Authors Note: Thanks to everyone who has ever favourited, read, reviewed or just generally enjoyed any of my other DBZ stories - this is the next one that I promised long, long ago.

It is a stand alone, canon based fiction. Bulma and Vegeta pairing, Yamcha supporting character (and no Yamcha bashing. . . from the author - I'm not responsible for Vegeta's actions) Characters from DBZ are not mine - standard fanfiction disclaimer applies - but plot and concepts remain my intellectual property. I hope you enjoy the story!

For the sake of Bulma – by Milui Elenath

Chapter One - Feelings

Vegeta watched as the door to the gravitron slid open and stepped out into the late evening air. He expected to feel relief from the stifling humidity that had overwhelmed the spherical interior but was dissatisfied to find the temperature outside was equally oppressive.

The air was utterly devoid of wind, the surroundings motionless save for one thing. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the movement, his warrior gaze instantly flicked toward it for assessment. It was the earth woman. She was standing upon the balcony of the large yellow dome, gazing distantly at the horizon as she fanned herself with what appeared to be a magazine.

Vegeta hardly acknowledged her action, suddenly aware of how the light shone from the room behind her, making her nightgown semi translucent, the shadows of her form beneath tantalisingly apparent. He swallowed hard.

He should look away. He should prevent his eyes from travelling over her body. He was a warrior, he told himself, disciplined, autonomous, such temptations were beyond him, but his gaze had not averted.

Suddenly the earth woman turned, she raised her hand, she waved and Vegeta thought foggily that perhaps she had even smiled and then she was gone, returning inside.

It took him a moment to discover that he was still staring at the empty balcony and another before he realised that her departure had broken the spell of whatever it was that had left him momentarily paralysed. Slowly he turned his head and found that his own hand appeared to be raised. He stared at the traitorous appendage with astonishment and then snapped it to his side. All right, so he had waved to the earth woman, so what? It was a meaningless gesture, an inconsequential earth custom, a token greeting, nothing significant – he halted his thoughts, if that were so why was he rambling to himself about it and why had he returned his gaze to the empty balcony?

He growled and took a determined step towards the house. He was being absurd, making too much of his own reaction, it was nothing more than a harmless indulgence at the end of a . . . pointless day of training, he concluded dispiritedly.

He didn't deserve to indulge in anything but obtaining his goal of transforming into a Super Saiyan.

As he entered the house he folded his arms across his chest as if somehow, they could suppress the emotions that tore at his essence. Frustration, anger, accusation and humiliation took their turn at tormenting him and they appeared to have recently spawned another emotion.

Weariness.

Vegeta feared this one the most. It was this emotion that he blamed for his tendency lately to lack the discipline to ignore such distractions as the woman. Thinking of her suddenly made him aware that he had reached the top of the stairs. He fixed his eyes upon the floor instructing them to avoid any observation of her door. He passed by with success but the triumph was brief as he suddenly pondered how he had known which room was hers and how long he had known it. His brow wrinkled.

No doubt he had seen her come out of it and evidently acknowledged its location and that was perfectly reasonable. He was a warrior and a warrior should always be aware of his surroundings. He gave a brief thought to what her surroundings might look like right now as a sudden image of her in her translucent garment filled his mind. He mentally shoved it away and quickened the pace to his room with a scowl deepening.

He pushed open his door and was instantly greeted by the sight of his bed. The scowl loosened and his brows now dipped at the sides. He had no intention of facing it yet, at least not without showering first but the thought of returning to it at all depressed him. It was another reminder of the weariness that plagued him and it taunted that even sleep did not come easily these days.

Nothing came easy. Nothing ever had.

He entered his ensuite and turned the tap. The cool water was a pleasant shock against his warm skin. Things would change when he became a super Saiyan, things would be easier. He held onto the promise of it, stubbornly refusing to follow through on why and how that was. He was no optimist, years of service to the evil Freeza had not fostered such foolishness but it had facilitated determination and fortitude. Hope was necessary for survival.

The coolness of the shower did not last beyond a few steps from the cubicle and as he returned to his bedroom Vegeta snapped on the ceiling fan. The Briefs had air conditioning but the cooled air reminded Vegeta too much of his many years spent breathing artificial atmosphere in space ships and pods. The fan breathed upon him as he lay on the bed but did little to alleviate the cloying air that he realised was going to add to his difficulty in falling asleep. He wondered why the woman had fled the relief of the cooled air? What had drawn her out onto the balcony in this heat? Wearing that outfit?

He punched his pillow, resisting the urge to blast it as he attempted to stop himself acknowledging that she was mere walls away likely still wearing it and that he had an overpowering urge to see her in even less. His eyebrows bounced in surprise at his own thoughts and then changed to concern. "I'm doomed."

Ever since the gravitron had blown up he had known it, he was inescapably infatuated by her. At the time of the accident he had been severely injured and unable to do much more than lift his head but he had lain amongst the rubble in her arms without objection far too long and been far too comfortable with her touch. Then he'd explained his justifications of overtraining to her as if he sought her approval in some way and when he woke to find she had been watching over him he had known the worst of it. A mere moment of weakness on his behalf would likely doom them both completely. He shook his head.

It was ironic that the two things he desired should be in such contrast. While he worked at his lifelong goal daily, it remained frustratingly unobtainable, and his other more recent desire, he refused to pursue but had more faith that he could obtain it.

He grunted and turned on the bed. It was futile lying here with these thoughts flipping between his two frustrations but it would be worse to get up. He could not expect to reach his potential drained of energy, deprived of sleep. A sense of foretelling washed over him, something had to break the cycle that he had slipped into. What that could be he did not know.

There was a rap upon his door. Vegeta sat up in amazement. Never had anyone disturbed him here.

"Vegeta?" a female voice whispered hesitantly.

Vegeta felt his heart race and his thoughts seemed to collide in confusion. It was Bulma, what was she doing at his door? At this hour? Tonight? Had his thoughts somehow beckoned her? Was he actually finally asleep and dreaming this?

"Vegeta are you asleep?" She seemed to echo his thoughts.

"If I was asleep. I would not be answering your question." He answered uncertainly.

"Why can't you just answer no, like a normal person?" said Bulma entering the room but her words lacked the irritation they implied.

Vegeta noted that she seemed anxious, even nervous and he found this puzzling, even disconcerting. Why had she come to his room? She was wearing a robe that was the same colour as her previous garment, in fact he was convinced it was the same material but in this light it gave no hint to its translucency and she clutched it slightly at her throat. He hesitated a moment before he spoke, not sure if he should ask. "What do you want woman?"

Bulma was silent for a long moment. "Look I don't know how to say this so I'm just going to say it."

Vegeta held his breath, where was she going with this?

"Do you sense Freeza at all?"

"What? Freeza!" Vegeta was shocked at her outrageous question and startled by the seemingly out the blue question. If this was her idea of a joke it was not funny.

Bulma nodded with her hands clutched together.

Vegeta bit back the fury he felt as he saw that she was serious. He stretched his ki sense. "No, I don't," he kept concern from his tone, "why?"

"How about androids?" She said.

Vegeta felt himself becoming anxious but there were no power levels even remotely dangerous nearby. "No. What is this about woman?"

"You're sure?"

"Yes Bulma, I'm sure! Now are you going to tell me what this is about?"

Bulma looked up at him as he said her name and he thought perhaps that somehow she had heard in it something that had revealed that her name had a strange power over him but she only nodded.

"It's just I have this feeling."

"You, had a feeling? There's a first,' he snorted, the woman was full of feelings he'd discovered and free about describing them.

Bulma curiously ignored his provocation and failed to retort in her usual fashion.

"Yes." She said simply, her brow wrinkling in thought. "I had a similar feeling the day that you returned to earth from searching for Goku."

Whatever this was about was obviously too serious for their usual banter and Vegeta listened carefully.

"And then Freeza landed and then that guy from the future landed with the bad news of the androids and I – I have that feeling now. Maybe it sounds silly to you but I tried to ignore it and I couldn't sleep. I just feel like, like something is going to happen. Something – something life changing. I just thought . . ." she trailed and met his gaze trustingly, "that you could help, somehow." She shrugged.

Vegeta broke from her gaze roughly and went for some water on his nightstand. Those azure eyes should not look into his with such emotion. Had she totally forgotten that he was a killer, that he was unreliable and untrustworthy? He should teach her not to put such faith in him. Dismiss her comments, make her hate him and remove such naivety for her own good.

"I sense nothing." He sounded oddly reassuring.

Bulma sighed and began to smile just as a faint shuffling sound came from the hall.

Bulma's smile halted and her eyes widened. "What was that?" She whispered before uttering a loud gasp. "My bad feeling. Someone's come to kill us. It's the androids, I just know it."

"I told you I sense nothing." Vegeta said irritably, annoyed by her lack of faith in his abilities.

"What if androids don't have energy to sense? They are machines after all."

Vegeta's eyes matched hers. Could she be right?

"Do you think they could have arrived early?" she continued whispering urgently. "The timeline could have changed.

Vegeta tensed. It was entirely plausible that the timeline had now shifted due to the future kid's arrival but did it make sense for the androids to seek out himself? No.

Despite popular opinion - the woman's - he was aware that not everything revolved around him. If the androids were after a fight they'd have gone after the strongest first and that, he regretted, for the moment was Kakkarot.

Any fight with Kakkarot would involve huge power spikes from the Saiyan, if not the androids and Vegeta knew no such thing had happened, he most certainly would have sensed it. Could it be the androids had come for Capsule Corp? That did make sense. Dr. Briefs had a lot of equipment that might be of interest to mechanical maniacs, then again it could just be a burglar. He pushed the woman back from the door but she lingered behind him as he peered out.

The sound was coming from the far end. A spare room, he thought.

"It can't be my parents. Their bedroom is at the end of the other hall." Bulma whispered clinging to him.

Vegeta nodded at her, yes, yes, he knew the layout of the house. He motioned her to be quiet and move back. He could see a dark shape moving at the end of the corridor beyond the stairs. He raised his hand and wondered what level of shot he should use. His power would illuminate the night before it hit its target but if he used a low level his opponent might have time to dodge, block or deflect it, if they had any kind of speed or power. On the other hand if it was a regular burglar he had no need to waste such energy. Vegeta decided a warning shot would let him know what he was up against besides if it was an enemy of significant challenge then the Briefs home and thus his temporary lodging was no place to destroy them.

The blue energy attack had increased and formed in seconds at the palm of his hand and wrought the air with its blinding light.

"Oh dear. I seem to have gone blind." The words were uttered rather scientifically, almost flatly and Vegeta had just enough time to prevent his attack leaving his hand when Bulma belatedly threw herself at him and grabbed his arm shouting.

"Vegeta! Don't shoot," she cried.

"I'm not woman, calm down. If I had wanted to I would have done so already."

"Oh my goodness, what is going on?" Bunny Briefs voice was more curious than concerned. The light overhead was suddenly switched on and Vegeta found himself momentarily stunned by the alternating bright dark bright before his eyes adjusted and he saw Mrs. Briefs at the opposite end of the hall to the first voice with her finger upon the light switch. At the other end, close to the stairs stood Dr. Briefs with a large box that he had been apparently shuffling around.

"Are you all having a party?" Mrs Briefs chirruped.

"No dear," said Dr. Briefs, rubbing his eyes. "I was just trying to get this box into the spare room. I guess I must have woken Vegeta and . . . Bulma."

There was a slight pause as Dr. Briefs finished the sentence as he and Mrs. Briefs shifted their gaze in Vegeta's direction. Vegeta suddenly became aware that Bulma was still clutching his arm and that she was standing very obviously together with him at the entrance of his bedroom. He could see Bulma's parents' conclusion forming in their eyes already.

He remained impassive, expressionless; it was always the best defence when indecisive.

If he protested he would be acknowledging that he understood their incredulous assumptions and he had a disturbing notion that his objection would not be convincing, that somehow, they would see something more in his eyes, learn something more than he intended if he tried to speak but to say nothing was to continue to allow them to believe it. He closed his eyes momentarily and wished this were not happening but they snapped open again in disbelief as Bulma confidently and obliviously announced that they had not been woken by Dr Briefs since the two of them had been still awake.

"I see," said Dr. Briefs awkwardly.

Bulma finally seemed to understand. She blushed and then lifted her eyes to Vegeta in an attempt to gauge his reaction. He watched, knowing that she had determined that he was aware of the misunderstanding as her eyes widened in astonishment. That was irksome enough but her expression promptly discarded her shock and settled on pleased.

That was it. This irritating situation needed to end.

"You do not, see." Vegeta asserted to Dr. Briefs deciding on a course of action. "But if you want to prevent such a thing and," he leered at Bulma then flicked his gaze at the old man, "believe me, you should. You'll tell your daughter to leave me alone!"

He shook Bulma from his arm and pushed her towards her father as he huffed and turned towards his room, faltering ever so slightly as he took in two unsettling reactions.

The first was Bulma's thoughtful expression and the second was Bunny's look of disappointment.

He closed the door behind him feeling uncharacteristically shaken, certain that his attempt to be sinister had backfired.

To think that Bunny was disappointed that he was not sleeping with her daughter seemed absurd. People didn't want their daughters with a man like him, hadn't he just conveyed that? And to see that Bulma was not only undeterred by his innuendo but thinking it over was too compelling for his sanity. What was he doing on this planet?

He flicked the air conditioner switch on in aggravation and sat on the bed glumly, deciding the answer was going mad.

Bulma sat on her bed heavily. "Well that was . . . interesting." She got up to pace and found that her room was too cluttered for it. She bent to pick up her clothes finding it necessary to do something while her mind played over the events of the evening.

She noted that the feeling she had earlier, this sense of expectation and dread had not left her. It would do no good to hound Vegeta about it, he had given her all the reassurance he could that no power levels were nearby and after the incident in the hallway just now, well, he was best left alone. She sighed again dramatically.

Still hadn't there been hope in all this? He'd figured out what her parents were thinking and while he'd looked uncomfortable about it he hadn't been repulsed, as she feared. And he hadn't been shocked either which meant that he thought it wasn't an entirely unnatural conclusion for them to make. That meant he considered it possible, or at least not impossible!

Bulma clutched her hands to her body and spun in glee.

Then stopped just as suddenly. Was she spinning away over a possibility that he had noticed her? What had become of Bulma Briefs, genius, beauty, millionaire? Not that she had ever counted her wealth status as being anything worthwhile in attracting men but was she losing her touch?

She'd lost Yamcha – even if she preferred to think of it as coming to a mutual understanding; he could date other women but he could no longer date her. As for Vegeta, she'd tried to convince herself that his alien nature simply hadn't grasped some of her earth cues, that and his obsession with his transformation. She sagged unable to keep the pretence of optimism. Why then did he continuously tell her to leave him alone?

She sighed loudly as she tossed clothes into the hamper. Tonight, had started so well. For the first time as Vegeta exited the gravitron he had noticed her up on the balcony and when she had waved, he had waved back! That should have counted for something and she might even have had some time to revel in the ecstatic feeling it produced if at that moment she hadn't felt an immediate sense of foreboding.

It had startled her and she thought at first perhaps she had become suddenly frightened of Vegeta's direct attention. She had dismissed this immediately as silly. She'd had plenty of personal moments with Vegeta after Namek. The feeling, this dark feeling was about the future, she'd had it before. That's when it struck her that she'd had it last when Vegeta, Freeza and the mysterious youth from the future had turned up. Suddenly she felt sure Freeza was connected to it somehow and then she had determined that maybe it was the androids instead and that in any case she should speak to Vegeta about it, that he was somehow connected to this too. All thoughts of romance had fled faced with this feeling and she had not considered them again until the look on her parents' faces had clued her in to their false conclusions.

Thanks to her father she was now left with only this terrible feeling of doom and no one to reassure her. She threw down the shoe she was holding in frustration and was surprised to see she had tidied everything else.

She sat back on the bed thoughtfully. Whatever the future, she was Bulma Briefs. She could handle it. She had survived Namek and she would survive anything the future threw at her! She shivered unexpectedly, her air conditioning was definitely set too cool.

Two purple eyes gleamed inside a round ship and the lips below them grinned in satisfaction. Tonight, he had found a way to exact his revenge! After weeks of watching, contemplating scenarios and dismissing them he had found the solution. It was so simple, so perfectly apt and so fail-proof! Nothing could stop him avenging his brothers' death, nothing! He needed only to perfect his plan to ensure maximum suffering for his victim. He wanted them to understand that nothing they could say or do would make a difference, could make a difference. They would rue the day they murdered his brother on Namek. The purple creature gave a gurgled laugh. By this time tomorrow vengeance would be his.