Edited on 11/5/15, PLEASE READ THIS IT'S IMPORTANT! Hello, so as I have stated on my profile, I have been reported by some lovely person *sarcasm* to the administrators for posting MA rated content, and in order to keep my account on here, I must edit all of my fics containing lemons, or else they will be deleted altogether. I reaaaally don't want to do this, but I have to. This story, in its complete, uncensored format, is posted on my Archive of Our Own account under my username Im_Still_So_Deep
I apologize for the inconvenience, and it sucks that I am no longer allowed to post lemons on here. :(
A/N: Well, I finally have free time to write since I am on spring break from college and I wanted to take time to post this story about Bulma and Vegeta's future counterparts I came up with a while ago.
Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ or any of its characters.
Bulma stood under a hot shower, relaxing instantly as the warm water soothed her aching muscles. She had a long, grueling day, and some time to herself was exactly what she needed. Her father had given her a twenty-four hour deadline to complete a new project that he wanted to present in the morning at a conference, and she had pulled an all-nighter last night in order to get it done, running on a mere four hours of sleep. Trunks had also been rather cranky that day, throwing temper tantrums over the smallest things (it didn't surprise her really; he was Vegeta's child after all), but she had finally gotten him to sleep thirty minutes ago and hoped he wouldn't awaken in the middle of the night.
And the thing that had really been weighing on her heart that day was that it happened to be the sixth month anniversary of Goku's death, and it was just as hard for her to cope with as it had been the day it happened. It was just so impossible to believe that a viral heart disease of all things took down the man that had not too long ago just killed Frieza. Nothing was the same without him. . .nobody was the same. Chi-Chi had aged herself dramatically in just half- a-year, the stress of losing her husband for good being too much for the young woman to bear. Gohan definitely was not the same cheerful little boy he used to be; nowadays he was much more serious and somber. He was determined to take his father's place and protect the Earth to the best of his abilities, but Bulma hoped that no new enemy would attack Earth for a long while, if even at all. Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha, who had known Goku for just as long as she had, also had great difficulty dealing with Goku's death. It seemed that the pure-hearted Saiyan they had all come to love dearly had left more of an impact on their lives than they ever bothered to realize while he was still alive.
Somebody that was also surprisingly affected by Goku's passing was the Saiyan Prince himself. Vegeta had been outraged at his rival's sudden passing, furious that he had left this world before he ever had a chance at a rematch with his fellow Saiyan. Vegeta wanted so badly to be the one to take Goku down, and now he would never get that chance. He hadn't even really trained that much since Goku's death; it seemed his passion for fighting was long gone.
Bulma shook her head at that thought, spraying water droplets in all directions. Vegeta had always been a mystery to her, but now he was even more closed off than before. He was a lonely soul, and it seemed he liked it that way. She had really tried to be kind to the prince, since they did share a child, but Vegeta would have nothing to do with her or their son. Granted, he had never been that open with her before Trunks' conception but at least back then he would acknowledge her. Now he would just walk past her without even a glance, which stung. She knew Vegeta didn't care for her in the slightest, but that's not what bothered her. What irked her was the fact that she cared for him. She didn't know how that was possible, seeing as how damn arrogant and cocky he was. But despite all that she felt something for him. Stronger than anything she had ever felt for Yamcha.
She knew the chances of her and Vegeta ever finding real, true love seemed very farfetched. She wasn't even sure he considered her as a friend. But she wanted to get to know him more, determined to be the one to thaw that icy heart of his. She loved a challenge, and the Prince of All Saiyans was definitely a challenge.
Her thoughts came to a halt as the sound of the bathroom door bursting open startled her. She cracked open the glass shower door and saw Vegeta staring back at her with a scowl on his handsome face, his arms crossed in his usual stance. "Would you hurry the hell up in here?! I've been waiting on you for an hour!"
Bulma glared back, sticking her tongue out as she closed the shower door back. "Oh, pleeeease! I have only been in here for fifteen minutes at the most. You can sit your royal hiney down and wait until I'm done!"
She heard Vegeta growl and she could vaguely see out of the glass door his figure moving in her direction. "A prince never waits on anyone! So I suggest you get your boney ass out of that shower now!" he fumed, tapping dangerously on the glass.
"The only way you could take a shower now is if you join me, and I know you wouldn't do such a thing," she teased with an inner grin, rinsing conditioner out of her hair.
Vegeta didn't say anything, leaving her to assume she had pissed him off. His next move threw her off guard completely, as the shower door flung open and a very naked Vegeta appeared in front of her. He smirked devilishly at her shocked expression. "I'm not always so predictable, am I?" he sneered as he stepped into the shower, trapping her against the wall with his arms planted on either side of her head.
Bulma stared at him with wide eyes, pleasantly surprised by his actions. He was being almost playful, something he had never been around her. They hadn't ever exactly shared a shower before, either so this was also a new experience. She watched with amusement as the hot water forced Vegeta's hair down to hang in spiked skeins down his back. With his hair flat like that it was almost as long as hers. She reached up to run her hands through it, though Vegeta was none too pleased by her fingers combing through his hair, yanking her hand away. He then pressed his slick chest against hers, feeling her heart skip a beat as he did so, and pressed his lips to hers.
She kissed him back, not minding in the slightest the way the water was cascading off of them. They hadn't been intimate in quite some time so she relished in the feeling of their bodies pressed together, losing herself instantly as she kissed him deeper. His tongue slithered across her bottom lip, silently asking for entrance, which she granted him, loving the way his tongue danced across hers. His hands that were resting on her hips slid down between her thighs, which made her flinch slightly at the sensation of his calloused fingertips rubbing up against her smooth skin.
{CENSORED. PLEASE READ THE LEMON ON MY AO3 ACCOUNT. SORRY FOR THE INCONVENIENCE :(}
Vegeta let out a groan as he pulled out of her and flopped down on his back next to her, turning his gaze up towards the ceiling. He wiped the sweat of his forehead with the back of his hand and let out a heavy sigh, feeling rather drained at the moment.
"I guess that shower was pointless, huh?" Bulma grinned, propping herself up on her elbow to look at him, inwardly laughing at how sweaty and exhausted looking he was. It seemed that she had really tired out the mighty Saiyan Prince.
Vegeta tossed her an amused look and snorted in response. He placed his hands under his head and closed his eyes, preparing to go off to sleep. Bulma inched closer to him, resting her head on his chest. She knew he would probably push her off of him, much like he always had when she did such a thing. But to her astonishment he actually allowed her to make such a gesture, wrapping his arm around her waist to pull her even closer. Never before had he done such a thing; usually when they were finished with sex he would either leave immediately or if he stayed he would turn on his side and have zero contact with her. But tonight he was completely different, not that she minded in the slightest.
"Hey, Vegeta?"
"Hm?" he answered, cracking one eye open to look down at her.
She cleared her throat before speaking again, self-consciously tucking a strand of dampened hair behind her ear. "Us being together doesn't seem that bad, right?"
Every muscle in his body tensed up. "Woman. . .it's not the time to talk about such nonsense."
She cringed at his answer, mentally scolding herself for thinking that he would tell her what she wanted to here. Vegeta would never display any kind of affections for her, and she was a fool to think it was possible. Maybe there was no hope for them. . .
"But. . ."
Bulma jerked her head up as he spoke, noticing his eyes were battling with emotions he didn't want her to see. "But what?" she asked, bringing her face so close to his that their noses brushed together.
". . .I'm here with you right now, that's the best I can offer you," he said huskily against her lips, his warm breath sending shivers up her spine.
She understood what he meant. For him it was a big deal that he was even lying next to her, holding her. That was all his heart could give her in the moment, nothing more. She smiled inwardly as she watched him drift off to sleep after they shared one last kiss. She knew that this was a step in the right direction for them, that he was spending the night with her instead of spending it closed off in his room like he usually did. He was trying. And that's all she had ever wanted.
Maybe someday soon she, Vegeta and Trunks could be a happy little family. It definitely wouldn't be her childhood vision of having a knight in shining armor sweep her off her feet and living happily after. But she didn't need any of that. The stubborn Saiyan Prince was more than enough for her. And she knew in time he would learn to love her and Trunks. That last thought made her drift happily off into sleep, feeling completely optimistic about her future.
Bulma was unable to suppress tears as she thought back to her last night she ever spent with Vegeta. It was thirty years later and thinking about it still hit her like a ton of bricks. That night she really had hoped that she and Vegeta would make it in the long run. But those damn Androids had shattered any chance they may have had at a lasting love. She would never forgive those two evil beings for all the damage they had caused. Because of them she would never get to reach out and hold the only man she had ever truly loved again. He was gone without ever saying goodbye, and it was something she would never get over, even in her old age.
The day Vegeta had died was the hardest day of her life; she remembered every detail of it like it was yesterday. The Androids had begun their brutal attack in the city, and the Z-fighters had all rushed out to stop them. Bulma remembered feeling completely confident that they would come back with a victory; she even thought Vegeta would be the one to take them down since he had achieved Super Saiyan. But in reality, he was one of the first to be killed. The only fighter that had survived was Gohan, and eventually he would lose his life to the Androids thirteen years later. Since Piccolo was killed in the battle the Dragon Balls were now gone forever, giving no hope of reviving any of the Z-fighters. Bulma had acted strong when Gohan broke the news of Vegeta's death, not wanting to outwardly show how much she had truly fallen for him. But later that night when she was all alone she had cried herself to sleep, sobbing more than she ever had in her entire life. She felt like her life was over, that everything was hopeless, especially now that there were two unstoppable Androids on the loose. They had killed everyone she had ever loved and cared about, except for her son. After Vegeta's untimely death Trunks had become her saving grace, giving her the courage and strength to carry on with life.
She had raised Trunks to the best of her abilities, doing everything possible to give him the best life, despite him growing up in fear and terror of the Androids. And it broke her heart to see her son grow up without a father, knowing that since he was only an infant when he died that he wasn't able to remember him. She was just grateful that he had gotten to see him in the flesh those few years ago when he traveled back in time to warn the past of the Androids, and then participated in the battle against them and Cell. She had been horrified when her son had returned from the past and explained that he had been killed by Cell, but she was even more shocked that Vegeta had tried to avenge Trunks' death. She never imagined that Vegeta would openly show concern for another like that. But maybe the past Vegeta had a real chance to change for the better, one that hers never was fortunate enough to have.
She was proud of her son for going back in time and helping save the world, and she was happy the past timeline would never experience the carnage and destruction that this one suffered. But she couldn't help but be a little envious of her past counterpart, knowing that she got to live out the life she could only dream of having. That Bulma was able to raise her child with her husband, that Bulma never had to live in real true fear of being killed by two murderous machines at any given moment. She would sell her soul to the devil if she could trade places with her past counterpart for a day, to be able to once again be with Vegeta. . .to be able to touch him. . .to taste and smell him one last time. Her past self probably didn't even realize what a privilege it was to be able to wake up next to Vegeta every morning.
Not one day had gone by in all these decades that she hadn't thought of him. Not one night had passed that she didn't cry herself to sleep over the loss of the life she could have had with him. She now lived in a peaceful time, thanks to Trunks finally being able to kill the Androids. But she could never experience real, true peace again. Not without Vegeta. Her son was now fully grown and living on his own, though he would still visit her quite often. And Chi-Chi would also stop in every once in a while as well, knowing that the younger woman had it harder than she ever could since she lost both her husband and son. But other than that Bulma was now basically all alone in a big empty house, with nothing but her lab and her inventions to keep her occupied. Though her mind couldn't ever be at ease for too long, not with memories constantly haunting her. There was one thing especially that had gnawed at her conscious all the years.
She had never once told Vegeta that she loved him.
She knew she loved him, and deeply so at that, but she had been too fearful to ever verbalize it to him, afraid of flat-out rejection from him. But now that she was much older she wished she could go back in time and tell him, just once. She knew he wouldn't have said it back, hell he probably wouldn't have said anything except for a smart-ass response. But she wished she could have told him, just to make sure he knew. Vegeta had told her all about his life, about how he lived under the control of Frieza, never being shown even a shred or mercy or kindness. He always had to fend for himself; he never had anyone there to take care of him. He never knew what unconditional love was.
But, she receded inwardly, that couldn't be true. She had been the only person he had ever encountered to show him what love was, to take him as he was and accept him. Though she never said it to him, she was positive that he felt her love for him. And perhaps it had scared him, resulting in him being so closed off towards her. Who knew, maybe deep, deep down in that Saiyan's icy cold heart he had begun to fall for her as well. These were things she would never know, but she had to believe in heart that he did care for her, and that if he would have survived the fight with the Androids they could have had a chance to make things right between them. If fate hadn't have been so unkind, she believed they could have lived a life just like their past counterparts; they could have been together for a lifetime.
Maybe someday she would have her answers.
Maybe a day would come that she could hold him again.
Until then, all she had were her memories of her Saiyan Prince. And that was something that would never die, because her heart would keep them alive for all eternity.