Yes. I have other stories to finish. Yes, I know. However, when a story idea hits and bites down hard on you ...there isn't much choice in the matter. And I've always been fascinated with the back-story of Vegeta and Bulma ...

No. This does not follow strict cannon. Thus, it is FAN fiction. And yes, the fan is me.

I do not (sadly) own Dragon Ball Z or any of the characters

.III

"It was just a dream, Yamcha! Get over it!" Bulma sounded exasperated even as she tried her level best to ignore the pacing of her boyfriend. His constant nagging was giving her a headache.

But the former bandit merely growled and ran one hand through his hair. "You called that monster a good kisser!" He protested, referring to a conversation they'd had yesterday afternoon.

Puar, the cat-like creature that was Yamcha's friend and companion watched in wide-eyed silence. His gaze switching back and forth between the two.

Bulma put down the laser torch and pushed up the goggles to glare at the young man before her. He met her gaze glare for glare.

"Admit it! You said he was a good kisser! The guy tried to kill us all, Bulma!" Yamcha yelled at her.

Bulma sighed and shook off the thick welding gloves. "Yamcha, you idiot. Yesterday we were attacked by Frieza, saved by a mysterious stranger, learned that you and all the Z fighters are going to die, and the world will fall into chaos and despair." She paused for dramatic effect. "And you're worried because ...I had a dream?"

"A nightmare more likely!" Yamcha pumped one arm in the air, finger pointed upwards as if to make sure she realized the obvious.

The young woman sighed and shook the soft curls she'd recently had her hairstylist work on. It was a new look for her and she was still trying to get used to it, though she secretly thought she looked absolutely adorable. She shrugged one delicate shoulder. "Well, since nightmares DO make you wake up all sweaty and panting ..."

Yamcha's eyes nearly crossed as he roared out a denial.

Bulma smiled, loving to tweak Yamcha's temper. Still. She sighed and gave him a long look as he began pacing once more. The former bandit was getting ...getting ...what? She sighed again even as she ignored his ranting. Why was she poking at Yamcha this way? Sure, she HAD woken up all hot and bothered by a dream about Vegeta of all people. But she'd known sharing that with her boyfriend would stir up the proverbial hornet's nest.

"And then he came here to conquer and steal from us! The man is a monster and a villain, Bulma!"

The woman in question nodded, pretending as if she were really listening. Pretending? She sighed again. Bulma ...was bored. Which made her feel guilty. Then again, the dream she'd had HAD been hot. Still, she should turn the subject.

"Shouldn't you be off training to fight the Red Ribbon Army?" Bulma finally interrupted him. Then almost yawned as she watched Yamcha shudder.

"We're not strong enough!" The young man snapped, banging his hand into his palm.

Bulma shook her head. "You're scared." She pointed out the obvious bluntly. Why of all the Z fighters was Yamcha such a ...such a ...she didn't finish the thought, knowing it to be disloyal.

Her boyfriend sneered. "Anyone with sense would be."

"He's not." Bulma didn't even have to specify to which 'he' she was referencing. Then she winced, why oh why had she said that! It was only going to send the former-bandit into another rant.

"Stop talking about him! And while you're at it, stop dreaming about him kissing you!" Yamcha roared.

Bulma shook her head sadly. She had no illusions about the friggin' 'Prince of all Saiyans' looking at her like that. Man really was a villain and a stuffed shirt. She giggled. And that shirt was PINK. Because she was just a genius that way. Putting the big bad man in a pink shirt that said 'bad man'? Sometimes she was just too much!

Yamcha heard the giggle and roared out again, making Bulma roll her eyes.

.III

Vegeta stretched his shoulder muscles and headed back toward Dr. Brief's house. He had some ideas for training he wanted to run by the man. The warrior was not a happy man. There was a fight coming, one he already had advanced warning that he would lose. LOSE!

The Saiyan Prince sniffed in derision. Well, time traveling mysterious youth aside, Vegeta was not about to let this unexpected opportunity pass.

A fight with an enemy strong enough to take HIM out? Bring it on! Vegeta sneered. He'd train, he'd surpass them. He'd surpass Kakarot. He would win this fight and any other that life planned on throwing at him. And if life didn't oblige? He'd go looking for even bigger fights!

Vegeta smiled as he neared the house, though the smile faded into a sneer as he heard the horridly grating sounds of Yamcha complaining about something.

What did that idiot have to complain about? There was a war coming! A gift for all true warriors! Though the Prince thought little of Yamcha's fighting abilities.

Why, the man's woman had more gumption than Yamcha did. The woman was an idiot, but she was no coward.

Woman. Vegeta stopped to look off into the distance, ignoring the magnificent view. Landscapes held no interest for him. He wondered if Kakarot was training, or off with his woman? An Earth woman. Which led to thoughts of Kakarot's son, Gohan. The boy held promise, though Vegeta was loath to admit that even to himself.

Here he was. The last of the Royal Blood. The proud Saiyan Prince and the mongrel low caste who had somehow managed to achieve Super Saiyan. Before he himself could manage to do so. Vegeta's hands twisted as his gut churned with a familiar ache.

"How could that sniveling mongrel of a Saiyan have achieved so much!" Vegeta let the anger wash over him, steeling his resolve to meet, match, and BETTER Kakarot's achievements.

But one of those achievements? A son.

Yet, Vegeta could not stand any of Earth's females. Only Dr. Brief's daughter showed any spark of a fighting spirit. And she was loud, obnoxious, and bossy. And put him in a PINK shirt yesterday. Vegeta snarled at the memory.

And yet there was a hint of respect in his snarl. The woman had tricked him, sure. But she'd gotten him into that ridiculous color. Maybe she wasn't as stupid as he'd originally thought.

Then he heard Yamcha yelling again. No. The woman was an idiot if THAT was her choice of a mate.

.III

Yamcha's tirade stalled as he heard Vegeta enter the building. Then he frowned sharply at Bulma, who was nodding at him as if he were still talking. He sighed. She wasn't even paying close enough attention to realize he'd stopped speaking!

Bulma came to attention fast as Yamcha snapped his fingers in front of her face.

"Here comes your wet dream now." He hissed.

Bulma stuck out her tongue at him. "Don't be so crass. That's rude language in front of a lady."

"If you were a lady, you wouldn't be dreaming about him!" Yamcha hissed, falling silent as Vegeta walked into the room.

"Serving Woman!" Vegeta snapped. "I need to speak to your father about the pulse capacitor that I need for ..." He stopped as something was thrown at him.

Bulma smiled wickedly.

Vegeta looked down at the object in his hands. The pulse capacitor he'd wanted. He grunted, eyeballing the replaced parts and finding the work more than sufficient. "Tell your father he does good work."

"Oh I will." Bulma sassed him with all the haughtiness of royalty. "Except I did that." The Saiyan Prince scowled at her, making her smile even wider. "And on Earth? We say thank you."

Vegeta grunted. Like that would ever happen. He headed back out the door.

Yamacha leaned in close to Bulma. "Maybe he could kiss you instead of saying thank you."

Bulma shushed him with a wave of her hand.

Yamcha smirked.

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him. Then yelled out. "Oh Prince Vegeta? There is one more thing." Thinking the man already gone, she smiled and called out. "I'd like you to kiss me."

Yamcha bellowed in outrage.

While Bulma stood up and tapped her foot, with her arms crossed. "Never dare me." She told him sternly.

.III

Vegeta stood frozen.

Kiss her?

The woman did not know what it was she was offering. It was that simple. She could have no way of knowing what that request meant to a Saiyan male.

His mind flashed back to his home planet. The Saiyan women were fighters. Vicious and tough. And they held all the strings when it came to mating.

Women in heat became ...unstable. Thus, to prevent unwelcome deaths King Cold and his son Frieza had altered some of the traditional Saiyan ways. Separating the women from their infants to be raised in pods by caretakers, yes it had helped to inflate their race's population. But the ways courtship worked for the Saiyans? That had not been changed.

And it was true that Saiyan society had a long standing tradition. Women initiated courting. Always. There were no exceptions. Men ruled and warred. But women chose their mates. That's WHY men strove to be such strong warriors. To be chosen. To make the women notice them and choose the strongest with which to mate and have children. Strong, fighting, Saiyan children.

As a Prince of his people, there had never been a lack of female interest. But Vegeta had always put that off for 'later'. He'd always been far more interested in the warring ways of his people. Training, fighting, killing. Vegeta had loved it all. But now there was something more he wanted.

It was Kakarot's son's fault.

It wasn't Gohan himself that Vegeta wanted, no. What he wanted was what the boy represented. That was his problem. Vegeta blew out a soft breath. He'd been thinking about finding a way to have a son of his own. And then the idiotic woman had made that offer. And instead of ignoring it as he should, he was thinking about what it could mean for him.

Bulma had asked him to kiss her.

Did she know that those words were the start of a traditional Saiyan courtship?

No. Vegeta shook his head. She'd couldn't know. She was being a silly, idiotic woman. An Earth woman. His hand reached for the door, ready to leave.

Only.

His hand froze, centimeters from the door handle. What had she said yesterday? Her words rang suddenly through his head. 'I've known Goku since he was five years old!'

Vegeta's mind spun with the possibilities. Goku. A ridiculous name for a Saiyan. The man was and always would be the low level brat named Kakarot. A Saiyan who knew NOTHING of Saiyan ways. Or did he?

Vegeta's head turned reluctantly to eye the doorway leading back to the main room. All he had to do was slip outside, pretending he'd not heard her offer.

Still, he didn't move.

The woman had known Kakarot for years. She had to know something about Saiyans. Right? Of course she did! He looked down at the pulse capacitor he was holding. Vegeta smiled darkly. She'd been the one to fix this? That meant ...what exactly?

Oh. It didn't matter. Yamcha was with the woman. And though Vegeta couldn't stand the young man and thought his fighting skills on par with worms ...women chose their mates, and men couldn't change that. Not Saiyan men. It was unheard of, illegal for centuries in order to keep their fighting numbers strong.

Only, the Saiyan race was no more.

Vegeta's hand clenched painfully into a fist as a vein popped out into prominence next to his left eye. No. The Saiyan's continued. Through him and Kakarot. Gohan. And ...and HIS children. Vegeta needed a son.

And an offer had just been made.

.III

Bulma was hopping mad as Yamcha enumerated all the ways in which she was in the wrong and all the ways he was supposedly right. She fumed as he ridiculed her 'dream' about Vegeta kissing her. And she steamed when he made fun of her for calling the villain a 'good kisser' all from a STUPID dream from a STUPID woman.

"Yamcha. Go. Away." Bulma said clearly, rubbing her temples as she closed her eyes to her headache. It was because of this that she missed Vegeta stepping back into the room.

The former bandit eyed the Saiyan Prince and then looked at unsuspecting Bulma and decided to embarrass her. It would serve her right. "So. We're broken up, and you want me to leave and you want Vegeta to kiss you?"

Bulma nodded, eyes still closed for the moment. "Yes that's right." She sighed and opened her eyes to face an amused Yamcha.

Amused?

Her eyes flew with shock to the doorway where a certain Saiyan Prince was staring at her with a blank expression. Her mouth dropped open in shock. Red color lit her cheeks and spread down to her neck.

Yamcha laughed. Puar whistled low, nervous.

Vegeta was one minute by the door, and the next he was in her face. His expression remained blank though there was a hint of dark fire in his eyes.

Yamcha swallowed hard as Puar nearly fell from his perch on the bookcase as Vegeta pushed Bulma up against the wall and stared into her face.

The air between them grew heated. Bulma didn't know what to think. There was an edge of danger, but somehow ...she wasn't afraid.

Vegeta leaned in closer, letting his lips hover over hers. "Do you know what you just offered me?"

Bulma had no clue. But his eyes were so compelling. And in the back of her mind, she needed to know if real Vegeta could kiss as well as dream Vegeta.

"Yes." She lied.

The Saiyan Prince stared into her eyes and came to a decision. While women of his race initiated courtship, males had to accept ...or deny. It was a an inelegant system according to every race they'd ever encountered. But hey, for the Saiyan's, it worked.

"Say it again." Vegeta hesitated. This was no warrior-woman from his home. He had to be sure. And if he was stuck with an Earth woman to bear his child, then at least it could be one that had some spirit in her.

Bulma took a deep breath, expanding her chest inadvertently.

Vegeta felt the rise of her bosom as it lightly brushed against the outside of his armor. As a caress it was as chaste as they came. It didn't matter, his body immediately and viciously responded.

"Say it again, woman." Vegeta growled, his voice going rough as need poured through his bloodstream.

Bulma's knees quivered and in the background she could hear Yamcha yelling, but for the life of her she couldn't understand a thing he was saying.

"Say what?" She whispered.

Vegeta closed his eyes in frustration. She wasn't seeking courtship. She had no clue about Saiyan tradition. He started to back away.

Bulma, released from his gaze, blinked and saw him move as if ready to walk away. Her whole body protested. She put her hand on his shoulder.

Vegeta stilled. His eyes pinned her once more.

"Kiss me." She said breathlessly, amazed that he was here. When she'd told Yamcha her dream, she had put it more in the realm of fiction than for any hint of what could actually be.

"NO!" Yamcha yelped, and then dodged as Vegeta let loose a barrage of energy at him with one hand. All while never looking away from Bulma.

Puar cried out in shock and flew to Yamcha's fallen form as the former-bandit stared at his enemy and his one-time girlfriend. He pinched his arm hard, hoping THIS was the dream.

Vegeta still had doubts. Yet. She HAD offered. And she was warm. Curvy. And she had some sass in her after all. He thought of the pink shirt she'd made him wear yesterday with a cynical twist in his smile.

Bulma held her breath as Vegeta leaned in close, his hard lips touching hers. She didn't make him ask, but parted her lips and he swept inside her defenses like a wildfire.

The wall was hard at her back, and Vegeta burned like a furnace in front of her. All the world faded away as he took possession of her mouth. Had she thought the kiss in her dream was hot? It had nothing on reality!

Fire ate at her blood as she let sensation take over.

.III

Vegeta waited. He sunk into the woman's warmth and generous mouth with all the need that months alone could give a man. Added to that was the emotional burden of nearly being the last of his race, and then there was the image in his head ...a vague, formless image of a child.

And still he waited. For the blow. The slap. The bite. The beginning of the Saiyan courtship. It all started with a female wanting a kiss, and then the male had to accept. Then came the fight. The inevitable fight for dominance.

Warm arms suddenly wrapped around his neck and the woman in his arms leaned into him. Not a battle stance, but a call to mating. She was giving him the dominance. The maleness in him roared with approval.

The thinking portion of Vegeta's brain stalled. Then he groaned and picked Bulma up, not even sure where he was going to take her. Only that he WAS going to take her.

That was when he realized ...she was pushing him away.

.III

Bulma was sure she was blushing from her head all the way down to her toes.

That was a KISS? She panted a moment, trying to catch her breath. And really? Vegeta of all people? And in front of poor Yamcha? Just what in the world was she thinking.

That was when she made a big mistake. "Yamcha?" She called out softly. "Are you alright?"

.III

Vegeta was having a tough time pulling himself back from the edge of passion. He was almost seeing red even as he obeyed Bulma's pushing of him away. The woman always called the shots during courtship. Until the mating. Then the male was in charge. It was just the way things were.

That's when he heard her speak. The name of another man.

Damn it all! Bulma did know about Saiyan courtship! Including the pairing off of rival males to see who would be the stronger warrior.

Vegeta grinned eagerly and turned to face Yamcha, who took one look at the Saiyan's face and yelped in abject fear. He wasn't going to die at the hands of the Red Ribbon Army, he was going to die right here!

.III

Bulma screamed as half her wall disappeared in a cloud of smoke and debris. Puar whimpered and fainted as Yamcha scrambled, barely having dodged the main attack.

"Run little human." Sneered the Saiyan Prince.

"Vegeta, no! Don't!" Bulma grabbed the warrior from behind, wrapping her arms around him as Yamcha struggled to get out the hole in the wall quickly.

The Saiyan warrior paused, liking the feel of the woman plastered against his back. His woman. She'd offered, he'd accepted. Initial courtship had now officially begun. And he watched Yamcha scramble away like he should. Rival gone.

He turned within her arms and Bulma swallowed hard as she stared into his dark gaze.

All she could think of was ...now what?

.III

Okay. I did warn you, not terribly canon of me. But I hope you enjoyed! Reviews are always welcome and thank you for reading!