turning in the direction of his home. Just as he started to move, the wind brought a few more words
to his ears.

"I know you will."

Goku headed home, his heart lighter. He'd done what he could do. The rest was up to Bulma.

Bulma lay in her bedroom, hands behind her head. What was taking Goku and Vegeta so long? They'd been gone since
yesterday morning. Her active imagination conjured up myriad threats that could have delayed them. As her scenarios
got more and more ridiculous (the return of Frieza and the addition of six equally powerful siblings), she finally had
to admit to herself that she cared. Not just about Goku, but about Vegeta as well. The image of Vegeta lying on the
floor of the gravity chamber, still and silent, flashed through her head too many times for her to ignore it.

But why did it have to be Goku who had noticed and finally made her realize her attraction to the Saiyan prince? Then
she had to admit that her mother had made a couple of references in that direction herself. But then Bulma wasn't sure
her mother's observations really counted. She'd seen her mother hang on Vegeta more than once. Good thing she was
hopelessly in love with the doctor.

At that moment the phone rang. She grabbed it, hoping it was Chi-Chi. She had asked Chi-Chi to call as soon as Goku
got home.

It wasn't Chi-Chi. Instead it was a familiar male voice. "Hi, Bulma!"

"Goku! Where have you been? It's been almost two days!"

Goku's response sounded hurt. "But Bulma, I told you that Vegeta'd likely sleep the day through."

Belatedly, Bulma remembered him saying just that. She blushed, grateful he couldn't see it. "Oh. I'm sorry, Goku. I
guess I forgot."

She could hear the smile in his voice as he asked, "Worried, were you?"

"Of course I was worried! I mean, you fly off with Vegeta, and he was unconscious, and then you're gone for more than
a day..." She trailed off, suddenly aware of what she'd said. Damn! She'd just barely admitted to herself that she was
attracted to Vegeta, and now she was practically blurting it out to Goku.

"I guess you thought about what I said."

Oh well. No use denying it. "Yes. I thought about it."

Goku's voice rang with satisfaction. "Good. That was the one part I was worried about."

"Which part would that be?"

"The part where I told him that someone who cared was waiting for him."

"You told him what?" Bulma practically screamed the question.

"Hey, Bulma, careful! You almost deafened me." Bulma chuckled softly in spite of herself, envisioning Goku holding the
phone away from his ear.

Her amusement calmed her down immediately, and she decided she needed the whole story before killing him. "Okay, Goku.
Let's try this again. Why don't you start from the beginning?"

"Well, okay. But do you promise not to yell again?"

She sighed. "Yes, I promise not to yell again."

"Okay." He sounded very pleased with himself as he began to talk. "Well, it was like this. He slept for a long time,
and I was getting real hungry. I was hoping he'd wake up soon so I could eat..."

Bulma rolled her eyes. "Could you move past the part about being hungry and eating and get to the part about Vegeta?"

"But Bulma, I didn't eat. I waited until he woke up, and it was about time 'cause I thought I was going to starve."

Bulma decided it was hopeless. Goku would tell the story his own way and in his own time.

"Anyway, he finally woke up, and we ate, and he went off to take a bath." Suddenly his voice sounded very embarrassed.
"Well, his bath was taking really long, and I started to wonder if something had happened, and I went to look for him,
and he was just getting out, and he wasn't wearing anything!"

Bulma found herself wishing that she could have seen that.

"Well, he yelled at me, and I went away until he was dressed. Then we started to spar, and it was like he wasn't
really trying. I told him that Chi-Chi probably could have beaten him, he was fighting so bad, and I thought that
would get him mad, but it didn't. Well he said something about being alone, the last of his kind, just like you said,
Bulma." His voice grew serious, his usual goofiness gone. "I knew then that I had to get him mad. He wasn't going to
talk to me unless he got so mad that he lost control, so I reminded him that I was stronger than he was. He tried to
attack me, and I went Super Saiyan, to remind him that he couldn't."

Bulma gasped. She hadn't thought Goku had it in him.

"Didn't think I'd do that, did you?"

Bulma shivered, shaken again by the eerie feeling that Goku knew more than he let on. "No, I didn't think you would.
It doesn't seem like you."

Goku's voice became sad. "It's not like me. I hated to do it, but it was the only way to get through to him."

"What'd he do?"

"He finally talked to me. He asked what was the point of training. He sounded really depressed, like he didn't think
he had anything to live for. He was standing so close to the edge of the cliff that I thought he'd go over before I
could do anything about it."

Bulma shuddered, having had no idea how close she'd come to losing him, almost before she knew that she cared.
"He...didn't...did he?"

"No." Goku's answer came almost before she finished speaking. "No, he didn't. I had to think really hard about what to
say. I finally told him that there was more to life than training to get better than me. I told him that he needed to
train because he cared enough about someone to do anything to protect them."

Bulma closed her eyes. She could hear the anguish in his voice and could imagine how hard it had been for Goku to say
all that.

"He asked me if I thought there was someone for him to train for, and I told him that there was." He paused for a long
time and Bulma wasn't sure he was going to say anything else. Finally, he said, "And then he asked if there was
someone who cared that much about him. I said that I thought there was." His voice turned pleading. "Don't make a liar
out of me, Bulma. Tell me that I told him the truth."

Bulma was surprised to hear the words come out of her mouth, so firm and confident. "You didn't lie to him, Goku. It
took you to show me, but I do care for him."

She could hear Goku's relieved sigh. "Good. That was the only part I was a little bit worried about."

>From the tone of voice, he knew he'd been more than a "little" worried. "What happened then?"

His voice perked up. "We sparred."

She should have guessed. Trust two men to have a meaningful conversation and then follow it up with a fight.

"It was a really good fight. You should have seen it!"

"Uh, yeah. Whatever, Goku."

"Is he back yet?"

Bulma shook her head, realizing as she did it that he couldn't see the gesture. "No, I don't think so."

"Hmm. Wonder where he is? I came straight here. He should have been there by now."

Bulma felt a small thrill of anxiety rush through her, but she managed to keep it out of her voice. "I'm sure he's
fine. He'll probably get here any minute."

"Yeah, well I called 'cause I didn't want him to sense me there. He made me promise not to bug him about what he was
going to do about you."

"What!" Bulma yelled.

"Bulma! You promised you wouldn't yell!"

She lowered her voice fractionally. "What do you mean about not bugging him about me!"

"He said he'd probably do something about caring about you, but he said he'd do it in his own time, and he didn't want
me asking about it."

Bulma stood up and tapped her foot on the floor. She'd see about "his own time." She wasn't going to decide that she
was interested and then wait for the arrogant prince to get around to doing something about it in his own time.

"Uh, Bulma. Did I just put my foot in it?"

He sounded so plaintive, and she couldn't ignore it. She sighed. "No, Goku. I'll give him long enough that he can't
figure out you said something to me."

"Good! I'd hate for him to get so mad at me that he won't spar any more."

Trust Goku to have his priorities in order.

"Gotta go. Thanks for calling Chi-Chi and telling her that I'd be gone a while." He lowered his voice to a theatrical
whisper. "She's not too mad, but I still think I'd better go see her." Bulma could almost see him pouting with his
next sentence. "But I think she said something about wanting me to help with the laundry. I hate laundry."

Bulma chuckled. "Go help her out. The last person you want really mad at you is your wife."

"No kidding! The last time she got really mad at me, she locked me out of the house and wouldn't cook me dinner or
anything! Talk to you later." His voice softened for a moment. "Let me know how everything goes, okay?"

"Sure, Goku. We'll talk later. Bye."

She hung up and lay back down on her bed. It sounded as if Goku had laid the groundwork. The next move was up to her.
Or Vegeta.

But where was Vegeta?

A few minutes later she heard footsteps going down the hall. She sat up, listening carefully. They turned into the
room a few doors down. Soon after, she heard the shower start. She smiled. That must be