"Ooh Dear…" Bulma’s mother whined in an annoying, girly voice. "Honey, are you sure you cooked that long enough?"

It was finally dinner. The four sat in a circle around a massive bonfire that Vegeta had built in a matter of two seconds for them courtesy of a large ki blast. Bulma announced that there was yet another use for a Sayajin on a camping trip. Fuel for the fire. Vegeta had ignored her, though inwardly he smirked at the compliment.
Dr.Briefs laughed and Vegeta watched his mustache bristle. "Of course I did. How can you go wrong cooking haggis?" he waved the spoon in the air and cleared his throat. "I have a surprise for you! I decided to add a little flare to the meal. What kind of stuffing do you three like? Cheese, Banana, or Marshmallow?"

There was a silence. He shrugged. "Oh well. Guess its marshmallow."

Bulma paled. Her mother giggled nervously. Vegeta stared in complete horror as Dr.Briefs promptly began shoving large spoonfuls of gooey Marshmallow into what Bulma explained was ‘a sheep’s stomach’. Dr.Briefs passed the largest plate to Vegeta who looked down at the steaming contents and blinked. "You have to be joking."

Bulma elbowed him roughly in the ribs. "Vegeta!" she hissed. "Don’t be rude!"

Vegeta thrust a hand at the plate and looked flabbergasted. "Who the hell could eat this shit, woman? You honestly don’t expect me to, do you?"

He stood up, completely ignoring the wounded look on her father’s face. "I will catch us dinner." He announced, powering up to prepare to take off. Bulma jumped up beside him with clenched fists. "You will not!" she growled. "Sit here and eat your dinner, Vegeta."

Vegeta smirked and grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her against him. "Would you like to accompany me?"

Bulma shrieked at the feeling his ki had on her skin. It did not hurt but it tingled strangely. She snarled and struck his chest repeatedly with her fist. "NO!" she yelled. "I would not!!"

Without another word Vegeta hauled her over his shoulder much like a burlap sack and blasted away from the bonfire. Bulma screamed and clung to him. Her fingernails dug into his skin with deadly intent as she screamed into his ear. "PUT ME DOWN!"

"Don’t be stupid!" he yelled over the wind. "You will die if I do that."

"NO, I MEAN PUT ME DOWN GENTLY!!"

He smirked and powered up more, searching the forest floor below them for signs of a suitable meal. Bulma saw how futile her situation was and stopped struggling, content to be angry with him for his little escapade. She would have continued to be silent when she noticed that she could not see the fire anymore. They were rapidly approaching what she saw to be the very end of the Island. She had forgotten how fast Sayajins could fly.

"Vegeta! Just where in the hell do you plan on going!?"

His dark narrowed eyes ignored her and continued searching the ground. She thumped him hard on the back of the head. It was a frustrating thing that no matter how hard she ever hit him, it never did any good. She could hit a home run to his face with a sledgehammer and he wouldn’t so much as blink. Bulma had a wicked thought about doing the same thing to his crotch, which would probably get her a reaction.

"Vegeta!" she whined. "It’s getting really cold!"

Seconds later she was in his arms, where she nuzzled her head into his chest and found it surprisingly warm. The abrupt contact didn’t seem to embarrass either of them so she decided it would be ok if she wrapped one arm around his neck. The ground was an awfully long drop.

"Quit your whining." He said. She looked up; his mammoth neck was inches from her face. "I’ve found my prey." His smile turned devious.

Bulma craned her neck to see down below them, counting on the fact that his arms were more than securely wrapped around her. She saw a group of wild boar. She had no idea that such animals would be found on a tropical Island. She had suspected animals like parrots and monkeys and snakes.

"Don’t those things live in Africa?" she asked him. Vegeta had come to a halt in the air. The air around them crackled and sparked as his ki connected with the energy of the Island.

"They do. And they live here, as well, it would appear."

"And why would we want to eat those things?"

Vegeta gave her a look that made her feel alarmingly stupid. "Because they taste great." He said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Haven’t you ever tried wild boar?"

"No." she said blankly. "I like Big Mac’s."

"Have you ever killed a wild boar?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" she cried.

Vegeta smirked. He had a way of terrifying her to her very core. "You’re such a bastard. I am not going to help you kill one of those disgusting monsters."

He laughed cruelly. "Oh, I know that. You’d only get in the way, and then you’d get killed. I can’t have that happening."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "But I thought I was easily ‘disposable’."

Vegeta began to slowly descend. Bulma saw that he was nearing the top of a very large tree. She could already see what he had in mind by the way he was guiding her toward a large crook in-between two big branches.

"You will stay up here while I go down there and kill that boar."

"Yes, sahib."

"Try not to be loud and annoying." He said distantly.

"Why don’t you just shoot it from here?"

"Because the thrill of the hunt is so much more exciting." He said.

"You’re going to fight the damn thing?" she whispered harshly. "Oh kami you’re impossible."

And so it was. The Sayajin Prince vanished from his place beside her in the air and reappeared seconds later beside the largest of the six boars. Its large wet brown eyes widened, as it stood stunned as if paralyzed by fear. Bulma could not help but feel sorry for it as Vegeta’s gloved hands took it by the enormous tusks jutting from it’s mouth and slammed it into the ground with enough force to leave a small crater in the earth. The boar squealed and she watched, transfixed, as the forest floor lit up in a huge flash of golden light. Over the roar of the energy she heard the other boars screaming in panic in high, oddly pitched voices as they scattered to avoid the same fate their comrade had suffered. Vegeta seemed satisfied enough with the single boar he had killed, and let the other five flee. The debris settled and Bulma nearly jumped out of the tree as Vegeta appeared in a flash beside her.

"You need to get on my back, now."

Bulmas upper lip curled in disgust as her eyes trailed over his body. His once pristinely white chestplate armor was now covered in thick fur and blood. He wasn’t even breathing hard. His arms, up to the elbows at least, were dark crimson. She made a nauseated noise in the back of her throat.

"What the hell did you do to it? Drop your watch in there somewhere?"

He repeated himself. "Get on my back!"

"Why?"

"Because I can’t carry a six hundred pound boar and you in the same two arms, woman."

"Six hundred pounds must be a lot when you can do four million one handed push-ups in 500x Earth’s gravity, huh?"

Vegeta’s ki flared to life with his anger. "Silence! It’s just that it’s awkward. It would be easier for both of us, not that I’m considering your personal well being."

Bulma rolled her eyes and obliged, motioning for him to turn around. He did, and waited rather impatiently while she slowly edged herself out of the branches. "Hurry up!" he snarled. "I want to eat."

"It’s a long way down, dammit!" she shot back at him. And it was. The forest floor wavered dangerously in her vision as she slowly inched her right leg out from under her. Her left leg followed suit. Suddenly Bulma felt herself slipping. Her scream died in her throat as her legs flew out in front of her and she felt herself falling headfirst backward, out of the tree, spiraling toward the ground.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that Vegeta caught her seconds before she hit. His arms held her behind her back and under her legs as she trembled with the adrenaline rush. She turned her huge, frightened blue eyes to him and bit her lip, very near to tears.

Vegeta made an annoyed sound. "Don’t cry, woman. You’re not dead. I caught you."

Bulma recovered rather quickly. She balled her hands up into fists and shifted violently in his grip. "I know that! But I almost did! And it scared the living hell out of me!" she shook violently.

Vegeta got sadistic amusement out of the tiny vibrations her body sent through his. She truly had thought she was going to die. She was so stupid. Couldn’t she see that he was right there? As if he wasn’t quick enough to catch her. Honestly…

Bulma did not loosen the death grip she had around his neck, and Vegeta discovered that strangely, he didn’t mind. Bulma looked up at him through teary eyes and felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude. Even if it was terribly obvious that he would have caught her either way…

"Vegeta…?"

"Hm?"

"Thank you…"

Vegeta seemed very uncomfortable by her choice of words. "Don’t be stupid." He squirmed from where he knelt, "It was the inevitable."

"I know…" Bulma said softly. "But nevertheless, you did save my life."
"How would your parents have felt if I hadn’t?" he squirmed some more, his voice somewhat confused. "I only did what I had to."

Bulma smiled. "Is it really such a terrible thing to give in to normal human emotions? You may be Sayajin, but I know you can feel like I can."

Vegeta narrowed his eyes and looked away from her. What is she doing? Why does she say these things to me? I didn’t save her because I wanted to…I just…

Suddenly he realized that Bulmas face was very near to his. He could smell her pheromones in the air and could feel the slight increase of body temperature. It made him swallow hard. He shifted again, trying to signal that she could get out of his arms anytime she wanted to. Now would be great.

"Do you have a heart in there, Vegeta?" her lips very nearly touched his. Her breath was on his cheek. "Did you save me because you…" she tilted her head and brushed the side of his face with her nose. Accidentally or intentionally, she herself didn’t know.

Vegeta cleared his throat and stood signaling the end of their conversation that was treading on very uneasy ground. Bulma seemed to catch herself and, shifting herself in his arms, slid out of his grip and plopped to her feet. She brushed herself off, the aftermath of the fall still very fresh in her mind. She stood not knowing what to do with her hands, and finally found a place for them deep within her pants pockets.

"Uh…" she looked around his bulky physique for the boars body, trying anything to avoid meeting his eyes. She did not see it at first but then spotted its hind legs sticking out from behind a tree. Dark, congealed blood coated most of its fur and the ground around it. She grimaced.

She looked to him. "I guess we can take it back now…huh?"

Vegetas dark eyes contemplated her silently. She felt oddly naked under their gaze. "My parents must be worrying." She added.

At last he scowled and crossed his arms, a gesture so like his usual demeanor that Bulma felt herself sigh with relief. It was better than the strange look he had plastered to his face.

"They know you are in good hands." He said angrily. "There is no cause for them to worry about you, woman."

"I…I know." She said. It was so strange, the way she didn’t have any desire to attack him a verbal frenzy of insults. Instead she was suddenly thinking thoughts about him that had never crossed her mind before. They made her stomach waver.

"I’m getting really cold, Vegeta. Could we just hurry back?" she started thinking about the campfire and its warmth. She thought about her tent and the gigantic 40 below sleeping bag that her father had bought her specifically for the trip. She almost laughed when she remembered the look on his face when she had reminded him that it was a tropical Island.

Though, it was surprisingly cold. The sun was beginning to set and with it’s departure came sudden bitter breezes and shadowed corners.

She ran a hand through her aqua hair and turned pleading eyes on his. "Please?"

He stalked over to the boar and hoisted it into his arms with as much effort as it took her to lick a postage stamp. It smacked against his chest and Bulma watched the way its blank eyes rolled in its head. Its thick black tongue lolled over the bottom row of serrated canines and she suddenly was very glad that Vegeta was going to give her a piggyback ride the way back.

"Alright." He said. He turned his back to her and stood. "Climb on."

She stared at the hard terrain of muscle that was so well outlined against the skintight spandex he wore and shivered. Never before had she thought of climbing on Vegetas back as an intimate experience. Suddenly she was glaring. Why was she the only one feeling awkward right now? Why was she the only one blushing furiously? It wasn’t fair that he was always so iron willed, so damn sure of himself all the time. Why couldn’t she break through his barriers and make him gulp and sweat and avoid eye contact?

Bulma had no idea how entirely wrong she was.

Vegeta felt her small and lithe body climb clumsily onto his back and held his breath. Her legs wrapped around his midsection and unsure arms encircled his neck. It was such an alien feeling to him. He had never had a woman before. Bulma was the only real female that he had ever truly touched, and even she had never touched him in a manner other than to anger him. She had struck him more times that he could remember. But now, this strange new type of touch was awakening feelings inside him that he did not know he had.

He hated her for it. He was the Prince of the Sayajin. He had no use for human emotion. He was an elite soldier who lived by the age-old rule kill or be killed, and now she was making him doubt himself.

"Hold on tight." He said gruffly. Without waiting for her to do so he powered up and shot up into the darkening sky sending showers of dirt and leaves spiraling in mad funnels in his wake. Bulma gasped and locked her wrists together with her hands; she was not going to fall again this trip. Why had she let him take her, anyway? She squeezed her eyes shut and buried her face into the back of his neck, grateful for the wall against the wind. She was so tired. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep, not caring that she would fall asleep on Vegetas back.