00/05/05-07

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Okay this chapter is for Princess Veggie and her sanity and for Smooch-chan and our daily social classes. *Grin* A BIG thanks to Kukyu for editting all my work!

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Bulma did all she could to stay asleep the following morning, battling the urge to wake up and face the dreary world. Her fingers were white from clenching the sleeping bag so close to her and were beginning to cramp up. Her body hurt both emotionally and physically, her cheek was tender to the touch and her shoulder where she'd slid on the ground ached with every movement. Bruised face relaxed, Bulma inhaled deeply, searching her soul for the courage to face another day here.

Bulma's eyes fell on her computer; it always helped take away the pain before. The chair protested when she sat on it wrapped in the worn camping gear. The computer whirled to life and Bulma began to slowly relax, fingers flying over the keyboard to the familiar file hidden deep in its circuits. The file came up and she initiated the decoding process, and waited for the slow Sayian technology to comply. Opening a familar page she slowly and deliberately read over the title and what she'd written so far. She thought for a long moment before choosing how to start the entry into this project of hers. The beginning was usually the best way to start so she did just that. She reread what she'd already written making sure it was accurate.

'The Project'

The Prince has posted guards outside of my room, two men; they both look a lot like Son Goku, well built with angled faces and dark hair. They both have tails they keep wrapped tightly around their waists, hands behind their backs, never saying a word. I couldn't handle being trapped in a room or being followed. I was beginning to develop cabin fever again. I spent a lot of time alone in my room and finally I found out how the orbs work. Their glass balls filled with a metal like element that’s warm and malleable to the touch it glows when it comes in contact with oxygene. I've recorded the schematics for the orbs and hidden them in a spare capsule I have.

The two burly male guards where replaced by two female ones. These ones were more talkative and help rid me of my growing insanity. One was taller then the other with a jagged red scar down her right arm, from shoulder to wrist. The shorter one was unmarked save for a circular shaped birthmark on her neck; she was referred to as Potatirs and was more open with me then her companion. Corais was more tight-lipped and had more of a violent streak than Potatirs. She was always advising Potatris that it was inappropriate to fraternise with prisoners and suchN. The shorter one would laugh and tell Corais that Bulma was hardly a prisoner if she was staying in the Prince's quarters. Over the next week I tested out my limits with my new Guards and found them to be quite lenient. I could roam the ship as I please, while they watched on, ensuring that I staying within eyesight at all times.

Overall the ship was rather boring to the Saiyans. It had a circular design and 3 separate decks. The lower one was where the escape pods where kept, along with the labs. There were no Sayian scientists in the laboratories; apparently their weren't intelligent enough. Corais and Potatirs followed Bulma carefully, watching her every action. Between the two of them they had their own suspicions to why Bulma stayed in the Prince's rooms, but it wasn't for them to speculate upon in public. The second deck was the mess hall where all the soldiers, save for the Prince, ate, the cramped crew quarters and the bridge. Bulma was fascinated with everything technological aboard the ship. The two guards could not begin to come to grips with her fascination with the ship; they just accepted that it must be a 'Chikyuu thing' and continued on. The top deck was devoted entirely to the Prince; no one entered the deck unless called directly by Prince Vegeta himself.

The Chikyuu native began to spend hours on the bottom deck, playing and tinkering with everything she could get her hands on. Her constant interventions became a complaint of other workers until the Prince became so angry he forbid her from playing with anything on the lower deck. So as retribution for cutting her off from what she loved to do, Bulma played with the gadgets in her room. She'd play with the shower controls and reverse them just before Vegeta would stalk in and take a shower or she'd be rather destructive with the security codes on the doors. The Prince was so angered he finally had his men build a lab for her on the upper level to stop her from making him look like an ass in front of his people. The lab wasn't as big as the one she'd occupied on Chikyuu in Capsule Corporation, but it was good enough to satisfy her fetish to invent things.

On one of her tours with her guards she's struck up a conversation about Vejiitasei. Her mind craved and desired to know everything about the planet and its customs. Potatirs, who was usually talkative one, fell strangely silent; she wasn't sure how to respond to the question. "I'll tell you all you want to know tomorrow." She looked over at Corais and nodded before leaving the duo alone. Bulma felt like she'd offended the woman in some way and kept quiet for the remainder of the day.

Potatris entered the bridge and waited patiently for the Prince to acknowledge her presence. He turned and signalled for her to speak. She crouched on one knee, showing her loyalty, and spoke what was on her mind. "The Chikyuu Woman is asking about Vejiitasei. I wish to know what you would like me to tell her." Her eyes trained on the floor, studying the panelling. "How dare you make demands from me." he hissed at her then strangely calmed down fast. "Tell her whatever she wishes to know. Now leave!" He turned and the woman scrambled out of the room. Potatirs returned to Corais and Bulma. She whispered their new orders in Corais' ear and then turned to the ever-inquisitive Bulma. "What is it you want to know about Vejiitasei?" Her friendly manner had returned and Corais seemed more at ease.

"I wanna know EVERYTHING!" She smiled and turned her brain into Miss Scientist mode, her blue eyes shinning in anticipation. Corais exchanged a strange glance with her companion and took the story into her own hands. "We are Sayians; we live to fight and conquer the weak. We are ruled by a long line of Royal Men…" Bulma cut in, "Men?" Corais nodded, "All the Royal family is from the gene banks, they don't bond like the rest of us. The population is divided into 4 ranks: Super Elite, Elite, 2nd class and 3rd class depending upon out power ratings when we are born." Bulma was doing her little 'I have a question’ dance again so Corais stopped and waited for to ask. "Why don't they bond?"

"It’s not in their genes. They don't bond to keep the line pure of any flaws like the rest of us. The rest of us all carry genetic flaws in someway that could hinder the coming of the Super Sayian." She began to elaborate to avoid more questions. "A Super Sayian is an invincible warrior with unlimited strength and power. Prince Vegeta has been prophesised to become the legendary Super Sayian..." An attack of dumb blond syndrome hit Bulma just then. "Is that why he's so anal?" The two guards exchanged horrified glances and looked back at their charge in absolute shock.

"What? Did I say something wrong?" The Chikyuu woman was confused; the dumb blond syndrome was hitting her hard. Potatirs slapped Corais on the back, the scarred Saiyan in the mists of becoming sick on the floor. "You shouldn't talk about the Prince in such a manner, if you value your life." The short guard's eyes still showed shock to Bulma's inherent mistake.

Eventually the Guards took Bulma back to her room and continued their conversation out of the view of the ship's crew. "What exactly is bonding?" The blue haired woman pulled the word from her head. "Bonding is the link between two Sayians, it keeps them together for life. You humans call it love I think. When you bond you have the mark of the stronger partner appear on your body, see." Potatirs leaned towards Bulma and tapped her neck. "This is a bonding mark." The alien studied the mark closely, "Who's mark is it?" she scrutinised over the interesting shaped tattoo. "Its mine." Corais spoke up, causing Bulma to whip her head up and look at the two. "You mean you’re...you’re..." The word latched on to the tip of her tongue refusing to let loose. "Yes" they both replied. Bulma just nodded, settling in with the idea of having two lesbian bodyguards. She absently reached her hand down and scratched the stubborn rash on her thigh.

"What...what if the Prince were to bond, is that bad?" Her fingers worked at scratching the annoying rash through her pants. "Yes and no, it is bad because then the Prince will be emotionally attached to his mate for life. No because it's nearly impossible for someone of the royal line to bond. Besides if the unthinkable were to happen they would not be allowed to produce a heir, therefor the line would remain pure of any flaws his mate might have." Bulma nodded, understanding the simple explanation while her mind was working hard on other details. A double blip from the guards’ communicators ended their discussion; they'd been signalled to leave. They approached the door when Vegeta entered, the arrogant look on his face as usual. The female Saiyajin bowed and continued out.

Bulma warily watched the Prince as he completely ignored her, going about his usual routine. He called for his meal with his scouter then left to take a shower, leaving a pile of sweaty clothing in his wake. At first Bulma watched him as he walked towards the shower then she turned her attention to the ideas that were forming in her scientific mind. 'Am I bonded to him? But I thought they said it was impossible, correction, NEARLY impossible.' She mentally ran over everything the Guards had told her about bonding; she did present most of the symptoms. Cautiously, she peeled down one side of her pants and studied her left thigh, the rash was still there. It was slightly red with dry flakes of skin peeling off at the center. She squinted and looked at it closer, was that lines she saw under the dead layer of skin? With a long nail she began to pick at the flakes, pulling them off trying to see what was hidden underneath. Faintly she heard the water in the bathroom shut off so to avoid being caught in a compromising position she pulled her pants back up and sat on the bed, one hand resting over her leg.

Vegeta came out in new clothing just as someone knocked on the door with his meal. Five gruff looking men entered the room each caring two massively huge plates of food. She sighed quietly, 'Not even polite enough to order me some, Arrogant Ass!' she thought sharply. The 'Arrogant Ass' looked at her sideways from his meal with his coal coloured eyes. "I'm not deaf, Woman!" he sneered at her while devouring some indistinguishable beast. "I didn't say anything." She hissed through tightly clenched teeth. "When you’re bonded you hear each others’ thoughts when emotions run high." The Prince bluntly stated before turning back to his partially finished meal. She glared at him one last time before stalking off to take a shower to calm her nerves and the sudden urge to cause fatal bodily harm to that annoying man.

She turned on the shower with the electronic keypad in the stall, warm water sputtered out of the nozzle and landed on Bulma's body. Feeling content to just let the water wash away everything she'd been through she sat down and leaned against the wall. 'I'll just close my eyes for a second. This feels so good' Her pale eyelids dipped lower and lower until she'd fallen asleep with the warm liquid soothing her into a pleasant state of oblivion. After a couple of hours the water had began to run chilly, disturbing the dreamer from her rest. Bulma stood up, wondering how long she'd been asleep. She turned off the water and reached out of the stall for a towel. With two towels firmly wrapped around her body and on her head she stepped out into the steamy room. The towel holding her hair was coming loose so she stood in front of the mirror to fix it, the fabric dropped to the ground as her eyes focused on the mirror.

Someone had written on the steamy mirror while she was in the shower, she screamed, not having full reign over her emotions. She spun around with the fear that whoever had written the note on the mirror was still in the tiny room with her. There was a crash to her left and she tightened the grip on her remaining towel, the vapour parted and Vegeta stood in front of her, a mixture of anger and concern painted on his face. All she could do was point to the mirror as she felt her legs being to give out from under her. The Prince caught her with ease and looked over at what she pointed, the inscription on the mirror was clear as he read it to himself out loud.

He shifted the collapsed woman in his arms and called for guards with his scouter. They arrived immediately and assembled swiftly. "Find whoever wrote this and bring me their head!" He growled, still holding the woman. The guards one by one looked at the mirror then disappeared out of the Royal Chambers, not quite sure what to think of their Prince holding the exotic woman. Vegeta realised he'd compromised his composure when he felt Bulma shift in his arms. Angry at himself, he handed her to the nearest guard, who happened to be Corais, before storming off.

Unsure of what to do with the scantily clad human Corais laid her on the bed and called for Potatirs, she'd was more inclined to handle this type of situation. The other female guard appeared shortly after the call went through. Through her haze Bulma could make out voices. She fought to regain consciousness against the blackness that threatened to engulf her. She triumphantly emerged and saw her two guards squabbling silently at the foot of the bed. Thankful that the towel had stayed firmly with her body, she slid off the bed to get dressed. Clothes in her arms she was about to head for the bathroom but opted against ever going back in that room again. She did a quick change into a long t-shit before politely interrupting the small fight. She limped over to the guards, her left leg burning. "You’re limping, you should sit down!" Potatirs said, somewhat afraid that the Prince would think they'd damaged her. The burning sensation was beginning to lessen in other parts of her leg but it continued to get stronger exactly where the rash should be.

Bulma couldn't take it anymore; she began furiously scrapping the rash that'd become an oozing cut. She got some relief from scratching but not enough to stop it from driving her crazy. The two others looked on curiously before Potatirs pulled Bulma's hands away to stop her from causing any more damage to herself. "Let me scratch it, it hurts... it hurts" she whimpered, struggling to calm the itch in her leg. "Nothing will cure it, it's a bonding mark, Bulma-san." Corais said evenly in her unfazed tone. "What do you mean?" She stopped her struggles briefly to ask. "You've bonded with someone, or more specifically, the Prince." The Chikyuu stopped fighting the shorter woman's grasp all together. "NANI?? That’s IMPOSSIBLE, I don't feel anything for that arrogant son of a bitch!" The curses were flying out of Bulma's mouth in multiple Earth languages, cursing the Prince and anything associated with him. She stood up on the bed, yelling down angrily at the Saiyajin that stood before her. Potatirs leaned over and whispered to her mate casually then resumed listening to Bulma screech at them for letting the impossible occur to her. In her burst of hatred for her newly laid fate the Chikyuu woman lost her balance on the soft mattress, her arms flailed helplessly in the air before she unceremoniously fell down on her guards. Potatirs caught her effortlessly while Corais absently scratched her scar; she'd obviously taken this kind of verbal abuse before.

It was at that unfortunate time that Vegeta chose to enter the room. He blinked once, taking in the scene in front of him before flying off the handle. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING? PUT HER DOWN!" His hand began to glow and Potatirs instantly set Bulma on the floor and kneeled on the ground. Shock sent Bulma's mind spinning, ‘what was he thinking or better yet what was he doing?’ The aura around his fist faded and he yelled at them to get out. He looked over at Bulma once more before sitting down on the bed and yawning, something she'd never see him do.

She heard him lay down on the bed and call for the lights to be turned out. Slightly annoyed that he hadn't warned her, Bulma was left to find her way in the dark. She crawled into bed and laid her head down to rest. She was too agitated to sleep. It slowly dawned on her that Vegeta had never gone to bed when she was still awake. She shrugged it off and pulled the blankets closer to her and forced herself to sleep. Midway through the night an unfamiliar sound roused her. It took her a long moment to figure out what the sound was. Muffling a giggle she listened to Vegeta snore, 'How ironic, the Prince snores! Their perfect Prince snores!' The laugher was beginning to overtake her and she had to bury her face in a pillow to keep from being heard.

The blue haired woman woke up and was surprised to still find Vegeta sleeping next to her; he was usually long gone before she was ever up. Forfeiting her usual shower she pulled on a pair of pants after examining the extent of the damage her scratching had done. It was minor, a few small abrasions from her nails was about the limit, but the dark lines she'd seen before were even more pronounced. Checking once more that Vegeta was still soundly sleeping, she pulled on her bra under night shirt, the night shirt landed on the ground in a pile as she sat on the bed in a pair of jeans and a blue bra. Vegeta and his impossibly bad timing opened one dark eye and focused on the half naked woman sitting on his bed. Bulma was meanwhile reaching for a clean shirt when she spotted the newly awoken prince staring at her. She tugged the shirt over her head slowly as not to catch her earrings on the hem. 'Great, now this probably looks like I'm trying to seduce him with this. Well done, Bulma' she mentally hit herself multiple times.

Breakfast arrived as usual in large quantities for Vegeta and one small bowl of oatmeal for Bulma. She ate quickly and then got up heading for the door. Out in the hallway she expected to see Corias and Potatirs, but one large looking brute had taken their place. He was twice as big as any Saiyajin she'd seen yet.

'End Project'

Bulma leaned back in her chair feeling somewhat better that she'd immersed herself in work. The sleeping bag lay discarded on the floor along with empty breakfast dishes. Sitting idly for so long just staring at the computer was making her eyes blur and water. She stood up and stretched, hearing the sounds of joints popping and shifting. For some reason she recalled the dream she had the previous night and the strange writing on the bathroom mirror.

She searched her mind for a possible answer to what the mirror incident was about but nothing came to mind. There was a soft knock on her door and Bulma jumped about three feet into the air. Potatirs stood in the door. "I have news about the incident from two nights ago." Shakily, Bulma stood up straight and walked towards her former guard, "What is it?"

"We believe it’s a spell, an incantation. We caught the one who placed it, S'Imer; she was a slave. We don't know much, although what we do know is that anyone who read the incantation out loud is affected, but only if they were bonded. S'Imer died trying to escape this morning so we can't reverse it unless someone onboard is a magic user. We've decoded the spell the best we can; it’s meant to entrance a pair of bonded people, then stronger one is meant to kill the weaker one then kill themselves." Bulma gasped and made the connection between the spell, her dream and Vegeta slapping her.

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