The Shattering

By LindaN

"Something good happened right before he left that world.

His heart was opened up". *

King Kai to Yamcha and Tien

Alone in his quiet place, the brightness of the midday sun forced him to close his eyes to shield them from its intensity. And the heat of the summer afternoon seductively lolled him to slumber. To sleep, perchance to dream, sweet prince -- to dream of the earth woman who had touched him to the very core of his being. In his dreams he was free to hold her, to taste her, to savor her very essence. And rather than ravage her with typical Saiyan cruelty, he would always envelope her gently, savoring her, absorbing her. She would open up to him and allow him to enter her heart and her body with ease. In his dreams, he could love her.

The intensity of the passion he felt upon waking was maddening. 'I am warrior!' he said to himself as he fired a blast that sent the nearby grove of trees into oblivion.

On his former planet, passion was channeled into anger, anger into rage, and rage into strength. And strength meant victory in battle. On his former planet, mating had evolved into a calculated science permitting only the strongest males and females from each class to participate for the sole purpose of producing offspring. And expressed passion for a fellow warrior, male or female, was a dishonorable crime. Illicit mating was punishable by death.

He determined to distance himself from the object of his passion at all costs. His body had returned to normal and no longer strained against its confines. And with that, he arose to his feet and chose to walk, rather than fly, back to Capsule Corporation.

The woman was nowhere to be found but the fragrance of her perfume lingered in the sultry afternoon air. He decided to train in the Gravity Room rather than gather his possessions and leave as he had planned. It would be good therapy until he could gather his thoughts and decide where to go from here.

Yet, how could he leave right now? Months earlier, that strange boy had said the androids would surface on planet earth in a little over a year. Their arrival presented him with the unique opportunity to prove once and for all that he was stronger than Kakarrot.

He decided to stay and train and would make the object of his passion hate him - he determined to treat her with the utmost cruelty, keeping his distance as much as possible.

But before he could make his escape to the Gravity Room, the familiar sound of her voice preceded her entrance into the living room.

"Hey, Home Boy - where ya been?" she asked teasingly. The fragrance of her perfume did not completely mask the scent of her body's desire. It electrified him.

"None of your business, woman! Now get out of my way". With that he pushed her aside and stormed past her, dismissing the urge to take her up in his arms as he had done so many times in his dreams.

He set the machine to 400 times earth normal gravity and the tremendous pressure on his body stopped almost as soon as it started. The device was malfunctioning again.

'Woman", he bellowed over the intercom, "as usual you are too stupid to keep this device working for more than 15 seconds at a time! Get out here right now and fix this sorry excuse for a training chamber. Well? Woman where are you!"

Impatient and agitated, he decided to go straight inside and drag her out to the task at hand. Once inside, instead of finding the woman ready to argue with him, he found her in a heap on the floor. And she wasn't moving.

"Woman, get up right now! I've got no time for your silly games'. He nudged her with his foot but her body was lifeless. She was unconscious. He knelt down beside her and put his ear to her mouth. He could hear the faint sound of her breath and he was relieved.

But something was very different about her life energy. He sensed it. And without thinking, he placed his hand on her abdomen. Yes, new cells within her body had begun to grow and he was saddened. Did she know? Was this why she had been so sick lately? Was this why Yamcha had stopped coming around? He vowed to kill the man if he'd chosen to desert her at a time like this. Startled by the intimacy of his touch, he quickly jerked back his hand as though he had just touched hot coals.

"Vegeta, what happened to me? One minute I was standing there and the next thing I know I'm here on the floor".

"Woman, where has your weakling boyfriend been? Why isn't he here with you right now as he should be?" he demanded of her. Enraged, he looked down into the woman's soft blue eyes that had begun to well up with tears.

"Would you hold me? Just for a little while?" Without waiting for a response, the woman moved herself onto his lap and laid her head on his arm. She held onto him as though she were a small child seeking to be comforted. Silently, he allowed her to cradle herself into him.

"Vegeta, you're not as cold hearted as you believed yourself to be.

A heart of stone cannot shed tears the way you did".*

Kakarrot

And from somewhere deep in within himself he remembered those words. And even though he was a warrior he realized that he too had been cradled in someone's arms as Kakarrot had carried him to his makeshift grave on the planet Namek. He had seen it when he was passing to the next dimension the day he was killed by Frieza.

Looking down at the woman, he watched in silent wonder as the first tear overflowed her cheek and rolled down upon his arm. He had never before felt the intimate warmth of another's tears and he could scarcely hear the woman's words above the sound of the shattering of his defenses.

He could see that she was opening herself up to him and was allowing him to enter her heart, and was longing for him to enter her body. The scent of her desire was intoxicating to him. With that, he arose to his feet and carried the woman upstairs to her bedroom. As he laid her down on her bed he could hardly breathe. He then looked into her soft blue eyes and he could feel his body begin to strain against its confines. He reached down to touch her tear stained cheek with his fingertips. His fingers moved slowly from her cheek to her chin, from her chin to her neck, and from her neck to her breast. He lingered there for a moment, lowering his hand over her breast, cupping it, savoring its firmness and warmth.

It had gone too far for him to stop. Passion, compassion, and love entwined together, holding his heart captive. His hand continued its journey down the length of the woman's body, passing slowing over her stomach, and stopping when he reached her body's secret place where he would soon be. Even through her garments he could feel the heat of her body. His gaze was fixed on her as he watched her soft blue eyes watch him remove his own garments, dropping each piece to the floor. He stood before her completely naked and he shared with her the sight of what no other female had ever seen. Yet, the warrior closed his eyes as he saw her hand reach out to encircle him.

All through that night, she opened herself to him and he entered her heart and her body with ease. He savored her and he loved her. Piccolo had said once that Gohan had staked a claim in his heart so large it was impossible to drive him out - now Vegeta understood what he meant. It was no longer possible to remove the woman from his being. And he knew that that which was already growing in her body did not matter to him. He would care for her always. And the next morning when the woman awoke, he was gone.

No one saw Vegeta for the next several days. He had gone to his quiet place to figure out his next move. He thought about Kakarrot who had attained the legendary transformation to Super Saiyan. Not only did he not have a tail but also he had a mate whom he lived with openly, and he had a son. He lived his life with compassion and without fear and he repeatedly had sacrificed himself for others.

Vegeta also thought about Piccolo who openly cared about his friends and yet was by far the strongest Namekian he had ever encountered. He decided to train even harder to become stronger than Kakarrot. He would also take the woman for his mate. The intensity of the passion he was feeling was driving him back to Corporation - he determined to have the woman as often as he wanted her.

"Woman", he bellowed over the intercom, "this device is broken again! Get out here right now and fix this sorry excuse for a training chamber". Vegeta smiled to himself as he imagined her reaction to the sight of him standing stark naked in the middle of the training chamber waiting for her.

He planned to grab her before she could say a word and reach around her from behind, trapping both of her wrists in one of his hands. With the other hand he planned to rip her lower garment off. Then he was going to put his hands on her hips and raise her up off the floor and he was going to bite her round behind just hard enough to make her scream out in pleasure. And finally, he was going to lower her onto his rigid member -- raising her and lowering her at his discretion, not allowing her to move unless he moved her. Eyes closed, he imagined the scene in his mind. He would have her over and over and she would know what it was like to have a real mate. If she had any thoughts left of Yamcha, today would erase them from her mind.

Vegeta was so engrossed in his thoughts that he let his defenses down for just a moment in time and didn't hear the door to the chamber open until it was too late.

"Ah, Vegeta?", Mr. Briefs stammered. "How about if I come back later"? With that, he turned to leave.

"Tell anyone about this and I'll blast you into oblivion".

"Daddy", Bulma asked, "you've been laughing to yourself all afternoon. What is wrong with you?"

"All in good time, my dear, all in good time. I've got a feeling you are probably going to solve this mystery all by yourself". And with that, Mr. Brief's crumpled onto the couch in uncontrollable laughter.

Later that night, Vegeta flew into the woman's room through the open window. She was sound asleep and she was wearing only a flimsy night garment. Not wanting to startle her as she might wake up screaming, he gently shook her shoulders. When she woke, he put his hand over her mouth and whispered for her not to make a sound. With that, he gathered her up and flew out of the window. All the way to the quiet place, the woman angrily protested and demanded to be taken home but the scent of her body told him a different story.

"Woman, I claim you for my mate. You will cook for me and your body will be mine whenever I want it".

"In your dreams Vegeta! Who do you think you are? One night with me and you think you own me? Well think again you jerk! Now take me home before I scratch your eyes out".

"Are you sure you are not part Saiyan?", he teased. "Everything about you screams out to be taken. Now sit down and shut up".

He walked up behind her and slowly began to rub her temples, then her neck and shoulders. He raised his power level just enough to increase the heat and electricity in his hands as they teasingly made their way down to her breasts. He could feel her breath quicken and he stopped just short of touching them. Still behind her, he touched his lips to her neck as he reached around her waist. He raised her to her feet and pressed her tightly to himself.

Vegeta put his hands on her inner thighs and spread her legs until he had clear access to that wondrous place that electrified him. With both thumbs he lightly stroked her and she pressed back into him. He had encased her in his arms and could feel her body begin to move in rhythm with him as he began to rock his hips back and forth while pressing her to him. He entered her from behind and out there in the moonlight, their bodies began to move to a dance known only to the both of them. One in which passion overcomes reason, and two truly become one.

"Do you love me, Vegeta?"

"Woman, you are mine".

"But do you love me?''

"Shut up, or I'll blast you!"

"Will I have to swallow it?"

"Woman you disgust me! Get over here right now and keep me warm". And with that, they fell asleep in the moonlight.

Over the next several months, Vegeta, Mr. and Mrs. Briefs, and Yamcha were the only people who knew about Bulma's pregnancy. The others were off training intensely for the androids. Her son, Trunks, was born about a month before the androids arrived. Vegeta decided to leave Capsule Corporation until the day of battle because he needed to get stronger without distractions and he needed to gather his thoughts about his new offspring.

Time seemed to flow together for Vegeta as the battles began. First the Androids, then realizing that the boy from the future was his adult son, and finally preparing for Cell. It wasn't until he saw his adult son die at the hands of Cell that he came to feel the bond between parent and offspring. That boy claimed a place in is heart and while he had deserted his son in the future, he would not make the same mistake with his young son in the present. After the Cell games, he married Bulma Briefs.

He had known about Bulma's illness ever since that afternoon five years earlier when he found her on the floor unconscious yet he kept her secret in silence. Those cells he detected growing with in her body were from cancer. Even after the doctors confirmed that his wife was dieing, Vegeta never told a soul that he had known this ending from the very beginning.

Bulma, in her typical stubbornness, did not want to use the dragon balls to wish her illness away. She didn't want to bother the dragon for something so trivial because she was sure the doctors would be able to cure her. 'Besides', she would say,' if I die, you can just wish me back'.

How could they have known that Dende himself would die shortly before the doctors announced that Bulma's illness was incurable. And with the death of Dende, the dragon balls disappeared. Try as they might to get to Namek for another guardian, the journey by space ship would have taken several hundred years.

Vegeta lingered for hours in his quiet place, not wanting to sleep because the dreams broke his heart and not wanting to be awake because the reality was even more painful. Apart from the woman for what seemed to be an eternity, he longed for her. And so he determined to go see her this one last time. And with that he arose to his feet and chose to walk, rather than fly, back to Capsule Corporation.

Bulma had chosen to die at home where she could be with her friends and family. And she had invited everyone – Krillin, 18, and little Marron, Piccolo, Master Roshi, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaoutzu, OxKing, Puar, Oolong, Mr. and Mrs. Briefs, and ChiChi, Gohan and little Goten – to come and stay at Capsule Corporation for the last few days of her life. She wanted to be able to talk with all of them, laugh and cry with all of them, and finally say goodbye to all of them.

As he approached on foot from his quiet place, Vegeta could see everyone standing outside waiting for him. From their river of tears, he knew that this would be the day, indeed, the very hour in which she would be gone forever.

'I am a warrior', he whispered to himself, 'I can do this'.

ChiChi reached out to embrace him but he put his hand up to stop her. He stood perfectly erect, shoulders back, and looked straight ahead with all the pride of the Saiyan prince that he was. He simply could not show them the pain within his heart or he would not be able to do what he had to do.

'I am a warrior', he whispered to himself, 'I can do this'.

He silently walked passed all of them and made his way up the stairs to that familiar bedroom and opened the door. On their bed lay his mate – and passion, compassion, and love once again entwined his heart until he could scarcely breathe.

The doctor was gazing silently out of the window and his young son, Trunks, was asleep on the bed beside his mother. Vegeta dismissed the doctor and asked him to take little Trunks down to ChiChi.

He watched his wife watch him as he removed his garments and dropped them to the floor. One last time he stood there, naked before her. He lifted the covers and lay beside this woman who had shown him so much in such a short time. Those soft blue eyes that he had looked upon so many times over the last five years welled with tears as he embraced her. She made him promise to always take care of little Trunks. He promised. She made him promise to always love her. He promised. She asked him to promise not to be sad for too long. He simply held her.

And as his tears spilled down onto her shoulder where he had laid his head, he could scarcely hear her tell him goodbye over the sound of the shattering of his heart. Holding her tightly but unable to keep her, the woman of his dreams passed into the next dimension and was gone.

* DragonBallZ, episode 72, The Ultimate Battle. Funimation Productions

* DragonBallZ, episode 71, The End of Vegeta. Funimation Productions