"Hello? Hello? Are you okay, Miss?" A piercingly loud voice called.

My head throbbed, and my feet, ankles, and legs burned, and were no doubt bruised and bloody. Who knew that there could be so many prickers in *one* forest? And why was I so stupid to wear *high heels* again? The last thing I remembered was collapsing in a large park, or so it looked like one.

"I am gonna call an ambulance, you look horrible!" The voice, which I now recognized as a male voice, said gently, and I felt a little pang of panic.

"No! I...no!" I stammered, the best I could manage in my condition. "Who are you?" I asked.

"I am Yamcha, don't worry, I am here. What is your name?" He asked.

A little something clicked in my head. Yamcha. Where had I heard that before? Yamcha, Yamcha, Yamcha. I recited the name over and over in my head, thinking of where I knew this man from. Even his face looked familiar, even though my vision was blurry. Then it came to me.

"Yamcha! Dear Kami! It is me, Bulma Briefs!" I said, my vision rapidly returning. I could now see that it was *definitly* Yamcha, he looked almost the exact same as I had seen him at Goku's.

"Bulma? Oh, oh, oh, oh! What happened to you with the Saiyans? Your mother was a wreck, and when she found out about you and your father, she nearly killed herself with worry for you!" Yamcha exclaimed, and grabbed my hand, which was practically shaking.

My mother was alive? But how could that be? She was killed, that was what I had thought all these years, but what if she was still alive? The thought filled me with new energy, and I struggled to get up.

"No! Don't get up! You will hurt yourself! I will carry you to my apartment, Bulma," He said, and picked me up easily. "It is nice to see you again, by the way."

I smiled up at him and let myself fall into a confused sleep in his arms.

~*~

I woke up to the sound of heavy argueing, between Yamcha and someone on the other end of the phone. From what I could hear, it sounded like he was sparring with a girlfriend, or an ex now.

"Really, Cindy, I swear! She isn't my girlfriend! I used to know her when I was really little, she was taken my someone, no, I don't like her *that* way! Okay, *fine*! It's over then! See ya, loser!" Yamcha yelled, and nearly broke the phone slamming it down so hard.

I smiled wryly and got up. All the tiredness had vanished, and I was ready for a new day. I got up and immediatly hid under the covers again. My dress was in shreds, practically. The nice blue satin was ripped and stained, and the bottom seams were undone. I couldn't very well go out like this.

"Hey! So now you are up, that is good," Yamcha cheerily said, and gave me a nice morning smile, or the best he could manage.

"Sorry, but I couldn't help but overhear your little break up with uh, Cindy, I am sorry," I said, and smiled. It was the best I could do, I wasn't used to humans anymore, I almost have expected Yamcha to blast a hole in the wall or something!

"It's OK, I guess that there wasn't much there anyway, I didn't feel anything when we broke up," Yamcha confessed, and frowned a little. "I have trouble with commitment. Girls are...well, kinda scary!"

I laughed and shook my head. "Back where I came from, one word about being scared of a woman, and you would be mauled or killed or something! It sure is a relief to be able to say whatever again!" I said, and gave him a reassuring look. "I do too, just to tell you."

Yamcha laughed a nice, deep laugh and smiled. "I guess you need a change of clothes and a nice shower!" He suggested, and crossed his arms. "I can take care of the shower, but as far as clothes go, we won't get very far."

"Well, how about you go pick something out while I shower, and we can go shopping for stuff later," I said, and went to get up. "If it's OK that I can stay here, of course. I don't want to barge in like this-"

"No, no! It's fine. Besides, you are an old friend, and we have a lot to catch up on! Go take your shower, I will run out now," He said, and grabbed his air car keys from a hook on the wall.

"Bye," I said, and gave him a little wave and a small smirk. He was kinda cute...

"Yeah, see ya," He replied, and went out the door quickly.

I got off of the couch I was sprawled on, and went off in search of a bathroom. I walked down the first hall, and looked in each room.

Bedroom, closet, laundry room, bedroom, ah hah! Bathroom. I entered and looked around the small, homely bathroom. I got a sense of security in this small room, and relaxed right when I stepped under the hot water.

I stood in it for what seemed like hours before the hot water ran cold and I had to step out. I wrapped a red towel around me and brushed my hair with a black brush that had been sitting on the counter.

"Bulma! I'm home!" Yamcha called from the front room of the apartment.

"I'm in here!" I yelled back. "Just throw me the clothes, k?" I asked.

"Sure...here," Yamcha said, and I opened the door to let him throw them in.

He blushed when he saw me in nothing but a towel, and I laughed and took the clothes from him.

"Bye," I said, and closed the door. Some men were so shy! I thought as I examined the clothes.

He had bought a navy blue Gap sweater and a pair of black denim flares. I pulled them on and smiled at my reflection. My hair hung damply to my waist. I frowned and opened the door, where Yamcha was still standing, a faraway look on his face.

"Uh, Sleeping Beauty? Wake up! I need a blow dryer!" I said a little loudly, and poked him in the ribs. He seemed to wake up.

"Uh, sorry! Yes, um, there is one in the bottom left drawer," He said, and walked to his kitchen stiffly. I stared after him, no doubt looking confused. I certainly wasn't used to men being scared of me, or embarrassed to see me wearing little. Some of the dresses I had worn on Vegetasei were nearly as skimpy, and Vegeta had barely given me a second glance! But he was a cold-hearted jerk. My crush on *him* was completely over!

I blew my hair dry and let it stay naturally curly. I was sad that there was no makeup here for me, but Yamcha wasn't a crossdresser, so I didn't blame him.

I stepped out of the bathroom and went into the small living room, where Yamcha was watching a football game, something I hadn't seen in such a long time, I was fascinated.

"The players are so slow! Couldn't they just power up and *run*?!" I said, frustrated, to the TV as the players ran their fullest. They were so slow!

"Bulma, this is Earth, no humans can do *anything* as fast as a Saiyan can! Are we going? I think I would like to get this over with!" Yamcha admitted, and gave my a begging look.

I smiled coyly and nodded. "Shopping time.....," I said, and grabbed his arms flirtausously. As long as I was single and with a cute guy, what harm could it do?

~*~

So, what did you all think????? For all you Y/B fans, I am so so sorry, but this *is* a B/V, so don't come looking for any of that *here*! Sry!! Heheeh, well ja ne for now!

b e a u t i f u l : : i r o n y

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Chapter 20