Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A Light in the Darkness ❯ Epilogue ( Chapter 102 )

A Light in the Darkness - Part 102: Epilogue
by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo

 

PAIRING: None
RATING: PG-13
WARNINGS: none
C&C: Please! ^_^
DISCLAIMER: Neither of us owns any of the DBZ characters or anything about DBZ, but we both wish we owned the Saiyans. All of them. At least all of the ones with hair. And yes, we're including Yamcha, Ranma, and Ryouga in that, now you know. Dragonball Z and the associated characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation. Ranma 1/2 and the characters of Ranma Saotome and Ryouga Hibiki are owned by Viz, Rumiko Takahashi, and some Japanese studio I don't know the name of. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball or Ranma 1/2 themselves. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this fic. We just have fun writing it. Oh, I guess we do own Hakusai and Serori. But I doubt anyone cares. ^_~
SUMMARY: A Wish for the ages.
NOTES: The rest of this story is completely unbeta'd, as I can't seem to find a beta who will be as brutal or thorough as I like, and will get me chapters back in what I feel is a timely manner. I have, however, had training as an editor, and I've edited the remainder of this pretty thoroughly. I would simply like people to be aware that no one else has gone through it to catch any errors or inconsistencies, so it may be more flawed than I realize.

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

SEVEN MONTHS LATER:

 

Bulma stood on the hilltop, looking at her family gathered around her. She smiled at the thought - her family. It had grown quite a lot in the last year, more than she would have ever imagined. She had never thought she would be related to Yamcha - at least, not the way in which they had become related - and she certainly had never expected numerous Saiyans as close relatives.

 

Yet here they were, all gathered around. The only one missing was her future son; he was still in space, although in his last communication with her he had reassured her that they would be returning to Earth before she gave birth to the other version of him.

 

She placed a hand on her stomach, feeling the child active inside her. He had a tendency to kick a little more than she would have liked; she was sure he had bruised at least one of her ribs. She had said nothing to any of the others but she had the feeling Vegeta knew regardless. He hadn't said anything but was hovering more protectively around her lately. It was, in fact, starting to get a little on her nerves.

 

She still didn't know what to name this child. Part of her felt that she really needed to name him Trunks; if she didn't, then didn't that mean the boy who had come from the future was never going to be born? But if she did, there would be too much confusion when they were talking about each one. It was a dilemma she still hadn't resolved. The older Trunks had told her he wouldn't mind being named after his father, but... she still wasn't entirely settled on that.

 

She saw Vegeta's eyes narrow speculatively on her when she touched her belly, and with an exasperated sigh she quickly moved her hand away. Lately he had begun to treat her as though she were about to fall apart. It was strange, considering how shortly after Trunks had left he had insisted she start training with him. She had objected rather strenuously at first, pointing out that she wasn't a warrior like they were and didn't have this `ki' they always spoke of. He had agreed, and then had told her it didn't matter for what she was going to learn.

 

She hadn't understood the purpose of it at times. They had wasted entire days sitting in a quiet room where he had taught her how to breathe a certain way. Why did it matter how she breathed? It was when he finally taught her how to use that to reach out and sense things - and she realized she could suddenly sense this `ki' energy they were always going on about - that her feeling of wonder had suddenly taken over.

 

Soon after that he had taught her how to control and regulate her own ki, although as little as she had she really didn't see the use in that. Whenever she commented on it, however, he would simply give her an inscrutable look. She knew there was something behind it all, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She was happy he had taught her how to fly. That was something she had never expected to be able to do without a machine or someone carrying her. She still preferred it when Vegeta carried her, however, and he never seemed to object to it when she asked him to.

 

The wind pulled lightly at her hair, blowing it past her face as she continued to gaze at her family. She saw Ryouga and Ranma huddled almost protectively together. They had returned from their quest a few weeks ago, but neither had said anything about what they had learned. They had both been extremely hushed and tight-lipped about it. She knew they would talk about it when they were ready to, but both of them had become far more subdued than before they had left six months ago.

 

Her heart reached out to them. She suspected they had been through a lot, and she just wished they could trust the rest of their family with it. They would eventually, she knew. But until they did they were going to suffer their pain by themselves. They had told her that their curse - the one that caused them to wander and had always caused Ryouga to get lost - had been lifted. She knew the other curses had not, but as they had not wanted to go into further details on any of it, she had been courteous and hadn't pressed the matter.

 

Probably the only thing that had helped the two boys was the cheerful little Saiyan girl, Serori. She had spent a lot of time with Gohan these past few months, and since he had spent a lot of time studying, she had decided she wanted to do that as well. Chi-Chi had objected at first but had eventually given in; the little girl would insist on going over there and getting under her feet until she allowed Serori to join Gohan, even when he was simply studying textbooks. She was bright and quick as well; she had learned quite a lot from some of his earlier textbooks and Bulma had confidence that she would easily fit in to a normal school within a year or two.

 

After Ranma and Ryouga had come back Serori had spent time at home with them, apparently determined to pull them out of their depression. She hadn't been entirely successful, but Bulma had a feeling that her determination had made a dent in their mood.

 

Bulma looked over to where Yamcha stood with his mate Hakusai. They hadn't married in any traditional Earth ceremony but both of them seemed content with whatever they had. Unlike Bulma, Hakusai wasn't even beginning to show yet. Bulma was painfully aware that the other woman was going to have a longer gestation period, but it would probably be much easier for Hakusai than Bulma thought it already was for herself. She certainly seemed at ease and unconcerned about it, despite her acknowledgement that most Saiyan women didn't carry their children live.

 

Bulma placed the seven dragonballs on the ground and saw the others turn their attention towards her. She had told none of them what she had planned to wish, and she knew they were all a little apprehensive about it. What was she planning that she didn't want to tell them? And why had she insisted on doing it before Trunks came home?

 

Bulma raised her arms over her head. She knew it was unnecessary, but she had always been a sucker for the dramatic.

 

“Arise, Shenron!” she shouted and the dragonballs began to glow.

 

A moment later the majestic dragon arose from the dragonballs, gazing down upon them. Bulma was glad she had insisted they do this in an out of the way place. The dragon always frightened those who didn't know its purpose, and those who did might sneak a wish in before she had the chance.

 

“I have a wish, Shenron!” she shouted.

 

“WHAT IS YOUR WISH?” the dragon boomed out.

 

“I wish...” Bulma licked her lips and almost hesitated before blurting it out. She had thought the wish over very carefully, and knew exactly how she wanted to word it. “I wish that where Vegeta goes, so I go. As long as he lives, so I will live. When he dies, I will die. I will age with him and at the same rate as him, no matter how slow or fast that is. Where he goes after death and beyond, my soul will follow his and I will be with him. Forever.”

 

Vegeta had been uneasy while waiting for Bulma to ask for her wish. Bulma had been too secretive about it these past few months. He had not been sure what she had been plotting but he'd had the impression it was connected with him in some way. No matter how slyly he had asked she had always been very vague about her intentions. He had finally given up hoping it would be harmless, but he had not expected this.

 

“NO!” he shouted, drawing their attention to him. “Do not grant this wish.”

 

Vegeta stormed over to Bulma, crossed his arms over his chest and glared at her. “Are you completely out of your mind? You cannot possibly know what you are asking.”

 

Bulma looked calmly at Vegeta. She ignored the shocked looks on Yamcha's, Ryouga's, and Ranma's faces. Hakusai and Serori looked a little confused; Bulma suspected they didn't realize the implications of the wish she had made.

 

“No, I know exactly what I am asking,” she replied serenely. “I want to be with you, in this life and beyond. I know Saiyans live longer than humans; I don't want you to be alone when I die. And when you die...” She gave him a look of sadness and love that was unmistakable. “I want to be with you then. I know you won't make it to the overworld. You've said it yourself - you've done things that are going to send you to Hell. Well, you're not going to go there alone. When you go, I'll go with you. I don't want to be without you, Vegeta. And you don't have to be alone anymore.”

 

“I refuse to allow this, woman.” Vegeta shook his head stubbornly. “I will not condemn you to that kind of fate when you have done nothing to deserve it.”

 

“So instead you want to condemn me to be without you?” Bulma shouted back at him incredulously. “What do you think I'm `subjecting' myself to except for not being alone?”

 

“Woman, I am not about to die before you. A Saiyan's life-span is more than twice that of a human. You would not be alone. I would.”

 

Bulma stared at him incredulously. “And you think being without you in the afterlife would be any easier for me? I didn't think you were as stupid as you looked, but maybe I was wrong!”

 

“You wouldn't be in Hell.” Vegeta scowled at her. “Do you think my soul could rest if you were there with me? Woman, you are an idiot.”

 

“I would be in Hell!” she shouted at him in fury. “Wherever I am - Heaven or Hell - would be Hell for me if I'm not with you! What part of that don't you understand?!?”

 

Vegeta opened his mouth to yell back at her then snapped his mouth shut. She was the most infuriating woman he had ever met! There seemed to be no way to reason with her. She had certainly thought this wish through.

 

His eyes narrowed on her. “This is absurd. And the dragon seems to agree; he has yet to answer you. Your wish is not possible.”

 

Bulma realized suddenly that Vegeta was right - the dragon had yet to tell her whether or not her wish had been granted. She turned to the dragon, her brow furrowed with worry. “Can you grant this wish, Shenron?” she shouted a little nervously.

 

“IT IS... DIFFICULT,” the dragon responded. “I HAVE TO CONSULT THE GODS INVOLVED.”

 

Bulma blinked, suddenly flabbergasted by the implications. He was consulting the gods? Why? Then she realized that since she had specifically said `after death and beyond', that would involve the gods of the underworld, the afterlife, and King Enma himself. Would they agree to it?

 

“But can you do it?” she insisted.

 

“I DO NOT KNOW,” the dragon boomed back at her. “THEY ARE DISCUSSING IT RIGHT NOW.”

 

“I told you, woman. They are not going to send an innocent to eternal damnation,” Vegeta remarked rather smugly. “Your wish will be refused.”

 

Bulma pretended to ignore him but continued staring at the dragon worriedly. “Shenron, does it look bad? Does it seem like they don't want to grant it?”

 

The dragon was silent a moment. She almost got the impression that it didn't like answering questions from mortals. “THE GODS OWE YOU MUCH. THEY ARE TRYING TO WORK IT OUT.”

 

Bulma gaped in surprise. The gods were trying to get it to work because they felt they owed her?

 

“Owe YOU? What the hell are they talking about? What could the gods possibly owe you?” Vegeta frowned in confusion. He could see why they might grant Kakarot a wish like this, but Bulma? What could Bulma have done that they felt she deserved this? Did they not understand what they were going to do to his mate?

 

Bulma smirked at him. “You heard him. They owe me a lot and they know it.” She hadn't thought about it before but they really did owe her. It was nice to know that a girl was appreciated for what she had done.

 

“They may owe you, woman, but it is not worth being eternally damned with me.” Vegeta scowled. He was a little irritated that Shenron was actually conversing with the gods to try to grant a wish that disturbed him so much.

 

“Of all the moronic things to ask for,” he grumbled under his breath.

 

Bulma smiled. She knew suddenly why Vegeta was so upset. He truly didn't understand how important he was to her.

 

“Vegeta, I would rather be in Hell with you than in heaven without you. Don't you understand - to be anywhere without you is Hell? And with you - no matter where we are - is all the heaven I need.” She sighed, suddenly feeling tired. The baby drained her energy far more than she liked to admit.

 

Before either of them had a chance to discuss it further the dragon shifted and boomed out, “YOUR WISH IS GRANTED!”

 

With that, the glowing dragonballs lifted into the air, and with a sudden `whoosh' of sound flew apart and scattered over the world, the dragon vanishing at the same moment. In the abrupt stillness around them the remaining humans and Saiyans stared at each other.

 

“Well, I guess King Enma agreed,” Bulma said with a smug smile after several minutes of uncomfortable silence.

 

She walked over to the Saiyan she had just bound herself to for eternity and wrapped her arms around his neck. “So you're stuck with me from now on. Do you really object to that so much?” There was a wistful note in her voice. “Would you really prefer not to have me around?”

 

Vegeta tensed for a moment, then sighed and wrapped his hands around her slim waist. He closed his eyes in resignation, letting his chin rest on her shoulder.

 

He realized that as strenuously as he had complained, he didn't truly mind her wish that much. There was something oddly relieving about the idea that she would always be with him, that he would never - as she had pointed out earlier - be alone again.

 

“No, woman,” he agreed with a sigh. “I don't mind having you around.”

 

He sensed his unborn son's ki deep within her belly and a feeling of protectiveness washed over him. Vegeta had done his best to try to strengthen her by training what little ki she had, hoping that way the birth would not injure her. He didn't know if it would be enough, but if it wasn't he would lend his own ki to her to keep her safe. With the training she had now the additional ki he could infuse her with wouldn't harm her, and that would help protect her.

 

Firming his jaw he decided right then and there that no matter what happened - no matter what might come at them from now until eternity - he would protect her always. He watched the sun set over the horizon, only vaguely noticing the ki of his sister, her mate, and their family still around. He wasn't really paying attention to them; his attention was on the blue-haired woman in his arms who had just bound herself to him forever. She was his, and he was hers, and now they would always be together.

 

He felt, for the first time in his life, that he had finally come home. Vegeta-sei was gone forever, but it no longer mattered. He didn't know how it had happened, but somehow the blue-haired termagant had wormed her way into his heart.

 

“Shall we go home, Vegeta?” she murmured against his neck, feeling the warmth of his body melting into her.

 

“Foolish woman,” he said softly, not releasing her. “I am already home.”

 

 

~~OWARI~~

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

And... it is DONE! This chapter was actually written about a year after the previous chapter had been completed; I had a vague idea of how I had wanted to end this, but I hadn't been sure how to do it, so I was blocked. Then suddenly I had a flash of inspiration, and the entire chapter just played itself out in my head. I wrote it almost exactly as I saw it that day, and so you see it here. I'm quite happy with this ending; I think anything else would have left me feeling flat. ^_^

 

And now for my final...

 

~~~~~*~~~~~

 

Reviewer Responses:

 

Rena Tsukino: Well, I'm sad and not sad, myself. The story itself has been finished for a few years, but doing all the edits has been a bear. I think that even after this I'm probably going to go through once more and do a clean up, particularly of the earlier chapters. Yes, I've gone through and cleaned everything up once already, but then I made some changes to things like my formatting, and now I want to go back and make it consistent. Plus, you always see errors on later read-throughs that you missed the previous times, if it has been a while. I hope you did like this epilogue after all. And I'm sorry about the hints for other sequels; we had ideas at the time, but we never wrote them, and at this point we never will. If a reader ever wishes to make a sequel to this and follow through with my hints, I'd be happy; I would just want them to ask me permission first. Otherwise... we'll probably never know what the boys went through, and how Trunks is doing in space. :-)