They appeared again this night. Surrounding him in unpredictable patterns and illuminated his skin whenever they passed by. Glowing bits of light, colored like jade. They were strange yet beautiful in their own way, preventing him completely from squashing them in his palm, as he intended at first.
For days he asked himself 'what are they?', but of course they were not able to form an answer. Nonetheless, they fascinated him. Appeared and dissapeared again and again in the crown of the tree he was sitting under. Their light glowing in the darkness of the night. Vegeta sighed and closed his eyes. He was tired.
He was beyound exhausted. Fourteen hours he trained almost non-stop in the gravity chamber at 300 G. Never before did he last there this long. Every muscle, every bone in his body felt on fire. His right leg had been finally too weak to carry his weight, a deep gash was in his right cheek and still slightly bleeding. His stomach felt as if someone kicked his guts, the consequence to an attack of one of the bots he wasn't fast enough to evade from. The pain he felt was tremendous.
But it was obviously not enough. The strain and effords that should give him overwhelming strengt ... just made him tired. Weary of his training, of continuing. It had been almost one year and a half since the boy came from the future. Since he heard that he was destined to die at the hands of two cyborgs.
Pathetic!
He was the prince of all saiyans!
Dying because of two toasters?! Over his dead body.

...
Ironic, isn't it?
Vegeta sneered. The only chance he had was to become a Super Saiyan. To archive the legendary transformation that would increase his power in incredible hights.
But so far he archived it only in his dreams. It was hopeless.
Vegeta was tired of the self inflicted torture that got him no-where. Today all it did was breaking his leg and tiring him to the point where he wasn't even able to enter Capsule Corp. He just sat there, leaning against a tree and waited for sleep to come. Or his death, whatever arrived first. It didn't matter. For days now he thought about ... running away. To just leave this god-forsaken backwater planet for good and never come back. But where should he go? How far should he go? Until he would find a domicile, even remotely resembling a place to call home? And besides ...
could he swallow his pride and run away? Like a dog with it's tail between his legs?
Vegeta sighed and closed his eyes.
No. He couldn't. He shouldn't. But he also didn't want to wait for his destined death at the hands of mechanical monsters.

So what should he do? Running his fingers through his dark flame of hair the saiyan Prince looked up to the stars. Waiting for a sign, a ray of hope.

Bulma Briefs couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the bruised and bleeding form of her royal pain-in-the-ass housemate Vegeta. Leaning against a tree he was lying in the damp grass in the middle of the night, sleeping or unconscious, Bulma didn't know and wearing nothing but his sinful trainings shorts.
Bulma shook her head.
She shone down on him with a flashlight, sighing at all the damage his body received during his ... you couldn't even call that training anymore. His right leg was badly bruised, maybe even broken. His arms were covered in cuts and his whole stomach area was burned. Did he play bowling with those bots, she asked herself and put down the first aid kit she had been carrying. But before she even got the chance to take out some gauze a low and grumpy growl broke the silence.
"What are you doing here, woman?", he asked in a silent voice. Almost a whisper and sounded ... weird. Almost sad.
She raised an eyebrow.
"Oh I'm doing nothing. Walking around in my own garden in the middle of the night, thinking of nothing ... almost tripping over a half-dead monkey."
"Hn."
"Seriously, Vegeta! What the fuck were you thinking?! Do you want to get yourself killed?! Fourteen hours at 300 times earth gravity?! Have you lost your mind? Are you still not satisfyed after blowing yourself up three weeks ago?!"
"Not now woman.", Vegeta said with his eyes closed, avoiding conflict. This was not normal. She knew Vegeta as a dick with an ill temper. He was barking orders all the time and demanded absolute obedience of those around him. Whenever Bulma met him they argued and screamed at each other, resulting in both avoiding contact for several days without any form of excuses. Without him ever changing. Not even after he almost killed himself.
But change he did. She could feel it. He was different, he looked almost fragile in this moment. Like ... heartbroken. As if something had died inside of him.
But why?
"V ... Vegeta?" "Leave me alone."
Of course she didn't listen. Shaking her head she sat down next to him and carefully cleaned the wound in his cheeck, causing a small hiss to escape his lips. "Not before I'm done patching you up, buddy."
"Just leave, Bulma ... "
He almost never called her by her first name. Now she knew for sure it was serious. Was he sick? Was he ... dying?!"
Were his injuries too severe this time?
"Look at me.", She demanded, dimming the light with her left hand. "What's wrong?"
"It's useless ...", he whispered, averting his gaze with a long breath.
"Useless?"
"Whatever I do, no matter how long and hard I train, it's still not enough. Neither is the pain I inflict on my flesh and bones. I'm not getting any stronger ..."
"Why should pain make you stronger?"
"I'm out of options ...", he said with a tight grip on his left upper arm and a pained hiss. Bulma could only stare at him in worry without knowing what to do. If he continues he'll kill himself, she though and put her hand on his. His eyes bore into hers. A desperation was lying in the depths of his onyx gaze and she believed there were tears shining in them, but that could have been her imagination. "There's always a way. There's always a tomorrow. I'm sure you just need to rest a little. Forget the androids, the boy from the future and your urge to become a Super Saiyan, just for a little while. It's still time, Vegeta."
With a small snort he averted his gaze again and swallowed hard. She had never seen him like this. He looked lost and ... so lonely as he gazed to the stars as if waiting for something.
"Must be nice to be this naive ..."
"You're just too pessimistic.", she said and reached for his shoulders to massage them gently. Although she knew that he was not exactly fond of being touched, she was soon rewarded with a soft sound of comfort as she spotted a green light landing on his broken leg. "Looks like you've got a new friend!", she exclaimed as he reached for it with surprising care, but of course it flew away again. He followed its movement with a curious look on his face. "What ... are they ...?"
"They are called fireflies."
"Fire ... flies?"
"Yeah.", she said with a smile as it came back and even brought a few friends with it. They were absolutely beautiful.
"Can you catch one without hurting it?"
"Hmph. Of course."
The movement was almost too fast for her eyes to follow. Not even a second did he need to snatch one of the bugs and held it between two fingers with surprising care. She was completely in awe. "They ... are actually bugs. They glow to attract mating partners. The light is created by them in a chemical process called bioluminescence."
"Now I've seen everything."
With a sigh he released the small creature and watched it fly away with a sad smile.

How nice it must be to be so carefree. With a sigh Vegeta leaned back and watched the blue haired woman next to him. She was surrounded by the living lights. Her beautiful face illuminated. She looked like an angel. So different than him. Her skin not covered in scars. Her gaze not hardened by the sight of blood and war. It angered him that her life had been so much easier and enjoyable than his. But he also envied her. And that she gifted him with a place to live had earned his life-long gratitude. Against his will his heart began to beat faster as her gaze met his.y "Should I ... tell you what fireflies mean to us humans?"
"To color your hair in a ridiculous way to attract males?"
Even in the dark he could see her cheeks reddening in embarrasment.
"Ah shut up! You're one to talk! Your hair stands upwards as if you stabbed a fork into a high-voltage line as a baby!'
"Now I am offended.", he said sarcastically with a smile. Funny how fast she was able to change his mood. Just minutes ago he was almost ready to wait for his death and now he just wanted to reach out and touch her face forever. Why?
What kind of witchcraft was this? She had so much power over him, he couldn't understand. It had been that way since he saw her on namek for the first time. That's why he tried to avoid her at all costs. And it had worked so well.
But then the GR exploded. And he was overwhelmed by her kindness. The look of fear on her face as she held him close in all that rubble. How she told him to keep fighting as he thought to see a halo over her head in his delirium.
A stark contrast to her bitchy attitude.
"My hear color is absolutely natural!", she exclaimed in played fury. "And its fucking gorgeous!", Bulma ran her hands through the soft blue curls she wore. "Anyway, dork! If you are surrounded by fireflies, it means something great is about to happen to you. They are something like lucky charms."
He raised an eyebrow.
"That's bullshit and you know it."
"No it's not. You have to believe it with all your might and then boom!"
She raised her hands exaggerating.
"You're a Super Saiyan!"
What?
"What makes you so sure that I ...?"
"Because you're working wayy too hard to be denied of this privilegue. I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be able to transform. Not at all. But ...!, She raised her index finger. "You have to promise me that I'll be the first one to see it. Got it?"
His eyes were wide in shock. He couldn't believe his ears. The saiyan felt as if he was overwhelmed by a strong force he couldn't escape from. His body almost moved on it's own as he reached forward and gently put a loose strand of hear behind her left ear. The pain was completely forgotten as her eyes first widened in shock, before a soft glow was lying in them and a smile on her lips. "I take this as a yes ...", she whispered and closed the gap between them. As their lips touched he felt simultanously hot and cold. Strong and weak, yet not in the least uncomfortable.
A chill ran down his spine as she sighed in the kiss and he realized, this was what he hoped for. Something he already had the whole time!

He had been so blind!

Vegeta hoped for something that gave him new strenght.
And he already got it in form of an earth woman with the pitiful strenght of a puppy, but the heart of a true saiyan.
He got it in form of love.

And in this moment, surrounded by living lights ...
The prince of all saiyans chose to keep on fighting as their kiss depened.

And without being seen by the unusual couple, a small firefly landed on Bulmas flat stomach.
Maybe something great was about to happen.