"Chi-Chi, they're planning on taking Bulma!"

Disclaimer:  (spoken by Vegeta, because Pudgoose has got too much on her mind)  She doesn’t own diddlysquat.  She doesn’t even own me.  **Smirks**

Ok, was my last chapter just totally confusing?  >.<

Q/A:  Gohan’s girl:  **Sigh**  Did I confuse you with that?  I’m sorry.  I meant that “the old-fashioned way” would be to win his heart over, the way it should properly be done.  You know, without cheating.

Calpernea:  Ok, I looked over that, and I realized what you must have thought… sorta.  I don’t know where you seemed to have picked up the thing about Cleopatra, Madonna, and Zoë all in Bulma and Iiovana’s room.  But when I said in the sentence, (I’m going to quote myself here) “In the room across the hall from what would normally be Iiovana and Bulma’s room…”, I meant that it’s not Iiovana and Bulma’s room now because Bulma’s in the hospital wing thingy.  Iiovana’s still there.  Does that clear things up?  >.<  Sorry if I confused you.

Mushi-azn:  No, no lemon in this one.  ^_~

Author’s Shout outs:

Kei:  Dawg… you seriously want some K/C action, don’t you?  ^_^  That’s ok, cause it’ll come.  **With dramatic voice**  We must all have the patient though.  Good things come to those who wait….  ^_~

POAS:  Haven’t you heard of the Automatic Vegeta Dispenser Machine?  For just a quarter, you get your own little Vegeta, packed with bad attitude and everything!  ^_^  And, we can share, right?

  Vegeta:  I don’t think that’s her decision….

  Pudgoose:  Uh… heh, heh, heh…  ^_^’

iceis:  Thanks!  A bunch!  ^_^  Those types of comments always make me happy.  I actually first found out about FF.Net when I went to Bored.com in computer class.  It was the best computer class I ever had….  **sniffs**  Anyways, thanks for the review!  People keep talking about The Flying Pen a lot… maybe I should read some of her stuff….

Jen:  No, actually.  Catgirl26, my most FAVORITE author out there, is from Canada (or claims to be).  Maybe people from Canada are natural born writers… ^_~

Pretty nicely sized chapter, I think.  And a good one.  (To me.)  To tell you guys the truth, I was kind of disappointed with the content of the reviews I got.  But then I thought about it, and realized that I wasn’t even too “thrilled” with that chapter myself, so why should I expect things like, “THAT WAS THE BEST CHAPTER SO FAR!  YOU’RE A GENIUS, PUDGOOSE!”?  So, I got over it.  ^_^  Hope I get really good reviews this time.  I’m really happy with this chapter….  ^_~

Steal after my heart, would you?

Kakarroto woke up feeling extremely confused.  He moaned, throwing a pillow over his face.  Even in the early hours of the morning, he couldn’t get away from his thoughts.  And he desperately wanted to.  They were causing him a lot of stress for his simple mind.  (AN  ^_^  Cute little Goku… him so stupid!  ^_^  Vegeta:  **smirks at Goku**)

He defiantly knew he was in love.  That thought had first occurred to him after the date he and Chi-Chi had shared, and the more he thought about it, the more he was sure that it was true.  But now that he knew about this, he wasn’t sure how to get around it.  He might disgrace his name to actually… get involved with a human.  What would his father say?  What would his mother, if she were here, say to him?  Would she be ashamed?

Kakarroto sighed, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.  He stood up, stretched, and filed through his dresser to find something to wear.

He finally shuffled downstairs, the scent of breakfast oddly absent this morning.  His father was usually up by now, skillfully cooking a variety of things with his years of experience.  Since his mother had died, Bardock had been forced to learn how to cook, and it actually turned out that he wasn’t that bad of a chef either.

“Dad?” Kakarroto shouted, looking in at the Bardock-empty kitchen.  “Helloooo?  DAD?!”

Kakarroto frowned, and was about to turn around when a note on the kitchen door caught his eye.  The Sayian pulled the note off, unfolded it, and, very slowly, read it.

Dear Son,

Sorry I could not tell you face to face, but I had to leave rather urgently around midnight, and felt that I shouldn’t wake you up.  I’m at the palace, so if you SERIOUSLY feel that it’s an emergency, you can reach me there.  And no, being hungry for breakfast is not an emergency.

I have a feeling I’ll be gone all day, so, just in case, I left some money on the dining room table in an envelope.  Use that to get yourself something to eat for breakfast and lunch.  Miss Chi-Chi might be able to cook dinner, but BE POLITE and don’t push her into it.  If she doesn’t want to cook, then there still should be money left over to get yourself something to eat.

Enjoy your Saturday, and when Miss Chi-Chi comes over to tutor you, DO NOT GET INTO ANY SORT OF HORMONE-RELATED TROUBLE!  JUST BECAUSE I’M NOT HOME TO WATCH YOU DOESN’T MEAN YOU CAN DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!

~Bardock

Kakarroto cocked an eyebrow.  Hormone-related trouble?  What did that mean?

He shrugged, and headed into the dining room; he easily spotted the envelope, grabbed it, and pocketed it.  He grabbed the house keys and left, locking the door behind him.

The Sayian took off into the sky.  After eating he’d head off to his special forest spot.  He needed to think, and, if he could, talk to his mother.

~*~*~

Chi-Chi woke up, rather late, in a great mood.  Her body felt great and perfectly rested, and her mind was clear and blissfully empty of worry.

It was just then that the memory of her nightmare hit her like a ton of bricks.

She frowned, and stood up, stretching.  She had promised herself that she’d write to Bulma when she woke up again.  And that was exactly what she was going to do, even before she did anything else.

Chi-Chi wrapped a robe around herself, and walked over into her living room, sitting down at her desk.  She grabbed a pencil and a piece of paper and began to write.

Bulma,

Hi!  How are you girl?  Kakarroto, Bardock, and I are all fine.  Missing you, but fine.  And of course, everyone at school is jealous of you, you lucky girl.

I had an odd dream last night, which was, well, more like a nightmare than a dream.  Don’t mean to sound ominous or anything, but that nightmare was about you and it was very clear to me.  I’m just worried, girl.

Write back as soon as you can.  As always, wishing you lots of luck with the competition!

~Chi-Chi

Yea, that sounded nice.

Chi-Chi slipped it inside an envelope, sealed it, and put a stamp on it.  After mailing her letter, she headed back inside to her kitchen to make a large breakfast.  For some odd reason, she was terribly hungry.

~*~*~

“Prince Vegeta?” a sly voice said, the waiting room door opening.  The prince didn’t even look up.

“Zoë, get lost.”

Zoë stopped, looking at him with indignation etched all over her face.  She quickly hid that look behind a mask of upset curiosity.

“But Prince Vegeta, I was just worried about you….”  She trailed off, not getting a response out of him.  He still sat on the floor, cross-legged, head down, and eerily silent.  She cleared her throat.  “My prince, this is not good for your health.  Do you think it’s really necessary to wait like this—”

“You dare to try and change my mind?” he interrupted, finally looking up at her with cold eyes.  He glared at her.  “You act as if you’re of equal rank with me.  Remember, dear, that this contest hasn’t ended yet, and you’re still under my thumb.  My patience is already thin from lack of sleep, Zoë.  Don’t push me.  Now get out and leave me alone.”

Zoë blinked, holding her emotions back very skillfully.  She bowed and exited, shutting the door behind her.

She strolled down the hallway slowly, her face to the ground.  She couldn’t believe.  In a little more than a week she and the prince had gone from being very close to little more than acquaintances.  She shook her head.  That blue-haired female had caught his attention, drawing him away from her.  Zoë growled; she was jealous, and she was smart enough to realize this.  Not necessarily jealous of Bulma’s looks, or personality, or brains, but of a combination of the three and how that combination was already having its toll on the prince.

Zoë scowled, and lifted her head, suddenly aware of where she wanted to go.  She headed through a number of memorized passageways and staircases, and finally got to the main doors.  Two guards were standing on either side, and they watched her carefully as she continued to walk towards the doors, not giving either of them a second glance.

Just as Zoë was about to exit, one of the buff men stepped in front of her.

“I’m sorry, Miss, but you’re not allowed to leave.”

Zoë took a deep breath, and then lifted her face up to the guard, smiling sweetly.  “I’ll just be gone a while,” she said softly.  “Just give me an hour.  I’m sure you two brave, strong men won’t mind me leaving for that long.  After all, you two are very responsible and do your job so well.”  She smiled at them both.  “Not to mention handsome.”

The guard in front of her blushed.  “Um, well… we’re not all that Miss, really.”

“Nonsense!” Zoë said, smiling wider at him.  “You know, I’ve heard King Vegeta say some very great things about the guards here, you two in particular.”

The two soldiers exchanged glances.  Zoë continued, pressing her luck.  “There are rumors going around that he might just make you two some of his personal guards.”

Both of them blushed this time.  “Ah, really?” the one over to the side asked her hopefully.  Zoë nodded eagerly.

“Yes!  And I’m sure that it’s true!  You two do a very good job, after all.”

“Hey, what do you say we let her go?” the one in front of Zoë asked the other.  “Just for an hour, you know.  She’s such a sweet young thing, and I’m sure she’s responsible enough to come back when her hour’s up!”

The other guard seemed a little hesitant, and he studied Zoë for a moment.  “Can you promise that you’ll come back in an hour?” he asked slowly.

Zoë nodded, not breaking eye contact with him.  “Of course!  One hour, if not sooner!”

“Alright then,” he said, and the guard in front of Zoë smiled at her, and moved.  She grinned.

“Thank you two so much!” she said, an extremely grateful expression on her face.

“Oh, it’s our pleasure!” the first guard told her, opening the door for her; she headed out into the bright sunshine, a devilish smirk on her face.

~*~*~

Kakarroto sat on a rather comfy stone, listening to the quiet around him and thinking.  The trees shaded him lovingly, and a cool breeze blew on him softly whenever he started to feel warm.  He sighed.

(AN  Ok, this part might get a little weird…)

“Mother,” he finally whispered.  “I… I’m in love with a human female.”

The leaves on the trees rustled against one another, as if whispering with excitement.

“I… um… I was wondering.”  Kakarroto softly sighed.  This was much harder than he thought.  “What I’m trying to say is that… do you have any objection to her?  I’m pretty sure you’ve seen her.  I brought her here a little more than a week ago, and the spirits surely did like her.  But I’m not too sure if you like her or not.”

There was silence for a long while.  Then Kakarroto began to whisper again.  “Of course, disagreeing is fine with me.  I’ll just find a way to separate myself from her, or something.  The last thing I want to do is dishonor you or father.  But… I just need your decision.”

And suddenly, the young Sayian was filled with extremely pleasant warmth that he was sure wasn’t coming from the external source of the spirits.  He felt satisfied and happy, love bountifully swirling in his heart.  And when the feeling slowly died away, Kakarroto was left smiling knowingly.

He took all that for a yes.

Kakarroto grinned, standing up and getting ready to take off.  He had to tell Chi-Chi.  He had to let her know how he felt.

He was about to leave, but the oncoming of another Sayian made him stop.  He frowned thoughtfully.  Usually no one visited this place.

The woods got upsettingly quiet as the person landed.  Kakarroto wished dearly to see who it was, but because of a number of trees in his way, he could only listen.

“Well look who’s here,” a male voice said slowly, bitterly.  “What do you want from me, slut?”

Kakarroto blinked.  That person was definitely unhappy for some reason.

“I thought I’d find you here,” a female voice answered, and, by the way she said it, Kakarroto could tell she was smiling.  “So?  Are the rumors true?”

“Rumors about what?”

“About your tail, dumbass.  Was your tail really sliced off?”

Kakarroto swallowed, looking down at his own tail protectively, which tightened its grip around his waist.

“Well yes, bitch, it was,” the guy replied sulkily.  “And here, do you want to see?”

“Sure, why not?”

There was silence for a while.  Then there was a tutting sound.

“Phoenix, Phoenix, Phoenix…” the girl said slowly.  “I can’t believe it.  You must have messed up somewhere.”

The guy, obviously named Phoenix, growled low.  “It was your dumbass idea.”

“Hey!” the girl said indignantly.  “My plan was perfect!  You just messed it up, you clumsy moron.  And now look what I have to deal with!  I can’t win the damn contest now!  Bulma’s already stolen the prince’s heart!”

Kakarroto blinked.  Bulma?  Wasn’t that the name of Chi-Chi’s friend?  He grinned inwardly.  So Bulma was ahead in this competition thing?  He’d have to tell Chi-Chi later.

“DO YOU THINK I GIVE A SHIT!?” Phoenix exclaimed.  “My damn TAIL was cut off, you self-centered bitch!  And all you can think about is yourself?  Do you know how awful it feels to have your tail cut off?”  Phoenix laughed coldly.  “I’ll tell you right now, it was no picnic!”

The female sighed.  “Whatever, Phoenix, whatever.  You always were a crybaby.”

“CRYBABY, HUH?!  WELL, LET ME SHOW YOU CRYBABY—”

There was a thump-like sound of fist hitting flesh, and then the struggled sounds of someone trying to gasp.  The female laughed, and Kakarroto could only guess that the girl had punched the guy.

“And you were always slow, too.  That’s probably why your tail was cut off in the first place.”

Someone gasped rather sharply.  “Bitch…” the guy said.

“Yes, yes, I know, I’m a bitch.”  The girl paused.  “Do you still like Bulma, Phoenix?”

The guy was now huskily breathing, as if trying to regain the air he had lost.  Even from this distance, Kakarroto heard him swallow.  “Of course,” he said slowly.  “I liked the girl from the first time I laid eyes on her.  She was so different… I just had to have her.”

“Ok, Phoenix, I don’t need a description of why, I just wanted to know if you did like her.”

“Well I do Zoë, I do.”

“Good.  Then you won’t mind joining in another plan of mine?  I’ve just had this GREAT idea.”

There was silence for a while.  Kakarroto kept still and oh so quiet, not even daring to breathe.  He could tell this was important.  Very important.

“If it’s not as bass-ackwards as the first one,” Phoenix began slowly, “then alright.  Let me hear it.”  (AN  I am becoming addicted to the phrase “bass-ackwards”, if you haven’t noticed already.  ^_^  It’s just so cool!)

Zoë laughed once.  “Ok.  Now listen and listen good, because I’ve got to be back at the palace in a little bit and I don’t think I have time to repeat myself.”

~*~*~

Bardock opened the waiting room door, extremely tired and shaggy-looking.  He yawned, and glanced around for the prince, only to find him asleep in the corner.  Bardock chuckled.

“Prince Vegeta?”

The prince’s head shot up immediately, his eyes wide and startled.  He looked over at Bardock, and then began to relax, as if realizing where he was.

“How long have I been asleep?” he asked.

Bardock bit back a chuckle, and merely shrugged his shoulders.  “I don’t know, Prince Vegeta.  I just stepped in here.”

“Hn,” Vegeta said, wiping the sleep out of his eyes.  “So what do you need to tell me?”

“Well, my prince,” Bardock smiled.  “I just wanted to let you know that Bulma has woken up again.”

Vegeta stood up quickly.  “Great!  Excellent job, Bardock!”

“Thank you, sire.”

“How is she?”

Bardock smiled at the prince’s eagerness.  “She’s pretty weak, has a low fever, and an awful, awful headache.  But since the fever has gone down we have been able to give her water to drink, which is good, because she needs to replenish her system.”

Vegeta nodded.  “Now Bardock, do something for me.”

Bardock cocked an eyebrow questioningly.  “Yes, sire?”

“Ask her if she is willing to see me.”

Bardock nodded, holding back his slight surprise with that statement.  “Yes, sire,” he said.

*

Bulma shifted tiredly in her bed when she heard quiet knocking at her door.  She wondered why anyone would bother her when she had just told them that she’d like to sit in quiet darkness for a while.  Her whole head was pounding in agony, and she honestly told herself ten times a minute that she felt like shit.

The door creaked open, and Bardock peeked his head inside.  “Bulma, dear?” he said.

“Yes?” she replied, openly showing her disapproval in her voice.  She was in too bad of a mood to be polite.

“I’m sorry to bother you, dear, but the prince has asked to see you.”

“Tell him to get a life and go somewhere else.”

Bardock blinked.  “Uh… I… um…”

Bulma sighed in frustration.  “Just tell him that I don’t want any visitors!” she said, trying her best to shout, which was only a little above her normal volume.  Bardock nodded, and exited the room, closing the door behind him.

Bulma closed her eyes, lying in her peace.  She moaned softly as a wave of pain swept across her whole head.  It was like her skull was trying to collapse upon her brain, as unconditional pressure seemed to be everywhere on her.

The door opened again, and Bulma angrily looked up, expecting to see Bardock.  She found that her words failed her when the prince entered, shutting the door behind him.

“I said I didn’t want any company,” Bulma said slowly.

He smirked, grabbed a chair, and pulled it up beside her bed.  He sat down in it.  “You think I’d listen to what you wanted to do?”

“Well you asked, didn’t you?”

“Only to see what you’d say.”

Bulma frowned, and rolled over on her other side, letting him look at her back.  Vegeta scowled, feeling the injustice being done here.  He had waited all the long night, tortured with the feeling of helplessness, and, now, when he saw he again, she rejected him like he was a piece of rotting meat.

“What happened after the ball, Vegeta?” she asked, still not looking at him.  “I remember eating dinner, and… bits and pieces after that… but what really happened?”

“Phoenix tried to kidnap you,” Vegeta said simply, eagerly anticipating her to blow up with surprise, anger, and doubt.  But she did none of these, however, which caused the prince to raise an eyebrow.

“Did you hear me, woman?” he asked.  “I said Phoenix tried to kidnap you.”

“I heard you, I heard you,” said Bulma.  “I’m just not surprised.  I never did like Phoenix, and I’m not shocked to find he would try to do something like that to me.  He was really weird… the sneaky bastard.”

Vegeta blinked.  She really thought that would happen?  He had never noticed her distance and anger that would be present when Phoenix was around.  But, then again, he hadn’t seen her with Phoenix a lot anyway.

They paused, and Vegeta grew increasingly frustrated with every second he spent looking at her back.  “I was up all night, woman, waiting to see how you’d turn out,” he said slowly, angrily.  “Don’t you brush me off like some commoner.  Turn around and face me!”

Bulma winced, and sighed angrily, rolling over to the other side.  “If it’ll make you stop shouting,” she said weakly, her eyes closed.  “My whole being feels like crap, Vegeta.  Please go away.”

“No.”

Bulma whined, putting her head under a pillow.  “Why?” she asked, her voice heavily muffled.

“Why did you not want to see me, woman?” Vegeta asked her slowly.

“Why won’t you leave me alone?!”

“Answer my question first.”

“Arg!” Bulma moaned, taking the pillow off her face and putting it behind her head.  “I didn’t want to see you because I knew we’d fight, and I just wasn’t in the mood to fight.”

“Why did you think we’d fight?”

“We’re fighting now, aren’t we?” Bulma exclaimed.

“We’re disagreeing.  We’re not to the point of fighting, yet.”

“Please,” Bulma spat, “disagreeing.  You’d disagree with a stump, you simple-minded moron.”

Vegeta growled, but bit his tongue.  For some odd reason he really didn’t want to anger her.  Not at the moment, anyway.  He dismissed the thought before he got too deep into the subject and made himself angry.

Bulma was the one to break the silence.  “Now answer my question.”

Vegeta blinked.  “And what would that be?”

“Why won’t you leave me alone?”

“Because I enjoy torturing you.”

Bulma shot him the best glare she could muster, only to find him smirking playfully down at her.  She hesitated, looking in his face for, really, the first time.  She saw the dark half-moons under his eyes and the tiredness on his face.  He really had stayed up all night… she swallowed softly, slowly losing her anger.

There was a question burning on her tongue and lips, and she couldn’t help but ask it.

“Were you worried about me?”

There was silence.  A long, empty silence.

“No.”

“Then why did you stay up all night?”

Prince Vegeta stood up, his chair scraping across the stone floor.  “Because I was wondering if I’d have to get a new participant in the contest,” he said bitterly, heading over to the door without so much as a backward glance at her.  Bulma watched him as he left, confused beyond belief.

~*~*~

Iiovana finally couldn’t stand it anymore.  She had to go see Bulma.  She had too.

“Sorry Madonna,” she said, stopping their spar.  “But I gotta go.”

“Where to?”

“See Bulma.”

An odd expression crossed over Madonna’s face, and Iiovana did her best to pinpoint it, figuring it was bordering the line between jealousy, disgust, and annoyance.  Needless to say, it wasn’t a very positive expression.

“Bye!” said the brown-eyed Sayian, leaving her prejudice friend behind in the gym.

She took a few steps down the hallway, when she suddenly realized that she wasn’t quite sure where the hospital wing was.  She whined impatiently, and looked around for someone that might know.  It was a shame Phoenix had turned out to be such a bad guy and was now gone, because he would surely know.

She finally jogged up to a pair of guards that seemed to be bored to death with just standing there; they were punching each other lightly on the arm for entertainment.

“Excuse me,” Iiovana said, stepping up to them.  They immediately stopped, fearing that she was a higher-ranking officer.  They sighed at the sight of her.

“Yes?” one of them asked.

“Do you know where the hospital wing is?”

The guard gave her a series of complicated directions, which ended up in a very confused Iiovana.

“Uh… huh,” she said.  “Um… could you tell me again?  Just, much slower this time?”

The guard laughed, and repeated his directions at her requested pace.

“Thank you,” she said, excusing herself with a smile.  The two went back to punching each other.

Iiovana followed the directions as best she could from memory, and was extremely shocked and relieved to find that she ended up at the waiting room door.

“Lucky me,” she mumbled, opening the door for herself.

The waiting room was empty except for one very ragged and tired looking man.  He was sitting on a couch, flipping through several documents and circling things every now and then.  Iiovana stepped up to him.

“Excuse me?  Sir?”

He looked up at her, and she could now see the full extent of his fatigue.  He had dark colors of a purplish-black under his eyes, and his eyes seemed bloodshot.  Nevertheless, he smiled politely at her.

“Yes?” he asked.

“May I see Bulma Briefs?”

He smiled wider at her.  “Are you a friend of hers?”

She nodded.  “Yes sir.  My name’s Iiovana Veen.”

“Yes…” he said slowly, looking her up and down.  “Yes, I’ve seen you before.  You’re one of the prince’s candidates, are you not?”

“Yes sir.”

He stood up.  “Well let me ask Bulma and see if she’s up to speaking with you.  Just wait right here.”

And he left into another door, leaving Iiovana bored and slightly nervous.  She couldn’t help but feel that if she did something she wasn’t supposed to she’d be fussed at.  So she stood there like a good little girl, waiting in what she figured would be a very patient manner.

The man came back into the room, smiling at her.  “Bulma said she’d like to see you.”

Iiovana grinned.  “So… can I go—”

“Yes,” the man said, laughing, “you can go in and see her now.”

Iiovana thanked him hurriedly and bounded into Bulma’s room.  She blinked at the sudden change of light.  It was much darker in here.

“Hey Iiovana,” Bulma said softly from her bed.  Iiovana looked at her and smiled.

“Hi.”

Bulma motioned to the chair that had been moved to the corner of the room again since the prince had used it.  “Sit,” she said.

Iiovana nodded, pulled the chair up, and sat down next to her weak-looking friend.  They were silent for a moment, before the brown-eyed Sayian spoke up.

“So… uh… how do you feel?”

“Like shit,” Bulma replied rather bluntly.  Iiovana couldn’t help but laugh, causing Bulma to smile and giggle a little.

They were silent again, Iiovana fidgeting uncomfortably in her chair every now and then.  She finally spoke up.

“Uh, Bulma,” she said.  “Did you mean… I mean—you didn’t really mean what you said, did you?”

It took a while for Bulma to comprehend this statement, but, when she did, Bulma quirked an eyebrow.  “What did I say?”

“Like… um… that I was flat-chested and stuff.”  Bulma’s eyes widened.

“I said that?  When?”

Iiovana nodded.  “On the night of the ball.  You said it in front of everyone.  Including the prince.”  Iiovana blushed, partly with anger that she didn’t know what to do with, and partly from embarrassment upon recalling the incident.

Bulma gaped at her.  “Oh my goodness Iiovana…”  Despite herself, Bulma’s eyes welled up with tears.  She supposed she was already emotionally stressed with steady flow of shocking events, and this one just took the cake.  “I’m so sorry,” Bulma whispered.  “Please forgive me Iiovana.  Oh I just feel so… disgusted with myself!  How could I say that?  Oh please forgive me!  I’ll never forgive myself for saying that unless you do it first!”  Bulma sniffed, covered up her face with her hands, and allowed her frustration and stress to flow freely down her cheeks.

Iiovana couldn’t bear the scene.

“Oh Bulma!” she shouted, bursting into tears as well.  She wrapped Bulma in a tight bear hug, and the human returned the embrace immediately.  “It’s ok, Bulma, it’s ok.  I’m fine with everything.  I forgive you.  I forgive you!”

And the two girls cried their sentimental hearts out.  Should anyone have seen them then, it would have been the perfect recipe for total catastrophe.

~*~*~

Vegeta couldn’t sleep.  Even though he lay in his bed, warm, comfortable, and exhausted, he couldn’t sleep.  It was that damn woman!  She kept popping into his mind, and he became more and more aware of how much she meant to him.

And then another question entered his brain.  If she weren’t his queen… weren’t his to own… how often would he think of her?

That question was answered immediately in his brain.  If she didn’t become his, he’d think of her every time he got into bed to sleep.  He’d wish she were there whenever the King and Queen would have to go on special meetings to other planets.  And he was absolutely positive that, every time he made love, he’d picture her pleased, ecstatic face.

Vegeta growled to himself.  Women were certainly a weakness, because he found he couldn’t get her out of his mind.  And the thought of not making her his queen haunted him.  He figured that he must have some type of mental disease, because he found himself extremely attracted to this “weakness”.

So much for survival of the fittest…

And he had made up his mind.  Even if he didn’t admit it, he knew what the answer to his problem was.  After all, he couldn’t admit it.

Not yet.

Just not now.

~*~*~

Zoë smiled gratefully as the same guards opened the door for her.  She gracefully stepped inside, and they closed it.

“How can I thank you two…?” Zoë trailed off, fake gratitude swirling in her eyes.  She then leaned over and kissed each of their cheeks, earning herself a blush from them.

“Thank you so much!” she said, and headed off down the hallway towards her dormitory.  A high-ranking officer, who had witnessed the kissing, bustled over to them, extremely angry.

“You two will be beheaded for that!  You know the rules!  During this contest she still has a chance to be the future queen, Prince Vegeta’s own mate!  No one should touch one of his participants during that time!”

And the officer dragged the other two down the hall to exterminate them, the poor guards totally confused and frightened at their bad luck and misfortune.

~*~*~

Bulma was almost in dreamland when there was a knock at the door.  She jumped at being stirred to suddenly.

“Damn it,” she cursed.  “What do you want?!  Who is it?!”

“Just me, Bulma,” Bardock’s soothing voice answered.  “I’m sorry if I startled you, dear, but I’ve got a letter to you from Miss Chi-Chi.  Would you like to read it now, or should I just—”

“YES!” Bulma shouted.  Bardock’s silent pause almost caused Bulma to snicker.  “Bring it in, Bardock, bring it in.  I want to read it.

And so he did.  After excusing himself, he shut the door quietly, leaving Bulma alone with her letter.  Much to her aggravation, the lights were on, but she needed them in order to read.

Stupid eyes….  Couldn’t I just be a panther or something for a couple of minutes?

She sighed and opened the envelope, taking out the letter.  She blinked in surprise when she finished reading it.

Weird….  Chi-Chi and I must have some strange voodoo stuff going on between us, or something… cool!

Bulma placed the letter on her bedside table, stood up wearily, turned the lights off, and crawled back into bed.  She’d write to Chi-Chi tomorrow… maybe.  If she had strength enough.  Right now Bulma’s whole body felt like a ton of lead.  And she was just lying down.

So, to ease herself of this “pain”, she slipped off into a pleasantly dream-filled sleep.

~*~*~

“Chi-Chi, therewasthisbigconversationgoingonand—”

“HOLD UP!” Chi-Chi interrupted, calming the impatient Sayian down.  “Kakarroto, I can’t understand a word you’re saying.  What are you doing here, anyway?  Our tutoring isn’t for another hour.”

Kakarroto was practically bouncing on the balls of his feet.  “Well, I was planning on telling you when I came over for the tutoring thing, but I just couldn’t hold it in that long.”

“Hold what in?” Chi-Chi said suspiciously, cocking an eyebrow.

“I gotta tell you something,” he said flatly.  Chi-Chi blinked, but nodded, moving aside from the doorway to let him in.  He walked over and sat down on a couch.  Not two seconds later did he stand back up again, and then began to pace the floor.  Chi-Chi watched this odd behavior with wide eyes.  He never looked so nervous and tense before in all his life.

“What is it?” she asked him.

“ItwassomethingIheardyouseeIwasstandinginmyspecialspotandlotsofthingswerehapping—”

“Slow down!”

Kakarroto took a deep breath, and sat back down on the couch.  “Right,” he said, slowly.  “I—was—at—the—”

“Not that slow!” Chi-Chi barked at him, shaking her head.  “Just… normal voice, ok?”

Kakarroto blinked.  “Ok then.  Well, I was sitting in the forest… you know, where I took you about a week ago.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Well, I was there—” he paused, thinking of what to tell her, “—doing things, when all of a—”

“Doing what?” Chi-Chi interrupted sternly.  Kakarroto frowned.

“Chi-Chi, all these interruptions are making it very hard for me.”

“Then explain more clearly!”

“It wasn’t anything bad, ok?  It was just… personal.”  Kakarroto looked at her, waiting for her reaction.  She finally seemed to agree that that was a good enough answer, as she slowly nodded, pressing him to continue.  “Well, I was about to leave when I heard these two people talking.  And one of them seemed to have his tail cut off.  His name was Phoenix, and—”

“WAIT!” Chi-Chi interrupted, once again.  Kakarroto couldn’t help but sigh in irritation as she hurried into the kitchen, coming back with a newspaper.  She scanned the front page quickly, then exclaimed, “Yea!  He was in the paper this morning!  It seems that Prince Vegeta cut off his tail and sent him out of the castle!”

“Can I continue with my story?” Kakarroto practically barked.  Chi-Chi blinked.  She’d never seen him this wound up before.  It must be some pretty big news.

“Yes.  Continue.”

“Well he was talking to some girl named Zoë that must be in the contest with Bulma, because she kept saying that she wouldn’t be able to win the prince over now because Bulma had already won his heart.  And they kept talking, and at one point they started fighting.  But then that Zoë girl said she had a plan to get Bulma out of the picture.  Chi-Chi,” Kakarroto whined, “they’re planning on taking Bulma!  Something about how they’re going to smuggle Bulma off the planet!”

Chi-Chi, standing with her mouth hanging wide open, was too shocked to say anything.  There was a very tense silence.

“What?!  Zoë?!  You mean to tell me that Zoë is in this?!  I should have known; I never liked that bitch!”

“You knew her?” Kakarroto said, quirking an eyebrow.

“Well DUH Kakarroto!” she shouted.  “She went to the same school we did!  Remember?  Burgundy hair, green eyes, a perfect figure…?”

Kakarroto thought for a moment, and then comprehension seemed to dawn on him.  “Oh!  That was her?  I never gave her a second thought during school.”

Chi-Chi didn’t take the time to bask in the happiness of that statement.  “But this is serious!  They’re going to smuggle her off the planet?  How?”

“I don’t know,” Kakarroto said.  “They said they’d go along with the second half of their “original plan”, but that they’d have it on the day Prince Vegeta announces the winner.  They said everyone would be too busy then to notice that she’d be gone!”

“Shit… we’ve got to warn them!” proclaimed Chi-Chi, standing up.  “Come on, let’s go down to the palace!”

“We won’t be able to get through,” Kakarroto corrected.  “No one’s allowed to enter the palace unless the king or prince requests you there.”

“But we have to try!”

Kakarroto shook his head solemnly.  “It’s no use.  We won’t be able to.  They don’t listen to ‘lower-class trash’ like us.”

Chi-Chi looked like she was about to burst into tears.

“But… but…!”  It was then that she had an idea.  “I’ll write to Bulma about it!”

Kakarroto grinned.  “Yea!  Good idea!”

And that’s just what Chi-Chi proceeded to do.

Woo dog, am I evil or what?!  ^_^  This is a pretty big cliffhanger… I think.

I feel so bad about those two guards… SHAME BE UPON ME FOR DOING SUCH AN EVIL THING TO THEM!

Other than that, I’m rather pleased with this chapter!  ^_^  The K/Z/P incident just occurred to me while I was writing, and I was SO pleased with the way it turned out.  **Grins very broadly**

Vegeta: **eyeing Pudgoose warily** You’re spastic…

Pudgoose: **grinning at him** Tell me about it!  Well anyways, I just wanted to let yall (Yes, I do speak slang, and I am southern) know that there will be more K/CC action in the next chapter, and… I’m pretty sure there will be some V/B too, but I’m not sure.  I sure hope so.  ^_^  It just wouldn’t be a good chapter without V/B action!

Vegeta:  Whatever.

Pudgoose:  Say bye-bye to everybody Vegeta!

Vegeta:  o_O  Heck no!  What do you think I am, woman?  Your puppet?!

Pudgoose: **pulling strings to make his mouth move, and muttering out of the side of her own mouth**  Bye-bye everyone!  Give Pudgoose LOTS of good reviews because I love her SOOOO much!

Vegeta:  O_O