Apologies to everyone for the cliffhangers in the last couple of chapters, but we are now in the home stretch. Thank you to everyone for your comments, without them I wouldn't have gotten the motivation to continue on with this, and they are so helpful in making sure I keep up a good pace! I'm committed to finishing this now!

UK English, I don't own the characters.

The ringing in his ears stopped abruptly, bringing everything back into focus. Around him, the ground trembled and quaked, throwing up rocks and dirt that defied gravity and floated in the air. The atmosphere buzzed with electrical energy, and even without the ringing, the groaning earth drowned out most other sounds.

Dimly, Vegeta was aware that not only was he alive, but also locked in a battle of ki with Cell. He didn't understand how it had happened, how he had gone from barely being able to breathe to more than holding his own against Cell, but he could feel that he was stronger than the green monster.

For now, at least.

The energy coursing through him was something other than Super Saiyan. Something… more. Yet through his white-hot onslaught, Vegeta knew he couldn't sustain it for long. Every part of his body shook and ached with the effort of holding itself together. The raw energy was tearing him apart at the seams.

He had to end this, and quickly. If Cell could hold out long enough, ascension or not, Vegeta would be on the losing side of this battle.

Cell crossed his arms in front of him, bracing against the attack. By all rights, he should have been a pile of dust once more. Yet somehow, the creature lived. He lifted his head, settling his cold gaze on Vegeta.

He smiled, a chilling expression that was eerily similar to Frieza's moments before he was about to inflict some sick torture. "You can't keep this up!" Cell called over the thundering noise of the ground shifting under them. "You'll only kill yourself!"

Vegeta gritted his teeth. If he died, he'd take the lizard down with him.

But Cell was right. The effort of sustaining this much energy was already taking its toll. He opened his mouth to cry out, the pain too much to bear, but his scream was silent. His hands, stretched out at Cell, on fire with ki, burned so hot it felt icy cold. His skin bubbled and peeled, slowly stripping away from the muscle underneath, and he knew he had minutes, if not seconds, remaining.

A sharp burst of ki to his right made him remember that there were others in the arena. Trunks, although weak from his own fight with Cell, was putting everything into the blast. One by one each of the remaining Z fighters joined him, adding their own energy to the attack against Cell.

It brought the creature to his knees, but still, Cell held strong.

A small blur rushed out into the field. Seria pushed past Cell's ki, narrowly avoiding everyone else's, and placed a hand on Cell's shoulder. Her eyes rolled back in her head, and Vegeta knew she was pushing all the unpleasant memories she had stored up into Cell's brain. Immediately, his defence slackened, and Vegeta felt his attack bear down on Cell.

"Get out of there!" he commanded.

Seria, lost in the memories herself, didn't reply.

"Papa!"

Vegeta automatically turned to look at Trunks, promptly irritated that he'd reacted so automatically to being called that.

"On three!" Trunks called. "Give it everything."

Vegeta hesitated. Killing Kakarot was one thing, but sacrificing Seria?

"I'll get her," Trunks said, nodding his encouragement.

Vegeta grunted in agreement. Trunks had more than proved himself in the time chamber and in this battle. If the boy said he could do it, he trusted him to do as promised. "One," he gasped out. "Two…"

Trunks dropped his own ki attack and sped forward towards Seria.

Instead of yelling three, Vegeta screamed out the word Bulma had programmed into his armour, sending not only this new, ascended Super Saiyan ki, but also all the stored energy from the many attacks on his person straight towards Cell.

"Cupcake!"

The world exploded into white, and Vegeta caught a glimpse of Cell's distorted face, recognition crossing it just as he began disintegrating like flaky pastry, dissolving away until there was nothing left.

As the echo of Cell's howls faded, Vegeta toppled face-first to the ground feeling as though he too had dissolved into nothing… nothing but a black abyss.

Yamcha had never admitted it, but Vegeta had always terrified him. That alone was enough to make him dislike the guy, but the fact that he had, you know, killed him, (and yes he knew it was the Saibermen but it was the same thing) left Yamcha with nothing but a simmering hatred for the freakishly strong alien.

Then Vegeta had to go and capture Bulma's interest, becoming the catalyst for permanently ending Yamcha's on and off again relationship with her. That had been the final straw. His hatred had bubbled over to something deeper, something that Yamcha, who considered himself to be a fairly laid back guy, was not proud of.

But Vegeta didn't look frightening now.

He lay on the ground, his armour shredded, his skin covered in abrasions and burns. Purple bruises in the shape of Cell's fingers wrapped around his neck and Yamcha suspected a crushed windpipe because his shallow breaths came out in a hissing wheeze.

Unconscious, and completely vulnerable, Yamcha knew that even with his broken arm, he could kill Vegeta right now if he wanted to.

But Yamcha no longer wanted that. Any hatred he'd once felt was replaced with grudging respect.

After all, the man had just saved the entire planet. No one else had died, with Trunks getting Seria out of the way just in time. And Cell was dead. Actually dead.

After staring at the dust for a while, Piccolo had confirmed it, declaring that Bulma's reckless idea, along with Vegeta's crazy surge of power, had worked.

The green man scooped up a weak Gohan and Krillen did the same for Trunks, who lay unconscious next to Seria.

"Bring him," Piccolo instructed Yamcha as he hoisted Seria into his arms as well. "Dende will patch him up."

Moving the man was going to be a challenge with a broken arm. He really hoped Dende was going to be able to heal that as well, otherwise his baseball career was over.

At Piccolo's sharp glare, Yamcha nodded wearily and started to lift Vegeta up.

"Geez," Yamcha huffed out as he threw one of the man's arms around his neck, then lifted his body with his own good arm. "You are freaking heavy for someone so short."

Vegeta groaned at the movement. "Put… me... down." His words came out in a harsh whisper, followed by a hacking cough.

"You need help, man," Yamcha said, taking flight in the air after the others. "And I don't mean a therapist. Although, I highly recommend that as well because clearly, you have rage issues. But you are dying right now. I'll take you to Dende and he'll heal you."

"I'm… fine."

Yamcha turned his head to glance at Vegeta. The man's eyes were red with burst blood vessels but they still managed to glare menacingly.

"The fact that you can't stop me from taking you to Dende only proves my point." Yamcha frowned as Vegeta's eyes rolled back in his head. "Whoa, don't die on me yet. Bulma will be pissed if she gets wished back and you've gone and kicked the bucket in the meantime."

"Not dead?"

"No, you're not dead yet."

Vegeta remained a dead weight against Yamcha but managed to shake his head. "Not me. Bulma."

"Oh." Yamcha took another look at the man. His eyes were closed but the rest of his face bore his usual scowl. "Not for long. Bulma asked me and Krillin to gather the dragon balls a couple of months ago. As soon as everyone's healed we'll wish everyone back."

Vegeta remained silent but seemed to relax slightly. At least, he no longer looked like he was trying to murder someone with his glare.

"I didn't realise…" Yamcha said as they approached Kami's tower. Or was it Dende's tower now? "I thought you two were just a fling. Something temporary. I didn't realise you loved her."

There was silence, and Yamcha thought Vegeta must have fallen unconscious again. But then he whispered three words, sounding bewildered. "Neither did I."

One moment, all she felt was pain. The next, she stood in the middle of a yellow-tiled room without furniture or windows, or even a door, a strange lightness flowing through her body.

Looking around, she quickly realised that she wasn't alone. On her left, sat Goku on the floor, cross-legged and grinning at her. On the opposite side of the room stood Future Vegeta, leaning against the wall with crossed arms.

"What," Vegeta spat out, "are you doing here."

Bulma stepped back in surprise at the force of his glare. Then she scowled back. "Same thing as you, buddy. I died saving the people I care about."

Vegeta uncrossed his arms and stepped forward, his fists clenched. "You weren't even supposed to be near the arena!"

Ooh, that infuriating man! She'd sacrificed herself to save the world, just like he and Goku had. How was it okay for the men to do so but not her? "It was lucky that I was there!" She stormed toward him and prodded his chest with her finger. "The battle was going terribly, so I had to do something!"

"And what does getting yourself killed accomplish?"

"A lot more than you accomplished, I'm sure!"

"You know," Goku interjected. "A lot of the others don't see it, but you two really are perfect for each other."

"Shut up!" Bulma and Vegeta both snapped at the same time.

Goku just smiled. "See?"

Bulma rolled her eyes, then started inspecting the room. It didn't look like there was any way out. "Where are we?"

"In a holding room," said Vegeta. "King Yemma put us in here instead of processing us since we are going to be wished back."

"I should probably let him know to start processing me," Goku said, clambering to his feet. "I don't want to be wished back."

Bulma's gaze snapped to Goku. For once he looked deadly serious.

"What are you blathering about?" Vegeta asked, scowling irritably.

"Every time there is a threat to Earth it seems to be because of me. If I stay here, Earth will be safe."

Vegeta closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Kakarot, I've heard a lot of stupid things come out of your mouth, but this really takes the prize."

Goku shrugged and gave them both a wan smile. "It's the only way."

"Just because you are too stupid to consider the alternatives doesn't mean there is no other way!" Vegeta began pacing back and forth like a lion trapped in a cage. "I can't believe I let myself forgot how moronic you can be. Here you are, in a room with a bonafide genius," he thrust out his hand in Bulma's direction, "and you don't even consider asking for a second opinion?"

Bulma couldn't help but preen at Vegeta's open declaration of her intelligence. If only her Vegeta could be so impressed.

Goku rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly. "I know Bulma's smart, but I don't see any other way to stop these bad guys from showing up to take out their anger with me on the people I care about."

"You can't ever prevent that," Bulma pointed out. "But the fact is, monsters exist. Frieza and the World Trade Organisation are proof that there is more evil out there than we know. They'll come whether you are here or not."

"How would you feel," Vegeta said in a low, tight voice, "if something came here and attacked Earth. How would you feel if they tortured you son. Or your wife? How would you feel if you were stuck here…" he spread his arms wide. "And you couldn't do anything to stop it?"

Goku opened his mouth, then closed it again with a frown.

"You could be anywhere else in the universe," Vegeta continued, "and you could instant transmission back and protect them. But once you decide to stay here, you are dead. There will be no one to save your family."

"You would," Goku replied. "Well, young you."

"Would he?" Vegeta cocked his head. "We don't even know if he is going to remain on Earth."

Bulma wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly chilled at his words even though she knew he was only saying what he thought would make Goku come back to Earth. "We don't even know if everyone is still alive."

"Of course they are." Goku grinned at her. "No one else has shown up here. And since you died, I assume it was in the arena and Vegeta saw."

Bulma winced as she recalled Vegeta's wide-eyed horror just before she ended up here. "Yes, he was there."

"There you go then," Goku said as if it were the simplest thing in the world. "They'll be calling the dragon soon."

"And you'll come back with us?" Bulma asked.

Goku frowned. "Yeah, Vegeta's right. I'll just travel into space and keep far away from Earth instead."

"That's not what I…" Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Maybe you should stay here. The universe is better off without your stupidity."

Goku laughed and slapped Vegeta's back, making the older Saiyan tense. "Admit it, you're happy I'm not going to stay dead."

Vegeta let out a long-suffering sigh. "Never."

Pain seeped out of his body, slowly ebbing away. Groaning, Vegeta opened his eyes to see the little green Namekian hovering over him, eyes closed in concentration.

"Stop it," Vegeta snapped, pushing the boy away and sitting up. "I'm fine."

"Thanks to Dende." Yamcha sat cross-legged next to him, clutching his still broken arm. "You should let him finish healing you. You still look like shit."

"I've survived worse." He dragged himself to his feet with a scowl. "I don't need anyone's help." But to his mortification, the moment he was upright he swayed and stumbled.

"You stubborn idiot," Ara said, catching his arm and steadying him. "You were dying. If you hadn't been given help you'd be in the next dimension by now."

Vegeta bared his teeth at her with a growl and wrenched his arm away, noticing that the appendage now had intact skin, although the shade was no longer his caramel tone, but a deep shade of pink as if he'd been severely sunburned. "Heal the others, boy," he instructed Dende. "Don't waste your strength on me."

The boy cocked his head sideways for a moment, staring at Vegeta. Finally, he nodded and headed towards the three children, who, while all conscious, looked worse for wear.

"Where are you going?" Ara asked as he stepped away from the group and towards the tower.

"It is not your concern." Truthfully, he didn't know where he was going. He just knew he had to get away from here.

"Aren't you going to stay to see Bulma and the others wished back?" Yamcha asked, confusion crossing his stupid face.

"No."

"But she'll want to see you!"

Ignoring him, Vegeta stepped off the edge of the tower.

He let himself freefall as long as he could, the weightless sensation numbing the pain he still felt in his half-healed injuries. A pity it didn't do anything for the guilt racking his mind.

The human was wrong. Bulma would not want to see him.

Save me, she'd been about to say before Cell murdered her. Before he ripped her apart with his ki.

Vegeta had reached power levels he'd never dreamed of, he'd vanquished the enemy, effectively saved the world, but he hadn't been able to do the one thing she'd asked. It made every other success feel hollow.

He hadn't saved her.