Find A Good Man


Bulma put down the book she'd been trying to read with an irritated sigh. No good. That jerk
Yamcha had called at the last minute to cancel on his date with her tonight, and she'd been
attempting to console herself with trashy romance- to no avail. And it was impossible to
concentrate on anything with Vegeta staring at the back of her head like that.

She was facing in the other direction, but she would swear he was looking at her.
Just a minute ago he'd come down from his shower after training all day long - at least he
didn't break the gravity room today- and slumped down on his usual chair in the lounge room.
He wasn't doing anything, not grumbling or demanding food or any of his usual shit. Just lying
there.

She turned around, and sure enough, he had been looking at her, his brow slightly furrowed.

"What are you looking at?"

He wrinkled his nose in annoyance and cast about for the TV remote. "Dumped again, huh?"

"Dumped?" she repeated, outraged. "Yamcha was just busy tonight, that's all. He had to work
late."

Vegeta chuckled cruelly. "I bet you even believe that." Finding the remote, he turned the TV on
and proceeded to channel surf.

Again Bulma sighed. "You're a pain in the ass, Vegeta. Yamcha learned his lesson after the last
time. Besides, he loves me."

"Hmph." The saiyan prince returned his attention to the news, where scenes of a train crash
seemed to greatly amuse him. "Get me some food, woman."

Bulma ignored him, opening her book again. The hero had realised he was in love with the
heroine, but was scared to tell her. Instead he distracted himself in numerous (and highly
detailed) one-nighters to try and keep his mind off her. The plot held little interest for her,
and after a few more pages she put it down once again.

"That jerk," she muttered. She'd have enough of this; she was going to bed. She stood and walked
over to the stairway. "I'm going to bed," she announced, then looked over her shoulder at
Vegeta. "You coming?"

His eyes snapped up to hers.

It had become a little habit of hers, for the last few months. When she wasn't fighting with
Vegeta she would flirt with him, enjoying the shocked looks on his face whenever she said
something like that. The first time had been priceless, his face utterly stunned and then
enraged when he realised she was only teasing him. The fight they'd had then! But the way he was
looking at her now... suddenly she wasn't sure that she should have said that. His eyes were
black as coal, and she couldn't look away from them.

All of a sudden she realised what she was wearing. Her silk nightie, and nothing else. It wasn't
indecent, coming down almost to her knees and not showing too much cleavage, but it felt like
she was naked.

Bulma didn't know exactly what her relationship with Vegeta was, or what she wanted it to be.
The vast majority of the time he was 'his Royal Pain in the Arse', but she enjoyed their
screaming fights, and was sure he did too. And once or twice, their eyes would meet, just like
right now...

"You shouldn't say such things, woman," he muttered and dropped his eyes.

"Why not?" She frowned, setting a hand on her hip. "I'll do whatever the hell I want."

"You shouldn't talk like that unless you mean it. I don't think you understand how easily I
could hurt you."

She snorted. "Mr High and Mighty, again. Can't beat Goku, I don't think I'd have too much
trouble whipping your ass into shape." She gave him a sly, teasing look. "Besides, who says I
don't mean it?" Without waiting for him to reply, she turned and started up the stairway.

Her heart almost stopped in her chest when she heard Vegeta stir behind her, and then the sound
of his footfalls coming her way. What??? She shook her head slightly and headed towards her
room. In a few seconds she was sure- he was following her. She paused with her hand on the
door- what was she doing?- and then opened it, leaving it open behind her.

She turned to look at the saiyan who had just stepped into her bedroom. His eyes were hot on
her, his stance demanding. He shut the door.

"Vegeta, I- "

"It's too late for that now." His voice was husky. He pulled off his muscle-shirt, revealing
his beautifully sculpted chest, and before her wide eyes he undid the tie on his pants and let
them fall to the ground. Naturally he wasn't wearing any underwear. Bulma swore softly at the
size of him- so big, for such a little warrior!- real fear gripping her. She hadn't meant for
this to be happening! It was all too fast.

He advanced on her with deadly purpose in his eyes. Bulma backed away, frightened, and when the
backs of her knees hit her bed she sat down abruptly, for her legs suddenly wouldn't hold her.
"Don't do this, Vegeta," she begged softly. "Please."

"I warned you," was his only reply, his eyes coldly determined. He put a hard hand on her
shoulder- she flinched at his touch- and turned her around, bending her over the end of her
bed.

Bulma shrieked in protest, struggling wildly, but her resistance meant nothing to him. One hand
on her back between her shoulder-blades pushed her firmly down, holding her in place, while the
other lifted her nightie till it bunched around her waist. She kicked out, and felt her heel
connect solidly with his body. Too solidly. He gave a tiny grunt, but she felt like her foot
was broken. "Please, Vegeta!" she cried. "This is rape!"

"It's not rape when both people want it." He knelt down behind her, his hands tightening
slightly on her. "You can't always get away with tempting danger, woman. It doesn't work like
that."

"Please..." she whimpered, and then a low scream of pain burst from her as he thrust deep into
her. This wasn't happening, this couldn't be happening, no, no...

Again and again he slammed into her, his breathing heavy and laboured- she didn't know it, but
he was fighting to control himself so that he did not accidentally kill her. She bit down on
her blankets to stifle her cries. It felt like he was ripping her in half!

His thrusts gained urgency, his panting growing into low-pitched moans, and with a gasping cry
he shook and shivered to completion inside her.

He withdrew from her, then, and stood. Bulma's teeth hurt from clenching so tightly into her
blankets, but it was nothing compared to the ache between her legs. She slowly turned back
around, sinking to her knees onto the plush carpet of her floor. Tears were running freely down
her cheeks, and her eyes were raw with hurt and violation.

Vegeta was standing by the doorway, his back to her as he pulled his clothes back on. When he
had redone the tie on his pants, he slowly turned back and looked at her. His expression was
unreadable.

"You- you bakayaro, you asshole," she spat, exhausted and defeated.

His voice was shockingly gentle. "Woman, you're looking for someone who loves you. You need to
look harder. Yamcha will never love you, no matter how many chances you give him, and I cannot.
Find a good man who can and will. You'll never be happy if you don't."

Bulma closed her eyes. When she opened them he was gone.



He hadn't come back by the morning.

In fact, when Bulma finally arose from her exhausted sleep and went down for breakfast, Vegeta
was nowhere to be found. Her mother made her bacon and eggs, oddly perceptive enough to keep
her natural bubbliness to a minimum. Bulma sat miserably, poking at her food, trying to
understand what had happened.

After a silence of several minutes, followed by a soft and utterly heart-broken sigh from
Bulma, her mother spoke up. "What is it, sweetheart? What's wrong?"

"Oh, Mum," Bulma half-sobbed. "Something - happened last night."

"Was Yamcha busy again, darling? That boy can be a bit of a problem. He should take better care
of my little girl!" She smiled at her daughter, hoping to cheer her up.

"Screw Yamcha. He can be busy every time as far as I care, he doesn't love me anyway." Vegeta
had said so, hadn't he? And he didn't sound like he was lying. "It's not about him anyway, he's
not worth getting upset about anymore."

"So, honey, what is it about? You know you can tell me."

"I know, Mum. But I'm confused. I don't know how to feel about this! I wish I could just be
mad, I wish I could just hate him and be done with it! Why did he have to go and say those
things? It would be so much easier if he hadn't."

"Who, sweetie?"

"Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"Of course!" She took her daughter's hand, smiling encouragingly.

Bulma looked down, and let the name fall from her lips. "Vegeta. He- stuff happened, last
night. I didn't want it to, Mum, but he's so strong!"

"Honey..."

"It was virtually rape. It was rape. We were just talking- not even that, not really, and I was
mucking around a bit like I like to do, just for fun, but he wasn't." She sobbed harshly. "He
didn't even kiss me! Or anything. Just bent me over and- did it. Just like that. Just- just
did it. He hurt me. I begged him not to. I tried to stop him," she garbled hoarsely like a
confession.

If she had looked up, she would have seen her mother's perpetual smile slowly fade away.
"Vegeta raped you."

Bulma nodded through the heaving sobs that racked her body. "Mom," she pleaded, and her mother
wrapped her arms around her and held her while she cried.

When her sobs subsided, she whispered, "When he left, he said something to me. He told me to
find a good man who would love me. He sounded like he meant it- like friendly advice. That's
the most confusing part. Why would he do something like that, and then be nice? I don't
understand. It doesn't make sense."

"Sweetie." Her mother held her back at arm's length. "Shall I pack Vegeta's things? He may be a
strong fighter, but that doesn't mean he's going to stay here if you don't want him to."

She thought about it. "I- I can't just send him away and pretend that it never happened. That's
not the way to deal with it. I need to talk to him."

"Sure darling," her mother said proudly, knowing that it was true. "All the same, once you've
had a talk with him, I'll be ready to do it."

"Thanks mum." A smile lit Bulma's tear-streaked face for a moment.

"So what did he say to you, exactly? He told you to find someone else?"

"He said- he said Yamcha wouldn't ever love me, and neither would he, and I should find someone
who would." She sniffled. "It's about time I dumped Yamcha for real. I guess I always knew that.
He's not the sort to fall in love with one person forever, but that's what I want. I thought it
was him, but I guess I was wrong. I want someone I can wake up with every day, someone who comes
back to me every night and doesn't wish they were with somebody else when they were with me."

"Do you want that person to be Vegeta?"

Bulma looked at her mother, uncertain. "I hate him! He's so obnoxious. He just takes what he
wants with no regard for anyone else. We can't talk without fighting. He's never once called me
by my name. And he said he can't love me."

"Honey, he's full of it."

Bulma blinked.

"He didn't kill you when he was- with you, and considering how strong of a warrior he is, it
must have taken a lot of effort to avoid it. And he must care for you, else he'd not have said
all that stuff. I've never seen him as happy as when the two of you are slinging insults at
eachother! I've seen the way he looks at you when he thinks no-one is watching him. He's had
a very rough life, sweetie, and he's just never learned how to deal with caring for another
person. He even had to hurt you to justify being with you to himself. He's probably just as
confused as you are." She squeezed Bulma's hand. "I'm still mad at him for what he did to my
little girl, but I don't think he knows any other way how to be. Not yet."



Elsewhere, an exhausted Vegeta clutched his hand to the wound in his side that was slowly
leaking blood. He felt as if someone had beaten him fiercely over every inch of his body. Funny,
that.

Not far away, Goku pulled himself into a sitting position, grinning his characteristic goofy
grin. "That was the best sparring session I've had in months! You almost had me a few times
there, too!"

Vegeta grunted.

"But next time, do you want to maybe call me and arrange a time? I'd rather not be woken up in
the middle of the night by an angry saiyan demanding a fight! You should get at least eight
hours of sleep every night, it's not healthy to get less." Shafts of morning sunlight were
lancing through the trees.

Vegeta sniffed. He rarely slept for more than two or three hours a night.

Goku felt that this conversation was distinctly unbalanced, but he was used to that when Vegeta
was around. "So what are you upset about?"

"Huh? I'm not upset, I just needed a punching bag."

"Don't you usually just train in the gravity room in Capsule Corps?"

"It's not the same against robots. Every now and then, you need to train with a living person."
And I needed to get out of there. Get away from what I did. She was crying!

Goku sighed, leaning back against a tree. "So did you want to talk about anything?"

"Kakkarot, you're a baka."

No comment. Goku waited patiently, sensing that Vegeta did want to talk to him about something.

Vegeta lifted his hand, winced, and put it back. "Have any sensu beans?"

"Nup. Sorry."

He resigned himself to the aching pains. He was not badly hurt enough to threaten his life, not
by a long shot, but he was hardly comfortable.

In the distance, a bird called.

He'd made her cry. How could she not hate him for what he'd done? But that was what he had
wanted, he'd had a fierce and burning need for release. All the times that she'd teased him...
He'd wanted her so much, still did even now that he was exhausted from training. He hadn't hurt
her that badly, surely; she hadn't even bled. She wouldn't have kept saying those things, doing
those things, the ones that made him blind with desire, if she didn't want him too. And what
else could she expect from him? Tenderness? Kisses? She saw him every day, they fought every
day, she knew him better than that!

He was making excuses to himself.

He cursed and smacked his fist into the ground, which shook.

He'd done something wrong.

"Kakkarot, your mate. You love her?"

"More than anything," Goku replied without hesitation. "I don't know what I'd do without
Chichi. If I didn't have her, my life wouldn't be worth it."

Vegeta closed his eyes. "What's it like?"

Goku blinked. This wasn't the question that he'd expected, but he could see that Vegeta was
completely vulnerable at the moment. He had no idea how, but all of the saiyan prince's
defences had been stripped away. "It's wonderful," he explained gently. "I know that she'll
always be there for me, no matter whether I've treated her wrong or been a jerk or been away
for years. Sometimes we fight, but that's half the fun. The fighting and the making up. She has
a special way of looking at me, that just makes me feel warm and needed and happy. She gave me
a wonderful son. I love her."

"How do you tell? How do you know when you're in love?"

Goku shrugged. "There's no easy way of saying that. You just know. You can't bear to be away
from them, and the thought of anyone hurting them cuts you up like knives inside you. You want
to be near them."

Vegeta breathed deeply. Was that what he felt? It did hurt. "You're drawn to them whether you
want to be or not. You enjoy fighting with them more than anything but you feel sick to the
stomach when they cry, when it's your fault." He didn't notice when he slipped from 'you' to 'I'.
"I'd kill anyone who thought of hurting her, but I've hurt her more than everyone else put
together."

Softly, Goku said, "You love her, whoever she is."

"I don't know how. It's not fair to her. She deserves a good man. I'd be the worst mate in all
the world. A Prince of Vegeta can't be allowed to show weak emotions, he must be strong. And
Frieza's henchmen can't show any weakness. I've never... Never known how."

Goku stood, dusting himself off. "I think a good start would be to tell your love what you've
just told me. I won't tell anyone else, Vegeta. I respect your privacy. But whoever you're in
love with deserves to know what you feel. I've got to go, Vegeta, Chichi will be worried about
me."

Vegeta didn't look up, absorbed in thought.

"Bye bye!"

"Wait!"

Goku paused in mid-take-off.

"Kakkarot, I- I need your advice," Vegeta growled reluctantly. He couldn't believe that he had
to do this, but he needed someone to talk to and right now this third-class baka was it.

Slowly, Goku landed. "I'm not the best person to ask about this stuff, Vegeta. I'm not very
smart. I can't think or talk about these things, I just do what feels right."

"You're the only other saiyan left. You grew up surrounded with people who love you. I can't
imagine who could understand my situation better." The prince folded his arms. I'm asking this
jerk for help! What is wrong with me?

Goku sat down again with a sigh. "Who is she? I need more details before I can say any other
stuff. And how did you hurt her?"

Vegeta glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. "You'd probably kill me if I told you."

"I won't kill you. And I know that you're too hurt already for me to beat up on you much. Just
tell me. If you want, I won't tell anyone else unless you say it's okay."

He took a deep breath to steel himself. Not looking at Goku, he admitted, "It's the woman.
Bulma."

There was no reply, and he dared a glance. Goku's fists were clenched and his eyes closed. He
could feel his ki rising.

"I said you'd be mad! Didn't you believe me, that you insisted I tell you anyway?"

The taller saiyan looked at him with flashing eyes. "If you hurt her, I'll put you in a much
deeper grave this time."

Too late, Vegeta thought. "Kill me then. Prove yourself an honourless third-class by breaking
your word." He pulled his shoulders back, leaving his chest vulnerable and open to attack.

Goku's fists clenched tighter, so tight that trails of blood ran down his wrists. Then with a
deliberate effort he relaxed them. "What did you do to her, you little creep!?!"

"That's between her and I."

Goku frowned, remembering earlier that night when Vegeta had first shown up. There had been an
odd smell on him, something that he wasn't awake enough to want to think about at two o'clock
in the morning. A smell of...

He picked Vegeta up the front of his shirt and slammed him into the tree he'd been leaning on.
Leaves fell in a bright shower. "Bakayaro, what did you DO?"

Vegeta grunted, feet dangling, as all his pains flared back to life.

"WHAT DID YOU DO!!!" Goku's roar lashed through the early-morning forest.

"She's fine, Kakkarot! She lives, and is healthy, and hates me as ever! What more do you need
to know!"

Goku's soft growl was more terrifying that all his shouting. Such a noise, from such a gentle
and good-natured man. "Vegeta..."

"Damn it, baka..." He cried out as Goku pushed him harder into the unyielding tree. "Alright!
She took her teasing of me too far! I could only stand for so long the way she flaunted her
body before me. She would taunt me so... I warned her, I kept warning her, until it was too
late!"

"You raped her." It was a statement. Goku's eyes were no longer flashing with rage; they were
black and dead with hatred.

"Yes. Kill me."

"I'll not have your blood on my hands!" Goku growled. "But this is unforgivable."

"Just get it over with!" Vegeta lifted his chin to reveal his throat.

"Do you want to die, you fool?"

"If it's between that and living with what I've done, I'll take death." He closed his eyes in
readiness.

Then blinked in surprise as Goku set him on his feet. The murderous rage of seconds ago was
gone without trace. "You really do regret doing that."

"I don't regret doing it, I regret the way I did it. I had wanted it to be good for both of
us. I never meant for it to happen the way it did. I'll never in my entire life forget the
tears in her eyes. They'll haunt me." Vegeta was slumped with both physical and emotional
exhaustion.

"Do you love her?" Goku asked gently.

"I don't know. I have nothing to compare this to. If she doesn't forgive me I would rather be
dead."

"I'll forgive you when she does," said Goku with incongruous cheerfulness. "Until then, I
think I'd better not see you. And... if you love her, tell her." With that he did leave, a
bright yellow trail fading behind him.



"You've got to be kidding me, Bulma."

"I am totally serious, Yamcha. I don't think I've ever been this serious before." She wound the
phone cord around her fingers. "I don't think we're right for eachother. You hurt me, and I
hold you back. That's not what either of us needs."

"But Bulma, I l-"

"Don't! I don't want to hear you say that! It's not true, Yamcha. No matter what you or I may
have wanted, there was never love between us, and I don't think there ever will be. That's not
your fault. I would have liked you to be the one I really loved, Yamcha, but it's just not that
way. I'm sorry."

"Is there someone else?" he asked roughly.

"How can you possibly say that! I know why you cancel our dates, Yamcha. You have a new girl
every week."

"They don't mean anything. You know that."

"Neither do I, apparently."

"Tell me who it is, so I can kill him."

"Don't be such a baka! I can't take this anymore. Any of it. Yamcha, you are still welcome in
Capsule Corps, but not in my bed. Ja ne."

She hung up, cutting off his protests. She felt proud, though her hands trembled with nerves.
She'd been wanting to do that for so long! And this time it was for real. She knew that. There
was a cold stone of finality sitting in her chest.

"It's over," she whispered, leaning back against the wall.

Six days, six, since Vegeta had vanished. Where was he? He'd done this before, but never for
more than two days at a stretch. She hoped he was finding enough to eat, wherever he was.

Even after those six days, she hadn't sorted out her feelings. What did she want from him? She
had no idea. An apology would be a good start.

The way he had looked at her, just before he left... She shivered just thinking about it. 'A
good man'? Did he think he couldn't be a 'good man' for her because of all the terrible deeds
he'd done in the past? But that was in the past. There had been remorse in those eyes, she was
sure...

She stood and went into the lounge room. Her mother was in there, reading a magazine.

"I broke up with Yamcha, Mum."

Her mother sprang up and hugged her. "Congratulations, sweetheart!"

"Thanks Mum. I'm gonna go have a shower. Seen him?"

They both knew which 'him' Bulma meant.

"No, darling. No sign. I'm getting a bit worried about him, you know?"

"I know."

"I called around to see if anyone had seen him. Chichi said that he and Goku had a spar the
night he left, but they didn't know where he went after that. He could be anywhere." She patted
her daughter's hand. "Go have your shower, sweetheart. I'll keep an eye out for him."



Rinsing the last of the conditioner out of her hair, Bulma heard a tiny noise at the edge of
her hearing. "What the...?" Turning off the shower, she hopped out, leaving puddles on her
ensuite floor, and peered out the slightly-open door into her room. Nothing there. Her
curtains flapped a little in the breeze. That must have been it.

She reached for a towel. Moonlight gleamed on the water beading on her skin- on such a bright
night as this, she preferred to leave the lights off. Thoughtfully, she wrapped the towel
around herself, tucking it in above her breasts, and stepped out. She pulled the curtains
back to let the moonlight stream into her room.

Her senses screamed a warning at her- someone's behind you!

As she tensed to spin on her heel and strike at any intruder, his breath tickled the back of
her neck. His hands settled on her waist, fine fingers spread tenderly over her sides.

"Woman," he breathed.

"Vegeta!" she half-screamed, and he chuckled. "Where the hell have you been?"

"It doesn't matter. I just needed some time to think, that's all. Now I'm hungry again. I came
back here so you could feed me."

She could feel the warmth of his body, not quite touching her. "We... I... we were worried
about you, you jerk."

"Little ol' me?" He chuckled again, and grew serious just as quickly. "I need to talk to you,
woman."

"I'm right here."

He sighed heavily, and lifted one hand to brush the hair away from her neck, admiring that
splendid column by moonlight. "I did something wrong."

She tensed under his hands. "I'll fucking say you did!"

"I'm sorry."

She gasped. She had never expected to hear those words from him!

"Forgive me. Please. I can't stop thinking about it, woman, every time I remember tears on
your face I feel as if I was going to die! I need you to forgive me."

"Vegeta." Bulma turned in his arms, facing him. "You hurt me, so badly... I trusted you."

He was close to weeping himself, she could see it. "I didn't want it to be that way! I just
lost control. I warned you. You shouldn't have kept teasing me like that, you had no idea what
it did to me."

"I didn't know that! How was I supposed to, Vegeta, not like you ever showed any sort of
emotion!"

"Bulma..." A tear slid slowly down the hard planes of his face. She watched it, mesmerised.
"Please... I... I can't stay alive if you hate me."

"I- I- I don't know, Vegeta! I don't know what to think. I'm confused. I don't know how I
feel. You're really, truly sorry?"

"I've never felt remorse like this before." His arms slipped around her narrow waist. He bowed
his head, pleadingly.

She lifted a hand to touch his cheek. He started at her touch, then nudged his face into the
caress. "Oh, Vegeta."

"I didn't mean to hurt you..."

She tilted his face back up a little, and lightly kissed him.

He made a tiny surprised noise in the back of his throat- then pulled her tight to him and
kissed her with more passion than she could have imagined.

Several minutes later, she pulled back, her eyes wordlessly holding his, and untucked the
towel. It fell away from her to land, rustling, on the carpet. He gasped with desire, and
shivered in anticipation as she stepped forward again and began undressing him. His shirt
hit the floor, his boots kicked carelessly under the bed, and his pants followed his boots.

Groaning, he picked her up and laid her gently on the bed. He climbed on after her, kneeling
above her. Her face was flushed with excitement, her body beguiling in it's perfection. Her skin
was satin in the moonlight, and he wanted nothing more than to touch and taste it- all of it.
He stroked her face, her stomach, her thighs, her breasts. He leaned down to kiss her once more,
drinking sweet passion from her lips. Her hands ran over his chest, his stomach and back, tried
to pull him down but he resisted. He kissed her ever more deeply, trailed kisses along her
jawline, down her neck, back up her chin. He kissed her eyes and her nose.

Yes, I am sure. His small teeth closed gently on the tip of her nose.

Her eyes flew open. Bulma understood, without knowing why, that this was not just a casual
caress. It meant something- it meant a lot. Did she love him?

Yes! She took his chin in her teeth, hoping it was what he wanted her to do- she knew it felt
right.

Vegeta gave a cry of happiness, allowing her to pull him to her. He was heavy, but the weight
of him was far from unpleasurable.



After an unmeasurable time of exploration, of hot and eager hands and mouths, of the feel of
two strong taut bodies touching together and growing slowly closer and closer, of the final
joining which brought release and joy such as neither had ever before felt, they lay nestled
together in Bulma's sweat-drenched, decidedly scrumpled bed.

Vegeta's hands were locked behind his head, quietly enjoying the feel of 'the woman' lying
half across his chest. "There... that was better," he panted.

"Mmm... Vegeta, I love you."

"Baka woman," he purred. She knew exactly what he meant. "I thought I told you to find a good
man. So damned disobedient."

"You were good." And whatever you may say, my prince, I know you are the best man for me.