A/N: School's been a drag, a reason for the late chapter. Thanks for all
your reviews! Another twist is lurking around the corner! What do I mean?
Read and find out...
~*~
Secrets shadowed,
Lurking in the darkness.
I hold my breath,
Waiting for them to be revealed.
--Heartless
~*~
The stray red beam of ki hurtled towards him, unnoticed.
Vegeta grunted as he took on the brunt of the droid's attack, not allowing himself to enflame his aura in a shield. Pain was his sanctuary for now and he indulged in it. He welcomed the smell of burning flesh as he fell forwards, breathless from the continuous hours of training he endured. The gravity machine whirred quietly, the only noise being caused as he lay on the cool aluminum floor of the simulator. One question was presenting his mind throughout the rigorous training session;
Why was he training?
There was not threat of evil, for now. He didn't know why the sudden urge to train had overtaken him, ever since Bulma fell ill.
He grimaced in the floor, knowing exactly why he was choosing to train at such intensity. It was so that he could get his mind off of his mate, erase the memories he had shared with her. He didn't want to feel any emotional pain and so he had turned to his only outlet... Physical pain.
Another ball of ki, from his own attack, bounced off the droids in the simulator and crash landed squarely onto his back. He bit back a cry of pain, biting his tongue as he endured the merciless torture of letting the ki shroud his body and absorb into him, not defending himself in the least.
"Simulator... Shut down!" He croaked with great effort.
A large beep echoed around the curved walls and a computerized voice spoke out, unaffected by the goings on in the simulator. "Engaging shut down sequence... One moment please." The red glow of the simulator faded and the normal bright lights shone in its place. The faint whir of the machine ceased. "Simulator shut down, complete. Do not forget to put on more clothing when you leave. Loss of body heat after training results in a power shortage for your ki. Have a nice day Mr. Vegeta."
Vegeta grimaced at the farewell the computer voice had given. Bulma had installed the voice in the simulator to have a mind of its own. A long time ago she told him, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, that the gravity simulator's computer voice was his only friend and that he should respect it. He had merely scowled and ignored her futile attempts to befriend him... He wished to the Gods he could have been more agreeable to her. He had caused her so much pain in the past, that it was a surprise her sanity had even lasted this long.
Faded memories assaulted his thoughts as he lay bleeding on the gravity simulator's floor. For the first time since Bulma had fallen ill, he allowed himself to recall their last moments together, before her sanity was ripped from her.
~*~
The large dome of the Capsule Corp. mansion was strangely quiet.
Not a word had been uttered between himself and his mate for an entire week.
The argument that had occurred prior to the deafening silence, was one of the worst they had since their union. It was beyond all aspects of terrible... It had been shattering. The entire mansion seemed to have trembled under their screams of defense and accusations.
The argument had not been about anything in particular, but Vegeta had sensed a tension between himself and Bulma in the past weeks, and it had been growing thick and brittle between themselves, like a wall of emotional poison. The argument... No, he couldn't call it an argument, for it was a full-blown fight, had terrible repercussions in the week residing.
They had not spoke a single monosyllabic word to one another, opting to ignore the situation completely.
And that was where the problem had began.
~*~
Vegeta snorted as he slipped into the empty large king size bed, stripped of his clothing. He stared at the shadows that danced off the ceiling, from the tress. He and Bulma had not spoken a word to each other, since their extremely loud fight in the previous week.
He sneered into the dark, not even able to recall what they had been fighting about. It seemed petty now, but at the time, it was the most important thing ever to be encountered to either of them. And now, he couldn't even remember the stupid argument.
He had gone an entire week without holding his mate, without making love to her... Without speaking to her. He was surprised to find that he missed that aspect the most. He missed their intelligent conversations that occurred in the small hours of the night, after the world outside had come to a standstill. He turned on his side and stared at the empty and cold space beside him, hating the idea of not having Bulma in his arms.
She had not come to their bed in a full week... If only he could remember the things he said! Then he could put it all right.
In an odd gesture, he threw his hands up in defeat and rose from the bed. This would not do. He would have to find her and convince her that nothing was wrong. Surely she couldn't hold a grudge against him for this long?!
Padding softly to the hall outside the room, he looked both ways before sensing her ki signature. He frowned as he sensed her ki emanating from their son's old bedroom on the second floor of the mansion. Had she been sleeping there the whole time?
He cautiously made his way down the hall, towards the spiral steps that led to his son's room. He secretly hoped their confrontation would be quick, then they could go back to making up. A lazy smirk crossed Vegeta's face. The making up was always better than the arguing or fighting. It was something they both enjoyed.
After what seemed an eon, he finally reached the bedroom in which his mate lay. He paused momentarily, taking into account the relaxed pattern of her ki, indicating that she was asleep. Twisting the door knob in a painfully slow movement, he stepped inside the room quickly and quietly with the stealth of an assassin.
In a millisecond, he was standing by her bedside looking down upon her sleeping form. He stood as still as a stone statue gazing down at her, hand poised and ready to shake her awake. The dim glow of the moonlight shimmered across her cheek and face, lighting it in a pure halo of innocence. Thin tendrils of azure hair bathed the pillow seductively, and it seemed to glow of its own accord.
She looked positively beautiful, young and fresh as the day they had met. It was a good thing he had convinced Kakarott to use the Dragonballs in their favor for one last time, granting them the wish of allowing their mates to have a Saiya-jin's life-span. Had it not been for Vegeta's quick thinking, they would have lost a valuable wish and both his and Kakarott's mate would have had to suffer the brunt of old age.
Not a hint of old age could be seen in the taught creamy skin of her cheeks and Vegeta felt a pang of need course through his veins. He cursed himself for being undisciplined in matters concerning his mate but things had changed since their union many years ago, before Bra and Trunks had been born.
He had changed.
Now his children were fully grown, no longer in need of his or their mother's support and it seemed to Vegeta that all he had left was his mate. A satisfied smirk fell across his face, knowing that she would never leave him as their children had done to them. She was bound to him for all eternity.
He couldn't deny himself any longer, they needed to sort out their differences and get back to the plus side of being mated.
"Woman," his gruff voice bounced off the walls of the large room that distinctly smelled of his son. He shook her abruptly, thinking of an excuse to make when she awoke.
He froze as her hand shot out at a speed even he could not fathom. Vegeta drew his eyebrows together in surprise as she squeezed his wrist.
Her eyes flew open and she gasped several times, her mouth trying to form words. Amidst the concern and panic he felt, Vegeta fell to his knees and shook Bulma resolutely, not being able to think of a way to dim her asthmatic breathing. "BULMA!" He shouted, stroking her head and trying to shake her out of the emotional shock she was in.
Perhaps she had been too induced in her sleep and found being awoken, shocking. Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her again. "Woman, it's me! Stop this at once," He barked out with a flat voice, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him.
Bulma's eyes grew wide as she found herself staring in to the eyes of her husband. Something terrible was happening to her and she could not seem to stop it. Her breathing grew even more hitched as her bronchioles dilated and contracted, the pipe becoming so tiny that only small amounts of oxygen could circulate around her body.
She felt her pulse slow down, thus causing her anxiety to further increase. She gripped her husband's upper arm, thinking it would help to steady her breathing. Much to her dismay, it did little help and only seemed to further worry her handsome husband. She coughed, choking on the dryness of her throat. Something was empowering her mind and she tried with all her might to fight it off, but she felt herself slipping from the world in which she was in.
She reached out and mentally dug the claws of her mind into her husband's and found that she couldn't. He had cut her off from their bond...
In the week following their fight, he had blocked her from his thoughts and feelings and from the bond. The heartache she felt was unlike any other as she stared into the obsidian eyes, that were now gazing into hers with a strange emotion brewing in them that she could not decipher.
Her entire chest ached at having him block her from their bond and she realized that she no longer had the power to hold onto the world in which she lived. She felt herself falling into an unknown place and felt something, or someone else, take over her mind. Before letting herself become lost completely, she uttered the next words with a small, melancholy tone. "V-Vegeta... I'm sorry." She felt herself fade into nothingness. And then, she was gone.
Vegeta's eyes widened in horror at her words and he saw her eyes dim into a lifeless void. He moved his lips, trying to speak but found no sound would come out. He shook her again in earnest, trying to force the life that was once in her eyes to return. Slowly but surely, the life that had disappeared from her eyes, gradually return... But it was different to the one that had been there before. This was something Vegeta had not seen before in his mate, haunted and painful emotions flashing in her bright eyes.
As her breathing returned to normal, he gently laid her back down on the bed, shaken by what had just occurred. In all his years alive, he had never seen her behave in such a way. He scowled, waiting patiently for her senses to return. "Woman," he said again, after finding his voice. He crossed his arms in frustration, angry at her for scaring him into a stupefied silence.
She stared at him blankly for several moments.
Then Vegeta felt as though all Hell had broken free from its reigns and had descended upon him. She began to scream like a tortured Banshee, flailing in the bed, attempting to escape his gaze by trying to fight her way out of the silk covers that shrouded her body.
Vegeta frowned, shocked by her actions. She finally managed to free herself from the bed and scrambled unwittingly towards the corner of the room, where she sat in a huddled ball screaming as though her entire being was on fire.
"Bulma..." Vegeta whispered, utterly stunned by her strange behavior. He began to advance towards her huddled body in the corner of the room and much to his surprise, found her looking and screaming at him in such a fear he had never seen before. It were as she was slowly going mad...
"What is wrong?" He demanded, perplexed as he crouched beside her screaming form, holding her cheeks in his hand and forcing her to look at him. "Tell me Bulma, what is wrong?"
Her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish as she tried to speak. Her screams had dwindled to fearful whimpers and she tried to shrink herself into the wall, away from the hideous man before her. "P-please don't hurt me..." She whispered like a child.
Vegeta felt his heart ache at the words. Not once in his life had he ever laid a finger upon her and here she was as though he had hurt her all her life! It was completely unfathomable. "Bulma... It's me. What is going on? What is wrong with you?" He asked, feeling as though she had been torn from his side and cast in another world and place. He reached out his other arm to encircle her waist, only to find her screaming louder than before, as though her life were in danger.
He withdrew his arm in frozen shock and watched as she promptly fainted.
From that day, Vegeta found that he could not enter the same room as her without her falling into hysterics at the mere sight of him.
Something was not right, but he couldn't comprehend what was going on. All Vegeta knew, was that he wanted his mate and lover back...
He wanted his wife back.
~*~
The cool floor of the gravity simulator had soothed him into a deep slumber. Vegeta opened his eyes with a start as the reminiscent dream faded from his subconscious. He grunted as he pushed himself off of the floor.
Draping a towel around his neck, he slowly made his way towards the exit portal of the simulator, when continuous pounding stopped him dead in his tracks. He frowned and stared at the closed door, trying to discern who stood on the other side. He quickly strode to the door and pressed the button, instantly coming face to face with his troubled daughter.
The worried look on her face was enough for Vegeta to let out a barrage of questions. "What is it? Is you mother alright? Say something or-" He found himself abruptly cut off as she rushed passed him to the innards of the simulator.
"Daddy!" Bra cried, looking at him concern and what seemed to be annoyance.
"What?" He snapped back, but calmed his tone as he saw the hurt expression on her face. She reminded him of his mate so much... What was the Chikyuu- jin saying? A carbon copy of her mother. "What is it Bra?" He asked in lower tone of voice.
Bra sighed as she stared at her father, "Why are you doing this to yourself?" She said quietly.
"Doing what?" Vegeta felt himself growing impatient.
"This ridiculous regime of training! If you get yourself killed..." She trailed off, tearing her gaze away from that of her father's. "What will Momma say when she gets better, only to find that you aren't here because you killed yourself in a suicidal training scheme?"
"If she gets better," Vegeta corrected bitterly. He used the tips of the towel draped around his neck to dab at the thin streaks of sweat running down from his hairline.
"Have a little faith Daddy!" Bra cried, leaning against the control panel of the simulator. She couldn't believe how negatively her father was behaving, but she knew she was only optimistic because of the knowledge she held. The news she had to tell him was itching to be relayed.
Vegeta raised his eyebrow at the sudden change in his daughter's attitude to the condition of her mother. "Faith?" He growled, "There is no such thing as 'faith' child," Vegeta spat in contempt. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your own mate?" He demanded, almost wanting to throw her out of the simulator so he could have solicitude and peace.
Bra shook her head at her father's cold countenance. She knew him all too well, much to his displeasure. "You can throw me out once you hear what I have to tell you!"
"Fine," He replied in annoyance. He crossed his arms stared at her placidly, waiting for whatever news she had.
"I spoke with Kami. He said-" She said in a rush of exited breath.
Vegeta found himself sneering as he cut her off, "Do not tell me you're losing your mental health as well?" He said incredulously, "Kami and Piccolo have been fused together for over twenty years, what are you rambling about child? Is this mental illness contagious?" He asked warily.
His daughter rolled her eyes in a familiar gesture... One he had seen many times with his mate. He waited for her to speak again.
"For Dende's sake Daddy, you're so insufferable!" She chided in angrily. "No wonder Momma mentality dematerialized, she always had you picking at her brains and slowly driving her crazy!" Her hand flew to her mouth before she could stop the words tumbling out. She saw the inevitable hurt on her father's face, something that no one else who knew him as well as she, would have known. She kicked herself mentally for her harsh words as the muscle in his jaw contracted wildly. She slowly took a step towards him and lay a hand on his arm, only to find it shrugged off.
"I'm sorry Daddy, you know I didn't mean that."
Vegeta snorted and avoided his daughter's piteous gaze. "You say you spoke with Kami?"
She sighed and nodded. "It wasn't Kami from this dimension... It was Kami from another dimension, or that's what he told me."
Vegeta frowned, briefly staring at his daughter. "Go on,"
"He said something about a terrible event on the horizon, something that could destroy us all."
The Saiyan Prince blinked in apprehension. "Are you sure?"
Bra took a deep breath before answering, "Yes," she spoke quietly, afraid something or someone else would hear. "He said we should go to the Lookout right away, he's explained everything to Dende and that he's waiting for everyone to gather on the Lookout before telling us what's going on. That's why I'm here, we have to go."
So far, everything had made sense to Vegeta. But their was still one thing irking him. "Why did Kami contact you, as well as the Namek-jin Dende?"
She smiled softly, "He said it was something to do with Momma and the way..." Bra trailed off as she watched her father bolt out of the door, already making his way to the Lookout. She shook her head, holding back a chuckle at her father's obvious concern for her mother. She had always known he truly loved her and the evident response of flying away, without even waiting for her, was enough reason to let Bra see the love her father held.
She made her way to the exit and briefly looked at the inside of the simulator, frowning as the musky smell of blood reached her nose. It was a good thing she came to check on him regularly in the past month, or he would have surely been killed by now. Blasting off into the bright sunny day, she followed the trail of her father's ki towards the Lookout.
~*~
You fell from the Heavens,
And now you leave me here alone.
But I will search,
Til the day turns into night,
And the sun falls from the sky.
I will search for you, my love.
And wipe away the tears you cry.
--Heartless
~*~
AN: Okay, interesting new development. Not much of a chap, but it's crucial to develop the plot. Do you guys agree with me and say it's a weird way for Bulma to go insane? Maybe she really isn't crazy (hehe), maybe something actually did happen. But what? Is there really a new evil out there for the Z senshi? And will Vegeta cope when he finds out what really happened to Bulma, find out in the next chapter. r+r if you liked the chap.
*Heartless*
~*~
Secrets shadowed,
Lurking in the darkness.
I hold my breath,
Waiting for them to be revealed.
--Heartless
~*~
The stray red beam of ki hurtled towards him, unnoticed.
Vegeta grunted as he took on the brunt of the droid's attack, not allowing himself to enflame his aura in a shield. Pain was his sanctuary for now and he indulged in it. He welcomed the smell of burning flesh as he fell forwards, breathless from the continuous hours of training he endured. The gravity machine whirred quietly, the only noise being caused as he lay on the cool aluminum floor of the simulator. One question was presenting his mind throughout the rigorous training session;
Why was he training?
There was not threat of evil, for now. He didn't know why the sudden urge to train had overtaken him, ever since Bulma fell ill.
He grimaced in the floor, knowing exactly why he was choosing to train at such intensity. It was so that he could get his mind off of his mate, erase the memories he had shared with her. He didn't want to feel any emotional pain and so he had turned to his only outlet... Physical pain.
Another ball of ki, from his own attack, bounced off the droids in the simulator and crash landed squarely onto his back. He bit back a cry of pain, biting his tongue as he endured the merciless torture of letting the ki shroud his body and absorb into him, not defending himself in the least.
"Simulator... Shut down!" He croaked with great effort.
A large beep echoed around the curved walls and a computerized voice spoke out, unaffected by the goings on in the simulator. "Engaging shut down sequence... One moment please." The red glow of the simulator faded and the normal bright lights shone in its place. The faint whir of the machine ceased. "Simulator shut down, complete. Do not forget to put on more clothing when you leave. Loss of body heat after training results in a power shortage for your ki. Have a nice day Mr. Vegeta."
Vegeta grimaced at the farewell the computer voice had given. Bulma had installed the voice in the simulator to have a mind of its own. A long time ago she told him, with a mischievous glint in her eyes, that the gravity simulator's computer voice was his only friend and that he should respect it. He had merely scowled and ignored her futile attempts to befriend him... He wished to the Gods he could have been more agreeable to her. He had caused her so much pain in the past, that it was a surprise her sanity had even lasted this long.
Faded memories assaulted his thoughts as he lay bleeding on the gravity simulator's floor. For the first time since Bulma had fallen ill, he allowed himself to recall their last moments together, before her sanity was ripped from her.
~*~
The large dome of the Capsule Corp. mansion was strangely quiet.
Not a word had been uttered between himself and his mate for an entire week.
The argument that had occurred prior to the deafening silence, was one of the worst they had since their union. It was beyond all aspects of terrible... It had been shattering. The entire mansion seemed to have trembled under their screams of defense and accusations.
The argument had not been about anything in particular, but Vegeta had sensed a tension between himself and Bulma in the past weeks, and it had been growing thick and brittle between themselves, like a wall of emotional poison. The argument... No, he couldn't call it an argument, for it was a full-blown fight, had terrible repercussions in the week residing.
They had not spoke a single monosyllabic word to one another, opting to ignore the situation completely.
And that was where the problem had began.
~*~
Vegeta snorted as he slipped into the empty large king size bed, stripped of his clothing. He stared at the shadows that danced off the ceiling, from the tress. He and Bulma had not spoken a word to each other, since their extremely loud fight in the previous week.
He sneered into the dark, not even able to recall what they had been fighting about. It seemed petty now, but at the time, it was the most important thing ever to be encountered to either of them. And now, he couldn't even remember the stupid argument.
He had gone an entire week without holding his mate, without making love to her... Without speaking to her. He was surprised to find that he missed that aspect the most. He missed their intelligent conversations that occurred in the small hours of the night, after the world outside had come to a standstill. He turned on his side and stared at the empty and cold space beside him, hating the idea of not having Bulma in his arms.
She had not come to their bed in a full week... If only he could remember the things he said! Then he could put it all right.
In an odd gesture, he threw his hands up in defeat and rose from the bed. This would not do. He would have to find her and convince her that nothing was wrong. Surely she couldn't hold a grudge against him for this long?!
Padding softly to the hall outside the room, he looked both ways before sensing her ki signature. He frowned as he sensed her ki emanating from their son's old bedroom on the second floor of the mansion. Had she been sleeping there the whole time?
He cautiously made his way down the hall, towards the spiral steps that led to his son's room. He secretly hoped their confrontation would be quick, then they could go back to making up. A lazy smirk crossed Vegeta's face. The making up was always better than the arguing or fighting. It was something they both enjoyed.
After what seemed an eon, he finally reached the bedroom in which his mate lay. He paused momentarily, taking into account the relaxed pattern of her ki, indicating that she was asleep. Twisting the door knob in a painfully slow movement, he stepped inside the room quickly and quietly with the stealth of an assassin.
In a millisecond, he was standing by her bedside looking down upon her sleeping form. He stood as still as a stone statue gazing down at her, hand poised and ready to shake her awake. The dim glow of the moonlight shimmered across her cheek and face, lighting it in a pure halo of innocence. Thin tendrils of azure hair bathed the pillow seductively, and it seemed to glow of its own accord.
She looked positively beautiful, young and fresh as the day they had met. It was a good thing he had convinced Kakarott to use the Dragonballs in their favor for one last time, granting them the wish of allowing their mates to have a Saiya-jin's life-span. Had it not been for Vegeta's quick thinking, they would have lost a valuable wish and both his and Kakarott's mate would have had to suffer the brunt of old age.
Not a hint of old age could be seen in the taught creamy skin of her cheeks and Vegeta felt a pang of need course through his veins. He cursed himself for being undisciplined in matters concerning his mate but things had changed since their union many years ago, before Bra and Trunks had been born.
He had changed.
Now his children were fully grown, no longer in need of his or their mother's support and it seemed to Vegeta that all he had left was his mate. A satisfied smirk fell across his face, knowing that she would never leave him as their children had done to them. She was bound to him for all eternity.
He couldn't deny himself any longer, they needed to sort out their differences and get back to the plus side of being mated.
"Woman," his gruff voice bounced off the walls of the large room that distinctly smelled of his son. He shook her abruptly, thinking of an excuse to make when she awoke.
He froze as her hand shot out at a speed even he could not fathom. Vegeta drew his eyebrows together in surprise as she squeezed his wrist.
Her eyes flew open and she gasped several times, her mouth trying to form words. Amidst the concern and panic he felt, Vegeta fell to his knees and shook Bulma resolutely, not being able to think of a way to dim her asthmatic breathing. "BULMA!" He shouted, stroking her head and trying to shake her out of the emotional shock she was in.
Perhaps she had been too induced in her sleep and found being awoken, shocking. Grabbing her shoulders, he shook her again. "Woman, it's me! Stop this at once," He barked out with a flat voice, trying not to let his emotions get the best of him.
Bulma's eyes grew wide as she found herself staring in to the eyes of her husband. Something terrible was happening to her and she could not seem to stop it. Her breathing grew even more hitched as her bronchioles dilated and contracted, the pipe becoming so tiny that only small amounts of oxygen could circulate around her body.
She felt her pulse slow down, thus causing her anxiety to further increase. She gripped her husband's upper arm, thinking it would help to steady her breathing. Much to her dismay, it did little help and only seemed to further worry her handsome husband. She coughed, choking on the dryness of her throat. Something was empowering her mind and she tried with all her might to fight it off, but she felt herself slipping from the world in which she was in.
She reached out and mentally dug the claws of her mind into her husband's and found that she couldn't. He had cut her off from their bond...
In the week following their fight, he had blocked her from his thoughts and feelings and from the bond. The heartache she felt was unlike any other as she stared into the obsidian eyes, that were now gazing into hers with a strange emotion brewing in them that she could not decipher.
Her entire chest ached at having him block her from their bond and she realized that she no longer had the power to hold onto the world in which she lived. She felt herself falling into an unknown place and felt something, or someone else, take over her mind. Before letting herself become lost completely, she uttered the next words with a small, melancholy tone. "V-Vegeta... I'm sorry." She felt herself fade into nothingness. And then, she was gone.
Vegeta's eyes widened in horror at her words and he saw her eyes dim into a lifeless void. He moved his lips, trying to speak but found no sound would come out. He shook her again in earnest, trying to force the life that was once in her eyes to return. Slowly but surely, the life that had disappeared from her eyes, gradually return... But it was different to the one that had been there before. This was something Vegeta had not seen before in his mate, haunted and painful emotions flashing in her bright eyes.
As her breathing returned to normal, he gently laid her back down on the bed, shaken by what had just occurred. In all his years alive, he had never seen her behave in such a way. He scowled, waiting patiently for her senses to return. "Woman," he said again, after finding his voice. He crossed his arms in frustration, angry at her for scaring him into a stupefied silence.
She stared at him blankly for several moments.
Then Vegeta felt as though all Hell had broken free from its reigns and had descended upon him. She began to scream like a tortured Banshee, flailing in the bed, attempting to escape his gaze by trying to fight her way out of the silk covers that shrouded her body.
Vegeta frowned, shocked by her actions. She finally managed to free herself from the bed and scrambled unwittingly towards the corner of the room, where she sat in a huddled ball screaming as though her entire being was on fire.
"Bulma..." Vegeta whispered, utterly stunned by her strange behavior. He began to advance towards her huddled body in the corner of the room and much to his surprise, found her looking and screaming at him in such a fear he had never seen before. It were as she was slowly going mad...
"What is wrong?" He demanded, perplexed as he crouched beside her screaming form, holding her cheeks in his hand and forcing her to look at him. "Tell me Bulma, what is wrong?"
Her mouth opened and closed like a gaping fish as she tried to speak. Her screams had dwindled to fearful whimpers and she tried to shrink herself into the wall, away from the hideous man before her. "P-please don't hurt me..." She whispered like a child.
Vegeta felt his heart ache at the words. Not once in his life had he ever laid a finger upon her and here she was as though he had hurt her all her life! It was completely unfathomable. "Bulma... It's me. What is going on? What is wrong with you?" He asked, feeling as though she had been torn from his side and cast in another world and place. He reached out his other arm to encircle her waist, only to find her screaming louder than before, as though her life were in danger.
He withdrew his arm in frozen shock and watched as she promptly fainted.
From that day, Vegeta found that he could not enter the same room as her without her falling into hysterics at the mere sight of him.
Something was not right, but he couldn't comprehend what was going on. All Vegeta knew, was that he wanted his mate and lover back...
He wanted his wife back.
~*~
The cool floor of the gravity simulator had soothed him into a deep slumber. Vegeta opened his eyes with a start as the reminiscent dream faded from his subconscious. He grunted as he pushed himself off of the floor.
Draping a towel around his neck, he slowly made his way towards the exit portal of the simulator, when continuous pounding stopped him dead in his tracks. He frowned and stared at the closed door, trying to discern who stood on the other side. He quickly strode to the door and pressed the button, instantly coming face to face with his troubled daughter.
The worried look on her face was enough for Vegeta to let out a barrage of questions. "What is it? Is you mother alright? Say something or-" He found himself abruptly cut off as she rushed passed him to the innards of the simulator.
"Daddy!" Bra cried, looking at him concern and what seemed to be annoyance.
"What?" He snapped back, but calmed his tone as he saw the hurt expression on her face. She reminded him of his mate so much... What was the Chikyuu- jin saying? A carbon copy of her mother. "What is it Bra?" He asked in lower tone of voice.
Bra sighed as she stared at her father, "Why are you doing this to yourself?" She said quietly.
"Doing what?" Vegeta felt himself growing impatient.
"This ridiculous regime of training! If you get yourself killed..." She trailed off, tearing her gaze away from that of her father's. "What will Momma say when she gets better, only to find that you aren't here because you killed yourself in a suicidal training scheme?"
"If she gets better," Vegeta corrected bitterly. He used the tips of the towel draped around his neck to dab at the thin streaks of sweat running down from his hairline.
"Have a little faith Daddy!" Bra cried, leaning against the control panel of the simulator. She couldn't believe how negatively her father was behaving, but she knew she was only optimistic because of the knowledge she held. The news she had to tell him was itching to be relayed.
Vegeta raised his eyebrow at the sudden change in his daughter's attitude to the condition of her mother. "Faith?" He growled, "There is no such thing as 'faith' child," Vegeta spat in contempt. "Why are you here? Shouldn't you be with your own mate?" He demanded, almost wanting to throw her out of the simulator so he could have solicitude and peace.
Bra shook her head at her father's cold countenance. She knew him all too well, much to his displeasure. "You can throw me out once you hear what I have to tell you!"
"Fine," He replied in annoyance. He crossed his arms stared at her placidly, waiting for whatever news she had.
"I spoke with Kami. He said-" She said in a rush of exited breath.
Vegeta found himself sneering as he cut her off, "Do not tell me you're losing your mental health as well?" He said incredulously, "Kami and Piccolo have been fused together for over twenty years, what are you rambling about child? Is this mental illness contagious?" He asked warily.
His daughter rolled her eyes in a familiar gesture... One he had seen many times with his mate. He waited for her to speak again.
"For Dende's sake Daddy, you're so insufferable!" She chided in angrily. "No wonder Momma mentality dematerialized, she always had you picking at her brains and slowly driving her crazy!" Her hand flew to her mouth before she could stop the words tumbling out. She saw the inevitable hurt on her father's face, something that no one else who knew him as well as she, would have known. She kicked herself mentally for her harsh words as the muscle in his jaw contracted wildly. She slowly took a step towards him and lay a hand on his arm, only to find it shrugged off.
"I'm sorry Daddy, you know I didn't mean that."
Vegeta snorted and avoided his daughter's piteous gaze. "You say you spoke with Kami?"
She sighed and nodded. "It wasn't Kami from this dimension... It was Kami from another dimension, or that's what he told me."
Vegeta frowned, briefly staring at his daughter. "Go on,"
"He said something about a terrible event on the horizon, something that could destroy us all."
The Saiyan Prince blinked in apprehension. "Are you sure?"
Bra took a deep breath before answering, "Yes," she spoke quietly, afraid something or someone else would hear. "He said we should go to the Lookout right away, he's explained everything to Dende and that he's waiting for everyone to gather on the Lookout before telling us what's going on. That's why I'm here, we have to go."
So far, everything had made sense to Vegeta. But their was still one thing irking him. "Why did Kami contact you, as well as the Namek-jin Dende?"
She smiled softly, "He said it was something to do with Momma and the way..." Bra trailed off as she watched her father bolt out of the door, already making his way to the Lookout. She shook her head, holding back a chuckle at her father's obvious concern for her mother. She had always known he truly loved her and the evident response of flying away, without even waiting for her, was enough reason to let Bra see the love her father held.
She made her way to the exit and briefly looked at the inside of the simulator, frowning as the musky smell of blood reached her nose. It was a good thing she came to check on him regularly in the past month, or he would have surely been killed by now. Blasting off into the bright sunny day, she followed the trail of her father's ki towards the Lookout.
~*~
You fell from the Heavens,
And now you leave me here alone.
But I will search,
Til the day turns into night,
And the sun falls from the sky.
I will search for you, my love.
And wipe away the tears you cry.
--Heartless
~*~
AN: Okay, interesting new development. Not much of a chap, but it's crucial to develop the plot. Do you guys agree with me and say it's a weird way for Bulma to go insane? Maybe she really isn't crazy (hehe), maybe something actually did happen. But what? Is there really a new evil out there for the Z senshi? And will Vegeta cope when he finds out what really happened to Bulma, find out in the next chapter. r+r if you liked the chap.
*Heartless*