A Light in the Darkness - part 9: Pod People? Saiyan Jealousy
by Mia Skywalker &Wataruo

PAIRING: Vegeta/Bulma
RATING: G
WARNINGS: None
DISCLAIMER: Neither of us owns any of the DBZ characters or anything about DBZ, but we both wish we owned the Saiyans. All of them. These characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation, even though the last one is a crying shame. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball itself. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this fic.
SUMMARY: Pod people?
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A great thank you to Magnes for her beta'ing of this. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last time on Dragonball Z: A Light in the Darkness....

Goku returned to Chikyuu.

~~~~~*~~~~~

A tingling awareness brought Vegeta wide-awake. At first he couldn't figure out what it was that was nagging the back of his consciousness that brought him out of the most sound sleep he had, had in years. But as he slowly came to his senses he realized that there was suddenly a very strong power on the planet. One that he recognized. ::So that baka finally decided to come back to Chikyuu. And this is what a Super Saiyan's power feels like.::

Vegeta was about to get out of bed and go confront him, but something soft against his side made him pause. He looked down to discover that Bulma was still sleeping against his side. One of her arms was thrown casually across his chest, her hair was spread all over the pillows and for the first time since he'd known her, she looked completely relaxed. If an onlooker had seen him, they would've been shocked to see a softened expression light his face as he reached down to play with a strand of her hair. He bent his head to her hair and breathed in her scent, automatically committing it to memory as he had everything else he had learned in the past year. He knew exactly how much time she took getting ready in the morning, the name of her favorite perfume, how her face would flush and her eyes would become a brilliant shade of blue when she was angry. The warrior was also pleased to note that her eyes had turned the same color when he had been pleasuring her the night before.

::What the hell am I thinking?:: He gave himself a mental shake. ::Before long I'll be an idiot like Kakarotto.:: He had more important things to be concerned with, not mooning over a human female. ::This is completely unacceptable.:: he told himself sternly. ::Get out of bed and go train now!:: He was still lying there frowning when Bulma awoke.

Bulma stirred, feeling the warmth next to her move slightly. The sun caressed her face, teasing her, warning her that it was time to get up. She opened her eyes slowly, and noticed Vegeta frowning down at her. She blushed as the memories of that morning swarmed back to her, as she remembered why he was in bed with her. A warmth grew in her at those memories, and she flushed, almost in anticipation of experiencing them again. 

Then she noticed the frown on his face, as though he was angry with her. She paled and froze, staring up into his fierce countenance. "Vegeta?" she asked softly, almost afraid to speak, afraid that if she said or did the wrong thing, that he'd hurt her or even kill her. "Did I... did I do something wrong?"

Vegeta snorted. "How could you have done something wrong?" he asked her, forcing himself to relax. "You were sleeping. Kakarotto, on the other hand, is back." For some inexplicable reason he found that he needed to explain himself to her. And he had never explained himself to anyone. He was the Prince of Vegeta-sei. He could do no wrong.

He swung his legs out of bed and stood up. "He has been back for a while now. What do you suppose he has been doing for a year?" He spoke as if to himself as got dressed.

Bulma wondered how he knew that Goku was back, then she remembered that the warriors seemed to have some odd way of sensing each other. Still, she didn't know how he could sense Goku unless... "Goku's back?" Bulma sat up abruptly, smiling suddenly. Vegeta had rarely seen a smile that genuine, which brightened her face that much.

"Unfortunately," he muttered and looked back at her to see the most brilliant smile on her face. ::Kami, she can't be that happy to see him, can she?:: His stomach clenched as an unfamiliar emotion shot through him. He had the strongest urge to go and kill Goku and get it over with so Bulma would concentrate on him and not on that mindless idiot. If he had been more experienced with emotions, he would've realized that he had become jealous and that his expression was clearly indicating it.

Completely oblivious to Vegeta's jealousy, Bulma continued excitedly. "Oh! I have to go see him then!" Bulma threw her covers off of herself, and started pulling out clothes haphazardly, looking for something to wear. She settled on something, and then ran into the bathroom to get dressed. 

When she came out a few minutes later, she was wearing a pale green tube top that set off her hair, and a pair of tight shorts. She smiled at Vegeta, looking as excited as a kid in a toy store. "I have to go over and find out how he is!"

"Don't be an idiot," he snapped at her. "He is fine. If he had been hurt, he would've died when Namek was destroyed." His jealousy was quickly escalating into anger. ::Now why isn't she ever that excited to see me?:: "Besides you have work you need to finish. Knowing that baka, he'll show up when we least want him to."

"Hunh?" Bulma blinked at Vegeta in confusion. "I haven't seen him in a year! Two years if you count the year he was dead, when we were waiting for you to come attack us! Why shouldn't I want to go see him now? My work can wait a day. It already has!" She frowned at him suddenly. "What's wrong with you, anyway?" she demanded of him.

"You are going to see him wearing that?" he asked incredulously. It gave away too much of her body for Vegeta's liking. "It barely covers anything." Her tube top clung to her breasts allowing Vegeta to see her nipples. Her shorts clung to every curve making Vegeta's mouth go dry with desire for her. "Don't you think you should change first?"

Bulma looked down at her clothing in puzzlement. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" She'd worn outfits like this the past year; Vegeta had seen her wearing them and had never said anything about it before. Suddenly it dawned on her, when she saw the expression on his face. She smiled at him in understanding. "You're jealous, aren't you?" she asked, sounding slightly surprised. "Of Son-kun? Why would you be jealous of him?"

"I am not jealous," he ground out. "Why should I be jealous of that half-witted..." He snapped his mouth shut as she continued to smirk at him. The muscles in his jaw tensed, and then he spun on his heel and stalked towards the door. He wasn't angry at Bulma, but with himself. He didn't like these emotions that seemed to come out of nowhere. The fact that they were starting to control him made him even angrier at himself.

Bulma couldn't help giggling, his reaction giving her a funny sort of happiness that bubbled up from deep inside her. She wasn't sure why, and she didn't want to explore it at the moment. But she couldn't help quipping out as he walked towards the door, "Are you going to go with me? Or am I going to visit Son Goku all by myself?" She paused a moment dramatically before continuing. "All alone, just the two of us...."

Vegeta stopped and spun to face her. "I don't think so." He stalked over to her, placed both hands on his hips and glared at her. "I'll go with you." Her grin seemed to get wider. "But only because I want to meet a Super Saiyan. I am not jealous of that baka. Have I made myself clear?"

"Oh of course!" Bulma looked at him innocently, a look that had he known her better he would have known was patently false. "But didn't you have training to do today? You've been sleeping on your lazy butt all day and haven't once turned on the gravity room. Aren't you afraid it will rust or something if you go for a day without using it?" She looked at him in wide-eyed innocence, knowing that he wouldn't be able to recognize teasing when he saw it.

"It can wait," he ground out, oblivious to the fact that Bulma was only teasing him. The only thing he was sure of was the simple fact that he did not want Bulma alone with Goku. The thought that Chi-Chi would be there hadn't occurred to the prince and if it had he was so worked up that he would've wanted to go along anyways. "Well, lets get going." And shoved her towards the door.

"If you say so," she told him dubiously. "Although I thought the world might come to an end if you ever spent a day without training." Suddenly it occurred to her that the world might come to an end, Vegeta might be planning on coming with her so that he could fight Goku. She blanched at the thought, her face going pale. She didn't want to lose her oldest friend right when he came back, and she was sure that was what Vegeta had in mind. He seemed so angry.... ::And I goaded him to be that angry. Oh, it's my fault! I should have let him train, and gone without him! Why did I tease him that way?::

"Vegeta," she said, in a quiet, strangled-sounding voice. "You don't have to go with me. Really. I'll be fine on my own. You can stay here and train, he and I are just friends... please?"

"I couldn't care less what your relationship is with that simpleton," he snapped and steered Bulma into the hall. "I told you I want to see what a Super Saiyan's power is like." The truth of the matter was, Vegeta did care what her relationship was with the other warrior. And he didn't want to admit that even to himself, let alone the woman he was almost dragging behind him.

He did want to see what kind of power Kakarot now had. Every time he ran into the other warrior, he seemed to pick up some new skill. Vegeta ground his teeth together in frustration. He was not about to let a third class, tailless, loser like Kakarotto out do him. He was supposed to be the strongest warrior in the universe. But he knew that without a doubt that one day soon he would defeat Kakarotto, and blow this miserable planet to dust.

Bulma allowed herself to be dragged by Vegeta, afraid to resist him, afraid to fight. ::Oh, Kami! He's going to kill all of us! He's going to kill Goku, and then Chi-Chi and Gohan, and then me...!:: She didn't know why she'd thought that maybe he wouldn't hurt her, just because they'd slept together. ::Who knows now many women he's had sex with before? It doesn't mean anything to him. He'll still kill me, he still wants to kill Goku, he still wants to kill everyone.:: She closed her eyes in terror as he dragged her from the house, unable to do anything other than shake in fear.

The fine tremors that were going through Bulma were the first indication to Vegeta that something was wrong. He stopped in mid-stride and turned to look at her. She was alarmingly pale and she was shaking almost uncontrollably. He frowned at her wondering what could be wrong with her, when it hit him. Bulma was afraid of him. From the way she was staring at him, wide-eyed, he knew he had done something to cause this. He released her from his grip and scowled at her. "What's the matter with you woman?" he asked. 

"You're going to kill us, aren't you?" Bulma whispered, terrified. The nightmare that she'd had on Namek, with him chasing her with glowing red eyes, came back to her and she shuddered. The memory of him shooting ki blasts at her resurfaced, and she trembled. "You're going to kill all of us," she whimpered in fear. "I don't want to die. I'm too young to die. I don't want to die yet!" She was babbling almost incoherently in her terror.

"Don't be an idiot," he said glaring at her. "I have no intention of killing you." He scooped her up into his arms and took to the air. He felt her arms tighten around his neck and snorted. "Relax, woman, I am not going to drop you." He looked down at her in his arms. "Which is the fastest way to Kakarotto's?"

She buried her face against his shoulder, not convinced in the slightest. "If I tell you," she said, her voice muffled against his chest, "will you promise not to kill him? Kill any of us?"

Vegeta was tempted to taunt her with the fact that he could find Kakarotto easily enough by his ki. He really didn't need her to tell him, but he did for some reason want her to believe that he was not a threat to her. "That depends," he said thoughtfully. "Would you believe any promise I made?"

She looked up at him, her eyes wide. "I don't know, she replied truthfully. "You've broken so many promises to all of us before. You've broken promises to Goku, to Krillin... to me." She looked thoughtful, but puzzled. "I don't know. Would you keep a promise, if you made it? Or would you just break it again?" She found that she wanted to trust him, but she didn't really know if she could. ::He could kill me so easily. I know he could. Why doesn't he just do it and get it over with?::

::Because I do not wish to kill you:: he thought to her. "We could discuss this until we are blue in the face woman," he said aloud. "So then I promise not to kill anyone tonight. Is that satisfactory?"

Bulma nodded, uncertain how to understand his statement. He didn't wish to kill her? Did that mean he never had, or he didn't anymore, or that he just didn't want to kill her for the moment? Well, at least he promised not to kill anyone that night, that was something. For what his promise was worth, at least. She wasn't sure how far she could trust him, even though she wanted to. "His house is that way," she whispered, pointing, without taking her eyes from his face.

Vegeta nodded and leaned down to kiss her softly. "Arigato," he whispered as he took off towards Kakarotto's house. He found himself wondering why he was so pleased that Bulma had trusted him. At least she did at the moment. He also found himself wondering why he was so aware of Bulma's hip pressing into his side, why he found the scent of her hair so arousing. ::Since when does this human mean so much to me?::

Bulma blinked, and froze in utter confusion. Vegeta was... thanking her?!? That had never happened, not the entire time he had lived with them! He'd always demanded, never asked; he'd always smirked, never thanked. She stared at him as though he'd suddenly sprouted horns, or a second head, which maybe he had. ::Is this Vegeta? Or had he gotten replaced by a pod person? It's got to be a pod person! He hasn't acted like himself all day! He's been positively... nice!:: 

She frowned suddenly. "Who are you and what have you done with Vegeta?" she demanded abruptly.

"What are you talking about woman?" he asked as he scowled down at her. "Have you lost your wits completely?" She was watching him with an expression he had never seen before. And quite frankly, he didn't like it. "Or is the fact that you have been around Kakarotto all these years finally affected your brain cells?"

"You're not Vegeta!" she accused, frowning. "The Vegeta I know would never have thanked anyone! He wouldn't ask, either! He'd demand, in the most arrogant, rude manner possible! He'd be as hateful and spiteful as possible, and would threaten me at every turn! You've been so nice to me today, you can't be Vegeta! Either you've taken over his body, or you're an evil twin, or you're someone in disguise as him. Which is it?" She looked away from him suddenly, and muttered, "The Vegeta I know, I don't even like! But you...."

"And?" he prompted as he looked down at her. "Just because I thanked you once doesn't mean I intend to ever do it again." He scowled at the back of her head. "And I doubt I will ever make that particular mistake again."

Bulma looked down, suddenly ashamed of herself, and wondering why she'd done that. ::He was being nice to me for once, why did I punish him for it? Why couldn't I just have accepted it?:: But she thought she knew why. He'd been nice to her, and she found it threatening. When he was his usual arrogant, rude, cruel self, she could hold him at a distance. But if he was nice, then she might accidentally let him in. ::Why did I have to do that?:: she thought miserably, looking away from him. She leaned her head against his chest, automatically snuggling closer to him, and sighed sadly. ::Do I drive everyone away like that? Why do I do that? I guess it's my fault that people don't like me, isn't it?::

Vegeta sensed Bulma's withdrawal and was instantly sorry that he had snapped at her. He had been acting strange all day. She hadn't deserved to be spoken to like that. He did not apologize, however, for he did not want to be ridiculed again. Vegeta was silent for the rest of the trip to Goku's home in the mountains. He spoke again only when he could see the smoke from the fireplace, rising above the trees. "I take it this is it?"

At the sound of his voice her head snapped up, but at his words she sighed in disappointment. ::Why?:: she wondered. ::What was I hoping for? He's not going to be nice to me again, not when I snarl at him for it. I've made my bed, now I have to lie in it.:: She felt a deep wave of regret for that, feeling like she'd lost something infinitely precious. She didn't know how to apologize, and was too proud to try.

She looked at the smoke rising above the trees and nodded. "Yes, that's Son's house," she said softly, still subdued. It didn't even occur to her how he'd managed to home in on Goku's house so quickly, since as far as she knew, he'd never been there before.

Vegeta nodded once and concentrated on heading towards Goku's ki. He studied the surroundings of Goku home curiously and wasn't in the least bit surprised to see that he and his family lived out in the middle of nowhere. It was the type of place that Vegeta had no problems with, and if the prince was honest with himself, he would've chosen something similar.

To be continued.....

~~~*~~~

And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Confrontations