Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Yin and Yang ❯ Chapter One/ Prologue ( Prologue )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ/GT; TOEI Animation, FUNimation, Akira Toriyama, and Bird StudioShueisha do.

AN: Hi!!!! This is the prologue for 'Yin and Yang' which is a continuation of the fic 'Any Woman, Anytime, Anywhere.' In case you were wondering, yes, this prologue, is the same as the previous story's chapter eleven. I decided to change all the formatting around, 'cause it really need to be changed. I apologize for any inconvenience.

Prologue

"Yo, short lil' mother fucker, let us the hell in!" one of the younger, tougher guys yelled, straightening his doo-rag (I think that's the way you spell it, those really tight, spandex-y hats with the long strings that 'ghetto' guys are so fond of now). He was obviously underage, and not to mention the alcohol on his breath was evident enough to not allow admittance into Aqua Underground.

"Look, you son of a bitch. I have my orders. And I'm not to allow anyone under the age of 18 in. Even if you were over 18, you're still as drunk as a homeless man, on free alcohol night. No drunks, no underages, and no punks like you." Vegeta spat to emphasize his point.

"Why, you little bastard!!" he screamed, pulling out a long, serrated knife that was at least 14 inches long.

"And no weapons either," Vegeta growled, wrenching the metal from his arm, and snapping it easily. "Now, I'll tell you one more time. Teen night is on Wednesday's and Thursday's. Come back sober and you can come in." his voice lowering to the most dangerous tone, and his face cracking into a totally demonic expression. Scared, the small band of teenagers quickly scurried off to another place.

"Good job, Vegeta." Came a feminine voice behind him. "I'm impressed. Those kids almost always force their way in. It takes a lot to keep them under control." Vegeta spun around to see the manager, Kathy, standing behind him.

Vegeta shrugged and grunted, his keen eyes scanning the alleyway again for more potential customers.

"Don't worry about it," Kathy smiled. "The club rush is over. It's already three. C'mon in, take a quick break. Just about twenty minutes. I'll let Maxwell take over." A tall man with black hair, and stunning green eyes walked out. He flashed the manager a quick smile, before assuming Vegeta's previous position at the door. Vegeta followed Kathy into the din, and walked over to the bar.

"Something hard," he demanded to Jason, the bartender.

"Sure you can take it?" Jason asked in a mischevious manner. "We just got some Bicardi* (see FYI at the end of the chapter) …our vodka's already pretty strong too." Vegeta nodded. Jason set down a shot glass with the mixed liquor. Without a second glance, Vegeta drained the entire glass.

"I can hold my liquor," he said simply, set the glass down, and strolled away, weaving easily through the gyrating figures. Vegeta looked around his surroundings, trying to get used to the place where he would be working for a while. He easily zipped through the large dance floor, to the several booths and tables scattered around the edges. He scanned the place, memorizing the basic floor plan, and then walked upstairs to the second floor. In the VIP room, the atmosphere was fairly different. The music that was pulsing very loudly downstairs had reached the upstairs, but not quite a lot. Just enough to set a pleasant background to the people eating. Upstairs there were waiters bustling around, a mini-bar in the corner, and a sushi bar at the far end. There was the gentle clinging of glass, and quiet, pleasant chatter that floated around like a soft sea breeze.

"Ah! Vegeta!" Kathy waved from the position where she was sitting at one of the tables. Vegeta walked near her. "This is David Smithes, he's one of the major people…in the business…" she added knowingly. Vegeta nodded.

"Vegeta's one of our newest employess here, Mr. Smithes. He currently works as a guard, to make sure no one inebriated, with alcohol, or drugs comes in, or underage people in general."

"And he seems to be doing a very good job," the chestnut haired man looked around approvingly. "Aqua Underground seems to be a prosperous place to be. Clean, well-kept, organized, well-run. Keep this up, Kathy, and I may just have to add in a little bonus on top of my prior sponsorship."

"Oh, Mr. Smithes, you are just too kind!" Kathy sqealed. Vegeta began to slowly melt from the table, and just overheard her saying, "-oh, and did you start a new diet?! You look healthier already!" Vegeta chuckled wryly, and tapped Maxwell on the shoulder.

"Oh, ready to get back?" Maxwell asked in a cultured voice. "Very well, where is Kathy, by the way?"

"Upstairs," Vegeta grunted, sliding back into his usual post by the door. Maxwell nodded, and disappeared into the flashing lights.

*******************

"Really?" Bulma asked intriguingly to one of her coworkers in the Research and Development lab in Capsule Corp. "Well, I'm not sure if we should connect the beta wires, to the delta output so quickly. We don't want to fry the matrix, returning us back to square one."

"Ah…I see it now," Samuel murmured. "Right you are, Ms. Briefs. Okay, so then how about a brief break? Pardon the pun. Shall I escort you to the café down the street?" he asked, holding out his arm.

"I'd like that, Sam," Bulma smiled. "But, unfortunately, not today. There's this new invention that my fingers have just been itching to try out and draw the blueprints for. So, rain check?"

"Always." Sam smiled. "See you in an hour then!"

"Better make it two," Bulma muttered under her breath. She was lying. There were no blueprints to draw up, she needed to see the psychiatrist. She was having problems sleeping, again, and couldn't figure out why. But she knew one thing, it could not be good for the baby. If she couldn't sort out her stress, then she'd have to request sleeping pills. They were the only way she'd be able to fall asleep. Bulma had reached the corridor of the office, and was about to knock, when her pager went off. She took one glance at it, and took off like a shot.

****************

Bulma arrived at the hospital, her heart racing. All that had been on her pager was the few words that simply said that her mother was at the hospital. Why was it that everything just seemed to be falling apart for her lately. First her friends, now her family. Her mother had been found unconscious in the garden, while tending to her prize-winning roses. The reason was unknown. The doctor's suspected it was probably stress, because aside from that momentary collapse, she was in perfect health.

"Mom?" Bulma asked tentatively to the usually-cheery blonde.

"Honey?" Bunny whispered, opening her eyes a crack. "I'm so glad you're here," she smiled weakly, then her eyes closed briefly. "I'm…I'm so tired, I'm sorry, sweetie." She breathed.

"No, that's okay, Mom." Bulma offered a wavering smile.

"Perhaps you should leave…" a nurse whispered. "Ms. Briefs, your mother will be fine. She's tired, it's time for her medicine. Come back later." Bulma nodded dumbly, not knowing what else to do or say, and left the pristiness of the sterile hospital room.

"Bulma!" Dr. Briefs said, standing up. "Some of your friends came to see you…" he indicated at the four mulling in the waiting room, sullen gazes on their faces.

"Um…hi," Goku said, awkwardly.

Sensing some evident tension between the comrades, Dr. Briefs quickly excused himself, mumbling something about heading out to the coffee shop to get a cappucino.

"Bulma!" ChiChi cried, embracing her friend. "We came as quickly as we heard. I'm so sorry about your mother."

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure she'll be fine, the doctor's said that it was just stress." Bulma said softly, reassuring herself and the brunette at the same time. Goku scratched in wonder, how could that normally lax, bubbly woman, be 'stressed'?

"Yeah…" Krillin said, awkwardly scratching the back of his head. "I'm really sorry about your mom." Juu cast him a deathly glare. "-and everything else too." He added hurriedly.

"I think what Krillin means to say," Goku came, rescuing his friend, "is that we're both really sorry about the whole thing with Vegeta, and that we're still here for you…if you still want us to be here." Bulma nodded mutely, speechless. It seemed to be happening to her a lot lately.

"It'll take some time…but wounds have to start healing at some point, right B?" 18 asked softly.

Bulma took a deep breath. "Well…I can't say that I'm not angry, but I'm certainly not pleased. But…like Juu said. wounds have to start healing. I suppose now is as good time as any. I haven't said anything about forgiveness…but, I'm willing to start over."

"In light of all that's happened, is when friends have to stick together the most." ChiChi agreed. "We're here for you, B. Don't you ever forget that." Bulma nodded, and smiled at her friends.

"I know you guys are always here for me-but right now, I'm kind of, well, moody. I really don't want to sound rude, but could you guys leave? I need some alone time. Just to think of what's happened over the past few weeks. Please?"

"Of course," Goku gave a heartwarming smile, and a big hug. "Don't forget to call if anything happens." Everyone else murmured their agreement, and all embraced the blue-haired maiden. ChiChi, Juu, and Goku had left, but Krillin hung back for a while.

"Yes, Krillin?" Bulma asked in a somewhat weary tone.

Krillin leaned over, "I just wanted to tell you how sorry I am. If I knew it would have ended up this way, I never would have even baited Vegeta in the first place." Bulma smiled warily.

"Thanks, Krillin. I know, but we never do know how things are going to end up, do we? That's the only way we ever move on in life. However hard it may be." Krillin nodded, and gave Bulma an enormous hug.

"Don't forget, my cell phone is always with me." Krillin had reached the door, before he turned back and hurried to Bulma's side again. "I really am very sorry, B. And if it's any consolation, I just thought you should know. Vegeta's currently in America. He got accepted into Columbia University."

"Columbia?" Bulma asked disbelievingly. "I can't believe it. The father of my child isn't even in the country."

"I knew I shouldn't have told you, but I honestly thought you should've known." Krillin murmured miserably.

"Don't worry. It's not your fault." Bulma replied distractedly. Seeing that she was occupied enough, Krillin quickly scurried off. "Columbia," she murmured to herself.

"Do you have room for another?" came a male voice. She looked up to see her father standing over her, holding two steaming cups of Starbucks. Bulma silently scooted over, still brooding over the new piece of information that had been handed to her.

"Something wrong, my dear?" Dr. Briefs asked quietly when Bulma hadn't spoken up for a few long minutes.

"Nothing's wrong…" Bulma sighed hoarsely. "Everything's wrong…"

"Nani? Care to elaborate?" he asked in that intelligent manner of his.

"Well…everything seems to be falling apart for me lately. First it was a slight slip in my schoolwork. And then it slowly scooped up work…and then somehow my personal life got added into the mix. And now this stuff with Mom!" she burst into tears.

"Now, now," Dr. Briefs soothed, patting his only daughter's head kindly. "Calm down." He handed her a handkerchief. After a few moments, the tears began to wind down, and Bulma blew her nose, loudly. "Nothing like a good cry," he added soothingly. Bulma nodded, smiling through her puffy eyes and swollen nose.

"Thanks, Daddy."

"Anytime. Now would you care to explain one of your numerous problems to me, or would you care to keep them to yourself."

"Actually, I'd rather not talk about them right now, Daddy." Bulma murmured.

"That's fine, daughter. But would you like some general advice?"

Bulma nodded. "That would be greatly appreciated, Daddy."

"Whenever I come across multiple problems, I always like to solve them, starting at the heart of them. Or the ones that bother me the most. Once I get the harder things out of the way, the other ones always seem like children's play in comparison. Perhaps that is the direction you should take…" Bulma nodded in understanding. "Now, I'm going to go check on your mother's condition. You think carefully about your next step, daughter." Dr. Briefs kissed the top of her head lovingly and walked off in the direction of Bunny's hospital room.

********************

Or the ones that bother me the most… Bulma's father's words kept on crossing her mind, but this one sentence stood out the most. What was bothering her the most? Well, that was easy, Vegeta, and the baby. But what did that mean? She had to go see him…Yes, perhaps that was the answer.

******************

Vegeta stalked like a prowling maniac through his apartment. Kathy had been nice enough to let him live in one of the complexes over the club when she found out that he had no housing. He had unpacked all his capsules, and was settled comfortably, when his eyes fell on the single photograph that he owned. It was picture of Bulma at the beach. Her azure eyes matching with the crystal spray behind her. Her long hair waving wildly everywhere, berry lips curved in a loving smile. Vegeta felt something stir within him. It was bizarre, awkward, something he was not used to. Was it…

"No, cannot be," Vegeta growled into the bare room. "It cannot be…this…love," he spat out the word like it was some kind of contagious, deadly germ. Yes, that was exactly how Vegeta felt about love. It made you vulnerable, weak. The baka onna was nothing to him. He would not be taken hostage by an emotion! Resolved, Vegeta crawled into his bed, for a moment of restless sleep.

**************

Determined, Bulma picked up her cell phone and called her secretary.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jessica. Look it's Bulma."

"Hello, Ms. Briefs. Do you need something?"

"Yeah, I need you to get me plane tickets, as soon as possible, I want the first flight outta here."

"Where to?"

"Manhattan, in New York. You know, the United States."

*******************

Footnote(s):

*Bicardi- it's a really, REALLY hard type of vodka. One of the liquors that you DON'T mix with vodka. So please don't -don't say I didn't warn you, cause I do now. I will not, and cannot, assume responsibility for anything any of the readers do on their own free will- I just wanted to emphasize Vegeta's incredible metabolism.

AN: So, how'd you guys like that chapter?! I was always one for WRITING cliffhangers, not necessarily reading them, *hint* *hint* *wink* *wink*. Don't forget to REVIEW!!!! But I'm sure you guys will know what's going to happen next: Bulma's going to go to America, to find Vegeta. But the question is…will she find him? Or even better, when, or if, Vegeta gets wind of what Bulma's doing (wink wink), will he permit himself to be found? REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!!! Ciao

AN#2: It is currently around the second week of October (year 2002). And after careful consideration, and deliberation, not to mention and infinite amount of advice, I have decided…to…well, make a continuation. Therefore, from this point on, 'Any Woman, Anytime, Anywhere' is no longer a story. I have officially discontinued it. The remaining chapters (12-18) will be removed and placed under a sequel story, 'cause since you guys know that the plot changes soooo much, that I figured it would be pointless less to keep it under the same light, airy name. Okay?! The new story is now called 'Yin and Yang' (creative, right? Lol).

In OTHER words, this is officially the end of 'Any Woman, Anytime, Anywhere.' And this work of fiction will no longer be updated. You will have to look for updates under my sequel story 'Yin and Yang'.