Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ, yada yada yada.

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Chapter Two
One Hope
By Silent Hanyou

Vegeta's POV

I awoke slowly on the ground in the backyard. I stretched and stared at the stars above me. The sky was lightening and the first streaks of sunlight poured onto the ground. I lay there a moment trying to gather my thoughts and I realize-

"Damn! I forgot to give Bulma her anniversary present!"

I check the watch that Bulma had given to me for our anniversary last year for being late to every other one, but its not there. My wrist is bare.

"I must've dropped it at the flower shop…Ugh! Bulma's going to kill me!" I smirk, "She should still be in bed…I should probably surprise her." Having made up my mind, I got up and moved toward the house, but something felt different. And my gravity chamber was no where to be seen.

'She must have been really angry with me last night…' I thought, 'That must be why I'm lying on the ground outside…I can't believe she kicked me out…'

That was when something caught my eye. It was a sleeping figure. My first thought was a dog or one of my father-in-law's animal's curled up, but as I moved closer I realized that it was Bulma. She was lying in front of a large stone tablet.

"Bulma-" I began, but someone put a hand over my mouth. I turned to see Baba, "What are you doing here?"

"Shhh…"she gestured to the sycamore tree not far behind us and I followed her there.

"Why is the woman sleeping on the ground?" I asked not wanting the old hag to know how much she really means to me. Love is a sign of weakness, one that I'm not willing to reveal.

"She's…in mourning."

"For what? Did someone die?"

Baba nodded solemnly, "You did."

I nearly burst out laughing. What was this wench up to?

"Cut it out, hag. Why are you really here?" I asked waving a casual hand in dismissal of her previous statement. But Baba's face didn't change. An ominous shiver passed through my spine at her serious glare.

"I do not jest with you, Vegeta." she snapped, "You have been dead for a little over a year now. Bulma has been out here at your grave every night hence."

"If I'm dead why am I here?" I asked disdainfully, "Why don't I remember being in Other World? Why don't I remember dying? Can you answer these questions, hag?"

"If you refrain from using such a disdainful tone and cease in calling me hag, yes." she snapped angrily, "You don't remember dying and your time spent in Other World because these memories were erased from you."

"Why-?"

"That I'll explain later." she waved his question away impatiently, "As to why you're here…let's just say I a request heard a request and decided that this one deserved to be granted."

"The dragon balls?" I asked playing along with her game.

"No." Baba shook her head slowly, "You died of natural causes. The dragon balls cannot resurrect someone who dies of natural causes."

"Then what was-" Again I was cut off.

"Bulma." Baba said simply. She was really beginning to annoy me, "She made a wish last night on a star, a shooting star. I had been coming to check on her as I have since she tried to commit suicide…"

Now it was my turn to interrupt, "Suicide!"

"Yes, Vegeta." she said a frown deepening the wrinkles of her ancient face, "And ever since Goku and I have paid regular visits to your old home. His known, mine not. I usually sit in this very tree and watch her. She sits on the ground beside your grave or on the tombstone and cries until she runs out of tears. I remember the night they put you in the ground…" she shudders at the memory, "She tried to dig you back up with her bare hands…"

"Why are you saying these things?" I demanded my patience breaking, "Is this how you get your jollies? Make up these horrendous tales to frighten and confuse? Well, news flash, I'm not buying it."

I turn and walk toward Bulma, all regret for missing our anniversary fleeing my mind. She must have been in on it. Of course she was! Why else would she be lying on the cold ground in front of a…a tombstone?

I stopped and stared. Not just any tombstone, MY tombstone. Baba came up behind me.

"You see, Vegeta?"

I shook off the feeling of anguish rising in my throat, "See what, hag? That you are a crafty witch?" I laughed, "The tombstone was a nice touch, but I'm through with this joke."

"You try my patience, Vegeta. If not for me you would not be standing here."

Bulma stirred as I watched her sleep. I picked her up and held her shivering body.

"Vegeta…" she whispered softly, her voice full of pain. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I cradled her closer.

"Foolish woman…" I muttered. I turned to Baba, "Good night to you, hag. I'm going to take my wife in the house before she catches the death of cold."

"Vegeta, there is something you must know…" Baba said. I turned to face her, "This life I have given you…its only temporary…"

"Good night, Baba."

Bulma's POV

I awoke slowly the morning after the wish. I expected to wake up cold and stiff in the backyard, but instead I found myself in my bedroom. I sat up and stretched. It wasn't until I got out of bed that I noticed the figure sitting in the rocking chair in the far corner.

I couldn't see who it was since I always left the shades drawn and no light entered the room. My first thought was Goku.

"Goku, I'm not in the mood for a lecture today…I know that I should be worrying about Trunks and Bra's welfare, but I…I just can't focus on anything right now. Not without…not without Vegeta…"

"What are you going on about, woman?" the figure asked gruffly.

I felt my eyes grow wide. I swung my gaze to the figure, "You…You're not Goku?"

"Not that I'm aware of." he replied with a snort. He cocked his head to the side and laughed softly, "Were you hit on the head or something? Don't you even recognize your own husband?"

Tears sprung instantly to my eyes. I stood paralyzed, unwilling to believe but hoping all the same.

Then he moved. Crossing the room with quick measured steps, the figure through the windows open. I blinked in the light, seeing as it had been months since last I had seen the light of midday.

When my eyes adjusted the tears that had threatened to spill did not bluff. They fell instantly as I stared at my husband, "V…Vegeta?"

He smirked that perfect way I remembered, "Well, who else would it be?"

"But, you…you're dead." I said, my mind not excepting what my eyes were seeing.

"You too, huh?" he shook his head, "Baba said the same thing last night. You know, that joke is getting old."

"Vegeta…are you…are you real?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'm real. Why are you crying woman?"

"Oh, Vegeta!" I ran to him and cried into his shoulder. He held onto to me, reluctantly at first, but he couldn't but comfort me. He had always hated to see me cry, "Vegeta! I've missed you so much! I tried to forget, I tried to move on, but I couldn't do it! I couldn't forget you…!"

"What are you talking about woman? Is this some kind of trick you and Baba are playing to get back at me? I realize I was late coming home for our anniversary yesterday, but I've always been late for them. I have better things to think about then remember something so trivial as our marriage."

Normally I would have been offended, but I was too drunk off the smell of him, the feel of him, the sound of him… He grabbed my hands and I felt him grow rigid in stance.

"Bulma? What happened to your wrists?"

I pulled away. He already believed me a pathetic weakling, he didn't need to know about my attempted suicide…, "Nothing," I lied.

"That isn't 'nothing,' woman!" he waved his hand at my wrists, "You tried to commit suicide? When?"

"About three months ago." I whispered, looking at the floor, "A year after your death…"

"My…death?" Vegeta went onto the balcony and sank into one of the chairs, "So then Baba told the truth…I really did die…Of natural causes?"

I nod slowly, "An aneurysm…The doctors say it was painless…You…You don't remember?"

He head shook as he stared into the distance. The sun was high in the sky. A breeze was blowing softly through the trees and I could see cars driving past on the busy streets of West City below.

"Do you think Baba could explain some of this?" Vegeta asked silently. I knew that he was having a hard time grasping the fact that he had died again. After Majin Buu he wasn't supposed to have been able to come back if he died again.

I shrugged, "Maybe…"

He simply nodded and closed his eyes. The little witch appeared almost immediately.

"I knew you'd call, Vegeta. That's why I was waiting nearby." Baba said knowingly. She looked to me, "How are you feeling, child?"

"Confused…" I muttered, my gaze never leaving my husband. Is this all a dream?

"I can understand your confusion, but this is no dream. Last night you made a specific wish on a shooting star…remember?"

I nodded, "Yes."

"Well," the tiny woman continued, "I had been watching you last night when you made that wish and I thought that after all you've been through these past year that you deserved and needed this favor." she gestured to Vegeta, "So I gave you what you wished."

I opened my mouth and shut it again. Everyone was silent a moment. Finally Vegeta asked the question that had been bouncing around in my mind.

"How?"

"Well, that big oaf, Yemma always takes a break about midnight in Other World. Its kinda like his lunch break. While he was gone, I snuck into his files and stole the page with Vegeta's name on it. He had to be brought down from heaven before I could bring him to Earth, which was easy." Baba explained.

"Then…Why don't I remember anything?" Vegeta asked raising his gaze skyward.

"That's a simple answer. Natural causes don't remember anything about Other World if returned to the living realm. It causes too much trouble." Baba sighed, "As Yemma puts it, too much paperwork."

I nodded as the pieces of the puzzle fell into place. When my mind finally registered the gift she had given to me and Vegeta I opened my mouth to thank her, but she raised a hand.

"As I have already told Vegeta last night, this is not a permanent arrangement. Yemma will eventually find out what happened if not right away." she said with a frown, "Every three months he checks his 'inventory' so to speak to see if any mistakes were made."

"So then he has to leave again in three months?" my heart sunk at the thought.

Baba shook her head and raised her hand. She rose her index finger, "One."

My head reeled and my stomach flipped. One month! To have him back for such a short time was going to be torture…I nodded and felt the tears begin to come back. They stung my eyes mercilessly. I looked to the floor then back to Baba, "What will happen after the month?"

Baba looked at me sympathetically. She floated over to me on her crystal ball and took my hands, "When the month is over…Vegeta will die."

Vegeta's POV

I felt numb. Like everything that was happening around me wasn't real, like I was dreaming. I looked to where Bulma stood. I could instantly tell that she wasn't taking to well to the news either. Only one month and time was already ticking…

Baba said her goodbyes and disappeared. I watched my wife for and moment and I realized that I didn't know the woman before me. She couldn't have been stranger to me than if this was my first time on Earth. I stood and went to her.

"Bulma?" I said quietly in her ear. She jumped as if she had forgotten I had been there.

"Now what do we do?" she asked me wiping the tears from her eyes and stepping away. She looked at me warily, "Would you like to see Trunks and Bra?"

I hesitated, "Why are you afraid of me?"

She looked taken aback but she did not deny it, "Be…Because you've been gone so long…" she paused shaking her head, "I've missed you so much and now you're here before me…I can't…"

That was when there was a knock at the door. My mother-in-law called softly through the door, "Bulma, dear? Would you like to eat some breakfast?"

"Mom…Can you come in please?" Bulma replied looking away from me.

The elder woman entered the room cautiously as if this were strange behavior from her daughter, "What is it, de…" her gaze fell on me, "Vegeta?"

I simply nodded at her.

"What…I mean…how?"

"Mom, will you please take Trunks and Bra to the first floor gardens? Tell them I will be down shortly." Bulma said without emotion.

"Shouldn't you…?"

"I'm bringing their father to meet with them."

I watched my mother-in-law's eyes water with tears. She bobbed her head. I could read the confusion clearly on her face, but she turned and stalked down the hall.

Bulma's POV

The reunion with Vegeta and our children is one I'm never going to forget. It was filled with tears and hugs and confused questions. Trunks and Bra played with their father and he laughed and played back. I sat at the picnic tables where my father and mother sometimes laid out lunch. The laughter that echoed through the chamber reminded me of better days that I never though I would have experienced again.

Trunks and Bra tackled the saiyan prince who allowed them to knock him over laughing wholeheartedly. Bra, barely over three years, picked up a stick and poked Vegeta in the side, as if playing with a sword. Vegeta groaned and rolled over feigning death. He stopped breathing and my breath caught. Trunks, thinking much like myself worried that this was all some dream, walked slowly towards his father's still form and stared uneasily.

Suddenly, Vegeta's arm shot out from under him and grabbed his son's leg dragging him to the ground. I let out a sigh and sank back down smiling lightly. Oh, how long it had been since last I had smiled…And watching my children smiling and laughing with their father I felt the stone walls I had built around my heart slowly being taken apart.

Vegeta's POV

I knew Bulma was watching me as our children chased me around the room, but that didn't matter much. Never before had I acted in such a way in front of her or Trunks. I felt a lightness in my soul like what Baba had told me about my death was all true and now I was beginning to realize it. Like I had felt a longing in my soul for Bulma and our children, but only now could see them.

I looked up at her and met her azure gaze evenly. So much had happened to her in my absence…She was not the fiery woman I remember, but a cold shell baring a resemblance to my wife. She turned her eyes away from me and I felt the detachment. As if she was no longer there for me to simply reach out to…As if she and I were no longer connected in mutual love.

Bulma's POV

It wasn't until later that night that Vegeta and I had time to talk alone. Goku and his family had come as soon as my mother had been far enough away from me to call Chichi. Piccolo came with Dende. Krillen and 18 were next to arrive with Marin and then came Yamcha. He seemed the least happy to see Vegeta alive and well, but I didn't think anything of it. I had my prince back and I didn't care what anyone else thought.

After we explained everything (subtracting the part about his death one month away), we had dinner with our friends as if none of the past year had ever happened. No one stared at me in concern, or stayed as far away from the topic of Vegeta as possible. Instead everyone laughed and joked and filled Vegeta in of the goings on of his absence. Only Vegeta didn't seem terribly interested about what was being said. He nodded politely and added in comments of his own, but all the while, he simply stared in my direction. I knew that he was concerned and had good reason to be, since for the first time since his death I questioned my own sanity, but I didn't want him to stare at me the way he was. I only wanted him to be the figment that had haunted my dreams for so long…

"It's so good to hear laughter in this house again." Chichi said smiling at Vegeta, "Maybe now, with you back, I'll finally have my friend back." she paused, "Bulma's been such a wraith with you gone. She's even lost more weight from lack of nutrition."

I knew she was right. I had even stopped looking into the mirror from disgust. My cheeks had grown thin and drawn as if it were leather that was being tightly stretched over a drum. My skin had become ghostly pale and my eyes looked sullen, two hollows in my skull.

Vegeta was looking me over with concern once again evident on his face. That was the bulk of what I had gathered from dinner conversation. I became the ghost that everyone knew me to be…and I didn't care.

"Why have you done this to yourself?" Vegeta finally asked bringing my thoughts back to the present. We were standing on the balcony outside our room. I turned to face him and my heart dropped. He looked so handsome in his spandex shorts with a towel around his shoulders. He had decided to take a shower after dinner to organize his thoughts. I had come onto the balcony to look for peace. I hadn't even heard him come onto the balcony.

"What do you mean?" I asked looking back over the horizon. Unlike the outside balcony, this one was inside the house and overlooked the first floor garden. Scents of lavender and jasmine floated up to greet us from the ground below.

Vegeta grabbed my hands, "These for starters."

"I…I don't remember…" I replied not looking at him. It wasn't entirely true. I knew exactly why I decided to take my own life…for the man who questioned those reasons. For my heart, my Vegeta. Not to be berated about it and certainly not to be rescued by Son Kun…

"Yes, you do." Vegeta insisted. He grabbed my chin and turned my face to his, "Why do you not look at me? Why do you fear me? I want to help you, Bulma. I am here only a short while before…"

"I know…" I pulled my face away from his hand, "I…I just can't, Vegeta…"

"Why not?" he asked stepping closer to me, "What has happened to you over the past year that you cannot even look me in the face? It's me, Bulma. Vegeta. Your husband…"

"Yes…but no. I love you, Vegeta. More than you could possibly know, but I can't do this." Bulma stepped away. Tears ran down her face.

"But am I not what you wished for on that star last night?"

"Yes…" I choked out, "And most definitely no…"

"I don't understand…" Vegeta shook his head, "How am I what you wanted and yet not what you wanted?"

"Because," I sobbed, "for a over a year all I've had of you was a figment in my dreams…But now…now that you're here, standing so close, but so far…you aren't a figment born of a disillusioned mind…you're flesh and blood…"

"What difference should that make?" Vegeta demanded, again taking a step towards me.

I took another step back, "Because I don't…h-have feelings f-for figments…My emotions don't look so foreboding…So threatening to my heart…"

Vegeta's features softened and again I was forced backwards. My back was against the banister leaving me unable to move any farther from him. I looked away from him again as he slowly closed the distance between his body and mine.

Vegeta's POV

She turned away again. The soft lamplight, meant only to provide the balcony with a soft glow, illuminated the tear streaks on her cheeks. Reaching up slowly, I brushed the tears off her pale cheek and watched as her eyes closed. She moved her head against my hand savoring the feel of the intimacy of it.

"Vegeta…" she whispered. She shook her head and ducked under my arm. She went into our bedroom and I followed her in, "I can't do this…"

"Why not?" I demanded, "We're married, I only exist because you wished it, and I'm here only a month. What reasons have you against it?"

"Only that you are here a month." she whispered, "And because its only a month, I can't do this."

"I don't understand."

"Vegeta, in a month I'm going to have to watch you die again…If I allow myself to fall again…" she shook her head, "I-We can't…"

I crossed the room in two strides and took her face between my hands. I didn't bother with words. Taking her completely off-guard I kissed her gently.

Bulma's POV

The room spun and my knees weakened. A tear slid silently down my cheek and melded with our kiss. My heart shattered and I knew at that moment that if I had any chance of surviving his death this time, I would have to fight myself. I would have to fight Vegeta. I would have to fight my heart. It was my one hope.

I pulled away and my hand unconsciously flew to my tingling lips.

"I'm sorry…" I whispered before turning and running from the room. I ran down the steps and into the garden. A light fog circled my feet as I ran across the indoor meadow and into the guest wing. Finding the first empty room tow floors above the gardens, I went in and laid on the bed sobbing into my pillow. I fell asleep soon after.

Vegeta's POV

I watched Bulma run through the first floor garden and into the guest wing. I wanted to chase after her, apologize for whatever I may have done, something I never dreamed I would ever think to do first. The thought was startling. Me, the former prince of the Saiyans, pride of the royal family, a legendary Super-Saiyan, wanted to apologize first.

I shook my head and headed into the bedroom. Laying on the bed I found sleep damn near impossible. Taking this as a sign, I got up and went into the garden. I found a spot near the large pool and sat down. I grabbed a smooth rock from the ground and shifted its weight lightly in my hands.

"Where's Bulma?" a voice asked quietly behind me. I turned and stared at Kakarot. He and his family had decided to stay the night instead of taking the long car ride to the country.

I shrugged. I really did not care to discuss my personal life with this baka. But a thought kept coming into my head that made me hate Bulma for helping me develop a conscious. It kept repeating, 'He did watch over and help Bulma while you were gone.'

"Give her time. She'll come around." Kakarot muttered sitting beside me. He skipped a stone across the water and I did the same to my rock, "Think of it this way, Vegeta. She never expected to see you again until she herself died. So you being here in the flesh and blood is a difficult thing to comprehend."

I nodded. The image of her crying in front of me on the balcony flashed before me, "She's terrified of me."

Kakarot shook his head, "As Chichi explained to me not to long after dinner, its not you she's afraid of. Its herself. She's afraid to allow herself to fall for you again. Last time when you died it damn near killed her…"

Again I nodded. I didn't actually understand any of the emotional mumbo-jumbo coming out of Kakarot's mouth, but I didn't want him to explain it either. I didn't care to understand it. Or so I thought. Apparently my brain didn't agree and began to make sense of what Kakarot had said.

"She's afraid of the damage I could do to her heart when-" I stopped, "if I died again."

"It's okay, Vegeta." Kakarot laughed. His face grew solemn, "I already know…You only have a month…"

"How?"

"I asked King Kai." Kakarot replied, "He told me what Baba had told him."

I must have made a face because he added, "But don't worry, he won't tell King Yemma. We're all worried about Bulma's sanity and you're the only one who can help her now…She's closed everything and everyone else off. Even Trunks and Bra are distant memories and nothing more to her anymore."

That was when he got up. He took one last look at the pond and turned to go, "I don't know how you're gonna do it, but you'd better find someway…If you don't you will never see Bulma again."

"What do you mean?" I demanded, "Is that a threat?"

"No…but it is a warning." Kakarot said stopping. He turned to face me again. His face looked old from worry, "In Other World…suicides don't go to heaven, Vegeta. Remember that, because I may not always be there to help her…" he paused, "And neither will you."

I watched Kakarot leave the gardens and I turned my gaze back to the still water. I sat there the rest of the night. Sat there among the cat tails and the misty fog that swirled through the indoor garden. I sat there among the animals, from the loud frogs to the silent mice, from the circling hawk to the sleeping dinosaurs. I sat there and thought. And finally as the first rays of sunlight appeared in the sky lights overhead I made my way to my room to change, in clothes and spirit.

Finally, after thinking all night, after listening to the peace of the night, I had had an epiphany. No more would I shun my emotions, would I hide behind my pride. Bulma needed my help and by Dende, she was going to have it whether she wanted it or not. I was going to show her how to live her life. I was going to show her that even in Other World, I love her just the same. But above all, I was going to show her that she didn't need to be able to see me, I would be there any way. It was our only hope, hers and mine

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So? What about it? Good, bad? I need my feedback or I won't write Chapter 3:One Month.