Hajime~

"Vegeta?"

He froze. That voice…. He turned around slowly, and met her gaze. "Bulma…?"

Vegeta had been aware that Majin Buu wasn't dead for quite some time. But he had never thought… "He got… you too?"

"Yes," Bulma said quietly, and shrank away. "Are you— are you back to… normal?"

A cold feeling enveloped his heart. A Majin… he had died while still under Babidi's control. And now, his wife was afraid of him.

But her question lingered. Are you back to normal? "Yes," he replied softly. I am back – and I will never leave you again, koishii….

And then, he remembered further why she was afraid of him. The tournament. The people…. "I didn't… want… to kill all those people," he said. He looked into her eyes for a second, but… it was too much. I can't bear to see you like this, Bulma…. "I was… forced to kill them." Please don't fear me….

"I still love you, you know." Bulma looked up at him, a hint of a smile on her face. Vegeta smiled back.

As do I, koishii….

Bulma's smile faded. She looked worried – what is there to be worried about? – but finally collected her thoughts.

Grim thoughts.

"I just realized… if Trunks makes it out of this, alive…"

Horrified realization dawned on Vegeta. "He won't have any parents…."

There was a moment of silence; a moment that, though neither would admit, spoke volumes.

"Why did you do that, anyway? Kill yourself, I mean," Bulma asked. "Didn't you stop to think how it would affect us? Weren't you thinking of us?"

"I was thinking of you!" he cut in, not wanting that particular train of thought to continue. "I was trying… to protect you. I—" He stopped short, trying to regain his composure. Inadvertently, he glanced at the halo shining over Bulma's head. A symbol of what he sought to protect her from; Death. "Lot of good it did," he mumbled.

"What are you talking about? I'm sure you at least stalled him— before he… killed me…." She searched for words, any words, to rectify the increasingly somber tone this conversation was taking. She was obviously unprepared for Vegeta's next statement.

"No, he didn't kill you." He looked into her eyes, those oh-so-crystal blue eyes, and held her gaze. "I killed you."

He looked pointedly at the masses of people – humans – gathering in Otherworld. "I killed them all…."

Bulma was shocked. "What? You didn't kill—"

"Didn't I?" he asked. "If I had defeated him in the first place… none of this would have happened. None of them would have died." He captured her gaze again, his deep black eyes with here pale blue ones.

"You wouldn't have died."

~Owari