(Alright peeps, here it is. Hope you enjoy it.)
There was nothing but darkness.
Everywhere she turned, Bulma was greeted by the same empty, black, limitless space that stretched eternally out in every direction. And with the everlasting abyss came the terrifying feeling that she was alone.
Utterly alone.
"Vegeta?" she ventured softly, trying not to let the fear bubble up under her words. What if something had gone wrong? What if she, being human, couldn't meet the demands of the Saiyan ritual, plunging them both into the twilight zone of limbo? I've got to find him, she thought desperately, eyes flickering uselessly across the black expanse before her. He's got to be here somewhere. Placing a trembling hand over her heart, she risked a single step forward.
She instantly regretted ever moving at all.
The ground - or was it the ceiling? - roiled beneath her, opening a gasping hole in space and time to swallow her up in a howling rush of wind. She felt herself slipping into the abyss, unable to do anything but grit her teeth as a silent scream ripped through her skull and rendered her helpless.
As she fell, the darkness seemed to form itself around her, creating manacles of shadows to suspend her over the gaping chasm of the Sairiea. Swallowing hard, she ventured a tentative glance toward her feet, and was not surprised to be greeted by naught but space and time.
"Vegeta!" she called, straining to hear even the slightest hint of a reply. The cavernous shadows echoed her cry, throwing it endlessly against the phantasmal walls until it resonated into eternity. Heaving a heartfelt sigh, she let her chin fall to rest on her collarbones.
"So now what?" she wondered aloud, willing her heart to abandon its frantic attempts to escape her rib cage with deep calming breaths. Emptiness swirled around her, mocking her, taunting her, daring her to try and escape its desolate might…
"Oh shut up," she muttered, steeling herself against the eternal chatter of the silence, all the while slipping deeper and deeper into despair.
If only I'd been a Saiyan, she thought bitterly. If only I wasn't so stupid! Who was I to believe that I had a chance with the Prince of all Saiyans…Who was I to think…that even with all the limitations of my humanity…
"I could still save him," she finished aloud, letting a single tear slip down her cheek.
"Save him from what?"
Bulma's head jerked up. When her eyes finally pierced the watery veil of tears, she almost choked on her tongue as she realized who was standing in front of her.
"You…you're…!"
"Teraynia." The red-headed Saiyan queen inclined her head. When she straightened, her green eyes glimmered as she met Bulma's gaze with a self-confident smirk. "I've waited an eternity for this day, Bulma."
"How do you know my name?" the blue-haired beauty asked faintly, cerulean eyes wide as they tried to hold onto the glare of the blazing emeralds.
"That is unimportant. We must see to the task at hand." The queen lifted her right hand and crooked a finger at the bonds that held the girl in the air. The shadows immediately shrank back into the surrounding darkness, dropping Bulma to a platform forged from the abyss itself.
"When a Saiyan couple undergoes the Sairiea, they agree to become the next initiators upon their death," Teraynia explained, stepping onto the platform to stand ominously over the younger woman. "They, in turn, will guide the next pair of partners when they dare to set foot into the realm of the ritual."
"Initiators?" Bulma wondered, staring at the queen's steel-toed boots.
"Those who inscribe the partners' pledges upon their hearts."
"Oh." Bulma frowned. "So does that mean King Vegeta is talking to…Vegeta right now?"
Teraynia smiled. "Yes, that is exactly what it means."
"But Vegeta--! He…and his father…!"
"They have much that remains unresolved," Teraynia agreed, knowing what she was going to say before she had even thought of it herself. "But this is not the time for reparations. Their dispute must be settled once they have both departed this life once and for all. For now, we must let the shadows of the past alone and look ahead to what lies before us." She placed an ethereal palm upon Bulma's head, making the girl jump as the icy cold flesh touched her skin.
"So tell me," the queen murmured. "What is it from which you wish to save my son?"
Bulma shot her a confused glance. "F--from Andy, of course!" she answered, furrowing her brow in puzzlement. "Surely you knew that?"
The corners of Teraynia's lips twitched in what might have been amusement. "I didn't ask you what is putting my son in danger. I asked you what you from what you wished to save him."
"I…" she trailed off, willing her brain to stop spinning in circles. "I don't know what you mean…!"
"Perhaps…from himself?"
Bulma's eyes went momentarily wide, then softened and closed as she issued a gentle nod. "Yes, I suppose…I wanted to teach him how to love. Stupid, I know, but still…"
"So is that what you wish to pledge?"
"What?" Bulma flicked her gaze across the queen's stoic face. "What do you mean, what I wish to pledge? I don't remember seeing anything about a pledge--"
"You wouldn't," Teraynia interrupted, cutting her off with a quick swat to the side of the head. "The android's visual units were greatly damaged upon the initial explosion. And besides: when the Sairiea enters the second phase, they are transported here, to this parallel dimension, so there will be no interruptions." When Bulma did not reply, the queen rolled her eyes and knelt before the girl, forcing her to look up with a brief chuck under the chin.
"The Sairiea means mutual necessity. You knew this, right?"
"Yes," Bulma responded quickly, afraid to lose any more respect in the eyes of the Saiyan beauty.
"And mutual necessity means you both have something the other desires, does it not?"
"I…guess so," Bulma replied, feeling foolish for not understanding where the conversation was going.
"Then allow me to rephrase my query. What does Vegeta desire from you?"
After a moment of silence, Bulma turned away from the queen, cerulean gaze falling to the floor as she curled her hand over her heart. "Power," she said softly. "Vegeta desires power. But he can't get it from me. God, I should have thought of this! He's a Saiyan prince; I'm…I'm just…"
"A human," Teraynia finished, emerald irises glittering in amusement. "Yes, that is exactly what you are. And that is exactly what Vegeta needs." Teraynia cupped the girl's face, catching and holding her eyes with her steely gaze. "You have a comrade named Kakarot, do you not?"
"Kakarot? Oh, you mean Goku." Bulma frowned. "Yeah. But what does he have to do with anything?"
"He is the strongest warrior on your planet. And do you know why?"
Bulma's eyes went wide as realization finally dawned upon her muddled brain. "Because he has something to protect," she whispered. She pressed her right hand over her left, feeling her heart begin to beat faster as everything fell neatly into place. "Something more precious than anything; the lives of those he cares about."
Teraynia smiled. "Yes. Because he spent his life striving to ascend to untouchable levels to secure the lives of his loved ones, he has become the strongest warrior that ever was, and ever will be." Flowing back onto her feet, the beautiful Saiyan woman folded her arms across her chest and tossed her hair over her shoulder in a shimmering molten wave. "My son already possesses every ounce of the strength he will need to meet the challenges that lie before him. All he needs now is the key to unlock that final door - the final portal into the ultimate realization of his true power."
She inclined her head to the young woman kneeling before her. "And now you know what you must pledge."
Bulma nodded, pushing herself slowly to her feet with hands that no longer trembled. "I'm ready," she declared, meeting the queen's eyes at last with the determination she had once prized as her finest attribute. "Tell me what I have to do."
"Alright. We shall begin."
The abyss began to swirl and writhe around her once again, dropping her and Teraynia further and further into its dismal depths. Bulma bit back a yelp of surprise as she nearly lost her feet time and time again, noting that Teraynia stood, completely at ease, upon the balls of her feet. Gritting her teeth against the urge to grab her companion for support, Bulma steeled herself once more to face the unknown.
"This is the point of no return," Teraynia murmured, turning slightly to face her younger charge. "When we reach our final destination, you will no longer be a single being. You will be as one with my son."
The girl drew a deep breath. "I know." A small grin curled her lips. "But you know, this is what I've wanted for a long time. What my fragile human ritual could not bind, the Sairiea will now complete."
Teraynia smiled back. "Spoken like a true Saiyan queen. But enough talk; the time has come."
At last the roiling chasm solidified. The two women stood on a circular red dais surrounded by an endless cavity of time and space, facing a whirling curtain of shadows that cut a jagged line through the center of the platform.
Bulma started to draw a deep breath, only to find that her throat had constricted. It felt as if the jagged edge of a saw had been raked across her neck; with every breath, she could feel the oxygen elude her gasping lungs and rush back out into open expanse of the abyss. Her hands flew to her heart…
…and came away drenched in blood.
A strangled cry gurgled from somewhere deep in her stomach as she stared at her crimson-stained fingers. The wound seemed to have only just started to bleed; she could still make out the shape of the ghastly wound from the reflected imprint on her palm…
"It says 'love', Bulma. You are dying."
"Wh…what?" Bulma sputtered, flecks of blood flying from her lips. She could feel her knees weakening beneath her as her life drained slowly from her body.
"Do not fall," Teraynia warned, eyeing the girl's quivering stance. "For if you do, all will be lost: for you and Vegeta. This is ancient magic, designed to destroy any Saiyan unworthy of possessing the power this ritual bestows. That is why the practice - as well as the love that precedes it - became so rare; too many were dying in the halls of this very abyss. The Sairiea is not for weaklings, and neither will it tolerate them."
Bulma gulped a mouthful of her own blood and willed her knees to hold firm. God, just get this over with! she cried silently. Vegeta, I need you! Where are you?
"You will give your love to Vegeta, and you will accept his pledge in return," Teraynia said quietly. "Your lives, as of now, are only half of what they once were - two pieces of a puzzle that cannot survive unless united. When the veil is raised, you must go to him without stumbling a single step and take him into your arms. Then you must smear blood from your wound onto your lips and kiss the gash above his own heart. He will do the same. You will then choose a single name, consisting of three words: one for you, one for him, and one to join the two together. Do you understand?"
Bulma faintly jerked her spinning head, marveling at the crimson haze that was settling slowly over her eyes. Blood choked her windpipe and fire coursed through her veins, setting her thoughts ablaze with a single thought:
Vegeta, please…end my pain…
The whirlwinds at the center of the dais gradually slowed and disappeared, revealing the Saiyan prince in all his bloodstained glory standing shakily upon the other end of the platform, gloved hand stained crimson as he clutched desperately at his heart. Behind him stood his father, looking on in silence from the shadows. For a fraction of a moment the King and Queen's eyes met, exchanging an eternity of unspoken thoughts and words through a single transcendental glance. Then both turned back to the spectacle before them as if the other had never been.
Vegeta was the first to step forward. Lowering his hand from his heart, he clenched his fists at his sides and staggered toward the center, raising pained onyx eyes to grasp her and draw her toward him. Blood had already soaked into the fabric of his shirt, making it impossible to read what had been lacerated into his breast. Suppressing the urge to lie down for the rest of eternity, Bulma forced down another mouthful of blood and started toward the imposing Saiyan prince.
Halfway to the center, Bulma felt her knees give out. The hungry mouth of the abyss opened up under her feet, preparing to swallow her and hold her captive for the duration of infinity.
Forcing the blood from her throat, she managed to gasp, "Vegeta!"
All this for nothing. Dammit, I was so close…!
But she didn't fall. A strong hand grasped her own, suspending her over the chasm with a grip of steel.
"Blast…it all, woman…!" Vegeta panted, flecks of blood spurting from his lips. "Why…the hell…did you have to go…and do a thing…like that for!"
"Pull…me up," she grated, feeling her heart beat sluggishly in protest as she willed it to work just a little bit longer. "H…hurry!"
Vegeta's hair flickered, then burst into brilliant blond flame as he let out a tremendous roar. With the last of his strength, the prince pulled her from the abyss, sending them both tumbling backwards towards the outer edge of the dais.
"Shit!" Vegeta growled. Turning a full 360 in the air, he slammed his booted feet onto the ethereal platform of shadows. Bulma was thrown violently up against his bloodsoaked chest; she threw her weakened arms around his neck held on for all she was worth, praying Vegeta's strength would hold out just a little while longer. The force of their fall drove the mighty prince back a few paces, but he finally managed to regain his balance.
"Oh…my God," Bulma gasped. "Vegeta…are you…okay?"
"Of course not!" he snarled, spitting out a mouthful of crimson liquid. "I'm…dying, woman!"
The blue haired girl winced, laying a gentle hand upon the gushing wound. "I know," she whispered. "So…am I." Raising her eyes, she caught his gaze. "But you…can save me. Just…as I…can save you." Raking a trembling hand across her heart, she kissed her fingers, then slowly lowered her lips to his wound.
Vegeta watched her intently, green eyes lighting with a fleeting moment of passion as his head tilted back of its own accord to accept the burning kiss.
When Bulma pulled away, Vegeta let his chin fall back to rest on his chest, Saiyan eyes gazing wonderingly into hers. Power coursed through his body, infusing itself into his blood; for a fleeting moment, Bulma wondered vaguely if he even realized what it was that had proved his salvation.
Then he pressed his own hand over his healing wound, bringing the last of the drying blood to his lips. "Love," he rumbled, allowing her a brief but genuine smile, "I should have known you'd choose something stupid like that." Leaning forward, he bore down on her wound, issuing a sharp, feral nip to the lacerated skin that tore her apart and pieced her back together all at the same time.
"But what I couldn't have known," he murmured against her collarbone, "was that your stupid decision would save my life. It seems you are not so foolish after all."
"I've never been foolish," Bulma said with a small smirk. The pain was gone, replaced by the feeling that, after a lifetime of living as a shadow, she was finally whole. Burying her face in his neck, she mumbled, "I've just been a fool."
The abyss began to melt back into the night. Vegeta pulled the two of them to their feet. "The name," he muttered, turning away from her. "We need to pick the three-word name." The roof of the mansion was beginning to materialize under their feet, lit by the soft, pale light of the full moon. Then he twisted back to face her, feet planted solidly apart and arms crossed heavily over his chest. The scar was already fading as the parallel dimension dissolved around them, but Bulma could still make out the word etched viciously over his heart:
PRIDE.
"What are you staring at!" he demanded, purposefully shifting his shoulders to hide the paling mark. "Go on, pick your word!" The full moon glinted off his sweat-sheened face, almost covering the faint blush beginning to form upon his cheeks.
Almost.
Bulma smiled to herself. "Alright, I'll go first, if you insist." She gazed intently into his eyes, making him shift uncomfortably from foot to foot. "Nothing," she stated clearly, placing her hand lightly over her heart. When he shot her an incredulous look, she shrugged and tapped the toes of her shoes against the shingles. "You always told me I was nothing," she explained, a crooked grin touching her lips. Then, sarcastically, she added, "I just wanted you to be sure that I still know my place--"
"You cannot have that name, woman!" he growled furiously. Closing the distance between them, he grabbed her roughly by the arms. "For that is the one I have chosen for myself!"
Bulma's eyes flew wide. "Wh…what?"
"I have given you my pride, woman! Without it, I am nothing!" Whirling away from her, he stalked back to stand once more at a distance. "Without it, I am but a man," he said softly.
"V…Vegeta…" Bulma bit her lip, then drew a deep breath, crossing the rooftop to lay a hand on his arm. "Everything," she murmured. "I choose everything. For even though I gave you my love, love is everlasting, and thus I will never have given enough to run out."
The prince's lips twisted into a smirk. "Nothing, yet everything. I like it. Though I may not agree with it, I accept it. Wait here; I'm going find that android. There is something that, as of now, remains unsettled between us."
"Wait! Vegeta, I'll come with you--"
"Silence, woman!" he growled. "This is something I must finish alone." With that, he disappeared through one of the numerous skylights, leaving her standing on the roof to wonder what to do with herself.
"To hell with that!" she scoffed after a moment's thought. "He may be my new king, but he still doesn't scare me!" Chuckling lightly to herself, she easily found the trapdoor hidden under the shingles and slipped inside, unafraid of anything the future might hold.
The moment her feet touched the ground she was off and running, straining to hear her husband's voice over the whirr of machinery. After rounding over a dozen corners and nearly toppling to the tile more times than she could count, she finally found the two standing in the hallway, exactly where they had left the crazed android what seemed like an eternity before.
However, the first blow had yet to be thrown. The two stood in silent standoff: Andy standing stiffly before the battered closet door, Vegeta positioned proudly in the middle of the hall.
"So you've completed the Sairiea," Andy spat, looking the cocky Saiyan prince up and down. "Tell me, monkey, did you see your father?" A twisted sneer curled his lip. "Did you see the bastard who stole your mother's honor and tossed it into the wind?"
"I did," Vegeta replied viciously, returning the inventor's leer with a smug smirk. "But that holds no relevance to the situation at hand. I've come to fulfil the terms, android. And then I will kill you."
"Fulfil the terms?" the android said incredulously. "You Saiyans have never kept an honest deal in the history of your entire wretched race!" He spread his arms wide. "Just kill me and get it over with," he snarled, blue eyes flashing in the moonlight filtering through the skylight. "I know that is what you will do anyway. You know I am no match for you; you will simply do what you chimps do best - slaughter. Well, go ahead! I'm waiting," he challenged.
Vegeta stepped forward, unfolding his arms and cracking his knuckles as he advanced on the maniacal android standing before him. But just before he seemed ready to throw the deadly punch, the prince did the unthinkable.
He knelt.
"You will give me her life," he growled, energy crackling through his fingers. "And I will leave."
Bulma's breath caught in her throat, and she clapped her hands over her mouth to keep from uttering a staggered gasp.
"Bah! Trickery," Andy sneered. "You should know your theatrics will not work on me!"
"Theatrics. That's an interesting word." Vegeta was on his feet in a flash, hand pressed up against Andy's chest. "For I thought in order for an action to be categorized as a theatric, it had to be an act. And that was no act, android. I knelt, and I asked for her life. You refused to give it, therefore making you the swindler in this particular deal. You have violated your own code, android, and now you will pay. Farewell, android. Say hello to my father I hell." Energy flowed to his fingertips.
"Galick gun."
A tremendous explosion rocked the mansion on its foundations, then all was still.
Bulma stepped out of the shadows, gliding over to Vegeta and laying her hand on his arm. "It's finished," she murmured.
"Yes. But woman!" he warned, green eyes flashing in her direction. "You saw nothing."
"Nothing, yet everything," she replied teasingly.
"Woman!"
"Okay, okay! I went temporarily blind," she chuckled. Then she went pale. "Oh my God," she whispered. "Vegeta, where's--!"
But before she could finish her question, her little son toddled out from behind the ruined door, fluffy purple locks that seemed oddly yellowish waving merrily in the midnight wind. "Daad…aa," he cooed, pointing happily to his father. Bulma ran to him and scooped him up, hugging him close.
"God, I'm so glad you're okay," she squealed, nearly crying for joy. The baby merely grinned and reached for his father, who pointedly ignored him.
"Woman!" Vegeta called. Then, after a moment's hesitation, he muttered, "I mean, Bulma."
Bulma's face lit up as she turned to face him. "Yes?" she replied.
"Let's go home."
"Nothing has ever sounded better," she said dreamily. "But Vegeta…?"
"What!"
Bulma started to say something, but cut herself short as she shared a secret smile with the round moon floating above her head. "Oh never mind," she murmured, burying her nose in her little son's hair, "I guess it doesn't matter anyway."
"Whatever you say," the prince muttered. Striding across the broken tile, Vegeta scooped her a little less roughly than usual into her arms, then floated gently into the air and shot into the waning moonlight.
(A/N: And that's all she wrote. Upon request, I will do an epilogue dealing with Teraynia and King Vegeta after the Sairiea is complete. I know what happened, but you guys don't, so just ask me and I'll put it up. I hope you enjoyed Nothing Yet Everything, and stay tuned for a story called The Last of the Saiyans, featuring Mirai Trunks and a mysterious girl that will change his life forever. Sounds cheezy, I know, but I swear it'll be one to remember.
Peace.)