Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ At Odds ❯ The In-Between ( Chapter 18 )

Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ

 

Thanks to LisaB for editing. Any mistakes are mine, I tend to diddle around after getting my edits back. *smacks her own hand*

 

Chapter Eighteen

The In-Between

 

Vegeta's limp body dangled between two of King Cold's guards as they dragged him into the room. His once proud, jutting locks had been shorn to the skull, leaving only dark stubble. His body was riddled with bruises and cuts that testified to the brutal treatment to which he had been subjected for the last forty-eight hours.

 

But all of his bruises, all the pain they had inflicted on him, that was not what had finally broken him. His tail, his pride and joy, had been viciously cut from his body, the stub seared at the end to prevent it from growing back.

 

The guards dropped Vegeta to his knees before King Cold. Instead of struggling to stand like his once strident pride would have demanded, Vegeta knelt before the King, his head hanging to his chest in dejection. His royal Saiyan blood dripped to the frozen ground, a splash of crimson on the cold white ice.

 

Vegeta admitted defeat. Everything that he had, everything that he was, had been taken from him. He had fallen from the pinnacle of his greatest victory, the defeat of Frieza, to the depths of hell. His pride had been stripped from him. His mate was gone, his son would be the servant of his enemy, and his empire had crumbled. He was nothing, and without his tail, he wasn't even a Saiyan.

 

“Vegeta, I bet you are wondering why you are here. As much as I have enjoyed watching you suffer for the last two days, there is something I want to show you.” Cold's jovial voice held a sharp edge of malice that couldn't be hidden. Vegeta knew that tone all to well. It heralded the beginning of a fresher hell. “Something important, Vegeta.”

 

When Vegeta refused to raise his head, one of the guards palmed his skull, sinking his fingers into the soft flesh just below his eyebrows. Vegeta peered up at King Cold with his one good eye, the other being swollen shut.

 

The lizard king stood over him like a conqueror, and Vegeta could feel the bile that boiled in his stomach rise up. King Cold's red cape fluttered in the breeze and Vegeta could just barely see beyond him to notice that they were in an underground ice cave. It was lit with white lights, making the room so blaringly bright that it blurred Vegeta's vision for a moment.

 

To Vegeta's surprise the King stepped away, revealing a pool of water nestled in a basin of ice. To the ceiling a pulley system had been rigged, and he observed a sadistic man at a wheel to the side of the pond.

 

“Show him.” Cold's hissing tones slid down Vegeta's spine, and he had a ghost sensation of trepidation in his missing tail.

 

The sadistic man put his shoulder to the wheel, turning it slowly. The ice covered rope, slowly began to rise out of the water, revealing white hands, then inch by agonizing inch the person's head surfaced from the water.

 

Vegeta felt his heart stop has blue hair straggled down a white face that was turning gray at the edges. Bulma's once shiny red lips were as blue as her hair and dark rings circled her closed eyes. A cry rose up in his throat, but it withered without air in his lungs. He tried to tell himself to breathe, but his body wouldn't respond.

 

She was half way out of the water before she sputtered, struggling desperately to take air into her frozen body. Her leg kicked out in a reflexive response that had nothing to do with her and everything to do with her body preparing to die. Water spilled out from her cold lips and her eyes fluttered, but didn't open.

 

“I thought you should see this.” Cold said slyly as he peered down at his son's killer.

 

“Imagine my surprise when I received a report two days ago that you had a visitor in your cell. The mysterious, untouchable Bulma Briefs. She disappeared off the radar months ago. One day she was in your court, and then poof, gone.”

 

Vegeta ignored the lizard, barely even noticing his own warm blood that was pooling beneath him. He only had eyes for his half-drowned mate.

 

Annoyed at his lack of response, King Cold kicked Vegeta in the side, knocking him to the ground. “Are you listening to me, Vegeta, or were my men too enthusiastic in their job?”

 

As Vegeta lay on the ground, his eyes focused on the other side of the room. Kakarot stood there, his arms folded behind him, a blank expression on his face that couldn't quite hide the pain in his eyes. Vegeta looked away from him disgust, his Saiyan instinct to rule rearing up inside of him. He wanted to pull himself up and beat the life from the traitor, but he couldn't find the will to do so inside him.

 

As he looked away, he saw a large cage in the middle of the room. Small hands were wrapped around the bars, and piercing blue eyes peered out from the shadows. Without a doubt Vegeta knew that it was his son, and he was watching.

 

Slowly Vegeta struggled to his knees, but before he could gain his feet, two guards clamped their hands on his shoulders, holding him down. The collar around his neck burned as it stole his ki, leaving him helpless to their touch.

 

Finally Vegeta raised his head to his captor. “What do you want, Cold?”

 

The words whispered through dry, cracked lips, and no matter how he tried, Vegeta couldn't muster the authority he needed to sound threatening. Cold chuckled down at him, cocking his hands on his hips.

 

“Oh, we'll be getting to that soon, Vegeta. Very, very soon.”

 

*~*

 

Bulma struggled against the cold, wet darkness that pressed down on her chest like a millstone. She swam to the surface of her consciousness, choking on the blackness as it filled her mouth and nose, streaming into her lungs. She fought to open her eyes and past the darkness she saw the barest fraction of light. She swam towards the pinprick, slitting her eyes as it became brighter.

 

Suddenly she was no longer drowning, and she sucked in air greedily. She blinked, but all she could see was a white fog, and in a distance she could hear muffled voices. Slowly, on wobbly legs, she walked towards them. With every step her feet disappeared into a white mist and she could see nothing behind or before her.

 

She followed the voices until eventually a figure formed in the mist. As she drew closer she saw a man who had pink skin and a swath of purple hair down the center of his scalp. He ignored her, looking at the ground as she stepped up beside him. Recognition jagged through her as memories of her death came sweeping back.

 

“Supreme Kai,” she whispered in awe.

 

Instead of looking up at her like she expected, he clucked his tongue in a disappointed manner, continuing to peer down at the ground. Bulma followed his gaze, blinking when she realized that she was standing on the edge of the world looking down through layers of mist until a scene of mortal players became clear.

 

Bulma fell to her knees, grasping the cloudy edge, while trying desperately to control her panicked breathing. She could see into the room where her family was being held. Vegeta was on his knees before the imposing Ice-jin king, her baby boy was pacing his cold iron cage like a trapped animal, and she could see herself, hanging like a wet rag doll, unmoving, seemingly dead. She could see it all.

 

“We had a contract, you and I.” Supreme Kai rocked on his heels as he tucked his hands behind his back. “A contract that you broke.”

 

Bulma slapped the palm of her hand over the rune on her chest. She remembered everything with crystal clarity now---the itch in the back of her mind that she couldn't reach, the promise she couldn't remember. The rune was kanji for Kai. It was supposed to serve as a reminder in the mortal world of why she was there. Of the promise that she had made to save Vegeta's life.

 

“We agreed to allow you to visit Vegeta when you were dead, to offer him encouragement and support. We let you appear to him in your corporal form while he fought against Frieza on Namek. Against our better judgment we let you help Vegeta tap his full potential. But there was a price for that Bulma, don't you remember?”

 

“Yes. Yes, I remember,” she whispered frailly.

 

Yes, she most surely remembered. The Kais hadn't wanted to let Vegeta become super Saiyan, but Bulma knew that was the only way that he could defeat Frieza. They were afraid that with his new found power that he would destroy the universe, flooding the nether plane with tortured souls.

 

She had begged, on her hands and knees, begged the gods to let her help him. To let her go back to the mortal realm as a specter that only Vegeta could see so she could lead him to the path of victory. So she could show him that love had all the power that he needed to win.

 

They had agreed, but on one condition. In their godly wisdom they knew that Vegeta would wish her back to life. If Vegeta were to win the battle then Bulma would be resurrected. Once Bulma returned to life, she would not be allowed to choose another path. She chose Vegeta in death, so she must choose him life. She could never leave him. Only in her presence did Vegeta stem his violent tendencies. Only when holding her hand did Vegeta dream of being something other than a tyrant. Her duty was to go back to the mortal plane, continuing to show Vegeta the path of love. A duty that she had failed.

 

Instead of staying by her mate's side, and giving him the support he needed, she had abandoned him.

 

“We put our trust in you, and you failed us Bulma. That is so very disappointing.” Supreme Kai looked down at her a disapproving frown. “All of this is your fault.”

 

The words rang through Bulma's heart like a death knell. She balled her fists up on her thighs as she continued to look down at the tragic scene of her family. Tears of remorse rolled down her cheeks, dripping off her chin to disappear into the mists.

 

“But you knew,” she sobbed. “You knew that my son would have been taken. How could do that to us? After everything, how could you do that?”

 

He spread his arms wide a large grin on his face. “We are gods, we can do as we like.”

 

“Darbura! Get you gone.” A young voice rang out and Bulma turned, her jaw falling open when she saw that an exact replica of the man standing beside her was behind her as well. The newcomer was followed by a larger, pink man who crossed his arms angrily. The new Supreme Kai had his fists cocked on his hips, his mouth twisted into an annoyed line.

 

“What? There's no harm in talking. I was just pointing out the error of her ways.”

 

Bulma looked back at the Supreme Kai that she had been talking to but he had transformed into a tall, ugly man with red skin and a black beard.

 

“You were tormenting the poor girl,” the real Kai responded.

 

“Well, that is what I do best, angel boy.” Darbura smiled.

 

“Get you gone, before I cast you out!” Supreme Kai threatened.

 

Darbura's face clouded as he growled at his adversary. “I'm allowed here just the same as you.”

 

“Kibito.”

 

The large man with Supreme Kai moved forward and Darbura stepped back, right off the edge of the world. He hung there a minute looking down with disgust.

 

“Dammit,” he muttered right before rocketing down through the mists and out of sight. Bulma looked over the edge, but all she saw was the frozen room where her family waited for her.

 

She felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, gaining her attention. Supreme Kai was bending down to help her up, a concerned look on his face.

 

“He didn't upset you too much did he?”

 

Bulma couldn't stop fresh tears from falling as the guilt hit her in the gut. She leaned heavily on the Kai as she fought to gather her weak legs beneath her.

 

“It's all my fault. All this suffering, because I couldn't do as I was told,” Bulma sobbed.

 

“There, there.” Kai patted her shoulder awkwardly. “Don't listen to a word that nasty demon had to say.”

 

“It's true, isn't it?” Bulma looked up at him with watery eyes. His expression grew pained, and when he didn't answer Bulma began to sob harder.

 

“Now stop that. It's more complicated than right and wrong. Do you think we sent you back without knowing that this could happen?”

 

Bulma stifled her cries to look up at him. They had moved away from the edge and were walking into the mists, although Bulma didn't remember standing up.

 

“You knew that this was going to happen?” she questioned.

 

“We knew that it was a possibility. Everything and anything is possible.”

 

“Possible. Didn't you know for certain?”

 

Kai shook his head. “Only destiny is a certainty.”

 

Bulma's brow creased as she tried to understand what he was saying to her.

 

“But wasn't this our destiny?”

 

“No, the situation that you are in right now is free will. Look here.” King Kai produced a knotted string from thin air. “Pretend that this is your life. The knots represent certain events in your life that are destiny.”

 

“So our lives are preordained?” Bulma glanced around her, realizing that they had made their way into a forest made of silver. The shiny, veined trunks of the trees gleamed in the mists, and beads of dew sparkled on the leaves.

 

“No, life is choice.”

 

Bulma threw up her hands in frustration. “I don't understand.”

 

“Well, for instance, it was your destiny to meet Vegeta and have Trunks. Even if Earth had never been destroyed by Frieza, Vegeta would have found his way to you, and you would have conceived a child. But Frieza made a choice to attack Earth, and that altered the path of your life.”

 

“Watch this.” Supreme Kai reached above his head, pulling a wide silver leaf down to them. Beads of dew rolled down the side, pooling in the center. Bulma creased her brow, looking up at the Kai in question.

 

“Look closely.”

 

Bulma peered back down at the leaf, awed when the pool of water began to shimmer then form into a picture. Through the water she was able to see Eighteen as she bathed in a deep tub in an exotic garden. Behind her a small man with thick black hair washed her back almost reverently. Eighteen's mouth moved, startling Bulma when she realized that she was able to hear her words.

 

“Make sure that I am spotless. I will not tolerate any slack from you,” Eighteen said waspishly.

 

“As you wish, Mistress,” the man replied.

 

They both raised their heads as three men entered the room unexpectedly. The small man moved quickly to throw a towel over Eighteen to preserve her modestly, but the woman didn't seem to notice.

 

“You will come with us. You are to be the entertainment for tonight's feast.”

 

Without waiting for Eighteen's reply the man who spoke stalked up to her, grabbing her by the arm to pull her from the tub.

 

Eighteen pulled her arm back from the man, indignant fury etched across her face. “I am no one's entertainment. I am here to serve King Cold and no one else,” she spat at the guard.

 

“You are here to do as our King dictates. Now get out.” The man adjusted his grip on Eighteen's arm, viciously pulling her from the tub. She stumbled to her knees, and Bulma could see the flash of metal around her neck. Like Vegeta she wore a collar that stole her power, making her helpless.

 

“Freeze.” Supreme Kai ordered from beside her, and the scene in the leaf stilled. Bulma looked up at Kai expectantly.

 

“Now this is where choice comes into play. Do you see that man?” Kai pointed to the small, black-haired man frozen in the scene. Bulma nodded.

 

“His name is Krillian, and he has been in love with Eighteen since he laid eyes on her. He is a human just like you. When he was taken, he was training to be a powerful martial artist, but his time here under Ice-jin rule has weakened his spirit and withered his hope. He hasn't used his ki in nearly ten years.”

 

Bulma squint her eyes to get a better look at the man. He didn't seem to be anything special to her. He would barely come to her chin, and she wasn't a tall woman.

 

“He has a choice. He can watch as those men take his love away, and she will never give him a second thought. Their lives will pass by each, never touching. Or he can fight for her, be badly beaten, he may even die, but for a moment they will share something very special. They will share a moment of love. Eighteen will see Krillian for what he really is. A loving, caring man who would die for her. If he survives, their love will be complete.

 

Bulma's eyes widened, as she absorbed the scene with a new sense of fascination. Slowly as if on an old movie reel the scene started again. The guards pulled a struggling Eighteen to her feet, ignoring the man who stood silently to the side. Suddenly, without warning, Krillian exploded in a nova ring of golden light. The blast of ki blew from his body, ramming the guards, throwing them to the ground.

 

Krillian tugged Eighteen behind him as he stood over the men, panting with the strain of mastering his ki. The guards rebounded to their feet, murder written on their faces. They jumped on Krillian from all sides, beating him viciously. As he went down, the pool of water in the leaf dimmed and the scene faded.

 

“Choice has the ability to change everything. Everyone who makes a choice affects the lives of others, but they can't alter destiny.”

 

“So it was destiny that they fell in love?”

 

“No, it was destiny that Krillian fall in love with Eighteen, not for her to fall in love with him. It was his choice to make a great sacrifice to prove that love to Eighteen. If he had not made that choice, they would not have come together. If they had met under different circumstances, say on Earth, Krillian would have still loved her, but he would have had to sacrifice something to prove it.

 

“So what you are saying is that there are certain things that we are destined to accomplish, but there many different paths to get there.”

 

Kai smiled at her. “Exactly. You are a brilliant child.”

 

They continued walking until trail that they were on opened up into a small glade. A huge moon shone down, reflecting off a circular pool of water in the center. On the far side a unicorn raised its head from sipping the water. It gleamed silver from the tip of its horn to the curve of his hoof. Its intelligent silver eyes winked in the moonlight before it bounded away into the forest.

 

“Is this heaven?” Bulma whispered, awed by the sight.

 

“No, this is The In-Between.”

 

Bulma frowned at the Kai. “In-between what?

 

“In-between everything. Heaven and hell. Light and dark. Goodness and evil.”

 

“Oh.” Bulma still didn't understand, but wisdom kept her mouth shut. There were just some things that mortals shouldn't know.

 

Supreme Kai took her arm, leading her to the pool of water. It was flat and so smooth that it could be a sheet of polished mirror and not water at all. Without coaxing, Bulma sank to her knees, staring deeply into the pool. Eventually the room where she hung limp and lifeless became clear.

 

“Am I dead?”

 

Kai placed a comforting hand on he shoulder as he stood over her. “No, child. Now watch.” Kai pointed to the pool, and the reflection in the water shimmered. The room became smaller until Bulma could only see the bent and battered form of her mate as he knelt on the ice.

 

Her heart clenched as she struggled to hold back her tears. He looked so broken, as though he could never be put back together. The need to go to him, to comfort him exploded with an urgency inside of her.

 

“Please. I know I failed last time, but please let me go to him.”

 

“I cannot.”

 

Bulma reached back to grab Supreme Kai's pant leg, her pleading eyes wet with tears. “Please, I am begging you. He needs me.”

 

Kai brushed a gentle hand through her hair as he looked down at her.

 

“When Vegeta was on Namek he needed you. He needed to know that someone believed he was worthwhile. He needed someone to fight for. Love is what he needed to help him find the strength. Your love. But now…” Supreme Kai paused, looking sadly at Vegeta's fallen form.

 

“But, what?” Bulma's fist tightened on his pants.

 

“But now, Vegeta has to realize that he alone is worth fighting for. All of his life he has been fighting for others. For the Saiyan people. For his father. For his pride. For you. Now he has fight for himself. He has to learn to love himself. He has to make the choice to accept himself, before he can move on. That is something he has to decide on his own, without coaxing from you.”

 

Supreme Kai's words squeezed her heart. She understood what he was saying, but his words also filled her with fear. She was terrified that she would never see Vegeta again. That she would never be able to tell him how sorry she was for leaving him.

 

“Am I going to die today?” she whispered on a shallow breath.

 

The image zoomed away from Vegeta to show the entire room.

 

“You will not die, but your life is not your own.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Life is nothing more than a string of choices interrupted by beads of destiny.” Kai murmured the words to her as he ran his fingers through her hair like a comforting father.

 

“Your life is affected by choice. Everyone in that room has a choice to make. The outcome of those choices will affect the rest of your life. From this day forward you will either be a queen or a slave.”

 

Bulma swallowed as she peered hard at the people who would choose her path in life. She was but a bystander to fate. Her life had come down to nothing more than a string of choices, made by people who may or may not care for her.