Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Perchance to Dream ❯ For in That Sleep of Death... ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Last time: Vegeta was denied his wish by the great dragon, and discovered that Bulma was not truly dead. He set out on his quest to find and restore Bulma's soul, followed by Piccolo.

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Chapter 3: For in that Sleep of Death...

Vegeta flew faster than the speed of sound, clutching the bag of precious senzu beans. He'd already had to eat one of them, as the healing effect from Dende had faded within a few minutes. The bean seemed to be sustaining him at the moment, but his mind felt fuzzy, and he could barely concentrate enough to stay in the air. How in all the worlds am I going to be able to find her? he thought in despair as the pain returned, worse than before. But it wasn't just the pain that bothered him, it was the feeling that somehow, a part of himself was missing.

He had been previously unaware of the bond that had formed between himself and the woman, until the moment it was harshly broken. He shook his head. He'd always had difficulty admitting and dealing with his emotions and feelings, and probably had subconsciously been denying the ties that were being forged with the human. How could he have been so foolish!? At some level, he always knew that there was something more than just lust drawing him to Bulma. Even when he first met her, when she cared for him on Namek, there had been something there.* Call it fate, call it destiny, call it Kami laughing his ass off at some enormous cosmic joke, he and the woman were meant to be together.

She was unlike the other women... he had been unable to simply toss her aside after he'd had his pleasure. At the beginning, he'd stuck with her for convenience... Capsule Corp. had the only gravity machine around, after all. And the woman provided an interesting distraction after he'd worn himself out with training, or had destroyed the training room again. His mind drifted back to the first time...

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She was yelling again, having accosted him immediately after he got out of the shower. Something about how training robots didn't grow on trees and that she was sick of being his personal mechanic and that he needed to be more careful or he'd really hurt himself one of these days.... he had tuned her ranting out several minutes before, and was absent-mindedly considering ways to shut her up. Blasting her and this whole house into oblivion might be fun, but then he'd have no one to fix his training module. Besides, he'd have to deal with Kakarott and the others if he killed her... not that they would be too much trouble, but he had better things to do at the moment.

He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the narrow hallway in which they stood, admiring the view. The woman wasn't unpleasant to look at, he decided, especially when she was angry. Her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes sparked with an intensity he'd only seen in stronger warriors. His eyes traveled lower, appreciating the way her tight shirt showed an impressive amount of cleavage. She waved her arms in the air, causing her assets to bounce in a most enticing manner. He continued his visual journey downward, admiring the tiny jeans shorts that clung in all the right places, her shapely creamy-white legs extending down to perfect, petite bare feet...

Ah, screw it, he thought. I need something to do while the gravity machine gets fixed anyway. He crossed the corridor in two short strides, slamming his palms into the wall on either side of her head. She gasped, and was speechless for a moment as he smirked at her.

"W-what are you doing, Vegeta?" she finally managed to squeak.

"Shutting you up, for once," he growled, then pressed his lips roughly to hers. She made a sound of protest and beat her small fists ineffectually against his bare chest. When he pulled back, she looked even angrier than before.

"How dare you?!" she shrieked. His only reply was another feral grin, followed by another kiss. She struggled to get away, but he pinned her to the wall with his body, enjoying the feel of her squirming against him. He forced his knee between her legs, holding her nearly immobile. After a moment, he pulled away and observed her again. This time she looked scared. "What are you going to d-do?" she asked, her voice trembling.

The tone of her voice stopped him short. He had expected more anger, perhaps a slap to the face, but she was standing in front of him, terrified, her azure eyes filling with tears. He had never seen her like this, with him... she was always yelling, trying to order him around, standing up to him as if she considered herself his equal. Sure, he had seen her afraid before, but not of him, not since he had come back to earth. Usually, having a woman be scared of him would excite him even more, but with this one, it was different.

At that moment, he realized that he would not take her by force as he had with others, in the past. He didn't want to see her proud spirit broken. He stepped back just a bit, allowing her room to breathe, but still keeping her trapped between him and the wall, his arms on either side of her face. "I'm not going to rape you," he said quietly. "I won't do anything that you don't want to do. But," he smirked again, "I intend to make sure that you really want this." With that, he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, feeling her fingernails dig into his biceps. "You can't tell me you don't want me," he said, his face inches from hers. "I've seen the way you look at me sometimes."

She shook her head slightly. "No. That's not true," she whispered. "I already have someone..."

He brushed his lips against hers. "Why would you want that weakling when you could have the prince of all Saiyans?" he breathed. When she didn't protest, he kissed her again, gentler than before. At first, she held her lips tightly closed and stiff, not responding to his caress in any way. But he was persistent, and soon she responded to the soft movements of his mouth, returning the kiss passionately. The Saiyan smiled to himself and continued his assault, slipping his tongue out to skim lightly against her bottom lip. She jumped in surprise, but her lips parted, allowing Vegeta access. He delved deep into her mouth, and soon she replied in kind, tasting him as he tasted her. He felt her hands leave his arms and move up around his neck, fingers tangling in his hair. He began to run his hands up and down her back, still using all of his talents to give her the best damn kiss of her life. When he finally detached himself from her, she was breathing heavily, and her eyes looked dilated and glazed-over.

"Oh my..." was all she managed to say. Vegeta grasped her hips and pulled her tight against him, letting her feel his obvious state of arousal through the thin spandex pants he wore. He raised one eyebrow in an unspoken question. Her eyes widened, and she nodded shakily. That was all the consent Vegeta needed. He gathered her up in his arms and flew them both quickly to his bedroom...

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Vegeta was abruptly yanked out of the pleasant memory by a tree branch smacking him in the face. Lost in thought, he'd been flying lower and lower until he was skimming the treetops. He blinked and shook his head, then gathered his energy to put on a burst of speed. As he did so, a lance of agony shot through his stomach, and he stopped short, gasping for air. The pain intensified, and he doubled over, plummeting to the ground. He lacked the energy to slow his descent, and landed on his hands and knees with enough force to create a small crater. Bile rose in his throat, and he fought back the urge to vomit, not wanting to lose the precious senzu bean he'd had earlier. He fumbled with the small bag, but it slipped from his trembling fingers before he could remove another bean. Dark spots swam in his vision, and he collapsed onto his side, fighting to stay conscious. No! I can't give in, not like this, he thought frantically before passing out completely.

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Vegeta awoke with a jolt. He jumped up quickly, seeing the sun setting behind the distant mountains. I can't believe I slept so long! He started off, but stopped short after a few steps. Something felt different... it took him a moment to realize what it was. There was no more pain! The blinding agony that had debilitated him over the past few hours was completely gone. Instead he felt completely energized, as if he could take on any enemy. I guess Dende was able to restore Bulma, he thought, turning to head back to the lookout.

As he did so, he caught sight of a body lying motionless on the ground behind him. A jolt of fear shot through him as he recognized the small form, the spiky hair, the blue spandex training clothes... He fell to his knees beside his unmoving reflection, reaching a trembling hand out toward it. When his hand passed right through his body's shoulder, he wasn't entirely surprised. "Damn. Am I dead?" he wondered aloud. This didn't feel like his previous death... he had been instantly taken to the Otherworld before. Granted, he had been able to contact Kakarott, but that was a special case. What was this? Confused, he stood back up, unsure of what to do.

"Vegeta," a familiar voice called from behind him. Turning, he saw Bulma standing a few feet away.

"Woman. What's going on?"

She backed away, beckoning for him to follow. "Hurry, we don't have much time." With that, she raced off into the trees. Vegeta had no choice but to follow her.

Roots and small bushes snatched at his feet as he ran, and tree branches seemed to reach out to snare him in their dark embrace. He tried to levitate, to fly above the grasping trees, but found that he could not. An invisible force seemed to be holding him to the ground, so he had no choice but to run, desperately trying to keep sight of the blue-haired woman who always seemed to be almost out of sight. He raced through the ever-darkening forest, drawing on all of his extraordinary speed, but still the apparition of Bulma stayed ahead of him, leading him deeper into the woods, toward the formidable mountains beyond.

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Suppressing his ki, Piccolo moved cautiously toward the prone form of Vegeta. He had seen the prince's impressive crash landing and subsequent collapse several minutes before, and had decided that now would be a good time to intervene. He knelt and rolled the unconscious Saiyan onto his back. "Come on, Vegeta, wake up," he growled, slapping the prince non-too-lightly across the face several times. When the other man didn't respond in any way, the Namekian felt for a pulse along Vegeta's neck, holding his other hand in front of the Saiyan's mouth to detect breathing. He could still feel Vegeta's ki, distant and faint though it was, and he sighed in relief as he felt a weak, fluttering pulse beneath his fingertips, along with an almost imperceptible movement of air from the prince's lips. Reaching over, he grabbed the bag of senzu beans and emptied the contents into his hand. Only two left... He selected one and prepared to force-feed it to the weakened Saiyan. At that moment, Vegeta gave one long, shuddering gasp, then stopped breathing entirely.

Piccolo let loose a few choice Namekian curses that Nail had taught him, then dropped the senzu beans and placed his ear against Vegeta's chest. The Saiyan's heart was still beating faintly, but his lungs had stopped functioning. "Dammit, Vegeta, don't do this!" Piccolo shouted. He tilted the prince's head back, pinching his nose shut. Grimacing, he bent down and blew a few short puffs of air into Vegeta's failing lungs.

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Vegeta finally caught up with the apparition of his mate as she stopped at the foot of one of the towering mountains. He reached out for her, but she darted out of his reach, ducking into the low mouth of a cave. The Saiyan moved to follow her, only to find himself thrown back several feet by an invisible force. He recovered quickly, and raced back to try again, only to be repelled once more. Frustrated, he moved forward as close as he dared to the unseen barrier, staring at the woman who was just out of reach. Finally, she turned to face him.

"You have to go back," Bulma said sadly.

"What? Go back?" Vegeta was confused. "But I found you. Come back with me."

"I can't. And you can't stay here," she added quickly, as the prince opened his mouth to argue.

Vegeta thought of what awaited him back in... what? His corporeal body? Was he dreaming, or was this journey something more? Either way, he didn't want to leave, to go back to the pain. Everything was well here, in this reality. There was no pain, and he had found her, they were together... if only he could reach her...

"I won't go," he said, folding his arms across his chest in an expression of defiance.

Bulma stamped her foot and put her hands on her hips, glaring at Vegeta with an expression all too familiar to him. "Oh, you won't, huh? What are you going to do? Die here, and let me die too? 'Cause that's what's going to happen if you don't leave. Don't you understand? You have to go now, and come back and find me in the real world."

Reluctantly, Vegeta dropped his hands down to his sides and nodded. "Very well. I will return."

As soon as he voiced his agreement, everything around him immediately went dark. He had a sensation of rushing backward through space, then felt as though he were plunged into ice cold water. He struggled to breathe, and as he fought his way back to consciousness, he heard Bulma's voice, as if from a great distance, calling to him.

"Find me, Vegeta. I'll see you soon..."

To Be Continued...

*Wonder what that Namek reference was? Hmm? Just keep an eye out for my next story. Hehe...

AN: Well, I was kinda intending to finish in this chapter, but the story keeps getting longer! :) Oh well. Please review... my inner review monster is dying a slow, horrible death from starvation!