After receiving her short note, he had immediately arranged for the guards to be off duty for the day and replied with a note of his own-- 'Piano. 2:00. Leave your handmaiden behind.' He wondered what had startled Bulma enough to risk them being caught together. It must have been serious, or-- Vejita's period of distraction was abruptly ended when Kakkarott's first connected with his face.

"You're distracted," Kakkarott said. "Something must have happened."

"I was up late last night," Vejita claimed. "I am tired."

"That's a lie," his opponent stated bluntly, with a seriousness that Vejita had rarely seen in him besides at the meetings. "You were with her again."

Vejita, seeing no point in denying the balantly obvious, glared as he spoke. "We did nothing besides speak on the damned meeting. And its hardly your place to reprimand me, Kakkarott!"

"You could trigger a war by meeting together recklessly. And upsetting your routine!"

Vejita assaulted Kakkarott suddenly and violently, his teeth gritted in anger. "Don't you understand?" he demanded as he drove the other man back mercilessly. "I don't fucking care anymore! Got it?!"

"I can't believe that you honestly don't care about the future of your planet," Kakkarott said, almost as if trying to convince himself of that fact.

"Did it ever occur to you that not everyone around here wants to apply for sainthood?" Vejita snapped, blocking the latest of Kakkarott's attacks.

Kakkarott, seeing that subtley was getting him nowhere and that their comrades were distracted, decided to drop the bombshell on the overly cocky prince. "Did it ever occur to you that Bulma may become affected by all this? If you two were to reveal anything about your... relationship, accidentally or otherwise, Yamcha would have her punished, but only after he tortured her himself. You don't have just yourself to think of anymore. And besides, your recklessness has paid off already-- Bulma's maid already knows about you two."

Vejita's expression changed from doubtful, to guarded and calculating, then to murderous rage in a matter of moments. Furiously, the man pinned Kakkarott to the wall, glanced over his shoulder to be sure that they weren't being watched, then turned back to Kakkarott with a malicious gleam in his eye. "How do you know this, fool?"

Kakkarott knew that now was not the time to make excuses. "She accidentally read one of your notes to Bulma and found out that I knew something. And since she saw you with Bulma by teh ocean, she could guess what it was that I knew. So she came to me and I told her to keep quiet. And she has so far, so there's no need for dramatics, you know?" The man attempted a reassuring smile.

"She'll go to Yamcha soon enough," Vejita said matter-of-factly. Then he tightened his grip on Kakkarott's throat. "Why didn't you tell me sooner, you fucking moron?!"

"Because I wanted to make sure that you were in a good mood before I told you... ?"

"Good job."

Kakkarott shrugged. "It just came out. You see, Vejita? Who knows who else might know? You can't keep on doing this."

Vejita could not reply, because the others had stopped fighting and were glancing over more than a little suspciously. The prince scowled and motioned for them to leave he and Kakkarott alone. The men, intimidated by the angry demeanor of their prince, left immediately. "You don't have a clue, Kakkarott. How could I just... stop seeing the woman? I would have to be either blind or stupid to do that, and I am neither!" It was the closest he had ever come to confiding his true feelings in Kakkarott thus far, and he hated himself for it.

"I know what its like to love somebody," Kakkarott said. "I love Chichi, and I would do anything for her, but to bring down two empires... that would be a bit much. Neither Chichi nor Bulma would want that to happen."

"Where do you get the notion that we will lose?" Vejita asked, crossing his arms and releasing Kakkarott, who sighed in relief. "We have more men, better strength, and centuries of war experience-- how the hell couldn't we win? All we need is good timing."

"Yamcha isn't that stupid. He wouldn't have come here if he didn't have some way of beating us."

"You underestimate me," Vejita snarled in frustration. "I know that he is making preparations as we speak, which is why I want war now, before he can gather strength."

"And so that you can take Bulma before he finds you out and guards her," Kakkarott finished for him.

"Here we go again--"

"Please hear me out, Vejita," Kakkarott asked, cutting off the prince's complaint. "Just this once, take somebody's advice."

"The hell I will," Vejita dismissed coldly. "I will take what's mine and have a war as well as the woman, Kakkarott, and you will obey your prince's orders."

Kakkarott felt his heart sink. He no longer had a choice in this matter. It had gone beyond friends and right down to executive orders. "Yes, Vejita-sama."

"Now get out of my sight before I decide to get rid of you and your ignorant opinions!"

Kakkarott needed no encouragement. But before he left, he turned and gave his superior one more piece of advice. "Don't tell Bulma about her handmaiden. She doesn't need another reason to be depressed."

Vejita contemplated this after Kakkarott left, and opted to follow the man's advice, just this once. He would take care of the meddling Nataliah himself.
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Soon after sending the note to Prince Vejita, Bulma hurriedly dressed (after Yamcha had left the room, doubtless to marr his reputation making mischief) and nearly ran from the room before Nataliah could utter so much as a word, muttering about going for a nice long walk through the palace.

Nataliah, now left completely alone and confused, could do nothing but shake her head and go about straightening the chambers before Yamcha returned to complain about it. She didn't really mind the work-- she had been cleaning house since she had been a child, and besides, it gave her some time to think. That was something that she desperately needed right now.

The handmaiden padded over to the bathroom, humming a random tune under her breath. Yamcha hated it when she did that, so she may as well enjoy it while she could, was her figuring. She bent down, careful of her plain blue servant's wrap, and proceeded to fish some cleaning solution out of the space beneath the sink.

In Bulma's haste to get herself made up, she had made a fair mess of the counter. Powder makeup was sprinkled across the marble like brightly colored snow, and several pots of lip stain had been opened and overturned. Nataliah shook her head and began to gather the makeup up. Where on Vejitasei would Bulma need to go so suddenly? All that Nataliah knew was that it likely had to do with Vejita.

Once the makeup was organized, Nataliah was able to scrub down the countertop, watching as the colors blended together in a cosmetic rainbow. Unbeknowest to her, it would be the last rainbow that she would ever have the pleasure of seeing.

From the main room, the woman heard someone enter. Assuming that it was Bulma, returning to retrieve her handbag or something of the sort, she smiled and continued her cleaning. It would not do to alarm the lady any more with unnecessary messes.

"Where did you go, m'lady?" she called out, scrubbing away innocently. "Do you require my help with anything?"

Silence, save for the gentle lapping of the ocean waves outside, was her answer. The girl stopped scrubbing and furrowed her brow, worried about the queen.

"I hope that you weren't too disturbed over your nightmare last night," she continued with a frown. "Drowning in blood is terrifying, but at least you know that it could never happen."

Suddenly the girl was attacked from behind. She tried to scream, but when her assailant twisted her arms behind her back violently, the pain was almost too much to bear. Her scream was caught in her throat.

"I don't know about that. How would you like to test that theory, you annoying little snoop?"

Nataliah was so shocked that all thoughts of struggling vanished. "Prince Vejita! But why, and how--"

The Saiyan chuckled. "Lets just say that a little bird told me. It so much more charming that way."

"I swear, I didn't tell a soul!" Nataliah insisted. "Besides Kakkarott, I know of no one else who knows!"

"Well, I can't risk that," Vejita responded. He then released her and closed the bathroom door. Nataliah shuddered when she saw the glint of a knife in one of his strong hands. "Where are your charges?"

"I do not know where King Yamcha is," she managed, her voice unsteady with dread. "Queen Bulma got dressed quicker than I've ever seen her after she sent you the note and said that she was going to walk through the palace."

"Alone?"

Nataliah nodded, eyes wide.

"Good."

"Are you going to harm her, Your Highness?" She could not help but worry for her kind lady, even as her own life was in danger. "Please don't-- she has lived her whole life in such misery and depression, and all she wants is a chance to be free--"

"I have no intention to harm her," Vejita stated, smirking slowly. A cold chill ran up Nataliah's spine as his black eyes locked onto her. "I cannot say the same, however, about you."

"I will not tell a soul, I swear to it!" Nataliah began backing away from him slowly, holding out her hands in a feeble defense. "Please spare me--"

"Don't be stupid," Vejita said, advancing on her, now openly wielding the dagger that the handmaiden had seen in his hands. "I cannot allow you to live after what you have seen. I am not willing to risk my life, and your queen's, over a silly little bitch like you. Now, if you would just cooperate, I can make this real easy for both of us."

Nataliah could not believe her ill fate. "I will not lay still and let you kill me!"

Vejita shrugged. "I can work with that."

And before Nataliah could even manage to cry out, he was upon her. The last thing that the handmaiden saw was Bulma's coveted bottle of perfume resting on the counter, an ironic symbol of the very means of the queen's happiness and of her maid's end.
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Bulma had been sitting at the old piano for hours before it was time for Vejita to meet her. For whatever reason, her chambers had felt extremely suffocating that morning. She had felt as if she couldn't remain there for another second, as though the blood in her dream would materialize there and drown her. She knew that that was silly, but her instincts had gotten the better of her, and she had practically thrown some clothes on and ran from the room. She had left Nataliah an awful mess, but she temporarily shoved the guilt into the back of her mind for the moment.

Her thin fingers caressed the keys absently. She wasn't even playing a song, just bits and pieces of whatever popped into her head. She had much to think about, and this seemed as good a place as any to do it. And she was completely alone-- the guards that were usually stationed at the entrance were gone. The queen hadn't given it a second thought, assuming that Vejita had arranged for them to be away. They were taking a huge chance by meeting in such an accessible place this time.

But Bulma was ready to take that chance this time around. She had some serious things to say to Vejita. She wasn't sure if her dream would effect his thinking about the war at all, but she was willing to try. It wasn't just the dream that she wanted to talk about, though. She wanted to talk about her. If a war were to be started after the meeting tonight, they needed to talk about a plan.

She knew that she did not want to go back to Earth with Yamcha, because his punishment would be both swift and torturous, but it would be next to impossible for her to sneak both herself and Nataliah to a safe place where they could stay until the human ambassadors had left. And then there was the matter of the law. Undoubtedly, their affair would be revealed, and they would have to be punished. It was Queen Magdalene's duty to deliver justice, and Yamcha would claim something similar, therefore leaving her fate in his hands.

Bulma shuddered at the thought of her husband finding out. He got jealous if a man even looked her way, let alone dared to do all that Vejita had done. And of all people to have an affair with-- Prince Vejita, Yamcha's worst enemy and rival! But even as she thought this over with growing apprehension, she knew that if she were to go back in time, she wouldn't have done a thing differently. This was what she wanted-- to be free, and to be loved for more than her pretty face.

Her fingers gripped the keys as she thought, and an ugly, unmusical sound emitted from the old piano. Bulma started and stared down at her hands as if just noticing that they were there. Then she jerked them away and clutched them to her chest, willing them not to betray her tense feelings again.

If she were able to stay on Vejitasei... Bulma could hardly contain her excitement at the thought. She dared to imagine what life would be like for her, without Yamcha, without Lady Briefs, and without Earth. She would be able to dress as she wished, casually or elegant, without having to go with the pretenses of the nobles that dictated her life. She could play her precious music to her heart's desire, and would brighten up this wonderful room with more instruments and teach herself to play them all in her spare time. She would take daily walks down by the ocean and swim whenever she pleased. She might even let Vejita convince her to go skinny dipping, she mused with a small smile. And she would try the activity that Vejita had described to her-- diving beneath the waves to see what secrets the ocean held. She would wear her hair down every day and never touch a corset again. And... Bulma's dreamy smile faded at this new thought, an idea that hadn't occured to her yet. If she were to stay here, Vejita would make her queen, and would let her do as she wished without having to get his approval. That would give her the authority to do as she pleased, which meant that she could find her best friend.

Wouldn't Maylene be pleased to discover that her old chum had found happiness at last? And the girl would undoubtedly love the danger and excitement of living with the Saiyans. Bulma would bring her back to Vejitasei with her, and the girl could paint her face, dance with any anonymous man, and smoke to her heart's desire. The idea was so wonderful, so new, that Bulma could not help but allow herself a small bit of hope.

It never occured to her to find Lord Byron and contact him, however. She clenched her fists at the thought of her first lover. He had shown her so much, and she owed him everything for that. She decided that she would inquire about his whereabouts, and if he was still under a punishment, she would release him and give him the opprotunity to live a new life. But, since she would be with Vejita, she would not pursue him any further. She thought of him as nothing more than pleasant memory amongst her many sad ones now, and wanted him to remain that way.

Bulma was jarred from her fantasies by the sound of the doors opening and closing. She blinked, trying to refocus her attention to the real world, and turned to face Vejita, who nodded in acknowledgement of her.

"Why don't you play something?" he asked. Bulma got the feeling that he was more asking her to play something rather than inquiring as to why she wasn't.

She turned away from him and back to the piano, arranging her fingers on the correct keys. "What is it that you would like to hear?"

Vejita walked up behind her, studying the back of her head intently. He was testing her, Bulma could sense it. "What do you think? I want to hear that song that you were humming on the night of your welcoming celebration, that one you were muttering on the beach."

Bulma blinked, surprised that he remembered. "All right... I'm sorry if I can't play it well-- you see, I didn't exactly learn it from a book--"

"I don't care," Vejita cut her off, still standing behind her like a drill sergeant. "I want to hear it."

The queen nodded. For some reason, she didn't feel very comfortable playing that song for the Saiyan Prince. It was apparently a Saiyan song, but she didn't want to run the risk of messing it up and looking foolish. Nevertheless, she knew that she didn't have much of a choice. So, the woman took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and began to play the song. The music spilled out from her fingers, taking on a life of its own. Bulma barely even knew what she was playing-- the emotion of the rhapsody seemed to become intensified with Vejita here.

Vejita crossed his arms as Bulma played, listening to her version of his own birth song. She had it down pretty good, considering that she had no idea what it was. Before he could catch himself, Vejita reached around her and adjusted her fingers a little. "It will sound more natural that way, woman."

Bulma played according to his adjustments and nodded. "It does sound better," she agreed. Then, she realized what he had just done. Her fingers faltered a bit, and the song ended. She turned to him with narrowed eyes. "But-- how did you know how to fix it? I was under the impression that--"

"That I wasn't musically trained?" Vejita finished for her with a smirk. "You would be right. I'm not. Quite frankly, I don't care for most the shit that I hear. But every Saiyan knows their own birth song. I would have been able to fix it even when I was too young to talk."

"Birth song?"

"Every Saiyan is given a song when they are born. It is unique to them, and is supposed to reflect their personalities. Children sing it to pass the time, or to chase away nightmares. Supposedly, only your mate knows your song, and that is how one can identify their true partner."

"A lovely tradition," Bulma commented, not quite comprehending what he was insinuating yet. "Your song must have been recorded at some time, because I would not have been able to think it up all on my own, in a dream."

Vejita sat down next to her on the wooden bench. "I think not."

"What are you trying to tell me, Vejita?" Bulma asked softly, studying his face for any clues.

The Saiyan leaned towards her until their noses where almost touching, then he smirked and took her face in his hands. "When this war comes, you will stay here with me."

Bulma's heart beat furiously in her chest. She dared a hopeful look into Veijta's eyes, and found that he was able to meet her gaze evenly and honestly. It was as sincere an exchange as she had ever had. The queen blinked some loose hair from her eyes, and then leaned into him, so that their foreheads were touching. "Do you really want that, Vejita? Would you risk your reputation, and your life?"

"Yes," he promised her. "Fuck what everyone else thinks. If Yamcha comes for you, he'll have to go through me. I will kill him gladly."

Bulma pulled away from his partial-embrace, her face tight with worry. "I am afraid that things will not play out that way, Vejita."

"You said that you had a premonition," Vejita said. "Tell me what you saw."

"I'm not sure if it means anything," Bulma said. "It was a dream-- it might have been nonsense."

"I am not willing to take that chance. Besides, I could use all of the premonition I can get. The more I know about Yamcha's plans, the easier things will be."

Bulma proceeded to tell him the contents of her dream, from the burning palace and city, blurry-faced soldiers, the appearance of Magdalene and Maylene, taunts from her mother and Yamcha, and then his appearance. When she told him that he had been carrying Nataliah's severed head, his expression became guarded, but when she looked again, it was gone. She continued to tell him of her drowning in the blood of either he or Yamcha, or possibly both of them together. When she reached this point, she could not control herself any more. She began to tremble in fear, because she was unconsciously convinced that if something weren't done, that would be her fate.

Vejita recognized her genuine fear and contemplated her words. Parts of her dream seemed a bit far-fetched, but the other half was so frighteningly accurate that he knew her vision would be impossible to ignore. She had foreseen him murdering Nataliah, but she seemed to carry no suspicions now. He planned to keep it that way, so he did not mention that part of the dream. "Everything sounds quite possible, but why would you drown in blood? And why the hell would Yamcha have you in shackles tight enough to choke you? I thought that he wanted to keep you alive, so that he could enjoy a fuck now and then at your expense."

"I do not know," Bulma replied. "Perhaps it was a metaphor."

"What does the bastard have on you that would keep you tied to him?"

Bulma shrugged. "I do not know. All I know is, this war must not be allowed to happen."

"There is no other way."

"There has to be," Bulma insisted. "We have to make a way. I will not be responsible for the deaths of countless innocent people, nor the deaths of you, or Kakkarott, or Nataliah, or anybody! You promised me that you would not initiate war, Vejita, or do you not remember?"

Vejita held up his hands in defense. "I will not try to start anything, woman. I am just pointing out that there is no other way that I know of."

Bulma turned her face away from him to stare out the picture windows that overlooked the capital. Deep inside, she knew that there would be a war. It was inevitable. But her mind refused to accept that. She didn't want any more pain. She didn't want to suffer. And most of all, she didn't want to be the cause of the end of an empire. She would not be able to bear the weight of those sins on her shoulders for very long without cracking under the pressure. The woman's eyelashes fluttered against her cheeks as she tried to regain her composure. When she opened them, she saw that Vejita had grown impatient and had walked over to the windows. He stood with his arms crossed, glaring out over the city. Bulma did not know how to start up the conversation again, so she started to play the piano again. When he heard the soft starting notes of his song, he turned back to her.

"Its stupid to stand here and talk about this when we haven't even been to the meeting yet," he commented. "We shall see where we are when we commence tonight."

When Bulma did not immediately respond, just sat and continued the difficult song, staring straight ahead, Vejita began to leave. When he was almost at the door, however, the queen finally spoke up.

"I trust your judgement," she said flatly. "If it comes to war, I will stand by you."

Vejita stopped and regarded her seriously. "You will not regret your decision."

"I know."

The Saiyan Prince was gone by the time Bulma came to the most turbulent part of the song, and was therefore spared the sight of her sparkling tears falling onto the keys as she played.
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Rhapsody~*
+ HawaiianBabay@aol.com +
+ AOL Instant Messanger: Hawaiian Babay +

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FF.NET MEMBERS:: Special thanks to Kaiya for the suggestion of my new pen name! I owe you one... ^_^ Wow, this is one of the longest chapters yet! Hopefully it will make up for this weekend, as I will be at another horse show and (obviously) unable to update until Monday. Just know this-- things are gonna start happening really fast from now on, and... (dun dun dun) a war may be started soon! Thats all the spoilers I'm gonna give you! BTW, thanks again for all of your 300+ reviews. I can't believe it, even after all this time! Love ya bunches!

TO LIL' RACH:: My pen name on FF.net is Lady Rhapsody, and my pen name on MM.org is Cerulean Rhapsody...

MEDIAMINER.ORG MEMBERS:: Sorry about the later updates-- for some reason, I could not access the site. Grrr... *Suppressing the urge to throw her keyboard through a window* Hopefully things will be running more smoothly by the time I want to update again!

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