Bulma was always a girl with a plan. Especially as a woman, she was able to manipulate whatever resources necessary to get what she wanted.
But with Vegeta.. It was a lot easier said than done.
After their rendezvous in the forest outside the skirts of the city, Vegeta had avoided Capsule Corp. for quite some time. Bulma knew he was still not only processing the unexpected death of his mortal rival, but also the tryst that had occurred between them under the beaming moonlight.
Moonlight seemed to be a repetitive trend in her life. Between her childhood and now, it seemed to always influence the most dramatic of events that she had faced. Only this time, however, it was in her favour.
So, she had a proposal- rather, a proposition as Vegeta would probably prefer to deem it seeing as he had a repulsion towards anything regarding Earthly sentiment.
The only obstacle was how to present said proposition.
And of course, she had that tiny voice of skeptical, independent female doubt in her mind wondering if it would ever be enough for him to actually stick around. With his track record of vanishing at a moment's notice from this planet and his instinctual pension for seeking out alternative planets to conquer, she felt slightly squeamish in placing so much hope into this endeavor.
Still, she was strong, and stubborn at that. She survived as a single mother without him once. She would without a doubt be able to do it again.
But after that night against the tree.. it was like she had relapsed into their magnetic connection all over again. It was that long-awaited taste of the toxic venom she had been infected with four years ago reeling her back into his arms all over again with the endless desire to never leave them again no matter what he had or had not done.
Despite his nefarious past as a galactic conquistador, she saw a completely different side of him at the Cell Games. She could hardly get the image of him launching himself to avenge his future son's death out of her mind. It was a man she didn't even recognize compared to the boasting, arrogant, and demanding Prince who had overtaken her headquarter for nearly three years.
It wasn't a man. It was a father. And that was all she wanted for Trunks.
In her mind, it was settled then. She would do whatever it took to gain his trust in staying on this planet with her and her family, and also to ensure her own security in that he really would.
With her typical impulsive style, Bulma snatched her capsules and headed for her jet before hearing her mother call out in her high-pitched inquiry, "Bulma dear, where are you off so quickly?!"
Bulma threw a confident smirk over her shoulder to her mother's way, "I'm going to get my husband."
For days, Vegeta had sat perched on the tallest tree within the mountains of the forest that he had last had relations with the human female he couldn't seem to stay away from. He pondered his existence as royalty, his options for his own destiny, and which trail would lead him to it.
The future had already been tamed here. There were no further threats for him to prove his dignity as the strongest Saiyan, no challenging enemies to conquer, and no Kakarott to finally destroy in order to attain his true birthrite as the only full-blooded Saiyan to live.
But there was her.
In the throes of heated passion and his grieving over the opportunity to kill Kakarott once and for all (of which the process was one he stayed in denial of), he had marked her as his own.
Whether that was a mistake or a deliberation on his part was his only mental dilemma.
He knew what was waiting for him out there. A multitude of planets overrun by peasant species he would easily kill out by the lift of a finger. However, it seemed a little too easily. Frivolous, even.
He could dominate the entire galactic system only to have a string of henchman to do his bidding to spread out mayhem and destruction across space…
Or he could remain here, on Earth, with her.
A part of him was reluctant to admit the decline in interest in the former. After seeing the evil that ensued within Cell and struck his future son to death, it no longer seemed feasible to chase such power or motivation to carry out such an agenda. Something triggered inside him in that moment, where something of his was broken by such darkness, and so it repelled him from attempting to replicate it as he had in his youth.
As much as he despised it.. He had changed. He felt slightly empty, but at the same time, free.
Vegeta had lost his empire. There was no getting that back. The only remaining Saiyan blood was on this wretched planet and it was something he had difficulty in accepting, but…
There was something else to gain. Someone else.
Suddenly a crash of sparks and fire caught his eye from a few miles east of him. Instantly, due to their bonding, he knew it was her. In a flash, he was there pulling her through the smoke and debris. From the limpness of her body, he knew she was rendered unconscious. He took them away from the smoldering ashes of her aircraft and placed her softly on the grass.
Her pale features were sheened with gray splotches, the aqua tendrils of her hair singed and clothes tattered by the flames from contact. He felt his chest heave, his heart grow heavy in a panicked fear the same way it had when he saw Future Trunks get struck by the bolt of energy from Cell.
"Woman! Wake up, you wench- you know you can survive this with your stubborn self! Despite your obvious human lack of strength.." He demanded sharply, but to no avail. She was still breathing, but barely. So Vegeta did the only thing he knew to do.
He wrapped both hands around both of her wrists, channeling his own energy into her body. Veins began popping and pulsing through his arms and his forehead as he did so, feeling a slight tinge of weakness in the process. Slowly but surely, her heart began to pump faster and her eyelids fluttered into consciousness.
When he pulled away, he was pushed back into a sitting position by the force of his energy transfer. Still heaving, he looked up at her lying body from brooding eyebrows as she twitched a little and finally opened her turquoise orbs to the green surroundings.
They glazed over at him with a dazed surprise and she croaked, "V-Vegeta? What happened?"
He stood up, brushing grass off of his blue spandex. "Your impulsive idiocy, as usual."
"Hmpf," She scoffed, "Well, at least this time that I crashed you actually saved me!"
"Well the child is damn lucky he wasn't with you this time."
She perched herself on her elbows with a glaring stare, "Or what? You wouldn't save him AGAIN?"
He ignored her blatant attempt to try his patience and stalked over to pull her up by the arm. Bulma felt dismayed; this was not the way her proposition was supposed to start..
As she swept off grass and dirt off her tattered clothing, she tentatively asked with an imploring gaze, "So why did you save me?"
"What do you think? Your old man wouldn't be able to build my training gear for as long as you can."
She folded her arms with a sarcastic eyebrow raise, "I'm quite sure that's not the only reason."
"Hmpf." He looked away.
"Wait," She stopped suddenly, "Why do I feel all.. tingly and energized? Didn't I just crash?"
"Not only did you crash, but you nearly killed yourself like the reckless idiot you are! I had to do what I had to do…"
Her eyebrows burrowed a little in confusion. "You.. gave me energy?"
He let out an exasperated sigh while rolling his onyx eyes. "If you must phrase it as such... yes. Are there any more parts to this impromptu questionnaire or can I meditate in peace?"
She rolled her eyes. "No! This is not a quiz, Vegeta. I just crashed and woke up to find you next to me. Excuuuuse me for being slightly shocked by the sight."
Their eyes connected as she paused, suddenly unsure of herself in how to approach the pressing matter at hand. A silence ensued between them, neither certain of what to say next until Bulma finally sucked in a breath and pushed her agitation away for perhaps the first time in her life.
After all.. There was a very important proposition at stake.
"I just wanted to say thank you. For saving me. That's all," She said in a quick, solemn surrender to her own endeavor. He nodded slightly and was about to lunge back up into the air.
Bulma felt herself shake, her legs go numb as she could literally feel the milliseconds vanishing before she could catch his attention again back down to her. This was her chance, and maybe even her last one.
"No- Vegeta, WAIT!"
He stopped midair, an annoyed look etched across his dark features under the moonlight. Growling, he asked, "What now?"
"I want you to stay. With me. With Trunks and my family."
He gravitated back to the ground, feet across from her with a serious gaze of intensity that was sending her heart into a race faster than it had already been running.
A long pause was between them. Her, with her uncertainty of his response and him, with his brooding contemplation of his place anywhere in the universe.
Finally, he gave a curt, "Sure. Why not," stated as an casual statement rather than a question.
Bulma blinked. Then the impending rage came through. "Sure?! WHY NOT?! That's all you have to say? No 'Yes, Bulma I want to be with you forever', or 'Yes, I have a son that needs his Father'? SURE?!"
His eyes dropped to the ground, knowing full well that she would have wanted him to somehow utter such sickeningly sentimental responses, but also knowing he was incapable. "I have nowhere else to be, it seems."
Bulma folded her arms, leaning back with indignance, "Oh, so what- we're some sort of consolation prize to your pride now?"
He threw an irritated glare at her. "I do not have an empire any longer. I do not have a mortal enemy to seek out and destroy. Hell, even Kakarrot has forfeited his spot as the most powerful being on this planet. Would you prefer me to return to my violent conquering of every planet remaining out there for me to destroy and dominate?"
With a swallow and threatening tears, she replied softly, "No, I just thought you would actually want to. I guess I was wrong."
She turned her back to him, reaching for another aircraft capsule before feeling a broad hand turn her swiftly by the shoulder to face him only inches away. The heat coming from his body surrounded her at their close proximity, sending thrills of that same electricity down to the very core of her body.
"This planet has nothing to offer me. It has been the plague of my downfall time and time again in past battles. Never in my past did I imagine that my very destiny lied in such a watered down, sodden planet inhabited by the weakest species in the galaxy."
Her eyes swiveled into his, trying to read the swirling influx of emotions within his obsidian glare. For the first time, she was unable to.
Until he said this:
"You… are the only thing that I do not have the irrepressible urge to destroy. You are the only thing keeping me from incinerating this mudball into ashes. For whatever mystical witchcraft curse you have placed upon me, I simply cannot leave. No matter how much I fucking desire to."
She drew in a breath that she wasn't even aware of holding before his mouth claimed hers in an unprecedented kiss that took it all away again. Sure, it wasn't the romance novel proclamation of love she was idealizing but..
It was Vegeta's version. And she loved it. Just as much as she knew, in that moment, she loved him.
When they broke their heated connection, he drew away from her in a motion of recovering his pride that she knew he had put aside just to say those words.
"Well.. What now?" She called out.
He raised an eyebrow, "Is there MORE that you could possibly need, woman?"
"First, how about you call me Bulma. I am your 'galactic soulmate' after all or whatever you were saying."
"Hmpf."
"And.. " Her head lowered, once again feeling knots of apprehension in her stomach, "How do I know you won't change your mind and leave again?"
He walked to her and placed two fingers underneath the slightly burnt scarf she had donned around her neck onto the two searing holes he had placed himself. "This," He explained, "Is forever."
She placed a hand on his wrist, looking at him softly with concern, "Yeah, in your world, but what about mine?"
It took him a second before he suddenly remembered the obnoxious assortment of jewelry she had referred to as an Earthly matrimony and snarled, "You cannot be serious."
Keeping a stone glare she asserted, "I am."
Rolling his eyes, he hesitantly obliged. "This is ridiculous. A materialistic object does not signify a damn thing!"
"But it does. Didn't you have ceremonies on your planet?"
He shook his head, "The only ceremony that took place was the one that has already transpired between you and I."
A blushed sheeted over her cheeks at the flashback. Sighing, she asked, "Well would you kill you to do this for me? Just once?"
With a growl, he complied. "Fine! But there will be NO superfluous gathering of your asinine friends there."
"My parents and my son. Is that fair?" She asked, her face light with excitement.
"Our son," Vegeta swiftly corrected her with a stern expression, declaring his son for the very time to her.
A tear-laced grin overtook her features, bright enough in the dim forest for Vegeta to see. Despite his annoyance at agreeing to such a silly gesture, he felt a tinge of satisfaction at her expression. Amidst their period of tragedy, it felt overdue in contrast to finally see such happiness.
"Alright then, it's settled! We're getting MARRIED!" She squealed with delight as she jumped up in glee. He refrained a growling scowl and picked up his newfound fiancee, taking her to what would be their home.
So here is this inevitable apology for sitting on this chapter to be uploaded for so long.. I actually had wanted to turn it into a double-feature chapter to atone for the very huge delay due to my resuming online school and other undue dysfunction in my personal life that have kept me from mustering the motivation to keep up with this.
However, as I keep getting notifications of new followers/favourites, I knew I owed it to you guys to not give up on this any longer. And for that, I thank all of you even those who follow this story without actually reviewing or favouriting because it reminds me that this story deserves to be completed for anyone who enjoys it. All support is encouraging support. The viewing numbers alone are enough for me to know not to just let this story slip through the cracks of my most recent depressive phase and I am finally ready to get back on this writing train.
In addition to posting this chapter, I will also follow it up (instead of adding double content to this chapter as previously intended) with a very soon update now that the creative spark is back with a vengeance to carry out the "wedding" scene between these two very volatile lovers as that is probably the biggest challenge I have faced writing B/V fanfics.
Nonetheless, I am sorry for the huge wait and I hope this chapter as well as the next will atone for it. That being said, this story is NOT ENDING ANYTIME SOON. I want to divulge into the new family/romantic dynamic post-wedding and post-Cell for these two before ending the story around Chapter 30.
I hope all of you enjoy the rest of this ride with me.. As staccato as it may be, and always remember feedback is fuel for me. :) Every review, every insight, and every critique is always welcome and appreciated.
~Nicolesque