Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Only in Dreams ❯ Only in Dreams ( Chapter 1 )

A/U Bulma has an accident and Vegeta finds solace as he always has in his dreams

Only in Dreams

by

BarbaraSheridan

The Z fighters and their offspring felt the energy ripple long before the other mourners. Their collective gaze shifted to Vegeta who stood motionless, his rugged face an unflinching mask. There was a faint tensing of his strong hands which rested lightly upon the shoulders of his grieving children Trunks and Bra.

Vegeta looked up, met the questioning stares with his usual defiant look then stepped towards Goku who was giving the eulogy at this memorial service. He spoke in a raspy whisper, his tone that of a royal command not a simple request.

"End it, Kakarot. Now."

"Um, Okay."

Goku's eyes grew wide as the sensation of power quivered harder around them.

"You know it isn't me, you fool," Vegeta snapped. "End it."

A throaty female voice echoed on the wind. "Not so fast,"

The air crackled with the energy, the gray clouds began to glow with a silvery inner light and before the crowd, a mist appeared, swirled, shifted, changed into the form of a woman.

A woman with the late Bulma's face.

Dr. Briefs gasped. Mrs. Briefs sagged against Chi Chi. Bra trembled.

"Daddy---"

Vegeta gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "You have nothing to fear. It's only your mother's outcast twin. She hasn't cursed us with her presence since you were born."

When the woman smirked, it shattered the sweet illusion of Bulma totally.

"Ah Vegeta, still the charmer, I see."

She turned her back on everyone then waved her slender hand over the barren plot of earth where the fatal accident of Bulma and Yamcha occurred. Rose petals materialized and fluttered softly to the ground where they skittered on a wispy breeze only to transform into glowing butterflies that took off into the sky.

"Farewell, sister, may you now find the bliss you sought for so long."

She turned back to the staring group, a sad, longing smile grazing over her parents and then her niece and nephew.

Her gaze locked onto Vegeta's. I will come to you when they've all gone. We must talk.

His dark eyes narrowed and he silently replied. Spare me, woman. I have nothing to say to you.

But I have quite a bit to say to you and I've waited a lifetime to say it....

With that, a silvery mist enveloped her and she was gone.

Goku cleared his throat and thanked those who'd come today to pay their final respects.

"Are you coming with us?" Trunks asked his father. "To Goku's house for lunch?"

Vegeta smirked. "I'll pass. You two go."

Trunks nodded and walked away. His sister followed then turned back.

"I'm not sure when I'll be home, Daddy. I might visit with a friend later. H-she'll bring me home."

Vegeta shook his head, suppressing a faint smile. "Silly girl. You think I don't know? I may spend a great deal of time training off ground but I assure you my head isn't in the clouds. Have your little date with Kakarot's boy." He turned his head sharply, hard eyes impaling young Goten who was looking their way.

Giving Bra's hand a squeeze, Vegeta turned away, arms folded in front of his broad chest. He tolerated the simpering words of condolence from as many as he could then left without a single goodbye.

Soaring through the air he took the same flight path that Bulma and Yamcha had on that fateful day. The day they'd finally decided to run off with one another. How it galled him, not so much the disloyalty or the treachery, but Bulma's choice in an illicit partner. The woman hadn't had a shred of taste at all.

Touching down near the house, Vegeta cleared the thoughts from his mind then changed into comfortable clothes to train. He trained inside and out for hours until darkness had settled over the land. A faint growing hunger compelled him to stop and he went to take a shower.

The steady flow of steaming water eased the tenseness from his prominent muscles. At least now with Bulma gone there would be no distractions, no whining for "quality time together", no incessant complaining that he wasn't doing his share in the relationship.

All in all perhaps things had turned out for the best. Bulma now had eternity in the arms of her first love and he had his solitude.

And the award for incredible denial goes to, his Royal Saiyanness, the Prince of all Conceited Ones---Vegeta..."

The growl of displeasure rumbling in Vegeta's chest vibrated the glass doors of the shower. He stepped out, wrapping a fluffy white towel around his lean hips. He looked towards the ceiling where the energy was concentrated. "Be gone witch, I have no use for you or your insipid chatter."

Bulma's sister chuckled inside his mind then materialized before him. She was dressed in a long red garment that clung to her shapely form, slits at the side reaching just to her knees. She reached out and touched him, her index finger tracing the path of a water droplet that slid from his shoulder down across his chest before being absorbed by the edge of the towel.

"You have no idea how fortunate you are, Saiyan," she said at last. Any other man would find himself writhing in eternal damnation for speaking to me that way."

He batted her hand away with a flick of his own. "Aren't I the lucky one? I tremble at your benevolence."

And I tremble at being in your presence as I have for two decades...

Vegeta sucked in his breath, stared at her as the words rushed into his mind.

"Damn," she said aloud. "I must be getting lax at suppressing thought energy in my old age." She breathed a quiet sigh then waved her hand, causing a small thickly padded chair to appear. She sat and gazed up at Vegeta, her expression brimming with barely repressed emotion. "You have no idea what you do to me, what you've always done to me..."

"You talk nonsense, woman. Be gone. Leave me."

"I can't, " she answered softly, her smoky voice caressing the back he'd turned on her. "I should leave but I can't. I can't leave because I need you as you need me."

He whipped around, water droplets flying from the ends of his long hair. "Need you? I need nothing and no one. Certainly not the likes of an insufferable witch I've set eyes on, what, a handful of times in my life?"

Her eyes were locked on his and she remained silent though it was torture to do so. A languid wave of her hand caused Vegeta to be dressed in black slacks and a white shirt. His rugged magnificence still overwhelmed her but at least she'd be able to concentrate.

Vegeta smirked then towel dried his hair. "Perhaps I have use of you, woman," he quipped before leaving the room. He went to the kitchen and devoured two plates of egg rolls. He was reaching for a cold chicken leg when the witch materialized between himself and the refrigerator.

"I love you, Vegeta and I know you love me."

He growled his displeasure and moved with lightning speed to another room. She followed him he moved again, going outside, flying as fast as he could. She was right beside him, her thoughts pleading, then commanding him.

Stop this! We must talk. Now, Saiyan!

He stopped, floated in mid air, she right in front of him, arms folded defiantly across her chest.

"What do you want? Why do you bother me? Why do you speak this nonsense?"

"It isn't nonsense, Vegeta, it's a lifetime of wanting, of needing, of being isolated, for us both."

She waved her hand and they were once again in the house.

Vegeta shook his head. He was tired of this game, tired in general. "Make sense woman." He paused. "Please."

"Did Bulma ever tell you why our parents disowned me?"

"There was something about you causing trouble with every step, I believe."

A wry smile curved her lips. "Bulma was always the perfect daughter, the princess who got her way by virtue of her sparkling personality. I, on the other hand expected my just rewards for my actions. I knew I was born to lead, knew I had the ability and intelligence but that never seemed to matter. My father brushed away my ideas as cute childish things but when he looked at them further he saw their merits and smoothed the few rough edges and claimed my inventions as his own. There wouldn't have been such a successful Capsule Corp. were it not for the hours I spent growing up, spending all my time in the lab studying ideas and methods, perfecting and refining them."

She paused and breathed a quiet sigh. "I felt I was destined for far more than they'd ever give me credit for so I left at seventeen and found a place where my ambition made anything possible. Surely you, of all people, can understand that."

"Yes," he said quietly.

She nodded and stepped towards Vegeta. "Why did you stay with Bulma even after you realized the truth about her feelings for Yamcha? It had being going on for years..."

"I know," he muttered, the pictures on the livingroom wall rattling from the force of his contained anger. The anger waned when Bulma's sister placed her hand lightly upon his shoulder.

"She didn't deserve you. She never truly understood you. She refused to accept that you aren't like other men, that you're different, special, and should be treated as such."

He turned his back and a silence settled over them. At last Vegeta spoke, a little surprised that he was speaking these things at all.

"It probably should never have happened, she and I. But once it did, it became comfortable, having someone there even though the strain was always present. At times I felt like we shared two lives, that Bulma was a complex person, that she was repressing a part of herself in the waking world, the part I most wanted to be with."

"But in your dreams she was near perfect."

Vegeta turned, his dark brows raised. "Yes."

"In your dreams she was your warrior queen and together you conquered mystical lands and tyrant beasts and grew to share a closeness, a perfect union of souls that rivals that of Chi Chi and Goku."

Vegeta looked down at the floor, surprised and a bit embarrassed that his foolish flights of fancy had been discovered by the witch before him.

In an instant she was before him, her hand reaching out for his. She raised it to her lips then to her forehead as she bobbed a small curtsey. "I am at your disposal, My King..."

Vegeta pulled away his face hardening, his muscles tensing. "How dare you--"

"How dare I what? Repeat the words I've repeated to you a thousand times in the Shadowlands? Don't you see? Haven't you ever stopped to think that it was a different 'Bulma" who completed your life, allowed you to be the conqueror you were born to be?"

"Be gone, witch."

"I have a name Vegeta. You know it, you've said it countless times as we've held each other in the aftermath of battles won."

He spun around, raised his hand, a glowing ball of energy dancing against his palm. "Leave me."

"I can't. I won't stand it any longer. There's no need to pretend that I don't exist that I haven't loved you and shared my throne with you for over a decade." She approached him, close enough that the energy singed her. "Go ahead and blast me. End my torment if you think you can. You know I'm telling the truth. You know the 'dreams' were always too real. While Bulma confined your physical body to a dull relationship on this planet I set your spirit free in the realm I've come to inhabit."

She paused as he lowered his hand and turned away.

Maybe this was a mistake. I should have kept to the shadows, I should have accepted with my lot. I should have cherished the brief times in your presence, and contented myself with raising your sons to be the warrior that you are....Forgive me...

By the time Vegeta turned she was gone.

****

"I have a name Vegeta. You know it, you've said it countless times as we've held each other in the aftermath of battles won."

"Arame," he thought aloud one night while lying in bed unable to sleep. He'd been unable to get a decent night's rest in weeks and it was beginning to take its toll coupled with the endless martial arts training he did to occupy is time and thoughts.

She'd been given the name Arame by the people of the Shadowlands, the realms she'd been thrust into after crossing a wizard in this world. He thought he'd banished her to an instant death sentence, but her pride wouldn't allow it.

She recovered from the injuries the wizard inflicted with the help of the shadow dwellers whose lives were spent hiding from the tyrants and beasts that had taken over their world. She refined the magic she'd learned in this world and coupled it with her own inner power. She brought hope to the people that had taken her in and led the bravest among them into battle to slowly and methodically regain their world. In gratitude they'd made her their queen and she had chosen him, Vegeta, as her King. She deferred to his judgement, joined him in battle as they defended the land from interlopers trying to regain a foothold. She'd born him three strong sons.

"This is madness!"

In a flash Vegeta was outside fighting with his own inner turmoil. In a deserted valley he blasted sides of mountains with a wave of his hand, punched craters into the rocky terrain, rendered gigantic boulders to sand with powerful kicks.

"Whoa."

Vegeta spun, glared at the one who dared intrude. "Kakarot--"

Goku held up his hands. "Settle down. I'm not here because I want to be. Chi Chi insisted. Loudly. She's worried about you. Trunks and Bra have been telling her that you barely eat, won't sleep and you do nothing but train like a madman."

Vegeta turned his back. "It is no concern of your woman's."

"It is, because she cares. We both do."

Vegeta spun around, growling as that insipid almost childlike smile spread against Kakarot's face.

Goku shrugged. "What can I say, you're like family, we have to care about you, especially when you won't care about yourself."

Vegeta turned away. "Go."

Goku appeared in front of him. "No can do. I'm on a mission. Chi Chi won't cook until I find out what's wrong and talk some sense into you."

Vegeta smirked and shook his head before strolling to a jagged outcropping of rock. He leaned against it, arms folded across his chest. Goku joined him. He didn't protest.

Though he struggled to contain it, Vegeta found the words coming from his lips. He told Goku of the encounter with Bulma's estranged sister, told him of the years of vivid dreams, even confided his own confusion about his feelings for his late mate.

"At times I would look at her and wonder who she was. I cared for her deeply but she maddened me more often than not, but in my dreams it was all too perfect."

The silence fell again and after a time Vegeta looked over at Goku. "If you ever so much as tell anyone of this--"

Goku held up his hand. "You have my word."

Vegeta stood, paced, arms crossed in front of him. Though he'd never admit it, he was thankful for Kakarot's presence, his concern. He stopped pacing. "But it's all so absurd."

"Why?"

"Why? I can't believe you! Why? "

"C'mon, Vegeta we've seen and experienced some pretty bizarre people and events in all the years we've known one another. Why is it so hard to believe that you've been teleported to another dimension at times and lived another life? A life that seems to have suited you pretty well."

"You make it sound so simple as only a fool like you could."

Goku stood and frowned. "I may be a fool, but I'm not miserable and lonely."

Vegeta watched him disappear, refusing to acknowledge the simple truth of the words.

He trained again long into the night until hunger and exhaustion pulled him into unconsciousness.

Vegeta dreamed he was lying in an ornate bed in the room of a compact castle. The air was slightly chilled but the nearby fireplace soon remedied that. A tasty broth was spooned into his mouth and his empty stomach savored every drop.

I'm sorry, but I couldn't bear to watch you. You'll destroy yourself if you keep this up and I can't let that happen.

He opened his eyes and Arame averted hers. She set the empty bowl aside and stood. "You've been sleeping for days. I've sent word to your family of where you were and that I'd look after you until you felt stronger. I brought them to see you." She turned. "Shall I send for them?"

He growled. "Another blasted dream."

"No. They were never 'dreams', Vegeta. Everything between us was as real as this moment is now. The only difference is that I altered your perception, let you think you'd imagined it all. It seemed better that way, at the time..."

Arame turned. The facial features were like Bulma's but this woman was so different. He was drawn to her, knew her hopes and fears, strengths and weaknesses better than he knew his own. It made no sense, it was too unsettling to dwell on. The best thing to do was leave, wake up, do whatever it would take to banish this insanity forever.

"Please don't," she whispered. "It's real, Vegeta, this place, everything that happened between us. I swear it. When I left home I went wild, ran with many different people, experimented with everything imaginable. In magic I found power, self confidence. It got the better of me and almost cost me my life but then I learned to control it for the good of others. You understand that. I know you do."

She approached the bed, hands in the pockets of her long robe. "I know that it wasn't right or fair to manipulate you with magic while you slept with your guard totally down, but I couldn't help it. When I first met you when Trunks was born I fell in love with you. It made me crazy to see that Bulma had no idea of what she had in you. I needed someone like you and I hoped you needed someone like me. I feel guilty for being so underhanded, but I don't regret it. You made me happy and I think I made you happy too, even if you think its was only in dreams."

Vegeta said nothing and struggled to silence the part within him that pleaded for him to believe, accept, cooperate.

Arame left and soon Trunks and Bra appeared, looking around as though they were children in an amusement park for the first time. And when they turned to look at im Vegeta realized that they knew. That insufferable witch had told them her tale. And they believed it.

"None of this is real," Vegeta snapped, bolting upright in the bed. A wave of dizziness stopped him from standing.

"Daddy lie down," Bra said. "The doctor said you need lots of rest."

Vegeta grumbled then looked to his son. Trunks was a man now surely he'd see the truth.

"This place is incredible. It's hard to believe it exists so close to our own world. If you're in the right place and have the right power level you can step from one to the other."

Vegeta sank back onto the pillows. This was madness it had to be.

"I think I might stay a while if you don't mind," Trunks said. "I want to work with Kuri, Shoyu and Miso. Those guys are good, but they need some gravity training. Of course since we already have the chamber at home, maybe they should come with me. Of course then all Bra's little friends will be all over them."

Trunks yelped, not anticipating the kick from his sister.

"You afraid the girls will stop paying attention to you because our brothers are better looking and princes?"

"They look like me, and I'm a prince too...sort of."

"Jealous."

Vegeta let the silly bickering go on for a moment then sent a wispy energy ball to get his children's attention. "This is real to you then?"

"Yes."

"Absolutely."

Bra sat on the edge of the bed. "It's all pretty weird, and I was mad when Arame started telling us everything, but..." She shrugged.. "I want to hate her, but I can't. She's too nice and I know she loves you. She showed us your life here through vision rock. You were so different than you were with Mom. You were so happy. Arame loves you and you love her. I can feel it."

Vegeta looked to Trunks who nodded his agreement of his sister's words.

They left the room soon after and Vegeta lay back in the wide soft bed, the very familiar bed. He thought over all the vivid dreams and the more he thought of them the more real they became just like his memories of his younger years on the planet Vegeta, then Earth, his battles with Kakarot, Frieza and the others.

Slowly he got up, pulled on the thick velvety black robe that rested on the foot of the bed. He went to the large windows and looked out upon the castle grounds. In the distance was a sprawling city and he remembered traveling through the streets, acknowledging the throng of people paying tribute to himself and Arame for protecting them. He remembered standing on the balcony outside these windows and holding up each of his sons after their birth, letting the people see their new warrior princes.

Kakarot had been right. It suited him well. Very well.

There was a knock on the bedchamber door.

"Enter."

It was Arame. She came up beside him and he looked down, watched the way the sunlight through the windows played upon her pretty face. He noticed the series of scars high up on her forehead, remembered when she'd gotten them, remembered his rage at the ones who'd injured her, almost took her from him.

"I'm going to take Trunks and Bra home. The boys want to go to see what the Earth is like. If you'd like to travel back with us that will be fine."

Vegeta said nothing.

Arame sighed and turned away. "Whenever you're ready then. The portal is along the west wall, the captain of the guard will show you."

"Wait."

She stopped and looked at him, trying to probe his thoughts, but was unable to. Of course he'd shut her out completely. She couldn't blame him.

"Work your magic, woman, give me traveling garments and I'll go now."

With a sad smile she waved her hand, dressed him in a crisp white shirt and black pants, shoes and jacket. She considered changing it to something in spandex but decided against it. It would be too much to bear. He looked far too attractive in those training clothes of his.

Arame let Vegeta lead the way to the door, her heart breaking further as each step lead them to the west wing of the castle. I'm going to miss you, Saiyan.

He stopped short, she ran into his broad back. He gripped her shoulders to steady her and looked down, those dark eyes of his piercing her to her very soul.

"Have the captain send out a scouting party before we go. Tell him check the Ellorian Cave region. I have a feeling about Martok's people. A few may have escaped, they need to be found and brought here.."

"All right," she said quietly, struggling to hold back the tears.

Vegeta let her go and took a deep breath, squaring his broad shoulders. "I'll deal with the situation personally when we return."

"What?"

"You heard me, woman, now let's get going," he answered sharply,. Taking Arame by the hand, he led her down the long corridor, a small, satisfied smile curving his mouth.

The End