CHAPTER EIGHT:

Bulma Briefs had every right to be upset and why shouldn’t she. Ever since that baka, Vegeta, had landed on this planet, she had had to deal with the most stubborn, self-centered, selfish…

“Bastard!” she finished loudly.

Yet, there was something about the surly prince that kept her fascinated. For one thing, he was a prince…and that was a plus in her book (She had always had this fantasy about being a princess and all of that…but we digress). Okay, he wasn’t the most charming of princes, but he was not like her other pathetic excuses for male companions, especially her current beau, Yamcha.

She knew about the human’s cheating ways and she was powerless to stop them, she being guilty on more than one occasion herself. However, being around Vegeta had made her realize how dull and boring her life had been. The Saiyan prince exuded an energy, surly or not, that made her feel alive. Yes, they bickered and fought a lot, but that was the joy of the whole thing. She was hopelessly attracted to him and she fervently hoped that at least he had the same feelings for her.

Her main concern now was going to try to convince her friends to help her in rescuing the Saiyan. After all, he wasn’t the most popular person on the planet.

~ Kami, the things I do for you, Vegeta. ~

~*~*~*~*~

TEN MINUTES LATER:

She stared at all the puzzled faces in front of her and counted slowly to ten to get her rising blood pressure to normal. For a bunch of fighters, they sure were thick-headed, especially their so called leader and her best friend.

“Umm…but Bulma?” The tall spiky-haired Z-fighter said nervously. “How do we know that it really is Vegeta?”

Bulma snorted and stuck her face within inches of the now whimpering man. “What do you mean ‘how do I know?!’ I built the goddamn spaceship, remember?!!! So I would know whether it has arrived or not!! And I thought you guys could read power levels or something! How come you can’t feel his energy?!!”

“She is right, Goku.” The tall green-skinned Namek said in his deep raspy voice. “However, Bulma, it seems like Vegeta is not alone.”

“Huh?” came the simultaneous replies from the other occupants of the room.

Snorting softly, the Namek replied in his usual curt way, turning around to stare out of the window. “Vegeta is here alright, but he is not alone. I sense several others around him. They are strong as well, but not as strong as the Saiyans.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if that baka went out to space to get some people to try to kill us all.”

“Oh, shut up Yamcha!” Bulma spat out angrily.

“Oh, yeah?! Why should I?” Yamcha snapped back in irritation. He had never liked the short-tempered Prince and he wasn’t about to now. “We all know how much Vegeta has always wanted to get rid of us, especially Goku, so what makes you think he didn’t go out of space to do that?”

“Look, you guys, we are not going to achieve anything by staying here and arguing.” Goku said, rising to his feet and heading out of the door. “I say we follow Bulma and see where he has landed. Who knows, we might even end up liking his guests.”

“But what if they are…” Krillen began, swallowing tightly as he twiddled his fingers in nervousness. “Are they hostile, Piccolo?”

“They do not seem to be hostile in any way.” Piccolo replied, going after the earth-raised Saiyan. “Goku is right. We are wasting time arguing here. Let us go and find out for ourselves.”

Bulma gave an exaggerated sigh of relief and snorting haughtily, she spat out. “Finally! I thought we were never going to leave. Aren’t you coming Master Roshi?” she asked, turning around to face the bald-headed old man.

“No, no…”came the reply. “I will just stay here and wait for you all to come back. I feel that my presence there would not be needed. “

Bulma nodded and faced the others. “Oolong, Paur, are you guys coming?”

“Nah!” Oolong replied, shaking his head and slurping on his smoothie. “This old pig isn’t going anywhere. I have had too much excitement for one day.”

“Me too. I am staying.” Paur said.

“Alright then, see you guys later!” Bulma replied, walking outside to meet her motley crew. “Let’s move you guys!”

And leading the way into the airbus, Goku, Piccolo, Gohan, Krillen and Yamcha headed off to meet the obstinate royal and his guests.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Vegeta snorted in anger and kicked the side of the spaceship in disgust, watching as it rolled around on the dusty earth plains before coming to a creaky stop.

“Stupid earth machines!! Why couldn’t that onna make something much more stable?!”

And spinning towards the princesses, who by this time had made themselves comfortable on a nearby rock; he stomped up to them, continuing his tirade.

“And this is all your fault!!” He snapped, pointing angrily at Ayeka.

Ayeka’s face flushed red and pushing Sasami away from her, she stalked up to the angry prince and sticking her face within inches of his own, she spat out.

“My fault?! My fault?! You were supposed to take us to Jurai, but noooooo, you just had to take us to some stupid planet to get fuel for your stupid, primitive spacecraft!!”

“Do not twist this around, onna!! I was happily enjoying myself on my planet, until you showed up!! Ever since then I have been bothered, broke, chased, attacked and nearly killed!! I should have left you on that blasted planet!!”

“You should talk! I don’t see you complaining about the money that I WON!!”

“You can have your stupid money! I want my life back!!”

“Well that is just too bad, Mr. Vegeta!! You are stuck with us and until you find a way to get us out of here, we are not leaving!!!”

Vegeta grit his teeth, his energy level about to spiral out of control. “You listen to me, onna…”

“IT IS PRINCESS AYEKA TO YOU…YOU…BARBARIAN!!”

“Oh, is it now?” Vegeta said, quirking his lips into a cruel sneer. “In that case, you will address me as the SAIYAN NO OUJI!!”

Ayeka sucked in a breath and staggered backwards, watching the dark glint that had arisen in the obsidian depths before her. He was crazy. He had to be crazy. He couldn’t be a Saiyan. He just couldn’t be. Controlling her frazzled thoughts, she said the first thing that came to her mind.

“Ha!! You really are sick! You delude yourself. You are not a Saiyan. Saiyans have tails and you do not have one and you dare to call yourself a prin…AAAHH!! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?”

Vegeta had grabbed her hands and had placed it at the small of his back, letting her feel the small stub of fur that was the only evidence of a tail ever being there. He watched with grim satisfaction as her face drained of color and her mouth opened and shut like a fish for several seconds, having to restrain himself from groaning at the delicious shivers that went down his spine at the soft touch on his sensitive skin.

“It can’t be…” Ayeka whispered, unable to believe what she was feeling. “You cannot be…”

“Oh, but I am Princess Ayeka. Yes, I am a Saiyan…a full-blooded one. An unfortunate accident removed the obvious evidence, as you can see.” Vegeta said, reluctantly pulling her hands away. Folding his arms across his chest, he smirked wickedly as he watched her stagger away from him. “Why are you running away? Surely we….barbarians could not have such…how do I put it…kindness in our frozen hearts?”

Ayeka couldn’t speak. She couldn’t trust herself to make a coherent sentence right now. This was too surreal for her. She was in the presence of a Saiyan. The most hated beings in the galaxy and she had…she had….

“Arghhhh!!” she screamed out in anguish, falling to the ground and pounding her hands onto the dusty earth. “How could this have happened?! Why you of all people?!”

“Hmph!” Vegeta snorted, raising his head sharply as he recognized the energy levels of the approaching Z-fighters. “Fate has a funny way of catching up to us, ne Princess Ayeka?” Stalking away from the girls and the quiet logs, he stared at the sky watching the small dot of the airbus in the distance. “Get up! It looks like we have some company.”

Sasami spun around and tried to see. “I don’t see anything…”

“That’s because he is a SAIYAN!!” Ayeka shrieked, standing up abruptly and grabbing Sasami by her arm. Glaring at Vegeta, she swiped away the angry tears from her face. “How could you lie to us?”

~ How could you lie to me? ~ She thought miserably.

All her years of training to hate the Oozaruu forming beings, were slowly coming to a crumble as she stared at the man before her. She had almost begun to like a Saiyan, something that was not meant to be. Something that was so wrong, so vile, and yet so …so… right.

Vegeta swallowed the sharp retort that was about to spring to his mouth as he watched the flash of pain that was quickly masked by the cold, angry look on Ayeka’s face. He felt a dull ache go through him and he had to clench his hands into fists to control his urge to pull her into his arms and to soothe away the anger. Spinning away from her, he muttered out tightly.

“I cannot help being who I am. And besides, you never asked about my place of birth before. Not that it matters anyway. We are both enemies and we should never have met. But as I said, Fate has a strange way of bringing people together.”

And walking away, he sat away on the farthest rock possible. Ayeka was helpless to stop the slow streak of tears that continued to fall down her cheeks. Vegeta’s words couldn’t be further from the truth. True, they were natural enemies, but she found that she could not hate the stubborn prince. He had saved her life and had almost lost his for her and all she could think about were her stupid customs and traditions.

~ Oh, Tsunami. Vegeta… ~

“They are here!” Sasami cried out, jumping up and down and laughing excitedly as the airbus came down to the ground in a cloud of dust.

“No! Sasami wait!!” Ayeka cried out, wiping her face quickly as she tried to make herself as presentable as possible. Having lost her bow again, her hair was again getting in her way and she had to clutch it together hastily with her hands, staring wide-eyed at the people that began streaming out of the yellow, ugly looking mode of transportation. She watched as a tall orange, gi-wearing spiky haired man stepped out first, an impossible smile on the handsome face.

“Hi there!” Goku said cheerfully, waving at Ayeka and grinning widely at Sasami. “My name’s Goku. This is Piccolo, Krillen and Yamcha. And this is Gohan…he is my son.”

“Hi…”Gohan said shyly, going a beet-red as he noticed Sasami giggling at him.

Goku laughed out heartily and noticing the questioning glance that Ayeka had given to the other rapidly approaching figure, he continued. “Oh and that’s Bulma!”

“Where is he?!!” Bulma shouted, not giving anybody a chance to say anything. “Where is that bakayaro?!!”

“Aw…Bulma…” Goku began, trying to control the blue-haired woman’s temper. “He is over…”

“Excuse me, young lady.” Ayeka said softly but firmly, not liking Bulma’s attitude at all.

“Yeah?! What is it?!” Bulma snapped, turning around to stare at the irritated-looking face of the princess in front of her. “Who are you?”

Ayeka took in a deep breath and decided that this woman wasn’t worth wasting a breath over. “I am the Crown Princess of Jurai, Ayeka. And that is my sister, Sasami.”

“Hi!” Sasami replied chirpily, already trying to drag an unwilling Gohan into a game or something.

Ayeka tried to control her laughter at the stunned looks that she received. Finally,

“Wow! I didn’t know that Vegeta went out to space to get himself a princess…” Goku said, scratching his head in bewilderment.

“Chikuso, Kakkarrot!!” came the angry retort from Vegeta as he finally left his perch. “I did not go out to space to bring a princess!!” He snorted as he folded his arms and stood in front of the ogling group. “I went out to train, remember?!”

“Some training…” muttered Yamcha to himself.

Unfortunately, Vegeta heard the comment and smirking, he spat out coldly. “I would watch the way you speak to me you pathetic weakling or I will make you wish you were never conceived!”

“We didn’t come here to pick a fight.” Piccolo said curtly, frowning at the prince. He wasn’t exactly on friendly terms with the Saiyan either, but he at least held some semblance of respect for him. Turning back to Ayeka, he continued. “You say you are Jurians. How did you come in contact with Vegeta? If I remember correctly, the planet Jurai is millions of miles away from the former…” He quickly stopped as he noticed the tense movement and scowl on Vegeta’s face.

Ayeka stared at the tall green man. “You are a Namek. I have heard of your kind. But…but….what are you doing here on the planet earth?”

“Piccolo is one of us now.” Goku said smiling, “He used to want to destroy the planet, but he changed and now he helps us try to save it.”

“Save it from what?” Ayeka asked, bemusement on her face.

“Why, from all the big bad monsters.” Vegeta said in a sneer. “That’s the job of the clown Kakkarrot and his circus. They save this pathetic planet from all the bad guys.”

“Shut up, Vegeta!” Bulma shouted in anger. “After all Goku saved your life as well. Don’t you forget that!”

“You shut up, Onna!!” Vegeta retorted, feeling a migraine coming on. Dealing with two angry women in one day was more than he could handle at the moment. All he wanted to do was bury himself in a hot shower and never come out. A loud growl from…Kakkarrot’s stomach reminded him of his own state of hunger.

Goku blushed and grinned sheepishly at the telltale sound. “Oops, sorry! I guess I am kinda hungry.”

“You are always hungry, Kakkarrot!”

“Why do you call him that?” Sasami asked, still hung onto Gohan’s arm. “I thought his name was Goku.”

“That’s because Kakkarrot is his real name.” Vegeta replied, stalking towards the airbus. “His real Saiyan name.” This time he turned around slightly to watch the reaction to his last sentence and he was not disappointed. Ayeka’s face had paled even further and she looked like she was going to scream soon.

“Hey…” Goku began, walking towards the shocked female. “Are you alright?”

“You…you…are a Saiyan?” Ayeka gasped in shock. What in the world was going on here? What was another Saiyan doing here? How many more were there on this planet? But the odd thing was that this Saiyan did not act like…well…a Saiyan. He was friendlier and he seemed to have a lot of friends and he was genuinely concerned and well behaved…

“Oh…I forgot to mention that the Princess does not like Saiyans, right?” Vegeta said lightly.

“Not that I blame her.” Krillen mumbled to himself. Speaking out loud he grinned and walked up to the stunned female. “Don’t worry, Princess. Goku is the nicest person you are ever gonna meet. He might be a little slow in the thinking department, but he is as good as gold.”

Ayeka watched the bobbing heads of agreement and tried to control her thudding heart. Well, if they said it was all right, she guessed it must be.

“Well, this is all nice and ‘lovey dovey’, but we have to get going.” Bulma said sharply, not exactly appreciating all the attention the purple-haired woman was getting. A sudden beep from Azaka made her jump into the air. “AHH!! What are those things?!”

Ayeka smiled softly and walked over to her silent logs. Patting their wooden sides, she made the introductions. “These are my guardians, Azaka and Kamadake.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you all.” They both said pleasantly, earning stunned looks on the faces of their audience.

“Ah…your guardians…” Goku said, walking up to them and tentatively tapping their sides. “Well…it’s nice meeting you two too!!”

“Can we go already?! I am hungry and tired!!” Vegeta barked from the airbus.

“Keep your goddamn shirt on!!” Bulma snapped back. “Nobody asked you to crash here and besides…”

Ayeka watched in bewilderment as Bulma stomped off to continue her tirade against the stoic Saiyan, feeling a sharp flash of hot jealously flow through her. It was obvious that the two knew each other, intimately or not, she didn’t know. But she did not like the way Bulma set about trying to boss her way out of everything. Frowning slightly, she turned around to stare at Goku.

“We do not mean to be a bother, but…but…we have no place to stay.”

“Oh no problem!” Goku enthused. “You can stay with Bulma at Capsule Corp. they have a really big compound there and I am sure they would have some room for you to stay…right Bulma?”

Bulma mumbled a quick ‘whatever’ and started the engine of the airbus, signaling the time for everyone to move. They all filed into the vehicle, the logs bringing up the rear. And with a forceful yank on the controls, Bulma led them all back to the Capsule Corporation.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The Galaxy Police officer walked down the long corridor towards his commander’s office. Swallowing tightly, he stepped into the large, Spartan decorated room, taking a deep breath, as he got ready to announce his report.

“Well?” Came the cold question, as the wolf-looking Commander stared at the quivering man before him.

“Sir…”

“Do you bring me good news?”

“Yes and no, sir.”

“Please explain…” came the exasperated reply.

“Yes, sir. Well, we were unable to stop the spaceship that held the princesses, but we do know where they are at the moment.”

“Go on…”

“They seem to have landed in Sector 342, sir. That is in the solar system, on a planet known as Earth.”

“I know all of that! Well, what officers do we have stationed over there?!”

“Detectives First Class Mihoshi and Kiyone, sir. Do we deplore them to the planet sir?”

“What do you think?! Have them go there as soon as possible…No…Wait…”

The officer looked on in bemusement as his commander strolled around the room, his face furrowed in thought. And before he could blink an eye, he found himself caught by the shoulders and shaken roughly by the now very excited looking man.

“I just had a brilliant idea! Let the Detectives go to the planet as undercover agents. Let them find out who kidnapped the princesses and not only do we get the women back, we also get the baka who stole them! Isn’t that brilliant of me?”

“Ahhh…yes…yes, sir.” The officer mumbled, trying to get his jumbled thoughts together.

“Well, what are you waiting for?! Go get the girls!!”

“Yes, sir! Right away, sir!”

And bowing in respect to his superior officer, the man sped off to deliver his message.

~*~*~*~*~*~

The cold wind whipped across the still figure on the high rooftops causing the cape to billow around wildly. A soft meow interrupted the quiet night air and a soothing hush from its owner, soothed the agitated cabbit.

“Not to worry, Ken-Oki.” Came the quiet voice of the bounty hunter. “We know where they are and we are going to get them soon.”