Pride & Prejudice D.B.Z
Chapter Twenty One
He had to breathe…breathe…the will to breathe…to be alive…
He felt pressure…on him…pushing him…down…it hurt…but it helped…he felt drowsy…and sleepy…
Sounds…very far away sounds…they sounded familiar…distinct…yet far away…was he blind…or was there only darkness…just darkness…nothing to see…nothing…overcoming sleepiness…that was it…
They were voices…he could hear them most definitely…clearer…clearer…clearer than ever before…and he knew them…especially one…he could hear that one above the rest…that one…that special one…oh so special…that one…
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN THE DRAGONBALLS WON'T WISH HIM AWAKE??"
He knew that voice so very well; female no doubt about it and he somehow had missed it since he had been away to wherever it was that had been, the shrieking, the piercing, the screeching of it…
"Sssshhhh! Please…please…relax!"
He knew that one to; surely he did, though it wasn't as familiar as that first one he admired dearly. Male this time and one he recognized, though he couldn't determine clearly. If only he could will his eyes to open but they felt so tired, so weak and the rest was pleasurable…
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'SSSSHHHH!!'? HE'S IN A COMA, NOT SLEEPING! IT'S NOT LIKE I'M GONNA WAKE HIM UP!!"
"I know…but please try to understand Bulma…"
Bulma…that name…that name was familiar to…but who…he knew that name…had heard it so many times…many times before…said it…thought it…loved it…loved it…loved it…
"TRY TO UNDERSTAND WHAT?? THAT YOUR STUPID DRAGON WON'T WAKE HIM UP?? WHY?? WHY WON'T HE WAKE VEGETA UP??"
Vegeta…what? He knew that to…but from where…that name was so close…both of them…both names were close…felt like they were a part of him…but how…how could they?
"Bulma please listen! The dragon balls can't wish him back to life because he's not exactly dead…"
"SO?? I NEVER ASKED TO WISH HIM BACK ALIVE!! I SAID WISH HIM AWAKE!!"
"I KNOW Bulma! But we tried wishing him to wake up! The dragon said we can't because it is a disability…of natural causes…"
"NATURAL CAUSES!! IT WASN'T NATURAL CAUSES!! FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, YAMCHA INJECTED HIM WITH LETHAL ANESTHESIA BEFORE GOING ON THE RUN!! SINCE WHEN IS THAT A FUCKING NATURAL CAUSE!!"
"I know Bulma but apparently…anesthesia is a natural cause…and since there's no proof…no one saw him…I'm sorry but…it's not working…"
"PROOF? YOU WANT PROOF?? HOW 'BOUT THE FACT THAT VEGETA'S LYING THERE SENSELESSLY IN A COMA!! ISN'T THAT PROOF ENOUGH!! HE TOLD ME!! HE TOLD ME IT WAS HIM!! YAMCHA IS GUILTY!!"
"I know that's how it seems Bulma but Shenron…he won't listen…it's done…"
"NO! NOT VEGETA…not Vegeta…please no…"
The voice was sinking…lowering and then…a strange sound…as if it were sobs…long desperate sobs…sobs he needed to stop…end those cries…stop the weeping…it was torturing him everywhere…everywhere…outside…inside…
"Bulma…stop crying…come on…maybe…maybe he'll wake up…get up…come on…"
"Goku, you don't understand!"
Goku…that name was also important…so very important…he knew it from somewhere but memory wasn't coming…why wasn't it though?
"You can't understand…"
The voice had changed though it was the same one it was tearing, broken, without spirit.
"I need him to wake up! I NEED it! He can't just leave…not Vegeta…not now…not him…"
"I know it seems wrong Bulma…unfair but there's nothing we can do about it…please get up…"
"No! I'm not leaving until he wakes up…"
"Bulma, please be reasonable…I understand what's happening…I know Vegeta was special to you…he meant something to me to…but…"
"You don't get it Goku…he wasn't just special…he was more for me and now…no…Vegeta can't leave me…it's Vegeta…the big strong Saiyan Prince…he's never weak…he'll wake up any second…any second he'll wake up and demand I serve him pancakes…"
"Bulma…stop…"
"And I'll do it…as many pancakes as he wants I'll make them…even if it takes all day…as soon as he wakes up…he'll wake up…he'll wake up and I'll be right here…waiting…"
"Bulma…"
"Even if it takes forever…I'll wait…forever…because…"
"Bulma…calm down…you're not thinking straight!"
"Because…because I love him…"
"Bulma…plea-wait…what did you just say? Did you just say you love him?"
"I love him Goku…I really love him…"
"Bulma…I…I didn't know…"
"I know…even he didn't know…and…up till just now…neither did I…"
Vegeta felt the warmth scorch his eyelids and he felt so very pressed in, pressurized on both his sides and his eyes felt like they were burning to steam and ash. It was all so overwhelming and he was finally compelled to awaken, open his eyes and sit up straight and do as he would please with the rest of his hours. And so he gradually allowed his eyelids to lift and found it surprisingly difficult, reducing all energy out of him with each fragile attempt, rise up and at long last open and he regretted it that moment.
"Vegeta! You're…you're…"
"Kakarot?" he questioned back clueless, trying to make sense of the blurry figure gazing down at him, simply matching the voice to his thoughts but as his sight began to adjust he saw, hovering above him, smiling that goofy grin he was well known for was none other than Goku, the last person he wished to wake up to, especially that morning.
"Wow…I…wow…you're…actually awake…wow…"
He seemed daftly stupefied and Vegeta didn't bother to ask why as this was expected from the great Kakarot and just gathered out what was happening to him at the current situation. He felt thoroughly exhausted, tired out and yet, better than ever before, rejuvenated, fresh and alive once more, none of this made sense. He looked around, trying to understand why he was in a very lumpy and extremely uncomfortable cardboard feel of a bed with wires plastered all over him, stuck to his skin, needles pierced in his wrists, all attached to bizarre irregular machines that were beeping and going haywire, showing lines and simply bothering him immensely till he felt like blowing up the entire assortment of technology. Apart from all that he couldn't seem to adjust to the heavily wrapped bandage around his forehead, creating an irritating tension around his head, blockage type. He was in a plain and rather odd room and it was boring him entirely, even with Goku at his side, speechless and gaping, the true form of entertainment Vegeta couldn't help but admit, you couldn't pay for, it was priceless, that gawking expression of Goku's.
"Vegeta? I thought you were…gone!"
"What are you talking about Kakarot?" Vegeta muttered in a soft hoarse voice, making effort to breath, finding it a task at hand. He attempted to sit up and found it quite a burden to lift his body up but he wouldn't let Goku help him in the least, merely pushed himself up, determined to perform this simply task by himself as he was sure he was capable of such a thing with his Saiyan strength and couldn't believe his weakness during the process.
And then he saw her, the flowing blue mass of hair and that pale yet extraordinarily exotic face of hers, lying asleep in a chair next to his bed, her head resting in his lap lazily and yet gracefully, rising and falling with each low sigh she emitted while she slept away deeply. He couldn't stand it but he just felt ferociously compelled to reach out, reach out and touch her, wanting to confirm that she was actually there in physical blessing. But he held back the temptation, first vowing to sort out Goku who was unable to deal with the circumstances at hand.
"This isn't possible! Vegeta…how are you awake? Amazing! You're awake!! Woo-hoo!! You're awake" and before Vegeta could prepare himself the ecstatic Goku had begun happy dancing right there in the spot next to Vegeta's bed, cheering all the way while Vegeta attempted not to seem to affected by the ridiculous movements and merely pretended there was air in his face instead.
"This is a miracle!! A miracle!!...WOO-HOO!! Have to wake Bulma up!! She'll be thrilled! She'll be seriously thrilled!!" he exclaimed, before reaching out to shake Bulma lightly awake across Vegeta's lying figure but Vegeta stopped him with one limp hand, shortly pushing it away from Bulma's figure before uttering a low and desperate "No"
"No?" Goku asked back, still confused, as if the word was not self explanatory. "What do you mean 'No'? I have to wake her up! She's been anxious for this moment!!"
"No" Vegeta repeated once again, refusing to let go off Goku's wrist, shoving it farther away, not giving up on preventing her from awakening.
"Why? She needs to know…Vegeta, she has been praying for this moment for days now…we have to wake her up…" Goku protested but Vegeta just shook his head, refusing to relent so that Goku continued to speak on.
"Vegeta, you can't do this? She needs to see you awake! She needs to! It's all that's been keeping her hopes up…it's all that kept her ALIVE, to know you might wake up…that there was chance…she needs to see you!!"
Vegeta was mightily alarmed that Bulma had been on such tender hooks, that desperate and finally, he satisfied Goku by whispering "I'll do it." Goku's eyes widened in surprise but in a way he was suddenly able to understand, saw something new in Vegeta's eyes, something he was sure had also been in Bulma's eyes, something warm and disguised, something he knew because he had possessed it once and so he nodded firmly and gently pulled Vegeta's fingers off his wrist before preparing to exit the room unheard, preparing to set off bay everyone waiting outside the room. He gave Vegeta one last look, not confused exactly but simply attempting to understand, before vanishing.
Vegeta gazed down at Bulma, his heart swelling up with something so alien to him it actually hurt, but somehow, that hurt was actually welcome and he couldn't help but enjoy it. He was driven then, by a desire he longed to fulfill and he reached out, extending one very weak arm, ignoring the pulling of all the needles and wires and the inducing pricks and pinches they were causing and ran one hand through her fluffy blue hair, feeling exhilarated at how soft it actually felt compared to how he had always imagined it would have felt. He felt the strands twirl around his fiddling fingers, silky and smooth while he relished at the touch and then, when he least suspected it, he felt her move.
Snatching his hand away, he ignored the pain he felt at no longer being able to touch her hair but then feeling it leave him as she raised her head slowly, waking herself up and then faced him, a dreary expression that changed as soon as she realized that she was staring back at equally awake eyes and her own widened, shining and living, unable to believe what they were seeing, misunderstood as he gazed into them and suddenly, to his shock he saw them…silent tears trickling down her soft pale cheeks, falling ever so gently on his hand…