Spark of Blue

Hope you like it. English is not my first language so I'll appreciate any review about my spelling or grammar and if anyone finds this fic worthy enough to offer to beta it, it'll be amazing.

Thanks for the reviews.

I'm awfully sorry for the delay in posting. My life is really hectic right now and I've barely got time to sleep. I want the few readers that are still following this to know that it will take time for me to complete it, but I'll do it. I've got a clear idea of where I want to go with this story and I've got the chapters outlined. I really enjoy writing, and so far I've had a great time writing this, so any time I can scarp to myself I spend working on it. Sadly it's not much. Your reviews mean a lot to me, specially taking in consideration the time that has gone by from my last post. I can't count the times I reread the first chapters 'cause I'm paranoid my style in writing has changed. So any and all comments are greatly appreciated.


WARNING: This fic contains foul language, violence and adult situations involving sex o implying it, so if any of the later bothers you, don't read.

"Blah"- talking

/Blah/- thoughts

*/Blah/* - telepathy

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z not any of the elements taken from it.

SPARK OF BLUE

Chapter 11

For a few moments after the Ox king hit the ground with a sickening resolute thud, both Nairajins and Sayajins alike were seized by the abject horror and incredulity that came from watching a giant fall. Still in their previous positions, they kept on staring in morbid fascination, as if willing the limp body laying before their eyes to spring back to life, for they were astounded, shaken to their very bones, and couldn't quite process the drastic turn of events that had taken place.

Little by little everything started coming back into focus, beginning with Nappa's triumphant growl and escalating to full force when the princess herself, desperate to reach her father's side, flew in a flurry of orange gowns and onyx hair right through the throng of warriors.

In and instant, time righted itself and it even seemed to want to make up for the minutes lost. One second Chi-Chi was mid flight and about to get to the dying king, and the next Nappa had her by the hair, and was hoisting her up in the air as she struggled to get free, his hideous, booming laughter carrying on through the entire planet.

A few miles from there, in the outskirts of the battlefield, Raditz' s spine tensed as the sound reached him, and the full impact of how seriously fucked up they would be if things didn't change soon hit him like a well placed ki blast. Preoccupied with those thoughts he failed to communicate them in time to his brother, who, upon witnessing the new onslaught of violence explode around them, was quick to join the combat.

It wasn't until he had already gone through at least a dozen aliens that Kakarot noticed Raditz's lack of involvement. Concerned by his recent wounds and thinking that they were hindering him, he turned to look for him and their gazes locked. Not entirely sure about what was going on, but trusting his brother's judgment, he folded to the message his eyes and vive tried to convey, and made his way back to him as fast as he could having to fight off the enraged Nairajins that were still in his path.

"Kakarot this is all wrong," were Raditz' s first words. "These aliens are supposed to be our allies."

"What are you talking about?" Kakarot frowned, "they are attacking us!"

"And what do you expect? That shit for brains just killed their king, and that is their princess he's joggling around like a rag doll," he explained with exasperation. "Listen, we don't have time to chit chat, can you lock onto that woman's ki?"

"Hmm, I thinks so," Kakarot replied as he focused on doing just that. "Done!"

"Now, Nappa is surrounded by elites. I can't fight them, and if you do we'll be losing vital assets. Use your instant transmission technique; snatch her out of that fucker's clutches and teleport back here. We have to find Matot, he's the only one who can reign things in."

Putting two fingers to his forehead, Kakarot wasted no time after listening to Raditz' s words, and found himself placed in the epicenter of the raving battle. Coming face to face with a startled Nappa, he grabbed for the still hissing and struggling woman and yanked with all his might, almost dropping her right back when the bloodcurdling scream she gave at having her precious tresses all but ripped from the roots, assaulted his sensitive hearing. Luckily for them, Nappa' s ears suffered the same fate, and being quicker to recover than him, using all his willpower to avoid the ringing of his eardrums, Kakarot was gone as fast as he had come, with the addition of an enraged woman in his possession and before the startled stares of both aliens and fellow sayajins.

Chi-Chi didn't take too kindly to being passed from one brute to another, no matter the identity of the new man that had her unceremoniously tucked behind his arm, she had only one objective in mind: escape. Using the newly found strength that surged within her following the anger and pain she felt, she began with renewed and empowered vigor to kick, hit, scratch and even bite every surface of her captor' s body she could get at.

Kakarot looked helplessly at his brother for some clue as to what to do with the feisty creature in his hold. Even if her attempts at attacking did him no harm, it was rather annoying, and he feared that by impulse alone he would end up hurting the precious monarch. Seeing as he was getting nothing from Raditz, who was searching intently for their off planet missions' commander, her tried to talk to her, which put him promptly at the end of what surely was the longest string of curses ever said in one breath.

Hearing the ruckus caused behind him, and sensing both alien and fellow kis closing in on them, Raditz latched onto his brother. "Matot is in that direction," he told him pointing north. "He's right next to Strowk, his ki is higher. Can you sense it? Get us to them."

Kakarot felt for Strowk' s ki, but when he reached for the power to pull off the teletransportation, he found that he had all but exhausted it and couldn't manage enough to do it. With a frustrated sigh he dropped the fingers from his forehead, and turned to face his brother.

"I'm too tired to do it. We'll have to fly or try to reach them telepathically and have them come to us. We have the princess as leverage against the aliens, and in any case we're strong enough to ward them off," he explained in a whoosh of air.

"They're in full combat, there's no way their mental walls are low enough for communication, and we don't have our scouters with us," Raditz growled back. "We'll have to somehow make our way to them. I'll take the front and clean the path if I need to. You stay behind me and hold tight onto that woman."

Getting to Matot and Strowk was no easy feat, both were battling with tiredness and the hordes of enraged Nairajins were more vicious than ever in their desperation. Raditz couldn't fight all of them at once, leaving Kakarot to fend for himself single handed and with the princess trashing around wildly.

After more than a few close calls, they finally managed to reach the close knit of elites fighting in perfect formation. Sidestepping the one on one matches, they landed behind friendly lanes and let themselves drop to the ground.

Taking notice of the three new members to his squad, Matot was quick to go check on them. While his soldiers fought he was intent in following the princess' ki, having been not as surprised as everyone else with the little disappearance act Kakarot had pulled, being as he was well acquainted with the easygoing warrior. And so he had been expectant to their coming.

Seeing him approach, Raditz stood up and took Chi-Chi from Kakarot, ushering her in front of him and keeping her in line with a heavy set of hands around her middle.

"Stay put princess. I'm not going to hurt you, in fact I'm looking forwards to this whole mess to end," he growled at her when she started squirming in his hold, in what was meant to be a reassuring tone but came out everything but due to the strain he was in.

"What do we have here?". Matot' s voice cut through any answer Chi-Chi may have had. "Is this the alien princess?" He asked after giving her a calculating once over.

"Yes sir," Raditz confirmed. "I assume you are aware of these people importance to us. Things are way out of control here, and you commander, appear to be the highest authority given the situation."

"I'm aware yes, but my hands are tied if her highness here does not collaborate with me. I apologize for my people rash behavior and your father's untimely death princess," Matot addressed Chi-Chi. "I understand if your opinion on the alliance with us has changed, but I'm afraid we're already here, and if it comes down to it we'll take the planet by force. I personally prefer to come to terms through politics rather than lose any more Sayajins and time."

Composing herself at a moment's notice like only royalty can, Chi-Chi straightened in Raditz' s hold and leveling the commander with a piercing glare, gave a curt nod of acceptance and ordered them in the most regal voice she could muster to unhand her. "Order your soldiers to halt their actions, and I'll address my people and ask for the same. Although I'm warning you from this very moment, my father's murder will not go impugned, and over the unavoidable hostility that may come from now on I can do nothing more than encourage for the opposite, even if my heart is not in it. So Sayan, you have my utmost collaboration, I don't care for seeing more bloodshed at expenses of the Nairan people," she spat haughtily at him.

Matot' s lips curved upwards in a restrained smile at her wry response and mannerisms. "Very well," he conceded. "Talo, Cuma!", He bellowed. Two sturdy sayajins broke formation at his call and went to stand before him, backs tense and hands fisted over their hearts. "Break the platoon in three, take a group each and order the remaining soldiers to form a perimeter around us. I want you to collect the rest of the council member and bring them here at once," he told Cuma. "You Talo, recruit all troops commanders, call them to order and report back here."

Once the two soldiers flew off to carry on with their assignments, Matot gave the princess the barest of curtseys and went to oversee the formation of the perimeter. Raditz finding himself alone with the forlom monarch felt the need to reassure her after the commander's brass attitude.

"Princess, once the perimeter is in place and the sayajin council complete, we'll put an end to all of it," he told her in his softest voice.

Chi-Chi regarded his proclamation with a wary sight and turned to face the still rampaging battle with a heavy heart. / I hope so, I sincerely hope so. / Were her thoughts as she got lost in the scene before her.

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Vegeta's good spirits didn't last long. Once he reached the silent showers, the carefully built damp he had put on his emotions gave away and everything came flooding back to him with a vengeance. In a flash his smile was gone and replaced with a frown deeper than normal.

Stepping violently out of his shorts, he threw himself at the nearest stall hoping to find some release under the steaming water. Unfortunately, it wasn't able to wash away all those uncomfortable emotions that had arisen within him, and after an eternity of standing head down under the spray with balled fist against the wall, it did nothing to quell the ill feelings.

For a moment after he turned off the cistern and stood immobile surrounded by mist, it looked like the sense of failure and lost had taken over him, but it only lasted no more than a second before he schooled his emotions and his face into his normal blank demeanor.

He reached for a towel to dry off; only to come across with an obvious used one, still damp and impregnated with Bulma's distinctive scent.

"Damn that woman," he cursed under his breath when he realized, already completely out of the stall, that indeed that piece of cloth was the only one around.

It just wouldn't do. Some other time he would've just raised his ki and be done with it, but under the current circumstances he was looking forwards to the small comfort, and would be damned if he let some wench take it away from him.

"Hello… servant woman," he called. "Bring me a drying cloth, at once!"

When neither answer nor the rushing of footsteps to carry on his order could be heard, he tried again. / Surely that woman has too much air between her ears, and the undercurrents of wind are impairing her hearing. / "Woman, can you hear me?" He shouted, annoyed at her lack of proper treating of royalty.

Back at the main deck Bulma's ears perked once more at his bellowing, and her left eye twitched in agitation. Knowing that he would continue to call for her like a petulant child until she answered him, she stood from where she was working on some intergalactic maps and took to the hall leading to the showers.

"I hear you!" She shouted back, hands on hips and feet apart, standing in the middle of the hall, "but my name is Bulma, and I'm not your servant, so say please!" She finished, tilting her head skywards and sticking her pointed nose in the air. It would do him some good to get used to that notion; she was definitely not at his beck and call.

"Ugh", Vegeta grunted. /Otiose pest!/. "Forget about the stupid drying cloth then", he snarled, and her retort was quick to come.

"Suit yourself, drip dry you jerk!" Bulma yelled. Knowing it wasn't the end of their dispute, she stood in the hall and he didn't disappoint.

"What? … Is this some kind of joke?" came his bewildered voice.

/So he finally opened the capsule I gave him, ne?/ she thought with an evil smirk in place, widening to a full blow out smile as she pictured his face as he held the hideous outfit she had specially selected for him. "Is what a joke?" she asked with perfectly faked innocence.

"This garments that you gave me, are they for a man or a woman? … they're pink!" He answered, the distaste evident in his voice.

Bulma could barely suppress a laugh from coming thundering out of her. "Oh come on, it was the style back then", she lied.

"Men in pink, how bizarre," Vegeta muttered more to himself than anything else, but she heard him and it almost did her in. Although the real challenge presented itself when he emerged donning the ridiculous ensemble, grunting frustratingly under his breath, with balled fists and a peeved expression on his face.

"This is ridiculous, I'm a warrior not a… a variety of flower!" he complained, struggling to get a comparison that matched his indignation.

She gave one more look at the proud prince dressed in a tight pink shirt and hideous, equally tight yellow pants, and couldn't contain herself any longer, she let out a bark of laughter right to his face.

"Well, you smell good", she even managed to jab in between mouthfuls of air, and continued laughing.

She had pictured what he would look like when she thought of taking revenge on him for his cutting comments the day before, but boy, did reality surpass fiction, and with flying colors!. The idea had come to her while she was busy looking for something to wear, utterly mortified at having realized she had delivered her apologize in nothing more that a loose t-shirt and her underwear. She had stumbled upon the ridiculous clothes left no doubt by a past conquest that had been booted out before having the chance to put them back on, and it occurred to her that her regal companion had nothing to wear but what was the bottom half of his bodysuit and a tattered chest plate. They were perfect; sure, she could spare a couple of her training gears, after all they stretched, were colored soberly and not much different from the ones used by the sayajin army under their armors, but who was she to pass up an opportunity to watch the prince squirm in embarrassment.

While she had her laughing fest, Vegeta was getting redder and redder, the vein in his forehead threatening to burst, until he couldn't take it any longer. "Shut up! Shut up or I'll blast you to hell and back" he finally exploded.

Bulma stopped laughing and just blinked at him. "Oh chill out, fighting is no fun. Let's got get something to eat" she told him in her most air headed voice, leaving him completely dumbfounded.

The mercurial way in which she changed moods never failed to threw him from a loop, and even if he had only known her for a meager couple of weeks or so, he had a feeling it would never cease to be that way, and he didn't like not one bit. But in the end her tactic, he was sure it was intentional, had worked, and almost without him realizing it, the fight had left his body.

With one last grunt of annoyance he followed her to the main deck, down to the inferior level of the ship and into the tiny kitchen he had passed once in his way to his self-appointed training slash storage room.

Having no intention whatsoever in partaking into any kind of culinary related activity, he sat at the small kitchenette table and was simply content to burn holes in her back with his potent stare. Even if her ass sticking up as she was bent looking though a cabinet painted and interesting picture that he couldn't help but notice, he tore his eyes from the sight and let them wander to the room until the landed upon a few capsules scattered on the table. Before he had time to inquire or figure out on his own what they held, Bulma turned around and placed two more capsules next to them.

"These are all the food-capsules we've got. When we reach Toop 5 we'll need to restore our food supplies too. This will barely hold us 'till then." She said.

He wasn't overly concerned about it, after all if it came down to it, it wouldn't be the first time he went for extended periods of time without eating, and in spite of all her feminine ways he knew it was the same for her. More pressing things came to mind, like what she told him in the med bay.

"Do you still think I should offer these weaklings some stupid treaty?" he asked her, infusing as much venom as he could, so it would be obvious how he stood when it came to that particular idea.

She granted him with a smile, she wasn't stupid, she very much heard the implications in his tone, but the fact that he was breaching the subject, and actually making civil conversation with her, was proof that her nagging had gotten through that thick skull of his.

"Yes", she answered him. "Look, we'll have to start anew after this whole fucking war with Freeza ends, and we'll probably need help from other worlds to win it, not just for the manpower alone, but for logistics and supplies too. One of the reasons Freeza could take us down so easily was because for all our power we had little to no support from the rest of the universe. What the hell, I'm sure a great deal of it is probably celebrating. But there is a huge deal of planets under the oppression of Freeza's rule that would be glad to be of any use to take him down, and that will see us as the lesser evil or, if we play our cards well, allies. And there's also the fact that there is a wide portion of galaxies with planets that are independent from the Cold Empire. Planets to which even Freeza himself has to bow to and play politics to keep on his side. Planets that we can win over. And believe me, we won't be able to accomplish that with our fists. You are your people's prince, and in the absence of your father you'll have to step up and be their leader. Another thing that cannot be accomplished with sheer brute force."

"I know that woman, but I'd like to focus on things at hand. I don't know what will be expecting me when I reach the base planet, if there is one." He said, a little bit unsettled with the picture she painted for him. "I do know that in a week and a few days we'll be running out of fuel and being forced to obtain it from die hard son of bitches that hate our tails. And really if the situation was reversed I would blast them without a second thought".

"Hey, we'll be getting that fuel and everything we need from them no matter what. If the politic way doesn't work, we'll steal it", Bulma told him with a mischievous smirk. "We can send a transmission and work the deal from space, and if they refuse us, we have enough fuel as to stall for a day and then make a covert landing. I'm sure it won't be hard for us to break through their security and get what we need. As long as we stay away from a massive confrontation we can still blast the fuckers that dare oppose us."

"Hmn", he conceded and acknowledged his approval with a nod. "This is the first time you talk like a sayan".

"Oh shut up jerk or I'll show you how sayan I am, mainly by kicking that cute ass of yours", Bulma huffed playfully.

"What… cute ass?" He mumbled, the part about besting him in battle completely flying above his head. "Vulgar woman!"

Bulma laughed, and chose not to comment on the blush coloring his cheeks, mainly because she found it endearing, and was content to just drop a wink and busy herself with preparing the food. Vegeta was glad that she had finally put herself to use by cooking and so also chose to remain silent, until he tasted the food, that's it.

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Once they were both finished with their meal, Bulma had showed him the maps she had been working on and after a mild argument they had agreed on which route to take to get off the Clooper galaxy. Afterwards, each had been concentrated in their own things, and had stayed away from the other, until it came the time to retire. Both of them eager not to repeat the situation of their first night together, and to put as much distance as possible between them when their mental walls' were at their lowest, they had alternated between sleeping on the cot and the chair in the main deck, having also realized the imprudence of navigating the cosmos when they were both asleep.

The next days went by in a relative normalcy. Bulma had taken to reinforce and double-check the ship's engines and the system configuration, and had even tinkered with the regen tank. While Vegeta had been busy using the storage room as his personal torture chamber, making use of Boom, whom he had pressed Bulma to update with a fighting program and a potent force shield.

They spent the majority of the day apart, but Bulma insisted in sharing their meals. She had seen that time as the perfect opportunity to get through Vegeta in a somewhat relaxed environment, and even if he always managed to rile her up with a comment about her cooking, they had both realized that when they weren't trading insults they could almost enjoy the other's presence. And if was often that they found themselves sharing a lot of opinions.

It was during one of their discussions while eating, that Boom gave them the notice that they were in range of Toop 5's interstellar frequency.

"Bulma, we're one hour from entering Toop 5's orbit. Interstellar communication with the planet is now possible", Boom informed her.

"Thanks Boom, stay alert to any incoming transmissions. I'm confident that our cloaking devise will prevent them from noticing us, but one can never be too sure. We'll be right behind you." She told the bot, and turned her attention to Vegeta. "Ok, is time to put your princely wiles in action."

"Whoope-fucking-doo", he exclaimed as he got up to go out of the room. "Let's get this over with."

/I have to wonder what climbed up his ass and died there/ Bulma said to herself as she followed after him. Once they reached the main deck and he seated himself before the control panel, she gave Boom the order to establish contact.

"What the fuck is the problem?" asked an annoyed Vegeta after a good fifteen minutes had gone by with nothing more than static.

"I don't know, maybe there's a problem with the connection". she answered with a frown. "I updated the system the best I could while having it functioning, but it's possible that it's still not compatible with theirs."

"You are telling me that this obsolete tin can cannot communicate whit them?".

"Yes Vegeta that's what I'm telling you."

"Well fuck it, it was a stupid idea to try and offer an alliance anyways." He spat. "I'm going to train some more, if you want to keep on wasting your time be my guest, but if you can't get anything else but dead air by the time we reach the atmosphere, we're going with the coherent plan that is taking what we need no questions asked."

"Fine, we'll do it your way", she conceded. "Boom keep on trying I'm going to prepare for landing."

"No problem Bulma, I'll initiate the warning twenty minutes before impact", Boom told her.

Loyal to his word, when the time came, Boom gave the signal, and both Bulma and Vegeta arrived at the main deck. She was wearing her black gear with her half gloves and white boots, capsule belt secure around her waist and hair pulled back in a tight ponytail. Vegeta was donning one of the spare bodysuits she had been forced to relinquish, his chest plate, boots, and a fierce glare.

They took their seats and after a few minutes Boom initiated the countdown.

"Landing in 10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…. Impact"

Once in Toop 5 soil, they were quick to initiate the descent. But what they found froze them in their tracks. There was no big army waiting for them, there was no ambush, no soldiers ready to defend the planet.

There was nothing at all.

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Tammy.