Thank you for stumbling on this little gem that Starcrust and myself are working on together. This is a collaborative story so updates will be slow coming. Her first language is Danish and mine is English so writing, communicating, formulating and any other "-ing" you can throw in there takes both time and detailed process. If waiting hungerly in the wings for the next chapter to drop is your thing then this story might not be for you until it is completed. But we both promise that we will get the chapters out as quickly as we are capable of, even if we are on opposite sides of the world. =)

While you wait for our chapters, please feel free to check out both Starcrust and my previous works. She is a talented writer that has solid story concepts which are worth the read. Cinder and Smoke is her concept and has allowed me the grace to post it under my pen name as we flesh out the story.

Please note that the chapters will have some deliciously gruesome writing so you've been warned! Oh, and please leave feedback so Starcrust and I know how we're doing. We adore getting little love notes in our inboxes letting us know what you think. Thanks and enjoy our crazy idea of a story!

Bulma's eyes swept over her lab one last time as she leaned against the door frame. Her arm gently lay around her stomach with a heart that felt heavy with the seconds that slid by. She had spent the last day packing everything she thought they could possibly need for their new journey. This was it. There was no coming back home this time. In one evening everyone's lives had been turned inside out.

No, she shook her head disgustedly, not inside out. Incinerated into oblivion. She angrily flicked off the light as she turned her back on the last comfort on her list to give her silent goodbye to in this life she had taken for granted.

The entire mess was her fault. If she never invited him to stay at their compound in the first place, she wouldn't be forced into hiding. None of them would have to leave.

After arriving home from Namek, everyone had been revived that had perished at the hands of Frieza and his empire. Although everyone appeared back to normal, each person that returned was changed on the inside. Especially Yamcha.

Although subtle, she had noticed the change in him almost immediately after he was wished back. It was almost as if having a second shot at life meant he had a chance to become someone he had wished he always could be. He became distant from her shortly after returning to the world of the living as their relationship fizzled into a dull ember. When she was younger, chasing after the dragon balls with Goku and him, she couldn't help but be attracted to the handsome friend that knew her better than she knew herself. They fell into the comfort of being around one another as she stayed by his side while he trained for the World Martial Arts Tournament.

Like most high school-age romances, they were 'going steady' right off the bat. As they grew older, though, they both began the gradual process of maturing and changing. Too absorbed in becoming their own entities as they strived towards their separate goals, neither one had noticed the fissure steadily widening between them. A hot and fiery relationship had become the quiet hum of friendship long before Namek. By the time she realized how far apart they had drifted after his return, it was too late. She had suspicions that his attentions had been with other women as his obsession with making a second go at life had him less worried about hiding his questionable antics. Although she never caught him with another woman, her trust in him had died and their relationship was finally terminated.

She had invited Vegeta to stay with her and her parents as a way to get back at him. Originally, it was only to get a rise out of him by inviting the one being he hated more than anyone she knew into her home. Now she wished she would have listened to the well-meaning warnings of her friends.

Making her way to the ship, she approached Chi-Chi struggling with a crate.

"Here, let me help." Bulma offered as she grabbed a handle.

"You've done so much already, Bulma." Her eyes looked tired and swollen from the tears that had been shed the past few hours. "Why don't you go sit and rest for a while. Gohan should be back in a sec to finish getting the last of the boxes on."

"No," Bulma shook her head. "I want to help. It's the least I can do."

Chi-Chi paused. She didn't say that she blamed Bulma for this but she didn't say that Bulma was innocent, either. Together they hauled the heavy box into the expansive storage compartment of the ship. As they continued to finish up packing the last of the crates, Gohan coming back to help with the ones the girls couldn't manage alone, neither one of them spoke. Bulma couldn't imagine what Chi-Chi and Gohan were trying to come to grips with.

Her stomach clenched as she tried to put herself in their shoes. Goku still hadn't arrived home from Namek, refusing to join them when summoned by the dragon. She couldn't envision how it would feel having to abandon the hope of watching a husband arrive safely in the midst of leaving home.

It was little comfort to them knowing that Mr. Popo was staying behind to inform Goku of their new location as soon as Goku was Earth bound once again. Master Roshi, Oolong and Puar had decided to stay behind, too, but for their own reasons. Master Roshi felt he was too old to make a trip across the galaxies to start over. He was content with living the rest of his days on his quiet beach as he ignored a possible impending apocalypse. Oolong stayed behind because he thought leaving was too absurd and they were all nuts. Puar couldn't bear being forced to face Bulma in a confined space, opting to stay behind out of grief. It was the remaining Z Fighter's hope that if they left Earth, it would be left untouched and safe due to their absence.

Bulma's stomach tightened more painfully as guilt curled its ugly fingers around it. He mother and father were coming, too, while Chi-Chi's father was the last who decided to stay. As much as he loved his daughter and grandson, he couldn't bring himself to leave the planet where his wife was laid to rest. He decided that he would fight to the death to protect ChiChi and Gohan's home so one day they could return while staying vigilant for his son in law's arrival. The last of the Ox King's bloodline was leaving with the heavy hope of staying alive.

Once Piccolo arrived from fusing with Kami, they needed all of the help they could get these days, they all boarded the ship. Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Chi-Chi, and her parents silently strapped themselves into the flight chairs as Bulma sat alone in the bridge. Punching in the codes, the launch sequence started. A loud rumble ignited as the thrusters roared to life. The ship vibrated as the engines hungrily burned the fuel needed to breach through the atmosphere. Bulma sadly looked out of the window as she watched the glitter of lights grow smaller underneath them as the ship climbed up, up, up. The city she had grown up in soon became impossible to detect as it blended in with the surrounding countryside.

The heavy ship shuddered in its efforts to shake off the gravitational pull back to Earth. It felt like invisible tendrils had encompassed their craft in its refusal to allow the ones responsible for its possible doom to leave unscathed. Ever so slowly, they entered the mesosphere as an orange-yellow glow surrounded the vessel. The vibrations started to subside as the ship slipped off the transparent rope anchoring it to the blue-green jewel left in its wake.

As they safely floated into the unknown, Bulma sat back with a tired sigh. She would stay at the ship's helm to monitor their progress until they passed Jupiter. She wanted to make sure they passed through the main asteroid belt without incident before putting it into auto pilot to join the others in discussing where, exactly, their destination should be. For the second time in her life she had left Earth. This time, though, she knew she wouldn't come back. None of them could. She was hoping Piccolo would have some insight with where their best options were in finding a new home now that he was fused with Kame.

As the dark nothingness of space welcomed the fleeing group Bulma couldn't help but start the cycle of trying to decipher the exact point when it all went so horribly, unequivocally wrong.

An enormous explosion had shook the walls of the compound in the middle of the night. Jumping out of bed in a panic, Bulma threw open the French doors and walked out on her balcony to see what had created the unexpected commotion. A flickering orange glow reflected off black pillars of billowing smoke as they reached into the sky. Panicked yelling could be heard in the same direction as the flames. Another detonation caused the ground underneath her to heave as she was sent painfully to her hands and knees. A flash above sent her gaze upwards as a round orb catapulted its way towards the heavens in a brilliant streak of light. She felt the blood rush out of her face at the recognition of exactly which ship was racing through the sky.

Running back into her room she snagged a robe on her way out the door. Struggling to shrug on the tangled mess in her haste to get to the stairs, she almost collided with her mother.

"What happened?" Bulma's voice was shrill with panic.

"I don't know, dear." Her mother huffed as they bolted down the stairs, taking each two at a time.

Their sudden silence announced the fear they both shared about what they would find at the source of the explosions.

The humidity of the summer night clung to her skin as she raced towards the dying flames. The air was thick with moisture as her legs pushed her through the muggy air as she outpaced her mother. Her lungs burned as she drew in the saturated oxygen laced with smoke. As she rounded the corner to where the gravity pod once rested she was greeted with a scene that would be forever seared into the deepest recesses of her mind.

Chiaotzu looked earnestly at her approaching figure as he strained to keep his head up. An important message was just behind his lips as he tried desperately to hold on long enough for someone to arrive. As she drew nearer, the delicate strand of life slipped through his fingers. His eyes rolled back in his head as it dropped heavily onto the unmoving chest underneath him. Most of Tien lay under the white cherub while an arm and leg were resting in separate, unknown, locations. Fragments of bone with ligaments and tendons splayed against blades of grass saturated with crimson reflected in the dying flames surrounding them both. Tien's face, contorted in unimaginable pain, started blank and frozen beyond her.

A few yards away from them lay Yajirobe's lifeless body. His face was smeared in blood as a perfect, gaping, circular hole was what was left in the space that once occupied his chest. Entrails in frozen flight were splattered behind him on the concrete walkway as blood drenched the outside wall of the lab, still en route to the ground as liquid tendrils snaked their way down through the textured stucco surface.

Bulma leaned on a nearby wall as her sides clenched from the taste of blood and burnt flesh in the air invading her mouth and lungs. She sunk to her knees and heaved into the flowerbed. She tried to look up to find her mother or father but was greeted with one of Tien's missing limbs in her line of sight, instead. The grotesquely mangled extremity triggered another round of vomiting. Through her gasping she heard a low moan. She held her breath as she strained to listen for the sound to repeat.

She heard it again. It was close by.

She searched on shaky legs in the direction it came from. She was forced to wind around the carnage as she sought out whoever might still be alive. On the other side of the courtyard she spotted Yamcha. He was sitting slumped, but somewhat upright, as his shoulders and head leaned uncomfortably against the structure supporting him. A long streak of blood above him told of the downward descent his body had taken as he came to an awkward stop on the ground. His chest heaved with painful strain as he tried to suck in oxygen.

Bulma tried not to scream as she rushed to his side. Although they had ended their relationship, he was still her oldest friend next to Goku. Seeing him grossly pale as he continued to fight for his life as his murderer fled had her eyes stinging with salty dampness. She knelt next to him as she tried to shift him to a more comfortable position to breathe easier. His raspy gasps rattled in his chest as he winced from the movement. She wedged him between herself and the wall in a more upright position as she held him.

He opened up his mouth to say something. Instead of words coming out, his body shook violently as a river of blood ran from his mouth and dribbled off of his chin while he coughed.

"Shhh…" Bulma tried to comfort him as he choked on the thick liquid spewing from his mouth. She rested a finger on his lips. "Take it easy Yamcha. I'm here with you now. Don't try and talk, just relax."

She patted his cheek as she tried to wipe some of the blood off of his face. The shadowed silhouettes of her parents washed over them as they finally caught up to the horror in the center of their little slice of heaven they called home.

"Mom! Dad!" Bulma half sobbed. "Call an ambulance!"

"Vegeta…" Yamcha hissed through clenched teeth.

"Right!" Her mom clasped her hands in delightful hope. She turned to her husband, "Darling, be a dear and get Vegeta. He can take Yamcha to a hospital much faster than any ambulance."

Hatred thickened Bulma against the villain who created all of this carnage. Her mother must not have noticed the pod that was obviously missing.

"No," Yamcha's voice was raw and strained. "He did this. He's gone…in the spaceship." Another cough shook him, freckling Bulma's face with blood. "He had the dragon balls. The sky…we came when we saw the sky."

Bulma stared at her dying friend as she tried to comprehend what he had just said. Her eyes scanned the ground in search as she prayed that Yamcha was rattling off delusions from shock. Her heart sank when she spotted her dragon radar, shattered, next to the area matted down from the folding stairwell that had lead into the gravity room.

She felt a hand weakly brush her arm as Yamcha strained to get her attention.

"Yamcha, I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." She smiled weakly at him as she tried to give him comfort. He was wheezing as he choked on his blood. His face was now a sickly grey. His skin felt clammy and cold. She knew he wouldn't have to suffer much longer.

"Just relax. The ambulance will be here soon then you'll be back to fighting in no time." She lied as she held back a sob.

"Bulma," The sound of her name gurgled in his throat amidst the coagulating liquid. "He made sure the dragon balls, any dragon balls, would never work again. He said…" His voice trailed off as he strangled on the words.

Bulma tried to hush him again as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. This time it was Yamcha who laid his fingertips on her lips to silence her. He looked up at her with pleading determination as he strained to get out the last important piece of information.

"He said his people are back…because…because of Popo's wish –" His sentence was cut off as his eyes opened wildly. His mouth gaped as he tried to force his final breath. Slowly, his hand fell from her lips as his body slumped against hers.

A long wail finally escaped her as she allowed herself to feel the loss of her friends in Vegeta's ultimate betrayal.

Satisfied that their ship had safely navigated through the asteroid minefield, Bulma brushed away a few rogue tears as she took deep breaths to calm herself. She didn't know what Vegeta's people had to do with Mr. Popo until Piccolo finally arrived at the homicide, Krillin dropping next to him seconds later. After listening to her explain the message with controlled hysterics, Piccolo grew solemn. He growled the explanation of what the ominous message meant for the surviving members of the team – the wish was worded to resurrect all those killed by Frieza and his men, which meant that the entire Saiyan race that occupied Vegetasi moments before Frieza doomed them all would be granted permission to roam the universe once again. The only ones who had the first-hand knowledge of a Saiyan's strength and weaknesses were the surviving members compacted on the ship heading into the emptiness of space. She and her friends had to go into hiding from the greatest danger they had yet to face; an entire race of ruthless Saiyans lead by her former houseguest. It would be just a matter of time before the only ones who could compromise Vegeta would be hunted down and slaughtered.

The man she had somehow became captivated by on Namek, who she foolishly invited into her home, was now her biggest enemy. The man she had shared a bed with during a few tantalizing lustful nights…

Shock must really be starting to set in, she thought as she shook her head to focus back on the task at hand.

Deciding the auto-pilot function could be trusted for a few hours, she left the controls to join the others in their discussion about what their next plan of action was. As she approached the common area, she overheard a hushed argument that included her name. Not wanting to hear the words of accusation she knew they were all thinking anyways, she cleared her throat as she walked into the room. The quiet buzzing subsided.

"How long do we have?" Her father broke the awkward silence first.

"About two hours." She said as she tiredly flopped on a nearby empty couch. She stifled a yawn as she stretched, finally having a chance to sit and relax. It was a little over a day and a half since Vegeta destroyed their lives. She hadn't been able to sleep since the explosion. Every time she closed her eyes the carnage on her lawn sprang forward from its patient hiding place. "I should check up on it in a little bit, though, just in case. Things have been so jumbled lately and I want to make sure I didn't make a mistake. I'm just…I never thought things would turn out this way. It's all my fault."

"No one could know things would go this way, Bulma." Krillin offered. "If you didn't give him a place to stay, things could have gotten worse for all of us a lot earlier on."

"Yeah," she sighed in frustration, "But it should have been better than this. I should have listened to you guys in the first place. I should have put the stuff he could have used against us in the vault."

Her mind flashed to the times when she woke up in the morning expecting to see dark and dangerous eyes staring back into hers, only to be disappointed to find the warm body she had withered against in ecstasy hours before had left a cold and empty space in both her bed and her heart. She never heard him rummaging through her nightstand as he stole the dragon radar to complete his scheme.

"No matter what you did with those things, he would've gotten to it if he wanted it bad enough." Her mother offered as she sat next to her daughter. She took Bulma's hands in hers as she looked into the face of her only child. "Don't blame yourself, darling. It would have come to something like this one way or another."

"Thanks." Bulma smiled weakly at the encouragement. They might not be happy about their new arrangement but at least she still had a friend and her family to stand by her side.

"Onto more pressing topics," Piccolo interrupted, getting back to business.

The disheveled group discussed the possibilities of where they could stop for fuel and supplies as they tried to find a refuge in the vastness of the unfamiliar worlds they were heading to. It was decided that anything that was remotely claimed as former Cold territory was out. They figured Vegeta would find a way to realize his dream of claiming his throne. Picking up where Frieza left off seemed only natural as he would more than likely send his new army off to overtake the broken regime. Any planet that still had their alliances with the Colds, whether it be voluntarily or by force, would be too dangerous for the refugees.

Until they became established enough to build new technologies and techniques that Vegeta was unfamiliar with, they were going to be stuck hopping from planet to planet until they could find a forgotten crook that they could call home. Fairley certain humans didn't roam the universe that often, they didn't want to bring attention to themselves. There was no telling how fast or far gossip could spread as other beings traveled from planet to planet.

They had close to a month's use of fuel but no one in the group wanted to risk stretching it out that far. There was no telling when they might burn through gallons of it in case they needed to leave in a hurry. There were more eminent dangers to them in the unknown than there was from Vegeta right now.

After their discussion they had settled on an off-beaten trade planet to stop at and get supplies. It would take them two weeks to arrive; perfect timing to refuel. Bulma went back to the ship's bridge to punch in their new coordinates as the others settled in their separate rooms to sleep. The past two days were long as everyone carried the same weariness about the unknown. All except for the green alien who kept frowning out of the closest window in quiet, diligent, expectation.

Her mother stood in the entranceway as Bulma tiredly leaned over the control panel.

"Get some sleep," said the gently voice behind her. "The rest of us have been able to sneak a nap in since…" The voice trailed off.

Bulma turned her head towards her mom, catching the side of her face out of the corner of her eye. Seeing her mother barely holding it together made the ball of lead that now took residence in the pit of her stomach grow heavier.

"I'm fine." Bulma brushed her mother's words away.

A hand gently rested on her shoulder as her mother drew her into a hug. "You're the only one who hasn't slept yet. You're still my little girl so I'm still allowed to look after you."

"Mom…" Bulma groaned.

"Now don't you mom me." It had been years since her mom pulled out that no-nonsense voice on her. "If you're not going to listen to your mother then I'll get Krillin in here to help me take care of you. I'm sure he knows a pressure point or something to get you to listen."

"Fine," Bulma grumbled as her mother released her embrace.

As her mother turned to leave Bulma allowed a sad smile to play across her lips.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

Bulma paused. "Thank you…for looking out for me."

"That's what mothers are for, dear." She sang out as she left Bulma to finish programming their destination.

Finally done, Bulma trudged through the ship to get some sleep. She felt like a zombie as she numbly walked through the cabin. Finding a set of pajamas carefully laid out on her bed, she smiled at the token of kindness she knew was left by her mother.

After she changed she slipped under the covers. She drew her knees into her chest as she lay on her side. The surreal feeling she had been floating through had finally lifted. The reality of this new chapter in her life painfully engulfed her. A tear slipped from under closed lids as she allowed herself to grieve over everything she had lost. For what? A fling in the sack? To hurt Yamcha?

A choked laugh escaped her at the morbid irony as she finally allowed her sorrow to flow. She shook with hushed sobs until the tears finally ebbed. Exhausted, she lay in the quiet as her mind finally turned off. She was moments away from finally drifting off to sleep but was interrupted by a gentle knock at the door.

"Bulma?" Whispered a quiet voice as the door cracked open.

She looked up from her pillow and was met with a pair of sad, black eyes.

"Can I come in?" Gohan asked tentatively.

"Of course." Bulma wiped the remnants of her sorrow from her face as she scooted to make room for him to sit. "I thought you were supposed to be sleeping."

"I know but I couldn't sleep." His voice was flat. "Mom's easy to sneak past anyway. I needed some time away from her but I don't want to be alone."

He tried to hide the shame at his admission by looking at the hands twisting in his lap.

"Me neither," Bulma said softly as she put an arm around the frightened child. "But soon your dad will be with us and everything will be back to normal. Maybe your mom can yell at him for a change."

"Yeah," Gohan smiled at her joke even though his face still held the uncertainty of a child who'd been abandoned.

The young half-saiyan snuggled in next to her as she wrapped her arms around him protectively. Bulma was grateful he had shifted himself in a way that his cat-like vision couldn't see the possible lie in hers. She silently pleaded to the universe for Goku's safe arrival to Earth, then to them. He'd always been there to save the day. Her partner in crime that always pulled them to safety moments before their demise. Now she didn't know if she'd ever see him again.

Solidifying Vegita's intent to destroy them all was the wish that removed the dragon balls from existence. She had found them, shattered and blackened, in the meadow behind her home where the fight began. Piccolo explained, after coming back from the lookout, that Vegeta had wished for all dragon balls in the universe to no longer have the ability to exist. If Goku was picked off on his way home, there was no way to bring him back.

The little Goku look-a-like snored softly in her arms. She laid her head against the top of his as she vowed to keep the son of her best friend as safe as she was capable of, even if it meant sacrificing herself. That was the least she could do to make up for Vegeta.

She finally drifted off to sleep, grateful the little boy with the keenest sense of hearing was too distracted by his own grief to notice the gentle thrumming of a fluttering heartbeat no louder than the secret whisper of a butterfly's wings.