A Light in the Darkness - Part 70: Clueless Saiyans and Stubborn Humans 
by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo

PAIRING: Bulma/Vegeta, Yamcha/Hakusai
RATING: PG
WARNINGS: None
C&C: Please! ^_^
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. At least all of the ones with hair. And yes, we're including Yamcha and Ryouga in that, now you know. Dragonball Z and the associated characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation, even though the last one is a crying shame. Ranma 1/2 and the character of Ryouga Hibiki are owned by Viz, Rumiko Takahashi, and some Japanese studio I don't know the name of. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball or Ranma 1/2 themselves. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this fic. We just have fun writing it. Oh, I guess we do own Hakusai and Serori. But I doubt anyone cares. ^_~
SUMMARY: Bulma gets pissed off at a certain clueless Saiyan.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Thank you to TwoMoons, Lady Lark, Selenity Jade and W-chan, for beta-ing this. 

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

Your typical Bulma and Vegeta fight scene... ending, of course, in lemon.

~~~~~~~~*~~~~~~~~

Gohan glanced anxiously at Bulma and Vegeta as they walked away. "Daddy? Will Bulma be all right?" he asked Goku once they were out of earshot.

Yamcha shorted derisively. "I think we'd need to worry more about Vegeta than Bulma," he replied. "I think he's in more danger than she is." He knew that the two of them would never really hurt each other, and none of them - other than Gohan - was particularly worried. He felt a slight pang at that realization. Bulma had chosen Vegeta over himself, and that hurt. He realized now that he had never truly loved her - not the way Vegeta did, nor the way he loved Hakusai - but she had been his first love, and there was a part of him that would always care for her. Especially since he had known and loved her for so long. A part of him didn't want to give up on her. He somehow wished things had worked out, even if that had been impossible.

"If you say so," Gohan said dubiously, jarring Yamcha from his thoughts. Yamcha glanced at Hakusai guiltily, but she was giving him an odd look, and he wasn't entirely sure what to say to her.

"But shouldn't we stay close by, in case Bulma needs us?" the little boy asked his father. "I don't want her to get hurt." It was obvious that he wasn't taking Yamcha's words seriously, and was still concerned about his friend.

"Don't worry so much, Gohan." Goku placed his hand on the young boy's shoulder. "They will be ok. I am sure that Vegeta won't do anything to hurt her. I promise. If I thought anything was going to happen, I would have stayed." He smiled down reassuringly at his son.

Hakusai nodded her agreement, but was still watching Yamcha curiously. He had the oddest expression on his face. First he had seemed distracted, but then the look he had given her was almost... apologetic. ::What's the matter?:: she asked him silently.

::Ah... nothing,:: Yamcha replied, too embarrassed to admit that part of him still didn't want to let Bulma go.

Gohan frowned at his father's words. He trusted Goku completely, but he knew that his father wasn't the smartest person in the world. Just because Goku trusted someone didn't mean that person was trustworthy. "Shouldn't we stay around, just to make sure?" he asked hesitantly.

"Gohan." Goku crouched down in front of him so he could look into his eyes. "It will be ok. Really. I think they want to be alone anyways."

::Liar,:: Hakusai accused Yamcha, wondering what he was hiding from her. ::Something is wrong. I can feel it.::

::Nothing's wrong,:: Yamcha answered. ::Don't press it, Hakusai. Please.::

Hakusai tried to stifle a hurt expression and told herself it really wasn't important that he didn't want to tell her. ::After all, he doesn't know everything about me either,:: she consoled herself. ::All right,:: she told Yamcha, her mental tone sounding as hurt as she felt.

::Hakusai....:: Yamcha didn't know what to tell his lover. He did love her - more than he had ever loved Bulma - but there was simply a part of him that wasn't letting go of his first love. ::I'm sorry.::

Hakusai swallowed, not answering Yamcha. She knew she was being unreasonable, the need to cry for no apparent reason was bothering her. But Hakusai wasn't about to give in to those emotions.

Gohan watched his father dubiously for a moment, and then nodded. He turned to the other four Saiyans and smiled. "Yamcha, maybe I can go Super Saiyan soon, like Daddy says. Can you train us some more?"

Yamcha looked startled. He didn't think he was necessarily the best one to train them - especially Gohan - but he would try. "All right. Why don't we go somewhere and continue our training session?" He glanced at Hakusai hesitantly. "Are you up for it? Or are you too tired?" He was still worried about the way she'd collapsed earlier, and wasn't sure if she had completely recovered.

"When have you known a Saiyan to turn down a fight?" Hakusai smiled. "That's almost like Vegeta being nice."

Yamcha snorted at the idea, but Gohan smiled. "Vegeta can be nice. He saved my life twice on Namek. And my Daddy told me that he cried when he died." 

He didn't see Hakusai's shocked expression, because at that moment he had turned and taken Ryouga's hand, but Goku smiled indulgently and didn't contradict it.. "Come on, we're going to train, all right?" He took off, half-dragging the other demi-Saiyan behind him, and Serori trailing along after them.

Yamcha scratched his head, looking puzzled. "I dunno, I can't picture Vegeta being 'nice'," he said, agreeing with Hakusai. "Maybe we should follow them."

"Oh, I am sure he could be nice when he wants to. Otherwise, why would Bulma be so content?" Hakusai asked recovering from the thought of her brother actually getting emotional enough to cry. "Yes, let's keep them from damaging the countryside."

The six Saiyans arrived a minute later at their standard training grounds. Gohan laughed at the way Ryouga tumbled to the ground, then the older boy pulled himself up. He looked irritated for a moment, but then smiled shyly. He looked at Yamcha and Hakusai. "Can you show me things that Saiyans can do?" he asked hopefully. ::Anything to help me defeat Ranma!::

Yamcha nodded and scratched his head. "We can teach you stuff. Vegeta would be the best one to teach you Saiyan attacks. He was the last one to live there, before Frieza blew it up. But we can teach you other things. They're just as good, 'cause we fought the Saiyans and beat them the first time Vegeta arrived!" he said proudly.

"Let's teach them the Kame Hame Ha!" Gohan said eagerly. It was one of the first ki attacks that either he or his father had ever learned. "He can use ki, let's teach him that!"

Yamcha nodded. "Sure, why not? You want to learn it, you two?" he asked Serori and Ryouga, then looked at Hakusai. "We can teach it to you, too," he offered in way of apology for hiding things from her earlier. "It's really powerful for what it is. If you're not very strong it's just a big ki blast, but when you're really strong, it becomes even more powerful."

Hakusai looked at him thoughtfully. "Why not? It isn't like I have other plans for the day."

Yamcha looked curiously at her. He was interested in finding out what techniques she might have, but decided not to ask for now. "All right, let's start." He and Gohan showed the three of them how to cup their hands and draw them back, to draw in their ki. They spent about an hour at this, before they realized the sun had set, and it was getting dark.

They stopped suddenly when Gohan's stomach growled rather loudly. Almost immediately the other Saiyans' stomachs growled in sympathy. With a laugh, they realized that they needed to get something to eat, so they set back for Capsule Corp.

~~~*~~~

Vegeta wasn't sure how long the two of them lay there before he felt the others returning. He didn't want to wake Bulma, who was still sleeping in his arms, but he knew she would be more than a little embarrassed if the others caught the two of them in the nude on the gravity room floor. He dipped his head, nuzzling against the side of her neck to wake her. "The others are back," he whispered.

Bulma stirred slightly. "Hmm...?" she murmured sleepily, not really awake. She snuggled deeply into him, pressing herself more firmly against him.

"Wake up." His amusement was apparent in his tone. His teeth tugged on her ear as she sighed and tightened her embrace around him. "Everyone is back."

"What?" Bulma blinked groggily, and looked into Vegeta's face. "Who's back?"

"Hakusai, Yamcha, Kakarotto, and Kakarotto's brat," he said nibbling on her throat. "Not to mention Yamcha's half-brother and my half-sister. Wouldn't want them to see you in the nude, would you?"

"Nude?" She was confused for a moment. Weren't they in bed? Why would the others see them there? Then she took in her surroundings, and remembered the passionate interlude they had just had. She blushed in embarrassment, wondering how she could be so wanton to have made love to Vegeta right here, where anyone could find them.

"Yes, nude. The opposite of having clothes on." He brushed his nose against hers. "I figured a genius like you would know the difference."

"I know what nude means, you baka," she snapped at him. She sat up, stretching slightly, then looked down at him. "You should get dressed as well," she said pointedly. "Unless you want to show off your cute little Saiyan ass to everyone. Except I think it might give the children nightmares for the rest of their lives."

Vegeta blinked and then snorted. "Hardly. I think seeing you naked on the other hand..." He smirked as he dressed. "Looks like they're heading for the kitchen anyway."

Bulma's eyes narrowed on Vegeta. "And what is that supposed to mean? Are you saying I'm hideous?" There was a dangerous edge to her voice, and an intelligent man would realize he was starting to tread on thin ice at the moment.

Vegeta's smirk widened. " I said no such thing, woman. I only implied it."

"Then you are implying that I am hideous?" she growled at him, her eyes beginning to spark in anger. She glared at him, her hands on her hips, after she finished dressing, and somehow for all her slender build and unimpressive height, there was something about her that would intimidate any lesser man than Vegeta.

Vegeta chuckled. "I implied it, but if you were hideous, woman, do you think I would be sleeping with you?" He watched her display of anger, privately pleased with his accomplishment of getting her worked up.

Bulma continued to glare balefully at him. "I have no idea. I always wondered why you never tried to molest such a beautiful creature as myself!" She tossed her hair over her shoulder haughtily, then lifted her nose in the air and strode out of the gravity room.

She headed directly to the kitchen door to join the others. She was irritated, although not as irritated as she was pretending. But it was still enough for it to show as she entered the kitchen and saw the others attempting to fix something to eat. She ruthlessly suppressed her feelings, as she rather swiftly prevented any disasters by programming the dispensers to make them enough food so the others wouldn't try to do it themselves.

"Hey," Hakusai said getting Bulma's attention. "You ok?"

Vegeta walked in just in time to hear his sister's question, but ignored it, assuming she was asking Bulma about her irritable mood and nothing more. He walked up behind Bulma, standing inconspicuously in the background, watching the group.

Bulma shrugged, and continued punching in codes for more food, handing the platters to the waiting robots to take to the table where the others were eating. As Bulma handed the fifth tray to a waiting robot, Goku looked up at her in surprise.

"Hey, Bulma!" he called out, his words barely distinguishable through a mouthful of food. "Don't you think you might be overdoing it a little? You don't want to get fat, you know!"

Bulma's finger froze over the control pad of the replicator, and she slowly turned to look at him, her eyes wide with horrified shock. If Vegeta hadn't just insulted her only an hour or so ago with the same thing, and if it hadn't been Goku saying that, a man who always spoke his mind, Bulma probably wouldn't have felt so hurt and upset by his words. "Goku, I am NOT fat!" she said in a low and forceful tone, wanting to strangle her old friend.

Goku blinked, not sure what he had said to make her angry, but trying his best to fix it. "Well, it's just that you're always worried about your weight, and you're always on all these diets to try to control it...."

"Are you saying that I'm fat, Goku?" Bulma screamed at him, then picked up the latest tray of food and threw it at him. "Then I'll leave you alone so you don't have to look at me anymore!" Without waiting for a reply, she stormed up the stairs.

Gohan looked up at Yamcha and Vegeta in confusion. "Why is she so angry?" he asked them, looking puzzled. "Did we make her mad?"

Vegeta growled, throwing a glare in Goku's direction. "You idiot, of course you made her mad! She just screamed at you, didn't she? Next time, don't be so stupid as to insult her!"

"But Vegeta!" Goku protested, looking guiltily confused. "I don't know how I insulted her! What did I say?"

Hakusai smacked her forehead, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "Oi! Goku, sometimes I wonder about you...."

Yamcha grinned at his friend's discomfiture. "He knows what Bulma's like. He knows better than to say something stupid like that!"

"But what did I say?" Goku protested again, still looking puzzled.

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Kakarotto, you just called my mate fat, you imbecile!"

Goku blinked. "I did? But she's always worried about her weight! She's always saying that she'll get fat if she eats as much as I do!"

Gohan looked embarrassed at his father's obtuseness, then Serori's giggle next to him distracted him. He blushed slightly for a moment, then caught her gaze, and started to giggle as well as the humor of the situation got to him. His father was an idiot, it was true, but it was still amusing how he could be so completely clueless about everything like that.

Vegeta growled, getting very irritated with the dense Saiyajin. "She will not get fat, fool. She cannot eat as much as we do! No matter what she says!"

"But... but she says...."

Hakusai decided it was time to stop Goku before Vegeta killed him. Indeed, it looked like the Saiyan Prince was on the verge of murdering his compatriot regardless of anything that anyone else did. "Son-kun," she interrupted him, distracting him from his thoughts. "Maybe you should apologize."

Yamcha grinned at them. "Naw, an apology won't work right now. Believe me, I've been in this situation more than you have! He's better off letting her calm down and then apologizing to her. But don't try to talk to her now. She'll just throw things at you." His grin widened. "What do you want to bet that if we went upstairs, we'll find that she's already been throwing things around?"

Goku sweatdropped, and put a hand behind his head sheepishly. "I guess so," he replied, smiling innocently at them. "So I should leave her alone right now?"

Vegeta snorted in disgust at their cowardice and turned to exit the kitchen, heading upstairs to find his mate, ignoring their pointless banter about his woman. After all, he loved making her angry, and her throwing stuff at him was half the fun. Of course, the hardheaded Saiyajin had to work her up in a tizzy though, and that irritated him. He was supposed to make her angry, not calm her down after someone else did.

When Bulma heard the door open, her immediate reaction was to throw what she was currently holding in her hands at the person entering the room. Vegeta caught the vase in his hand, of course, and the impact shattered it instantly. Bulma glared at him, wanting an outlet for her anger, and right now Vegeta was the most convenient target, even if he hadn't been the cause of it in the first place. It was readily apparent from the marks on the walls and the various shattered bits of glass in the room that Bulma had already been busy throwing anything and everything she could get her hands on. There were other, less breakable, things scattered about the room, which had also made their marks on her walls. It was fortunate that some of Bulma's housekeeping robots had been designed for fixing damage like this, considering how often her temper was piqued this way.

Vegeta slowly looked around the room, taking in the evidence of her fit, before he chuckled softly. "Woman, do you always have to make such a mess?" He glanced at her. "You're not fat, and the fool, Kakarotto, doesn't think so, either. He's just a moron."

Bulma stared at him, her anger dissipating. "You don't think I'm getting fat?" She looked suddenly vulnerable, as she stared at him with worried eyes. "What about when I start to show? I'll get fat then...."

Vegeta shook his head, walking over to her. "You won't be fat, woman. You will be pregnant. There is a difference." He gazed into her eyes, confused as to her sudden vulnerability. "Woman, what's wrong with you?"

She stared at him, still looking worried. "I'm just afraid... that you won't want me anymore when I get fat. That you won't find me attractive," she confessed, blushing and looking away. "I won't be skinny and beautiful anymore, but I'll be ugly and fat and pregnant, and you might want someone else." She finally admitted to him her fears, but didn't want to look at him, afraid of the truth.

Vegeta blinked. He then sighed silently. Didn't she realize yet that he wasn't going to leave her? "Woman, I am not going anywhere, not even if you do get fat and hideous, which you will not. You will be pregnant, not fat. And you are gorgeous, not even being fat would change that. I will always find you attractive," he told her sternly, getting slightly irritated at her constant doubting, but knew that it was probably his own fault for being the way he was. After all, he could hardly expect her to know what he felt when he himself couldn't figure it out most the time.

Bulma stared at him, still looking doubtful. She knew that at some point she would have to tell him - would have to tell all of them - that some of the Saiyans were probably still alive. Would Vegeta regret choosing her - bonding with her - once he realized that? Would he prefer to have a Saiyan woman - one who could match him in strength, and wouldn't have any trouble with his warrior lifestyle - over a human woman who was much weaker than he was?

"Even though I'm weak?" Bulma clutched tightly at his shoulders. "Even though I can't fight, and I'm just a human? What about...." She swallowed. "What about having pure-blooded Saiyan children? Wouldn't you rather have that?" She didn't know why she was tormenting herself this way. What if he said yes? What if her questions made him realize what he would be missing? ::It would be better to know now. If he thinks about it, and realizes he'd rather be with a Saiyan woman, then maybe I....:: She realized that she might decide not to find Yamcha's mother, if she thought that Vegeta might choose a mercenary Saiyan woman to herself. ::I can't lose him now,:: she thought in despair. ::It will kill me.::

Vegeta rested his forehead on hers. "I want you." He reached up entangled his fingers in her hair and tilted her head back for his kiss. "And if anyone claims that you are just a weak, silly human, I'll kill them." He said breaking their kiss. "Ai shiteru, now and for the rest of my life."

"Then you have to kill yourself," she said somewhat breathlessly. "Because you say it all the time."

"Good point," he said, glad that she seemed to be calming down. ::So that's what this was about? She thinks I'd really leave her for some Saiyan? Baka.:: "I guess I'll do it later." He pressed another kiss against her mouth. "I have better things to do at the moment."

She blinked and sighed. "I think I'm going to go to bed now, Vegeta. I'm feeling a little tired." She was tempted to see if she could have Hakusai take a look at that hologram, but decided against it. ::Not tonight. Tomorrow. I just need to make sure I can pin her down for a little while.::

"You should eat first," he told her. "Do you want me to bring you something?"

"A... all right." She nodded reluctantly. She didn't really want to go downstairs to face the others, not after that last display of temper. "Can you just tell them that I have a headache?" she asked weakly.

He brushed his mouth lightly against hers as he released her. "Go to bed. I'll bring you something in a minute."

She had the feeling he didn't understand what she meant, but she simply nodded, and headed back to her room after hugging him tightly again. She hoped he wouldn't say anything to the others that would humiliate her more than she'd already embarrassed herself.

Vegeta headed downstairs and entered the kitchen to find that the rest of the group had almost finished eating. Without a word, he began piling food on two plates, one for him and one for his mate.

"Is Bulma alright?" Hakusai asked, her dark eyes showing concern.

"Aa. " He said no more on the subject as he headed out the kitchen door and back up the stairs.

Gohan looked back from where Vegeta had exited the kitchen, over to the others, his eyes puzzled. "Is something wrong with Bulma?" he asked curiously.

Yamcha shrugged. "Other than her temper?" he inquired somewhat acidly. "Probably not."

Hakusai sighed. "Probably a side effect of being pregnant, nothing to worry about."

Yamcha snorted. "Not likely. She's always been like that. Even when we were kids." He ignored the stares that the others gave him. "You get used to it after a while. You just have to learn to work around it."

Gohan sighed and nodded. He'd experienced Bulma's temper first-hand during their trip to Namek. He and Krillin hadn't always known how to deal with it then, and he still wasn't sure now. "We should just leave her alone," he agreed. Then his eyes widened "Daddy, why aren't you home with Mommy? Didn't you want to be alone with her for awhile?"

"Well, these guys wanted to know what Super Saiyan looked like and I showed them." Goku blinked. "I think she may be upset with me. I just told her I was leaving."

Gohan nodded. Like his father, he was well aware of his mother's moods, and knew that doing something like that was sure to trigger her anger. However, she was less likely to stew on it, and more likely to explode and then calm down after a little while. "You might want to go home now, Daddy," he said seriously. "Mommy will be mad, but she'll be madder if you wait longer."

"You had better listen to him, Goku," Hakusai said, with a warning smile.

"Yeah." Goku stood back up. "Did you want to come home, Gohan? Or are you staying here for a while longer?"

Gohan hesitated for a moment, and then shook his head. "No, Mommy will only make me do some more homework." He thought it was silly to do so much homework when he was on vacation, but his mother seemed to believe that he should never take a vacation, and that he should study non-stop. "Yamcha and Hakusai can train me and the others some more."

Goku nodded. "Alright then, don't forget to call her. She would like that, I think." Goku reached down and gave his son a hug that would have crushed other people. "See you later!"

Gohan yawned loudly then, and smiled sheepishly. "I'm tired. I'm going to go to bed." He stood up without even attempting to clean up, and started out of the room.

"Wait!" Ryouga called out, panicked. The little boy looked at him in confusion, and he flushed in embarrassment. "I don't know where I'm supposed to go," he admitted.

Gohan blinked and smiled. "Okay. I'll show you to one of the guest rooms." He led Ryouga out of the room, and gave him the room next to his own, then both boys went to bed.

Yamcha sighed as the boys left the room, and pressed several buttons on the kitchen control panel. He'd been with Bulma long enough to know how to program the robots, at least for simpler functions. He also knew how Bulma would get if the kitchen was a mess in the morning.

"Come on, Hakusai. I think it's time for bed as well." The two of them went to bed then, not far from where Gohan was sleeping.

To be continued.....

~~~~~*~~~~~

And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness...  Vegeta explains a little about his past, Bulma explains why she's been so insecure around him, and both of them get a little worried about the future for different reasons. A little bit of lemon to end the day....