Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Slave ❯ Protection ( Chapter 17 )

DISCLAIMER: I don't own DBZ or any of the characters from it.

A/N - This chapter is going to be really short - and I'm sorry about that but read the author note at the button of the page and you'll see why.

Thanks to Nikoru for beta reading!

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The room around her was a blazing white which hurt her eyes to stare at. Men and women moved around her in white coveralls, carrying trays of implements and other electrical items.

She looked out of place in her short, pink dress, her legs crossed demurely as she sat at a small, grey, metal table and drew sketches of a gun shaped object. Next to it she jotted down notes - some she later scratched out and others she underlined for future reference.

"I'm never going to figure this out," Bulma moaned hopelessly as she blew a rogue strand of hair out of her face and pursed her lips in annoyance, for a second later it stubbornly fell back into place. Growling under her breath, she tucked it behind her ears and bent back down to work.

"You've only been here for a few hours, don't stress yourself. I'm sure it'll all come back to you," Ilandra murmured reassuringly, her voice echoing in the perfect silence of the room.

She was perched on the desk next to her, doling out pretty little smiles to the male Saiyans who flocked past them who were curious to see what the two most highly regarded royal concubines might be doing in a science laboratory.

"You don't understand, Ilandra." Bulma tossed her pencil onto the table and pressed her forehead against the coolness of the grey desk, her face a mask of despair. "The last time I had to design this I had my father to help me. I don't think I can do it on my own."

"What rubbish." Ilandra nimbly jumped off the desk and crouched by Bulma and gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "You've been through a lot since the Saiyans took over your planet, but don't worry. In time everything will come back to you. It might take a while, but soon enough everything is going to become clear." Ilandra looked away from Bulma's gaunt and deeply unhappy face and glanced at the science lab door where Brolly had appeared.

Brolly was staring at them with an unidentifiable look on his face. First of all he took in Bulma's tiny form, slumped against the desk, then he looked at Ilandra who was crouched near her in sympathy. His face hardened, and he motioned at Ilandra to come towards him.

"I'll be back in just a second, Bulma," Ilandra softly whispered in Bulma's ears, then stood up and gently rubbed Bulma's tense back. "I'm just going to see what Brolly wants, and then I'm going to come straight back here."

Ilandra's red eyes zipped nervously across to Brolly's tense form, and a shivery feeling slithered down her spine. Her pale skin seemed to pale even more as she gracefully picked her way across the gleaming white floor and halted a few steps from Brolly who was still staring at Bulma's un-moving form.

"Is she okay?" Brolly's voice was terse and worried sounding, and Ilandra hid the flash of annoyance which threatened to show on her face. It was obvious that Brolly was worried that she might have done something to Bulma.

Didn't Brolly trust her? She'd worked so hard to gain his trust! Hurting Bulma was the last thing she wanted to do! If anything she wanted to protect the little Earth girl - not just because she could help everyone with her inventions, but because she was a beautiful and fragile girl who had no idea what she had stumbled into here in the palace.

"Bulma's fine, she's just a little tired." Ilandra lightened her tone to hide the hostility she was feeling towards Brolly. There was something in the way he had looked at them when he had walked into the room…something which was making her flesh creep in warning.

Brolly looked away from Bulma and fastened his ebony gaze onto her, his dark Saiyan eyes boring into her as he took her arm and pulled her closer to him. He lent down until his mouth was at the same level of her ear. "You should stay away from Bulma you know, you're only going to get hurt worse if you persist in keeping her company." His voice was a rough growl, and Ilandra pulled away with a soft gasp.

"What do you mean by that?" She kept her voice hushed, but the panic was obvious. "What do you mean I'll be hurt worse?" Ilandra's eyes widened in alarm, and she took an unsteady step away from Brolly who stared emotionlessly down at her.

"You know what I mean Ilandra. You speak to him everyday so you know what his plans are for Bulma." Brolly's eyes continued to burn into hers, and Ilandra tore her gaze away from him with small cry.

"You know nothing Brolly!" Ilandra took a small step backwards. "I don't want anything bad to happen to Bulma…She's my friend, and I intend to stop anyone from hurting her. Even him." She tossed her soft mane of lavender hair and parted her lips for one more comment. "No matter what he desires I will always keep Bulma safe."

"I don't want to hurt her either Ilandra." Brolly's voice had softened. "But I think that deep down you know that if he ever gets his hands on her then she's going to be made to suffer like no other."

Ilandra took a deep shuddering breath, and she walked back to Bulma, ignoring Brolly's last comments and more determined then ever to keep Bulma safe from those who wanted her dead.

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A/N - A very, very short chapters. I'm sorry about that but I don't have a lot of time to type because I'm at Uni and I don't have my own computer. I figure that if I write short chapters then I should be able to get out a lot more of them. Heck, I may even be able to write another short chapters by Tomorrow!

Please Review, feedback means a lot to me!