CHAPTER 5 – What's Left is the Past
"Yes, your Excellency?"
"Reese I want you to show these two around, and make it quick! I need you back here. Vegeta, you and Sen will have to entertain yourselves for now. I'm up to my neck in souls and it's going to get worse."
Vegeta shook his fist at the King. "This is preposterous! Earth is under siege and I'm supposed to stay here and do nothing?! Yama, what are you waiting for?!"
"OUT! Before I send you both straight to HFIL!" King Yama glared back at the angry Prince.
It surprised Reese that Vegeta was still before him. The overseer would never put up with this much disrespect. Something was seriously wrong. The severity of the situation had to be more than he could imagine. Clearing his throat, Reese attempted to get the warriors' attention. He was able to get Sen to look his way and he frantically waved for her to follow him.
Sen couldn't let the situation deteriorate any further. She still had her body and from what she had learned so far, it might be possible to cheat fate. Reluctantly, the warrior turned back to Vegeta and lightly touched his arm. "Please Vegeta."
At first Vegeta remained unwavering; ready to do battle with Yama. But his senses returned. If he carried the confrontation any further, the Prince knew he would lose everything. This battle had too high a price. "It's your call, Yama." He jerked away from Sen's grasp and backed down until he was on the floor again.
As Vegeta walked past Reese and onto the exit door, King Yama spoke quietly halting the Prince's retreat. "All lives lost earlier today on Earth were wished back; except for the bad ones. Bulma did the right thing, Vegeta." Vegeta continued to look ahead for a moment and then nodded once in agreement. He waited for Sen and Reese to follow and then exited the building.
Once outside, Vegeta growled angrily, took to the air, and flew to the top of the roof. He sat down and leaned against the steeple. With one knee pulled to his chest, he used it to rest his arm and glared at the sky.
"What a bastard!" Sen remarked to Reese as they stood outside the entrance to King Yama's palace.
"Apparently, you aren't the only one that thinks so."
"Who's Bulma? And who is she to be able to wish beings back to life?"
"Bulma is Vegeta's mate. She gathered the dragon balls on Earth which, when brought together, can summon a great dragon to grant your wish. I believe she wanted to bring back all the people Vegeta killed at the Budoukai Tournament."
"I would never have believed anything like that existed. What an incredible gift the Earthlings have." She looked up and regarded the Prince briefly. "So she made a choice between resurrecting many lives instead of one. The fool should be proud of his mate's honorable choice."
"But Sen, the dragon on Earth grants two wishes."
There was nothing to see in the sky of the Afterworld…nothing that would distract Vegeta from his troubled thoughts. He was still here. Why did he even consider the prospect of being wished back? His onna apparently didn't give it a second thought. He wasn't wanted or worse, he wasn't needed. The Prince had wasted his life for nothing. The whole damned Earth can go to HFIL for all he cared. "TO HFIL WITH ALL OF YOU!"
Many fluffy spirits heard the disheartened Prince; they quieted and stopped in their lines. But they were soon ordered by one of Yama's subordinates to keep moving.
Sen thought she should be pleased that Vegeta was so troubled. "Reese, do you know what the other wish was?"
"No, and I don't know if she used it either."
"Reese! Where are you?!" Thundered King Yama from inside.
"Listen carefully. You are welcomed to roam the grounds of the palace and even take a stroll on SnakeWay (pointing) over there. But under no circumstances go below the cloud line (pointing lower). That leads to HFIL and once you end up there, there's no coming back."
"You mean below those yellow clouds all around us?"
"Yeap."
"REESE!!"
"Duty calls! If I ever get another break, I'll look for you…maybe we can get a bite to eat or something."
Sen thought the blue man was sweet. She began to levitate up to the roof top and looked down to wave at him. "Sure, Reese, I'll see you around."
Life was less complicated when all you thought of was killing Frieza and conquering the Universe. Vegeta wished he could blast that Saiyan yaro Raditz to oblivion. It was his fault for going to Earth in the first place. 'That opportunity may arise in HFIL…it is something to look forward to.' The thought calmed the Prince. 'Kakarot, you are my only affliction. I suffer because of you!' His fist slammed the roof. How was he supposed to regain his rightful place among Saiyans now? But there were two that didn't see it that way. Bulma and Trunks.
Vegeta wondered what Bulma was doing right now. 'You are probably listening to that blasted song "In Your Eyes*." You would always play it when you have had enough of me. I know it must have brought you memories of a happier past. Dende, I can hear it now! You played it too often. Was your life with me so unpleasant?'
He knew what would happen if he closed his eyes but he did it anyway. "Onna, to see you again." It would take all of his will power to concentrate on just one subject. But he knew he could do it. The last time he died, he was able to focus on Kakarot without much effort. The idiot was a plague in his mind.
There she was, the day he first saw her. The beautiful young onna was terrified of him. After all he had done to her friends; she over came her fear. Bulma stood in front of him and offered a place to stay. Then his flashback changed and now she was poking a finger at him, insisting he take a shower--his memory pushed forward--Bulma was laughing at his distaste for the street clothes she had given him to wear--those naive eyes held so much--Next he was lying in a pile of rubble. Bulma was leaning over him. Her look of concern irritated him. He was no weakling to be fussed over. Vegeta willed his recall to speed forward. He wanted to find the one memory he held so tightly. His mind flipped through the memories of Bulma as if they were in a living photo album. Then it came. He breathed deeply and relaxed. The Prince wanted to lose himself into the vision.
Bulma's face appeared on the view screen in the Gravity Room. Vegeta was in no mood for her usual badgering. He was too frustrated with himself; unable to break through the bearer to become Super Saiyan. Her voice made his blood turn to ice. He would not look at her; his resentment turning to pure hatred. The Prince of all Saiyans didn't need this or her! "Onna! Leave - ME - ALONE!" But still she went on and on.
"NO MORE!" He yelled and raced out to find the bitch. When Vegeta found Bulma, he grabbed her by the arm and dragged the weakling outside. While she tried to escape from his grasp, Bulma injected fruitless threats then complained of the pain he inflicted upon her. But he would listen to none of it. He would make the bitch stop, permanently. Once outside, Vegeta pulled her to him, wrapping his bare arms and chest around her in a tight embrace. She stopped struggling for a moment to try and read his face. Dread came over her. His expression was demented.
Like a shot he took off, speeding upwards. Bulma clung to the Prince for dear life. The frail human began to weep. She knew. She could see it in his eyes. She was going to die. Vegeta could feel her body shaking against his. He would take her over the ocean and dispose of her there.
Once Vegeta had reached his destination, he hovered high above the water. The Prince looked into the onna's eyes for the last time. He wanted to see the fear of death. Tears had streaked the onna's face but she was calm as though she had accepted her fate. Bulma stared back, looking deeply into his. He could tell she wanted to say something; the last word before her life ended. But it never came. Instead she kissed him softly on the lips. He froze and everything seemed to come to a stop. The realization washed over him like a tidal wave. The onna didn't do everything for him because she was afraid of him, it was because she cared for him. Both regarded each other in shock as Bulma slipped out of the Prince's arms. Vegeta watched her fall. Bulma had fainted and her limp body rushed to meet the water. "No." Rocketing to the delicate form, Vegeta snatched her up, cradling her in his arms.
The Prince regained their altitude and headed back. He flew slowly for he wanted to extend the time he had the onna in his arms. She was so soft, so fragile, so smart, so beautiful, and so strong. When he reached home, he took the quiescent form to her room and laid Bulma on the bed. Then Vegeta sat down beside her. He brushed the hair away from her face to gaze at it once more and found that she was staring at him. A faint smile appeared on her tender lips. Gods, he wanted to taste them again; to taste all of her. But he must leave. Leave Earth for good. No more harm would come to the onna.
Moving to leave, he stopped. Bulma held his arm, staring with pleading eyes. "Please stay." He could hear music playing in another part of the house. Then it came to him, her song.
*In Your Eyes, Song by Peter Gabriel
Love, I get so lost, sometimes
Days pass and this emptiness fills my heart
When I want to run away
I drive off in my car
But whichever way I go
I come back to the place you are
And all my instincts, they return
And the grand facade, so soon will burn
Without a noise, without my pride
I reach out from the inside
In your eyes
The light the heat
In your eyes
I am complete
In your eyes
I see the doorway (in your eyes) to a thousand churches
In your eyes
The resolution (in your eyes) of all the fruitless searches
In your eyes
I see the light and the heat
In your eyes
Oh, I want to be that complete
I want to touch the light
The heat I see in your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
Love, I don't like to see so much pain
So much wasted and this moment keeps slipping away
I get so tired of working so hard for our survival
I look to the time with you to keep me awake and alive
(Repeat Chorus)
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
The emotions he felt now for Bulma were much more mature. It only enhanced the experience as he relived their first connection in his mind. There was a time when he thought Bulma was not worthy of him. But the Prince knew now that he was the one that did not deserve her.
Accepting all I've done and said
I want to stand and stare again
Til there's nothing left out, oh
It remains there in your eyes
Whatever comes and goes
Oh it's in your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
In your eyes
I want to stand and stare again
Oh, it's in your eyes.
"Onna, how your ocean blue eyes will forever haunt me."
"Actually, they are more of a moonlight gray."
That wasn't his Bulma speaking to him. Vegeta's eyes shot opened and he looked up to find Sen squatting on the side of the steeple. She had anchored herself to the top of the spike with her tail so she could lean forward to look down on the Prince.
"Get away from me!" Vegeta turned to face the back courtyard, folding his arms as he did so.
Sen hopped down to sit beside the Prince. "Is it your mate, Bulma you speak of?"
He did not answer and an uncomfortable silence followed. Sen didn't know why she was telling him this or why she bothered to care. "Reese said there's still a second wish to be made."
'A second wish?' Vegeta questioned himself and then thought of the new dragon's creator, the boy Namek named Dende. Maybe the young guardian of Earth wasn't such a bad choice after all.
"To be used to undo the rest of the damage Majin Buu causes." That would be the only possible choice for Bulma and the others.
"Are there dragon balls on other planets?"
"I know of one other." Suddenly, something in the courtyard below caught the Prince's eye. There was a large hour glass and hovering next to it was something huddled on a large ball. As he narrowed his vision, he tried focusing on the floating object. It was a little old woman sitting on a crystal ball.
"Is there anyway to get word to those who posses these dragon balls?" Sen didn't get an answer and discovered the Prince was distracted by something below them.
The old woman tapped the hour glass a couple of times as she watched the sand trickle to the lower half.
"It's Baba!" Vegeta jumped to his feet. "Finally, I will have my answers." And with that, he flew down to meet the old fortune teller.