Clarity {Dragonball Z Fanfiction}

Clarity

"Vegeta, do you love me?"

The question had caught the prince of Saiyans incredibly off guard. One minute, they had been sitting quietly and eating a late dinner—at a table instead of separately, just as the woman had demanded. Trunks had been put to bed already after his feeding, and Bulma's insufferable parents were on yet another vacation, so the alien warrior and the human woman were alone. She had chosen this moment to spout the ridiculous query.

Bulma stared at Vegeta expectedly, and he had no escape route or defense. He wasn't sure what had triggered her desire to ask the ludicrous question, but the Saiyan was certain he didn't have an answer. His usual default reaction in this kind of situation was to get angry. So he put on his most foul scowl and glared back across the table at the blue-haired woman.

"Don't be absurd," he snorted as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "What would give you such a ridiculous notion?"

"Maybe the fact that you've been living with me for the past three years, and—oh yeah! We have a two-year-old together," Bulma replied, her animosity clearly apparent.

Vegeta's own temper began to flare. "Sharing a living arrangement and procreating doesn't prove anything, woman."

"So, you're saying that you don't?"

"Don't what?!"

"Love me."

"Why the hell is it important?"

Bulma's face twisted into a furious grimace. "I just want to know if you actually care for me, or if you just see me as a collection of pleasurable holes that feed you and do your laundry."

There was bitterness in her tone now, and despite the woman's predilection for annoying him with pointless conversation like this, Vegeta registered her profound unhappiness and resolved to try to appease her somehow. He didn't understand Bulma's unprecedented penchant for him, and neither did he completely comprehend why he'd allowed himself to spiral into an infatuation with her. A few lustful encounters had resulted in the birth of their son, and now they were indubitably linked for the rest of their lives. The bond between the Saiyan warrior and the heiress was shaky at best. In fact, most of their time together they spent hazardously navigating the murky waters of their developing relationship—each unsure of the other's true feelings. But now Bulma wanted clarity, and Vegeta was rendered speechless.

The woman sighed impatiently and crossed her arms. "I'm waiting."

The Saiyan warrior growled under his breath and searched his shifting emotions, resisting the urge to simply get up and walk away. If he didn't give her some kind of answer now, she'd likely bring up the subject again. It was best to get it over with.

Love...he thought detestably...such a bizarre, imprecise word.

Humans threw around the term constantly, using it to describe their affinities for everything—from a certain type of food to a piece of clothing to their own children. Naturally, Vegeta assumed Bulma wanted to know if he felt the more profound kind of affection towards her. How was he supposed to know? Truthfully, he wondered if he was capable of feeling love at all. Emotions unquestionably ran deep within the psyche of in the Saiyan race, but love was not one of them. There wasn't much evidence to the contrary.

Before Planet Vegeta's destruction, relationships among male and female warriors that extended beyond casual trysts were discouraged, as they resulted in an unwelcome lack of focus during combat missions. Parents often never met their offspring, as most Saiyan children were shipped away to distant worlds shortly after birth. There was simply no time to form any kind of meaningful attachments. Vegeta, being of royal blood, was an exception. Still, the King of Saiyans had quickly handed his young son over to Frieza's control when threatened with the destruction of their home world, and his feeble attempt to save the prince had come too late to garner any merit. Even Kakarot, who had grown up here on Earth and far away from any Saiyan influence, didn't seem to be predisposed to devote himself to those closest to him. He'd chosen to remain in the Other World after his death during the Cell Games, leaving his adolescent son and pregnant wife behind to fend without him.