start from the beginning? "

"Well, okay. But do you promise not to yell again?"

She sighed. "Yes, I promise not to yell again."

"OK." He sounded very pleased with himself as he began to talk. "Well, it was like this. He slept for a long time,
and I was getting real hungry. I was hoping he'd wake up soon so I could eat ... "

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Could you move past the part about being hungry and eating and get to the part about Vegeta?"

"But Bulma, I didn't eat. I waited until he woke up, and it was about time 'cause I thought I was going to starve."

Bulma decided it was hopeless. Goku would tell the story his own way and in his own time.

"Anyway, he finally woke up, and we ate, and he went off to take a bath." Suddenly his voice sounded very embarrassed.
"Well, his bath was taking really long, and I started to wonder if something had happened, and I went to look for him,
and he was just getting out, and he wasn't wearing anything! "Bulma found herself wishing that she could have seen that.

"Well, he yelled at me, and I went away until he was dressed. Then we started to spar, and it was like he wasn't
really trying. I told him that Chi-Chi probably could have beaten him, he was fighting so bad, and I thought that
would get him mad, but it didn't. Well he said something about being alone, the last of his kind, just like you said,
Bulma. "His voice grew serious, his usual goofiness gone." I knew then that I had to get him mad. He wasn't going to
talk to me unless he got so mad that he lost control, so I reminded him that I was stronger than he was. He tried to
attack me, and I went Super Saiyan, to remind him that he couldn't. "

Bulma accelerated. She hadn't thought Goku had it in him.

"Didn't think I'd do that, did you?"

Bulma shivered, shaken again by the eerie feeling that Goku knew more than he let on. "No, I didn't think you would.
It doesn't seem like you. "

Goku's voice became sad. "It's not like me. I hated to do it, but it was the only way to get through to him.""What'd he do?"

"He finally talked to me. He asked what was the point of training. He sounded really depressed, like he didn't think
he had anything to live for. He was standing so close to the edge of the cliff that I thought he'd go over before I
could do anything about it. "

Bulma shuddered, having had no idea how close she'd come to losing him, almost before she knew that she cared.
"He ... didn't ... did he?"

"No." Goku's answer came almost before she finished speaking. "No, he didn't. I had to think really hard about what to
say. I finally told him that there was more to life than training to get better than me. I told him that he needed to
train because he cared enough about someone to do anything to protect them. "

Bulma closed her eyes. She could hear the anguish in his voice and could imagine how hard it had been for Goku to say
all that.

"He asked me if I thought there was someone for him to train for, and I told him that there was." He paused for a long
time and Bulma wasn't sure he was going to say anything else.Finally, he said, "And then he asked if there was
someone who cared that much about him. I said that I thought there was. “His voice turned pleading.” Don't make a liar
out of me, Bulma. Tell me that I told him the truth. "

Bulma was surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth, so firm and confident. "You didn't lie to him, Goku. It
took you to show me, but I do care for him. "

She could hear Goku's relieved sigh. "Good. That was the only part I was a little bit worried about."

> From the tone of voice, he knew he'd been more than a "little" worried. "What happened then?"

His voice perked up. "We sparred."

She should have guessed. Trust two men to have a meaningful conversation and then follow it up with a fight.

"It was a really good fight. You should have seen it!"

"Uh, yeah. Whatever, Goku."

"Is he back yet?"

Bulma shook her head, realizing as she did it that he couldn't see the gesture. "No, I don't think so."

"Hmm. Wonder where he is? I came straight here. He should have been there by now."Bulma felt a small thrill of anxiety rush through her, but she managed to keep it out of her voice. "I'm sure he's
fine. He'll probably get here any minute. "

"Yeah, well I called 'cause I didn't want him to sense me there. He made me promise not to bug him about what he was
going to do about you. "

“What!” Bulma yelled.

"Bulma! You promised you wouldn't yell!"

She lowered her voice fractionally. "What do you mean about not bugging him about me!"

"He said he'd probably do something about caring about you, but he said he'd do it in his own time, and he didn't want
me asking about it. "

Bulma stood up and tapped her foot on the floor. She'd see about "his own time." She wasn't going to decide that she
was interested and then wait for the arrogant prince to get around to doing something about it in his own time.

"Uh, Bulma. Did I just put my foot in it?"

He sounded so plaintive, and she couldn't ignore it. She sighed. "No, Goku. I'll give him long enough that he can't
figure out you said something to me. ""Good! I'd hate for him to get so mad at me that he won't spar any more."

Trust Goku to have his priorities in order.

"Gotta go. Thanks for calling Chi-Chi and telling her that I'd be gone a while." He lowered his voice to a theatrical
whisper. "She's not too mad, but I still think I'd better go see her." Bulma could almost see him pouting with his
next sentence. "But I think she said something about wanting me to help with the laundry. I hate laundry."

Bulma chuckled. "Go help her out. The last person you want really mad at you is your wife."

"No kidding! The last time she got really mad at me, she locked me out of the house and wouldn't cook me dinner or
anything! Talk to you later. "His voice softened for a moment." Let me know how everything goes, okay? "

"Sure, Goku. We'll talk later. Bye."

She hung up and lay back down on her bed. It sounded as if Goku had laid the groundwork. The next move was up to her.
Or Vegeta.

But where was Vegeta?

A few minutes later she heard footsteps going down the hall.She sat up, listening carefully. They turned into the
room a few doors down. Soon after, she heard the shower start. She smiled. That must be him. Hey was safe! And he'd
come back.

A week later she'd managed to forget how worried she'd been about him. Now she just wanted to kill him. Slowly.

It was like nothing had changed. He didn't skip meals, but he barely spoke to her. He spoke to her mother more, and
Bulma knew that he despised her mother. Mrs. Briefs didn't make it easier by hanging on him when she wasn't fixing
him all his favorite foods. And if he didn't come to the kitchen right away at meal times, she coaxed Bulma into
taking his dinner to him.

And the worst part was that she couldn't help herself. She so desperately wanted to be in his presence that she took
him his meals and sat with him while he ate. He never paid any attention to her company. He just ate quickly and left
all the dishes for her.

She was just about ready to give him a piece of her mind. She hadn't said anything rude to him the entire week, andall the pent-up emotions were on the verge of bursting out.

That night, she again stood in front of her mirror, this time yanking her brush through her hair like she wanted to
pull it all out by the roots. It hurt, but she was too angry to even notice. She had thought up six particularly
cutting remarks and was deciding in which order she wanted to use them when she felt the breeze move in the open
window behind her.

A quiet voice spoke. "If you keep that up, you won't have any hair left."

She dropped the