Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Free My Soul ❯ Chapter Ten ( Chapter 10 )

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Free My Soul

Chapter Ten

The sun crested the horizon, burning away the shadows gathered above her. The heat warmed her back, massaging away her tension. Her sobs quieted, and the pain in her chest lessened so she could catch her breath. Bulma lifted her head, whipping her wet eyes with her forearm. The light blinded her. She blinked, refocusing. Vegeta stood over her, golden and god-like. She stared at him in awe, barely responding when his strong hand grasped her elbow to lift her up.

“Vegeta.” He had been ungodly handsome before, but now he was beautiful. He shone with light, bronzing his skin and gilding his hair blonde. Gone were his dark, brooding eyes, instead they were the brightest shade of teal she had ever seen. The heat of his transformation had burned away most of his clothes, leaving him bare to the watchful sky. If she didn't know him so intimately, she might not have recognized him.

She stood in the loose circle of his arms, trailing her fingers across his bicep. He smirked and flexed. She smiled, rolling her eyes, when a voice boomed above them.

“Your second wish,” Porunga demanded impatiently.

Bulma staggered as the weight of her loss came crashing back.

“Second wish?” Vegeta echoed, stepping away from Bulma.

“Ms. Bulma used her first wish to grant you power,” Dende replied. He was hovering nearby, twisting his hands together as he watched the imposing man who so gently handled the delicate woman.

Unconsciously, Vegeta clenched his fists at his sides. The power rushing through his veins was intoxicating. When it suddenly surged inside of him, it was like being reborn. Everything was different. Colors were brighter, scents stronger, and time itself seemed to stop as he watched Cooler attack. As he ground his enemy into bone dust, he allowed himself to believe for an instant that it was his own doing; that somehow in need and desperation, he tapped power laying dormant inside, but he couldn't quite convince himself of it. It wasn't his strength. It was stolen. No, worse, it was given.

Dende watched the proud warrior closely, antennae twitching thoughtfully.

“The dragon could not grant something you didn't already have possession of. Ms. Bulma just wished for your potential to be unlocked.”

Vegeta glared at the young boy. He couldn't shake the feeling that he had cheated. That somehow he had skipped vital landmarks to his ascension. However, what Bulma did was more or less what he would have done for himself.

“So you used your wish on me?”

Bulma wasn't listening. Her arms were wrapped protectively around her midriff, her hair hanging low over her brow. Vegeta glanced at the stern dragon in the sky.

“Make your wish, Bulma. Get your world back.”

“I can't.”

Vegeta could barely hear her over the low, impatient rumbling above them.

“You can't? Just open your damned mouth, and speak your desire, woman.”

Bulma burst into tears, covering her mouth with a shaking hand. Chastened, Vegeta shifted his weight.

“Porunga cannot restore her world. He can only fold back time and return her to before the attack,” Dende explained.

“This wish would return everyone back to their place in that moment in time, including you, Lord Vegeta. Only the wish maker retains their memories of what has passed.”

The dragon's voice ripped across the landscape as he spoke. Bulma and Dende collapsed to their knees at its sheer force. Only Vegeta remained standing, gazing with emotionless eyes up at the dragon. That fateful day on Earth seemed so long ago. He stood on the cusp of victory, before Frieza unexpectedly arrived to tear it all away. He had been so weak then. So full of anger and hate that it festered his insides until he was sick with it. The thought of returning to such a state of non-being after being, devastated a part of him deep inside. Even if he never remembered, the loss would resonate inside of him. All this didn't explain Bulma's tears.

“You would not have the strength to destroy Frieza. Is that what is stopping you?”

He wanted to reach across and comfort her, but he couldn't bear to be near the woman whose next words could rip his very soul away.

“I can't do it, and it's killing me. One life for billions, it's so logical.”

She was kneeling at Vegeta's feet, shoved into submission by the dragon's voice. He remembered his promise, and hauled her to her feet.

“What are you babbling about?”

The look she shot him was full of stunned betrayal, awed by his sheer lack of understanding.

“Bunny. I would have to murder my baby. Our child. Have you forgotten her so readily?” She lashed out with a small fist, bruising it against his chest. Vegeta captured her hand, pulling her into him.

“She would have never existed,” he reasoned, with careful, measured tones.

She fluttered against him, like a frightened finch in a gilded cage. “But I would remember. Don't you understand? Her memory would always be bright inside me, and I could never live with that.”

“Bulma, I understand.”

“How could you?” she spat, still full of anger and despair.

“I know want. Want so bad that it becomes a need. And I know regret. Regret so deep it becomes a sickness in your bones.”

“But that need has become a failure. I've worked so hard, lived so long in mourning, whispering dreams of hope in my daughter's ear. How can I give up now? How can I turn my back on humanity? What kind of person would that make me? To allow billions to sacrifice their lives so I might keep my daughter?” Angry tears were spilling across her cheeks, dripping to the ground.

“They are already dead. It is only the presence of the dragon that fills you with doubt.” He paused, watching closely for her reactions. She said nothing. She stood pale and motionless, tears slipping down. “You think you are alone out here. But you're not. You have me. We have Bunny.” Vegeta swallowed. “We could be happy.”

The anger drained from her, leaving her weak with despair. She rested her forehead in the hollow of his shoulder. For just a fraction of a moment, Vegeta was struck with the thought, that she lost her shine.

“Do you promise?”

There was a moment of silence, and even the humming in the sky seemed to still. Vegeta struggled with the emotions inside of him. This was his moment. He could have everything. Unparalleled power. Rule of the universe. The woman he desired above all else. A family. It was all within the grasp of his powerful fist. His father would be so proud. The last thought made something sick churn in his belly.

“Yes.”

Slowly, she lifted her countenance to his, a tentative smile edging the full corners of her mouth. She opened her mouth to speak, and her throat filled with white light, spilling from her pink lips. The light tore through her chest, pinging harmlessly off Vegeta. Hot blood splattered across his face. Bulma slipped from his grasp, falling to the soft grass with a thud.