DISCLAIMER: DBZ I do
not own.
~*~
~*~ If you have hitherto concealed this sight, ~*~
~*~ Let it be tenable in your silence still, ~*~
~*~ And whatsoever else shall hap to-night, ~*~
~*~ Give it understanding, but no tongue: ~*~
~*~ I will requite your loves. ~*~
-
Hamlet from ‘Hamlet’
~*~
“Bulma?” Turles hesitantly placed his hand on Bulma’s taunt
shoulder and held his breath as he waited for her to shrug it off. Ever since
he had been stupid enough to let slip
that he loved her she hadn’t said a word. She had let him hold her that night
after his little confession, but hadn’t spoken at all. She had been as silent
as a mouse, even her breathing seemed muted and for Turles it was the worst
torture he’d ever known.
He felt on edge as if he was waiting; and the sad part is that
he was waiting. He was waiting for
Bulma to acknowledge what he said in some way. He was waiting for her to burst
into tears an tell him she hated him for what he did, but, saddest of all, a
part of him was still waiting for Bulma to tell him that she loved him too.
Some pathetic part of him still had hope despite all he had done to her.
All the things he’d ever said and done to her were running through his head as
he waited for Bulma to do something…anything. He ran his hand up and
down her arm, noticing that her shoulder muscles were tense and that her entire
body was almost humming with suppressed tension.
“Bulma, you have to say something.” Turles cursed himself for
that mushy tone in his voice and silently berated himself for allowing his
emotions to get the better of him.
Bulma abruptly turned around and stared into his eyes, her gaze
feverishly searched his. “I…” She lowered her eyes, sighed, and it was as if
she were letting go of a great weight. She looked up at him again and the ghost
of a smile seemed to haunt the corners of her mouth. “I’m confused, Turles.”
She admitted.
“About what? I think what I said was pretty clear.” Once again
Turles cursed himself, this time for the tone of rejection, which to him, was
obvious in his voice. Why did he have to start listening to his emotions now?
“How can you love me? I always knew you were attracted to me…but
I never dreamt - even in my wildest dreams - that you loved me. I didn’t even
know it was possible for someone like you to love.” Bulma looked away again,
her blue eyes stormy and troubled.
“Someone like me?” Turles gently turned her face back to his,
steeling himself for the blow which Bulma was surely going to deliver.
“A monster like you.”
There was no shame in Bulma’s tone, and with a sinking heart,
Turles realized that no matter how attracted Bulma was to him, she would always
view him as the monster who had killed her family and destroyed her home. She
was never going to see him as anything different because it was all Bulma had
seen Turles as.
And maybe she was right to see him like that, heaven knows he
hadn’t given her any other way to see him except as an oppressor.
Bulma continued to speak, aware of Turles’ inner turmoil, but
determined to get out what she felt she had to say. “Back on Earth we had this
mental condition called the ‘Stockholm Syndrome.’ Now, this syndrome was
something that happened quite often to kidnap victims. Occasionally they would
fall in love with their captors. It’s sick, it’s twisted, and when you first
took me with you I swore it was never going to happen to me.” Bulma stared
squarely into Turles’ eyes. “Because, let’s face it, whether or not either of
us wants to admit the fact, I started my life with you as a slave and I’m
probably going to die as your slave. I have feelings for you, Turles, I openly
admit that to you, but I can’t let myself fall in love with…I just can’t.”
Bulma pushed away from Turles and stood up, hiding the tears that were
threatening to spill.
~*~
“Hey.” Raditz almost playfully punched Goku in the shoulder.
“Our little planet pirate brother’s ship is docking.”
“What? Planet pirate?” Goku stepped back from the punching bag
he had been pummelling, frowning as he took in his brother’s jubilant form.
“That’s his job, remember?” Goku continued to frown vacantly at
him and Raditz rolled his eyes. “Moron.”
He muttered under his breath and walked back over to Nappa and Vegeta,
who were standing near the door, apparently watching Goku train.
In a movement of contained emotion and uneasiness Goku punched
the bag one last time with enough force to make it explode then he followed the
others as they left the room and started sauntering down to the docking bay,
talking in hushed whispers and throwing looks over their shoulders at Goku.
“Ah! My little pets!” Frieza’s voice was the first thing that
greeted them as they entered the docking bay. His shrill voice was incredibly
irritating at such an early hour and all of the saiyans cringed, bar Vegeta,
who somehow held himself in check and merely gave Frieza an unimpressed look.
“Frieza.” Vegeta acknowledged the overlord formally and nodded
his head at the scaly monstrosity as he crossed the docking bay and moved to
stand close, but not too close, to the lizard lord.
“I heard that poor Dodoria met his end at the hands of one of
your soldiers?” Frieza’s eyes swept critically over the saiyans and settled on
Goku. “I heard it was the big tailless one who did it, quite an achievement for
someone from such a weak race.” His red eyes slipped sideways to watch Vegeta’s
reaction.
Vegeta clenched his teeth and nodded. “Yes, my lord. Quite an
achievement.” His tone was pure poison but it had no effect on Frieza.
“How
interesting,” Frieza mused, his eyes gleaming as he watched the ship containing
Turles and his crew pull safely into the bay in front of them. His red eyes
swept back to Goku and a smirk danced on Frieza’s features. “Tell me. You were
on planet Earth when Vegeta picked you up, correct?”
“Yes, why?” Goku answered cautiously and kept his distance from
Frieza.
“Oh…nothing.” Frieza smirked and looked back at the ship. How
he would like to be a fly on the wall when Goku found out that his brother had
destroyed planet Earth…
“How
long will the decontamination process take?” Nappa asked as he lounged against
one of the gigantic steel pillars. He looked from Vegeta to Frieza to Goku,
curious about the sudden tension in the room.
“They’re
already decontaminated themselves while they were in deep space. Turles is
fortunate enough to have a decontamination room installed aboard his ship. Most
planet pirates as rich as he do these days.” Frieza licked his thin lips as the
air lock hissed open in a cloud of vapour and a shadowy figure stepped through.
Turles
paused just beyond his the air lock and looked at them all suspiciously, he
paused in shock as he caught site of Goku and instantly tensed up, a point
which none of the other Saiyans missed.
“My God! He looks like you…” Vegeta’s jaw dropped and his
sentence trailed off as Turles looked at him with a critical look identical to
the one which Goku often dealt him.
“What do you think is wrong with him?” Nappa whispered to
Raditz, when Turles tore his eyes off Vegeta and went back to glaring at Goku.
“I guess you can’t blame him for being a little shocked at
seeing a guy who looks just like him…” Raditz also trailed off and he frowned
suddenly. “Isn’t that a human being?” His voice took on a pleasant querying
sound as Bulma appeared next to Turles, her eyes slightly wide and apprehensive.
“Bulma?” Goku blinked in shock as he too caught sight of Bulma.
His eyes widened and he stepped forward, his tone innocently questioning.
“Bulma, is it you?”
“G-Goku?” Bulma stuttered and put a hand over her mouth. She
made like she was going to step forward but Turles put a restraining hand on
her shoulder and jerked her behind him, growling at Goku, who looked perplexed
as Turles stepped in front of Bulma protectively.
“Bulma, what are you doing here…with him?” Goku stepped forward,
appearing to ignore Turles as his growling raised another notch and his tail
began to flick back and forth in agitation.
“What do you think she’s doing here with him?” Frieza sidled
closer to Goku, his tail curling and un-curling excitedly. “You’re brother
Turles destroyed the planet Earth not long after you left. Bulma is the only
human left.” Frieza looked delighted at being the one to spill the horrible
news to Goku. Satisfied that he would now see a fantastic fight, Frieza stepped
back and waited for the fireworks.
Goku eyes glazed over and he tensed up as Turles’ had done
earlier, slowly shaking his head as if trying to shake out what Frieza had just
told him. “No it can’t be true! They can’t be dead!” Goku began to breath
faster in agitation.
“Goku.” Bulma’s voice was full of regret and pain. “Goku, it is
true. Everyone is dead.” She stepped out from behind Turles, this time
sidestepping him as he tried to grab her again. She walked up to Goku, who
looked as if he was about to either burst into tears or attack Turles, a
mixture of grief and anger sweeping through his black eyes. She placed a small
hand on his arm and drew his attention down to her. “Oh, Goku! I’ve missed you
so much.” Bulma flung herself into Goku’s arms and sobbed. She relaxed only
minimally when Goku hugged her back; aware that he was still in shock and could
still do something dangerous
“When? How?” Goku looked down into Bulma’s tearstained face,
looking for any sign that this might be nothing more then an incredibly cruel
joke. Finding none, he swallowed rapidly and waited for Bulma to answer his
question.
“I-I think we should talk about this later, Goku.” Bulma jerked
her head in Turles’ direction and gave Goku a pleading look not to make her
discuss this in front of him.
Goku looked at the man who was his exact mirror image and
suddenly realized that his scent was all over Bulma. On some deeper saiyan
level, Goku was dimly aware that Bulma was Turles’ woman. That she was his mate
and that Turles was not happy to have him hugging her right now.
Those realisations made Goku snarl at Turles, anger at him for
destroying his home and his family building in his already stressed mind. He
pushed Bulma roughly from him and took a menacing step towards Turles.
“Kakarot!” Vegeta’s voice cut through the air like a bullet and
Goku’s head jerked around to face Vegeta at his prince’s sharp call. “Don’t
start anything here or now.”
Obediently but reluctantly, Goku stepped back and a rather
disappointed Frieza stepped forward. “Well, Turles, I’ll be debriefing you now
if you don’t mind. Vegeta and the others can show your men to their rooms.” He
looked at Bulma then looked back at him. “The woman will be staying in your
room, I take it?”
Turles nodded, a tense jerk of his head as he glared at Goku.
Animosity emitted from his every pore as he followed Frieza out of the docking
bay and paused near Goku to hiss at him; “Stay away from my mate.”
Frieza, his men, and Turles disappeared and the Saiyans were
left with Turles’ crew and a frightened looking Bulma.
Bulma’s gaze swept across the Saiyans; she recognized Raditz and
Goku of course, but the others were a mystery to her. The tall, bald one looked
spiteful and mean and he was giving her a very disconcerting look.
The short one however – the one who had halted Goku in his
tracks - Bulma knew must be the prince, Vegeta. He was different to the other
Saiyans. While the others all had a fire burning in them, his eyes were cold
and distant. He was shorter by far then any of the others and his body was less
bulky but there was something to him that made Bulma want to hide. Under other
circumstances Bulma was aware that she would have been attracted to him with
his flawless face, perfect features, and deep rough voice, but as it was she
was finding herself attracted to a certain spiky haired space pirate. Even
though she was doing her best to fight the attraction every inch of the way.
Vegeta stepped forward and Bulma swallowed hard, unsure of how
he would treat her. “You’re Turles’ mate?” He questioned.
“Y-yes, I supposed so.” Bulma stammered and fought the urge to
bow her head in respect as Vegeta spoke to her, his aura of power affecting her
more then even Turles’ did.
“Then
I am your prince.” Vegeta smirked. “I am Prince Vegeta. This is Nappa, Raditz,
and Kakarot whom I have been led to believe you were acquainted with on Earth.”
While Frieza would have said that last part cruelly, Vegeta merely stated it as
a fact.
“Yes. We were best friends.” Bulma looked at Goku, who was
almost drooping with depression.
Vegeta followed her gaze and for the briefest moment looked
worried. “I must have a private word with you about Goku and Turles,
there are certain things about saiyans which Turles has most likely not told
you. You must know now that he and Goku have all but declared a war over you.”
Vegeta sounded serious and it was enough to make Bulma shiver in apprehension.
“A war over me?” Bulma coughed as though she was choking on
something. “But, Goku’s my friend - not my lover!”
“True, and most likely Goku also sees it that way, but he
challenged Turles by ignoring his warning not to touch you. To a saiyan that’s
as good as telling a man you’re out for his wife.” The prince watched Bulma
carefully as though unsure how to treat her.
“Oh.” Bulma murmured, swallowing again and looked away.
Vegeta looked at Bulma through the corner of his eye. He knew
very well that he’d have to watch out for the little human or she’d get caught
in the crossfire between the two saiyans – and that was something no one
wanted.
~*~