Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Decoding the Saiyan ❯ Blue ( Chapter 23 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z.

A/N: This was written using the prompt `blue' from the Spectrum Challenge.

Blue

“And the Cell games are set to begiiiiin!” the reporter cried. “Mr Satan will step up to save the world in less than five minutes!”

“Ugh,” Bulma spat, crossing the room and switching the television off. Trunks made a shocked noise and wriggled in his bouncer, waving at the blank screen.

“Sorry bubs,” she told him, lifting the baby into her arms, “but Mommy can't stand to watch it. Let's go outside instead.”

She had seen glimpses of her friends on TV; all looking stern, all waiting for the fight to begin. She glanced at the television one last time, then shook her head and left the room.

It wasn't that she didn't want to support her friends, but there were others at the Cell Games too; idiots that had no idea what a real fight was like, and she had no desire to watch a massacre on TV. She was sure Son-kun would step in to save those foolish enough to attempt to fight Cell- Son would save anyone- but the way the reporter talked about the Cell, with no real clue of just how dangerous the monster was, drove her mad.

The air outside was warm. She carried Trunks over to her favourite part of the garden, where a small patch of lawn sat surrounded by a circle of her mother's roses. Trunks gurgled as she set him down on the grass, and she smiled, running a hand over his downy head.

She lay down beside him, content to watch the baby crawl around, babbling to himself. The sky was a cloudless, perfect blue, and her heart ached in fear that it could all cease to exist. Yamcha had once told her that the otherworld was a nice place, but she wasn't ready for that yet.

How long, she wondered, until the real fighting began? She doubted that the TV cameras would hold up in the presence of Super Saiyans- Vegeta's power had short-circuited a number of electronics over the years- but she would turn the television back on when she was sure that the real fighting had begun. She owed it to her men to watch.

Let them be okay, she thought. She wasn't sure exactly who she was asking; she knew now that when it came to super-powered monsters like Frieza and Cell, the Kais were almost as helpless as she was. But it made her feel better to pray all the same. Let them be okay. Let Trunks be okay. Let Vegeta be okay.

She wondered if she would ever see Vegeta again. If they died... it was unlikely, to say the least. If they lived, though...

He had avoided her since their last conversation. She'd told him to take the ship if he wanted, and he had; it no longer stood on the lawn. She supposed he had the capsule tucked away in his armour.

“I didn't mean it,” she whispered to herself. “I don't want him to go.”

Trunks crawled over her stomach, babbling to her noisily, and she hugged him to her, kissing his chubby cheeks.

It'll be soon, she thought, pressing her palms against the ground, waiting to feel the subterranean shaking that most would mistake for a small earthquake, if they even felt it at all. She'd been around fighters for long enough to know the difference, though.

And there it was. A hum in the earth, a crackle of energy in the air. In a distant desert, her men were preparing for battle, their ki rising, electrifying the sky.

She stood, picking up her baby, and headed back inside to watch.

. . .

As she had predicted, the news networks had lost contact with their reporters partway through the battle, leaving her and everyone else on Earth waiting anxiously.

For hours she sat in the living room, checking the TV every ten minutes to see if there was any more news, feeling the ground rumble beneath her. She had left the balcony doors open, and could feel the slight static of ki in the air, could see it in the way the hair on her arms rose.

At least I did what I could, she told herself. She'd fixed Android Sixteen, and he was strong. He'd promised her he would do his best in the fight. Surely his presence would help?

When the rumbling stopped altogether, she felt truly afraid. With no way of knowing who had won, each minute dragged on, each hour feeling like a lifetime.

It was growing dark when she heard the front door open. She ran down the stairs, saw her son for an instant, and flew into his arms.

She sobbed against him- in relief, in exhaustion- and felt his arms wrap around her, strong and reassuring. “Dad is fine, mother,” he told her, and her sobs racked her body. Vegeta is alive. Trunks is alive.

“Who?” she asked, pulling back to look him in the eye. “Who beat Cell?”

“Gohan,” he grinned. “He ascended!”

“And everyone's alive,” she whispered, laughing in amazement. “And I've been worried all this time!”

Trunks' face fell, and her heart dropped. “Who?” she asked, her voice sounding very small to her own ears. “Who? ”

Trunks looked away, avoiding her gaze. “Goku gave his life to save us, and he isn't coming back,” he said gravely. He said more, but she did not hear him, the world blurring around her.

Goku. Son-kun. Gone.

She sank to her knees, curling into herself, dying.

A/N: I'm not trying to suggest that Bulma can sense ki. Rather, I think she would feel the effect of it being discharged somewhat- after all, the show always shows the Earth shaking etc whenever anyone powers up.