AN: The big twist is revealed in this chapter... Well it isn't really
big, but it's a twist!
~*~
Just as Bulma was about to speak again, a soft tap on the bedroom door interrupted the fragile moment.
Bulma's eyes grew in fear as she grasped her grown daughter tightly to her chest, "He's here!" She whispered fearfully into Bra's ear.
Bra tried to pull herself out of her mother's death grip. She gently stroked her mother's cheek in a comforting gesture. "Momma, I have to answer the door." She watched as her mother reluctantly let her go, retreating back into the sullen visage she had been before.
Rising up from the chair, Bra slowly made her way across the large room and opened the door. She came face to face with a woman with a bright and cheerful blond-haired woman, attired in a full nurse's uniform. The nurse held up a tray full of bottles.
"Time for your mother's medicine!" She crooned in a sickeningly vibrant tone. The shadow of a muscular man stood behind the energetic nurse.
Bra threw a look over her shoulder, checking her mother's position. "But, I thought I was allowed to stay with her the whole night! She was just beginning to open up to me!" Bra hissed in alarm.
The nurse shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry sweetie, maybe another time. I'm just doing my job. Your mother needs to rest now, you'll have all the time in the world to speak to her later."
Bra let a rush of air flow past her teeth. "Make it fast," she whispered, turning around and maneuvering herself to her mother's slumped form. It were as though she was desperately trying to mold herself into the chair, and disappear.
The young blue-haired woman crouched down before her mother, "Momma, it's time for some medicine to make you feel better. You want to feel better, don't you?" She asked softly, wincing at the patronizing tone of her voice.
Her mother nodded hesitantly, still thumbing through the thick diary. She place her small and bony hand into that of her daughter's allowing herself to be pulled up.
Bulma turned to face the woman with the blonde-hair, she smiled gently. "Is it time already? I still have to talk to Bra-chan about many things... Terrible things." Her voice had grown considerably childish, yet contained the weariness of an adult that had seen many horrors. She didn't seem to notice the dark figure in the corner of the room, her mind not aware of her surroundings, which was a good thing at present.
The nurse smiled back, her dazzling white teeth sparkling in the rays of the setting sun. She did not take any notice of the blue-haired woman's strange behavior. She walked up to the beautiful woman and led her quickly to the bed. "I know you do dear, but you can always talk to Bra-chan later, can't you?" Her voice held no remorse as she spoke to the elder woman as though she were a mere child of five. "Lay down and then you can go to sleep. You like sleep don't you?"
Bulma was now laying completely on the bed, her pale blue eyes looking up at the kind woman in wonder. "I enjoy sleeping-" As her mouth opened, the nurse shoved a spoon full of thick purple liquid into her mouth. Bulma swallowed it without fuss, "But I have to-" Another spoon full of medicine was rammed down her throat. This time it was green and tasted like fish oil. She made a face, clamping her mouth shut. She had forgotten how horrible the green medicine tasted.
Another spoon full of clear liquid hovered over her lips. Bulma shook her head adamantly, not wanting to take anymore.
The nurse sighed in defeat, "The terrible man will come back if you don't take the final spoon of medicine. Do you want the awful man to come back, Bulma?"
She shook her head, fear sparkling in her cerulean eyes as she reluctantly opened her mouth. Tears blurred her vision as the burning liquid traveled down her throat, leaving the trail of a bittersweet taste on her tongue. The clear liquid was the worst of the three medicines. She yawned as the effectiveness of the medicine kicked in. Sleep swallowed her into its gentle embrace, enfolding around her like a thick, warm blanket. Sleep was good, sleep was her friend. A small smile formed on Bulma's lips. She enjoyed sleeping, it always seemed to drive her troubles away.
The nurse twisted the caps on the bottle again and smiled at the young girl that had now perched herself on the edge of the bed, holding her mother's frail sleeping hand. "We'll have her back in no time, Ma'am."
Bra nodded in reply and watched quietly as the woman left the room with a bounce in her step. As the door clicked shut, her eyes caught notice of the figure standing by the large window, looking out at the sea front and setting sun. She pulled her hand out of her mother's and padded up to the figure gazing out of the window.
~*~
"What are we going to do?" Bra whispered as she found herself standing beside the man, looking in the direction of the setting sun.
A soft grunt was her only reply.
Bra reached out and gently grasped the man's hand, gripping it tightly.
The man turned to her and scowled furiously, but the affectionate look on his face was not lost upon the young woman. "She's losing it, Daddy... We'll never get her back." Bra sobbed out in grief, unable to return her gaze to the cold look of her father's raven black eyes.
"Brat," his gruff voice was soothing to the irate young woman, "How is she?" The cold tone of his voice belied the suffering that was underneath his stoic demeanor.
Bra shook her head, looking despondently at her father. "She's delusional," she replied as tactfully as she could. "Her whole memory has been tangled in this odd web lies that she had constructed. She told me how the Saiyans came to Earth and-"
"That is true," Vegeta interrupted, seeing the desperation in his daughter. "Saiyans did come here on Earth, but only three and those two died. I am the soul survivor of our Saiyan race, along with your idiot husband's brain dead father, Kakarott." He watched irately as his daughter tried to hide the small smile on her lips.
Bra sighed, "I know the story... You came in search of the Dragonballs and I know you're still sour about being beaten by Goten's father. I know the whole story Daddy! But this was different. She told me that she had been captured, taken on a ship to Vegeta-sei, your home planet. She said she had been made a slave and had even described one of the slaves in the ship to a 'T' almost as though she had actually met the woman."
Vegeta arched his thick eyebrow. The things his daughter was speaking of seemed completely absurd, but he knew that every single detail was true. His daughter was not one to lie, nor was his mate, had she been in the right mind. "We seem to be losing your mother day by day, daughter."
Bra nodded in agreement, "Oh Dende, if you could have heard the tales she had concocted from the half-truths and broken past in her mind... It was, frightening. I was afraid for her, Daddy. I still am."
"I do not doubt that," he mused quietly. His gaze returned to the setting sun, a dark cloud of emotions rising in his features. "It is a shame that she starts to scream and writhe in my presence. She can't even look at me without wailing or falling unconscious. It is my own fault that she is in this position." He said darkly, feeling his shoulder slump. They seemed to weigh more than usual to the Saiyan man.
Bra wrapped her own arm around her father's, it was the only way he allowed her to hug him. "Don't say that Daddy, she just... Something must have triggered her to be this way." The intellectual mind her mother once had was not wasted upon the younger woman.
She looked up at the profile of her father's face and saw a flicker of reckoning dance over his normally stony face. It was as though he had known exactly what had triggered this bout of insanity in her mother. She frowned, about to say something when his voice stopped her short.
"How does she recall her so-called memories?" He asked wearily. The past month had been a tumultuous time for the former Saiyan Prince.
"Through a diary. Her diary." Bra said absently, watching the different colors of purple and pink streak the sky. She tilted her head in awe. It was surprising that no matter how many times she witnessed a sunset, it always looked dangerously beautiful to her.
The flame-haired man frowned. "Diary?"
Bra nodded and went to the chair her mother had previously sat on. She picked up the thick papyrus papered book. Carefully, she handed it to her father. "Here, this is the diary she read to me from."
Vegeta examined the book in confusion. Since when had his mate kept a diary? He opened it slowly and felt his frown deepen. "There is nothing in here!" He growled angrily.
Bra gasped and tore the book from his hands. She zipped through the empty pages carelessly, "What?" She sputtered indignantly, "B-but she read her entries from here! Daddy, I swear on Dende-"
"That is enough, Bra." Vegeta said solemnly. This farce had gone on long enough. "Leave me with your mother, I wish to spend time alone with her." He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice. He could only be in the company of his mate when she was asleep. She would not even look upon him if she were awake and so he had resolutely demanded the doctor of the mental institution to allow him a small shred of decency and let him stay in her presence during her sleeping hours.
"But-"
"Not now, Bra." He grounded out in annoyance. He needed time to think!
Bra blinked slowly, utterly hurt by her father's reaction. "Alright," she stood up on tip toes and softly kissed his cheek, wanting to laugh as his expression soured. He had always hated outward shows of affection. And much to his chagrin, his daughter enjoyed watching his sputtering reactions whenever she showed a gesture of love in his direction.
"But," she continued, "If she wakes up, for Dende's sake and yours, just leave the room."
He glared sharply at her, knowing that she meant well. He couldn't even speak to his won fucking mate because every time she laid eyes upon him, she would burst into different forms of epileptic fits! "Fine!" He snapped back. He regretted his harsh tone as a hurt look fell upon the sweet and angelic face that mirrored his mate's. He winced inwardly.
"Ok," she said softly. With her head bowed in shame, she pulled her arm from her father's and turned to leave.
She halted, finding her father's hand gripping her upper arm. She looked up questioningly into his ebony colored eyes that neither herself or her brother had inherited.
"She will be ok, won't she?" His voice seemed to quiver with the unchecked emotions. And at that moment, Vegeta had never felt as vulnerable as he had in all his life.
Bra smiled sadly, rushing into her father and hugging him tightly. The hug was not returned, but she didn't care. "I hope so, Daddy. I hope so." With the final parting whispered, she quickly left the embrace and exited the room, suddenly feeling suffocated.
~*~
Thoughts of her mother still lingered as Bra found her husband waiting patiently for her in the lobby of the hospital. She let one sob of fear escape her lips, as she buried herself in his strong embrace. "Goten, I don't think she'll ever be the same.." Bra cried softly into the strong shoulder of her husband.
"Let's go home honey. You need to rest, or you'll wear yourself down." His strong and masculine voice comforted her greatly. He laced his arm around her waist and guided her out of the hospital.
Bra sniffled, gently resting her head on her husband's shoulder as they slowly walked towards the exit. "She's a different person now, Goten."
"How?" He asked curiously.
"She has all these different memories that make her think of another time and place. Even the reason I was conceived must be different from the reality." She said dully.
"How is Vegeta taking it so far?" He grimaced as he spoke his father in- law's name.
Bra shook her head, "He's pretending to be unaffected by it. But I know it's eating him up inside. I'm scared of what he will do if Momma ever truly does leave us," she whispered sadly.
Goten squeezed her waist tightly, lightly kissing the top of her head. "Everything will be ok." He said firmly, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of doubt resound in his head.
As they slowly made their way out of the hospital Goten grimaced at the sign that was plastered across the sliding doors.
'Thank you for visiting the West City Mental Institute. We hope you enjoyed your stay.'
He shook his head at the ironically written farewell note. It would be enough to drive anyone away from the hospital, kicking and screaming.
~*~
The setting sun had all but disappeared. All that was left was small fluffy gray clouds dotted across night sky. Vegeta could barely make out the shining stars under the haze of the polluted fog that blanketed the city. The waves of the sea beyond the hospital, crashed against the shore in a rhythmic motion, enough to make any strong-willed man sea sick.
He tossed the 'diary' back into the chair and slowly made his way back to the slumbering woman.
Pulling up a chair, he sat in the dark night, content on watching her sleep. It was the only thing Vegeta could do to determine her presence. She might as well have been dead to him in the day time, knowing full well that he could not visit if she was in a conscious state.
Carefully, he reached out and brushed away a stray strand of blue hair that was plastered on her cheek. He didn't even know why that gesture caused him such pain. It would have been better if he had never laid eyes upon the blue-haired beauty, he thought bitterly to himself .
He had been the one to inflict such pain upon her. It was his fault and he knew it. The other's, his woman's friends, had tried to convince him that Bulma's mental health was not caused by him.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of her smooth and unblemished skin under his own hand. How long had it been since he had held her in their lover embrace? It seemed like an eternity since their bodies had moved together passionately, in the sacred dance of two lovers.
A cold lump formed in his throat, which he desperately tried to swallow. Visions of their couplings flashed through his mind. He thought of the many serene moments they had shared together, in which they had both bared their souls. It was in those times that he had held her close and listened to her soothing voice, lull him into a deep sleep.
It was because of her, his own nightmares had stopped. But even in their most intimate moments, Vegeta could see he was losing her. On some spiritual level, he could see the slow but gradual change that was taking place in his mate. And he had allowed it to happen. He hadn't stop the inevitable change and now, she was completely lost to him.
Like a fool, he had ignored her and now the consequences he suffered did not compare to any other pain he had felt before. From a distance, he could have almost sensed the imaginary voice that seemed to be speaking to her, slowly driving her to become a different person.
But he didn't do anything about it and it turned her into the odd woman she was today. He continued to believe and convince himself that their was nothing he could have done about it, nothing he could have destroyed or killed to make her better because the only thing causing her to change, was herself.
He couldn't help but remember the times he had seen her retreat into her own mind. As if she was shunning the really world and creating her own little dream world. He snarled, wondering how he could save her. There seemed no explainable answer to cure her!
The painful memories were too much for him to bear.
He growled as he forced himself to remember their last moments together, her last moment of sanity prior to when she crumbled before his eyes into the unknown woman she was today.
He knew now that it was entirely his fault for having taken her sanity. And he choked on a strangled cry as the memories rolled over him like a terrible nightmare. In despair he tried to pull away from them, not wanting to remember the memory. It was too much, the pain couldn't be fathomed as he drowned in the dire memory.
What was she doing to him? If Vegeta hadn't been careful, he may have found himself being dragged into his wife's insanity and then... They both would have been lost.
~*~
Living here on God's green earth,
This is how another human life,
Could have the power to take over mine,
And I will deliver you to Heaven's gates,
Because you are always and forever,
My beloved.
~*~
AN: I know it's a bad place to stop! But it will keep you all guessing more about what he had done to her, right?
Anyway, good? Bad? Review and let me know, it won't take long.
Strange twist right?
HAPPY EASTER.
~*~
Just as Bulma was about to speak again, a soft tap on the bedroom door interrupted the fragile moment.
Bulma's eyes grew in fear as she grasped her grown daughter tightly to her chest, "He's here!" She whispered fearfully into Bra's ear.
Bra tried to pull herself out of her mother's death grip. She gently stroked her mother's cheek in a comforting gesture. "Momma, I have to answer the door." She watched as her mother reluctantly let her go, retreating back into the sullen visage she had been before.
Rising up from the chair, Bra slowly made her way across the large room and opened the door. She came face to face with a woman with a bright and cheerful blond-haired woman, attired in a full nurse's uniform. The nurse held up a tray full of bottles.
"Time for your mother's medicine!" She crooned in a sickeningly vibrant tone. The shadow of a muscular man stood behind the energetic nurse.
Bra threw a look over her shoulder, checking her mother's position. "But, I thought I was allowed to stay with her the whole night! She was just beginning to open up to me!" Bra hissed in alarm.
The nurse shook her head sadly, "I'm sorry sweetie, maybe another time. I'm just doing my job. Your mother needs to rest now, you'll have all the time in the world to speak to her later."
Bra let a rush of air flow past her teeth. "Make it fast," she whispered, turning around and maneuvering herself to her mother's slumped form. It were as though she was desperately trying to mold herself into the chair, and disappear.
The young blue-haired woman crouched down before her mother, "Momma, it's time for some medicine to make you feel better. You want to feel better, don't you?" She asked softly, wincing at the patronizing tone of her voice.
Her mother nodded hesitantly, still thumbing through the thick diary. She place her small and bony hand into that of her daughter's allowing herself to be pulled up.
Bulma turned to face the woman with the blonde-hair, she smiled gently. "Is it time already? I still have to talk to Bra-chan about many things... Terrible things." Her voice had grown considerably childish, yet contained the weariness of an adult that had seen many horrors. She didn't seem to notice the dark figure in the corner of the room, her mind not aware of her surroundings, which was a good thing at present.
The nurse smiled back, her dazzling white teeth sparkling in the rays of the setting sun. She did not take any notice of the blue-haired woman's strange behavior. She walked up to the beautiful woman and led her quickly to the bed. "I know you do dear, but you can always talk to Bra-chan later, can't you?" Her voice held no remorse as she spoke to the elder woman as though she were a mere child of five. "Lay down and then you can go to sleep. You like sleep don't you?"
Bulma was now laying completely on the bed, her pale blue eyes looking up at the kind woman in wonder. "I enjoy sleeping-" As her mouth opened, the nurse shoved a spoon full of thick purple liquid into her mouth. Bulma swallowed it without fuss, "But I have to-" Another spoon full of medicine was rammed down her throat. This time it was green and tasted like fish oil. She made a face, clamping her mouth shut. She had forgotten how horrible the green medicine tasted.
Another spoon full of clear liquid hovered over her lips. Bulma shook her head adamantly, not wanting to take anymore.
The nurse sighed in defeat, "The terrible man will come back if you don't take the final spoon of medicine. Do you want the awful man to come back, Bulma?"
She shook her head, fear sparkling in her cerulean eyes as she reluctantly opened her mouth. Tears blurred her vision as the burning liquid traveled down her throat, leaving the trail of a bittersweet taste on her tongue. The clear liquid was the worst of the three medicines. She yawned as the effectiveness of the medicine kicked in. Sleep swallowed her into its gentle embrace, enfolding around her like a thick, warm blanket. Sleep was good, sleep was her friend. A small smile formed on Bulma's lips. She enjoyed sleeping, it always seemed to drive her troubles away.
The nurse twisted the caps on the bottle again and smiled at the young girl that had now perched herself on the edge of the bed, holding her mother's frail sleeping hand. "We'll have her back in no time, Ma'am."
Bra nodded in reply and watched quietly as the woman left the room with a bounce in her step. As the door clicked shut, her eyes caught notice of the figure standing by the large window, looking out at the sea front and setting sun. She pulled her hand out of her mother's and padded up to the figure gazing out of the window.
~*~
"What are we going to do?" Bra whispered as she found herself standing beside the man, looking in the direction of the setting sun.
A soft grunt was her only reply.
Bra reached out and gently grasped the man's hand, gripping it tightly.
The man turned to her and scowled furiously, but the affectionate look on his face was not lost upon the young woman. "She's losing it, Daddy... We'll never get her back." Bra sobbed out in grief, unable to return her gaze to the cold look of her father's raven black eyes.
"Brat," his gruff voice was soothing to the irate young woman, "How is she?" The cold tone of his voice belied the suffering that was underneath his stoic demeanor.
Bra shook her head, looking despondently at her father. "She's delusional," she replied as tactfully as she could. "Her whole memory has been tangled in this odd web lies that she had constructed. She told me how the Saiyans came to Earth and-"
"That is true," Vegeta interrupted, seeing the desperation in his daughter. "Saiyans did come here on Earth, but only three and those two died. I am the soul survivor of our Saiyan race, along with your idiot husband's brain dead father, Kakarott." He watched irately as his daughter tried to hide the small smile on her lips.
Bra sighed, "I know the story... You came in search of the Dragonballs and I know you're still sour about being beaten by Goten's father. I know the whole story Daddy! But this was different. She told me that she had been captured, taken on a ship to Vegeta-sei, your home planet. She said she had been made a slave and had even described one of the slaves in the ship to a 'T' almost as though she had actually met the woman."
Vegeta arched his thick eyebrow. The things his daughter was speaking of seemed completely absurd, but he knew that every single detail was true. His daughter was not one to lie, nor was his mate, had she been in the right mind. "We seem to be losing your mother day by day, daughter."
Bra nodded in agreement, "Oh Dende, if you could have heard the tales she had concocted from the half-truths and broken past in her mind... It was, frightening. I was afraid for her, Daddy. I still am."
"I do not doubt that," he mused quietly. His gaze returned to the setting sun, a dark cloud of emotions rising in his features. "It is a shame that she starts to scream and writhe in my presence. She can't even look at me without wailing or falling unconscious. It is my own fault that she is in this position." He said darkly, feeling his shoulder slump. They seemed to weigh more than usual to the Saiyan man.
Bra wrapped her own arm around her father's, it was the only way he allowed her to hug him. "Don't say that Daddy, she just... Something must have triggered her to be this way." The intellectual mind her mother once had was not wasted upon the younger woman.
She looked up at the profile of her father's face and saw a flicker of reckoning dance over his normally stony face. It was as though he had known exactly what had triggered this bout of insanity in her mother. She frowned, about to say something when his voice stopped her short.
"How does she recall her so-called memories?" He asked wearily. The past month had been a tumultuous time for the former Saiyan Prince.
"Through a diary. Her diary." Bra said absently, watching the different colors of purple and pink streak the sky. She tilted her head in awe. It was surprising that no matter how many times she witnessed a sunset, it always looked dangerously beautiful to her.
The flame-haired man frowned. "Diary?"
Bra nodded and went to the chair her mother had previously sat on. She picked up the thick papyrus papered book. Carefully, she handed it to her father. "Here, this is the diary she read to me from."
Vegeta examined the book in confusion. Since when had his mate kept a diary? He opened it slowly and felt his frown deepen. "There is nothing in here!" He growled angrily.
Bra gasped and tore the book from his hands. She zipped through the empty pages carelessly, "What?" She sputtered indignantly, "B-but she read her entries from here! Daddy, I swear on Dende-"
"That is enough, Bra." Vegeta said solemnly. This farce had gone on long enough. "Leave me with your mother, I wish to spend time alone with her." He tried to keep the hurt out of his voice. He could only be in the company of his mate when she was asleep. She would not even look upon him if she were awake and so he had resolutely demanded the doctor of the mental institution to allow him a small shred of decency and let him stay in her presence during her sleeping hours.
"But-"
"Not now, Bra." He grounded out in annoyance. He needed time to think!
Bra blinked slowly, utterly hurt by her father's reaction. "Alright," she stood up on tip toes and softly kissed his cheek, wanting to laugh as his expression soured. He had always hated outward shows of affection. And much to his chagrin, his daughter enjoyed watching his sputtering reactions whenever she showed a gesture of love in his direction.
"But," she continued, "If she wakes up, for Dende's sake and yours, just leave the room."
He glared sharply at her, knowing that she meant well. He couldn't even speak to his won fucking mate because every time she laid eyes upon him, she would burst into different forms of epileptic fits! "Fine!" He snapped back. He regretted his harsh tone as a hurt look fell upon the sweet and angelic face that mirrored his mate's. He winced inwardly.
"Ok," she said softly. With her head bowed in shame, she pulled her arm from her father's and turned to leave.
She halted, finding her father's hand gripping her upper arm. She looked up questioningly into his ebony colored eyes that neither herself or her brother had inherited.
"She will be ok, won't she?" His voice seemed to quiver with the unchecked emotions. And at that moment, Vegeta had never felt as vulnerable as he had in all his life.
Bra smiled sadly, rushing into her father and hugging him tightly. The hug was not returned, but she didn't care. "I hope so, Daddy. I hope so." With the final parting whispered, she quickly left the embrace and exited the room, suddenly feeling suffocated.
~*~
Thoughts of her mother still lingered as Bra found her husband waiting patiently for her in the lobby of the hospital. She let one sob of fear escape her lips, as she buried herself in his strong embrace. "Goten, I don't think she'll ever be the same.." Bra cried softly into the strong shoulder of her husband.
"Let's go home honey. You need to rest, or you'll wear yourself down." His strong and masculine voice comforted her greatly. He laced his arm around her waist and guided her out of the hospital.
Bra sniffled, gently resting her head on her husband's shoulder as they slowly walked towards the exit. "She's a different person now, Goten."
"How?" He asked curiously.
"She has all these different memories that make her think of another time and place. Even the reason I was conceived must be different from the reality." She said dully.
"How is Vegeta taking it so far?" He grimaced as he spoke his father in- law's name.
Bra shook her head, "He's pretending to be unaffected by it. But I know it's eating him up inside. I'm scared of what he will do if Momma ever truly does leave us," she whispered sadly.
Goten squeezed her waist tightly, lightly kissing the top of her head. "Everything will be ok." He said firmly, but he couldn't help but feel a pang of doubt resound in his head.
As they slowly made their way out of the hospital Goten grimaced at the sign that was plastered across the sliding doors.
'Thank you for visiting the West City Mental Institute. We hope you enjoyed your stay.'
He shook his head at the ironically written farewell note. It would be enough to drive anyone away from the hospital, kicking and screaming.
~*~
The setting sun had all but disappeared. All that was left was small fluffy gray clouds dotted across night sky. Vegeta could barely make out the shining stars under the haze of the polluted fog that blanketed the city. The waves of the sea beyond the hospital, crashed against the shore in a rhythmic motion, enough to make any strong-willed man sea sick.
He tossed the 'diary' back into the chair and slowly made his way back to the slumbering woman.
Pulling up a chair, he sat in the dark night, content on watching her sleep. It was the only thing Vegeta could do to determine her presence. She might as well have been dead to him in the day time, knowing full well that he could not visit if she was in a conscious state.
Carefully, he reached out and brushed away a stray strand of blue hair that was plastered on her cheek. He didn't even know why that gesture caused him such pain. It would have been better if he had never laid eyes upon the blue-haired beauty, he thought bitterly to himself .
He had been the one to inflict such pain upon her. It was his fault and he knew it. The other's, his woman's friends, had tried to convince him that Bulma's mental health was not caused by him.
They couldn't have been more wrong.
He closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation of her smooth and unblemished skin under his own hand. How long had it been since he had held her in their lover embrace? It seemed like an eternity since their bodies had moved together passionately, in the sacred dance of two lovers.
A cold lump formed in his throat, which he desperately tried to swallow. Visions of their couplings flashed through his mind. He thought of the many serene moments they had shared together, in which they had both bared their souls. It was in those times that he had held her close and listened to her soothing voice, lull him into a deep sleep.
It was because of her, his own nightmares had stopped. But even in their most intimate moments, Vegeta could see he was losing her. On some spiritual level, he could see the slow but gradual change that was taking place in his mate. And he had allowed it to happen. He hadn't stop the inevitable change and now, she was completely lost to him.
Like a fool, he had ignored her and now the consequences he suffered did not compare to any other pain he had felt before. From a distance, he could have almost sensed the imaginary voice that seemed to be speaking to her, slowly driving her to become a different person.
But he didn't do anything about it and it turned her into the odd woman she was today. He continued to believe and convince himself that their was nothing he could have done about it, nothing he could have destroyed or killed to make her better because the only thing causing her to change, was herself.
He couldn't help but remember the times he had seen her retreat into her own mind. As if she was shunning the really world and creating her own little dream world. He snarled, wondering how he could save her. There seemed no explainable answer to cure her!
The painful memories were too much for him to bear.
He growled as he forced himself to remember their last moments together, her last moment of sanity prior to when she crumbled before his eyes into the unknown woman she was today.
He knew now that it was entirely his fault for having taken her sanity. And he choked on a strangled cry as the memories rolled over him like a terrible nightmare. In despair he tried to pull away from them, not wanting to remember the memory. It was too much, the pain couldn't be fathomed as he drowned in the dire memory.
What was she doing to him? If Vegeta hadn't been careful, he may have found himself being dragged into his wife's insanity and then... They both would have been lost.
~*~
Living here on God's green earth,
This is how another human life,
Could have the power to take over mine,
And I will deliver you to Heaven's gates,
Because you are always and forever,
My beloved.
~*~
AN: I know it's a bad place to stop! But it will keep you all guessing more about what he had done to her, right?
Anyway, good? Bad? Review and let me know, it won't take long.
Strange twist right?
HAPPY EASTER.