Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ The Legend Of the Bond ❯ Things we see, things we feel... ( Chapter 17 )

The fresh air of the morning was dissipating rather reluctantly. Zarbon had worked since day-break, finally coming to the conclusion that blue-haired Chikyuu-jin woman was indeed the reason behind the sudden upsurge in Vegeta-sei’s technological progression. Last night, after leaving the woman girl with Vegeta, Zarbon had thought of nothing but her, used meat or no. He wanted her for his possession, or perhaps as something more. Certainly, she would be a very nice addition to Freeza’s workers and also as a willing bed partner. Zarbon had hardly ever thought about taking a woman for more than just sex, but the way she handled herself, the fire in her eyes seemed to send a chill down his spine. This was something he wanted for a lifetime. Zarbon resisted his urges to not obey Freeza’s command and just take the woman with him now, but knowing his liege as well as he did, he knew that the Ice-jin would be quite upset with him for leaping ahead of plan. And besides, Freeza wanted to test Vegeta, to see if he really was going to hand over the girl when the time came.

After passing the previous night in restless sleep, Zarbon contacted Freeza and informed him of everything, including the possible connection between the Prince and the female. Zarbon had a feeling the Prince and the girl had a close relationship, closer than just sex, closer than love. This struck him as quite odd, especially since Vegeta was not the type to even have casual sex. Zarbon had watched Vegeta since he was a boy. Since puberty, Vegeta had never taken a woman for entertainment. Zarbon had begun to wonder about Vegeta until he saw his reaction about the girl. His body language was more then enough for Zarbon to see Vegeta felt something for this girl. It was sad Vegeta was so far gone that he couldn’t even hide the fact of his attachment. Zarbon chuckled evilly. It was going to be an amusing day when, after his ministrations, he would make her completely forget about the monkey.

***********

The day was stilled by the silent calm of agony. Bulma was ordered bed rest by some higher-up she never heard of, knowing full well Vegeta was behind it. And so she remained absent from work, grateful to be able to just stay in bed. She had cried herself to sleep again. After so many times, she tried to stop herself from crying, but she let it out all last night. And when she finally woke, she was again reminded of the previous night by the broken necklace that rested on the bed stand next to her bed. The sheets were tangled from her disquieted sleep, yet placed around of her in a manner that made her feel protected. Vegeta’s cape lay next to her under the sheets, but its presence was unable to comfort her heart. She hadn’t moved since she woke; she only stared at the necklace and thought about the night before and what had really happened.

_--_-- (Flashback)

“Don’t concern yourself with before. Once your work is done, I want you off this planet,” Vegeta had said with such forcefulness she couldn’t help but feel numbed by it. She had planned to leave Vegeta-sei, but she had never thought she would be exiled from it. When Vegeta finally noticed the necklace around her neck, he stepped forward once again. His nearness always made her heart pound heavily. When they were finally eye-to-eye, he took his hand and placed it on her neck, hardly touching her skin, caressing the necklace with his thumb. She thought that he was gazing at the necklace emotionlessly, except for something lingering behind his eyes, something that she couldn’t place. “Unless…”

She almost hoped again. “Unless?”

Vegeta then met her eyes, searching for the real truth behind Bulma‘s words. “Did you mean what you said before?”

Bulma couldn’t answer; she was lost in her own battling emotions. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

“ANSWER ME, WOMAN!” Vegeta let his anger out then. He couldn’t feel her emotions well since his own were interfering with his ability to feel anything but anger and confusion.

Bulma was so shocked and frightened that she started to tremble even more so visibly. He was no longer calling her by her name, something that somehow made her feel real, important, alive. All she could do was fearfully stare back at Vegeta.

Clenching his teeth, Vegeta couldn’t take it any longer. He would, for both their sakes, end this horrible game. He would never have her and she would never have him, their bond was faulty. Now that she was frightened of him, it was better, she knew her place. He reached down and hooked the necklace with his finger and pulled. The delicate piece of jewelry fell down to the floor, but Bulma, who still couldn’t say a thing, kept staring into Vegeta’s now- cold eyes. “For now on, you may never address me as Vegeta and you may never show me disrespect. Once you have finished your work, you will be provided a small ship. I want you off this planet within that hour.”

It finally hit Bulma in that minute that she had taken everything for granted. The blinding rage she held for Vegeta for so many years had utterly destroyed her common sense regarding the man once she meet him in person. And now, he was walking away. She finally knew the truth: that no matter what he felt, no matter what had happened, no matter what she thought she felt, she was more than just in love with him. He was more than just a friend, more than an ally, and he would never be anything else to her ever again.

_--_-- (End of Flashback)

Bulma’s eyes filled with tears. She loved Vegeta and she wanted him to love her in return. She knew she loved him before, but she had put that feeling to the side and let other things cloud her judgment and actions. Her love for him had been a sin, but now…why would love ever be a sin? He was responsible for destroying her planet, yet she accepted him before, when she knew he destroyed other planets, so why not accept him now? He was commanded to purge, to murder,ike every other Saiya-jin under Freeza's rule. Destroying a planet was no different than purging, except that it permanently removed any future exploitation by Freeza. He was the evil that caused everything and who would most likely come for her sooner or later, as she understood from Zarbon. Vegeta had saved her once from Zarbon, but would he save her again? After she finally understood her feelings, after things were clear to her, she had lost Vegeta. He didn’t love her. He loved…no one. Over and over Bulma thought about what Vegeta had said about there being no other woman, no other Chikyuu-jin, ever in his life.

If that was true, what did Goku mean when he told her that Vegeta was in love with a Chikyuu-jin, even before they had ever met? Her first thought was that he had seen her before, perhaps when she had passed out after being beaten by Chili. But that was two years before she ever met Vegeta. Perhaps he had been taken by her looks, only to desire her for her body? That made no sense! Though, if that was the case, he could have just sent her to the royal harem, but he never did. No, instead he trained her, protected her, comforted her in times of need in his special way, and finally gave her this new life. Nothing made sense, and she couldn’t understand what he meant by her being the only one in his life. Was he lying? Collecting her strength, she slowly crawled out of bed and made her way to the door console. In it was a device that also functioned as a communicator as well as many other things. Now, it would help her get the answers she needed. Immediately, she contacted the only person who could give her those answers, the only person on Vegeta-sei in whom she could confide.

“Hello?” a gentle, silly voice answered.

“Goku? Could you come to my room, please?”

“Bulma?! I heard you’re really sick. Are you okay?”

“Please, Goku, just come to my chambers. I really need to talk to you!”

“Okay, okay, I’ll be there shortly. I have to ask another guard to watch my post.”

“Thank you, Goku!”

After the transmission cut off, Bulma turned around and walked slowly over to her large balconied window. The suns seemed so warm and bright. The red sky was hardly remarkable to her now, while the blue skies of Chikyuu seemed but a distant memory. Her mother, her father, her school, and her life back on Chikyuu were gone now, except in her mind. Those memories would only exist there. She was learning to accept Vegeta-sei all too late.

“Bulma, dear, would you like some coffee? You looked so stressed!” Bulma’s mother voice filled her room and Bulma turned around, astonished to find she was back in Capsule Corporation, in her old room, her mother in front of her with a tray of coffee and cakes. Bulma ran over to her mother and looked her over just to make sure she was real.

“Mama?” she asked hesitantly.

“Yes, dear?” Her mother looked puzzled but then smiled. “Oh, don’t worry about Goku! He’ll be fine in the upcoming tournament. I’m just worried about Yamcha! Isn’t he entering this year?”

“Yam...cha?” Before Bulma could ask further, the image of Capsule Corporation and her mother disappeared, and the sound of the door ringing filled her ears. Bulma shook her head, realizing it must have been a wishful figment of her imagination and went to answer the door. Once the door opened, Kakarotto stepped through with a worried smile upon his face. Bulma then closed and locked the door, not caring that she was still in her nightgown. She needed to talk to Goku. Watching her actions carefully, Kakarotto then looked at her face and his concern for her grew.

“Bulma, are you really okay?”

“Yes...I mean no.”

“Huh?” Bulma faced Goku, still with his back to the door.

“Goku, do you know the Chikyuu-jin that Prince Vegeta loves?”

“Um, no, never meet her. Why so curious about that?”

“Just follow me on this: how do you know about that Chikyuu-jin?”

“I’m not supposed to say.”

“Please, Goku, I need to know! I need to understand something important about Prince Vegeta! It won’t leave this room and it may help him in some way.”

“Well, if you say it might help him…okay. Let me think...” Kakarotto crossed his arms and looking down, concentrating on his memory. After he finally remembered the incident, he looked over at Bulma seriously. “It was about four years ago, when we were leaving on a mission, when suddenly Prince Vegeta started to shift his ki. I also sensed the ki of a Chikyuu-jin within Vegeta…” Kakarotto stopped his story and looked at Bulma even more intently than before.

“What, do I have something on my face?” Bulma asked, not understanding why Goku was staring at her like that.

“Now that I think about it again, that ki felt oddly like yours. I thought so before too, but I never said anything.”

Bulma eyes widened at the confession. “Like mine?”

“Yeah, and at the time Vegeta said that he lent his beloved his ki. To protect her, I guess.”

“Four years ago…” Bulma had to think back as well, but almost immediately it came to her. She looked at Kakarotto with wide and tearful eyes. “Pota!! He was the one…” Bulma then grabbed Goku by his armor, her look even more urgent and determined than before. “Goku, has Vegeta ever seemed to have headaches or pain from time to time? Anything like that?”

“You really shouldn’t refer to Prince Vegeta so informally…”

“I don’t care right now! Just answer me, please!”

“Hmm, I guess he does occasionally seem to have headaches, though he never really says anything about them.”

Bulma let go of his armor, her eyes not focused on anything. She was reliving the past and the whispersPathetic…endangering mission…stupid…should die…Now…to destroy Chikyuu…Freeza will pay…DAMN EVERYTHING!...Bulma…Shit…Zarbon! Those whispers hadn’t been a sign of her insanity; they were someone else’s thoughts. Realization came to Bulma, delivering the final blow to her already weakened heart. She slid down to her knees, still not keeping her focus on anything. Goku kneeled down to her and placed a hand on her shoulder. Vegeta is connected with me! Somehow, we have always been connected! Her mind could only think of how stupid she was for not figuring it out sooner. Emotions that seemed foreign when she was around Vegeta, the fact she could feel him whenever he was near, it all made sense now. Those were his emotions and his presence she could feel and those were his thoughts! She finally knew: the two of them were bonded somehow and she had destroyed it.

Goku gave her a little shake, trying to get her attention back to him. “Bulma? Bulma? What’s wrong?”

Slowly she looked at Goku as a tear rolled down her cheek, which was still healing from Zarbon’s slap. “I’m connected with him; it’s me, I’m that Chikyuu-jin he loves…no, he doesn’t love me anymore…I’ve ruined everything.”

Not understanding her, Goku raised an puzzled eyebrow. “What are you talking about?”

“Vegeta, he is, he was…somehow, bonded to me.”

Now it was Kakarotto’s turn to widen his eyes. “Really? So, you’re that Chikyuu-jin…no, wait, how could that be?”

“I don’t know, Goku, but Vegeta hates me now. It doesn’t matter now…it doesn’t matter…” Bulma couldn’t help but cry out, more hot tears flowing from her already swollen eyes. She covered her face with her hands then pushed herself into Goku’s chest, looking for comfort. It was over; it was gone, everything that mattered was gone. All she could do was cry. Unsure of what else to do for her besides be a friend and give her a shoulder on which to cry, Kakarotto held her gently while she let out her tears.

**********

Vegeta continued to stand with his arms crossed, all the while listening to Bardock complaining about the condition of the rebellion. For Vegeta, it was easy to filter out the things he needed to know and the other things he didn’t. For example, Bardock had informed him that, due to starvation and disease, a third of the rebellion, which included women and children, had died. The technology they desperately needed, which included medicine, many different supplies and better ways to store food, was now more important than ever. Their fleet had over 600 hundred ships, but a fourth of those held families that were unable to fight. Freeza, on the other hand, had over 4,000 ships divided in 8 fleets. Unfortunately, they had no single, direct plan. Small plans they had; plans for reformation when their people and civilization would finally be rebuilt, but nothing overall. At this point, to succeed against Freeza, they not only needed a better plan, they needed a miracle. The rebellion had been in the making for almost seven years and they waited long enough to start the war. Bardock wanted the Prince to move his plans up and have the Saiya-jins who were loyal to the rebellion to evacuate Vegeta-sei now. Vegeta closed his eyes and listened while Bardock continued with his line of reasoning.

It was hard for Vegeta to think. Ever since Bardock had approached him in the privacy of his suite, Vegeta’s mind had been not on the rebellion, but on Bulma. He had felt her this morning; it was almost as if she had called out to him, wanting, pleading with him to come to her. He had ignored it, knowing full well it was his imagination. The other night he could hardly feel her emotions and that had disturbed him greatly. Was the faulty bond finally fading? Vegeta sighed. Things couldn’t be easy for him. His dreams, his desires, they were all difficult to achieve, and just when he thought he found something to ease life’s hardships, it also turned out to be flawed.

Now he needed to fight. Everything was easier when he fought. He was a Saiya-jin, born to fight, born for battle. The warrior in him wanted to follow Bardock’s recommendation and rush headlong into the fight against Freeza. Suddenly, Bardock’s voice went silent. Vegeta opened his eyes to see what had caused the man to shut his mouth. Immediately he looked on in surprise. Instead of being in his suite, he was in a lush field underneath blue skies. He was leaning against a tree and standing before him was Bulma. She looked older by perhaps ten years or so, with shorter hair and odd clothing. And she wasn’t alone. There were many Namek-sei-jins around her and a Chikyuu-jin boy, who looked oddly Saiya-jin and wearing Saiya-jin armor, standing next to her. He looked down to see himself in battle-worn armor, which was broken and bloodied in spots. His attention was brought back to Bulma, who was laughing and yelling some insane information at the sky.

“You’re not up-to-date, are you? The Namake-sei-jins’s are on Chikyuu now with their dragon balls! And you know what!? We can bring back dead people as many times as we want!”

Vegeta felt very confused. He had never heard of “dragon balls” before. And what was more bizarre, he knew that he couldn’t be on Chikyuu, he had destroyed it many years ago! Again, he looked to the sky to see it shine with a light blue, which made Bulma’s own unique coloring mix with its heavenly grace. How could he have gotten here? What was going on? Bulma might know, so he pushed himself off the tree and started forward. After a few steps, the lush green and blue scenery suddenly vanished and Bardock was before him again, kneeling in way that almost looked like pleading.

“Please, your highness! I had a premonition that if we don’t move soon, something horrible will happen!”

That caught Vegeta’s attention enough to forget about his own vision for now. “Like what?”

“Someone will die, your highness; someone important to the royal family! Either you, your father, or someone else that is close to you!”

Vegeta’s eyes narrowed; he didn’t like the sound of that. “Who?”

“I don’t know, your highness. It wasn’t a vision, but a premonition from jumbled images from my mind.”

“And what do you think we should do to prevent it?”

Bardock was quiet for a moment then he spoke again. “I believe that we should leave now, your highness.”

Vegeta thought for a moment, staring at the man kneeling before him. “Then I will have the girl speed up her work. In two months, we will have our last joint meeting before we finally set into motion the beginning of the end of Freeza‘s reign!”

“What will you do about Freeza? He expects your return.”

“He gave me a year. That will give me enough time to show him he will not dominate my people any longer.”

“Yes, your highness!”

“Leave, Bardock.”

Bardock stood and bowed. “Yes, my prince.” He left without any more complaints.

Vegeta stood strong, knowing full well he would have to see her again. She said her invention for him would be ready by the end of the week. He would wait until then to tell her she would be working almost full-time for him and give her a new list of additional projects to complete. He didn’t want to see the woman who had been able to beat him in a battle that had already cost him so much. Vegeta wished he could just send some errand boy in his stead, but he knew that he could not. Something of this matter could only come from his mouth. In the meanwhile, he needed to get his mind off her and think about the future, a future without her.

***********

Bulma sat at the door of her new invention, a small space ship with gravity manipulation. Once she got started, it became easy to complete the prototype and finally the actual version. That was four days ago. She had amazed even herself at the speed in which she completed the actual ship. The prototype stood behind the real ship and she felt relieved to see it finished. She had thought that Vegeta would have been there when she finished the prototype, but he wasn’t. She had waited and waited, hoping that he would come. A couple days after she last saw Vegeta, she had received a message from him, informing her that she would be excused from her regular duties at the Engineering and Development of Technologies lab to work full-time down here. The message included a list of new inventions she needed to create and she couldn’t have been happier, though she knew she would have to go back from time to time to the other lab to help them finish what she had started there. It was the reason why she finished what she had nicknamed the “GR” faster then she thought possible. She could now pass her time inventing and creating things of which she had only imagined and her time was devoted to completing something she loved so dearly. It also helped get her mind off Vegeta. However, now that she finally acknowledged her feelings from before, when he was just a nameless ally, a nameless “friend,” it was harder and harder to accept what had taken place.

She had done her best to fix the shattered necklace, but it was far from the glory it once was. She didn’t care; she still wore it under her armor and robes. She once had a connection with Vegeta and she believed she might still have one. Yesterday, she felt Vegeta for only a moment. He was overwhelmed with regret and that emotion had filtered through to her. She had wondered why he was feeling that way, but knew she would never get the answer. Standing up, she reached out and clicked a button on the side of the ship. Within a second, the ship disappeared with a quick poof and a capsule reappeared in its place. She took the capsule and held it in her hand, feeling a bit sentimental that Vegeta would soon be holding the device his own hand. The odd warmth of the capsule sitting in her hand made her feel close to him. The sensation of closeness grew stronger, permeating her heart and mind and she looked up, knowing full well she was feeling him. He was definitely close by. Perhaps he had finally come to see her.

Making her way in the direction of that strong feeling, she headed towards the door, towards him. When she finally stood at the door, it slid open to reveal Vegeta, scowling. Bulma’s face lit up and she smiled at him. She was glad to see him. He looked at her for a moment, unsure of the feeling he was picking up from her. Bulma wasn’t surprised to feel Vegeta closed off, she had expected as much from him. Though it saddened her, she was happy to see him again. Before she could say anything, he spoke, trying to keep his voice devoid of emotion:

“Where is the prototype? Is it finished?”

“Yes, it’s right over there,” Bulma said as she pointed to her completed ship. “Would you ”

“I didn’t come for chit-chat, I came to train,” Vegeta cut her off as he made his way to the “GR.”

Bulma followed after Vegeta, running in front of him before he had a chance to enter her invention. “Vegeta, wait ” Before she could finish he cut her off again, this time by grabbing her throat just enough to frighten her from speaking.

Without looking at her, Vegeta spoke with forced anger. “I told you never to address me so informally, woman!”

After the initial shock wore off, anger flared in her eyes. She couldn’t believe he was threatening her like this! “Unhand me,” she growled through his grip.

Surprised at her boldness, Vegeta looked at her. He was taken aback by the passion in her eyes, the anger and desire he wouldn’t normally see when he was with her, something he missed fiercely. “I will not unhand you until you’ve learned your place.”

“And what is my place? Below you? You are not my Prince! I am a Chikyuu-jin; my place is with my people!”

“Are you asking me to kill you again?”

“Perhaps.”

As he continued to look into her face and her eyes, he noticed that something was different about her. Maybe it was for the best that he had ended whatever relationship they did have. He could see the lively look in her eyes, the fearlessness, the pride and arrogance that matched his own.

“Tch.” Vegeta released her and entered his new training device with much on his mind.

Bulma stared at the closed door, unable to understand the emotions she felt from him. If he truly didn’t love her, then why had she felt for a split-second, something that held her heart still, coming from him?

**********

Vegeta stood at the opened door of his new training ship. He had trained all day under a hundred times Vegeta-sei’s gravity and it had felt invigorating. Each day, he had looked forward with great anticipation to the next so that he might endure increased levels of gravity and reach higher levels of strength. Also, thanks to the intense gravity, it was much easier to keep his mind off of the one person who could leave him uninspired: Bulma. He remembered the time he had tried to create a barrier, when he had tried to destroy their bond. The effort had left him drained, listless, and maddened. Now he seemed almost the same; only this time regret, sadness, and loneliness accompanied the other emotions. And this time he wasn’t trying to block or destroy their bond; he was simply denying its nature. And to deny its nature meant that he would slowly, if not completely, be swallowed by his own despair. He wanted his mind off her and off their bond, no matter what. He had willfully ended their odd relationship. No more games, no more confusion.

Vegeta wiped the sweat off his brow with a towel and then started to walk towards the door when a tint of blue caught his eye. He turned his head to see Bulma asleep on the floor, with a tool still in her hand. He paused. A part of him wished to go to her, to pick her up and take her to her bed. Another, harsher part told him to leave her where she was. It was her fault for denying her body what it needed and it was obvious that she needed sleep. Vegeta then smirked sadly. Ironically, he was doing the same, ignoring what his body and soul needed. He was ignoring her. He breathed in deeply then turned around and left Bulma alone, sleeping on the cold, hard steel floor. But as he left, he couldn’t shake a feeling that he had made a huge mistake. A mistake that would leave him in his own misery-forever.