He felt like he was floating.

There was nothing around him. Everything was black, but it wasn't unsettling. It was incredibly soothing and peaceful. He floated through the sea of black and felt nothing on his body. There was no fear and no pain. No despair. No anger. No depression. Just peace and tranquility that he had never felt before. He had never been so calm... He suddenly wanted to be there forever. He didn't want to go back.

"Oh, but you have to." a familiar voice said, softly. "Your siblings need you. Bulma needs you. Your mother needs you."

He remembered then and a small ray of light seemed to seep through the darkness.

"I'm so proud of you, my son." the voice said as he approached the light. "I've always been and always will be."

Vegeta took a deep breath as he woke up.

He was incredibly sore, but not in a horrid amount of pain, so he simply groaned. He could hear a machine beeping next to him and someone gasped.

"Vegeta." a voice said.

He slowly opened his eyes. The blurry images slowly focused. He was in a hospital room, judging by the white walls and ceiling, the machines around him, the TV on a corner below the ceiling and the attached bathroom with a hospital gown hanging from the wall. He slowly looked around and saw Bulma sitting next to him, a small bandaid on her temple and her eyes swollen and red, from crying no doubt. On his other side, was Kakkarot, smiling at him eagerly. Dr. Brief was in the corner, his arms crossed and a big smile on his face as he looked at him. Vegeta took a deep breath and closed his eyes again, a small stab of pain on his torso but nothing like what he had felt the days before. Then, he looked down at himself.

Needles on his arms and hands, and his boy enveloped in clean gauze. No blood, no sweat, no open wounds... It had been so long. A thin, white sheet covered him from below his pectorals. An oxygen mask was strapped to his face. He sighed and looked up at Bulma again.

"Hey." she said softly. "You're finally awake."

He smiled slightly, but didn't say anything. His throat was sore.

"You gave us quite a scare. The doctors said you might not make it... But you did, like you always do." Goku said.

"My boy," Dr. Briefs said. He walked closer to them and sat at the edge of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." he said, his voice hoarse. Bulma grabbed a glass of water from a table behind her and slipped the straw through his mask. He sipped thankfully.

"You are." the doctor answered. "As Goku said, you were in a really bad state. The infection was extremely dangerous, but we have it under control. And the damage your face received was very worrying... You've been unconscious for more than two days."

Vegeta's eyebrows furrowed. Bulma removed the water and left it behind her again.

"Really?" Vegeta asked, his voice a little less hoarse.

"Yes... but you're great now. We got rid of the infection and now you just have to rest to let the other injuries heal. You're very brave."

"How are Trunks and Tarble?" he asked suddenly, remembering how Recoome and Jeice had gone looking for them.

"They're safe. My mom is with them. I'll call her to tell her to bring them." Bulma said, smiling widely. Vegeta nodded and she got up, calling her mom. She could tell that her father wanted to be alone with Vegeta so she motioned for Goku to follow her.

"What happened... after I passed out?" Vegeta asked once they were alone.

"Bulma called me. She told me to get the kids to safety and to go pick you up with police and an ambulance." he said. "When we got there, Bulma was trying to stop the bleeding on your leg from the gunshot and from the back of your head... Fortunately your siblings didn't see any of it. It was bad, but then everything turned good. You can't imagine what's been happening in these two days. Frieza's men are being arrested by the minute. Most of them are confessing. Old Enterprises is going downhill pretty fast. A lot of people are speaking out in your defence... There won't even be a trial for murder. As far as everyone is concerned, you're a country hero. And most important of all: You're safe. No one will come looking for you."

Vegeta closed his eyes. It felt unreal... Like a dream from which he would soon wake up. It had happened before, that he dreamt about Frieza dying. A part of him didn't believe it.

"Thank you." he said simply, not knowing what else to say. He opened his eyes as Dr. Briefs put a hand on his shoulder, softly.

"You'll be fine." he said. "And... someone's here to see you. I'll tell her she can come in."

Vegeta's eyes widened as his mother walked inside as soon as Dr. Briefs left.

"Mom?" he said softly.

Her eyes watered as she saw him and she made her way to the chair next to his bed, sitting down.

"Oh, my sweet son." she said in a choked voice, grabbing his bandaged hand with both of hers. "How are you feeling?"

"I-I... I'm fine." he said, still dumbfounded.

"Listen," she said, lowering her eyes as tears rolled down her face."I understand if you don't want me here and if you want me to leave I will. I just came here to say that I'm very, very proud of you, and I love you."

"I don't want you to leave." he answered, his voice soft and low. He looked away as she snapped her head up to look at him. "Frieza told me everything. I - Mom, I should've known. I just believed what Frieza told me... and..."

"Vegeta," she whispered. He looked at her. "Frieza had a way of making people believe him. You just have to know that I'm very, very sorry for being such a horrid mother and I don't deserve your forgiveness - "

"You didn't have a choice." Vegeta said.

"- And I want you to know that I'm very proud of you. I always have been and always will be." she continued. She smiled slightly at him. "I have no right to be a part of your new life, but if you allow me, I want to be. Dr. Briefs said he'll take you in, of course, if you want to... But if you want to, I'd love to take the three of you in again, make up for my mistakes and - and - show you that I love you more than life itself." her voice broke at the last sentence.

Exhaustion washed over Vegeta suddenly. He remembered how Capsule Corp medicines were very effective but also very tiring and took their tool very quickly. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the wall. He wanted to forgive his mother. He loved her. He always remembered how caring and nurturing she was, and he knew that it had never been her fault. He knew she'd take great care of Trunks and Tarble, and him as well... but the dark part of him that kept on doubting everything and telling him that it was unreal and that everything Frieza had said had been true, kept on replaying flashbacks of her turning him down when he was in the worst moments of his life.

He heard as small sob beside him and turned to look at her, his eyelids heavy.

"I forgive you, and I love you, too." he said. "But I... I'll have to think about it."

She smiled slightly at him, and kissed his forehead.

"I'll let you rest." she said, her voice shaky. He smiled up at her.

"Mom, I really do forgive you. It was never your fault." he said.

Vegeta got out of the hospital after a long time.

The internal injuries had been extremely bad, and the continuous assault on his body had left it with very weak defences and energy. Even though he had woken up feeling fine, the infection kept on reappearing, his body sometimes turned unresponsive to medicine and the wounds were extremely hard to heal. Besides, the constant nightmares he got were horrendous. The abuse Frieza had put him through after he had escaped had been extremely bad, and the nightmares were just as violent, making him scream and writhe around, alway reopening his injuries and ripping needles from his arms. It made the job much harder on the doctors who always had to rush into Vegeta's room to wake him up and heal him again. No amount of sleeping medicine kept his tortured mind away from the memories.

But finally, his body was healthy enough so that he could go home.

And he had decided to move in with his mother, just to give her a chance.

Trunks and Tarble got used to her very quickly. She was very loving, after all, and they were extremely glad to have Vegeta living with them again. Sooner than he expected, he formed a bond with his mother that he never imagined he could have back. She was very good to him; she'd be there when he had nightmares, waking him up and comforting him even when he didn't want to. She would make him snacks and warm milk even if it was 4 a.m. in the morning just to soothe him. He found himself truly opening up to her after a few days, telling her some of the worst experiences he had suffered just like he had told Bulma.

Living with the adult version of Vegeta for years had taught Raniya how to deal with emotionally crippled men, and even though Vegeta's traumas and uncontrollable anger were a challenge, she slowly learned how to deal with them and help him back to be psychologically stable.

Bulma also visited him every day, and she was one of the main factors to help his mind go back to full recovery. She also knew how to comfort him and make him happy.

Vegeta Sr.'s real will was found a month after Frieza's death. He had made various copies, knowing he had dangerous enemies, and soon, Ouji Enterprises went back to Vegeta and Raniya, and she wasted no time in removing all traces of Frieza's presence from it and running it the way Vegeta Sr. had always wanted.

They moved to a mansion close to Capsule Corp, and the families often visited each other, Raniya and Mrs. Briefs becoming friends very quickly.

Vegeta and Bulma became official, and of course, it was a huge blast at school.

Maroon and Yamcha and everyone else became extremely jealous and would try to bring them down, but they weren't King and Queen of school for nothing. Together, they were invincible, and very much in love. And very, very happy. Nothing stood in their way anymore. Vegeta's grades went back to their highest, he went back to being Captain of the Football Team and Head of Martial Arts, and his life turned around. He was finally happy.

One night, a year after the incident, Vegeta found himself in another nightmare.

His shoulders and wrists were on fire. His whole body was racked in so much pain he couldn't breathe, couldn't think, couldn't force his body to stop shaking and his sobs and tears to stop.

He didn't know how much time had passed, but it had to be less than a day and Frieza had already been so brutal with him... He had used everything already. His skin was ripped to shreds, bloodied and bruised and welted where there weren't gaping wounds. His ribs were shattered, all of them, and his sternum and clavicle as well. He could feel it, and if he opened his eyes he could see them against his skin. Every breath was torture, and when he coughed it hurt so much he saw stars and white dots in his vision.

His arms and legs had also been devastated, broken and twisted out of place, which only made things worse when the torture got so bad his body jerked and twisted around to try to escape it. But... Frieza was still laughing. His head was so disoriented he couldn't hear very well and couldn't spot where Frieza was, and he didn't want to open his eyes, but he did know that Frieza was laughing and that meant that he wasn't done. Not by a long shot. He shuddered at the thought. He was so scared... He tried to think of Bulma. At least the heartache distracted him from everything. He tried to think of her and how much he actually loved her.

"Look at me when I'm talking to you." Frieza said, clearly amused. "I have a present for you."

Vegeta opened his eyes, only because Frieza catching him by surprise with more pain terrified him. He couldn't help it. Oh, but he wished he hadn't.

His heart went into overdrive. His eyes widened and his body shook harder.

The electrocution device.

"No." he whispered. "No, no, no."

"Yes, yes, yes." Frieza said sadistically. He wasted no time in placing the pads on his temples and on his stomach, laughing as Vegeta instinctively tried to pull away.

"Please, please. Not this. Please." he pleaded. He was so scared he couldn't even think straight. His body was shaking too much in fear. He could still remember the pain the device could cause. It haunted most of his nightmares. "Please, anything but this."

Frieza laughed and took out the controller, twiddling it in his fingers and making Vegeta tense in absolute terror.

"You should've never left." He said.

Vegeta opened his mouth to talk, but his throat had closed up. Tears welled in his eyes and he closed them, pleading mentally for help, even though he knew nothing would save him. Nothing ever did.

Without warning, Frieza clicked the button, on level 1.

The pain spurted from the pads, into his head and all through his body. It shredded through him. It felt like it was tearing sinew and muscles apart, burning his skin, shattering his bones... He screamed out in agony, writhing around as it burnt him, destroyed him, caused him pain past endurance. He felt like his body was going to burst open. It went down his spine and into his very soul. The horrendous pain was killing him.

And then it stopped. He sobbed as his body shook violently. The smell of burnt flesh hit his nostrils and he wanted to throw up. His eyes remained shut but he could feel blood seeping down his nose. And without warning, it started again, and it went longer this time.

It was truly tearing him apart. Waves over waves of insurmountable agony washed over his weakened body, roasting him alive on the outside and on the inside, making his body convulse with the horrid electricity and ripping screams from his burning throat. When it stopped again, a heavy silence fell through, broken only by Vegeta's moans of pain and ragged breathing. Vegeta opened his eyes when the wait became unbearable and bloody tears ran down his cheeks. His face was twisted in a mask of agony and terror.

"Oh, don't cry. That was just level one. Let's skip one and go straight to level three. I remember that one tore your skin open." he said cruelly as he dialled it up.

Vegeta braced himself for another round of horrid pain, his eyes welling up with tears... And then the pain started, stronger than before, more painful, more devastating. Agony washed over him and his shrieks turned so desperate... His skin burst open in several places, blood rushed from his insides and gushed from his mouth and nose, and caused him pain that his mind couldn't even understand. His head was screaming with monstrous agony... He was dying. He wouldn't make it.

And then it stopped.

"Please..." he sobbed brokenly. "I can't."

"Oh, yes you can. I believe in you. In fact, I believe in you so much, I'll bump this baby up to level five."

Vegeta woke up screaming and shot up into a sitting position.

His mom walked inside, calmly. She sat on the bed next to him and raked a hand through his hair as Vegeta breathed heavily. He drew his legs close to his body and cleaned the sweat from his forehead.

"It's okay, sweetie." she said softly. "What was it this time?"

He cleared his throat and looked at his hands.

"The electrocution device. After I escaped last time."

"Oh." she said, her face turning said. She caressed his face and he pulled away, frowning. "Well, it was just a nightmare anyway."

"Yeah." he growled. "I don't want to talk about it."

Raniya could see that he was still shaken up, his body trembling slightly, and he wouldn't be able to go back to sleep until he calmed down significantly.

"So, let's talk about something else. How's Bulma?"

His face brightened up almost immediately. Bulma was the only thing that could make him drop the stoic face.

"Great." he said, smiling slightly. "She's been acting like a maniac with the prom coming."

"Oh, the prom." she said excitedly. "That's right! Oh my God, you're so close to graduating. It's great... and you'll go to the same University, too!"

Vegeta smiled wider.

"We are."

"That sound like you've planned your future extremely well." Rainya said, arching an eyebrow.

"I don't want to spend my future without her." he confessed. Then he glared at his mom. "You can't tell her I said that."

"I won't." she laughed. "But you have my blessing for whatever plans you have for your future."

Goku and Vegeta sat on a bench outside their school, smiling as they shared memories of the good times. They held the graduation hats in their hands as they stared at all their classmates talking to their families, clutching their diplomas proudly and hugging each other happily. Vegeta stared at Bulma and Chichi taking pictures and hugging and laughing. Then at his mother, carrying a sleeping Trunks in her arms as she spoke with Celipa and Mrs. Briefs. He couldn't believe he had made it this far, and happily. And fate just kept smiling at him.

"Hey, my mom wants to throw a graduation dinner tonight at our house. You and your mom are invited, of course. My mom loves her." Goku said.

"I'm sure she does." Vegeta said.

Celipa had always been very caring towards Vegeta, never questioning him about his injures and "gang fights", and had always received him in her house with open arms when he was too injured or needed a rest. She had taken care of Trunks and Tarble when he couldn't do it himself and sometimes even for days on end. She was such a good mother... and seeing how Raniya treated the three of them, surely made Celipa very happy that Vegeta finally had the family he deserved. Vegeta had also told Raniya everything about how Celipa had been so good to him, and Raniya was eternally grateful. At least Vegeta hadn't been completely alone throughout it all.

"Hey, Ouji, Son! Come on, we'll take the pictures for the football team!" Nappa said, waving at them from the entrance of the school

.

Vegeta loosened his tie as he paced back and forth in the waiting room.

He absolutely hated hospitals. They brought nothing but bad memories to him, and it only heightened his anxiety. He glanced over at the chairs and glared at the people who accompanied him. Dr. and Mrs. Briefs chatting happily with Raniya, Trunks was texting nonstop on his phone, and Tarble was playing with his PS or whatever. He couldn't understand how they could be so calm!

He growled and turned back around, clenching and unclenching his fists in frustration.

Then, suddenly, a familiar face popped into his field of vision. His eyes widened.

Dr. Malaka looked true to his years. He was old and white-haired. Vegeta hadn't seen him in eight long years... but the man looked incredibly healthy despite being very wrinkled. He seemed to recognise Vegeta and immediately made his way to him.

"Vegeta Ouji?" he asked disbelievingly. Vegeta looked extremely well. He was still young, but he was an adult now. His jaw was squared, his buildup was bigger and stronger, and he was wearing a suit.

"Dr. Malaka." he said. He frowned in confusion. Doctors from Frieza's hospitals had very questionable pasts and that's why they worked in very questionable places. "What are you doing here?"

"Well, after Frieza died," he beamed at Vegeta, gratitude written all over his face, "I cleared my name and they hired me in a respectable establishment."

"I'm glad." Vegeta said.

"I'm glad to see you looking so good." the man answered. "Last thing I knew was that you killed Frieza and took over Ouji Enterprises."

"Uh, yeah." Vegeta said. "Life finally turned around for good."

"What are you doing here, then?" the doctor asked. "I was confident I'd never see you again."

"My... fiancée is pregnant." he said, blushing a little and trying to look emotionless and serious.

The doctor's eyes widened and he laughed amusedly, patting Vegeta's shoulder.

"Well, look at you! Frieza didn't totally fuck you up!" he joked. Vegeta furrowed his eyebrows at the doctor's weird humour. "Who's the lucky lady?"

"Bulma Briefs." he said, smiling. "The one who helped me escape."

Dr. Malaka sighed proudly.

"I'm so glad. You deserve the best life can give you." he said. Vegeta nodded and they shook hands before the doctor walked away.

Vegeta couldn't believe it.

She was so small and fragile... and beautiful. Her eyes were blue and it looked like her hair would be blue as well. He held her close to him.

"She's beautiful, isn't she?" Bulma said tiredly, looking at him from the hospital bed. Vegeta nodded. "I want to name her Bulla."

"Bulla." Vegeta said. The baby girl giggled.

"She likes it." Bulma said. "Call our mothers. They're dying to see her, I suppose."

Vegeta nodded and gave the baby back to Bulma.

"I'll be right back."

Before he could leave, though, Bulma grabbed his hand. He looked down at her questioningly.

"We'll be the happiest family in the world." she said.

Vegeta smiled.

He knew it.

Well, what can I say?

Cheesy, cheesy, cheesy chapter but I had to give you guys your happy ending. And myself. And Vegeta.

He needed a little cheesy chapter to balance out everything I put him through, heh.

It was a bit rushed, I know, but I wanted it to be short and concise. It was all about tying loose ends, finishing the story with a big smile from everyone who deserved it. I know some characters lacked a bit of participation, but I think I tied everything together.

Broken Glass makes me very proud because I enjoyed writing it to the very end. I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, favourited, or simply read the story. I do this for you, people :)

I hope I see all of you soon, when I get inspiration for a new story!

Bye, guys. Thanks for everything!