Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. If I did, you would have seen more Vegeta/Bulma romance and Vegeta would have kicked Goku's ass :D (Don't hurt me, I do love Goku but I hate how they make Vegeta seem so weak after he nearly kills Goku when they meet T_T) This is the only disclaimer I will be doing:

I DO NOT OWN: Dragonball Z, The Swan Lake, The Nutcracker. This story is merely a figment of my imagination. If needed, other disclaimers may be made later on in the life of this fan fiction.

Summary: Bulma and Vegeta during the mysterious three years time line. This one takes place after Mirai Trunks appears and Goku returns. With that being said, the two have already spent some time together so if it seems that I am moving somewhat quickly throughout the plot line, this is why. It also puts into perspective what Bulma may have been doing in the four years that the Z gang didn't see each other after the end of Dragon Ball (the four years before Raditz came.) Anyway, on with the summary,

Bulma is called by an old friend who insists she returns to help him and her once famous dance and trapeze troupe once again to perform the Nutcracker. But an accident that happened to her almost five years ago while performing this same play puts Bulma in a hard position. She must face her demons that nearly got her killed while dealing with an arrogant saiyan prince who insists on making her life hell at every turn.

While Vegeta continues to train, his mind wanders on and off again to the aqua haired woman that entices him so. Unsure of his feelings for her, he does the one thing he vowed never to do; he begins to care for someone other than himself. Everything he told himself, everything he worked on, all the perfect discipline, comes crashing down around him.

A/N: Italics represent either a person thinking or sarcastic emphasis
"-" represent speech obviously
Bolding represents serious emphasis
ALL CAPS represent yelling

Okay, on with the story!

Chapter One: The Prince and the Heiress

Bulma awoke early that morning. She glanced at the clock, its bright red numbers glaring and angry 5:47 a.m. Damn it, of all the days I wanted to sleep in. Bulma groaned into her soft pillow and tried to go back to sleep but sleep would not come. She sighed and then wearily got out of bed. It was Sunday. And frankly she didn't feel like doing shit. She grabbed a pair of black shorts and an old grey hoodie and then headed downstairs. It had been a couple of months since Goku had returned from space and that strange boy from the future had appeared. Bulma sighed looking out the window, the weather was slowly turning from Summer to Autumn and she at least knew that today was going to be a nice day. "Maybe it's not that bad that I woke up at the crack ass of dawn . . . it gives me more time to enjoy the day I suppose." She mumbled half-heartedly under her breath. But her mood only turned worse when she rounded the corner, smacking her face into the hard chest of her 'favourite' Saiyan.

"Watch where you're going woman!" Vegeta glared at her angrily.

Great, just what I needed this morning. Bulma didn't say anything but sidestepped past Vegeta, she really did not want him getting under her skin so damn early in the morning. But she could feel his cold, onyx eyes watching her every movement. She busied herself by making a pot of coffee and making some toast while occasionally rubbing her nose. After all, walking face first into what felt like a steel wall did tend to make ones nose hurt afterwards.

Vegeta just smirked that oh so familiar cocky ass smirk that he favoured so much. Though he was surprised to see the aqua-haired vixen up this early. He had been living at Capsule Corporation for nearly a year now, after his hunt in space for Kakarrot had been sourly disappointing. Needless to say, he knew the woman's sleeping regime rather well, though there were some days, such as this, where it was not consistent. At first, it had bothered him that his attention was instantly alerted to the woman's ki whenever she did something out of the ordinary, but now he had learned to ignore it and he just didn't care anymore. I'm becoming soft living with these stupid weak creatures. As soon as Kakarrot tells me how to achieve the legendary status I will destroy him along with this pitifully weak sorry excuse for a planet. And I, the Prince of All Saiyans, will rule the universe!

"Hello! Planet Earth to Planet Vegeta! Anyone home? . . . VEGETA!"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at Bulma. "Woman, how dare you raise your voice to me! I'm the Prince-"

"Yeah yeah, the Prince of All Saiyans, because I haven't heard that a thousand times. You zoned out all mighty prince."

Vegeta glared at her angrily, "What do you want woman?"

"I asked if you wanted coffee and some breakfast." Bulma practically shoved the steaming cup of black liquid into his hands.

Vegeta nodded, he had after all originally come down to make himself breakfast, but why get his hands dirty when the woman could do it for him. He sat down at the small table in the kitchen, well small to the Brief's standards as it was large enough to sit six people and watched the woman intently. She was an enigma to him, something he couldn't quite understand. She was the only living creature he had ever known that he could argue with and find a slight hint of amusement in it. And it seemed that the only person on this pathetic planet that wasn't afraid of him was currently standing in front of him making breakfast. Vegeta growled lowly to himself, what am I thinking! I am disgracing myself by thinking about this puny, insignificant female! However, for some reason, Vegeta felt as though he were lying to himself.

Bulma busied herself preparing breakfast. She made them eggs, bacon, and toast with butter and raspberry jelly. Of course after living with Vegeta for over a year, she knew his eating habits were the same as Goku's, so she made him five times that of what she made herself. That was one thing that was a prolonged mystery to Bulma, Saiyans and their eating habits. She figured it was because they trained so hard, like Vegeta did every day. But after travelling with Goku for so long she knew that couldn't have been the case, he had the same eating habits whether he was training or lounging around.

"Woman, hurry up! I have training that is being impeded by your ridiculously slow cooking!"

That was another thing that remained a mystery, saiyan attitudes. "Relax Vegeta; it will be done when it is done." Vegeta had the attitude of a ticked off ferocious tiger while Goku had the attitude of a harmless sleeping kitten.

Bulma piled the food onto the plates and brought it over to the table, placing the ridiculous mountain of food in her arms in front of Vegeta and one small plate in front of herself. She yawned then glanced at the clock, causing her to frown. It was only 6:22. Bulma growled slightly under her breath, she was tired, she wanted to go back to bed, and frankly she wasn't hungry.

"My my, someone's in a bad mood this morning," cackled Vegeta.

Bulma shot him a glare that if looks could kill, he would have been dead on the spot. "No thanks to you." She had been up the past three days straight tinkering with theories and prototypes to help increase Vegeta's training. Why the hell do I care so much about helping the ungrateful bastard . . .? Bulma picked up her fork and tried to eat, but the smell of her food unsettled her stomach and made her want to revolt. She sighed, getting up and placing her food in front of Vegeta who eyed her quizzically but said nothing. She walked out of the kitchen, yawning and headed towards the stairs.

"Ungrateful bastard. . ."

A/N: Chapter 1 finished for now. Please read and review :)

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