Song lyrics are in Italics and * . . .*
Thanks to Mia Skywalker and Ane S. Thesia for betaing.
Legacy
by Lady Lark
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Chapter 1: Coming Together
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*We walked the narrow path,
beneath the smoking skies.
Sometimes you can barely tell the difference
between darkness and light.*
Vegeta flew back to Capsule Corps, tears streaming unchecked down his rugged features. He glanced down at the precious burden he carried in his arms. His mate's body lay there limply, doll-like. She looked so child-like; her features composed, her glorious eyes closed.
He had loved her eyes. They were truly the windows to the soul. His soul. She could look at him with those piercing blue eyes and see straight past his outward show of stoicism. He had lost himself in those eyes. He had loved to watch them crinkle at the corners and glow softly when she smiled. He had loved it even more when they had flashed in anger. Which was why he had provoked her so often. But he had loved them the most when they darkened to almost black with passion.
Now they were forever closed. He remembered when he had first noticed her. It was on Namek, and she was cowering behind that cue ball Krillan. But even though she was afraid, he could see that there was steel in her. Even though she was the weakest physically, she was as brave as Kakarot or even himself.
He was going to miss her.
Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, he realized that in his grief he had nearly overflown his home. He flew down and landed lightly on the balcony of their bedroom.
Bra's voice came out of the shadows, "Is that you, Daddy?"
Vegeta didn't say anything -- he just walked into the dark confines of their bedroom.
Bra turned on the light next to the couch where she was seated, illuminating the room. Vegeta noted that Goten was stretched out on the same couch asleep, his head in Bra's lap. She was cradling a small body to her chest and it appeared as if she had been in the middle of a late night feeding. There was a bassinet in the room, which held the other twin.
The soft light also illuminated Vegeta's tears.
Bra gasped waking Goten. "D-Daddy . . .?" she stammered.
Vegeta knew what she was asking. But he couldn't bring himself to say it. The tears continued to flow unabashedly down his cheeks. He turned away from his family and laid the body of his mate on the bed. He arranged her so that her hands were folded neatly on her chest.
Bra motioned for Goten to sit up and take the baby in her arms. She crossed the room to her parents' bed. She looked down at her mother's face and reached forward a tentative hand and touched the pale cheek – and jerked back her hand at the coldness she felt there.
She stuffed her fist into her mouth and stood there motionless for a moment. Her eyes were wide and she was shaking her head in denial.
"Oh, Momma! Why?" she cried. She turned away from her mother's body and flung herself into her father's arms sobbing uncontrollably. "Why? Why did she have to die? She was so young. She had so much ahead of her. Why?" Bra wailed into her father's chest her tears soaking his shirt.
Vegeta was at a loss. He didn't know what to do. He loved his daughter, but he didn't know how to comfort her. Bulma had always dealt with their children's emotional problems. He looked up at his son-in-law in confusion.
Goten understood the unspoken plea. He mouthed, "Just hold her."
Vegeta stiffened then awkwardly put his arms around his daughter and held her close, resting his head against her shoulder. "I – I don't know, princess. I don't know," Vegeta's voice was choked with emotion.
Father and daughter remained clasped in each other's arms for a few moments before Bra pulled herself away. She wiped the back of her hand against her eyes. Vegeta could see that she was struggling to pull herself together.
Vegeta pulled back from his daughter and leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. Tears continued to flow unabated from his eyes, but when he spoke his voice was quiet and steady. "We need to tell the brat about this. Where is he?" Vegeta asked. There was the unspoken question of why Trunks wasn't there.
"He's at Marron's. I think that he was looking for a distraction from . . ." she paused and regarded her father seriously, "from all this," she finished lamely, moving her arm in a sweeping motion.
Vegeta grunted. He understood his son's feelings, but he didn't approve. Warriors do not run away from their problems. They stay and face them.
Goten looked at his father-in-law and spoke in a quiet voice, "I'll call him. I'd also better call Mom and Bulma's other friends. They deserve to know." Goten lay the child in his arms into the bassinet and left the room to make the calls to his family and friends.
Bra watched her husband leave, then she silently walked over to her sleeping children and sat down next to their bassinet. When she had settled herself, she looked back at her father. "What do you want to do?"
Vegeta looked at his daughter with a confused look on his face, "What do you mean, brat?"
Bra sighed, "What do you want to do with her body? Do you want to bury or cremate her?"
Vegeta considered it. He couldn't see confining his mate to the cold ground. But he also couldn't bring himself to burn her.
"Let's wait for the brat to get here. He'll have an opinion on this."
~*~
This is the sequel to my story "Who Wants to Live Forever," and like its predecessor is going to deal with some fairly dark subjects. It is the grief process that a famliy goes through when they lose someone. I started this story immediately after I finished WWTLF mostly because I was still grieving and I knew that if I hadn't finished grieving then Bulma's family hadn't either.
It's now been over 9 months since WWTLF was published. I want to thank everyone for their kind words and sympathy especially relating to my aunt's death. My mom's cancer was removed and she is fine and things are pretty much going ok on the health front.
I will be publishing this story once a month on the 19th, yes that date is significant. I have another story that I completed that is a little cuter and less angsty, I am just waiting for the beta of it.
Please let me know what you think. I love to hear from my readers.