Goku, Krillin, Piccolo, Chi-Chi, Gohan, Dr. Briefs, Ms. Briefs, Oolong, Master Roshi, Tien, Ox King and Yaumcha all stood on the front lawn, balancing plates and cups on their laps, or between them, depending on where they were. It was sort of a ‘going away’ luncheon for Vegeta, who even though he was the star, sat as far away from everyone else as he could, in the shade of an Elm. It was the brainchild of the sadistically cheerful Ms. Briefs who had, for some insane reason, thought Vegeta would enjoy it. Bulma sipped at her cooler and peered over at him while Yaumcha and Puar gnawed viciously away at their hamburgers.

"Ms. Briefs!" Yaumcha called out between bites. "Great hamburgers!"

The woman giggled madly. "Oh, I’m so glad you’re enjoying them, Yaumcha!" she continued on her way, filling up empty glasses with punch and other drinks.

He leaves in a couple of hours, and we still haven’t even talked…Bulma thought, as she watched Vegeta eating silently under the tree. Why does he have to be so damn anti-social?

"What’re you thinking about, Bulma?" Yaumcha inquired as he put his burger down. She looked back at him. "Nothing really. I think I’m going to go over to talk to Vegeta. Say goodbye, you know, that kind of thing."

Yaumcha’s face darkened. "I’ll come with you." He stood up.

"No, Yaumcha. I’d like to talk to him alone. After all, he is going for me, anyway." She added with a cool voice. He sat down glumly.

She crossed the yard in good time, managing to avoid Goku and his overly concerned wife at every corner. At last she made it over to Vegeta who looked up at her with a ‘you’re not wanted’ expression. He wore a loose fitting white shirt and black jeans, which was unusual for him. Bulma had to admit he looked great.

"You look nice." She sat down beside him, staring out at the others as they laughed and joked over her mother’s food. "I would have thought you’d be wearing your armor, since you’re off to another Planet and all."

"Humph." He finished his burger in one giant bite. "Why is what I wear important to you?"

"It isn’t." she said. "You still haven’t told me about R’haksin."

"Why are you so damn interested in it, woman? There’s nothing there that would interest you. Only a barren, desolate planet filled with rapists and murderers." He wiped his hands in the grass. "Exactly my kind of company."

"You know you’re not like that anymore." She said quietly as she stared ahead. "You can’t convince me."

"Oh?" Vegeta crossed his arms and leaned against the cool bark of the tree, his face hidden in shade. "What’s to stop me from killing you right now? Your weakling of a boyfriend?"

"He’s not my boyfriend."

Vegeta automatically smirked, although inside he was surprised. They were no longer mates? How did that happen?

"And anyway, you wouldn’t kill me. I know you wouldn’t."

The defiance and courage in her eyes astounded Vegeta. In so many ways, she was so fragile. But then she always managed to surprise him. To openly defy him was one thing, to be sure about it was another. She would have made a good Sayajin.

"You know, do you? Did you come over here to confirm that?" there was a strange glint in his eyes. "Are you challenging me, woman?"

Bulma leaned back and stretched comfortably, as though to show him that his threats meant nothing to her. "No. I came over here to see if you were having fun."

"I hate affairs such as these." He frowned. "You know that."

She pulled out grass and let the wind carry it away. "Maybe so, but you like the food, don’t you?"

He grunted in reply. She looked over at him out of the corner of her eye. "You better have enough food on that ship to last you. I don’t want you dying before you bring back my cure." She said jokingly.

Vegeta shot her a dark look and she unconsciously shrank back. "Nothing will, or could, stop me, woman." He stood.

"I could just cancel my plans right now, if you’d like."

"It was a joke…"

He scowled, and Bulma noticed Yaumcha walking up to them. She moaned and flopped back in the grass in frustration.

"Is something bothering you, Bulma?" Yaumcha asked when he stopped in front of the two.

"No." she said, staring up into the branches of the tree.

"Why is it that every time you talk to me you’re so full of courage?" Vegeta asked him. Yaumcha ignored him and kicked at Bulma’s foot. She propped herself up on her elbows.

"I can’t say goodbye to the guy?" she snapped. "You don’t have a say in what I do, not anymore, Yaumcha."

He looked startled, and Vegeta chuckled to himself. "But Bulma…he…"

"He’s saving my life! It’s more than you’ve ever done for me!"

Yaumcha spun on his heels and stormed back to the picnic table where Puar sat with a concerned look.

Bulma scratched at her nose as a floating ball of pollen drifted softly into her face. "Like I said. He’s not my boyfriend anymore. I’m through with that prick."

* * *

She couldn’t explain how the idea came to her, but it did. In this flourish of bright colors and sudden noise, it flashed in her brain like an explosion, and she suddenly and definitely knew that she had to do it.

It was stupid, it was foolish, and Vegeta would probably wring her neck. But who was to tell her that it wouldn’t work? Or that her life was exciting enough as it was? She had seen a lot in her days. She had fought and seen many great fights, and many amazing creatures. So why did she want to go? What was the real reason? To get away from everything?

But there was another reason that she wanted to sneak onto that spaceship.

She missed physical contact, and she missed romance. Yaumcha had served well enough in the first, but the latter had needed some work. She laughed aloud. What the hell was she thinking? Vegeta? Romantic? It was just another word that she wished would fit in a sentence with him, but wouldn’t.

He was such an enigma to her. And he wasn’t bad looking, not at all. There was so much in his eyes that she wanted to know about; things that he had never told a soul. He wouldn’t tell her. She was being an idiot; thinking these things. Vegeta didn’t open up to anyone. Not even himself.

She stood up and looked in the mirror. She slowly unbuttoned her shirt and slid off her pants. Staring at herself in only her underwear, she frowned.

The man was saving her life. Of course, he was the only one who knew where the Planet was, and what the plant looked like. So in short, he was the only one who could be eligible to go on the mission. But still…for such a horrible bastard, it was a bigger step than she’d ever seen anyone take. He could have easily kept the information to himself and made things easier. Lacking a conscience would have made that simple. But still he told everyone, and agreed to help her situation.

She sat down on the edge of her bed, clad in only her panties. It could work, though. It would give her time to know him…to force something out of his mind that he refused to show her. Of course there was the problem of the Storkrins. Vegeta had told her in detail how friendly they were. She shivered. Do I really want to be on a Planet with murderers and rapists?

Vegeta wouldn’t let anything happen to her. She smiled at the thought. If he was going through the trouble to save her life, he wouldn’t waste his efforts on letting a bunch of mangy aliens rape her.

Would he…?

She looked outside. It was nearing dark, and she could see her father circling the spaceship with Vegeta while her mother was busy cleaning up Dixie cups and paper plates. I have such clean friends, she thought sourly. She watched the evening light catch on Vegetas armor, which he now wore, as he was about to leave. It glinted across his chestplate and stung her eyes. She squinted and rubbed at them. He was leaving in…she looked at the clock.

One hour.

Was she really going to do this?

She stood up, looking at the hateful bed. Yes, I am.

Hurriedly she began shoving clothes and necessities into a duffel bag, her heart hammering in her chest at the excitement. She was actually going to do this! She could get killed! Before she even got the cure! Her parents would kill her when she got back. She scrambled into the bathroom and shoved her toiletries into the bag. It was amazing. She had packed nearly everything she needed in a few short moments. She paused at the door, deciding she was going to sneak into the ship. It was huge. She could hide and Vegeta wouldn’t find her until they were well into space. She paused in the deserted hallway.

It had been far too long since she had been on an adventure.

* * *

The grass billowed and leaves whipped around in a fury as the massive ship’s engine started. Vegeta had learned over the last two weeks everything there was to know about the ship, and was as accustomed to it as Dr. Briefs was. He stood at the hatch and looked up at Bulma’s window out of habit. He scowled at himself. Habit?

"I still can’t find enough words to thank you…" Dr. Briefs was saying. "It’s a shame Bulma isn’t even here to say goodbye."

Vegeta agreed inwardly. He was angered, and…surprised…to find that her absence had hurt him.

He shrugged it off and looked to the blond woman who was hunched over crying. "You be careful!" she sobbed into her husband’s shoulder. Vegeta raised an eyebrow and stepped back a pace.

"Remember. If you need anything, there’s a-

"I know." Vegeta cut him off. "I won’t have any problems. I want to get this over with." He turned to the ships door but Goku stopped him.

"Vegeta! Wait!"

He turned. "What, Kakarott? Make it quick."

Goku grinned his Goku grin and clapped Vegeta on the shoulder, who cringed back from the touch as though he would contact some horrible illness. "Thanks, Vegeta." He looked at him with eyes full of respect. "She’s my best friend, you know."

"I know."

"I’m counting on you."

"I know!"

"I wish you’d let me come…"

Vegeta growled in frustration and pushed Goku back. "Shut up, Kakarott. I’ll have my hands full enough. I’d die if I had to spend a week in a spaceship alone with you."

Goku laughed heartily. "Have fun!" he waved as Vegeta stepped into the darkness of the ship, closing the hatch shut with a hiss of steam behind him.

Alone, Vegeta looked at the giant expanse of room that he had been examining for the last two weeks and suddenly felt a different aura. An energy that he had not felt before. He frowned, but pushed the thought away as he went to seat himself in the ships pilot seat. He looked over the controls, reached for the lever, and pulled down. A loud beep sounded once, twice, and a third time as the room lit up and he felt the ship rock beneath him, lifting off from the grass. The path to R’haksin had already been planned; Vegeta had remembered it well and had programmed it into the ships data. Now, all’s he had to do was sit back and wait.

The aura was still there when he awoke the next morning.