TEN

First Conversation

by mariamcardoso

DISCLAIMER: NOT. MINE.

It was the tenth month of Bulma's mad invitation when she was finally able to have a decent conversation with Vegeta.

He was in her greenhouse lying on his back, apparently asleep, with his hands behind his head. She approached him, her bare feet making the soft squashing sounds they usually made when walking on damp grass. She stood towering above his relaxed form, noticing for the first time that his face did not have that angry frown on permanently. He seemed relaxed for the first time since she had known him.

His eyes opened and locked with hers. He ran her body with his stare only to, again, stare into her blue eyes.

"Can I sit?" she said with a calmness that she did not feel.

"It's your house, woman." he said, his voice husky probably from lack of use.

She knew she did not need to, but she said thank you anyway. She sat, her legs stretched, feet bouncing from one side to the other and hands behind her, supporting her weight.

Her eyes gave the greenhouse a once-over. Her mother's roses, Scarlet Carsons, her cherry blossoms... She loved how it seemed to rain flowers under that tree in spring. The lilies, the white plums, the jasmines, the hibiscus, the morning glories and the various animals that her father seemed to keep in there. He once told her that having animal life in the greenhouse would improve the flower's life and make them more beautiful. He had a very balanced fauna in there.

There were ten minutes of silence before she spoke again.

"It's so quiet here." she said, smelling the air.

"It was quiet." he said with a hint of irritation in his voice.

She decided to ignore him and add a "and it smells great too." She laid back and moaned as she stretched her complaining body. The day had been too long.

He started to sit up when her hand grabbed his and her pleading eyes asked him to stay. He looked at their hands and then looked at her, still lying on the ground and looking at him. His frown returned as he lied back again. For a moment she was shocked to see him attending to one of her wishes. She lied on her left side to face him as he put his hands behind his head, once again, and bent his legs.

"Vegeta?" she murmured.

"Hm?" he replied.

"Can I ask you something?" she said, feeling a bit reluctant.

He opened his eyes and looked at her, staring into her eyes.

"You can ask, but that doesn't mean that I'll answer." he replied easily.

"If… If you could ask one wish with the Dragon Balls now, what would it be?"

For a moment his dark eyes widened, but as soon as it started, it ended. She liked how his eyes lit when he actually felt. She always thought his eyes were beautiful… for a dead man. But when he felt, his eyes would glow and the dead man's eyes she saw before simply disappeared.

"You've never thought about it?" she asked, calmly gazing into his eyes.

"You already know what I would ask, woman. Why ask?" he said as he closed his eyes and sighed.

For a moment she thought about leaving, but she was curious about him. She always was. That's why he was living with her.

"Why waste a wish to become a Super Saiyan?" she asked as she got up.

Vegeta tensed and in a second was standing next to her, his face full of unimaginable anger.

"It would not be wasted! You couldn't possibly understand you weak Earth woman." he spat at her and turned to leave the greenhouse.

"Vegeta, you have much to learn about humans. What I meant was why waste a wish when you will become a Super Saiyan sooner or later?" she spoke calmly.

Her calm was starting to put her nerves on edge. She was a walking contradiction. If at first she was afraid of him now she did not fear an inch of him. She was calm and on edge around him. She felt disgust and companionship around him. Always around him.

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned to face her. As soon as Bulma saw his eyes she had to turn her back to him. Her heart felt as if it could be seen hammering from the outside. His eyes held an emotion that she could never, for the life of her, imagine in Vegeta's eyes. They held thankfulness.

Minutes passed without a word. Bulma decided to turn around to see if Vegeta had left, only to gasp at his proximity. The ten centimeters that separated them didn't make Bulma very comfortable, but at the same time she wanted to make those ten centimeters disappear. She took a step back.

"Ve-Vegeta?" she said breathlessly.

"I thought you hated me, woman." He said with a blank expression.

"I…"

It was no time to choke on her own words. She was finally having the conversation she wanted with Vegeta.

"I thought I did too. I used to hate you, I used to fear you… but now you're just one of us."

Vegeta snarled.

"I will never be one of you. You should still fear me, you should still… hate me, because after I destroy the androids I will leave, never to come back again."

Bulma nodded and looked at the ground, blocking his view of her eyes. He took a step back.

"You still haven't told me your wish." She said with a watery voice.

"Don't show weakness in front of me, woman. I would wish my planet back."

She raised her head and wiped a tear that had the courage to fall from her eye.

"You feel lonely?" she asked with a determined voice.

"Lonely?" Vegeta asked confused.

"Yes. Or were you going to ask the dragon for your planet but not your race?" she asked surprised.

"Of course. I've always lived alone. What I need is a place where I belong, not comrades, and I do not belong here." He said, crossing his arms and putting his weight on his right leg.

"Oh… I thought you liked it here. You seem happy, or as happy as you can be most of the time. You have food, you have training equipment, you have…"

Vegeta waited a few seconds but she didn't speak again.

"I have what?"

"Nothing. You're right. You don't belong here."

Bulma started walking around him to leave when he grabbed her elbow. She looked at his eyes and then at his hand holding her elbow.

"Finish it, Bulma."

Amazement crossed her face. He had never called her Bulma and now she understood why. The way he said it, the tone of his voice and the tiniest flick of emotion that she heard in it made her shiver.

"Vegeta, you have me. If you need me I'll be here."

"Why? I can't give you anything in return. I have nothing."

Bulma turned to face him and touched his face with her hand. Vegeta flinched as if burned and frowned.

"Why do you run from me? I can't hurt you."

She reached with her hand again and for the first time, she was able to actually touch Vegeta.

"Of course you cannot hurt me."

"Vegeta, I don't need you to give me anything. This is not the other places where you used to live. I'm perfectly happy giving you what I can," she said with a smile.

"You humans are a stupid race. If I did not have an ounce of honor I would take what I could and leave you here to die in the hands of the androids," he said, stepping away from her and making her hand leave his face.

"But I wouldn't give what I'm giving you if I knew you would betray us…betray me."

A flick of annoyance passed his handsome face.

"I hate your stupid emotional talk."

"I know. That's why I use it so much with you. I think someday you'll learn to like it. I'd like to think you'll even need it."

"I seriously doubt it." Vegeta turned his back to her and for a few minutes, the conversation disappeared. Vegeta still felt her behind him, boring holes into his back with her eyes, listening to her breathing. But when he thought the conversation was really over…

"Can you please stay after the androids are defeated?" she said to his back.

Vegeta couldn't understand why she wanted him near her. They knew nothing about each other. They rarely talked. They even rarely saw each other. Was it just curiosity? He was not a lab rat to be studied.

"No."

Then he turned and left. He didn't even give her time to say anything to him. Bulma laughed and looked at the sky.

"He'll never understand. He doesn't feel the same things we do."

Outside of the greenhouse, Vegeta listened.

"Why do humans speak out loud when alone? More importantly, why did I speak out loud alone?!"

A/N: Don't know if it'll be continued. Tell me what you think of it.