insert standard disclaimer here. I don't own Dragonball Z or any of the characters.

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She tiptoes around me for days, apparently fearful of pissing me off. As though to do so would cause me to expose her secret. She undervalues the word of a Saiya-jin, insulting me. Besides, telling any of them would mean purposely talking to them and I'd rather they all leave me the hell alone and let me train.

The food has even been decent for a while. I wonder how long _that_ will last.

I train harder than ever. Pushing my body to its limits allows me to get her face out of my mind, at least for the moment. I sneer at myself for this weakness. Thinking about a human who should be beneath my notice. A weak, pathetic, human.

I lie to myself. I have seen that she is neither weak nor pathetic.

I tell myself to shut up and kick the gravity setting up a notch.

Of course, this eventually results in smoldering metal and the end of my training session.

The light evening rain actually feels good on my overheated skin. I levitate to the roof to soak it in for a while.

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I don't know what I'm feeling anymore. This seems like too much to deal with. I think about telling Yamucha a hundred times a day. I know it's the right thing to do, but I can't do it yet. I need to strengthen my resolve first.

I've been unusually nice to Vegeta lately, ignoring his attempts to start fights, and putting more effort into his meals. I wonder why he isn't holding this over my head.

He seems to be keeping my secret. And I'm not sure, but I think he might even be hurt that I didn't take that for granted. I just find it so hard to trust him.

Walking outside to find him, I see the mess he has once again made of the machine. I think I'm going to leave off fixing it for a while. I'm pretty confident that he isn't going to spill the beans. It would mean intentionally talking to someone and appearing to show an interest in my well-being.

I start to yell at him, but something makes me look up. He is standing on the roof, in the rain, apparently unaware of my presence. Staring into the sky, he is every inch the regal Prince, even without the armor. His magnificent physique takes my breath away. Yamucha was taller, but not nearly as well-muscled. His face wearing the fierce scowl it always does, he seems to be searching the night sky. Looking for something that isn't there. Like a planet.

I feel my heart contract. He wouldn't appreciate pity, but I can't help it. To be so alone...I want to say something comforting, but I know words are worse than useless.

Instead I yell, "Are you going to stand there all night, or do you want to eat before it gets cold??"

His statement doesn't change. I wonder if he knew I was there staring at him after all. "That substance you claim is food will hardly taste any worse a few degrees colder. Leave me be."

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Baka woman. Staring at me like that. What does she want?

When I come down, she is nowhere to be seen. The food is all right. I can't taste anything anyway. My foul mood turns it all to ash on my tongue.

I go upstairs and strip out of my clothes. I'm too tired to shower; instead I crawl into the bed and fall into a fitful sleep.

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I wake up in the middle of the night, my heart pounding. For an instant I have no idea what awakened me, until I hear another muffled shout from the next room. I argue with myself for a while about waking him up. But I can't fall back asleep with him moaning like that, and this dream seems especially bad.

I open his door and gently shake his shoulder. His whole body is tense, fists balled into the sheets. "Vegeta--"

Suddenly I find myself pinned to the bed with his hands around my neck, an instant away from snapping it. His eyes widen and he lets go.

"What are you doing in here?"

I'm not sure what to say. "Um, you were dreaming..."

"And that gives you the right to come in here and disturb me?!"

"Baka! I couldn't sleep through your shouting! And I was worried..." This last part was said softly, not meant for him to hear.

I think he hears. He seems to glare down at me even more furiously.

"You almost got yourself killed. I think you should go now," he adds pointedly.

Ignoring him, I ask, "...What were you dreaming about?"

No answer. Not that I'd expected one. "Planet Vegeta?"

He flinches. Score one for Bulma. But still no verbal answer.

"It must have been horrible, your whole world gone in an instant."

He walks over and faces the window, his back to me. Silence. I wonder if I have said too much. In the cold moonlight, wearing only shorts, he looks like a finely chiseled marble version of himself. Finally, he turns around.

"Woman, you have no idea what you are talking about. You can't possibly understand. Now get out." But the faintest flicker in his eyes begs me to do otherwise.

Slowly, I walk up to him, and put my arms around him. I expect him to shrug me off, but he doesn't. The only response is the tiniest of sighs, a quick exhalation of air. Other than that it is like holding a warm statue.

"You don't have to talk to me. But you can, if you ever want to." I release him and walk back to my room, before he regains his senses enough to kick me out.

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I berate myself mercilessly for allowing her to touch me. I had been caught off-guard. Unnerved first by the dream, and then by my actions. I'd very nearly killed her. That disturbs me more than I care to admit. As many lives as I have taken, I have never done it in my sleep, unaware. I can still see her, eyes wide, her hair spread out on my bed. The dark silk robe pools around her like blood, slipping apart to show some pale silky thing she sleeps in. The scent of her fear still assails my senses. And yet, I don't think she really fears me. My reaction just caught her by surprise.

I can't imagine telling her about the destruction of my planet. My people. Words can't convey the magnitude of that loss. Kakarot is the only person I have told, because whatever he might think, they were his people, too. Perhaps it helped him defeat Frieza. Which I failed to do.

I curse her for invading the private domain of my personal hell, and then having the nerve to embrace me like a lost child. I curse myself even more for letting her do it. I don't need her pity! From a human!

But the thought that she might care what happened warms me just a little, against my will. I fall asleep hating myself for being weak...

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End Chapter 2