Bulma ran without knowing where she was running to. The only thought in her mind was the stinging words of Vegeta that he had said to her with such venom.

Words that hurt so much more because they were true.

She ran blindly through the trees and underbrush, slapping aside overhanging ferns wet with moisture. Small animals watched with large nocturnal eyes as she sped past them, her violent sobs echoing in the night. They waited until she had passed before cautiously stepping out onto the path to pounce on tiny insects. Only then did they scamper back into the concealment of the bushes when another stranger passed, this one silent with a slow gate and an intimidating form, moments behind the first.

Bulma finally slowed to a slow jog. It was becoming more and more difficult to breathe as her relentless sobbing ravaged her lungs between her gasps for air as she ran. She streaked her hand across her face and glared ahead, paying no attention to anything else. Her fear of hideous Island beasts had completely vanished to be replaced by the haunting pain she had tried to hard to bury. She suddenly hated the T-shirt she wore and would have torn it off had she been wearing anything beneath.

She stumbled over an overturned rock that she had not noticed. She fell back into step seconds later and growled in rage as the near spill only intensified her anger a hundred fold. She finally looked around at the Island. Only trees stared back at her. The ground was sandy and dipped into a tiny hill in front of her that widened out into a clearing. She remembered. It was where she had given Vegeta her homemade sunburn remedy. She halted in her tracks.

I don’t want to go there. She thought distantly. She bit her knuckle as she remembered something vital about the tiny pond. It was close to the very end of the Island, and they had only found their way back because Vegeta could fly and see the entire Island from above.

She was lost.

Of course. It seemed only natural to get lost on such a shitty night. Bulma drew in a trembling breath as her sobs subsided into tiny whimpers of fear. It wasn’t that big of an Island…but…

Bulma did not want to raise her voice to call for him. She would rather die first, after what he had said to her. With a frustrated groan she spun on her heels and began marching west, to the right. She wasn’t going to retrace her steps; she couldn’t see them.

* * *

Vegeta was fighting a mental battle with himself.

Had he been wrong? Did she deserve what he had said to her? Why had he said it to her?

Now she was probably lost. He growled as he kicked aside a log that was in his way. The tiny mammals squeaked in response as the log tumbled into their bushes. He clenched his fists and powered up, shooting into the dark sky. There he hovered and squinted as he searched for her but it was to dark to see anything.

* * *

Bulma could have easily seen where he was if she had only looked up. But her attention was rooted in front of her and her current destination. The idea that he might have been looking for her didn’t cross her mind. Her crying had finally died away, because now she was only afraid. Though not completely pitch dark it was hard to see ahead of her, and she was forced to slow down to a walk. She thought of the wild boars she had watched Vegeta kill; what if one of them was right beside her, this instant? She began to panic, and walked faster.

Don’t be so stupid. There’s nothing on this Island that can kill you. She tried to reassure herself but it was of no use. Sounds she had not heard a minuet ago were now rising up from trees and tiny holes in the earth. She cursed herself. Just call him! Risk wounding your pride, for Kami’s sake. It won’t kill you!

But she couldn’t. He had hurt her more than he had ever hurt her before.

And she wouldn’t accept his help, not now.

* * *

Vegeta paused in his flying as a thought occurred to him. Why was he even looking for her? The stupid woman had slapped him, and insulted him, and pried into his personal life.

He remembered the look in her eyes after he had said the words to her. Did he really have such power, to wound her that deeply? With a start he realized it was the first time he was not proud about hurting someone.

He didn’t know what to think of that.

* * *

Bulma had only seconds to react as her foot slipped and twisted at an odd angle into a deep hole.

She cried out and reached for a tree, a vine, anything to stop herself, but the pain knifed into her and she fell to the ground with a grunt. She had fallen into a foxhole. Her ankle was trapped deep within the earth and with it her leg twisted impossibly to the opposite and entirely wrong direction.

She wailed. She wailed and pounded her fists into the ground and screamed until her throat was raw. This was his fault! She hated him! She was cold and lost and now her ankle was probably broken because he was too self absorbed to take notice that others had feelings.

The pain was intense, but not enough to tell her that it was a break. She had twisted her ankle before. This was only a light sprain, she assumed. But at the position she was in, it was nearly impossible to move. She realized grimly that she was not going to get herself out of this one without help.

She closed her eyes and tried to fight back tears. She had cried too many, but this was insane. She didn’t want to have to depend on him; to accept the fact that he was her only chance out of a fucking foxhole.

She leaned back on her elbows and tried to take pressure off of her leg. He wasn’t coming, anyway. She was going to lay her in this godforsaken situation until morning.

Bulma rued the day he was born.

* * *

Vegeta had tried not to admit that he was afraid when he heard Bulmas scream. His first thought was that it was a boar, or worse, a pack of them. They had been known to gore a person to death.

Then he thought about the possibility that she was only screaming her anguish to the world to hear.

The first thought prevailed, and he raced to the area that he had heard her scream.

Bulma craned her neck around when she heard him land behind her. She knew it was him, and with that thought in mind, she picked up the first object her hand found and prepared to heave it at him with deadly force.

"Don’t bother." He said softly. He appeared in front of her. The expression on his face was strange, almost sad. She paid no mind and pitched the rock at his face with all her might. As she knew he would, he blocked it easily with his wrist.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! I HATE YOU! I WISH YOU WERE DEAD!" Bulma screamed at him. Vegeta said nothing as he stood in front of her. With renewed frustration she felt her tears returning, but fought like a wild beast to hold them back. She didn’t want to give him the sadistic satisfaction of seeing her tears.

Vegetas eyes traveled over her body, down her leg, to where her ankle disappeared into the hole. Her burning blue eyes followed his and she reddened, her chest heaving with the effort it took to hold herself up, keep her tears at bay, and salvage dignity at the same time. Her arms shook unsteadily and she scowled at him with blue slits of hate.

"I don’t need your fucking help, so don’t come near me!" she cried. Her voice betrayed her anger but still he continued to stare at her, saying nothing, making no move to assist her. She began to wonder why he had really come. "Are you going to stand there and stare at me all night!?" she yelled. "Get the hell away from me. I can’t believe you’d show your face after what you said to me."

Bulma watched his face for any signs of reaction. He was silent and unmoving and she was filled with a sense of dread. Did he come here to kill her? Why not? It wasn’t that far fetched a notion. He had tried it already, why shouldn’t he again?

"Vegeta, you…" she was cut off as her arms slipped and she cried out as vicious pain tore at her ankle. She lay on her back, her leg cramped and straining for release, and sobbed up at the sky.

Vegeta ‘s eyes softened at her pitiful cries. He was above her, suddenly, and she only closed her eyes as he slipped two hands so very gently under her armpits and hoisted her up.

"Lie still." He said quietly. She held her breath as his hand slowly but forcefully worked her ankle out of the hole. She wailed as he wiggled it around. "Don’t." he said, a bit annoyed. "It will only hurt for a second."

And then it was free. She hid a smile of relief as he stood with her in his arms, but quickly remembered that she hated him, and struggled uselessly.

"Let me go!"

"Don’t be stupid, you can’t stand yet."

She bit her lip in contempt and struck out against his shoulder. "Let me go! I can at least try. I’m not a weakling, like you say I am." She kicked out. "I said, let me go!"

"Fine." He said coolly. He let her slide out of his arms. She landed softly on her good leg and balanced precariously for a second before faltering. Instinctively her other leg shot out to steady her and she cried out when she planted it on the ground with all her weight atop it.

"Bulma…" Vegeta caught her as she was about to fall and pulled her into his embrace again. It was so pathetic, but it hurt him to watch her. It hurt him, through and through, to see what he had done to her.

"I’m not a weakling, Vegeta!" she sobbed. She collapsed wearily against his shoulder and surrendered to the comforting warmth it brought. "And you have no idea how much you hurt me! You’re a fucking jerk, Vegeta! Why did you help me, anyway? You don’t care about me!" she turned her tear stained face to his. "You live to torment me!"

He avoided her eyes. They were like daggers of ice. "You need to rest."

Her eyes closed against the heavy onslaught of her emotion exhaustion. He was so warm. She didn’t have to walk anymore, he could carry her back.

"….jerk…." she mumbled, her eyelashes fluttering as she began to fall into deep slumber. The last thing she felt was Vegeta lifting off into the air, and the cool wind against her cheek as he flew toward her solitude.