Falling In Love A Second Time

Chapter 15 - Rebonding?

"Vegeta," Bulma cried her newly found husband's name as her long fingers tightly clenched the sheets beneath her. Vegeta had sometime again moved them from the tub to his bed, but the transition had been lost on Bulma, as bliss incessantly engulfed her mind and body. Under the intoxicating influence of yet another release, Bulma felt her mate collapse atop of her once more.

A genuine smile crossed Vegeta's lips as he rested his head on his wife's shoulder while running his fingers through her sweaty hair. "Bulma," he breathed heavily as he observed her disheveled appearance. He could not think of a time she ever looked more beautiful. "Tired?" he asked playfully, knowing full well she had more than exceeded her limit.

Bulma chuckled, certain she wasn't the only one exhausted here. "Look whose talk--" Bulma halted her thought abruptly with a shocked gasp as an unbelievable sight suddenly entered her field of vision. "What are you two doing here?!"

The sound of his mate screaming shifted Vegeta's attention towards the two intruders. "KAKARROT!?!" Vegeta bellowed, as he scrambled to cover his mate. "Why the hell are you and your loud mouthed mate in my BEDROOM!"

"Us!?" Chi-Chi argued defensively, once she managed to refocus her baffled eyes. "What about you two? What do you think you are doing!?" Chi-Chi focused more directly on Bulma, "have you lost your mind?! How can you sleep with him when you're pregnant with Yamcha's child!?"

"WHAT!" Bulma and Vegeta both screamed simultaneously, the news seemed utterly preposterous to both.

"We all know you slept with Yamcha," Chi-Chi clarified, "so obviously the child you are carrying is his!"

"Child?" Vegeta focused on the only part of the foolish woman's argument that could possibly be true.

Bulma meanwhile began to set her misguided friends straight, "No, I didn't!" she objected adamantly. "I NEVER slept with Yamcha, which makes the possibility of my having his child nonexistent!"

"Bulma!" Chi-Chi protested, "stop lying! We spoke about it this morning! You admitted to sleeping with him!"

"What?" Bulma questioned, before quickly realizing exactly where all of the confusion was coming from. "Chi-Chi," she began with a sigh, "I thought you were talking about Vegeta this morning. I slept with him last night, not Yamcha."

"Vegeta?!" Chi-Chi shook her head, now thinking the situation made even less sense. "Why the hell would you sleep with Vegeta?! You've been frightened of him ever since you returned home!"

"Well," Bulma blushed, rather embarrassed by how easily she had fallen into bed with the man. "I guess, even though I didn't remember him, I still knew it was right." She tried to explain rather awkwardly.

Goku, by this time having finally managed to recuperate from seeing his prince and childhood friend naked and in bed together, decided to offer his own two cents. "So, what you are saying is that the two people Trunks said he heard last night were you two. Which means, the ki that he said he felt in Bulma, was a combination of the two of you!"

"It seems so," Vegeta broke his long silence after having been observing his wife's womb in an attempt to discern whether his rival's argument held any water. Shockingly, it did. "How did I miss it?" he unconsciously asked himself aloud.

"Miss, what?" Bulma asked nervously.

Vegeta turned his gaze from his mate towards the two uninvited guests in his room. "If the two of you don't mind, my mate and I have some things to discuss. So if you would be so kind, Kakarrot, as to use your damn instant transmission to get you and your wench out of my bedroom right now, I will refrain from killing the two of you!"

"All right, all right!" Goku lifted his hands to block the ki blast his fellow Saiya-jin was beginning to form, "we're going," he promised. After both he and his wife offered there apologies, Goku then latched onto his mate as he placed two fingers to his head, and as quickly as the pair had arrived, they were gone.

Vegeta dissipated the small amount of ki he had formed before turning back to his still rather confused wife.

"Am I really pregnant?" Bulma asked rather bashfully, the concept seemed all too thrilling and bizarre to her.

"Yes," Vegeta answered slowly, he was not certain how well she would take the news under the circumstances. "I am not sure how I missed it, but I can feel her ki. You are, without a doubt, with child."

"Wow!" Bulma gasped as she took in this surreal development. "So I'm really-her? Did you say her? You know it's a girl!?" she cheered with elation, "I always wanted a little girl!" she laughed aloud with delight as she threw her arms around her husband's neck and hugged him as jovially as she had the first time he told her they had conceived.

Vegeta held her close as she expressed her excitement. In all honesty, he would have preferred another male to turn into a warrior, but regardless of gender, he knew he would feel for the child with everything he could give. Anything they created he knew he would love and accept fully.

Bulma smiled as she held her stomach. "This is so weird; I just can't believe I am pregnant. I've never been pregnant-or, I mean, I can't ever remember being pregnant." Her head fell visibly at the depressing realization. She suddenly wanted all of the gaps in her memories filled. "Vegeta," she whispered, as she reached out her free hand to clasp his, "tell me about us. I want to know everything about us from how we came to be together, through Trunks' conception, all the way up until I lost my memories. I want to hear every detail."

Vegeta sighed as he clenched her palm in return; she simply had no idea what she was asking of him. "Our past is not full of happy memories I enjoy reliving."

"Ah…Oh," Bulma sighed rather dejectedly; she recalled Yamcha's brief description of their rather disastrous past relations. "But, it can't be all bad," she reasoned, "I mean we are still together after all."

Vegeta closed his eyes as he noted the hope that was laced throughout her statement. It was so like her, no matter how he managed to destroy what was between them, she always managed to maintain hope that it could be fixed. "You are right," he conceded, "but I'd rather not scare you away by delving into all of the horrifying details. Suffice it to say, it was my inability to realize the how much I needed you, which kept us apart until it was almost too late. I may have done nothing in my life to deserve you, but I will never again take for granted the strength you bring to me."

Bulma's eyes widened slightly, as a long smile spread across her face. "I think that's the most romantic confession I have ever heard."

An insulted expression coupled with an 'hmph' came from Vegeta, before adding, "Let's get one thing straight woman, I am not now, nor will I ever be romantic," he grunted the word with utter disdain.

"All right, if you say so." Bulma allowed herself a laugh; it was adorable to see him reaffirm his masculinity. "Besides, I wasn't insisting that you were romantic, just what you said. I mean, I may not have all of my memories back, but from what I do, you are anything but." Bulma broke once again into mild laughter as she thought about exactly who she was sitting in bed next too. It was all too surreal.

"What memories?" The question halted Bulma's laughter, as she looked back to see a rather distraught look upon her mate's face. "What do you remember?" Vegeta asked with restrained curiosity, he wanted to know exactly what she recalled of their relationship.

"Um," Bulma raced a few thoughts through her mind as she tried to recollect all of the dreams and spontaneous memories that had come to her over the last few days. "Well, most of the memories I have seem to make sense. I remember you blasting me, but that you already knew, and then there was this memory where you severed our relationship after the Cell games, and then one about my bribing you to take Trunks to the park," both chuckled lightly at the memory, "and the last one was about… " Bulma's lips parted slightly in shock as she painfully recalled her last memory. "Um… actually I think that was it. The last one was probably just a nightmare."

"Nightmare?" Vegeta question, "are you talking about the dream you were having when I found you earlier?"

"Uhm," she took a long breath. "Yes, actually. It-It was awful. I-I was being strangled by the tail of some lizard-like looking creature, while it continued to punch me in my back and mock me. It was so humiliating. But, the weirdest part is that Krillin, Piccolo and-"

"Gohan were standing by watching, but not one of them did a damn thing to help you, for fear of a similar fate. Though at the time you assumed it was because you deserved the punishment, that you had failed, and the pain, the humiliation, was your long overdue punishment." He finished her thought emotionlessly.

"How-How did you know? Bulma raised a confused brow as she blotted her watering eyes.

"I know because I lived it," Vegeta admitted, to his mate's utter disorientation. "What you saw was my death at the hands of Freeza. It was shortly after that one and only encounter you remember of me."

"That really happened to you?" She stuttered in response, there was no use in trying to conceal her tears any longer. Reached her arms out to wrap around his neck she embraced him tightly. "Dende, I am so sorry."

"Don't be," he welcomed her embrace with a relieved sigh. "If anyone should apologize, it is I, for giving you all of my memories to bear."

Bulma pushed away from his hold, confused once again, as she questioned his admission. "What do you mean you gave me all of your memories? You mean you told me about all of your memories, right?"

Vegeta frowned as he looked down at her, how could he ever dream of explaining their bond to her if she had just barely managed to accept their relationship? "Let's just say, we have… or we had a unique connection that allowed us to share one another's thoughts and experiences throughout each of our entire lives. The memory of my first death was one that haunted more than another; I suppose that is why you dreamed of it."

Bulma's mind raced with this new information, "wait a minute," she gasped in a moment of realization, "this memory link thing you are talking about wouldn't by any chance have anything to do with biting each other's necks would it? Is that the bond you are talking about?"

"How did you know that?" Vegeta asked; it was now his turn to be mildly shocked.

"I had a dream about something of the like, but I thought it was too bizarre to be true." She ran her fingers through her hair, reeling from this new development. "I guess it's a Saiya-jin thing then?"

Vegeta nodded, deeply relieved that she had some recollection of their bond. "It is a Saiya-jin custom, but as I recall, few couples ever developed a connection as deep as ours was."

"Wow," Bulma blinked in awe, "I can't believe I actually saw all of your life once, and you saw all of mine-" Bulma cut herself off as an almost absurd revelation came to her. "Wait a second, Vegeta. If what you're saying is true, and you are carrying around my memories, why can't you just… give them back to me?"

Vegeta's eyes widened in bafflement, he suddenly knew what it felt like to be Kakarrot. "Dende, why the hell didn't I think of this?!" he demanded of himself aloud. All this time, he had her memories, and never did it occur to him to simply share them!

"Well, can you give me my memories back? Can we, sort of, re-bond?" Bulma asked with hope, words couldn't describe how desperately she wanted her memories back.

"Well, I-" Vegeta thought about the possibilities for several minutes. He saw no reason it couldn't work. After all, he was still bonded to her. Regardless of how weak the connection had grown, the process should be the same as any other time they shared memories through their bond. Of course, this process would not be with out its drawbacks. "Bulma," he sighed quietly as he pulled her back to him. "If I do this, you won't simply have your memories returned, but mine as well. Are you certain you are ready for that?"

She nodded almost immediately, as she placed a gentle kiss upon his lips before answering. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Very well, then," Vegeta agreed with suppressed excitement, as he slowly lifted his mate's head so her creamy white neck was exposed to him. He ran his thumb momentarily over the spot where he had originally marked her. It was almost completely healed. Lightly licking her soft skin, he brought his lips to the vanishing mark. "Are you sure woman?" He needed her confirmation; he had to be certain this is what she wanted.

"Yes." She breathed out heavily, very much already seduced by his gentle ministration.

Without further wait, Vegeta clamped his sharp fangs deep into her tender flesh, reveling in the taste of his mate's warm salty blood.

Bulma's eyes clamped shut, as the first sensation to run down her spine was that of a stabbing pain throughout her body. But the pain was not to last very long, as her mind became taken over by images that had been denied to her after the accident. She saw Namek, the planet's impending destruction, and suddenly being back on Earth. She saw Vegeta, Piccolo and Gohan awaiting word of Freeza's death; and then, the announcement of Goku's victory, the Namekian dragon being summoned, and her life returning to normal. She saw the boy from the future, Trunks, and then Vegeta moving in with her family. She felt her emotions flooding back to her. How she fluctuated from hate to love with him. She saw their first few times together. She saw the pain she faced in the proceeding years, as those few encounters would change her life forever. Each and every trial and tribulation they faced came back her, until the day came when they finally bonded. She saw every moment of agony and bliss he lived through. She saw his pain, his defeats, his death, and his unexpected love for her. She saw every memory he had given to her, and then, she had the fortune of seeing how she had dealt with it-how he had gotten her through it, how he helped her survive their bond. She felt the strength and comfort he had given to her, empowering her to see further into her life.

Her shower of memories continued as she saw her life spill into her mind in a tidal force of visions. Trunks growing up, the world tournament, Vegeta's death, Buu, Goku's ascension to SSJ3, Gotenks, the universe's salvation, and every other moment of her life until the last time they had joined in a union of their minds, which fortunately, had not been long before the accident. Everything had come flooding back to her from both perspectives, until she began to see more recent memories. His memories of the pain and longing he had felt while she was comatose. She felt his self-blame for the incident. She saw his struggle to help Trunks, and himself, but his failure to do either. She felt his pain when she rejected him, his suffering because of their bond, his collapse the night they made love, the night she had kissed Yamcha. She felt his excitement afterwards, when he believed that he had successfully managed to reunite with her, and then his agony as he realized he had been wrong. She experienced every second of the emotional roller coaster he was on for those few days, and then finally the contentment he felt just hours ago as they rightfully joined together.

Once Bulma saw the last of his memories, the instinctive urge to return his favor filled her. Bracing her hands upon his shoulders, she thrust her mouth against his neck and sunk her teeth into his flesh, directly onto his own deep mark. She began to drink greedily of his blood as he had of hers, while giving him the chance to see all she had experienced these last few days.

Vegeta relinquished his hold upon her, as he felt his mate suddenly enter his mind. He saw her feelings as her teeth sunk into his neck, opening the connection. He felt the turmoil she went through since the accident. He felt her fear and her hesitation towards him; he saw her date with Yamcha, the kiss, and then her pushing him away after seeing himself in her thoughts. He felt her need that night, her longing and her confusion and regret afterwards. He saw her argument with Chi-Chi and then her discussion with Trunks; and finally, her understanding of him, after Yamcha had set the record straight-Yamcha!? Vegeta was severed from the final thought as he felt Bulma remove her teeth from his neck. Collapsing next to her, he took several long breaths as he allowed his mind to consider all he had just experienced.

"I still can not believe you let that pathetic human kiss you." Vegeta growled after a long pause, the memory irritated him to no end.

Bulma chuckled at his possessive tone. Though normally his 'no one touches my woman' launches her into a lesson on feminism, she decided to allow him his tantrum. "You know it was just a 'heat of the moment' thing, there is no need for you to go kill Yamcha. We both made peace over it. And, besides, if it weren't for Yamcha, I wouldn't have known the truth. So if anything, you should thank him."

"I'd sooner take a one-way trip to the next dimension." Vegeta hissed under his throat. He never liked that fool; no doubt it had greatly to do with the fact that the weakling had Bulma first, but all that truly mattered was who had her now. And that would eternally be him.

"Awe, quit your pouting," Bulma ordered playfully, as she rolled atop her mate. "I mean, here I am with all my memories back," she began with a trail of kisses on his shoulder. "And all you can think about," she continued across his chest, "is getting back at Yamcha?" she teased, while extending her tongue to run across his abdomen. "Come on Vegeta, we could be having so much more fun." She purred while sliding her hand down his pelvis towards a very specific destination.

"Feisty, woman," Vegeta groaned in pleasure; it seemed with her memories her boldness had returned.

"Wait," Bulma abruptly pulled away from her lover as a sudden thought occurred to her. "What about Trunks? Shouldn't we tell him about all of this?"

Vegeta slowly turned his head back and forth in objection as he pulled Bulma back into his grasp. "The boy will have to wait," he declared assuredly, "because once I am done with you, you will be in no condition to leave this bed for several days."

"Oh, that sounds promising." Bulma smirked, in the likeness of her husband, at the possibility. "Do your worst, then," she encouraged, as she allowed her husband to take control of her body.

Then, for the first time in more than six months, the couple would once again make love as bonded mates.

The End

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Author's Note: Well that is the end, wipes tears, I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed rewriting it. Now as always, I finish a story, so I must begin posting another. Yes, you all guessed it, Falling in Love the First Time, is coming back! For those of you who do not know, it is the prequel to this story, set in that infamous three-year period of course. It explains everything this story did not, and is in the same vein as this one, angst, drama, a lemon here and there, along with the occasional comic relief. Chapter one should be up by the end of the weekend, so I hope you'll check it out. But in the mean time, review and then let me know what you thought of this story in its entirety!