THE GIFT
By: Lisa Starr

Bulma Briefs sat looking at the picture that sat on her desk. It was a happy picture. A picture as ancient as she was becoming. Today was her thirty-sixth birthday. She was an optimistic woman at heart, but today she could not find too much to be positive about. Had it really been twenty years since she had first met Goku?

The thought of her best friend brought a smile to her face. He had not changed one bit in all the years she had called herself his friend. Through it all, marriage, fatherhood, adversity, even death, he had remained the same. The boy grown into a man, not once losing that boyish optimism and sense of wonder that so many lost as they aged.

She hadn't actually spoken to Goku much since the horrible nightmare of Buu had been ended. She cringed inwardly, reliving the moment of Goku telling her Vegeta was dead. In her heart she had known, but to have it confirmed by his words had been almost more then she could take. She would have done anything in that one moment to kill Buu herself. Of course in the end things had been resolved and Vegeta had been returned to the living with a second chance, but she could still feel that moment as if it was happening all over again, the emotions still raw, the pain still vivid.

Vegeta. She had not seen him all day. He had been gone when she had woken up. No 'Happy Birthday Bulma', no nothing. Just an empty bed. No real surprise. Vegeta remained remarkably consistent in a world filled with absolutely no constants. She should just be grateful to count him among one of the living. She was absolutely grateful. Dende knew that she was selfishly grateful that that pain in the ass man was still with her. Fortune had smiled on her once again.

He had definitely come back different. The past year with him since Buu had been destroyed had been different. He most assuredly wasn't the Vegeta of old, though he still wouldn't show any affection to her or Trunks in public. At home, though, when it was just the two of them, well things were definitely different. It wasn't what he said so much as what he showed. Simple touches, caresses, the most intense lovemaking she had ever experienced. From him, all these little things spoke volumes. He had forged a connection with her that could only come from time together. Understanding, acceptance, love. She could see his gratitude shining in his eyes. The wordless thanks for her acceptance and forgiveness. He returned it to her fully. She could finally look in his eyes and feel cherished. Even when they were arguing and he was pushing all her buttons in only the way he knew how. She supposed something good had come from Buu's existence after all.

She sighed and pushed away from her desk. It was already after three. She wanted to take the rest of the day off. Maybe Vegeta would be home.

She sped home in her new, red convertable capsule car. A birthday gift to herself. One of the perks of being designer/inventor and CEO of her fathers massive company. She was greeted by Trunks the minute she got home.

"Mom, I can't find my other controller to my playstation. How are Goten and I suppossed to play it tonight?"

She cringed at his whiny tone, but decided not to comment on it now. She needed some peace.

"How should I know Trunks? Do you think I play it at night after your in bed then hide the controllers for fun?"

"Probably," he retorted.

She rolled her eyes. She just loved dealing with eight year olds.

"That's your mom, the closet playstation freak. Really Trunks."

"Well, dad probably would."

"I'm not your dad. Where was the last place you had it?"

"In my room."

"Have you looked there?"

"Sorta."

That meant no.

"Why don't you go and look again. Look under your bed this time. Its bound to be in there somewhere."

"Alright mom. Can i go over to Goten's after I find it?"

"Sure kid."

She watched him run off to his room. She made her own escape to her bedroom, before he could come back with another assault. Not that she was trying to avoid her son, she just needed some personal time.

A look in her room showed no Vegeta. She stripped off her work clothes and padded into the bathroom. Off came the bra and jewelry leaving her standing in only her underwear, facing the mirror.

Not too bad Bulma. Breasts still up there, no real wrinkles to speak of. I look a little more mature. She ran her fingers through her hair. She had let it grow out to her shoulders. It still looked shiny and bright. Maybe being thirty-six wasn't so bad after all.

She went back to her closet, looking for some shorts and a t-shirt to pull on. She crawwled around looking for the raggedy pair of jean shorts she so loved to wear. Digging through her clothes she was oblivious to the presence behind her.

Vegeta smirked at the oppurtunity his timely arrival had afforded him. There in front of him, on her hands and knees, completely unaware of his standing behind her, was his wife. Her lush little ass at just the right angle for him to ...

Smack.

Bulma's whole body shot into the air with an outraged cry, her head hitting a low shelf. She managed to spin around to smack the offender upside his head only to have her hand caught and her whole body jerked up into the arms of her laughing husband.

"Vegeta!" she shrieked causing him to wince.

"You should no better woman, then to offer up such an irresistable temptation to me."

"Oh, fine, blame it on me." She rubbed her bottom gingerly and shot him the meanest lookher blue eyes could muster.

Vegeta could have drowned in those eyes. He pulled her tighter against him, painfully aware of his rapidly growing arousal and her complete state of undress. His hand caressed her perfectly rounded ass.

"Don't worry, I'll make it feel better." He murmured sexily into her ear.

She shivered against him. She could feel his erection against her and it sent a warm little jolt shooting through her own body. She was quickly forgetting her irritation with him. She found it being replaced by an almost unbearable desire to be close to him. To feel him inside her, for him to claim her body as his own, just as she claimed his for herself. This would be the perfect birthday present.

She slipped her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, grinding her pelvis against the hard bulge in his pants. The moan it illicited from him thrilled her and moved her to bring him more pleasure. Her hand slid down to the button on his pants and she somehow managed to undo them and slip her hands in to grasp his hard length. He rubbed against her and caught her mouth in a heated kiss, his tongue plumbing the depths of her mouth. She answered him in kind, her hand rubbing his erection slowly.

He growled at her and lifted her up in his arms, carrying her to their bed. His need for her was growing with each passing second. he laid her down on the bed and fell over her, catching himself with his hands. His head dipped down and latched onto her nipple, his tongue drawing lazy swirls around it. She moaned his name. The things he could do to her body. She had never imagined that it could be like this with anyone.

His tongue was everywhere. He left no part of her body untouched. She felt him slide her underwear off of her. His tongue was replaced by his finger sliding into her. She gasped for air as he moved it in and out of her. She managed to reach out and grasp him inher hands again. this time it was his turn to moan as she gave back as good as she got.

He lifted himself up and shrugged off his shirt. the last barrier between them. She lifted herself , bringing her mouth inches away from his.

"I want you now, Vegeta. I want you inside me. I need you."

Years of having this man in her bed paid off. She knew exactly what to say to excite him, to shatter his impressive self-control.

Vegeta stared into her blue eyes. He was almost ready to come just by looking at the lustful gleam shining in her bright eyes. How could he have ever tried to convince himself that he didn't love this woman. In the beginning it had been lust and an unwilling obligation in the form of Trunks. It had angered him, her constant presence and belief in him. It had made him feel weak. Slowly though she had wormed her way into his cold heart. Her quiet support, her unending acceptance of the man he was. She had given herself to him in so many different ways. Her body, her mind, her soul. She'd given them all to him, entrusting him with them. What had he done? He had thrown them all back in her face. Had even gone so far as to deny his own son even existed.

He had learned many hard, bitter lessons in his life. He who had accused everyone around him of being weak and cowardly. He who had prided himself on being the strongest warrior in the universe. He who had wanted immortality. He had been the one who was weak and afraid. Afraid of facing what he felt. His own immortality already existed in the face that so remarkably looked like him yet held so much of his mother in him.

He knew with certainty, as he held her gaze, that he would never be the man she deserved. Most of his behavior was simply to ingrained in him to ever be completely washed away, but he knew without a doubt that by some miracle of the universe, she still loved him despite these. She would never fully know how that moved him, because he would never be able to speak the words that would do the feelings justice.

In one swift motion he surged into her. This time, on her birthday that she thought he had forgotten, he would give her the most precious gift he had. Himself completely and fully.

Bulma stared into the piercing, dark eyes that looked down at her, unable to look away. She felt him moving gently and slowly deep inside her. It wasn't close enough. She wrapped her legs around him, trying to bring him closer. He moaned with her effort and claimed her mouth with a kiss full of raw passion and need. His hands threaded through hers as he began to thrust faster. His eyes never left hers. She saw such emotion in them. It was almost more then she could handle.

She understood then that this was his gift to her. He was sharing himself with her in a way that he knew she would understand and giving her a piece of himself that no one else would ever have. She heard him then saying words that she never thought she would hear him say. He never slowed his pace as he spoke them. He thrust deep with each word.

"You are everything to me, woman."

She managed to sob a reply, tears spilling down her cheeks as she accepted him and his gift, clinging to him for her life. His pace became frenzied then as he lost what little control he had been clinging to.

"Vegeta.." she moaned as she came in an agonizing burst of sensations as waves of pleasure soared though her.

Vegeta felt her climax and it triggered his own, intense release. He spilled himself inside her, then collapsed on the bed drawing her limp body into his arms.

She laid in his arms in a daze. What had just happened? She smiled crookedly. He'd just told her he loved her, in the most basic way he could. She had never really thought that it could be this good. To desire someone so intensely that even years together didn't dim it. She loved and wanted him more now then she had ever done the first time they had fallen into each others arms. How utterly amazing that for her birthday he had seen exactly what she needed and desired. She caressed his arm.

"I love you Vegeta."

He smirked, his face buried against her silken hair. His hand moved down to rest lightly on her abdomen wher he could feel the ki of the new little life they had just created. He had a second chance to do things better. Maybe not perfect, but better.

"Happy Birthday, woman."

Well hope you liked it, it is my first real submitted fiction, I wasn't completely sure of there ages at the end of the Buu saga but I took a guess. I tried to keep Vegeta in character. These were really just his dealings with Bulma as their relationships continues to evolve. Let me know what you think...