"Vegeta," Kakarrot whispered softly as he entered the king’s throne room. Vegeta was standing off to the side of the room, staring out a window with a deeply pensive look upon his face.

The sudden mention of his name snapped the man to attention as he ever so slightly turned his head to acknowledge the guard. "How is the onna?" He spoke in a distant voice.

"With some rest, she will fully recover...physically at least." Kakarrot coughed as he cleared his throat. "I fear the damage done to her judgment today will not heal quite as easily."

"You refer to her accepting that bastard’s aid?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow. "I am sure she had no other choice. The onna swore to me she would avoid him, I am certain this was merely a disruption by Juunanagou."

Kakarrot’s face quickly turned to a frown as he thought back to that which Bulma had said to him a little while ago. "I wish I could be as optimistic as you, but… But I fear I have some news in regards to the pair that you will not like."

Vegeta finally turned around to look upon the soldier. A look of utter fury seemed to flash across his eyes before demanding, "Tell me."

Kakarrot took a long breath before daring to tell the King what he had caught the pair participating in. "After I had retrieved the healer as you asked, I brought him back to Bulma’s room. When I entered I… I found Juunanagou with Bulma… They were… They were locked in a rather intimate embrace." As Kakarrot finished he considered bolting for the door, but a fast hand snaked around his neck before he could have the chance.

"You dare lie to me!?" Vegeta demanded, tightening his hold on the man’s neck. "The onna swore to stay away from him; she would not embrace him in any way!"

"I am not lying!" Kakarrot protested. "Don’t you think I know how painful this is to hear?! Hell, I had to witness the sickening display! But, I would never lie to you Vegeta! You know that! Especially when it comes to an onna I look upon as a little sister!"

With what little sanity Vegeta seemed to be holding onto he released the guard, taking a step back as if to calm himself. Turning his back to Kakarrot, he asked for that which he knew he wasn’t going to like hearing. "What did you see Kakarrot?"

Kakarrot frowned; he didn’t think detail would help the situation. "I already told you sir; I saw them in an embrac--"

"Don’t you dare soften things for me Kakarrot!" Vegeta warned with clenched fists as he spun around to look the man dead in his eyes. "I want to know what kind of ‘embrace’ you saw. Were their hands clasped? Were their bodies close to one another? I want to know if he touched her Kakarrot!? I want to know how deeply he has entranced Bulma! I will know now, so I can stop it before it is too fucking late!"

"They shared a kiss," Kakarrot whispered.

"They what?" Vegeta asked with narrowed eyes, he was certain he had heard the witness wrong.

"They were locked in a kiss Vegeta! A passionate one if you want it rated. Not a sliver of space between their bodies, and from what I could tell his hands seemed to be touching whatever they damn well pleased. And Bulma… And Bulma, sir, was far from offended by his intrusion; in fact her actions appeared even more bold than his." Kakarrot sighed before finishing with the bitter truth. "When they parted Juunanagou made certain to come close enough to me so I could smell his arousal along with… along with Bulma’s lingering scent. I know you don’t want to hear this Vegeta, but she is apparently attracted to him, and he’s taking full advantage of it."

Once the words left Kakarrot’s mouth a silence fell upon the room that created a tension too thick for even a sword to maim. The look upon Vegeta’s face could be described as nothing but lost, shocked by the words spoken, and too hurt to accept them. ‘She lied to me,’ he thought, utterly disillusioned. She had never lied to him in all the eight years she had lived in his home, under his protection. Never had she gone against his wishes. And now his arch nemesis arrives and it’s all too simple for her to stray from her loyalty.

"Please tell her, Vegeta," Kakarrot added somberly. "It is the only way to protect her. She must know the type of man she is getting involved wi--"

"Do not even say it! The onna is not involved with that man! So he stole one kiss, he will not steal another! If I must chain the onna to myself for the rest of the time Juunanagou is here I will do so to protect her! So help me Kakarrot, if I see him anywhere near her again, I will tell the senate to go to hell and just kill the bastard, ‘prestigious’ senate member or not! I will not let him live a moment longer!!"

"Yes, sir." Kakarrot nodded before watching Vegeta storm out of the room. He knew exactly where the man was going; he could only hope the king would succeed where he hadn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Well, it’s about time you arrived." Juunanagou smirked as his associate entered his chambers.

"I am sorry for my lateness." Juurokugou slowly knelt and rose before his king. "I assume your ride went as planned."

"That it did." The king’s eyes lit up at the memory of how easily he had managed to manipulate the young princess. "As always your tracking skills were impeccable, Bulma directed her horse right into the tree you downed. And, I of course couldn’t have been more surprised and concerned. The lady was all too easily entranced after the injuries she sustained. They were more severe than I had intended, but suited my purpose quite well." Juunanagou paused as he licked his lips, remembering the results of his ‘hard’ work. "Yes, I had the young lady’s lips against mine, and I am certain I could have had more, had Kakarrot not interrupted us."

"If he is a problem sir, I can easily eliminate him," the king’s right hand associate suggested.

"No, I don’t think that would be wise." Juunanagou shook his head decidedly. "Remember, I must be careful in what I do, Juurokugou. The death of a close friend would only shift the princess’s focus away from me. No, what I need to do is force her affections on myself alone, right now she is much too attached to her warden. Had it not been for her love of riding she would have avoided my presence, merely upon the request of Vegeta." Juunanagou scowled lightly as he thought of the situation. "Yes, Vegeta has the onna well wrapped around his finger. She is easily swayed by his opinions."

"Then perhaps it would be best for you to tarnish the high opinion Princess Bulma holds of the Saiya-jin king." Juurokugou suggested.

"My thoughts exactly." Juunanagou smirked in agreement. "Which shouldn’t be too difficult. All I must do is inform Bulma of the scandalous deeds done by her guardian ten years ago. With a little manipulation of the truth, she will be left with no one to trust besides my handsome self. And then, when she is at her most vulnerable, I will take everything I want from her."

"It seems you have this well thought out, sir." Juurokugou complimented his king with pride.

"Oh that I have my friend." Juunanagou’s expression suddenly turned very dark. "For all the wealth Vegeta stole from me, the disgrace he attached to my title, and the humiliation I suffered through his vengeful attack on my person, he will pay. Not simply out of his pocket or to his person, no, I will attack him where it truly hurts most. For everything he has done to me Juurokugou, I will take my recompense out of his ward." Juunanagou suddenly smirked at the thought. "Yes, her heart, her soul, her innocence, and her body. She will give all of it to me, willingly, and then… Oh, then Juurokugou, I will have my revenge. I will break the onna’s heart, soul, and body. And the beauty of it my friend, is that it will all be done under the scrutiny of her warden. Yes, that will be my true reward. Forcing Vegeta to stand by while I defile the onna’s essence, while I take from her everything and more that Vegeta stole from me; then, and only then, when I have destroyed his precious little princess, will he know my wrath. Vegeta thinks he knows what pain is, the little monkey doesn’t have a clue."

"Sir," Juurokugou suddenly interrupted. "I believe your plan is sound, seducing the girl to your whim, but I must state my concern. You are building your entire vendetta on the assumption that this onna means more to the Saiya-jin king than even his own life. How can you be so certain he would suffer so infinitely for a mere foreigner he took as his ward?"

"Now that, my friend, is an interesting question." Juunanagou noted his interest in the subject. "I must admit even I wasn’t sure what to make of the news that Veg, a man who is notorious for hating everyone, cared enough to take an apparently abused princess into his care just eight years ago. I paid the intelligence no attention for the six years following, but then I heard some interesting news from a scout I have stationed here."

"About Vegeta’s yuigon?" Juurokugou asked curiously, attempting to follow his king’s train of thought.

"Exactly." Juunanagou smirked. "My scout for a brief time brought the document into my possession, and I of course took the liberty to read through Vegeta’s instructions in the event of his death. A surprisingly wise choice made by such a baka actually; being as though the man has no living family, or an heir to take his throne once he is gone. However, his pathetic attempt at growing a brain, only managed to form the flawless plan I am putting into play as we speak."

"How so, sir?" Juurokugou asked curiously. "I was under the impression that your grand scheme was for a glorious battle, not seducing some innocent girl."

"Well, you are right. My long-term intentions had been for battle. To reclaim all of the glory Vegeta had stolen from me. However, this… Oh this plan will be much more painful, not to mention humiliating for the dear king… Tell me Juurokugou; if our favorite Saiya-jin king was to die, whom do you think he would have wished to ascend his throne? Now, I thought perhaps a close elite soldier he was fond of, or that fool Kakarrot who had been so useful in the prince’s time of need, but no, guess who Vegeta names as his successor in the event of his death?"

"Princess Bulma?" The warrior said with the slightest hint of a smirk.

"Surprised? I certainly was, but the intrigue doesn’t end there my friend. Vegeta’s yuigon has a clause, quite a complicated one in fact. Bulma is only acknowledged as his successor until one of two events takes place. The first is that she takes a formal mate, which she must do within five years of Vegeta’s death, thereby handing the kingship of Vegeta-sei to her chosen. Now, if she wishes not to take a mate, she is granted the second option, which must be fulfilled by the end of the five years specified. Her option is to name a man of her choice whom she deems fit to take the throne of Vegeta-sei."

"So then, she isn’t named as his successor. He’s pushing the burden of naming a heir onto her. How cowardly," Juurokugou scoffed.

"Cowardly indeed, but beneficial nonetheless. You see getting the princess into my bed isn’t enough; I need her heart as well. I need her to believe I am the one and only man in the entire universe that will ever satisfy her. It is only then that I can take her, willingly in wedlock. And once I have… Oh, once she is, without argument mine, all that will be left is for our little king to have a rather nasty ‘accident,’ and then I will have doubled my empire." Juunanagou paused, slowly closing his eyes and taking a long breath. "Hm… And depending on how well the onna satisfies me… I may even keep her around for a little while."

"You chance a lot sir." The soldier warned carefully. "If so much as one piece does not fall into your puzzle, you will never achieve what you desire."

"Have more faith than that man!" Juunanagou snapped quickly as he rose to pour himself a glass of wine. "Everything will go as planned. Just do exactly what I tell you and the princess will fall hopelessly in love with me."

"What do you have for me next then, sir?" The man asked anticipatively.

"Well, let’s just say your next task will be much more difficult than your last. And I won’t lie; you will end up in quiet a large amount of pain, but what I have in mind… It will work brilliantly for my purpose." Juunanagou smirked wickedly, before quickly downing his glass of wine and walking over to his associate. The two took seats across from one another as the Adajinzoun king shared his twisted plan.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Vegeta didn’t bother with the courtesy of knocking on his ward’s door before entering her room. He had been ready for an argument, she had lied to him, and gone against his wishes in regards to a man he hates. Yet, despite all the fury his earlier discussion with Kakarrot had invoked in him, the pain suddenly seemed to fade away as his eyes fell upon the sleeping figure of the onna.

Bulma lay buried under her covers, her long blue tresses scattered across her satin pillow; the only sound she released was her light breathing. With a sigh Vegeta walked over to her placid form, quietly taking a seat next to her on the bed. "So difficult to be angry when you look so angelic," he whispered into the darkness of the night, his hand tenderly reaching to touch her face. Among all of the females Vegeta had been acquainted with in his life, none he had ever met were blessed with the creamy porcelain skin his ward possessed. So gentle on the eyes, so soft to touch-- Vegeta halted his thoughts, he would not let his fondness for her cloud his intent.

As tempted, as the king was to stay all night, simply basking in her glowing purity, he stopped himself. He knew he would fail to get any sleep before his conscience was put to rest. "Onna," He whispered quietly enough so as not to scare her. The sound of his deep voice was just enough to awaken the sleeping princess to what would have been an ear-piercing scream had Vegeta not been quick enough to halt her cry.

"It’s me onna." Vegeta calmed the startled onna’s nerves as he covered her mouth to save the entire castle from being awakened.

Once Bulma’s eyes managed to refocus she nodded in relief as she reached for his hand to uncover her mouth. "Vegeta." She clutched her chest, finally calming herself down. "I thought you were some intruder."

"After you hear what I have to say you will most likely wish I had been." His voice suddenly turned cold.

Bulma’s gaze fell, she was all too aware of what Kakarrot must have told him. "Vegeta, before you say anything I wish to speak."

"There is no point onna, I already know everything." He held a growl, angrily crossing his arms and turning his back to her.

"No," she objected, "You don’t know everything. You know what you believe of Juunanagou. You know what you want me to do in regards to him. You probably know that I lied to you, and that I… I shared a moment of intimacy with Juunanagou. But what you don’t know is what I feel, and before you start chastising me, I think you should be told." Bulma paused for a response, when she received none she assumed he was willing to listen to what she had to say. "Juunanagou has been the model of kindness to me since the moment I met him. It was not his fault I was left unescorted, it was not his fault a fallen tree entered my riding path, and it was certainly not his fault that I willingly enjoyed his affections. Now, I am well aware of yours and Kakarrot’s dislike for the man, but… But I don’t share in your opinions of him. He is kind and charming and… and he has treated me in a fashion that makes me feel… attractive."

Bulma paused shortly as she thought back to the night before when Juunanagou had come into this very room, with the a flawless rose in hand, showering her with comments regarding her beauty. Her smile faded quickly however as she looked up to see the heavy tension in Vegeta’s back. She decided continuing was probably the wisest choice at that moment. "Now having said all of that, I must admit my turmoil in the situation. For all the bliss I felt in my time with Juunanagou, my guilt was ten times worse for fear of what my enjoyment was expending from you."

Vegeta listened to her pause again as he suddenly felt her two light arms wrap around his waist, as Bulma’s chin rested on his shoulder. He could feel her feminine curves press tightly against his back as she embraced him with tenderness only she could emit.

"It is from that regret that I have decided to do as you asked. This time without fault, I will not go near Juunanagou again. Regardless of what I believe of him, I will not allow my opinions to destroy what we have." Bulma released a faint sound of a sniffle before finishing her confession. "You mean too much to me to loose you over something as fleeting as a man’s presence."

As soon as Bulma finished she awaited his response. For what seemed like hours upon hours silence filled the dark room, before Vegeta finally turned to face his ward. Gently reaching out to embrace Bulma he lifted her into his lap, though careful to mind her injury. With one hand supporting her back and the other resting gently around her waist, Vegeta locked eyes with Bulma, the expression upon his face nothing less than reflective. "Do you remember when we first met, onna?"

"How could I forget?" She admitted, though not terribly sure where this was going. "You covered me with your cape, and pulled me into your lap as you are doing now. You saved me from possible hypothermia. There is not a day that slips my mind."

Vegeta looked blankly into the darkness of her room as he began to speak. "I shall never forget that day as well. The images of you with your bruises, frozen skin, and tear stained eyes. I will never forget how imposing my need was to protect you that day. When you came to live with me, I thought I would never have to feel such a need to protect as I did then, but that all changed. The moment I saw you with Juunanagou, entering the assembly, dancing with him, being carried in his arms… It was like reliving the first time I saw you. All the same fears, riled up inside me. My judgment clouded by no other need than to protect." Vegeta paused briefly as he turned his head, lightly brushing his cheek against Bulma’s before resting his forehead on her shoulder. "You are my protectorate, onna. Do you understand why I must restrict you so, even if that protection is from a danger you can not see?"

Bulma released a sigh before resting her head atop of her warden’s. "Of course I understand." She whispered, her hands wrapping around his torso, pulling herself closer to him. The warmth he filled within her was almost too much to bear. "I am sorry for the pain I have caused you."

Vegeta slowly pulled away from Bulma as he lifted a hand to cup her face. Gently running his thumb over her cheek his eyes bore into hers, almost as though searching for something he knew she would never speak. "Do you wish me to stay with you tonight?"

Though his question was chaste in its intentions, Bulma momentarily allowed her mind to wonder before responding. "That’s alright." She shook her head. "I am no longer a child. I don’t need your watchful eyes looming over me as I sleep."

"So you keep telling me." Vegeta raised a small smirk. "Then I shall see you in the morning. I will have breakfast brought to you."

"Thank you." Bulma smiled as Vegeta helped reposition her comfortably under the covers. He then placed an innocent kiss upon her forehead before removing himself from the bed.

"Goodnight, onna," he whispered before quietly leaving her room.

Bulma listened to the door close before settling herself back in bed. "Goodnight, my king," she whispered as her eyes fell shut. A smile graced the young princess’s lips. She knew her sleep would be filled with serene dreams.

* * * * *