~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

It was six thirty. Exactly an hour and a half before the prom was scheduled to start. Bulma sighed as she fidgeted with her hair. She had gone out around four and had it done.

She chuckled as she looked at herself.

"So many things are changing." She said to her reflection.

"In another week, high school will be over and we’ll all be going our different ways. I don’t want it to end like this."

"Bulma, honey!" her mother called as she knocked on her daughter’s door. "We should really start with the makeup and getting you dressed. You don’t want that nice boy, Vegeta, to have to be waiting on you, do you?"

"No, mom." Bulma called to the door as she got up from her vanity seat.

"What did dad say about the situation? He seemed kind of mad when I last talked to him" she said as she made her way over to the door and opened it.

"Oh, honey. I easily convinced him that Vegeta was a fine boy. Besides, your father would not deny you your only prom night." Mrs. Briefs said as she followed Bulma in, lugging along her daughter’s dress behind her.

Bulma smiled as she took the dress out of her mother’s hands.

"Bulma? Look at you! You’re still in your robe! Don’t tell me you just got out of the shower!!" Mrs. Briefs said as she gaped at her daughter.

Bulma grinned.

"Yeah, I did mom, but don’t worry! I can get dressed and put on some makeup in an hour. It’s not that big of a deal!"

"Not that big of a deal? Are you serious!? Bulma, it’s your senior prom! You’ve been anticipating this since you were eleven!" her mother said as she frowned.

Bulma shrugged her shoulders and sighed.

"I’ve got my priorities straight, now. I’m going to be with the man I love, and my best friends, so I don’t care what I look like or how much time I have." Bulma said.

But her mother could not be dissuaded; she dragged Bulma over to her bed and made her sit down.

"You might not care, but I do! I will only have two chances to dress you up so beautifully in my lifetime and this is one of them. The second, only being when you get married! Don’t deny me the luxury, Bulma." Her mother said as she pouted.

Bulma laughed.

"Alright, alright mom."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Fabulous, sweetheart! I absolutely love the style of this dress." Chichi’s mother said as she watched her daughter twirl around in the center of her room.

"Oh, I know, ma! Isn’t this cool??" Chichi asked as she jumped up and down.

"It’d be a lot ‘cooler’ if you weren’t going with that Goku boy, you know?" Mrs. Mau said as she shrugged.

"Mother! Please! Goku and I are in love… you need to get over your dislike for him because we’ll probably be married someday, you know?" Chichi said.

"Oh!! NO, don’t say that! It’s horrible just to think about it…" Chichi’s mother said as she smiled and they both started laughing.

Chichi was baffled. She rarely ever got along with her mother, but for the last three hours they had been preparing her for the prom and they hadn’t had a single ill word passed between them.

"Chichi… in a few months you’ll be off to college! I’ll miss you, sweetheart!" her mother said, blotting at her eyes with a tissue.

Chichi smiled sadly. ‘So that’s why she’s being nice… she’ll miss me.’ Chichi thought sadly.

"Please, ma, don’t remind me of that! You’ll start crying, and then I’ll start crying. That’ll lead to water stains on my dress, and it’s a good thing I didn’t put my makeup on yet!" Chichi said as she sniffled.

"Ok… ok, we’ll think ‘happy-thoughts’. Let’s do your hair up, darling. Make it look real sexy." Her mom said, as she winked.

Chichi grinned. She knew this nice was going to be the most momentous one of her life.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(20 minutes later at the Jinzouningen residence)

"Oh! Look at you two! My little man is so handsome! And 18, you look absolutely ravishing!!" the twins’ mother said as she hugged them both.

18 pretended like she was disgusted with the show of affection but she was glad to have her mom home to help her prepare for the prom. And actually her mother was over-doing it since the only thing she had done to get ready was her makeup and her hair. She still had to actually put the dress on.

"Look at the time it’s 7:10 already. Sheesh, 18 we still need to get that dress on you and 17 you need to go pick up the corsage for your girlfriend." Their mother instructed.

17 shrugged. He felt unbelievably uncomfortable in his suit. He was more into wearing casual and comfortable clothes and a suit was just way too confining.

He had gotten his hair trimmed to right above his ears. He had to admit he looked rather ‘dashing’ in his attire.

He smirked into the mirror.

18 and their mother looked at him with annoyance.

"Stop being so god-damned conceited and go pick up Ayana’s corsage." 18 said as she tapped her foot impatiently.

17 looked at her in confusion and then realized what she was talking about.

"Oh, we broke up. She found this guy named Aubrey to go with and Amy and I decided to go together." 17 explained.

18 and her mother exchanged a look and sighed.

"What ever! Like it matters. Go do something with yourself." 18 said as she shooed him out of the house.

"All right, all right. When I get back will you still be here? I want to threaten chrome-dome a little before you two are allowed to leave this house." 17 said, smirking.

"Well too bad, because the boys will be picking us up in the limo at Bulma’s house, and that’s where me and Chichi have to meet at 7:30, and now you’re wasting my time." 18 said as unconsciously checked her hair for any loose strands.

She had just gotten it done and she was already obsessing over it.

"Well… then, I guess I’ll see you guys there, ok?" he asked as he slipped on his coat.

She smirked when she heard the door shut behind 17 as he left.

"All right, now time to go put on that absolutely gorgeous dress!!" 18 said as she squealed and ran up the stairs with her mother behind her in close pursuit.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(7:15pm at Goku’s house)

Krillin, Goku, and Vegeta sat on Goku’s floor in their suits. They were all sitting with pouts on their faces.

The door creaked open and they all knew who it was because of his strong cologne.

"What do you want? Haven’t you been annoying enough already?!" Vegeta asked.

Radditz smirked and straightened his tie.

"Oh, boo hoo hoo! You boys are just pissy because you didn’t think I’d be a chaperone, now did you? Heh… stupid boys. Besides, Vegeta, did you think I’d give up the opportunity to see your cousin again? I think not! Now… that limo will be by in a few minutes and you boys had better be ready. And let me tell you, I’ll be keeping an eye on you three and Bulma, Chichi, and 18. If any of you couples disappear for more than 5 minutes I’ll be on your asses!" Radditz said as he tousled Goku’s hair.

Goku growled and scooted away from him.

He was annoyed.

‘Why’d my stupid brother have to come back all of a sudden?’ he asked himself angrily.

They heard two short honks from outside and the three boys got to their feet.

They buttoned up their tux jackets and straightened their ties, which they had loosened.

"Heh, you all look so handsome!" Radditz said sarcastically as he watched them file out of the room.

"Oh, shove it." Vegeta said as he walked by, pushing Radditz on the way out.

Radditz rolled his eyes and after all the boys had made their way outside he followed behind them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

(7:40pm at Bulma’s House)

Bulma smirked as her mother let in her two best friends. They had worn their dresses without coats because it was warm outside.

Bulma stood at the top of the stairs and stared down at her friends.

When she saw that her mom was gushingly complementing them, she coughed to gain their attention.

They looked up and gasped.

Bulma looked great. Bulma grinned broadly at her friends.

"Oh… wow B! If I had known that dress would look so good I would have picked it out! And who would’ve thought it, that color is so you!!" Chichi wailed as she ran up the stairs, as best she could in her dress, and hugged Bulma. 18 smiled and followed Chichi up, openly admiring Bulma’s dress.

Bulma grinned and hugged her back. She then hugged 18.

"You guys look absolutely beautiful too!! Oh!" Bulma said, and the three girls hugged tighter.

Mrs. Briefs started to bawl and then Dr. Briefs walked into the room.

"Good evening girls! You all look beautiful tonight." He said as he scratched the cat on his shoulder.

The girls sniffled and thanked him at the same time.

"N-now girls… n-no c-c-crying! You’ll make your mascaras run! Waaaah!" Mrs. Briefs said as she turned to cry on her husband’s shoulder.

Bulma glanced at her friends.

"She’s more emotional then we are." Bulma said.

"This is the most important night of our lives!" Chichi said.

"What? Shouldn’t that be something like Graduation from college or our weddings or something?" 18 asked skeptically.

"Oh, what do you know? This night feels alive with energy! I know something out of the ordinary is gonna happen tonight." Chichi said. (An: it might not exactly be something good… O.o)

"Hey!" Mrs. Briefs said as she peeped outside. "A limo just pulled up!"

"Oh, the boys are here!" Chichi said excitedly.

"Oh, you girls go upstairs! And we’ll announce you guys and you all can walk down when we cue you! You’ll all look like princesses." Mrs. Briefs said as she turned towards the girl.

"Oh, ok." Bulma said and went up the stairs, followed by Chichi and 18.

"Ok, honey, get the door." Mrs. Briefs told her husband once the girls were out of sight.

"They haven’t even rung the doorbell yet, and I’m not two anxious to send those girls out there with those testosterone pumped boys." Dr. Briefs said as he frowned and looked out the window.

Mrs. Briefs came up next to him and saw three boys step out of the limo.

"You were just like them in high school, so don’t pretend like it isn’t normal." Mrs. Briefs scolded as she started to unlock the front door.

"And look, they have very fashionable looking suits on! They put a lot of work into cleaning themselves up for their girls." Mrs. Briefs explained.

Dr. Briefs rolled his eyes and stood the side as his wife opened the door.

"Oh! You boys look so handsome!" Mrs. Briefs complimented as she let Goku, Vegeta, and Krillin into their house.

"And you’re here on time, surprisingly." Dr. Briefs said as he glanced at his watch.

"Boys, don’t mind him. He just has that ignorant father disposition." Mrs. Briefs explained. "He doesn’t exactly think you guys are fitting for the girls, but don’t take it personal! He’d never deem anyone worthy for the girls. Oooh! Ooh! Let me get a better look at you. I’ll have to take pictures, let me get my camera."

The boys exchanged an uncomfortable look as Mrs. Briefs rushed into the kitchen.

Vegeta smirked as he noticed Bulma’s father glaring at him.

"Doctor." Vegeta said as he nodded towards Dr. Briefs, acknowledging him.

"Vegeta." Dr. Briefs said, mirroring Vegeta’s actions.

This resulted in the two males glaring at each other.

Goku cleared his throat to end the staring contest.

"Hey, Dr. Briefs, we’re the girls at? The prom starts in a little bit and we don’t want to be late." Goku said glancing at his watch, which read 7:50.

"Oh, don’t worry about it." Mrs. Briefs said as she came out of the kitchen holding a camera. "They’re just getting ready. You know, you can never look too beautiful and boy are they gorgeous!" Mrs. Briefs said happily.

The boys exchanged impatient glances, now they were really getting anxious to leave.

"Darling, stop with all the suspense. Call the girls down already." Dr. Briefs said.

"Ok… but first: Vegeta, Goku, and Krillin, gather around. I need to have a picture." Mrs. Briefs said holding the camera up to her eye.

The boys rolled their eyes but did as told.

In a second a flash went off and Mrs. Briefs grinned.

"Ok, ok! Girls!! The boys are here! Come on downstairs."

The three girls grinned at each other and walked down the large grand staircase, arm in arm.

Goku, Krillin and Vegeta turned around and what they saw took their breaths away.

Chichi was wearing an elaborate, floor length midnight blue gown. It had spaghetti straps and thin straps criss-crossing her bare back. The dress was made of silk and the skirt of the dress fanned out around her. Her hair was curled loosely and left to hang down to her back. She was wearing very light makeup but her eyes stood out unbelievably. Silver eye shadow and glitter were applied to her eyelids to make her eyes sparkle. When Chichi saw the way Goku was gaping at her she nervously giggled, hoping he was impressed and not shocked.

18 received a similar reaction from Krillin. She knew her dress was something different but she did not expect the wide-eyed look he was giving her. Her dress was a deep burgundy almost in the same fashion as Chichi’s. Her dress however was completely straight and did not have the fanning skirt it only fanned out slightly around her ankles. Also, her dress had no straps and a plunging neckline that showed off some cleavage, which was different for her. Her hair was combed up into a large bun with wisps of hair coming out from it all over the place. Her eyes were lined with a deep, almost blood-like red and her lips had dark red lipstick on them.

But, the most hilarious reaction came from Vegeta who looked at Bulma like he didn’t even recognize her. Bulma’s was a strapless and floor length black gown with a really low back. Her dress’s bodice was close fitting and made the skirt of her dress really look dramatic as it fanned out around her. She was wearing silk full-length gloves. Her hair was done in flat twists that led to a small bun. The rest of her hair was let down and curled at the ends. Her makeup was also dramatic looking. She had a thin line of black liner and thick mascara on. Her lips were lightly glossed in a transparent pink.

The girls waited a few moments for the boyfriends to say something and when they didn’t they continued down the steps and stood in front of them.

"Well… aren’t you guys going to say something?" Bulma asked as she tapped her foot impatiently.

"Uh…" was the unanimous reply from the three boys.

"I think the girls look marvelous, don’t they, boys?" Mrs. Briefs said, trying to help them out.

They just nodded dumbly.

The three girls sighed.

"Hey, you guys clean up well!" Chichi said as she walked over to Goku and smoothed down his suit jacket.

"Yeah, those are really cool suits. I wonder how much they cost you."18 said.

"A lot." Krillin said, regaining the gift of speech.

"Come on you guys, let’s go. We’re already late." Bulma said glancing at a wall clock.

"Hey, you girls really do look great." Goku said as he blushed.

"Aww, Goku! How sweet." 18 and Bulma said. Chichi grinned glad that she had a boyfriend who could dish out compliments.

"Yeah." Krillin agreed.

Bulma glanced at Vegeta, knowing she would get nothing out of him.

"Well, don’t you have a comment to make?" she asked him.

"What? You look decent." He said as he rolled his eyes.

Bulma sighed.

"Give them their corsages." Bulma’s mom said in Krillin’s ear.

"Oh! Yeah, we got you girls corsages." He said.

The boys took out the containers and slipped the flowers onto their girls’ wrists.

"Oh! Wow, how sweet! And they smell so good too! You guys really did a good job with these!" Chichi said.

"How could we have messed up when you told us where to shop, what flowers to buy, and in what colors?" Vegeta asked snidely.

Chichi glared at him and started to open her mouth in retaliation.

"Let’s go!" Goku said grabbing Chichi’s hand and dragging her out the still open front door.

Krillin chuckled and offered his arm to 18, which she gladly accepted and he escorted her outside.

Bulma turned and walked out the front door with Vegeta behind her.

As they started down the walkway Vegeta stopped her.

"What?" she asked as he stared at her.

"You really do look… beautiful tonight." He said to her.

Bulma blinked once, in surprise, and then grinned as she threw her arms around him in a hug.

"Stop, the fools are staring at us." Vegeta said.

He then reached in his pocket and pulled out a flat velvet box.

"And I also got you this." He said handing her to box.

"What? You got me a gift? Why? I didn’t ask you to." Bulma said as she took the gift from him.

"I did it because I wanted to. What? You want me to take it back?" he threatened.

"No! No! I want it." Bulma said as she flipped the jewelry box open.

She gasped as she saw what it was.

It was a silver locket with her name inscribed on it with a diamond next to her name.

"Aww! Vegeta! How adorable! Thank you, thank you so much!!" she said as she hugged him again, this time he didn’t push her off.

"Look on the back, onna." He said as he rolled his eyes.

"Huh?" she said as she turned the locket over and she almost started crying.

Inscribed on the back of the heart was: BxV forever, love Vegeta.

"Oh!! Who knew you could be such a sweetheart, Vegeta? This is the best thin anyone has ever given me!" Bulma said as she started to sniffle.

"Do not cry cuz if your makeup runs it’ll stain my suit and this shit was expensive. Here, let me put it on for you." He offered.

"O-ok." Bulma said, trying to hold back tears.

Vegeta rolled his eyes and then stepped behind her to put the necklace on.

He inhaled her perfume, then brought his arms around her from behind and hugged her.

"You’re so sweet." Bulma said, knowing that he truly cared about her.

"Come on you two! What the hell are you doing!? We’re late for the senior prom already!!" Chichi screamed from inside the limo.

Bulma smiled at him and shrugged and Vegeta scowled.

"Why are you friends with her??" he asked in annoyance.

"She’s got a point, Vegeta, we’re holding everybody up."

"Whatever he said as he linked arms with her and walked with her to the limo.

After Bulma had gotten into the limousine she was surprised to see Radditz, Goku’s older brother, and Vegeta’s cousin, Emi.

Vegeta got in and slammed the door and the limo pulled away from the curb.

"What are you two doing here?" Bulma asked in surprise.

"Oh!" Chichi said, "your mom and Vegeta’s mom decided that Radditz and Emi should be chaperones for the prom, I don’t know why but I don’t all too much mind Emi being there and look at her dress, isn’t it so cute!!"

Bulma had to admit; Emi’s dress was nice.

The 23-year old was wearing a soft forest green strapless dress that went to right above her knees. Her brown hair, although spiky, was pulled back into a stylish ponytail with a few stray strands framing her face.

"Bulma, darling, you look soooo cute! I wish I was a teenager again! I looked so geeky for my prom! You should have seen me!" Emi said as she blushed in embarrassment.

"I don’t believe that. You could have never looked anything but sexy." Radditz said as he winked at her causing her to blush more.

The six teenagers rolled their eyes in disgust.

"Hey… Bulma" 18 said after she had taken a Sprite out of the limo’s mini fridge, "what’s that on your neck. I don’t remember it."

"That’s because she didn’t have it before!" Chichi said, getting suspicious.

Before Bulma knew it Chichi was right under her nose reading the inscription on the locket.

"Oh!! How kawaii! Vegeta you’re such a sweetheart!" Chichi said.

"What? What does it say??" 18 asked.

"It says ‘BxV forever, love Vegeta’!! Ohh! Goku," Chichi said as she smacked him on the arm, " how come you can’t do romantic things like that for me!"

Goku shrugged and laughed nervously.

"Oh… my… gosh, Veggie-chan I am so proud of you! You’re actually showing your emotions for once." Emi said as she giggled.

Bulma looked at Vegeta apologetically when she noticed how deeply he was blushing.

"Oh," Krillin said in a mocking voice as he fluttered his eyelashes, "Vegeta you’re so sweet! You’re so romantic! I wish I could be just like you."

Krillin, Goku, and Radditz burst out laughing.

Vegeta was about to launch himself at Krillin when Bulma spoke up.

"You jerks! Leave him alone!! You’re just jealous that you didn’t have his idea." Bulma said.

"Yeah sure." Goku said which gained him two smacks upside the head by Bulma and Chichi.

"Goku!" the scolded.

"Sorry, sorry!" he said rubbing his head.

After that everyone started laughing.

"Gosh, you guys! Who’d know this’d be so fun?" Chichi asked as she wiped tears from her eyes.

"I dunno." Goku said as he shrugged.

"I don’t want any of you girls to get all weepy or start to reminisce or anything like that! We got to have fun tonight. On graduation day you girls can bawl your eyes out." Krillin said as he shrugged.

The girls laughed as they pushed him playfully.

"Oh, Krillin, we promise we won’t cry!" Bulma said as she laughed.

The limo ride was fairly short because the hall the prom was being held at was only about thirty miles away.

When the limousine pulled up to the drop off spot the teens eagerly looked at each other.

Radditz and Emi rolled their eyes, they didn’t think the senior prom was so fantastic since they had already been to their own.

"Come on, children." Emi said as she pushed open the door.

The teens turned sour expressions on her.

"Children?" 18 asked as she raised an eyebrow.

Emi grinned.

"We’re late… come on. Radditz and I have a job to do." Emi said, stepping out of the limo.

Radditz came out next, then the 6 teens in a race to be the first out of the door.

"Hey! Hey! Don’t get the girls’ dresses dirty!" Emi said as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Don’t worry yourself about them," Radditz said as he slung his arm around her waist and started walking away, "their immature little kids. Let them have fun tonight, they’ll look back on it in ten years and see how stupid they acted."

Emi chuckled as she glanced over her shoulder and saw the six teens arguing.

She rolled her eyes and let Radditz escort her into the hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Oh! Look! They’ve showed up!" the girl said as she pushed herself up from her sitting position.

"Yeah, ok, and?" the boy asked as he kicked at the dirt angrily.

"Yamucha you told me that once you were sure they were here we could go inside! It’s already 9:00; we’ve been out here an hour! I don’t want to waste anymore of my prom night like this." She complained.

"Rae…" Yamucha said, completely ignoring what she was saying, "did I tell you how beautiful you look tonight?"

"Don’t pull that BS with me Yamucha! I’m still mad at you for not telling me you had asked out two other girls to the prom! Why would you do such a thing??" she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"I already explained that to you RAE!! Someone told me that you were planning on breaking up with me! I wanted reassurance that I would have someone to go with! But Rae, babe, I wouldn’t have been happy if I were with anyone else than you! I wouldn’t be able to pull off my plan without you, babe!" Yamucha explained.

"Gosh… Yamucha, are you really going to do that? It’s kind of… drastic, don’t you think?" Rae asked, looking at him skeptically.

Yamucha growled at her.

"Hey! It’s just a scare tactic, so don’t get all righteous now because, sweetheart, you’re anything but." He said as he scowled at her.

"Hey, Yamucha! No need to get all mean with me! Just that, if someone sees you, you could get arrested! I don’t want that to happen!" Rae said as she pouted.

He rolled his eyes.

"It’ll be dark. No one will see me." He said as he ran a hand through his short black hair.

"What about Vegeta. If he or his friends find out about it? What are you going to do with them?" Rae asked excitedly.

"Nothing. My beef is with Bulma. But if Vegeta gets in the way, I’ll have to take care of him. I explained that to you already." Yamucha said as he glanced behind him.

He noticed the group moving towards the door, so he grabbed Rae’s arm and started escorting her into the building.

"But… this whole ‘Revenge on Bulma’ thing… why? Wouldn’t you be angrier with Vegeta?" she asked.

"No, Rae." Yamucha said through clenched teeth.

"Bulma disrespected me, made a fool out of me, when she broke it off with me. And when I gave her so many chances to come crawling back to me she refused!! She chose to be with that bastard instead of me! No one disrespects me like that! I can’t let her get away with it." He said as he glanced over his shoulder again, catching a glimpse of her.

He stopped when he saw her.

"Shit…" he said letting his eyes roam up and down her form, and he had to admit, 18 and Chichi were knockouts too.

"Yamucha! Look at me! You don’t want her anymore! You said you thought I was beautiful!" Rae said getting annoyed.

‘She has some nerve! Walking in here, looking like a fucking princess…’ Rae thought angrily.

Yamucha shook his head and continued walking inside with Rae.

He had to keep his priorities straight. He couldn’t lust after her anymore; he realized it was futile attempts. He had given her more than enough chances to come back to him and she had refused every time. It was her fault. And she would pay. He was going to make sure that she wouldn’t make it home alive tonight.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Bulma giggled as she walked into the prom hall. The place was decorated, thanks to the Dance Committee, in Purples, Blues, Silvers, and White. A large disco ball cast reflected light all around the dance floor and that year’s seniors were gyrating and grinding on the dance floor.

She was excited and begged Vegeta to dance but he insisted that he had to eat first, and then he’d consider lowering himself to dancing.

That was the same answer when 18 and Chichi asked their boyfriends to dance, also.

"Come on, girls. If we want to dance, we got to go dance together." 18 offered.

Chichi and Bulma agreed and followed 18 onto the dance floor.

They worked their ways through the crowds dancing and chatting with some of their friends.

When they finally got to the other sides of the dance floor.

They were laughing because they had run into so many people.

Bulma jumped in surprise when she felt a hand fall on her shoulder.

"Wha-?" she asked as she turned around and her eyes widened. It was Rae. (A/n: isn’t it always)

"Bulma… I think we need to talk." Rae said as she looked behind her nervously.

"Uh… I don't think so, Rae. You tried to ruin everything else for me. You won’t ruin my prom night."

"I'm not trying to." Rae said in an angry tone as well.

"Oh? You're not? That's what you always do!" Chichi accused.

"Not this time." Rae said, pleading with them.

"What do you mean?" 18 asked, suspiciously.

"What does it matter what she means?? All she wants is to cause trouble!" Bulma said as she frowned.

She could see the boys making their ways through the crowd.

"We better not let them see her. Come on let's go." Bulma said.

Chichi and 18 exchanged a look. They were willing to hear Rae out, but Bulma was being difficult.

"Bulma, she does sound sincere-" Chichi said as Bulma rolled her eyes.

"Sincere? Oh really!? All she’s ever done is betrayed me and not like I should have expected less from her, but I can’t trust her. She doesn’t deserve my trust. She’s making my life miserable." Bulma said as she turned her back and walked away. Chichi and 18 had no choice but to follow. Their loyalty to their friend was top-priority; their curiosity would have to take a backseat this time.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Rae stared after the girls. They all looked like the princesses of the prom with their fabulous gown, flawless hair, and perfect makeup. Of course, she didn’t consider herself to be bad looking, but in Yamucha’s eyes, Bulma would always look better.

‘So, why am I so bothered that Yamucha wants to hurt her?’ she asked herself.

She plopped herself down in her seat and considered the possibilities. She had tried and was ready to give up but her conscience was gnawing at her to try again.

‘On one hand,’ she thought to herself as she strolled over to her table.

‘I could not tell her and let Yamucha do whatever he wanted. He’d be happy with me and he’d get his revenge. Something potentially dangerous could arise but Yamucha will be happy. On the other hand I could warn Bulma, which would result in my betraying Yamucha. He’ll be mad at me and Bulma probably won’t even believe me!’

She watched Yamucha dancing with two sluttish girls. She sighed. It seemed like he didn’t understand exactly how much she cared about him.

She looked down at her manicured nails. When she looked up, he was standing above her.

"Hey, I took you to the prom because you wanted to go so badly, and now you’re just sitting here." he said as he raised an eyebrow.

"So? Not like you care? Aren’t you happy dancing with those skanks?" she asked as she rolled her eyes.

"Do you want to dance?" he asked her with a grin.

She raised her eyebrows in question.

"Huh? Really? You serious?" she asked with hope.

"Yeah, those other girls can’t grind like you can." he said with a wink.

She grinned.

"Oh, alright." she said as she got to her feet with a big smirk.

For the moment, she’d put the situation at hand behind her. Right now, she was going to enjoy her prom. Nothing could come between her and the man she loved.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"That was more than just weird, Bulma." 18 said as she grabbed Bulma’s shoulder when they approached the guys.

"Yeah, we should have at least listened to her." Chichi said.

"What was weird?" asked Krillin.

"Listened to who?" Goku asked.

"Rae." Bulma said as she rolled her eyes.

"She showed up?" Vegeta asked in confusion.

"Yeah, very few want to miss their senior prom." Chichi explained.

"Oh, it’s not all that great. But, what was up? Was she messing with you?" Vegeta asked.

"No… not really. She said she had to ‘talk’ with me. But, let’s not worry about it. Let’s dance. You promised." Bulma said as she grabbed Vegeta’s hand. He shrugged and followed her onto the dance floor.

"Hey, if Vegeta can dance, so can you two." Chichi said to Krillin and Goku.

"You serious?" Goku asked as he frowned.

"Yes." Chichi and 18 said as they dragged their boys on the floor. They got on just in time for ’Breathe’ by the Faith Hill to come on.

They danced to the song and happened to be within a three-foot radius of each other. The girls grinned as the boys groaned at the slow song.

The boys had their arms wrapped around their girl’s waists, and just held on as the girls swayed for them.

"Note to us:" Bulma said as she winked at 18 and Chichi, "we’ve got to teach them how to really dance."

Vegeta grunted in answer to that.

"This isn’t dance music. It’s an excuse girls use for their boyfriends to hug and cuddle them." Vegeta said bitterly.

"Oh, and so what? Fast music is only an excuse for guys to get grinded on by slutty girls." Bulma argued.

"Attention," Chichi said cupping one hand around her mouth, "no arguing on the dance floor. I repeat: no arguing on the dance floor."

Bulma and Vegeta smirked at each other. Bulma leaned her head on his shoulder and noticed that he had started swaying with her.

"I want to say how much I love this necklace, again, Vegeta." Bulma whispered to him.

"Why? It’s just a gift." he said.

"Why’d you get it for me?" she asked.

He sighed and looked down at her.

"I don’t know. Do you want me to whip out a poem that says how much I love you? Come on woman, that’s just not me." he said.

"And giving me a necklace for no reason is ’just not you’." Bulma said, now getting suspicious.

"Vegeta?" Bulma asked after a while.

"What?" he asked, wondering how long that song could actually be.

"Do you love me?" she asked him.

The song finished with ’Being with you gets me that… way’.

He looked at her in surprise.

A faster paced song had come on, and more kids had gotten on the dance floor.

Bulma couldn’t hear anything so she dragged Vegeta off the floor.

"Why’d you ask me that?" he asked her.

"What’s wrong with asking you that?" she asked as she placed her hands on her hips.

"You’re supposed to let me say it." he said as he glared at her.

"Well, are you going to say it?" she asked him.

"No!" he said as he turned around.

She came around to his front.

"What? Well, you wrote it on my necklace. Doesn’t that mean you feel something for me?" Bulma asked, trying not to show how hurt she was.

"No, that doesn’t mean anything. And I never said I didn’t feel anything for you. But, when you have something inscribed like that, it’s casual. It’s not like I wrote, ’Bulma, I love you’, did I?" he asked her.

"No… but…" she started; she could fee her eyes getting wet.

"Bulma," he said as he placed his hands on her arms causing her to look up at him, "I didn’t say I didn’t love you. If I say it, I’ll do it when I’m ready. You have to understand that I’ve never told someone I loved them, ok? To me, that means a lot and I don’t throw it around casually." he said.

"Vegeta, I love you. And will always if it turns out that you actually don’t love me. I just want you to know that." she said as she sniffled slightly.

Vegeta opened his mouth to say something when Goku slapped him on the back cutting him off.

"Hey guys, you just disappeared off the dance floor. Radditz was getting a little paranoid, but then we saw you talking over here. What’s the deal?" Goku asked. Chichi, 18, and Krillin came up, each holding a punch glass.

Vegeta rolled his eyes.

Bulma stepped back and glanced at Chichi and 18.

The girls noticed it but didn’t ask questions.

"Look, it’s 9:30 and the dinner’s starting. Let’s go before someone takes our table." Chichi suggested as she sipped her punch.

"Does yours taste funny?" 18 asked.

"Nah, I took the one from the blue bowl." Chichi said.

"I think mine’s spiked." 18 said as she rolled her eyes.

Bulma giggled.

"Do people actually do that?" Goku asked as he glanced at his punch.

"Well, it’s obvious that they do because the blonde’s drinking a spiked drink." Vegeta said.

"The blonde??" 18 asked. "It would have taken less time to just say, 18... But, whatever floats your boat."

Vegeta growled at her, making Bulma laugh.

He was glad that she had forgotten their previous conversation.

Bulma looked up when she noticed that most people were clearing the floor. Emi was walking towards them with a pack of papers in her hands.

"You guys were lucky," she said glancing at the group of six, "you all got put in the same table."

"Well… we have our ways. Since a lot of us were on the Dance Committee we kind of made sure we got a table together." Bulma said.

Emi smirked.

"I like that. Pulling strings." she said.

"Ok, well your table is number 15, ok?" she said as she turned away and went to another group of kids.

"Let’s go. I don’t want the food to get cold." Goku said.

Everyone grinned. Some things just can’t change.

"Eww, I should have got the fish." 18 said as Chichi and Bulma teased her.

"Yeah, 18, that chicken looks pretty nasty." Chichi said.

"Salmon is tasty… yum… better than that nasty, greasy chicken." Bulma said as she poked 18.

"Not fair!" 18 said as she pushed the chicken breast around on her plate.

"You can have some of our fish." Bulma offered as she and Chichi started pushing it onto 18’s plate.

"Aww, thanks guys." 18 said.

"You really should have taken the steak." Goku offered.

All three of the guys had opted for steak.

"This is fun, you guys." Bulma said as she sighed.

"Yeah… but this night feels so long." Chichi said.

"It started at eight, and we even showed up late. It seems like things have slowed down so we could enjoy it more." 18 commented.

"You know what I noticed?" Bulma asked once the guys’ attention had wandered elsewhere.

"What? Our boys are clueless?" Chichi asked with smirk.

"Well… there’s that. But, I also noticed that none of them seem to want to think about what’ll happen after Friday. What I mean is that we’ll graduate. I’ve been accepted to a couple colleges but I don’t know exactly where I’m going yet. No one else seems to even think about this stuff. We might not see each other like we used to! We won’t be able to go to the same schools, share dorms, have sleepovers…" Bulma said as her face turned into a frown.

"Bulma, we’re doing this for a reason. No one wants to think about any of this ending, honey. It’s too sad to think about. We’ve been friends for so long! We don’t want to think about what it’d be like if we didn’t have each other. I think the boys feel the same way too. I mean, just thinking about the days after graduation makes me weepy and I never cry. That’s how much you guys mean to me." 18 said.

"Oh!" Chichi said, as she got emotional. "I feel the same way, too! I’m afraid to even choose any of the colleges I got accepted to because I don’t know where you guys are going, or where Goku’s going. It scares me to think about losing you guys. I don’t want us to grow up and never talk. I don’t want any of you to get married, or pop out kids and not tell me."

The girls all sighed sadly and wrapped themselves in a three-person hug.

The boys turned around just in time to see the show of affection.

"What happened now?" Krillin asked, noticing tears glistening in the corners of his girlfriend’s eyes.

"I don’t know, but I don’t want to be included in this nonsense." Vegeta said as he started to get up but the girls decided to break apart at that moment.

Goku grabbed a corner of Vegeta’s tux-jacket and pulled him back into his seat.

"Hey, girls, what’s the deal? Why’re you crying?" Goku asked.

Chichi sniffled as she wiped at her eyes. She was glad it was waterproof.

"Oh, G-Goku! I don’t want to lose you." Chichi said through a fit of sniffles.

"What do you mean lose me?" he asked, getting apprehensive.

"When we graduate this Friday!! Oh! It’ll be so horrible! We’ll have to go to different colleges and you’ll get another girlfriend!" Chichi wailed.

"I’d never do that to you, hun!" Goku said as he went to Chichi and rubbed her shoulders.

18 and Bulma just tried to console each other.

They heard the squeak that sounded when a microphone was being disturbed.

They looked up to the small stage at the front of the room and noticed the Homecoming Queen, Monica Enes.

"All right, class of 2002! We’re almost there! Just five more days and we’re outta here!" the perky blonde said.

The kids started hooting and hollering.

"Well, calm down everyone! I just wanted to announce that in the next ten minutes we will be announcing the prom King and Queen. There were many great nominations this year. I don’t know who won yet, but you all won’t be surprised when you see the nominations. All right if you’re all clear on that everyone can meet back here in ten and we’ll get them elected. One more thing, it is now 10:00. The prom will officially be over at ll. But the after party at Benny’s is still on and that’s expected to go ‘til two, if any of ya’ll make it there!" the blonde said as she giggled.

Loud laughs resounded from the class.

Bulma rolled her eyes.

She was still so unsure if she wanted to go along with the ‘Prom night’ tradition. She would feel so wrong. But, she assumed that Vegeta was expecting it.

She glanced at him and he was smirking at something Krillin was saying to him.

‘He doesn’t seem like much is on his mind. Good for him. I’ve got loads on mine!’ she thought with annoyance.

"Bulma!" Chichi said snapping Bulma out of her thoughts.

"What?" she asked.

"They’ve got ‘Cry me a River’ on!! I love that! Let’s go dance!" Chichi said as she grabbed Bulma’s hands.

"What… oh, ok sure." Bulma said as she followed Chichi.

18 forced Krillin, Goku, and Vegeta to get to their feet and ushered them onto the dance floor.

Everyone got over the previously depressed atmosphere and started dancing.

Soon, ‘Sk8ter boi’ was on and they all started laughing and jumping around. Finally, however, ‘Pass you By’ by Boyz II Men came on.

Bulma squealed and found Vegeta in the crowd.

"More slow-dancing?" he asked.

"I love this song, Vegeta. It kind of reminds me of us. You know, how I was so unhappy with Yamucha and you realized that. You’ve made these few months of my life so happy. I don’t know how I can thank you." She said as she stared up into his dark eyes.

He smirked at her.

"Just keep your mouth shut for once, and dance with me." He said as he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. They began to sway with the other couples as the lyrics played.

*She was like nothing I’ve ever known

Her eyes shined like diamonds in a field of snow

The man that destiny lead her to meet

Made her feel that life was now complete*

Bulma chuckled.

"That was so Yamucha." She said bitterly but Vegeta just hushed her.

Goku and Chichi and 18 and Krillin were also slow dancing to the song. Chichi and 18 leaned their heads on their boyfriends’ shoulder and sighed happily. They loved it when their men were romantic.

*Now some days have passed and nights gone by

I can see the glow slowly fading from her eyes

Though she denies her pain and her dismay

Know I said this to her anyway*

Rae watched Yamucha as he slow danced with her. He refused to look at her and she knew his mind was on something… no someone else. She knew that Bulma and Vegeta were less than five feet away from them.

It hurt her so much that after all she did, Yamucha still wanted Bulma. A hot tear slipped from her eye, but she wiped it away quickly. She knew that Yamucha wouldn’t have noticed if she was sobbing anyway.

‘Does her really care about me?’ she asked herself.

* Don't have to stay with someone that makes you cry (makes you cry)

You'll end up killing all the love you have inside (have inside)

Can't hope to see the sun in you if you don't open your eyes

Girl, don't let real love pass you by (oh)

Don't let real love pass you by*

Radditz had asked Emi to dance right before the song had started, and she was required to dance at least one slow song with him. She let her arms hang loosely around his neck as he swayed with her.

She glanced over to her little cousin and his date. Their love was so strong it practically wafted off of them, but they couldn’t see it.

‘I wish I had something like that…’ she thought as she smiled to herself. She felt Radditz squeeze her waist and she looked up at him. He smiled down at her and she felt her heart flutter.

‘On second though, I just might.’ She thought.

Vegeta looked down at the top of Bulma’s blue head.

She had one hand placed on his chest, between them, and the other around his neck. One of his hands was on her waist and the other at her back. She sighed and leaned in close to him.

He liked her like this. She was beautiful, serene, quiet… like an angel.

* I know you're nervous but take it from me

Cause you deserve so much more than you receive

Listen to your heart and let it show

Don't hold on to your pain, just let it go

Let it go*

As the last verses of the song finished the couples slowly came apart. Most kissed, and the six teens weren’t an exception.

"Aww, how sweet!" Emi said as she approached Chichi and Goku who were in a serious lip-lock.

"But, you’ll have to break it up, little bro." Radditz said.

"Hey…" Goku said as he stepped back from Chichi and blushed. "I almost forgot you two were here."

"Yeah, well I decided to be nice and leave ya’ll alone tonight." Radditz said.

18, Krillin, Vegeta, and Bulma walked up at this moment.

18 noticed Radditz arm around Emi’s waist, and smirked.

"That’s not the reason! He was just too busy going after Emi." 18 accused.

Both Emi and Radditz blushed.

"That’s not true guys, besides it’s mean to make fun of us." Emi said.

"Yeah, you shouldn’t make fun of your elders!" Radditz argued.

"You’re not even ten years older than us." Bulma said.

Radditz rolled his eyes.

"Alright, class of 02! Let me hear you!!" The blonde, Monica was up at the stage again.

The group of 8 rolled their eyes in annoyance.

"02, oh ho! 02, oh ho!" the class chanted. (An: that’s like what the seniors at my school do…)

"Ok, ok! Now… here’s how we’re going to address prom King and Queen: I’ll read off the three nominees for Queen and King. Then after a couple songs to make you anxious, we’ll read off who the Prom Prince and Princess are. Then, you’ll find out who the King and Queen are!!"

The students got excited when the Homecoming Queen was handed the six envelopes.

"All right, and the first nominee is:" she said accompanied by a long dragged out drum roll.

Vegeta rolled his eyes. He thought this stuff was so stupid.

He knew that Bulma would win either Queen or Princess and he’d have to watch her dance with someone touchy-feely bad excuse for a guy. It made his blood boil.

"Juuhachi-gou Jinzouningen!" the blonde called.

18’s usually narrowed eyes widened in surprise.

"What??" she asked as she looked up at the homecoming queen who was waving the card with her name on it around.

"Go on up there, 18!! You deserve it!" Bulma and Chichi said.

18 blushed as she made her way to the stage.

She was seated in a white chair and everyone clapped.

"All right, all right. Our next nominee is… Goku Son!!" Monica yelled out.

Chichi and Bulma screamed in excitement and hugged each other.

"Oh, Goku! Wow! I’d never have expected!! Whooo hooo! That’s my boyfriend going up their for a Prom King nomination! Mine!!" Chichi hollered.

Goku went up to the stage in a dumbfounded stupor. He was blushing and surprised that he was nominated, but he knew he wouldn’t win King.

Vegeta smirked.

‘Kakarot, eh? Have I seen anything stranger?’ he asked himself.

"The next nominee is… Chichi Mau!!" Monica shouted.

Chichi and Bulma gasped and they did their squealing hug again.

"Oh! Oh! Chi, you so deserve it!!" Bulma said as she hugged her tightly.

"Oh!! Bulma… I’m so happy! I get to be nominated!! Whoo hoo!" Chichi said as she hurried to the stage and took a seat next to 18.

Bulma looked up at her friends with a sad look. They both were up there.

She really hadn’t expected to get nominated. It was usually a beauty thing, or who was the cutest couple.

Now that she had broken up with Yamucha it wasn’t likely that she’d win for the best couple, because Vegeta had made a pretty bad name for himself.

She grinned as she grabbed his hand and squeezed tightly.

He raised an eyebrow at her but his attention was carried back to the stage when the blonde opened yet another envelope.

"Ok!! Next, everyone! And you all should know him by name: Yamucha!" she announced.

A lot of girls hooted and screamed ‘I love you’ to him. Bulma glared at them in anger.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Rae staring up at the stage forlornly.

‘I guess she must feel pretty bad…’ Bulma thought.

After Yamucha had taken a bow and found his seat Monica was handed yet another envelope.

"Our fifth nominee shouldn’t be a surprise: Bulma Briefs!!" Monica called out.

Bulma grinned. She hadn’t been expecting it.

She kissed Vegeta on the cheek and started towards the stage.

As she made her way towards it however, she became apprehensive.

If she did win, and it was based on couple that would mean Yamucha would win and she’d have to dance with him.

A chill went up her spine but she smiled graciously as she took her seat next to her two best friends.

"And… ladies and gentleman our sixth and final nominee is a bit of a shocker, but I guess suspense is overrated so I’ll just get to it: Vegeta Ouji!! You’re number 6!" Monica called.

Vegeta did a double take.

"What?" he asked in disgust.

"Who the hell voted for me?" he asked.

But no one could see that he didn’t want to go up there.

Radditz, Emi, and Krillin patted him on the back and pushed him towards the stage.

As he was walking to the stage he heard girls hollering for him.

"Whoo! Vegeta! You’re so sexy!!" some girls yelled.

He smirked.

When he got on stage he frowned at the fact that the only open seat was next to Yamucha.

When Yamucha saw him he looked him up and down then switched seats with Goku.

"Ohhhhhh!" echoed from all the students. They were aware of the rift between Yamucha and Vegeta.

Bulma looked across the stage at the two boys, worriedly.

She didn’t like the way Yamucha had acted so bold, and not frightened as usual when he saw Vegeta.

"Now… I will let you all dance for a song or two then I will announce the winners." Monica announced.

She let out a breath as she turned to the six nominees.

"This is strange, isn’t it? I wonder what’ll happen by tonight." She said under her breath as she walked off the stage.

"I hope nothing happens." Bulma said to herself.

The time for the two songs passed quickly and soon Monica was back on the stage.

"And we have the final vote! Will all the nominees rise." Monica instructed.

"This year’s Prom Prince and Princess are:" Monica said, as there was an exaggerated drum roll.

"Vegeta Ouji and Bulma Briefs!!" she announced.

Bulma screamed and ran over to Vegeta hugging and kissing him.

"Oh!! Wow!!" she said as she jumped, giddily in his arms.

Vegeta smirked as the class clapped for them.

"Ok, ok, everyone. We know you’re excited. Now, the Prom King and Queen are… Goku Son and Chichi Mau!!" she announced and Chichi burst into tears.

"Oh my god! I thought Bulma would win! Oh my god! I’m so happy!!" she said.

Goku came over to her and hugged her.

"Sorry, 18 and Yamucha. The votes were so close." Monica apologized.

18 grinned.

"It doesn’t matter anyway. I wouldn’t have dance with anyone but my Krillin." 18 said, gaining awws from their audience. Krillin blushed.

Two volunteers walked up and placed the crowns on Goku and Chichi’s heads. Then they placed smaller crowns on Bulma and Vegeta’s. Vegeta’s threatened to fall off, so he took it off and put it in his pocket.

Bulma giggled at him and he shot her a glare, but she knew it wasn’t filled with an ounce of malice.

"Ok, now we’ll have the dance for the royalty of the prom-" Monica said she was cut off when Yamucha stormed past her.

"Huh? You’re supposed to stay up here!" she called.

"Fuck you!" he said.

Her eyes widened.

Where was a teacher when you needed one?

The crowd turned and watched as Yamucha pushed open the heavy doors, with Rae following closely behind.

"Um…" Monica said as she forced a smile, "I guess some people are just sore losers?"

Everyone laughed and she let out a sigh.

"Ok, now for the dance! Have fun you guys!!" she said as the two couples walked onto the dance floor.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Yamucha! Honey, what’s wrong?" Rae asked as she followed him into the men’s room.

He was inside a stall angrily banging the sides with his fists.

"Yamucha!! What’s wrong?? Stop that!! You didn’t want to win! You didn’t want anyone that was up there! You told me you wanted me! Are you that mad that you couldn’t have Bulma??" she asked accusingly.

The door opened and he stepped.

"Shut up, you bitch. If I’ve said it to you once I’ve said it a million times but you’re too stupid to understand common English. Is that it? I don’t want Bulma. I’m mad because they get me angry! That bitch, 18 insulted me, saying she didn’t want to dance with me… I’m gonna have to stop all their antics right now! If they think they’re better than me, they’ve got another thing coming." He said as he pulled something out of his jacket pocket.

Rae’s eyes widened and she had a rude awakening.

Yamucha was a horrible person.

"Yamucha, please don’t use that! Not now when they’re having their prom dance. When everyone’s looking at them. You’ll get caught for sure!!" Rae pleaded but he started marching past her.

"Yamucha! It’s not worth it! They won’t understand that you’re just playing around. They’ll think it’s for real." She said as she grabbed his arm.

He shook her off.

"Who’s to say that it isn’t?" he asked.

She felt tears prickle the corners of her eyes.

She felt so horrible inside. She should have told Bulma when she had the chance, and now Yamucha was so angry he could hurt her.

Rae followed behind him as he left the bathroom and ran back into the grand hall.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The slow song was lulling and it seemed like everything moved in slow motion. The lights were out in the room, except for a dim soft spotlight on the two swaying couples. By then, other couples had been allowed to join in the dancing and not that many still had their eyes on the King, Queen, Prince, and Princess.

No one noticed Yamucha and Rae run in, and no one noticed when Yamucha pulled a gun out and trained it on Bulma’s head.

Radditz saw the glint of the metal out of the corner of his eye and his heart stopped when he saw the enraged Yamucha was pointing it at the back of Bulma’s head.

He wasn’t all that close, but the impact would still surely kill her.

He detached himself from his Emi, who didn’t have clue what was going on, and ran at Yamucha.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The impact of Radditz’ body into his caused him to pull off a shot. Since he was thrown off balance the bullet went up instead and took out the spotlight.

Everyone started screaming when they heard the gunshot and the lights were off. The only light in the room was the reflection of the moonlight that came in from the 20 huge balcony sized windows around the room.

Radditz rolled away from Yamucha as soon as he heard the shot.

Yamucha got to his feet and felt Rae tugging at his arm.

"You told me it wasn’t loaded!! You said you weren’t going to play for real!!" she screamed at him.

"Oh, well! I lied! I’m getting my revenge!" he yelled as he roughly shook her off him making her fall to the floor.

He ran towards where Vegeta and Bulma, next to Goku and Chichi, were crouched down on the ground.

Vegeta had his arms around Bulma, covering her head and back. Goku had Chichi in the same position.

Yamucha sneered.

He tapped Vegeta’s side with the toe of his boot, causing him to look up in confusion.

People were still screaming and running towards the door, trying to get out, while others cowered in fear under tables, chairs, etc.

Vegeta sneered when he saw Yamucha but his heart stopped when he saw the gun in his hand.

"Get up." Yamucha said.

This caused Bulma, who was shaking with fright, to look up.

"What the fuck is WRONG with you??" Vegeta asked.

Bulma looked from Vegeta, to Yamucha, to his gun in fear and confusion.

Goku and Chichi, by this time had raised their heads.

Yamucha glanced at them briefly.

"Lie down on your stomachs. If I see you so much as sneeze I’ll kill you." He said to them.

"You two." He said to Bulma and Vegeta, "Get up."

"Idiot, don’t do this. The police are probably already on their way!" Vegeta said.

Yamucha rolled his eyes.

"If you don’t get up I’ll blow her brains out right now." He said in a no-nonsense tone.

Vegeta got to his feet and Bulma started to follow but her pushed her back down.

"I said both of you." Yamucha said as he pointed the gun at Bulma’s chest.

"Leave her out of this. You got a problem with me, we’ll handle it with fists not guns you coward." Vegeta said.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Krillin and 18 who ran up to Emi and Radditz in shock heard this last statement.

"Is he trying to get himself shot??" Krillin asked.

"No, Krillin, he’s just trying to talk Yamucha down until the cops get here." 18 explained. "At least, that’s what I hope he’s doing."

Radditz had to hold Emi securely to himself so she wouldn’t run into the fray to help her cousin.

"Emi!!" he said in her ear, "You don’t want to startle Yamucha into accidentally firing at Vegeta. It’s better for them if you stay put. This is a dangerous situation."

"But… he’s b-blood. I couldn’t bear to lose him or any of those kids!" Emi said as tears of worry started to fill her eyes.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yamucha smirked.

"I’m not stupid, jackass." He said to Vegeta.

"Get UP!" he yelled at Bulma. She immediately jumped to her feet. She was not going to let Vegeta face this maniac alone.

"Aw, so I guess he’s made you obedient. You can follow orders, now, is that it, bitch?" he asked as he poked her with the gun.

Vegeta growled.

Goku had to clamp his hand over Chichi’s mouth when she threatened to say something.

"Y-Yamucha can’t we ju-just talk this over?" Bulma asked as she stared at the shiny black metal of the gun.

"No we can’t talk this over, Bulma! I warned you that staying with Vegeta would be dangerous. That you’d be safer with me! Did you listen? No, and now it’s come back to bite you in the ass. But, this bullet won’t hit you there. I want to make sure you’re dead. It’s going right between the eyes." He said with a grin.

Bulma gasped and hot tears started to spill from her shiny eyes.

Vegeta cursed silently to himself.

He couldn’t make any moves. No one could see the angle Yamucha pointed that gun at Bulma. He was lazily swinging it as he talked, but if he fired just by accident, it’d get her in the side, the abdomen, the heart… anywhere. He could not endanger her life by trying to wrestle it out of Yamucha's grip.

He cursed as; out of the corner of his eye he saw 17 approach.

Before he could yell at him to stop, the black-haired boy had thrown his body at Yamucha’s back.

Yamucha angrily pulled the trigger as he tried to wrestle with 17.

Vegeta ran at Bulma as he heard her start to scream and everything went black.

17 and Radditz were sitting on top of Yamucha. They had kicked his gun halfway across the room and Emi had quickly wrapped it in a napkin. Yamucha was unconscious because the two boys had beaten him to within an inch of his life but no one cared about Yamucha… all eyes were on Bulma who was covered in blood.

A sob hitched in Chichi’s throat as she watched Bulma sobbing. Blood covered her hands, her gown and her neck. But… it wasn’t her blood. She was completely untouched.

She held Vegeta in her arms and all the blood was gushing out of him.

He had saved her life.

He had seen the bullet and Bulma had thought she was going to die, but he had lunged for her, using his body to push her out of the way.

She sniffled as she stroked his face and tried to make him comfortable. He was making only a few sounds and she was unsure of the location of the bullet so she hadn’t moved him.

She was terrified that she was going to lose him.

"Bulma!!" 18 called as she ran into the almost deserted hall.

Bulma’s head shot up and she could barely see her blonde friend through her tears.

"I called the ambulance but there was already one on the way! Just a couple more minutes." 18 said.

Bulma started sobbing uncontrollably.

"I don’t think he has a couple more minutes!" Goku yelled, getting angry.

"He isn’t moving, he’s barely making a sound! I have never seen him this way!"

"Goku, shut up! Be positive!" Krillin yelled.

"How can I be positive when my best-friend is lying there dying on the floor. Would you be positive if it were me??" Goku asked.

Chichi started crying harder as the two boys started arguing.

"Stop it!!" Emi called. "It isn't worth it!" Her face was covered in black streaks from her running mascara and her hair was disheveled.

She couldn’t even approach her cousin because the sight of his blood was too much for her.

"Don’t fight." She said, "Just pray that he’ll survive."

Goku and Krillin hung their heads in shame.

The doors burst open and three paramedics with a gurney rushed in.

"We heard there was gun-fire!" the female med said.

Bulma just nodded, because she couldn’t get words out through her tears.

The meds had to detach her from her boyfriend’s body so he could be placed on the stretcher.

A male med checked his vital statistics and shook his head.

"We don’t have much time, he’s lost a lot of blood. Let’s go!" he said to his partners.

Bulma wobbly got to her feet.

"Let me come!" she said as she grabbed Vegeta’s hand that was lying limply off the side of the stretcher.

"She’s covered in blood!" the female said.

"She may have gotten hit too! Come on, honey, you can come with us." The other female med said.

"Has anyone else been shot?" the male asked.

"No!" Emi said angrily. "He only fired two shots! Now, get my cousin out of here, you’re wasting precious time!"

The med nodded and then rushed the stretcher out.

The group stood around, most stared blankly at the pool of blood where Vegeta had once laid.

Emi started to breathe heavy and collapsed in a heap, sobbing.

Radditz got off Yamucha and came to her side.

"He’ll be ok." He told her as he saw Chichi, 18, and ever Goku and Krillin crying.

"I hope so." Emi whispered.

‘Shit… why am I in so much pain. Am I dead or what? And it sucks like hell if I’ve got to feel like this when I’m dead.’

He tried to go back to that unconscious place he had been before, when he had no pain, but his mind wouldn’t let him. It was wide-awake.

He cursed and opened his eyes.

An audible curse this time escaped his lips as the white lights painfully glared in his eyes.

He had to close them, and then he tried to open them again, this time little by little so he could adjust to it.

When he had completely opened his eyes he was surprised to see a white and blue room. He had expected to see Heaven, or in his case… Hell.

He heard some fuzzy voices, and things started to get clearer.

"Oh my god!!" one voice said and it came into his view.

A face hovered over his and he blinked a little to focus.

‘Bulma…’ he thought ‘so she’s ok. That must mean either we’re both dead, or that I didn’t die after all!’

"Y-you woke up! Oh my god! Oh shit Vegeta!" Bulma said as she leaned in to hug him.

He winced as a jolt of pain went through his right side. It was painful, but he thought it was worth it just to be close to her.

He felt his shirt become damp, and then it was soaked.

She was crying, a lot, on his shoulder.

"Stop… crying." He said; he was surprised to hear how feeble his voice sounded.

"Vegeta I was so worried about you! I thought you were going to die!!" she said squeezing him tighter.

"Bulma… ow…" he said as he winced again.

"Oh… I’m sorry! Now I’m hurting you more! I had better get your mom… and a doctor. Everyone’s so worried about you! I’ll have to tell them all." She said as she kissed him on the forehead.

He grabbed her hand with his left hand, since his right one refused to move.

"Mom… ok, doc… ok… but no Kakarot… or harpy girlfriend… none of them. I’ll see them all later. I just want you right now." He said to her.

Bulma grinned. "Ok." She said and then ran out of the room.

In less than five minutes Mrs. Ouji, Tama-gi, Emi, Mr. Ouji, and the Doctor rushed into the room.

Bulma was the last in and she just stood in a corner anxiously.

"Oh, my! I wouldn’t have expected you up for another three days or so… you’re a miraculous young-fellow." The white-haired doctor said as he checked Vegeta’s chart.

"Wh-what happened to me?" Vegeta asked as he squinted.

‘God-damn light…’ he thought angrily.

"Oh, baby! Don’t you remember!?" his mother asked as she wiped at her nose with a tissue. He looked at his family. Everyone had a red, tear-stained face… even his father. He felt a foreign sense of gratitude. He couldn’t believe all these people cared about him…

"Well, from what I heard you went down as soon as the bullet hit you. The wound itself wasn’t really that serious. See, when you jumped in front of Ms. Briefs here, the bullet took you in the arm. If your girlfriend had taken the hit, in relativity to your heights, she would have sustained more damage since it would have hit lower. The bullet went completely through your arm, and just barely grazed bone. When it came out, however it nicked you in the side. The massive bleeding, and the reason Ms. Briefs dress was soaked in blood, is because the bullet tore an artery open. But, have no fear; we got you here in enough time to seal it up. But, it’s no doubt that you’re in a lot of pain. Your right arm’s in a cast, so don’t try to move it much." The doctor said with a wise smile.

Vegeta just nodded and tilted his head to the side.

"Uh huh…" he said as he yawned.

"I knew you shouldn’t have waken up. The pain-killers are making you sleep again." The doctor said as he checked the levels on the IV bags.

"He needs his rest, so you’ll all have to leave." The doctor instructed.

"Can I stay?" Bulma asked as the Oujis started to file out.

The doctor glanced at Vegeta who looked like he needed her to stay.

"Well, miss… it looks like you’ve had a pretty busy night. And I know you’re parents are on their way back from some concert they went to. When they stop by, I’d like you to go home. Get a good night’s sleep. He’s a strong boy. He’ll be here tomorrow… but until your parents make an appearance you can stay with him.

"Thank you!" Bulma said.

The doctor nodded and then closed the door behind Vegeta’s family.

Bulma got a chair and pulled it to Vegeta’s bedside. She grabbed his left hand and felt him squeeze her hand.

"Hey… what happened to your dress?" he asked as he noticed that she was wearing a white t-shirt and baggy sweatpants. Her hair was no longer in the elaborate style but was in a high ponytail.

"Oh…" she said lightly, "there was so much blood on it that it just wasn’t salvageable. And also, the meds thought I had gotten shot too, so they had cut some of it off. But… I wasn’t shot, thanks to you, you know??"

"That dressed looked great on you." He said.

"Thanks! But… I’d rather lose that than lose you." She said as she began to reflect on the night’s events.

"It was so scary…" she said after a moment of silence.

"What?" he asked.

"Thinking that you might have died right there in my arms… and it was all my fault." She said as she started crying again.

"It’s no big deal, baka!" Vegeta said to her.

"It’s just like the time I broke my arm… no different." He said.

"You got shot Vegeta." Bulma said to him.

"I don’t want to think about that." He said.

She fell silent again and massaged his hand.

He pulled his hand out of hers and patted the empty space next to him on the bed.

"Come up here." He said.

She grinned as she climbed into the bed next to him.

She wrapped her arms around him loosely and laid her head on his shoulder.

She held his hand as he kissed her forehead.

"Vegeta…" Bulma said as she sighed heavily. "I don’t think I want to ever be without you."

He had closed his eyes and now they snapped open.

"Bulma…" he started.

"Vegeta… more than ever… now I know that I love you. It’s not like how I would say love to anyone, Vegeta… it’s like no matter what happens in our life, I’ll always love you." She said as she smiled.

She wasn’t expecting what she heard next.

"You’re such an idiot woman. Why would you let yourself fall in love with me?" he asked her as he brushed her hair slightly away from her face.

She giggled.

"I guess it doesn’t matter. Because I’m an idiot too… I let myself fall in love with you." He responded quietly.

She looked at him in disbelief.

He was blushing.

"Aww…" she said as she hugged him and kissed him deeply.

He rolled his eyes at her.

"I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Vegeta." Bulma said as she stared into his dark eyes.

"What? Don’t you think we’re a little too young to be planning out the rest of our lives?" he asked her.

She laughed, making her blue eyes sparkle.

"No one said we were too young to love." She said.

"True. That is as true as anything." He said with a sigh.

Bulma grinned as she cuddled up into his side. In moments, they had fallen asleep in each other’s arms.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Oh… wow… that’s the end folks! That’s all she wrote! And I even incorporated the title (a tad bit) in the ending there… Did you pick up on my hinting through out the story that something bad was going to happen? In chapter 19, 18 pulled Bulma aside in the store and told her she was having ‘bad vibes’ and some of Chichi’s comments. Ok… maybe you didn’t…

About this chapter, about this ending: Yes… it was a little different for DBZ… with the whole gun thing. That, I think was horrible. I don’t support gun violence. Actually, I abhor it… I wanted to show what detrimental effects it has. Yamucha… who knows what happened to him? Maybe you’ll find out in the epilogue (actually… you will). And… it’s just going to be graduation. In the epilogue I’ll ask how many want to see a sequel and I seriously want e-mails to me cinnabunny@msn.com to tell me sequel ‘yes’ sequel ‘no’… I want to reiterate my thanks to all of you that stuck with me for these last two years. I started this on March 3, 2001. And I finished it today, March 3, 2003. It might not actually be posted on the third… but that’s when I finished it… So, tell me what you think. If you loved it, hated it… anything! Love to all of you,

Princess Panchii