Sorry for the long wait, but I felt that the "finale" of this mini-series should be all in one piece. There is no lemon, as I wanted to keep this rated T, and more on the appropriate side of things.

Let me know if you guys would rather see this is in two parts, being that it's rather long in comparison to the other chapters.

Coming Clean

Chapter 11 - Wrong Place, Wrong time Part Five

Yamucha brushed a patch of hair down, attempting to look more presentable. He grinned uneasily, awaiting the heiress's response to his flowers. Obviously he hadn't noticed the prince's presence yet. "So? What do you say? Will you give me another shot?"

Bulma was speechless. Her eyes shifted from Yamucha's position at the door over to Vegeta's. Or rather, Vegeta's previous position. The Saiyan had left the room without a sound. She backed away from her visitor uncomfortably. "Will you excuse me for just a minute?"

She dashed back into the kitchen, slamming the door in her suitor's face. "Vegeta?" she hissed into the hallway. "Come on, Vegeta, where are you?" Bulma continued her trek from the kitchen all the way down the hallway and to the back door which led to the yard. There she finally spied the prince on his way out to his ship. Throwing the door open, she called after him. "Vegeta, wait up! Where are you going?"

He didn't falter. "Use your eyes, woman. I'm going to train."

"Training? Right now? How could you even think about that after what we just-" she was interrupted by the loud bang of the ship's door closing. Her eyes widened in surprise for a split second, then narrowed. "Oh, if he thinks he's getting out of it that easily, he's got another thing coming…" she grumbled to herself as she used her key to access the ship's exterior control panel.

The door popped open soon afterward and she stormed in. "Listen, Vegeta, don't worry about Yamucha, okay?"

The Saiyan didn't turn from his post at the center of the ship where he was striking keys with more force than was necessary. She didn't sense any kind of response from him, so she continued. "I don't feel the same way I did about him anymore. He means nothing more to me than a friend now. We won't ever be dating again."

Touching the final key to ready his training settings, Vegeta finally turned to look at her. He folded his arms exasperatedly. "Is there a reason you've chosen to inform me of this?"

For a second, Bulma was struck dumb. Finally she blurted out, "Be-because of what happened back there-"

"What 'happened back there' was nothing more than a lapse in judgment. I suggest you forget anything like that ever took place."

"Hey, buddy," Bulma snapped out of her stance. "You're the one who kissed me, remember? You're telling me, right now, that you have no feelings for me whatsoever?"

A smirk blazed across the prince's mouth. "I may have some feelings for you." His eyes traveled up and down her body, emphasizing his point. "But I can assure you that they are not the kinds of feelings you're hoping for." He turned back to the center console and added over his shoulder, "Now run along, silly girl. I have work to do."

Bulma could do nothing but clench her fists and stare at the arrogant ass. "You-you…" She took a deep breath and let it out in an exasperated burst. "Fine, then." She turned and marched down the stairs without another word. Hearing the hum of the gravity machine behind her, she strode up to the kitchen door from the outside, coming upon the still-nervous Yamucha, who was tapping his foot and attempting to straighten his flowers.

Grabbing him by the wrist, she pulled him along beside her as she marched straight up to his car. "You're taking me on a date," she stated simply, opening the door and plopping herself in the passenger seat.

"I-I am?" He glanced down at her confusedly. Meeting her fiery gaze, he corrected his tone. "Oh, I mean…I am!"

Yamucha excitedly hopped into the driver's seat and turned on the engine. "I knew you'd come around, babe," he said with a grin.

Bulma blew a strand of hair from her face. "Yeah, sure. Just drive, okay?"

Meanwhile, the prince wiped a patch of sweat from his brow. He had no need for such meaningless attachments - this he knew to be the truth. This is what he had known to be the truth for all of his life. He wasn't about to change his ideas for some…stupid girl.

Correction: stupid human girl.

Why was he even giving it this much thought? Part of him believed it was because of Kakarot. Ever since he had come to this planet after namek, he couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to have lived his whole life like Kakarot had. To have a family and all those idiotic friends. Perhaps there was more to it than he thought.

Of course, he never delved any further into the idea than that. He had never truly given it any deep deliberation. Just fleeting wonderments that came about when he trained or before he went to sleep at night…that was all. Now it was more of a conscious thought. The prince wasn't sure why these notions meant anything more now than they had before, but for some reason, he wondered - Was it possible that his friends and family weren't weighing Kakarot down? Was it possible that they might, in fact, be the reason behind his strength?

More importantly - Was it possible that these attachments might work in the same way for Vegeta?

Taking a break from his training, the prince lowered himself to the ground and wiped the sweat from his eyes once more. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea to pay the buffoon a visit. Useless as he may be intellectually, he would still make a good sparring partner. And it could also offer the prince a chance to see if the way he interacted with his family had anything to do with his training, and maybe even get a few questions answered.

Unfortunately for Vegeta, this much was enough to talk him into making the trip out to the Sons, against his better judgment. He stepped out from his ship into the evening air and took off in the direction of the rest of his race.

When he arrived at Mt. Paozu, Vegeta wasted no time in pounding on the door, interrupting the family's dinner. He waited none-too-patiently outside as he heard a chair push back from the table inside the house. Chi Chi opened the door. "How can I-" she started off with a respectful smile, which quickly dropped at the sight of the visitor. "Oh. It's you. What do you want?"

The prince wore an even less pleased face than she did…if that was possible. "My business is with Kakarot."

Right on cue, Goku's face popped up behind his wife's in the doorway. "Hey Vegeta!" he greeted him with all the reserve of a four-year-old with ADHD. "What are you doing here?"

"I need a sparring partner," Vegeta stated simply. "Are you up for the task, Kakarot?"

"Sure!" Goku's eyes lit up with glee. "I just have to finish eating first - be right back!"

The elder Saiyan didn't have time to respond before Goku had dashed back to the table and begun shoveling food into his mouth. The prince turned up his nose at the disgusting eating habits displayed. Just then, Goku grabbed a bowl of something and lifted it toward him. "Rou rant thumb?" he asked through the noodles in his mouth.

Vegeta raised a brow and didn't answer, so Goku swallowed and repeated himself. "Want some?"

"You disgust me."

Goku cocked his head to the side. "So…no, then?"

The prince didn't supply any further answers, so Goku shrugged his shoulders and went back to scarfing down the food. When he had finally finished his entire meal Goku was out the door in a flash, kissing his wife goodbye and patting his son on the head. When they had stepped outside, the pair took off into the distant hills, reaching their destination of open space in an intstant. They touched down in a small valley a few miles from the Son house and immediately got to fighting.

Vegeta couldn't deny that his Saiyan blood was making him feel excited, nigh giddy, at the prospect of fighting his rival. But the prince had to remind himself that the real reason he was here was to find out more about what went on when Goku wasn't fighting. So, he allowed himself to relish the chance to spar with him, even though he knew well that it was too soon to fight him full-on, since he hadn't achieved the Super-Saiyan status of his rival.

An hour went by, and soon the both of them were panting. Goku wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and grinned. "You've really improved, Vegeta."

The prince bristled at this. He couldn't believe the audacity of the moron. How dare he patronize the prince of all Saiyans! But, he resigned himself to fold his arms in defiance and nothing more. Now was not the time.

After a few minutes of silence had passed between them, Vegeta finally ventured one raspy question. "Why did you do it, Kakarot?"

Goku smiled confusedly. "Do what?"

"Do that," the prince answered, pointing back toward his fellow Saiyan's house. "All of that. Why did you choose to live that way?"

The younger of the two didn't hesitate in answering. "I didn't. It kind of…chose me. I made some decisions that led me there. Marrying Chi Chi was one of them. It all just kind of…happened. Now that I have it, though, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world."

"Yes, but why, Kakarot? Why would you want to have so many people depending on you? Why would you want to be around your son all the time? And…why would you choose to marry that harpy?"

Goku just grinned nostalgically. "Well, first off, I like having my friends depend on me. It means I can do things for them to show them that I care. I want to be around my son all the time because he's my family, and he's like a part of me." He hesitated. "And…well, I didn't exactly choose to marry Chi Chi right away."

This pricked the prince's interest. "What do you mean?"

"Well, at first…" The Saiyan grinned sheepishly. "I…sort of thought a bride was something to eat."

Vegeta couldn't help but grin at his stupidity. "That seems on par with you, Kakarot."

"Yeah, well," he scratched the back of his head and moved the conversation along. "Anyway, when I found out that it wasn't, I decided that marriage was something I didn't want. But when I told that to Chi Chi, she got really sad. Right then I realized that I never wanted to see her like that again, and if marrying her was what it would take to make her happy, it would be worth it. So, I married her, and now I know it was the best choice I've ever made."

"But how can that be?" Vegeta spat out. "She constantly orders you around and she screams like a banshee."

Goku laughed at this. "Well, that may be true, but for one thing, she's not like that all the time. She's a loving mother and a good wife. She just gets fed up with me a lot. And can you blame her?"

"I suppose not," Vegeta rolled his eyes.

"It's kind of like…she's my other half," Goku continued. "Even when she's yelling, I know that sometimes she needs to yell to get through to me. I know that she loves me, and I love her. And no matter what she's acting like, when I look at her, I see my other half."

Vegeta rolled his eyes again, but this time at the Saiyan's words. "Alright, Kakarot. Forget I asked. I had no idea you had so much of that romantic garbage stuck up in your head."

Goku just laughed and mimicked the fighting posture Vegeta was assuming. "Whatever you say, Vegeta."

"That's right. Now let's get back to it, shall we?" The two of them went at it for the remainder of the evening until Goku finally had to return to his house to see his son off to bed. Goku thanked Vegeta for the workout and he replied with a "Hmph, sure," and took off back toward Capsule Corp.

When he arrived, the prince considered flying straight into his room from the window as he sometimes did, but the hunger from his training made him decide to make a quick stop in the kitchen first. He came in through the back door and immediately set about emptying the refrigerator. As he closed the door after grabbing an armful of items, the prince noted that he didn't sense Bulma anywhere. She must still be out with her "date". To his surprise, Vegeta found himself grimacing at this thought. He shrugged it off and began to munch on the pear in his hand and the ham on his plate, more or less at the same time.

It was then that the front door burst open, and Bulma twirled in happily. She glided into the kitchen to snatch a bottled water from the fridge and ignored the prince's presence entirely as she dashed upstairs. This only served to irk Vegeta, and he put it out of his mind as he finished the rest of his meal and headed up to his room.

If she wanted to ignore him, that was fine by him.

Days passed, and still neither had said a word to the other. By this time, it was actually becoming a challenge for Bulma to avoid being around the prince. Her father's occupancy of her workstation had gone on longer than she thought, and her favorite places to work around the house also seemed to be Vegeta's favorite after-hours spots to relax. Not to mention the fact that no matter how many times Yamucha showed up to take her out again, she refused and stayed at home.

Their vows of silence were finally broken one afternoon when Bulma sat in her usual seat at the kitchen island, her hair a mess and her eyes growing tired. She had yet another blueprint sprawled across the counter and was talking it over with her father. He didn't seem as certain as she was about it.

"Dear, I don't think this is coming together quite the way we had planned. Perhaps we should consider just scrapping the whole idea."

Bulma sighed. "Dad, I really think we could make this work. It seems like we could design something that looks like this…" She scribbled a sketch of another part on a piece of notebook paper. "…and it would work just fine."

As if on cue, Vegeta entered the room for his afternoon lunch break. He didn't seem to notice the two other people in the room as he headed straight for his giant, white best friend.

He was stopped, however, by Dr. Briefs. "Hold on for a moment there, old boy. I believe we could use your help."

"Dad-" Bulma attempted to interrupt him.

"Now wait just a minute, dear, I really do think he could help us. After all, wasn't he the one who helped you with that last project?" The doctor addressed the prince again. "Now, do you think you could take a look at this for us, my good chap?"

Vegeta sighed and turned around to give the papers a once-over. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could service his stomach.

"Fine," Bulma interjected. "Here. If he thinks he can fix it, let him try." She tossed her pencil at the prince, who picked it up immediately, made some changes to Bulma's drawing, put it down, and calmly walked over to the refrigerator, his work done.

Looking over Vegeta's work, both the doctor and Bulma were impressed and taken aback. "By jove, dear!" her father exclaimed. "With the help of your Saiyan friend, here, you've perfected this model. Why, it's almost as if you two were each others' missing half!"

Seeing the reaction he received from both sides of the room, Dr. Briefs cleared his throat. "I, er- strictly as a team of engineers, of course." He didn't sense the mood improving, so he decided to change the subject. "My dear boy, how did you know the piece we were missing?"

"It was similar to one of the components of the early scouter models," Vegeta answered flatly, reaching for a left-over sandwich.

The doctor gave him a good-natured slap on the back. "Well, thank you, my boy. You've saved us a lot of trouble." Then, with a smile, he left the room.

As he chewed his food, Vegeta watched the heiress gather up her things to leave the room. As he focused his attention on her, he wondered if what Goku had said was true. Despite himself, he wondered if there really was such a person in the universe who would show him his other half.

Feeling his eyes on her, Bulma looked up. "Thanks for your help, Vegeta." He heard only a twinge of irritation in her voice.

He didn't answer, and she gathered up her things and left the room. He stood there for a long time afterward, staring at the counter and wondering.

Later that night, Bulma sat on the couch downstairs, watching TV for the first time in a long while. She usually used it only to take her mind off of things…which was exactly what she needed right now. She sighed as she stretched her limbs over the couch and reached for her drink. When she turned back to her previous position, she saw a figure entering the room from the dark hallway. "Dad?"

As Vegeta stepped in, she changed her tone. "Oh, it's you."

He grunted in response and crossed the floor to the couch. The prince sat down, being careful not to touch the heiress's feet, and reached for the remote. He began to flip through the channels, earning a howl from the blue-haired girl. "What do you think you're doing? I was watching that!"

"Now you're watching this," Vegeta replied without looking at her.

"Hey, come on, give me the remote!" she pouted as she reached for his hand. "There are like, a dozen other TV's in the house. Why do you want to watch this one, anyway?"

He didn't answer - just continued flipping channels.

Bulma wasn't about to give up that easily. She sat up and reached for the remote, which Vegeta nonchalantly raised above his head without even looking at her. "You're going to have to do better than that," he leered at her.

"Oh?" She placed both hands on her hips for a moment. Then, suddenly, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. Panicking, he started to edge away from her, but it was too late. She delicately planted a kiss on his lips, melting his body and causing the remote to drop immediately to the couch.

She smiled, pleased with her own shrewdness, and grabbed for her prize. What happened next, though, she hadn't expected. The prince snatched both of her wrists with lightning speed and pinned them to the couch cushions. Before she knew what was happening, she felt his lips pressing hard against hers, and she realized she was lucky to be sitting down as she lost all feeling in her legs. She closed her eyes and allowed him to ravage her mouth. Finally, she fought against herself to push him away. Vegeta sat back on his haunches, allowing her to pant until she had regained control of herself enough to ask him, "What is this? Why are you doing this?"

He shifted his weight to press himself against her again, and offered two words as a response. "You're beautiful."

Somehow, from the look in his eyes, she knew he meant more than just in her looks. He stood up from the couch and lifted her up, carrying her to his room. He set her down gently, then forced her onto the bed somewhat roughly, and kissed her in a way she had never been kissed before.

An entire night passed in flashes of sheets and skin for the both of them. It wasn't until the early hours of the morning that they both lay panting to catch their breath afterward.

It was almost dawn when Bulma finally sat up, the moonlight gracing her skin and hair, making her disheveled appearance look even more gorgeous to the Saiyan who lay next to her. She was quiet for a long time, and the prince waited for her to speak. Finally she murmured a question. "Are you going to leave?"

He hadn't expected that to be the first thing she said afterward. The Saiyan prince thought for a long time before answering. He knew that she didn't just mean tonight. She knew that his only purpose for being on Earth was to fight the androids, and that his plan was more than likely to leave afterward. He let out a breath slowly as she nestled back into the crook of his shoulder, awaiting a response. "No," he answered finally. "I am not going to leave."

She smiled at this as she drifted off to sleep, and Vegeta wondered if this was the feeling Kakarot had told him about. After giving it more thought, however, he decided that he didn't much care. If this wasn't the feeling he was supposed to be having, it was pretty damned good, anyway.

The upcoming chapter will be Goku/Chi Chi-centric, so I hope you're all ready for a change. ^^

In the meantime...reviews?