:::Author's Note:::

Ok everyone, I'm back.  ^_^ Let me explain what happened.  Apparently, at the last update, the EPILOGUE, the Administrator's of Fanfiction.net read my story, or something, and said I didn't follow ff.net guidelines.  Since they didn't tell me WHAT I did, I'm supposing it was the lemon scenes.  They took "Cruel Fate?" off the site completely and grounded me from updating til today.  I've been trying, believe me.

Now, I've found some of these chapters again, and as I read through them, I have to admit I cringed a little.

Alright, a lot.

But "Cruel Fate?" was my FIRST attempt at writing a fan fiction.  And as I read the first chapters over…well, let's just say it took well over 30 minutes to edit this one.  *nose wrinkles*  PLEASE forgive me, I had no idea it was they were this bad!!  U.U;;  So I'm going to revise them, add more depth, more character…I'll probably do this to all the chapters I update, so if the posting's not as fast as it should be, I apologize.

Understand that "Cruel Fate?" will follow the same plot line (with out lemons so it doesn't get removed again) except edited.  I don't want to make you re-read the WHOLE story, so I'm not going to add any new plot to it.  ^_^  This is for my own good.  So I can sleep tonight.  ^_~

Hmm…and I'll probably take out all the Author's Notes in the beginning and end of the chapters to make it flow.  Those were only good if people were waiting for the next update anyhoo, and now it's complete!! *sniffle*  My baby's all grown up... 

OK, sorry!  Now enjoy!!!

~The Flying Pen~

Disclaimer:  No, I own none of these people, planets, etc. etc.  They all belong to the wonderful mastermind himself, Akira Toriyama.  I just get the wonderful job of molding them into my omniscient will as an Authoress.  *grins evilly*   

Chapter One: Cruel Fate

Bulma grabbed the nearest thing accessible and flung it at her bedroom door.  The picture frame created a smoking hole where it connected with the wood.  I don't believe this!  She thought, as laser beams from her eyes began to melt a picture of her mother resting beside her bed.  Arg! How could she do this to me? I'm not a piece of meat she can pawn off at the nearest market!!

Downstairs, her father and mother cringed as they heard every piece of furniture that belonged to their daughter get smashed and broken.

"Perhaps we should have kept her age a secret, dear."  Dr. Briefs muttered to his wife, who stood staring at the pile of debris collecting at the foot of the steps. 

"But," the dense female muttered, totally confused at her daughter's behavior, "I just don't understand!"

Bulma heard that and opened her door for the first time since her mother had told her the "happy" news. 

"YOU WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND!  YOU WANTED TO BE HUNTED THE DAY OF YOUR COMING TO AGE CEREMONY!  I DON'T WANT THAT!  NOW I HAVE NO FUCKING CHOICE!"  The door slammed shut and Bulma threw herself onto her bed, refusing to cry because of the cruel hand fate had dealt her. 

Her mother blinked and turned around to face her mate.  Then forgetting the whole argument, she smiled broadly and said, "Oh well!  He is the Prince of Planet Vegeta!  This is the best for my little girl!  I bet she's just nervous.  She'll get over it.  I always know best."  She kissed her husband and then went to the kitchen, humming happily to herself. 

Bulma's father shook his head.  How did I fall in love with such an idiotic female?  Then he spotted her traipsing to the kitchen, her tail swinging seductively behind her.  She turned around and winked at him.

"Honey?  Could you help me scrub the dishes?" she purred.

Oh yeah…now I remember…  He laughed, following her to the room, his daughter's plight forgotten.

Bulma sat down and slowly began to count to a hundred only to be interrupted by her own raging mind.

How could she do this to me?  Why did I have to be born on that particular day?  She growled.  Any way I look at it, it's all her fault!

Bulma had been awakened by her excited mother early that morning.  It turns out that the Prince Vegeta is turning sixteen in exactly one year and a week, to the day, same as Bulma.  By Royal Decree, and following the tradition that the planet had for centuries, every un-Hunted girl the same age as the Prince must present herself to him on his birthday so he could pick a mate from them.  It began with the Legend of the Super Saiyan, and some dolt somewhere in her race's history believed that to achieve a strong heir, the King and Queen must be of the same age, both strong and young when they conceive.   

Of course, the Royal Guards had come to Bulma's town first, it being a first-class city closest to the palace, and since it had been so early in the morning Bulma had still been asleep, not able to voice her own opinion as her overzealous mother had eagerly agreed to have her daughter ready on the day before the Prince's fifteenth birthday.  That gave her six more days of freedom before she would be forced to report to the palace to spend a whole year of her life in the shadow of tutors, snobby females, and the Prince himself.

Bulma breathed slowly.  In. And out.  It seemed that destiny had decided to be especially cruel to her.  Not only was she a freak to everyone on her planet, but also she would now have to present herself to the Prince, which would make her look like a desperate freak.  And something she had strived for her whole life was not to be dependent on others because of her imperfection.  They had to know that she didn't need or want anyone to help her get through life.

Her mother had been lucky.  She had literally had a line of guys waiting for her to Come of Age on her sixteenth birthday.  But then again, her mother was a beautiful body with no brain.  She had been an easy catch for her dad.  That's what males looked for in a female; beauty, strength, and no brain.   

Unfortunately, Bulma was different than the normal Saiyan female.  This didn't mean guys weren't chasing her, because there was no doubt about the strength of her body or of her status as a First Class. 

She had been born with a deformation.  Her fur was the wrong color. 

Instead of the usual black, or the even rarer red or brown, it was blue.  A bright, cerulean blue.  Her parents had taken her to countless clinics, numerous doctors, and even tried to dye it black on many occasions.  But whatever they attempted, even if contacts hid the mis-color of her eyes, her eyebrows were still shockingly blue, and so was her tail.

She had grown up at the end of many glares, mostly from other females, since they were jealous of the attention she got from males.  Apparently males seemed to find her hair an exotic difference.  But it had been hard to make friends.  So she had adopted the attitude of "I don't need anybody, don't want anybody" her whole life.  Now this whole situation was making her look desperate enough to sign up for a marriage, with the Prince no less!

She sighed.  There will be tons of other girls there too.  He'll never pick me.  She had always looked forward to the day when she could choose a mate just like her mother.  He would be strong, and a First Class of course.  Their children would be so strong the whole planet would drop their jaws.  Of course, these were mostly dreams conjured by a little dejected, discolored Saiyan girl, but Bulma had held onto them for some reason.  Love…love was not a popular word in the Saiyan vocabulary.  She tried not to think of what it would be like to be in love and to be loved in return…it was too weird.  Something she'd only heard about in stories.

Her fantasies were brought to an end as she remembered her mother's words:

"Queen Bulma!  My daughter!  I have no doubt in my mind that the Prince will pick you, sweetie.  You're prettier and stronger and smarter than all the other girls on the whole of Vegeta!!" She squealed.  "And then I'll be a mother to a Queen!!  And then a grandma to a King!  Oh!"

Now she was being thrust into a possibly one-sided bond, for how could she bond with someone she had only just met?  If he even chooses you Bulma!  You're acting like already been chosen and bitten, for heaven's sake!!

The growling of her stomach interrupted her track of thought.  She carefully smoothed the fur of her tail back down and then wrapped it around her left thigh.  She brushed her hair down and then checked her face.  She was flustered from being angry.  Maybe after she ate she could go train to let some of her irritation out.

She walked downstairs and grabbed a food pill, popped it in the heater, and proceeded to heft the huge tray of food outside.  She ate as she headed toward the Gravity Chamber that she and her dad built together.  He was the head scientist from the science division at the palace and was always getting Bulma to help him with his new inventions.  Not that she minded.   

She finished eating as she stepped inside and set the gravity at 50 times that of the planet Vegeta.  She could barely even stand in this level, much less move around, but that was the point.  She had come here denying it the whole way, but she knew what she was going to do.  She shot energy orbs around, recklessly knocking them into walls and attempting to block them as they flew back to her. 

After blasting and dodging, jumping, and scaling walls for a while, she finally had warmed up enough to try it.  Collecting all of her frustration, all her anger, she let it stream from her body in an incredible yell, shooting hundreds of tiny blue orbs of light that she couldn't even control.  They soared around the Chamber randomly hitting her as they reflected off the walls.  She got knocked in the head and hissed in pain as she looked up.  All the orbs were gathering together into a huge amount of energy.

"Here it comes," she said, bracing herself for the onslaught by crossing her arms over her face, "Sorry fate, there's no way Bulma Briefs would let you be so cruel-" she was cut off as it flew toward her and hit her entire front side. 

In a moment that energy enveloped her body, casting a bright white light on the interior of the Gravity Chamber and turning Bulma into a hazy shadow in the center of the dazzling beam.  Sound stopped for her as the pressure of the attack compressed her body and she could comprehend nothing but the searing burning sensation of her skin being fried.  

Without a sound her inert body hit the wall and slid slowly to the floor, leaving a trail of crimson against the burnt metallic plane.  

One eye opened…and then another.  At first the only thing she could see was white.  Then her eyesight began to clear, and the ceiling of her bedroom became apparent through the ring of clouds still hanging in her vision.

Damn!  It…it didn't work!  Why am I not dead…  She noticed her room had been cleaned, and her mother was hovering over her, worried to death.  Her father had a look of worry too, until he saw her open eyes.  His face became a cool mask of impatience.

"It's about time you woke up…" he muttered, gazing out of the window, his arms behind his head.  His only daughter was leaving for a year today.  He had actually been anxious to be able to say goodbye to her before she left…he shook his head.   

Bulma opened both of her eyes and sat up.  A wave of dizziness made her steady herself with a palm to her forehead.   

"Why?" she asked to her father's above statement, still groggy.

"Why?  Oh dear!"  Her mother exclaimed.  "You've been out for a whole week!  We put you in the tank and then let you sleep here, but today you leave for the palace.  Don't you remember, sweetheart?!"

It all came crashing down on her.  Great…she thought, crashing back down onto her pillow.  I'd be better off dead…

"Now, I've already packed your things and a Royal Guard will be coming to guide you and the other girls from town.  Sweetie, let's get you up and I'll fix you all nice and pretty, OK?"  Bulma's mother grabbed her hand and literally hauled her out of bed.  Her father had already left.  "You take a shower and I'll pick out your armor, alright dear?"

Bulma nodded groggily and got in the hot shower.  She lathered her spiky blue hair and then her cerulean tail, feeling rapturous as the hot water pressure massaged her sore muscles and rinsed away the Healing Tank residue.  With relish she lathered her skin with bubbles and watched them spin down the drain.  Reminds me of my life somehow…

When she was finished, she stepped out and dried her hair.  Wrapping a towel around herself, she held up the armor her mother had selected and grinned. 

It was bikini style, with the chest plate stopping beneath her breasts and showing off her great abs.  The panty-style bottom fit over the navy spandex material of the same shape, letting the world see her legs and tail.  Mom wants me to make a good impression, I see…she shook head, wet hair bouncing.  I can't stay mad at her…who could?  She can't comprehend a complex emotion like anger…poor Mom…

She pulled on her boots and grabbed her bag after messily braiding her hair, flying downstairs to see if she could nab a quick bite to eat before the rest of her meals for the next year were chosen for her.  Who knew what she'd have to eat at this place?!  Just as she entered the kitchen heading for the cookie jar, the fur on her tail pricked up.  Someone was at the door…

She spun around, eyes glaring and tail whipping back and forth behind her.  Out of her peripheral vision she saw her mother sprinting to the door, the woman's tail tightening around her left thigh, the tip flitting now and then in excitement.  Bulma crossed her arms.  It wasn't too late to refuse.  Perhaps she could take this Guard down and make a run for it…she sighed.  That was against the law, and she had to consider the consequences.  Even if she got away, her parents might be punished.  Her dad's job could be on the line.

Damn it.

Her mother opened the door and grinned up at the Saiyan standing there.  He was tall, handsome, and the speed in which his eyes fastened to her mother's bust line made Bulma blink.  But her perplexed expression quickly turned to anger when he placed the same gaze on her body. 

He wore the Royal Guard emblem on his armor and wicked smile on his face.  He spoke to her mom, though his eyes never once left Bulma's.  That little…why I aught to…  Usually someone at least blinked at her discoloration, but this male didn't seem fazed a bit!  His thoughts proved otherwise.

What the hell?  She's blue…and hot.  The Prince won't want her.  She's too different.  That means in exactly one year and one day, when we're of Age, I can have her.  He didn't know exactly what he would do once he got her, for he was too young to really know what went on with a coupling, but he did know that other males would be after her.  And what a way to prove yourself to everyone than to catch a female like her?  A gleam appeared in his eye as this thought won over the conversation that ditsy female in front of him was trying to pursue.  He cleared his throat, interrupting the weirdo's mother.     

"Hello.  I'm Yamcha from the Royal Guard.  Is there a Bulma presiding here?"

Bulma slung her bag over her shoulder.

I hate my life…

*AUTHOR'S NOTE*

Welp, this'll probably be the last one of these Notes until the last chapter, so read it!!  ^_^  I actually just have one thing to say:

Yes, I lost all of my reviews.  Thankfully I had the number tallied at 2503 at the time of this story's deletion.  I know there's no way in HECK I can get those again, so I'll just be content with taking whatever this story gets now and adding it onto that number.  Tee hee.  I'm more than content, though.  I'm ecstatic.  For my FIRST story to get this many reviews?!?!?!

HECK YEAH!!!

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