So here we are again, have you forgiven me for the cliffhanger yet? Didn't think so. Oh well, I didn't make it a cliffhanger to make y'all LIKE me, so who gives a damn? Not me…
Last time…Reaching the door to Seth's apartment, Bulma silently collected herself before ringing the door chime. There was a short wait, and she was on the verge of leaving when the door swished open, revealing a shirtless Dr. Ralker. His eyebrows raised as he gazed at her.
"Bulma," was all he managed to say before she leaned forward, planting a palm on each side of his chest and pressing her lips to his.
~
Bulma recoiled immediately, a feeling similar to electrocution shooting through her nerves as her world went white. Her stomach churned, and she fell to her knees in time to vomit violently on his doorstep. After her stomach felt less then empty, she dry retched a few times, tears leaking down her face. She gasped for air, drawing in short lungfuls of air that reeked of her own bile. She fought down the urge to retch again, ignoring the aching sensation in her lips and hands where she had touched Seth.
She shakily stood, reaching inside the door to press a button, summoning a cleaning bot.
"Are you okay?! What the fuck just happened?" Bulma only half heard the shocked man, scrubbing futilely at her wet cheeks.
"He tricked me. The bastard fucking tricked me!" She muttered murderously to herself, storming back in the direction she had come from. Seth could only stare at her back in utter confusion, his calls to her ignored.
Harshly punching the switch to open the door to the medical bay, Bulma stalked through the door, looking around furiously for Vegeta when she didn't see him in bed. Her gaze landed on him where he was crouched on the floor, one hand wiping his mouth, the other clutching the small wastebasket in the corner.
"Great job, genius. I didn't think you'd actually do something that foolish…I figured your stupid emotions would stop you from risking harm to his fragile heart."
"Just what was that? And why are you throwing up?" He glared at her in pure frustration.
"Did you not listen to anything I said before you left? It's an empathic bond. I feel what you feel, to a slightly lesser degree. And the reverse is true. I did not sustain as violent a reaction as you did, but it was still…unpleasant." She would have pouted, had she not been retaining her anger.
"You fooled me, you knew that would happen—"
"To me, yes! I was hoping it had the same effect on you, being human and what not. Apparently, my hopes were not in vain…"
"So I can't be involved with anyone else? Where the fuck did my life go wrong?!" She cried out, visibly upset.
"It went wrong when you handed me that drink! You gave me human drugs, fully aware of their effect on me!"
"I did no such thing! How was I supposed to know that you couldn't hold your liquor? Most men on this planet can take three or four before they get as hammered as you did on one!"
"Last I checked I wasn't from this planet, for starters. Secondly, you're the one that chellenged me to do it in the first place!" Her eyes widened in shock.
"You remember?" She whispered, touching her fingers to her lips.
"Bits and pieces. Enough to know that you weren't the female on my mind at the time…" She took a step back, wounded. She had at least hoped that their actions that night had been the effect of alcohol mixed with deeply submerged feelings. And now…it made fer feel even more dirty, to think that he simply used her body while recalling some other woman, one who actually meant something to him.
"I…I…I'm tired, I've been up all night with his-stupidness. I'm going to take a nap, wake me up if you decide to commit any more acts of self-destruction. Otherwise, I'm dead to the world…" She walked slowly from the medical bay, dazedly walking the short way down the hall to her bedroom.
Closing the door slowly, Bulma collapsed exhaustedly down onto the mattress, thinking over everything she had done in the past few days, how each seemingly minor decision had managed to steer her life in this unwanted direction. How a beer had led to her pregnancy, and unforeseen attachment to a man she couldn't even call her friend. They argued a lot, sometimes the mutually traded insults were humorous, other times injurious and malicious.
And now…she had never felt so alone. She knew that she would also remain alone, and the thought brought bitter tears to her eyes. Her dreams were crushed beneath the heavy weight of her awareness of Vegeta, awakened by the sharp jolt she had received from kissing Seth. He was sleeping, she knew, and if she concentrated she was able to see his dream…
~
He turned over and over in the bed, unconscious of his restlessness as the dream from before was played before his minds eye yet again.
Darkness closed in, choking, suffocating. Bulma appeared, suffusing the darkness, freeing the air around him to travel again into his burning lungs. But she didn't travel past him, merely watched him sadly, her eyes asking, pleading to free her. He sensed a presence behind him and turned, coming face to face with the apparition of Amai. He cringed as she stared at him with the same expression as the woman now behind him. Tear filled green eyes regarded him with such pain, and she slowly walked forward, laying a hand on his cheek. He reached up to touch her face in return, his hand passing right through her form. His brow creased, and she reched up, gently attempting to smooth the furrowed skin with the pad of her thumb.
~
It was a little odd to see herself in his dream, she could only guess that this was how he envisioned her. Or perhaps this version was just how he pictured her to be judging by her current emotional state. But he faced another woman, one that was drawing a reaction out of him that Bulma had never imagined. He looked…so pained, and guilt-stricken. She was beautiful, but young, so young. She couldn't be any more than fifteen, Bulma guessed.
"You're giving up," she whispered, causing Vegeta eyes to turn downwards. "He's still beating you, what you tried just proved it."
"You're dead, so why won't you leave me alone?" He questioned hoarsely, not liking the truth of her words. "I would gladly 'let you go', if it was I holding you. Vege-chan, you must let me go, there is one that needs you yet…"
Vegeta's temper flared slightly, unable to hide his disbelief. "How can you say that? I betrayed you! And now there is no changing it. I hoped that in death I could join you." The last was barely above a whisper, but Bulma heard none-the-less.
"She doesn't deserve that. Neither one of you asked for this," the girl's eyes flicked past Vegeta to Bulma again, "but there is no running from it. I'm gone Vegeta, and I'm not coming back. Let me go." She kissed him once, fading away while his eyes were closed.
Bulma opened her eyes, staring hard at the ceiling. Damn that man and his weird dreams! It meant nothing, she reminded herself. He was delusional from all the pain medication he had taken the night before. So his old flame was dead, it wasn't surprising. His whole planet was gone, and he himself had killed millions. It was what he deserved. She frowned, ashamed that she had even thought such a thing. No one deserved to have someone they loved die. Not even Vegeta.
Troubled by her own compassion towards the Saiyan, she wriggled closer to the night table, shaking a sleeping pill out of its bottle, she downed it, taking a long swallow from the glass of water on the table.
She restlessly shuffled around beneath her comforter, waiting for the sleeping aid to take effect and push her into oblivion. She tried to keep Vegeta from her mind, but her efforts proved fruitless. The man whirled through her head, and she paused repeatedly to check on him mentally. It felt so odd to have this sixth sense of him, to know what he was doing, how he was feeling, and, to some extent, what he was thinking. When awake, he seemed able to shield his thoughts, but his emotions lay open to her always.
Her thoughts grew fuzzy, and slurred together in an unreadable manner. Eyes growing heavy, Bulma drifted into a sorely-needed slumber.
~
My last update before going to NY for two weeks, lots of writing will get done there, so look forward to new stuff next year!
