Bound
"Are you sure you want to do this Vegeta?" Bulma asked nervously. She bit her lower lip in agitated worry as she looked at the strong man by her side. "I mean, I know this was your idea but we don't have to go through with it."
"Stupid woman," he replied frowning at her, "I though you knew better by now than to question my decisions."
She looked at him clad in his battle armor as if expecting a fight. She reached for his hand but he pulled away, his eyes alert to their surroundings. It was probably a good thing, they were going to summon the eternal dragon after all. She knew that he was ever watchful of unwanted visitors.
"I question your decisions when I think they're dumb, foolish, and clearly not thought out well. I mean, what will Trunks and Bulla think?" She hoped by bringing their children into this matter that she could dissuade him from his decision.
"They are Saiyan," Vegeta was going to let that answer be enough but he saw the sadness in her eyes and it brought about an uncomfortable feeling in his chest. He looked around to make sure they were alone before took off his white gloves. He reached out to craddle her face in his hands.
She melted against him, tears streaming down her face. He lifted her head upwards to look at him. To see in his eyes that he was unwaivering in his determination to do this. There was no other way. It must be done. The alternative was...unthinkable. He looked up at the stars above them focusing on where his planet used to be silently asking his long dead race to give him strength now.
"Vegeta?" she called his attention to her. Her voice saying his name as a tender plea.
"It will be ok, Bulma. Trust me," he said as he moved his thumb to wipe a tear from her eye.
Bulma sighed. It was little moments like this she lived for. The rare touching moments where Vegeta forgot to put on his princely facade and showed her how much he cared for her. Only her. That was why she was here with him now. She had thought to pursuade him to change his mind about summoning Shinron but Vegeta was as stubborn as he was prideful.
Bulma finally nodded her acquiescence. He stepped away from her and put his gloves back on as if he was distancing himself from such a touching moment. As if his armor was more than just physical.
Bulma placed the last dragon ball on the ground with the others. The night sky darkened and lightening arched out towards the heavens and ground. The familiar green form appeared floating above them.
"Who has summoned me from my slumber?" Shenron asked crankily.
Vegeta stepped forward, "I summoned you, so what of it?"
"Vegeta? What wish do I have the power to grant you? I hope you know I cannot kill those who are more powerful than me," he stated. Shenron didn't necessarily fear Vegeta but he didn't want to piss him off either. Even eternal dragons could feel pain.
"You will grant me my wish or you will suffer for your failure!" Vegeta powered up to Saiyan Blue level letting the dragon feel his full power. He fired off a warning shot blowing up a nearby uninhabited mountain.
Shenron visibly became nervous, "What is your wish?"
"I wish...," Vegeta looked at Bulma, "I wish to die at the exact same moment by wife dies."
Shenron's mouth fell open and Bulma thought the dragon was going to faint.
"I don't know if I can fulfill that wish, I can't kill you Vegeta, you are too powerful," Shenron stated.
Vegeta started to growl. Bulma placed a hand on his chest to calm him.
"Shenron, you can grant three wishes right?"
"Yes, Bulma, I can grant three wishes," he said.
"Vegeta, ask Shenron to take away all your power moments before I die. That way you'll know when my death is imminent and Shenron will have the ability to kill you because he will be more powerful than you are then." She said smartly. She may not have liked the idea of Vegeta doing this but she would stand by her husband.
Vegeta gaped at her. Sometimes he forgot she was the smartest woman on the planet. Sometimes he thought she might be the smartest in the whole universe but he would never tell her that. The universe wouldn't be able to handle both of their inflated egos.
"It would mean weakening yourself Vegeta. This is why I didn't want you to do this. You would be weak moments before you die. I never want to see you weak and I don't want to see you die." She felt the never ending tears slide down her face again.
Vegeta stood there for a moment dumbfounded. He had never considered the dragon wouldn't be able to kill him. Though he never wanted to be weak again. He was weak against his father, weak against Frieza, could he be weak before he died.
He looked again into her sapphire eyes searching for the answer but seeing her soul so full of love for him. She didn't want him to face his greatest fear before he died. She loved him that much that she would rather die alone than to see him weakened. Yet Saiyans aged differently and lived longer than humans. They were also genetically superior sucumbing to very few illnesses. Could he bare to be alone? To live out however many more years than her in solitude?
Vegeta knew his discision, he had made it many months ago when Bulma's mother passed. He watched her father become a shell of himself. Spending months in lonely isolation before he too finally passed from what could only be described as a broken heart. It was then Vegeta decided he didn't want to suffer the same fate.
Vegeta straightened his spine and cracked his neck. "Shenron, can you do that? Can you weaken me enough before hand to then kill me?"
Shenron looked thoughtfully. "I could weaken your strength to less than that of my creator's and then your wish to die should work. I could grant it but we won't know that it will happen until the day comes. Do you still want to go through with it?"
Vegeta nodded. "Those are my wishes. To weaken me before my mate dies and then to let me die painlessly at the same time she does."
Shenron glowed, "Your wishes have been granted. You have one wish remaining."
Bulma stepped forward. "That would be my wish. I want to die with Vegeta, Shenron. If Vegeta dies first, I want to die painlessly by his side."
"Absolutely not!" Vegeta shouted at her.
"It's my wish Vegeta, you can't live without me, I can't live without you. If you remember, I've done it before, IT SUCKED!" She was screaming at him now. The raw emotion she had been holding back pouring out like a raging river. She was hyperventilating while the tears flowed. He wrapped his arms around her, crushing her to his chest. He gently stroked her hair to calm her. He didn't care who saw at this point.
Shenron felt some sort of emotion he had never felt before. The storm above them both darkened a little more as a few raindrops fell. At least, they thought they were raindrops until they noticed that Shenron was crying. Bulma was so moved by the sight that her own tears stopped. An eternal dragon was crying for them.
He then spoke to them, his voice a little softer, "Most people don't know that I have some power of my own that I have gained from a millenia of wishes. I grant you some of this power now. When you both die, it will be painless. I promis you won't feel a thing, you will just fade from this world and reappear in the next."
Shenron started to fade, "For once, I am satisfied in granting these wishes. Thank you for letting me see truly unselfish wishes. May I be so lucky to see the like again in a hundred years."
Shenron faded. One last dragon sized tear drop falling from his eye. Bulma thought she even saw the big guy smile at them before he completely faded, the balls scattering across the globe for the next wishmaker to find.
Vegeta continued to hold her for a long time after. When she pulled away to look up at him, he bent down and kissed her lips tenderly. She returned the kiss with all the passion she felt for him.
The chill air blew against her skin and she shivered. Vegeta broke away from the kiss but his eyes promised more to come. "Let's go home, my Bulma," he said.
"I love you, My Prince," she said softly.
"I know," he said as a familiar smirk appeared on his face.
She hit his arm, "One of these days you are going to say it back."
He nodded, caught in a moment of vulnerability, "One of these days."
It would be several decades later when the fateful day arrived. There was really nothing special about it. It was a day like any other. Vegeta was doing his usual kata routine outside, instructing the newest grandchild in the Saiyan forms of fighting when he suddenly felt his power level drop. He looked up and noticed his wife smiling at him, her eyes tearful. She had a lemonade pitcher in her hand and was surrounding by even more grandchildren. He rushed to her side, not wanting her to fade away without him. He grabbed her hands causing her to drop the pitcher and brought her in for a kiss. He could feel himself disappearing, as promised it was painless. He pulled back to look one last time at the love of his life.
"I love you, my Bulma," he said.
"I know my Prince," she replied,"I love you too." She kissed him again and together with their family looking on they faded light the last ray of light from the morning sun, hand in hand for all eternity.