* * *

The tents were stationed at either end of the small Island that the Briefs family had chosen for their weekend vacation spot. This made both Bulma and her parents happy, but Vegeta was still miserable.

He sat, cross-legged, outside the opening of Bulmas tent and watched her as she rummaged around inside her pack for her meaningless human tools. At last she pulled out what she had been searching for; a hairbrush.

She sat with her back to him and began pulling it through what she complained to be ‘tangled’ curls. Vegeta did not exactly care. Glaring, he cleared his throat in a less than graceful manner.

"What?" she turned and raised an eyebrow. "Would you like me to comb your hair, as well?"

"What!!?"

She gestured, "It must get awfully windblown."

He fumed. "I’m hungry."

She shrugged. "So what am I supposed to do about that?"

"You’re supposed to feed me."

Bulma put down the hairbrush and gave Vegeta a curious look. "What did you do for food on Vegetasei, seeing as you were so able to fend for yourself?"

Vegeta shrugged. "I ate whatever I could find." He smirked at the opportunity to disgust her. "A fallen Sayajin Soldier, now and then."

Bulma looked horrified. He reveled in it. "What? You can’t possibly be serious!"

"That’s right. We ate whatever was given to us and we were grateful for it. We Sayajins are not picky." He said smugly. Bulma laughed heartily. "Oh, right. Bulma, there’s too much mayonnaise on this sandwich. Bulma, I don’t like whole wheat bread. Bulma, I-

"Shut up, woman!" Vegeta snarled. Bulmas laugh died off and she put the hairbrush back into her backpack. "Alright. I’ll leave you alone…for now. I know how much fun this must be for you." She pulled out another item. A bottle of suntan lotion. She began rubbing it over her arms and legs.

"What is that substance?" Vegeta peered at the bottle. Bulma held her hand out for him to sniff. His nose wrinkled and he pulled back with a sour expression. "It smells. Almost as bad as you."

"I’m sure you don’t say that when you sneak into my room at night and smell my panties." She snorted.

Ignoring her, Vegeta abruptly stood. "I am already bored with this tiny Island." He snarled. He crossed his arms in front of his chest and scowled at everything within his vicinity. "There is nothing to do."

Bulma waved a hand at him. "Oh, that’s just because you don’t know how to have fun, Vegeta." She clambered out of the tiny tent and stood beside him. "Have you ever explored an Island? There’s a lot to see, if you’d only search for it."

He raised an eyebrow. "If you can prove this to me, I may deem you correct."

Bulma grinned at him and shrugged her backpack onto her shoulders. "Ok, but you’re going to be one sunburned loser." She began walking toward the back of the tent. The majority of the Island lay out in front of them like a huge, uncharted forest. Vegeta watched her go for a moment before asking; "What is this ‘sunburned’?"

Vegeta learned all too quickly what it felt like to be ‘sunburned’.

Bulma was busy kneeling at the edge of a murky pond they had stumbled upon. Vegeta was standing behind her, gingerly rubbing his arms and cringing at the reddened skin he saw on them. This was a new kind of pain that he had never experienced. It was not the sort of throbbing, aching pain that he felt in his muscles after he sparred with Kakarott. It was a horrible, almost unbearable sting that screamed at him every time he stepped out of the shade.

"I do not think I enjoy this ‘sunburned’ sensation." He growled. Bulma stood up from where she was kneeling and grinned at him. "Well, I did offer you some suntan lotion, but you so all mightily refused. If you had put some on you wouldn’t be hurting right now."

Vegeta did not want to admit that she was right. She had already been right about him enjoying the Island. They had been walking for nearly two hours and already he had seen and terrified enough new species to last him a lifetime.

Needless to say, Bulma had not been happy about him wanting to destroy everything on the Island. She had babbled on about some nonsense about ‘enjoying the wildlife from a distance’ and ‘appreciating its beauty’.

Suddenly she was beside him. "Hey! Earth to Vegeta. I’m trying to show you something here."

Vegeta looked down into her upturned palm and saw a mashed, brownish green ooze dripping from her fingers.

"What the hell is that?"

"Hungry?" she waved the swill under his nose. He scrunched up his features and shook his head. "Get that away from me, you horrible woman! We haven’t been here three hours and already you’re trying to kill me!"

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Calm down. This is a home remedy for sunburns. You just rub it over your skin and it takes the sting away."

Vegeta looked suspiciously at the ooze. He sniffed it again. It smelled worse than some of the carrion he had rolled in as a young boy on Vegetasei. He turned his coal black eyes on Bulma. "You had better not be lying to me, woman."

Before he could object Bulma was smearing it all over his arms. He opened his mouth to protest but stopped when he realized how soft and good her tiny hands felt. He watched them running over the corded lines of his muscles and with great difficulty suppressed the urge to flex.

"There." She finished. "Now don’t go in any water or it’ll come off and it won’t work anymore." She wiped her hands off on her shorts and turned from him, returning her attentions to the pond. "Don’t worry," she called over her shoulder, "You can thank me later."

Vegeta glared at her backside, hating himself for allowing her weak female hands to overpower him. "I will thank you when I am still alive in an hour."

"Why would I kill you, Vegeta?" Bulma asked him. She seemed genuinely interested in his answer. "You’re like the best guard dog a home could have. Not to mention you help keep the World from being destroyed. That’s always a good one." She dipped her hands in the water, washing them free of the ooze she had rubbed on his skin.

Vegeta sauntered over to her and crossed his arms. He blinked, startled, when he realized that his arms no longer stung. "I do not help protect the Earth. I am its sole protector." He tried to ignore the smug look on her face.

"Works, doesn’t it?"

"Perhaps…" he mumbled.

Bulma laughed and clapped him on the back. He winced, not only at the sunburned pain but also at the way she was acting so happy. She was never this happy when they spent time together. He found himself growing suspicious but shrugged it off. It must been something in the Island air, he concluded. Otherwise she would be yelling and cursing him out as usual.

"What’s your problem?" he smirked at her. "What’s making you so damn happy?"

Vegeta grinned wickedly to himself. He would put this to the test, he would. He was going to see how long Bulma could keep this façade in place.

"What?" she asked, a tiny bit of anger seeping into her voice, "I’m not allowed to be happy?"

"You aren’t usually this happy." He retorted. "It’s even stranger that you’re happy during your cycle."

Bulma’s cheek bloomed like red tomatoes. "My cycle?" she squeaked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Vegeta shrugged casually. "It is your time. I can smell it on you."

She made a disgusted face and stepped back from him. "You’re such a pervert, Vegeta!"

"It’s nothing to be embarrassed about." He smirked evilly. "I just hope you have brought enough sanitary napkins."

Bulma blinked in disbelief. "How do you know what a sanitary napkin is?" she narrowed her eyes at him curiously.

Vegeta straightened to his full height, which wasn’t all that impressive. "I know a lot of things, woman." He said shortly. "That is all."

Bulma suddenly grinned. "My god! Not only do you smell my underwear, but you probably search through my wastebasket for-

"Don’t turn this around in your favor!" he growled, cutting her off. It was Vegeta’s turn to be embarrassed. "I would do nothing of the sort!"

Bulma tried not to giggle, but she couldn’t help it. Here was the almighty Prince of the Sayajins, fuming crimson red and trying desperately to avoid walking into the trap she was setting for him. It was an amazing display, not to mention that fact that he looked absolutely adorable when he blushed.

What am I saying?

Bulma shook the thought off. She turned her attention back to Vegeta, who was still scowling off into the distance, not daring to damage his pride any further. He caught her gaze and rounded on her. "What?" he roared.

"Nothing." She said, choking on her words. She quickly broke out into a peal of hysterical laughter.

Vegeta growled and turned his back to her. The woman is insufferable! How dare she insinuate such a thing! Especially to me, Vegeta, Prince of the Sayajin! Vegeta stole a look around his shoulder at Bulma who was doubled over laughing; kneeling in the dirt with one hand while the other supported her shakily. Such a stupid woman. Though…I certainly would not mind seeing some of her undergarments...they are such foolish things. They only get in the way. And why do hers have to be so colorful? What is the purpose of decorating clothing that no one will see? Except perhaps for weakling idiot boyfriends that…

He blinked when he noticed Bulma had stopped laughing. She was staring at him with an expression he could not read. Inwardly he flinched.

Bulma tapped him on the shoulder. "Vegeta? Is something wrong? You’ve been so quiet…and you’ve got the weirdest look on your face!"

"I’m fine! Now get lost. You’re becoming annoying."

She slapped him hard on the shoulder. It was the same effect as if a gnat would have bumped into him, but he decided not to tell her that. He felt strange. He could not deny the feeling he was experiencing and wanted only to return to the solitude of his own company.

"When is your mother preparing the food?" he asked.

"My dad always cooks on the Vacations." Bulma replied coolly. "Why?"

"Is your father adequate at cooking food?" Vegeta suddenly felt his stomach pitch. Dr.Briefs was insane. He wandered through the deep labyrinths of his computer labs late at night, mumbling to himself. And that cat! What the hell was the deal with that cat?
Bulma shrugged. "I guess. He’s not as good as my mom, but he can whip something up. Do you like K.D?"