A/N: Here is the replacement for A Love That Eyes Can't See. Now I can put the story to rest. This is a Cell/Vegita yaoi. I first intended for it to be a one-shot or two chapters, but I really DO care for your well-being, and by writing this hope to make you see the good points of squicky pairings. Really, I do. As always, review if you wish, flame if you love me enough to keep me amused. If you get so offended that you actually feel the need to whine to me, know that I won't feel sorry in the least. I'll just laugh at you, and you don't want that, do ya? And I won't be providing any translations. If you don't understand the word, go look it up or ask somebody. I apologize if anyone is out of character. Warnings: lime, language, fluff, death, sad songs.
Me: GASP! Lime! Let's see if I can write tasteful smut well enough.
Goku: I didn't agree to any of this. *pouts*
Me: I know, but if I had told you, you wouldn't have let me. Go take Cell and do something kinky to get your mind off of this.
Goku: ^___^ *obeys*
Me: Um...I love my fuzzy wool mittens and...I wanna be a Pokemon Master! *stupid grin*
Disclaimer: I only own Dragonball Z in my head, and whenever I stare at an orange for long enough I can see dancing lemurs. Lyrics taken from various songs that will be listed when present in the chapter. Once more I must say, this will contain MUCH sappy goodness. This fic is saturated with love and hurt/comfort. I'm actually making an effort to wrench your heart and make you cry like little girls. The first scene is based off of DBZ Boudakai, I don't have the right episode *sniff*. Now read and let me listen to Tiffany.
Visions of a Sunset
He struck out with a kick, the most powerful blow he could muster. Raw power. It landed a direct hit on the creatures' pale throat, resounding with a sharp *thunk!* as his boot came in contact with the pallid flesh. Pain stung in his shin at the sheer force of his own strike, currents of shuddering prickles spread throughout his leg. But Prince Vegita only smirked, knowing that he had caused damage with the powerful kick.
But his triumphant grin transformed into one of disbelief. His jaw hung as his eyes widened in terror, ire, and surprise. No…it couldn't be…
Piercing magenta eyes glared up at him, stirring challenge and threat. Cell's lips curved into a smirk not very unlike Vegita's former. His head had been forced to crane as Vegita's foot had collided into the side of his neck, but no damage had been caused. Hardly even a tickle.
Vegita pulled back and landed swiftly on the scorched grass and dirt. He growled weakly at the overbearingly powerful android, who lifted his head back to its former position. That smirk was still on his face, mocking him to no end.
No! That was my most powerful hit! Vegita berated himself. His fists squeezed tightly.
" What's wrong Vegita? Where's your strength?" Cell's mellow voice sliced through the silence. The android cocked his head a little in mock innocence. " Where…is your pride?"
Vegita growled and shuddered in rage. Trunks watched from a distance, where he had been observing his father for the past hour or so. His teeth sought the flesh of his inner bottom lip as his father began to tremble in ire. Sometimes Vegita became so enraged, he feared his father might literally detonate.
" Otousan?" His lips parted as he considered the thought of calling out to him, but quickly shut his mouth, deciding not to upset Vegita by interrupting him. Besides, it wasn't as if he knew what to say should Vegita actually pay him heed. He seemed to be the only one not training. He couldn't see where the others were, but he could hear their cries as they struck and blocked. Piccolo was the only one in his range of vision, sitting a ways away in deep, unbroken meditation.
*T-t-t-t-t-t-t-t* He glanced down between his knees and noticed little pieces of chipped tile bouncing about on the floor. The utter strength of his father's power vibrated throughout the Lookout, causing the ground beneath his feet to tremble. He looked back at his father.
An aura of Saiyan flames burst around Vegita's form, enveloping him in a florescent golden glow. He let out a piercing scream, and power continued to pour from his body. His golden hair spiked into a jagged golden crown as he flew into ' Super Vegita'.
It was the mere thought of Cell that brought him such power and fury. He had been unable to defeat him, that monster! Why hadn't he been strong enough? He'd trained intensely for an entire year, and even after a second year, he was still no match! Why?! It didn't make any sense! No creature could be so powerful that he could pass the Prince of all Saiyans with such ease! The humiliation!
His power began to extend to his limit. He ignored it. He had to get stronger, and defeat Cell where Piccolo, Tien Shin Han, Trunks, and Kakarott could not! He would show them, show the both of them! Cell and that idiot Kakarott! No one bested the great Saiyan Prince.
" NO ONE!!" Vegita bellowed, throwing back his head as he continued to yell.
" Otousan!" Trunks stood up shakily. The Lookout as going to fall apart! Yet Piccolo remained impassive, continuing in his meditation.
And finally, the burning became far too intense. Vegita let his power go in a harsh gasp. He stumbled forward as the wall of his aura broke, and he gripped his knees to stay up. His golden locks faded away, leaving his long black hair in its place. Trunks relaxed a little but remained alert should his father require assistance.
The prince only leaned on his knees and panted, beads of sweat running down his tanned face to drip on the marble tile. His hands clung tightly to his knees as his fatigue lessened slightly.
Damn it, I'm not strong enough! He lifted his head to the deep blue skies and fluffy popcorn clouds ahead of him. Somewhere down below, Cell stood at his arena waiting. The man he would defeat, no matter what the cost. He wondered to the very edge and peered over, searching. And as he'd hoped, his eyes came across Cell's tournament arena. He watched Cell standing in the middle for a while, panting still as his body rested.
He was ready. To hell with it, Cell's mine! Without a word, he leapt into the air, transformed to a Super Saiyan, and burst through the sky towards Cell's arena.
" Tousan!" Trunks ran to edge and jumped into the air to follow.
" Trunks!"
" What is it?" Trunks looked over his shoulder. Piccolo was glaring at him with one open eye.
" Leave him be," his gruff voice demanded, " if Vegita has issues it's his business and no one else's."
" But…"
" Let him work it out on his own."
-**-
Cell's arena soon came into view. Renewed rage flooded through him, and he boosted forward. A last he hovered above the bright marble platform. He descended down with a snap of broken aura. In the middle of his arena, Cell stood apathetic. If he heard or knew Vegita was present, he did not show it.
The prince growled, annoyed. The mere sight of Cell's new form pissed him off to no ends. The only damage he had ever managed on him was the Final Flash that had taken Cell's arm and some of his chest off. He'd been so confident that he had permanently rendered Cell one arm less. It had felt so good to shove it back into that cocky bastard's face! But how it had backfired…His knuckles began to ache from the intensity of his clenching fists. Cell had grown his arm back and mocked his futile attempts. How dare he deride him like that!
As Vegita swam in a small fit of rage, Cell cracked open one eye, just very little, and quickly shut it again. He suppressed a smirk and kept himself completely stoic as Vegita marched up to him. The short saiyan came just barely to his chest.
" Cell!" the arrogant prince barked.
Cell did not answer. His arms remained crossed over his broad chest, his head lowered and chin tucked inward. But most annoyingly, his eyes stayed shut. Vegita's face burned scarlet with anger.
" Cell! Open your damn eyes!" This was to no avail. Cell laughed mentally. It was so easy to get the prince riled up! He was going to blow a fuse!
The nerve he had to ignore him! " Look at me when I'm talking to you!" He swung a heavy fist at Cell, landing the punch sharply into his abdomen. Cell hardly appeared fazed, but grunted just a bit. The prince could pack more power when he was angry, weak as the punch really was. Cell finally opened his eyes, his face slightly surprised, as if he had at last acknowledged his presence.
" Ah, Vegita." Cell said in a rather cheery tone, smirking that smirk that just deserved a slap.
" Don't you give me that! You knew I was here all along!"
" Ah, but what does it matter? Your efforts to gain my attention were amusing. Now, what is it that I can help you with?"
Arrgh! Why did he have to act so calm when Vegita was ready to blow his top?! His teeth gnashed together as his temper flared.
" You know what I want!"
" No, actually, I haven't a clue."
" I want a rematch! Enough of this foolishness! I will fight and destroy you here and now! To hell with the Games!"
" But where's the fun in that?" for a fraction of a second, Vegita could almost believe that Cell had responded with real innocence. But his sudden devilish smirk diminished such thoughts.
" Bastard!" and he lunged at him. For Cell, it was all in slow motion. Vegita was so slow compared to him…He only chuckled and sidestepped out of the path of Vegita's fist. Vegita's face went into surprise and frustration.
Cell laughed as he bunched a fist with his right hand, crouched, and thrust a blow into Vegita's stomach.
" Aack!" Saliva sprayed from his mouth as the fist buried itself into his comparatively softer stomach. Cell's punch felt like an iron fist! He gagged and stumbled backwards, clutching his aching abdomen.
" Shimatta!" he cursed angrily. As his eyes twitched, he could hear Cell's laughter ringing in his ears. In an instant he was back again, throwing lightning fast punches and kicks at Cell's taller, more masculine form. Cell dodged every strike with calculated ease, smirking like a devil with a new soul to burn. He crossed his arms as he danced from foot to foot, gracefully avoiding every single blow.
" Damn you, fight me!" at last one hit landed, striking Cell's cheek as he allowed himself to drop his guard for that one moment. An enraged look came upon Cell's face as the hit connected. Before Vegita could give a smirk of triumph, the wind was knocked out of him, forcing him to once again stumble back. It was the blow to his forehead that sent him sailing through the air, out of the ring, and onto the hot sand that came up in a cloud of dry dust as he collided with the desert. Vegita coughed and stood up with a growl.
Cell didn't look too happy either. He glared at the saiyan as he lightly touched his cheek. There was a smear of violet blood on his lips where Vegita's swift hit has skimmed his flesh, and he quickly licked it away. For a while they exchanged loathsome looks, until suddenly, Cell smiled. It was that superior smile that he loathed so.
" Do cease this absurdity. Aren't you embarrassed enough? You can't defeat me. It is not you that I want, it is Goku. Compared to him you are nothing. Go home and train, maybe then you won't go down as easily on the day of the Games. I'd rather not waste my energy throwing out trash like you, you're not worth my time." And with that he turned away in a gesture of dismissal, closing his eyes to enter meditation.
If only he knew the affect of his words. Could he really expect Vegita to just up and walk away from that? Vegita's feet were glued to the floor as every insult sunk in, building and building that hate. Goku…Kakarott…Even when he was miles away he was getting the better of him!
Kakarott is not better than me! He insisted in his mind. He was not trash! He would defeat Cell all on his own, and Kakarott would not be there to get in the way. Cell was wrong, everyone was wrong! They didn't know, didn't understand his saiyan pride! They could never begin to comprehend his power! Those words hurt, burned, though he would never dare admit it. Even so, his actions proved his pain. With a passionate cry, he leapt into the air with unimaginable speed, speed he had never felt before.
" KAKAROTT IS NOT BETTER THAN ME!" the enraged saiyan screamed as he flew.
Cell opened his eyes just in time. There was no time to dodge, but enough to counter. As Vegita came at him, he sidestepped as much as possible, wrapping his arms around Vegita's shoulders and spinning in an almost complete circle to absorb the blow.
" BAKAYAROU!" Vegita bellowed, struggling in his tight embrace. Though Cell would never say, he was almost frightened to let Vegita loose. The saiyan was crazy! He fought like a rabid animal in his arms, shrieking the same cry profusely into the humid air.
" Kakarott is not better than me! Kakarott is not better than me! Kakarott is not better than me! HE IS NOT! He's a low-level third class warrior!" And so on and so forth. Cell blinked in confusion and some admiration. Vegita's rage was incredible when pushed to the limit. If only he knew how to control that. He would be a force to be reckoned with. But now, better to let the saiyan wear himself out. Eventually his voice would get hoarse and he would tire. Being the patient being that he was, Cell tightened his hold around his arms and stood as comfortably as he could, Vegita still struggling like an unhappy puppy in his hold, beating his heels against Cell's thighs.
" You are a spoiled little prince," Cell commented. " Whining like some brat, get a hold of yourself!"
" Shut up! Shut UUUUUP!" His golden aura burst around the both of them. Cell squinted against the bright light, but held fast. Even with the incredible burst of power, Vegita was still out of his league. But this did not diminish his rage. The short saiyan prince continued the struggle, shouting obscenities and what not. Cell lifted a brow at his foul language, wishing the idiot would just give it up already. And for Kami's sake just shut up! His sensitive hearing wasn't the best for taking such harsh yelling so close to his ears.
After a few more minutes, Cell finally had enough. Vegita was not slowing or stopping, and his yelling was as loud as ever. The android had a headache, which was very rare. How did you get an extremely stubborn saiyan to shut up?
Even with Vegita kicking and screaming in his arms, Cell was able to recall something he'd seen as his imperfect self. As much as he didn't like to remind himself of his old, flawed self, one thought provided some aid for the situation.
As he'd waited in the dark corners of an alleyway, waiting to strike upon a town of unsuspecting humans, he'd seen a couple of humans not too far away. A human male and female. The female had been screaming at him incoherently about ' ruining her life'. She had been yelling much like Vegita was now, and the human male had taken the abuse meekly, saying nothing as she berated him relentlessly. But like Cell, he looked as if he'd wanted her to stop for the sake of his sanity. Plus he looked as though he was going to burst out crying. After watching them for a minute or so he'd looked away, but he remembered out of the corner of his eye, that the male had suddenly took her shoulders, pulled her into his embrace, and latched his mouth over hers. Cell had glanced back one more time to see the female in complete shock. Her body had gone stiff and strait, eyes wide. But after a moment or so, she relaxed and fell limp into his arms. Such odd behavior. His programming said nothing about it. In fact he had very little information of on the subject of human behavior besides the significant matters. But he believed it was something called a 'kiss'. He supposed it was a defense mechanism of some sort, to send another into paralysis and surrender. But the point was it had shut her up. Then he killed them.
At this point he just wanted Vegita to shut up and go away. He was becoming unbearably annoying.
So, what was he supposed to do? Vegita's yelling made it a bit hard to concentrate. Mm…take them by the shoulders. Well he couldn't' very well do that, or risk letting Vegita loose for a rampage. But the next step was to wrap his arms around him, which was what he was already doing. Next—or last, lean forward and place their mouths together.
For some odd reason, Cell felt hesitant to do so. It just didn't seem right somehow…perhaps he should see if it even worked first. The humans had been able to do it, but he was an android, and Vegita a saiyan. Just an experimental test. After another of Vegita's extremely rude comments, Cell leaned forward and lightly pressed his lips against Vegita's. Just a soft brush across his mouth.
Cell pulled back quickly. At the touch of their lips, a soft electric pulse rippled through him. He blinked off the strange sensation. Was that the energy used to power the technique? How odd that it should come from the mouth.
But hey, it worked! He looked down to see Vegita's brow arched high, his eyes doubled in size, and he had gone stiff, just like that female. Cell smirked in victory, his ears humming at the peaceful silence. He opened his mouth to comment, but was drowned out in Vegita's extremely loud
" KISAMA!!" he began his struggle again, though this time, a dark blush had burned over his cheekbones, and he seemed more violent.
The paralysis must have worn off. Cell squeezed him tighter and sought his mouth again, though this time, he did not pull back. Vegita let out a muffled cry onto his lips, and suddenly, went silent.
Cell shuddered. This felt odd…tingles were racing all over him, through his lips and down his body. He could see Vegita's eyes were still wide in shock. The saiyan began to tremble in his arms, and after a moment, went limp and relaxed against him, pressing deeper into his 'kiss'.
Was it supposed to feel like this? Cell felt oddly weak and dizzy. Those little tingles were…what was the word…pleasant. His eyes became hooded, lusting to close. But Vegita's were already, and he reasoned that he should close his too. Before he realized what was occuring, his tongue was rubbing against the seams of Vegita's lips, seeking for an invitation. Was he drugged? That was how he felt. His mind told him to pull away quickly before he did anything stupid, but his body insisted that to cling to this man was necessary.
At the touch of his tongue, Vegita gasped, and Cell took advantage of his open mouth to let his tongue slip inside. He became enveloped in moist heat, pleasantly warm. He gently probed around inside the hot cavern of Vegita's mouth, finding that he tasted satisfying in an odd sort of way. He was startled as a soft moan vibrated in their mouths; he wasn't sure if it was his or Vegita's. By now Vegita's face was flushed and he trembled.
Vegita was, to put it bluntly, shocked beyond all reason. At the first touch of Cell's lips he shrank back in disgust. Had he just kissed him? What the hell was his problem?! The revolting, disgusting bastar-
And then he kissed him again, though much deeper. He didn't understand why after a moment, he had ceased fighting back. Instead of struggling and cursing Cell's actions, he melted into his embrace and allowed the kiss to flow. Cell wasn't a bad kisser…not at all…
No! His mind bellowed out in rage as he let a small moan escape him. Vegita's eyes shot open, seeing Cell holding him loosely, eyes closed. There was a hand on the back of his head that kept him in place as Cell's tongue gently explored his mouth. On instinct, he grabbed Cell's sides and shoved him away. Cell let him go easily, and he landed and backed away.
He resolved to yell out some sort of insult. But his mind was blank. He could only stare at the android, quite breathless. Cell's panting was softer as he regained his composure, though his eyes were still glazed over with the ardor of the moment.
Vegita didn't know what to do or say. But he soon realized that he was showing the fear in his eyes. Quickly he scowled and jumped into the air, leaving without a word.
-**-
He'd gone strait home to train in the Gravity Room, anything to get what had just happened out of his mind. But ricocheting ki blasts relentlessly hit him for his lack of concentration. Cell still plagued his mind, smirking face and devilish feline eyes mocking him. If he could not get him out of his head, then he could at least concentrate on all the harm the android had inflicted on his body and pride. But it did not suffice. He could not stop recalling the kiss…
He just couldn't understand why. Was it some way of trying to humiliate him yet again? His ire boiled at the thought. But Cell would never do such a deed just to vex him. It had to run deeper than that. Cell had humiliated him enough as it was, Vegita would think that he would be satisfied by now. All Cell cared about was his fight with Kakarott later that week.
Kakorott…
He was so disgusted with himself, unable to understand his own body. Why had he let Cell kiss him? He shuddered at the memory of Cell's lips over his own, and his arms snugly pressing their bodies together...
" Bah!" Vegita lifted a hand to rub his mouth, but his wrist fell short. For a moment he looked at his hand and dropped it with a sigh. Thinking it over for a few minutes, he came to a conclusion.
He was lonely. Ego-bruising thought though it was. It was his fault of course; he had dug himself into this pit, uneven slopes and all. Perhaps Frieza played part, but he had let him do so for too long.
He thought of Bulma, but there was no love there. Of course they had a child together, and he was proud of his son, Trunks, but he didn't really love her. It was a blunt sort of affection that wasn't really affection. The thought of Bulma being his mate made him wince. He avoided her company as much as possible; why would he want them to be spouses? Having a child with her did not make them consorts, for he had not taken her as his mate, despite what she said. He'd seen the opportunity to birth a son, an heir to the throne for the day he could no longer live the title of Prince of the Saiyans, dead race though they were. He would still always protect her, but he doubted he could ever love her.
She claimed he had friends, but he felt even less companionship for the other fighters than he felt loyalty for Frieza. They didn't understand him; they didn't care about him. All they did was mock his arrogance and hotheaded claims of being the best. In their eyes he was always second, always under that idiot Kakarott.
He wasn't saying Cell was any better, in fact he was worse. But for the few moments that he was in Cell's warm embrace, he'd been content. For it he despised himself. At least he fathomed what was wrong with himself, but that left one question unanswered.
Gasping, Vegita fell against a hard silvery wall, pressing his forehead along the sleek metal. His breaths appeared as clouds of foggy steam against the cool metallic surface, disappearing as he breathed in, dilating as the choppy puffs of air left him.
Why had Cell kissed him?
-**-
As the saiyan prince flew silently through the dark night skies, he could only reassure himself that he was only going to have his question answered, that there was no other yearning to be there. A small sliver of his mind lay in doubt. The city was left behind, as were the lush forests, and he was left soaring over the vast desert. The air that blew against his face was humid.
And like the moon in the velvet sky, Cell's white arena appeared, nestled in the sea of sand, easy to spot as the marble caught the light of the moon. As he neared, gaze intent on Cell's dark form, Cell's eyes slipped open. The whites of his eyes stood out, bringing out the bright magenta hues. They glinted with their usual playfulness and mischief.
Vegita bit the inside of his lip, but continued, fighting his instincts to just leave. He descended to the arena only a few feet from where Cell stood. Cell regarded him silently, though his cat-like, curious gaze showed confusion. For a great while there was no words exchanged. Vegita's narrow black eyes met Cell's, and they continued to stare, until at last, Vegita broke the contact and looked over his shoulder.
" You can see the moon so well from here," he said lowly, " much better than in the city."
" You came here just to look at the moon from my point of view? Well if that's all…" Cell closed his eyes and turned away.
" Wait…" Cell slid his eyes open slightly to see Vegita walk closer to him. The prince 'hmphed' and crossed his arms. " Baka android. I have matters that I must discuss with you."
" That is…?"
Vegita frowned, realizing he didn't exactly know what to say. " Why…what do you plan to do, should you win this foolish tournament of yours?" he frowned inwardly.
" I think that would be simple enough to figure out. I will destroy this planet, and then continue throughout space, demolishing all and whoever in my way." He raised a brow as he saw Vegita glanced off to the side as if not listening. He was thinking silently to himself, as he already knew the answer, " But, I think that is not an issue you wanted to review with me. Perhaps there is another reason…such as why you behaved as you did today."
The rpince's attention snapped in favor of the android. " How I behaved?!" Preposterous! Cell was the one that kissed him! Was that not odd behavior? " You kissed me!"
Kissed? " Oh yes, that is what it was called." Cell looked thoughtful for a moment. Vegita took that time to relax. He took a deep breath, and looked into Cell's eyes once more.
" Would you mind explaining why you kissed me?"
Cell's mouth parted as he prepared to answer, but he stopped, seeing the look in Vegita's eyes. An expression he could not understand. Facial expressions weren't exactly his top subject. Though it was the honest truth, somehow, telling Vegita that he'd kissed him to shut him up didn't seem like the right thing to say. It was something Vegita would not have liked to hear. So he answered with a blunt:
" I don't know."
A held breath released from Vegita's lips. Though he was not disappointed, he was oddly unsatisfied.
" Ah…" feeling the embarrassment seeping in, he started to lift into the air with every intention to head for home. But a firm grip on his wrist held him still.
"What I did was on instinct. I do not understand the method of a 'kiss', as humans say."
" Instinct? Didn't you know what you were doing?" Vegita asked, slowly floating down.
" Not precisely," Cell admitted, " It did make me feel...odd."
And the loneliness came washing over Vegita again as he witnessed Cell's childlike confusion. It was all too much. In those moments he allowed himself to admit, Cell looked cute as hell.
Cell blinked in surprise as Vegita lowered to his eye level, their faces almost touching.
" Like this?" he purred, pressing their lips together. An intense surge of electric warmth swelled throughout Cell's body on immediate contact. With Vegita's eyes closed and Cell's vision cloudy, no one was there to notice the dark violet blush that formed along Cell's cheekbones, or the similar red hue on Vegita's.
The kiss didn't last long; it was more sweet than passionate. As Vegita pulled away, he lowered his head slightly, desperately trying to smother the heavy flush on his face. Ever so slowly, he glanced up to see Cell's reaction.