I skipped down the crowded streets, happy to be shopping, something I certainly couldn't do on Vegetasei! I felt jubilant, and very alive. I couldn't remember a time where I had been more happy. Yamcha walked right beside me, obviously the joy was catching. He was carrying about five shopping bags, as I was. I didn't quite remember how the money system worked here, I was too little before, so I ignored it.

"Wow, you are acting like you have never done this before," Yamcha pointed out as we strolled out of DKNY, one of my now-favorites so far.

I smiled at him happily. "It is! How do you think we shopped on Vegetasei? Get your free weapons! Pieces of dead bodies available! Free torture!" I imitated, being funny.

Yamcha started cracking up, and some old women stared at us like we were aliens stripping or something. I waved and did a little dance, which made them walk away briskly. I looked at Yamcha and giggled. Earth was just *too* much fun!!

"You know, you don't have to do this for me," I said, giving him a suspicious look. "Why *are* you doing this?"

Yamcha blushed slightly, to my amusement. "I would do anything for a pretty chick," He said, and pointed to one of the tallest buildings I had ever seen. It was almost as big as the highest one on the palace on Vegetasei!

"What is it called? What do you use it for?" I asked, craning my neck to see all the way up, which was nearly impossible to do.

"It is the Sears Tower. Here in Chicago, everyone is used to it. But tourists aren't. It is mainly a gawker capital," Yamcha explained, and gave the tower an un-impressed look. "Nothing special."

I shook my head as we passed it, and looked ahead to more stores to shop in.

"Here, this is somewhere I think *you* would like!" Yamcha suggested, and pulled me into a large store called Gucci.

As soon as I stepped in, I knew this would be one of my hotspots. The whole store was filled of leather, silk, velvet, you name it, they had it. The most spectacular outfits I had seen were here, and the shoes were wonderful. This was heaven to me! I skipped around the store, looking for a nice dress, something I had yet to get.

A saleswoman came over to me while I was examining a long white one. She shook her head at the dress, examining me.

"No, no. This dress will hide all your curves, dear. I think you should go with darker colors, too. Here, honey, let me find you something," She said, and bustled off to find a 'perfect dress'.

I followed her and held several of her choices. We were drawing close to the back of the store when she stopped in front of the most beautiful, expensive-looking dress I had ever seen. It was maroon, a very deep shade of it, and had black stones sewn on the skirt, which was short, yet full. It had black gloves to go with it, and the spaghetti straps were made of deep red gems. I stood there looking at it in awe. It was the most extravagant thing I had ever seen.

"One of our very best. It will flatter your figure magnificintly! But it is expensive, I must warn you, so don't get hooked!" The saleswoman said cheerfully, and strutted away to help a new customer.

I stood there fingering the black fringed bottom edge of the dress, staring at it in awe. It just *had* to belong to me, even if I had to *steal* it! I sighed in happiness and appreciation. Yamcha came over to beside me, and whistled respectfully.

"Now *that*, that is a dress!" He exclaimed, and looked at the price tag. "Good Kami! It is $11,000!"

"Is that a very large amount on Earth?" I asked, looking at his shocked face.

"I'd like to think so!"

"Oh...listen, Yamcha. I don't want you to feel obliged to buy this for me. I can just...find a different one."

Yamcha looked at his feet. "Bulma, as much as I wish that you could have that dress, that pushes my limit. That is way too much money then I would ever be able to handle."

"I understand. Listen, I saw a leather skirt that is really pretty, I will just get that and a blouse or something," I suggested, and went off to get it.

I picked up a small and went to find a blouse. I picked a maroonish silk one. Yamcha went to pay for it and I went to look at shoes. An especially cool pair caught my eye.

There were thigh-high and black. The heels were skinny and very tall, four inches if it was a centimeter. I went over and picked them up in a 7 and a half. I set them on the counter and smiled as Yamcha dished out the money. I wondered where he got all the money to do all of this, but pushed the thought aside.

We exited Gucci, and Yamcha was obviously hungry, judging by the rumbling his stomach was doing. I smiled and stopped.

"You are exhausted and hungry. Let's head back, if you want to," I said, and put an arm around his waist.

He smiled at me and nodded. Yes, let's." He put his arm around my shoulders and we walked back to his apartment, tired and our hands full of shopping bags.

~*~

I lay on the couch of Yamcha's apartment, watching some heavy-duty late night MTV. I just couldn't sleep! I was used to Vegetasei's time schedule, very different from Earth's. Normally, I would be eating dinner right now! But no, Yamcha was long asleep, he had stayed up as long as he could. Sometimes, when I was alone, I felt more Saiyan than human, and it scared me. I wanted to be a normal person, here for her whole life, knowing all the ropes of life.

Carson was announcing someone with a weird name when a knock came at the door. I sat upquickly, feeling a little scared. Even *I* knew that it wasn't normal to knock on someone's door this late. I decided to peek and see who it was before waking Yamcha.

I quietly creeped to the door, and looked out the peephole. A tall, dark-haired man was standing there, his tail wrapped around his thick waist. Nothing strange about that, I thought, so I went to open the door when I did a double take.

Tail?? A Saiyan! Geez, sometimes being used to them was *dangerous*! I knew at once what they wanted. Me. They had followed me, most likely, and wanted to strike when they knew I would be awake, but not Yamcha. I took a deep breath and swallowed, terrified. What if they decided to just break down the door and come for me?

I had to do something, I couldn't have Saiyans looking for me in this place, most likely Yamcha would be caught, and I was too grateful to him to let that happen. I had to get out of here, without Yamcha knowing until I was long gone. It wasn't safe here.

I tiptoed to the spare closet and grabbed a big duffel bag, stuffed my clothes and shoes in it hastily, and looked for an escape. I wanted this to be quick, I was only wearing a nightdress! And not a very long one, either.

My escape way turned out to be a window, facing out behind the building. I was a couple stories up, so I couldn't very well jump, or drop my belongings, which I planned on *keeping*. With a little close call of leaning far out the window, I saw that there was a staircase leading all the way down about six or seven feet below the window.

I dropped my stuff down onto it, and looked behind me. The doorknob was moving now, as if they Saiyan was trying to open it normally, versus blowing it open and calling attention to the area. I took one last look around the apartment and jumped.

~*~

I landed hard on my butt, and got up almost immediatly. I couldn't afford anything holding me back at all. I looked up at the window and saw the Saiyan looking around, not suspecting me to go out a window.

I closed my eyes shut tightly and let a tear roll down my cheek. "Good bye Yamcha, I will always be grateful. Don't worry, I will be sending word to you soon," I whispered, and ran down the flights of stairs.

I was on the last step when I heard a yell from above. The Saiyan had spotted me, and was flying out of the window, but having a little trouble fitting. I smirked and ran as fast as I could in my bare feet down the dark, dank streets of Chicago.

I could feel blisters forming on my toes, and the humid summer air felt thick and damp as I ran as fast as I could, sticking to the shadows. I came to a place with a sign that said "Lucky Casino", and checked the doors. They were locked, but they were key locks. Luckily, I had my hair back. I took a hairpin and picked the lock with it, slipping in the dark casino silently, sure that the Saiyan didn't see me.

I was right, he passed right by me, looking from side to side. I was safe for now, but how long would that last? I was sure that Frieza or Vegeta would send him again, they didn't give up that easily at all!

And besides, I couldn't live in a casino, not when people were coming in during the day. I saw only one possibility. Streets by day, casino by night.

I was homeless, frightened, and broke. How long could I possilby last? I leaned against the bar and sat there, crying.

~*~

So, whaddaya think??? I think that the setting should have been Chicago because basically I could torture the characters anyway I want, muwhahahah, j/k, I like Chicago, so if you got a problem with that, shut up!! Hehehehe, anywayz, I always like comments, so send me something, and happy reading! Ja ne,

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Chapter 21