For a moment, losing Hiromi Tsuru truly made me feel as if we had lost our beloved Saiyan Princess. I couldn't help but write a little something.
The roof of Capsule Corporation was cool through the thin fabric of the white shirt he wore, yet it was nothing that bothered the saiyan as he lay staring up at the night sky, his arms tucked beneath his head.
As always since that day, her approach was silent, yet the feeling inside of him as she joined his presence had never changed. Vegeta's jaw clenched as the wind swept with it her scent and as her touch ghosted against his shoulder, he turned his head to glance up at the familiar features of his wife's face leaning over him.
Bulma flashed him a cheeky smile. "I thought I'd find you hiding up here."
"Oh, it's you again.." He grouched and turned his head back to stare up at the night sky.
Her small body sank down right next to him, the white dress spreading like petals around her. "Ne, that's no way to greet your beloved wife." A pout shaped Bulma's lips as one of her fingers reached out to nudge at his cheek in feigned offence.
"Hn." Vegeta didn't answer her, turning from her with a snort.
"Do you want me to go?"
He didn't expect his heart to be able to react so strongly to a simple question like that, yet it clenched as if an opponent had thrust their fist inside his chest and grasped a hold of the vital organ. He could see the starlight reflect in her eyes and the brief look of sadness that flashed by in them was enough to make him crumple. What a wretched soul like his had ever done to deserve calling such a celestial being his, would puzzle Vegeta to the end of his days.
"No…" He spoke silently, her going away was the last thing he wanted right now. "Stay."
For a moment Bulma remained by his side in silence, like she had for several nights now, comforting him merely with her presence. Although, Vegeta's ears perked at the subtle sound of her dress moving as she slid further down to glance over the edge, his eye peeked open and despite knowing how absurd it was, he felt the knot form in the pit of his stomach the further down the sloped roof she went.
The wind caught her hair as she braced her hands against a metal pipe, glancing down at the garden below. "It's quite a gathering down there, seems everyone is here, you're not going to join in? I did see some spicy tuna rolls being served."
Vegeta sat up, a part of him wanted to reach out and grasp a hold of her, pulling her frail human body into his protective embrace to keep her from injury, but the rational part of him knew there was no need. Yet, he couldn't help but feel relieved as Bulma finally backed up, scooting back to sit next to him again.
He couldn't help but stare at Bulma as she leaned back and turned those perfect sapphire eyes towards the sky. "Can you believe it's been almost twenty years since you came to Earth? Seems as if a lot has changed since that time, hasn't it Vegeta?"
He crossed his arms over his knees, the obsidian eyes peering up at the stars above. "I never asked for this life, it's as if it was given to me like a bad joke."
"Do you regret it, your decision to stay with us?" Bulma asked him, never turning to him as her eyes instead roamed the unusually starry sky.
"In a way, I do. Had I left, I would never have experienced pain such as this." Vegeta turned to her, the obsidian eyes glazing over against his will, yet as she turned to face him, he offered her a soft smirk. "And yet, had I not remained, I would not have been alive long enough to see myself transform further beyond the level of an ordinary super saiyan, or been given a second chance to beat Frieza to a pulp."
"Or had a beautiful wife such as myself who you would come to make two lovely children with." Bulma reminded him with a roll of her eyes, her shoulder nudging against his. "If there's one thing I never regretted in life, it was remaining by your side until the end."
"Bulma, I.." He reached out for her, the tips of his fingers grazed against her cheek just as her smiling features began to vanish before him.
But it wasn't until she was no longer there that Vegeta's throat tightened, his now fisted hand beginning to tremble in suppressed rage and sorrow. Why the fuck did his mind play such horrendous tricks on him, was this to be the ultimate punishment for his previous crimes, to see Bulma there by his side over and over, despite the fact that she was now forever gone.
As a shadow floated into his vision, Vegeta quickly regained his composure, clearing his throat and lowering his hand. He had one thing that prevented him from either breaking down or going on a rampage, his son and newly born daughter.
The lavender haired boy lowered himself onto the roof and took a seat next to his father, he was twelve now, not much older than Vegeta himself had been when he had lost everything.
"I've talked to her too." Trunks finally admitted, his fingers fidgeting with the sleeve to his formal jacket. "Even though it's her funeral, I'll be damned if mom didn't find a way to come to us during the times we need her the most."
Vegeta's brows furrowed and his jaw clenched tightly. How could she leave him behind to deal with this on his own, to pretend that he was strong when in fact he wasn't.
"Dad, you know this isn't a final goodbye, she's not gone... she's just waiting for us in a different place. I bet you all the riches of Capsule Corporation that mom's right up there, bossing everyone around like usual." Trunks pointed towards the sky, flashing his father a cheeky yet pained grin.
Vegeta didn't return his enthusiasm. "You… she will be waiting for you. Not for me." With a defeated frown he turned his head from his son, silently cursing himself for slipping up like that in front of the boy.
For a moment Trunks lowered his gaze, only to raise it again, eyes filled with something that made him appear almost too mature for his age. "That's what got you so worried? That you will never see mom again?"
Vegeta sighed, hating the feeling of being read like an open book, but why wouldn't he be, Trunks was her son after all. "I know so, a soul like mine has no other place to go than to be cleansed in the fires of hell, and be reborn in a body that will never even remember her."
"I didn't know you could be so poetic, is that what made mom fall for you?"
With a huff, Vegeta threw himself down on his back again. "Hn, shouldn't you be down there with the others, it's your mother they are saying goodbye to after all."
"Well, in that case, shouldn't you be down there too seeing she's your wife." It was more of a statement, and just like the ghost of his mother, Trunks reached out and nudged his father's side. "Besides, I told you, it's not a goodbye. I'd truly like to see the one trying to keep you from her when the time comes."
Trunks lay down as well, folding his arms under his head as he stared up towards the sky. "She will wreck havoc and turn the dimensions of heaven and hell upside down if they try to take your soul from her, don't you think?"
Vegeta rolled his head to the side, finding himself staring back at remarkably blue eyes, the very same blue eyes as Bulma had had. And he realized, no matter what, there was always going to be a small piece of her with him.
For the first time since her death, Vegeta could feel the slight tug of amusement at the corner of his lips. Despite her lack of strength, his fiery mate had managed to intimidate the Gods themselves. Trunks was right, when time came for him to leave this plane of existence, there would be nothing keeping him from seeing his Bulma again.
Whether it's the wishings of the mind or Bulma checking up on her family after her death is nothing I will linger on.
But the thought of Vegebul's love being anything but eternal is simply nonsensical.
~TMP