It always kinda bothered me that after the Majin Buu saga, we didn't get to see a Vegeta/Bulma conversation about all that happened between the time Vegeta blew up the stadium and the time that Vegeta was reunited with his family, so...this is my attempt at how I think that little scene in my mind might have gone. I hope you enjoy it! ^_^
40
VEGETA peeled off his gloves and stared down at the black and blue wedding band on his hand as he twisted it around his finger. From across the way, as he and Kakarot stared at the newly revived planet Earth and its inhabitants, Kakarot was frowning at him sharply, looking uncharacteristically somber and every bit a Saiyan warrior.
They had done it. Kakarot had defeated Majin Buu, though it hadn't been without great costs. The earth, the people, their loved ones, all dead. But now…everything would be alright. At least, that's what Vegeta tried to tell himself.
In all honesty, if the Saiyan King were being honest with himself, he wasn't sure what had driven him to share a moment with fucking Kakarot of all people, though he supposed, after everything they'd been through, they were friends now.
Friends. The very word caused goosebumps to erupt all over his skin and plaster as a quiet vibration all through every fiber of his being. He'd already concluded on his own without Kakarot nagging him at every opportunity that running from Bulma, from Trunks—his family—Gods, but he had abandoned his wife—had been wrong and cowardly, and in Vegeta's mind, entirely unforgivable.
So why now, would he come to Kakarot? Maybe it was because Kakarot was a Saiyan warrior who was more familiar with asking forgiveness.
Eventually, the silence between the two weighed too heavily to be ignored any longer.
"I left her, Kakarot," Vegeta murmured, his black irises clouding over and narrowing as he huffed and folded his arms across his chest. "I just…left. My own ambition to surpass you at any cost blinded me to what really mattered. My home on that planet, my family. My wife, my son…"
Never in his entire life had the Prince—and now the King—Of All Saiyans run from his problems. He was an Elite Saiyan Warrior, for Kami's sake. He'd always faced them head-on, sometimes to an unhealthy extent.
But once Bulma, shortly before this year's World Martial Arts Tournament, had revealed the existence of their baby, their second child seven years after Trunks' birth, a terror that was previously unknown to Vegeta had started to wind its icy tendrils around his heart.
This was no longer something he could fight, Vegeta had realized when he had lost control of his emotions and blown up an entire section of the booths at the World Tournament, killing Kami knew only how many.
Whatever happened the moment he and Kakarot set foot back on the Lookout Tower and he summoned enough strength to look his mate in the eyes, would be outside of his control. If Bulma would take him back, Vegeta couldn't say.
He'd fail as a father to their second heir before he'd really even begun to be a father to Trunks, who was already a Super Saiyan at the ripe age of seven. Far younger than when he'd become a Saiyan. He supposed it ought to have chafed him, but the only consolation he could offer to assuage his guilt was at least Trunks was stronger than Kakarot's youngest brat, Goten, so that was something.
"You did," Kakarot murmured, not looking at Vegeta as the wind on the Planet of the Kai's homeworld blew their hair off their forehead, the cool breeze refreshing to the two battered and exhausted Saiyans.
He turned to look at Vegeta, and there was regret in the man's dark eyes that Vegeta knew he didn't particularly like. He'd gotten this way to him a few times, once in the martial arts ring, and then again, trying to reach him to break free of the wizard Babadi's hold he'd had on his mind.
"You know…all of this was my fault, don't you?" Kakarot sighed, letting out a haggard sigh and slowly swiveling his gaze to better look Vegeta in the eyes. Vegeta hesitated, chewing at the wall of his mouth, and scoffed, finding it difficult not to roll his eyes a bit.
The Saiyan King had a feeling he knew which night Kakarot was talking about. If he'd not treated Babadi's 'monsters' as a game and took it seriously right from the start, then the little old wizard would have never had a chance to release Buu. When Vegeta knew he didn't exactly blame him outright for what had happened, that didn't mean he didn't harbor any anger towards his once-sworn enemy, now his rival friend.
However, there was anger and a little bit of resentment. They were complicated feelings, and Vegeta had been burdened with them ever since he came to Earth the first time and went up against Kakarot and had been bested. Over and over and over again until Vegeta thought he'd burst.
That had been the main reason for allowing the wizard to take control of his mind, so their powers were matched.
"I know why you stopped me," Vegeta said instead.
The next words, he barely managed to summon enough strength on his throat to answer, but he forced himself to swallow his famous Saiyan pride and say his next words anyways.
"Thank you," Vegeta grunted begrudgingly, feeling as though the words were causing him physical pain in his chest as tightened just to speak those words, keeping his arms folded across his chest and not daring to look into Kakarot's eyes.
He thought he'd wipe that smug, triumphant smirk off the man's face with a well-aimed Galick Gun blast or just a ki energy wave.
Kakarot nodded. He looked so tired, so exhausted, and looked like he'd aged at least five years since the long battle with Majin Buu that had pushed them both to their limits.
Not for the first time since knowing his fellow Saiyan warrior, Vegeta regretted how Kakarot made his life so…so… Difficult.
Kakarot's lips pressed together tightly, and then he parted them to speak, as another gust of wind tousled their hair slightly, though the breeze felt refreshing to their frayed nerves.
"There were a lot of things I could have done different, Vegeta, not just as a Saiyan warrior. But as a mate to Chi-Chi. A father to my sons, even excluding…that…" Kakarot sighed as he wildly gesticulated towards the new planet Earth.
Kakarot's eyes fluttered closed for a moment before the man plowed on.
"But I like to think that all of this makes up for it. I—I hope. And being there made a difference when the chips were down when it counted. I…." Kakarot heisted and looked down towards Vegeta's hand, the one with the Earth wedding band, and stared at for a moment, before flexing his own hand and regarding his curiously. "I get why you're…afraid. I know the guilt that comes with causing your kid pain, trust me, I know more than you think. I know it's a shameful thing, Vegeta. But you shouldn't be ashamed of this. I made a terrible mistake, and I've paid for it through this fight with Buu, I think, and then some."
Kakarot paused to draw in a breath and ran a hand through his wild tuft of black hair.
"You think there's not a day that's going to go by when I don't regret not taking Buu more seriously? But I don't regret that finishing him once and for all made me a better man. In your case, Vegeta, I don't think you made any mistakes. Your wife, your son, Trunks, they aren't mistakes. If you promise to stick with them from now on, now that this whole mess with Buu is over and the world should be at peace now for a long time, I hope, then your kids—both of 'em—are gonna grow up with a role model and a mentor. That will be invaluable to them."
Vegeta could only manage to hold Kakarot's too-serious gaze for a few moments before he had to cough to clear his throat and look away, reverting his gaze, looking to the revived planet Earth instead. My home, he thought wildly.
"Even if they do forgive me…they'll have to live with me, Kakarot," Vegeta barked hoarsely. "They'll be at a disadvantage, having me as a father, Saiyan King or not. The world will never accept them just as they are, with my blood running through their veins. The earthlings fear different."
Much to Vegeta's surprise, Kakarot offered a light-hearted chuckle. Vegeta blinked in surprise but did not dare look away. "The world's always changing, Vegeta. It'll surprise you the longer you live here. I don't know how it's going to yet, but the world you've been trying to fight for since you came of age and old enough to know what Frieza was doing to you and the rest of our people was wrong…in that world, your children and wife will be at anything but a disadvantage. You gotta trust me on this, Vegeta. Really."
Vegeta couldn't think of a response to that. Kakarot, however, wasn't finished. He touched at the wedding band on his friend's finger, making sure Vegeta was looking at it.
"I know I'm not one to talk about these things. I—I thought a wedding meant a feast when Chi-Chi first told me about it."
At that, Vegeta scoffed and rolled his eyes, huffing. "Tch. You would, Kakarot, you foolish clown," Vegeta growled.
Kakarot frowned, but continued, unfazed by Vegeta's insult.
"Anyways, that's not the point. The point I'm trying to get at is, you made Bulma a promise, Vegeta. When you married her, you promised to always stand by her when you took her as your mate. By extension, your children, your sons, your daughters." Kakarot's dark eyes clouded as he became lost in the world of his own thoughts for a moment. "I thought Chi-Chi was gonna leave me or kill me the number of times I let her and Gohan down," Kakarot mumbled, ducking his head in shame for a good long moment. "But she just pointed at her ring and told me she had no intention of leaving if I still loved both her and Gohan with all my heart and soul." Goku's solemn eyes met Vegeta's black ones, his expression surprisingly steely.
Vegeta paused in asking his next question, but it was the one he wanted an answer to most, and considering Kakarot had been with his mate longer than he had with Bulma, he figured he was the only Saiyan worthy to ask, provided he didn't run his fat mouth.
His voice cracked and broke when he asked it, but Vegeta knew he needed to get the question out. "How…how do I ask Bulma for forgiveness, Kakarot? My son…" he croaked. "Kami, but they must hate me both by now, both of them…"
Kakarot just arched an eyebrow and pointed at his wedding band once more, without even him having to utter a word. He didn't answer. The answer was clearly set in his eyes: try.
NO sooner had Kakarot brought them back to the Lookout Tower and the two were reunited with their family and friends than he felt a sheen of sweat throng on his brow. Vegeta fought to battle the dryness of his throat. He should have rehearsed what to say, he realized with dawning panic.
He should have brought his Woman and his son with a token of peace, flowers, whatever Bulma wanted, with a convincing enough speech only good enough to be delivered by a Saiyan King—anything besides just himself in his broken and battered form. But then Bulma turned around to face him, the wind at the top of the world up here blowing her bangs off her forehead, her short blue hair a disheveled mess, looking a truly sexy vision of loveliness in a tight red dress.
She wasn't showing with their second child yet, only a month or so along, but she would in a few more weeks. Her blue eyes were cracked and red-rimmed at the edges, and watery, both joy and fury battling on her face for victory.
Vegeta's breath hitched at the sight and he steeled himself for Bulma's temper to implode, almost half-hoping she would. To let her scream, rant, hit him, do whatever she had to in order to get her feelings out if she would talk to him…
"Vegeta?" Bulma whispered in a hoarse voice, a sweet sound he'd not heard for what felt like days. Maybe weeks.
A voice that he honestly thought he would not hear again. It stopped the Saiyan king and warrior dead in his tracks. He longed to run towards the Woman whose voice it belonged to, but he couldn't. He dared not move a muscle.
And then, just like that, Bulma's sweet voice shifted as her temper exploded.
"VEGETA! YOU LOOK ME IN THE EYES, DAMN YOU!"
Her voice was much closer than it had been before, but no longer her sweet voice as it had been before. Bulma was fucking pissed, and rightfully so. A firm, manicured hand suddenly gripped onto his shoulder and spun him around to face her. Bulma Briefs, his mate, his Queen, was trembling as she stood in front of him, but not from fear or sorrow. But rage. Pure rancor.
Rancor and rage that Vegeta wholeheartedly welcomed, and he knew that he deserved.
She drew back her hand and slapped him with as much force as she could muster. The sound echoed and was as loud as a clap. The entire group outside the Lookout Tower went silent. Deadly silent. No one dared move or to speak.
"HOW DARE YOU DO THAT TO ME AND TRUNKS, GETA? HOW COULD YOU JUST—JUST GIVE UP ON YOUR FAMILY LIKE THAT? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT WATCHING YOU BLOW UP THAT STADIUM DID TO ME, HUH? TO WATCH YOU FLY AWAY AND NOT KNOWING IF YOU WERE COMING BACK TO US? I THOUGHT I'D LOST THE ONLY THING IN MY LIFE THAT WAS MAKING IT WORTH IT! I THOUGHT I'D NEVER SEE YOU SMILE OR LAUGH OR…OR…GODDAMN YOU, YOU STUBBORN SAIYAN!"
Bulma was violently shaking, her short blue hair a tousled mess. The entire group of their friends behind them was silent, even Goku had been rendered speechless, though he was looking much more serene and calm than Vegeta expected, though considering the nature of their conversation back on the planet of the Kai's, he'd probably expected Bulma would have had a reaction akin similar to this one.
No one made a sound. They all just stared at Bulma Briefs as though she were suddenly the most dangerous being on the entire planet Earth. Vegeta finally lifted his gaze to face his mate's expression, her beautiful features no longer twisted and contorted in rage, but now with pain.
A horrible, antagonizing hurt glimmering as tears in her eyes. Her blue eyes were no longer warm and lively, but dull. This was not what Vegeta had wanted. A horrible shame filled him. Bulma never reverted her gaze from her husband. Not for a second.
His Woman just continued to stare up at him, panting heavily, her breaths coming to her in ragged gasps.
Then, she threw her arms around Vegeta's neck and sobbed into his chest, her fingers threading into his hair. She clung to him with every fiber of her being, as though she thought if she were to let him go, he would disappear.
"I—I thought…You—Vegeta, you didn't…" But she couldn't even bring herself to complete an entire sentence as another half-choked sob cut her off from her next words. "Why…?"
Vegeta wound his arms tightly around his Woman, no longer giving a damn if anyone saw. Let them see it, he thought angrily to himself, keeping his eyes squeezed shut.
"Bulma." His wife's name escaped his lips as a whisper. She pulled away to meet his black eyes. She opened her mouth to speak but Vegeta shook his head and cut her off. "I need to speak with you. In private," he said through gritted teeth.
Bulma nodded numbly, turning to peer over Vegeta's shoulder towards the rest of her friends, and then back to her mate and conceded, turning her back and walking away.
Vegeta took Bulma by the hand, and Trunks' hand in the other, and led his little family away from the rest of their friends' prying eyes and listening ears. As the group watched them leave, Android 18 huffed and stood up to follow them.
"No way, 18, let them go! They need time to sort this out and be with one another. They're both hurting from what happened. Let them go, honey," Krillin spoke up somberly, grasping onto his wife's wrist and gently pulling the blonde back, so she was now standing beside him and their child.
"Krillin…" Android 18 protested in a cutting bite. She scowled and shoved her hands in the pockets of her jeans.
"I trust Vegeta. He's a good guy now, he's one of us. If this were any other man, I'd probably let you follow Bulma now that you two are friends. But this is Vegeta, honey. He's one of us now and I think…" Krillin paused to look at Goku and shot the taller man an odd-little half-smile. "I think he always has been," he murmured, turning away, and watching his friends go, thinking how much the man had changed, and hardly daring to believe there had been a time when Krillin had almost killed him. But Goku stopped him.
Krillin could now honestly say that he was glad he had.
Android 18, however, didn't look totally convinced, but she took a step back and brought her hands to rest on her daughter's shoulders.
"He better not hurt her any further."
BULMA quite literally stalked her way to the edge of the Lookout Tower, not looking at Vegeta as she led the way. She didn't let them stop until they'd stopped a few feet from the edge. She shrugged out of her husband's grasp and did not immediately look at him.
"Talk. You've got exactly one minute to tell me why you left your family, Vegeta, before I hit you so goddamn hard you'll wish that Majin Buu over there had killed you and you'd stayed dead in Other World. So, talk. Let's hear it."
Coming from Bulma, it was not a request.
"Why did you…" Bulma paused, trying to find the best way to ask. "Why did you give yourself up to that creature? Did you lose faith in us? You go off into danger all the time, but you never let me help you anymore! Not since…not since Frieza and the bomb. I've never been so insulted in my life! Do you really have so little faith in me, Vegeta? I'm your wife, aren't I? We're supposed to be partners, mates, but you went off without me!" she asked, referring to Babadi, and pausing to ruffle Trunks' light lavender hair. She turned back to look at Vegeta. "Well?" Bulma huffed and put her hands on her hips, restlessly tapping her foot while she awaited his answer. Vegeta paused, searching for the right words to say.
In the end, his heart answered for him. He said the only thing he could think of.
I'm…sorry, he choked out in their linked bond, unable to bring himself to voice his apology out loud as he led his wife and son away from the rest of the crowd at the Lookout's edge. He was almost trembling as he took in his wide-eyed wife and son, not sure what to say and at a total loss for words.
I thought…I—I didn't think about the three of you…
Damn you, Vegeta, you never do, Bulma accused, but her tone was lacking the harsh bite Vegeta thought it should have had. Kami, Geta, but you never think. Not properly, at least. I don't know who's worse, you or Goku over there…Bulma forced out a nervous laugh as Trunks nudged himself in between the two of them and clung to his father's leg. Saiyans. I swear…. And then her arms were winding tightly around him, and Vegeta numbly accepted her hug, even though the Saiyan King knew he did not deserve it. How could you possibly think I'd be better off without you, Geta? And Trunks needs his father in his life to teach him what it means to be a Saiyan because Kami knows that I can't…
Quit sobs interrupted her words as she sniffled once or twice, wiping at her nose with the back of her hand. I was so worried, Vegeta. I was so scared. I—I thought that you…
I'm still… Vegeta stifled a low growl, a deep rumble that formed in the pit of his chest. He thought he would die before he'd ever admitted this out loud, but he had to remind himself this conversation was private. Still scared, Woman, he told her.
For some reason, it seemed important that Bulma understand that fact.
I'm…more terrified than I've ever been, even though it's over, he said, his hand coming to rest on the flat of her abdomen, already imagining the coming months as her stomach would grow large with their second child, and he would be there for this child too, just like Trunks.
Of what? Bulma asked. He could feel her cool tears on his bruised neck and shoulder. Scared of what, Vegeta? Tell me.
Vegeta exhaled a long, deep breath as he closed his eyes, letting Bulma rest her forehead against his, basking in his mate's warmth.
Of being hated by our children. Of being resented because of what I am, the lengths I have to go to protect you both, of being gone from their lives too long. He paused. Of not…of not being good enough for Trunks and our next child. Vegeta bit down on his bottom lip and waited.
Okay, I'm gonna stop you right there. Shut up, Vegeta, shut the hell up right now, Bulma said immediately, and this time, she did sound angry with him. Though sad as well. You've always been good enough, Geta. Always. Don't forget that.
The pair embraced for a few minutes longer, content to just stay like that, and then Vegeta reluctantly pulled away until his hands rested on her hips, though he felt Trunks tugging on his hand again, no doubt wanting a hug from his father.
I'm so sorry, he said again. He wondered if going forward he would ever manage to say it enough times to both of them.
Bulma slowly nodded, and then glanced down at Trunks, before letting one of her own hands drift and settle overtop of her flat stomach.
"It's not okay yet," she told him aloud. That was fine. It was as it should be, and it was honestly more than Vegeta had been expecting.
Bulma firmly cupped Vegeta's jaw in one hand, which was beginning to be graced with the prickling of stubble from his days without shaving.
"You broke my heart, Geta, when you—when you killed those people," Bulma said hesitantly in a choked voice. "When you left us," Bulma added, looking down towards Trunks, who looked as if he wanted to say something to his dad but didn't. "Don't ever you do that again, Vegeta. Ever."
Her pale blue irises clouded over for a moment, darkening, almost cerulean in color. Vegeta instinctively felt his body stiffen, preparing himself for one of Bulma's signature slaps.
But that moment for him never came.
Instead, to his surprise, his wife's blue eyes softened, and she reached up to let her lips brush against his, tenderly at first, then more passionate. Shock flitted across Vegeta's face at that moment, then before he could stop himself, he was kissing her back. His lips moved slowly across Bulma's, allowing him to drink her in and savor the sweetness of her kiss.
In truth, Vegeta knew Bulma was the only thing that could heal him at this point. No Senzu Beans ever came close to this. Bulma shocked at first at her own boldness, quickly recovered, and allowed herself to get lost in their moment. She pressed herself as close to her husband as she could, wrapping her arms around his neck and threading her fingers through his wild black hair.
She glided her tongue along his lip, begging for entrance. He gladly conceded to his Queen. His hands traveled up and down her spine, his fingertips leaving little trails of flame, fireworks in their wake, eliciting tremors of pleasure from his Woman.
They broke away finally for breath (much to Trunks' relief), still clinging to one another as though they were each other's lifeline. "How? How is it that Buu didn't kill you, Vegeta?" gasped Bulma, unable to believe that her husband was well and truly back from the dead and alive and in her arms.
Vegeta furrowed his thick brows in a frown. This was what he'd wanted to say to her all along, but he'd been distracted.
He inhaled a deep breath and told her everything. His and Kakarot's multiple discussions, how it had been him who had forced Vegeta to see the light about fighting for what really mattered-and that those things were right in front of him. Bulma and Trunks were his reason.
At that, she cried. Half between her happiness that Vegeta had found a newfound reason to fight and keep going, and half because he'd almost gotten himself killed a second time fighting Buu. How in Kami's name did Vegeta have that sort of strength, even for a Super Saiyan? She knew if she were a Saiyan, she could never find it within herself to do something like that.
Bulma swallowed a lump in her throat and pressed her lips against his again, her kiss briefer this time, but loving all the same, and affectionate. When she pulled apart, her blue eyes softened.
"Just because it's not okay now, doesn't mean it never will be, Vegeta," she whispered, smiling shyly at him.
Vegeta numbly nodded. He didn't know what else to possibly say to his wife. And then he caught a familiar flash of black and blue on her hand, and a wave of relief washed over him when he saw that it was his Woman's wedding ring.
Bulma hadn't taken it off after the incident at the World Martial Arts Tournament. Vegeta hadn't realized until this exact moment that he had been terrified that Bulma had.
The Saiyan King instinctively pulled his Queen in for another hug, his scarred arms winding tight around hers. He paused for a moment to pull Trunks into the hug too.
"Dad! Hey, c'mon, cut it out, the others are watching, you're gonna embarrass me and Mom with this!" Trunks protested, squirming trying to get out from underneath his father's iron grip, though if anything, Vegeta's hold on his son tightened.
But Vegeta didn't listen to his son. Their son clung to his father's leg, and their baby not yet born and would not be for another eight months was held tightly between the Saiyan King and his mate, and the black and blue rings of their family held their little dysfunctional family together.
That knowledge grounded Vegeta. It reminded him of what was really important, just as Kakarot had done several times. Briefly, he peeked open an eyelid and caught Kakarot smiling at him. But not smugly.
He looked…at peace. Calm. Content, even. Vegeta's cheeks burned and flushed red with embarrassment, though Vegeta summoned enough strength to lift his head from the crook of Bulma's shoulder, where he'd nestled his head, offering Kakarot a small nod.
Kakarot smiled and shot him a look that told Vegeta he didn't need to thank him, that what he was doing right now to make amends with his family was more than enough. Kakarot put one hand on the small of his own mate's back and began to steer him and his family back towards the inside of the Lookout Tower, complaining loudly about how hungry he was, much to Popo and Kami's dawning horror.
Bulma snorted and rolled her eyes.
"I guess that's our cue," she sighed, and would have turned away to join their friends in a celebratory meal now that Earth was back to normal, but Vegeta's ironclad grip on her waist prevented her from taking so much as a single step forward. In his mind, he wanted more time to linger with just his wife and his son.
"I promise, Woman," he promised, whispering his words quietly into the shell of Bulma's ear as he pulled her in close so that she splayed her hands across his chest for another hug. His voice was so quiet he wasn't even sure if Bulma and Trunks heard his words, but he had to try to make himself heard. "I promise, Bulma, Trunks…no more running. I'm not going anywhere after this. I'd rather spend whatever time I do have left on this planet with you and our children, Bulma."
He pulled back slightly to study her face, brushing a stray wisp of her blue hair back behind the curve of her ear, the glint of her little gold hoop earrings catching the light of the sun, though their sparkle did not nearly come close to matching the brilliant sapphires of his Bulma's eyes.
Bulma's lips curled up into a soft smile as she let her left hand drift and squeeze onto his, studying their wedding rings.
"I think I like that idea, Vegeta," she whispered softly.
Bulma took a moment to study her husband's face and brought her hands to her face, chuckling as they heard Trunks groan in exasperation and finally bolt into a run to catch up with Goten and the rest, also complaining about how starving he was, and he hoped Mr. Popo was making something good to eat. Bulma rolled her eyes and shook her head to herself at her son's antics. Vegeta followed where his wife's gaze was looking as her eyes followed their son.
He reached for her hand and gave it a firm, light squeeze.
"Are you ready?" Vegeta asked in a hoarse voice, speaking plainly of attempting to rebuild the broken trust that he had damaged when he had allowed his pride and arrogance to get the better of him, and he'd let that stupid old wizard assume control of his mind.
Much to his relief, Bulma nodded, a soft, shy smile tugging the corners of her lips up.
She leaned to the side and rested her head against the crook of his shoulder, while Vegeta wound an arm around his mate's waist, and when she spoke as Vegeta slowly led the way towards the inside of the newly restored Lookout Tower, she had lowered her voice low enough so that her answer was meant for Vegeta, and for her husband alone.
"Together."