The next morning after another bout of lovemaking followed by a leisurely breakfast. Bulma got dressed in a bikini with a matching sarong then insisted Vegeta at least put on a pair of trunks, before she starts showing him the lab facilities that dot the island. But she is soon upset when she finds door locks bashed in and expensive equipment missing.
“Damn it, those pirates are back again!” She fumes.
“Pirates?” asks her mate.
“Yeah, we haven’t had any security problems since Goku destroyed the Red Ribbon Army. But now it looks like there’s another bunch running around out here.” She heads for a large clump of bushes, shoving them aside she opens a hidden control box and groans. It’s obvious somebody had found it and figured out how to disable the security field that protected all the laboratories. Once that was accomplished all they had needed to do was bash in the lab doors.
“Whoever did this is no dummy, just destroying the controls would have locked the fields down tight. I designed them specifically to withstand anything but Goku’s strongest blast.”
She walks back to survey the damage. “We’ll have to call home to let my parents know about the thefts and damage. Until everything’s repaired and replaced out here this area’s going to be useless for any type of work.
Vegeta’s eyes are beginning to glisten at the prospects of a fight.
Bulma feels his excitement. “Hold it buster we’re not out here so you can go looking for ‘playmates’ to start bashing on. I‘m the only playmate you need.”
She slips into his arms and starts nuzzling his neck. Nipping lightly at the healing mark she left on his body the night before. The gleam in his eyes becomes a glow of another kind.
“That’s better,” she smiles. “Now just you try to remember what we’re here for.”
He pulls her tight to him. “I’ll remember as long as you keep reminding me.”
Their lips meet in a long deep kiss.
Their eyes are so full of one and other that they fail to notice the momentary flash of light off far out at sea, light reflected of the lens of a periscope, pointed in their direction!
They walk to hand in hand, she leads the way towards the secluded garden behind the house. Where they find an airy gazebo graced by blooming orchids. Their flowery scent of romance perfumes the air, dappled sunlight is filtered and colored by the pastel petals turning the little hideaway into a fairyland grotto. Tami mats cover the floor, with soft cushions scattered about. The sweet sounds of a softly tinkling fountain emanate from nearby.
“This was my favorite place when I was little.” She tells him. “I used to come out here and imagine lots of things, about dragons and brave warriors, quests for fabulous treasures. Or I’d daydream that I was a fairy princess waiting in my flower castle for a handsome prince to come and find me.”
She turns her eyes to his, and laughs “I never believed for a minute it could all really happen.”
She lithely slips down into a sitting position, pulling him down beside her.
“I’d even come out here at night sometimes and stare at the stars peeping through the leaves.”
She cuddles close to him, “I remember one night in particular, I saw a very bright star suddenly appear and then vanish just as quickly. While it was shining so brightly, I made a promise to myself on it that someday, I’d bring my true love here.”
“How old were you?” he asks, curiously.
“Oh about six or so, I think.”
He gets a sudden thought, “Where about in the sky did you see it?”
She looks up and then around the gazebo and shifts her position slightly then lays down. She points upwards, there’s no opening in the canopy there anymore.
But the direction is unmistakable to the Saiyan Prince. “That where my home world used to be. You saw it’s death.”
She sits up stricken. “Oh Vegeta, no...,” Tears well up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry.”
“No don’t be sorry, if it hadn’t happened we might never have met.”
They embrace, he pushes her back down, kissing they begin to caress each other.
Unaware of the men slinking through the bushes behind them.
Suddenly a rude voice intrudes on them. "Now, look what we got going on here. A couple of lovebirds."
A group of ruffians have surrounded them. The pirates have returned to the island.
"Hey girly, what you want with a little guy like him," says the biggest member of the group, "when there's real men like us around." They're all taller and bulkier than Vegeta.
The speaker grabs her by the arm and pulls her up off the floor, towards him. "Come on honey, we'll show you a better time than that shrimp can, don'tcha want to have some real fun." He laughs nastily.
“You will release my female!” Growls Vegeta. He starts to rise and gets roughly pushed back down. The Saiyan's eyes begin to smolder.
Bulma can feel him gathering his power as his anger increases. "Wait, Vegeta, don't..,"
"Yeah buster, don't," comments one of the others, "you just might get hurt."
She cautions their attackers, "Now guys, you really don't know what you're getting yourselves into here."
The man holding her just laughs.
"I know exactly what I'm getting into!" He backs her into the gazebo wall and licks her cheek as he starts to grope her.
A fuming Vegeta rises, and the one who had pushed him down before tries futilely to stop the Saiyan from standing this time.
The man pinning her gets more insistent and starts to fondle her breasts. "Come on, now baby give us a kiss." She jerks her face away.
Slowly and ominously, Vegeta demands, "Take your filthy hands off my woman, NOW!" As he continues easily to a fully standing position.
"Hey! He's a whole lot stronger than he looks!" Yells a second pirate member, now trying to stop him by grabbing one of Vegeta's arms with both hands.
The several of the others try to help restrain Vegeta, they all struggle momentarily to hold onto him.
The Saiyan Prince easily ignores their restraint, his attention is focused on the man holding Bulma. His eyes begin to glow in fury. He shimmers enraged: as he simply shrugs free of the other men carelessly.
The pirates who had tried to restrain him begin to comprehend their mistake and fall back from him. Some retreat in a vain attempt to get away, only a couple remain, riveted by their sudden fear.
Bulma's captor is more concerned with what he's trying to do than what's going on with his crewmates, behind him.
"Don't fight it so much babe, just relax, you know you'll enjoy it." He pulls her sarong skirt off then slips his hand through the strings of her bikini bottom, twisting his fist, then with a strong determined tug he rips it from her body and drops it to the ground. He starts to fumble with one-handed with his pants.
More mad than fearful, Bulma's more worried about what Vegeta might do and the legal consequences that might befall him if he releases the power of his full fury. Authorities like to twist things when there’s dead bodies lying around everywhere.
"Just stop them. Vegeta, don't kill them!" She cries knowing the full extent that his anger is capable of reaching.
"You want me to let vermin like these survive!?" The glow lessens in his eyes.
"JUST DON'T!" She shouts desperately. The pirate attempting to rape her has finally freed himself. He leers at her menacingly as his body approaches hers.
She sees Vegeta give a sharp nod of agreement and then a beam of psychic energy shoots forth from his eyes, the man holding her against the wall is flung away from her, flying back to impact solidly into the opposite wall and to collapse onto bonelessly to the floor.
With a speed that’s impossible to follow with an untrained human eye, Vegeta turns and with a right rear kick fells the largest villain behind him knocking him backwards groaning to the floor, clutching his stomach in agony.
The last one remaining finally finds his legs and stumblingly backs away, out of the gazebo. His eyes widen in panic, reaching frantically into his shirt, "You're not human," he pulls out a gun. "You can't be!"
He fires wildly, and one of the flying bullets graze Vegeta's bicep as the gunman fails to avoid the Saiyan's swift fist.
The last three attackers lay on the scattered around, one unconscious, two groaning.
Vegeta gazes at the man lying at his feet, the one who held the gun.
As blood drips unnoticed down his arm. "I'm not," he says, "I'm a Saiyan."
He silences the others moans with two quick energy blasts from his hand.
Bulma still disheveled rushes into his arms, sobbing in relief.
“Are you unharmed?” He asks.
She nods.
“Can you secure them?” He points his chin in the direction of the ruffians.
“Yes.” Is her firmer reply.
“Then I’ll go get the others.” He starts to turn away.
“Remember don’t kill them. Just capture them and bring them back.” She tells him, “I’ll call the authorities and they’ll come and get them.” Her tone turns angry, the pirates had tried to ruin her honeymoon, the stress of near rape has allowed some of Vegeta’s more violent emotions to infect her.
“But I wouldn’t mind to much if you hurt them!”
Vegeta flies off and makes quick work of the pirate sub crew. He blasts their ineffectual cannons to atoms, then rips the ship apart. Blasting every man jack unconscious, he then gathers them up rather ungently and transports them in a quivering mass of flesh back to the island. Once there he and Bulma stuff all their prisoners into the gravity training room, turn the gravity up to 50 and then re-capsulate it until the Navy can arrive to take the pirates away.
Before the Navy can arrive they agree on a story to explain all the damage to the sub.
A new top secret weapon under development, then Bulma explains to Vegeta what they should and shouldn't tell them and why.
The naval authorities arrive within the hour to take the pirates away. It seems their ships have been scouring the ocean, searching the entire area for the pirate sub for the last three months.
The couple explain how when the pirates small scouting group had attacked them, only Vegeta's expertise in martial arts training had saved them. Carefully omitting any mention of his special powers.
The navy had had numerous previous reports about this same group of pirates. Their raids on other islands and boats in the area had become a major problem lately. Numerous reports of piracy, along with stories of island attacks consisting of pillage, robbery, rape and outright murder, had rapidly made the submarine pirates a thorn in it’s side. So they were extremely relieved to finally have villains in custody and are willing to believe Vegeta and Bulma's edited version of the events, including the non-lethal but damaging effects of a nonexistent secret weapon.
When the authorities finally depart with their prisoners, the couple return to the beach house.
Bulma begins trembling as the adrenalin rush finally wears off.
“Vegeta I was so scared!”
“Why? I was here to protect you.” He starts to look mad.
“No, love, I wasn’t afraid that way.” She clings to him. “I was scared cause I was so mad I’d never felt that way before I wanted to kill them as much as you did.”
“That's because of the bonding.” He reassures her.
“I know that too, it’s just your anger is so intense that it actually physically hurts.” She's crying, “Is is that way all the time for you?”
He looks down at the precious creature weeping in his arms, “It used to be, but you’ve changed it for me. The pain has eased much because of you, My Consort.”
She gazes up at him through her tears, almost smiling, “I like it when you call me that.”
“My Consort.” He repeats softly and is rewarded with her the return of her sunny smile. “Come, I’ll make you forget.”
They return to the gazebo and their interrupted tryst.
Later after their love, as lie together under the leaf veiled stars, he tells her, “When I leave you, our emotional bond will weaken. You will not feel my anger’s pain.”
“But does that mean yours will return?” She asks.
“Perhaps, but even then it will be more bearable.”
“Why, how could it be?”
He runs his fingers through her aqua hair playing with the strands idly, “Because I’ll know that when we reunite and reaffirm our bond that it will again lessen.”
“I hope it doesn’t return, if it does and even if I don’t really feel it, it’ll hurt me just as much to think of the pain you’re bearing all alone.” She buries her face in his shoulder. “Just of the thought of your having to endure it makes me want to cry right now.”
He gathers her close. “Then cry, for me, because I cannot.”
As her tears fall for his pain, they make love again under the darkening sky. Each of her teardrops is a drop of balm laving away Vegeta’s pain, quenching the anger that burns in his soul. It will take many years for her tears to quench all his painful fury, but this is a beginning. Their loving leads to exhaustion and they fall asleep under the starry sky.
When their honeymoon ends, they return to Capsule Corp.
Vegeta begins training in earnest once more, but this time he stays in the compound using the facilities she built for him. Still waiting impatiently, but not quite as eagerly for Kakarot’s return. He not sure what he’s going to do when they come face to face. Fight or talk, all he knows is he has to become a Super Saiyan.
She also waits for her friend’s return, not knowing the outcome, only hoping for the best.
Their lives have changed vastly, they cling to each other at night clutching their love with hands and hearts.
Finally the day they both hoped for and dreaded arrives. The day they call the Great Namekian Dragon to make the wishes that will bring Goku and Krillian back to them. But when the dragon informs them that Goku’s alive and refuses to return. She feels Vegeta’s painful anger return, she knows before he’s even moved what is coming next. So the sound of the capsule’s engine coming to life is no surprise, she turns to watch it as it bursts free of earth’s gravity. One thought fills her mind. ‘Vegeta please come back to me soon.’ Her eyes stay on the swiftly shrinking ship until it vanishes and she can no longer even imagine that she still sees it in the sky.
Piccolo’s voice breaks through her thoughts, “He’s gone, we’re all better off without him.”
But in her heart she cries out differently. ‘NO I‘M NOT!’
Vegeta’s gone for now, searching for Goku, his people and his power but even though she knows without doubt he’ll return, she still misses him desperately. The silence of their apartment is almost deafening, she can no longer feel the sensation of his heartbeat matched to her’s.
Suddenly Bulma gets up and heads down to Vegeta’s old quarters. None of his clothes remain there, they had been moved to their apartment ages ago, but the pink BADMAN shirt still hangs among the old clothes. Bulma pulls it from the hanger and clutches it to her breast, memories of their first night together are woven into it‘s threads. Slowly she returns to the darkening apartment, removing her clothes she slips the BADMAN shirt on over her nude body. Then slips into her cold lonely bed to dream of the love of her insatiable Saiyan. Two kittens pad silently into the room, one black and one the color of golden ki flame, they jump onto the bed to come over and cuddle up next their lonely mistress.