Power of Love
by Hidden Angel

Chapter Twenty - Resolutions


Kakkarot stood with Kami on the lookout tower wondering exactly what the elder Namekian was doing. Physically the Namekian was there, but his psyche seemed to be elsewhere. With nothing better to do, he began to pace back and forth to the dismay of Mr. Popo.

"Kakkarot, could you please stop pacing like that? You're beginning to give me a headache."

Kakkarot paused and looked at Mr. Popo before breaking out into nervous laughter. "Sure. If you really want me to." He didn't know why he felt so nervous. After all, Chichi and the other earthlings were safe since Anon and her crew had left long ago. Maybe it was because Vegeta's life seemed to be in immediate danger and there was little he could to do help his long time friend.

Kami's eyes suddenly popped open. "Kakkarot, take this and find all the blinking dots on the screen. We might be needing them soon."

Questions raced by in Kakkarot's mind as he pondered what to do. He could ask what was going on or he could do as he was told. His curiosity nagged at him but the tone in Kami's voice had held a note of urgency in it that held no room for questions. Without another thought, he blasted away after what appeared to be the nearest dot. Had he stayed to ask a few questions, he would have discovered that what he held in his hand was actually a dragon ball radar and what he was searching for were the mystical dragon balls which would grant one wish to the person who collected all seven balls.

*****

Frieza stared at the wall in silence, contemplating his next moves. He had grown weary of her little game and it was now obvious that she would never bend to his power. All his hopes of using her for his purposes vanished into thin air. Now, he would slowly kill her, repaying her for all the times that she had made a fool of him.

A small smile flickered onto his face, as he was unable to contain the joy he felt thinking of ways to torture Anon. Oh she would pay. She would pay dearly for the insults and the abuse. Inching his way forward, Frieza set out in search of the little witch who had oppressed him for so long.

*****

Kami paced back and forth on his lookout point nervously. He had no doubt that Kakkarot could collect the dragon balls, all he doubted was whether or not Vegeta would want to come back to Earth. It had seemed to him as if the Saiyan prince had begun to dislike the planet with vehemence. How was he, or anyone else, suppose to convince the stubborn prince to return if he had no desire to do so?

*****

Meanwhile, back on planet Vegeta, Anon had brought hundreds of Saiyans running to her aid in hopes of fending off a bloodthirsty Frieza while she tried to escape from the monster. She should have known better than to trust him or doubt his power. Dragging Vegeta behind her, the screams of terror and pain rang through the corridors after her, signs of what Frieza was doing to those who opposed him.

Dodging and weaving through the many halls and rooms, Anon soon discovered that she was, herself, lost with no idea of where she was going. Stopping, she listened for sounds of Frieza's path of destruction only to find that there was none. Silence crowded around her as she sat down dejectedly glaring angrily at Vegeta.

"It's all your fault!" She hissed at him.

No response.

A snicker caused her to turn around. Her body froze in shock as she stared into the heartless and ruthless eyes of Frieza.

"Hello Anon. Now Goodbye."

Seconds later, she was no more. Power and creature both vanished into the depths of the after-life. Her miraculous powers would do no more harm to the minds of the innocent...or in this case, the not so innocent.

Turning his attention to Vegeta, Frieza smirked at the obviously blind warrior. "Exiled and yet you returned eh? I shall deal with you as I see fit." Raising his arms, Frieza began to build a ki blast so strong that it could destroy an entire army.

*****

Vegeta could feel his heart pounding against his chest as if looking for a way out. He had to see, had to get his vision back. Without warning, his eyes popped open causing him to gasp in pain. It was like pushing with all your might to open a door only to find that someone had already opened it leaving you sprawled out on the floor.

Getting to his feet and rubbing at his eyes, Vegeta glared around himself in desperation. Why did everything seem so much darker than before? No. He couldn't stay here anymore. No matter what happened, he had to get out.

Taking to the air, he flew off the ground and began to head in any random direction hoping it would take him somewhere. He had to go, where he wasn't sure. All he was sure of was that he had to get away from wherever he was. He had to find a way to see into the physical world again.

*****

Kakkarot looked at the radar. Only three balls left. He hoped that he wouldn't be too late for whatever Kami needed the balls for. He had a feeling these balls would be extremely important in determining the outcome of these unexpected events.

*****

Vegeta felt pressure building against his body, not allowing him to pass the wall of darkness. He could see light not far off, but the darkness would not allow him to penetrate through it. He was stuck. Despair and desperation growing in his heart, he was set to give up. He turned to fly back toward his ledge where he would accept his fate willingly when suddenly, an image of that cursed woman flashed through his mind.

Anger, pain and so much more that he couldn't explain began to course through his veins, giving him an extra boost of energy. He surged at the shield of darkness one last time, giving it everything he had. To his surprise, it gave way, allowing him to fly toward the tiny specks of light. Pushing the thought of her out of his mind, he directed all of his attention to flying toward the light.

He was forced to close his eyes as he grew closer to it, the brightness being too much for his eyes. With a sudden jerk, he found himself in control of his body again. He flexed his arms, checking to make sure every bone and every muscle was in working condition. They were.

"What?!" A startled shout of anger drew his attention away from himself and toward the monster, Frieza. "You're okay? I thought you had lost your mind!"

"Maybe I did Frieza. But now you're going to lose your life." Before Vegeta could raise his arm, Frieza unleashed his ball of energy downward. Vegeta stared in awe. Frieza was going to blow up his planet! Glaring in hatred at Frieza, Vegeta threw himself against the monster. If he were to die, he would make sure to take Frieza with him!

The two warriors fought viciously, each unwilling to lose to the other. Fists flew and kicks were exchanged, as the two became nothing more than blurs to the naked eye. Meanwhile, below, the remaining Saiyans rushed about, trying to find pods and ships that could take them away from their doomed planet.

Ships and pods blasted off but Vegeta refused to allow Frieza to escape. He would have to pay for the thousands of lives he had destroyed. Knowing he himself could not keep up the fighting much longer, he flew toward Frieza and jerked up at the last second. Flying around behind him, he held onto him tightly.

"It ends here Frieza."

Concentrating his energy into one massive ball of destruction, he managed to hold onto Frieza despite his wild movements in attempt to get free. Releasing the ball from of energy from both hands, he blew Frieza up into millions of pieces, vitally ruining himself at the same time.

*****

Vegeta lay in the depths of his sub-conscious, not caring that his essential liquids were seeping out of his body or that in seconds, his planet would blow up. The once enormous pain was lessening with every second as he felt himself losing a grip on life. He just wanted to die and have it over with. He no longer cared what happened to him. He had enacted his revenge in a round about sort of way and he had nothing else to worry about.

"Vegeta?"

Vegeta's mind whirled in near panic. It was her voice. What was she doing here? Impossible! She was supposed to be back on Earth. Trying in every way he knew how, he attempted to block her voice out of his mind. It was a futile attempt, as her voice seemed to grow stronger the harder he tried. Too exhausted to continue fighting, he gave up his struggle against her.

"Vegeta?" She was calling his name again. Hoping that if he didn't respond she might leave, Vegeta ignored her.

"Vegeta?" She called to him a third time. Her voice seemed more desperate this time and he yearned to return her call. "I know you're here somewhere."

He could hold back no longer. "What is it woman?"

Vegeta thought he could hear her sighing with relief as his sub-conscious self pulled itself up into a standing position. He crossed his arm in the usual Vegeta posture, face as uncaring as ever before.

Vegeta nearly fell over again as he saw her approaching him in his mind. This was absurdly impossible! There was no logical way for her to be in his mind like this. She seemed so real! He fought against himself as he wished to do nothing more than hold her in his arms. But he held back. She meant nothing to him after all.

"Hi Vegeta." A nervous smile flittered across Bulma's face as he eyed her with vengeance. "It's nice to see you again." Vegeta gave no response. "So how are you anyway? I haven't really seen you in awhile."

"Hmph. What are you doing here woman?"

"Why can't I be here?"

"Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Why can't you just talk to me?"

With every question Bulma drew closer to him.

"Why can't you see that you're not wanted here?"

"Why can't you see that there's no where else I'd rather be?"

"Why must you torture me like this?"

"Why can't you see how much it hurts me to be away from you?"

Vegeta opened his mouth to reply but found that no words came out. Whatever he had been expecting, that wasn't quite it. His mouth remained opened as he tried to form complete thoughts in his head.

"I miss you Vegeta." Her voice shook audio ably as tears began to stream down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the back of her hand as she tried to regain her composure. "Please come back to Earth. We all really miss you."

Vegeta had regained control of his emotions and that cold, incalculable look had made its way back onto his face. "I have no reason to return to Earth. I wish to remain here."

"What about us Vegeta?"

"I could care less about Yamcha or even Kakkarot for that matter."

"No." Tears had returned to her face once more. "I meant us. You and me." The last part of her sentence barely made it out as her body was racked in sobs.

The stone wall around Vegeta's heart crumbled again as he wished to do nothing more than take her in his arms and hold her forever. He quickly swallowed the growing lump in his throat as he thought of a vicious answer to give to her. The image of her holding that human was still sufficient to make his blood boil over.

"There is no 'us'."

His words bit through her like a knife slicing through butter. She screwed her eyes shut and took in a sobbing breath. Opening her eyes again, she matched Vegeta's glare and stood with her shoulders raised. She took one step towards him, then another and another until they were mere inches away from each other.

"I don't believe you Vegeta." Her eyes glared piercingly up into his. "If you can kiss me, look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love me, than I'll believe you."

"Hmph. Pathetic human. Who says I will give in to your petty demands? I, the great Prince of all..."

He was quickly cut off as Bulma pressed her lips against his. All comprehendible thought was lost to the Saiyan prince as he kissed his bonded soul mate. Oh how he had wanted to hold her, to kiss her like this for so long. He gave in to his instincts and wrapped his arms around her, returning her feverish kisses with his own. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. All that mattered was that she was in his arms again. His arms, not the human Yamchas''. His.

Time meant nothing to the intertwined lovers as they held each other, trying to make up for the time that had been lost. Finally, slowly, Bulma pulled slowly away from Vegeta's body.

"Vegeta?"

"What?" His voice was still harsh yet his eyes held tenderness in them that she had not seen in a long while.

She forced the tears out of her eyes before looking at the man she so longed to be with. "Do you...do you love me?"

Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the little woman he held in his arms. A small part of him argued that he didn't want her, didn't love her, and didn’t need her. She had hurt him and he could never forgive her for doing that. But there was another part of him that suddenly sprang up. A part of him who reassured him that regardless of what happened, regardless of what she did, he would still love her as much as he loved her now. He opened his mouth to reply, the two sides still fighting things out in his mind. He intended to give her an ambiguous answer, one he could take back if the need arose for such a case.

"Yes." His answer startled him as Bulma wrapped her arms around him in delight. He blinked a few times, still very confused about his own answer.

Before he could say anything else, she was jerked roughly from his arms. Her eyes popped open in shock. She began to fade! He rushed after her, all his pains seeming to have disappeared.

"BULLLLLLMAAAAAA!"


To Be Continued...
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