Dangerous Bond

Chapter 40 : Don't blame yourself

"Bulma! Wake up!" Vegeta ordered, shaking her by the shoulders.

Sapphire eyes snapped open and Bulma lay rigid and scared in the bed. The worried face and tousled hair of Vegeta filled her vision completely, the soft moonlight gracing his features. The Saiya-jin's obsidian eyes held worry in their dark depths.

Bulma broke down.

"Oh Vegeta..." She sobbed, salty moisture running down her cheeks.

She wrapped her arms around him possesively, nearly pulling him down on top of herself and crushing her body. Instead Vegeta lowered himself onto one side, facing his chosen mate and letting her cry into his shoulder.

It was then that she realized how badly he was shaking. Cold sweat covered the prince's body and his chiseled musels were trembling uncontrollably.

"The pain's come back, hasn't it?" She whispered, drawing him closer and rubbing the small of his back in comfort.

"It comes at night." He replied, "But forget about it. You're alright now, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but you aren't. I didn't wake you, did I?"

"I was already awake." Vegeta informed her, "But you were loud. VERY loud."

"Then how come my parents aren't in here screaming at us because we're in the same bed and fussing over me because I screamed?"

"Because you weren't yelling it physically." He told her, "I only heard because of the bond and because we were touching."

"Touching?" Bulma repeated suspicously, "I had better not find that you're a pervert Vegeta..."

"I'm not!" He protested hotly, "It wasn't like that."

"What was it like then?" She inquired, letting her hand roam through his ebony hair.

'Am I ready to tell her?' He wondered, 'Am I ready to say that the pain got so bad I felt as if the world was on fire? It may be weaker now, but that agony was so bad before... Can I tell her that it was the touch of her hair to my cheek, the feel of her waist in my grasp that kept me above the darkness?'

"Is it true Vegeta?" Bulma whispered, nestling her head on his chest. "Does it hurt that bad?"

"Don't worry about me, onna." He ordered, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair, "I'll be fine within days."

"But it hurts real bad." She insisted, "Your thoughts said so."

"I've hurt worse."

"When you got this?" She traced a huge long scar across his chest, "Or this one?"

She followed every deep set line over his chest with a slender finger, wondering as she covered each how he got them. There wasn't much to wonder about. It had to be Freiza. She could see claw marks stretching all the way up his back, and thin scars that looked like they must have been caused by a whip. She shivered and held him closer.

"It doesn't matter which one." He responded, "Now get to sleep."

"I-I'll try.." She mumbled.

She didn't do too well, finaly falling asleep at 4 in the morning to the sound of her soulmate's deep breathing. When she woke again at ten he was gone and a familiar buzzing could be heard from outside. Bulma's eyes widened as her tired mind finaly registered what that was.

'That's not... WHAT DOES HE THINK HE'S DOING?!'

"VEGETA!!" She hollered, bursting out of the house and sprinting across the lawn, "Is this some kind of joke?!!" She demanded, slamming the door to the GR open and storming inside as the gravity stabilized.

"Why would it be a joke, onna?" He inquired, taking up his normal pose.

"You're sick! You'll make it worse wearing yourself out training!"

"Whether I'm ill or not the androids are still coming and I still haven't gained Super Saiya-jin status!"

"You won't be alive by the time the androids get here if you don't rest!" Bulma protested hotly, "Even if you don't reach Super Saiya-jin it'd be better to have you helping than dead!"

He regarded her silently, obsidian gaze burning into her. Bulma surpressed a shudder, he hadn't looked at her like that for months now and she'd forgotten what it felt like. And still he stared. After a couple seconds the Saiya-jin n Ouji reached his decision; after all, she wasn't going to leave him alone until he backed down a little.

"I'll cut my training shorter than normal." He compromised, "And I won't push myself so hard. Is that good enough for you?"

She looked up the tiny difference that seperated them, her expression sorrowful. "I just don't want you to die." She whispered, sapphire eyes glimmering with tears once again.

Vegeta surpressed the urge to sigh, he hated it when his actions made her cry. But he couldn't just give up his training because of his mate and a stupid poisen.

"I'll be carefull." He promised her, catching a single fallen tear on his white glove before turning away, effectively dismissing her.

"You better be." She replied and left the GR.

Five hours later found Vegeta standing over his unconcious sister, his obsdian eyes seeming to gaze right through her. The doctors had said that the antidote was keeping the disease at bay but Kiyashi wouldn't wake up until she was rid of the illness completely. Vegeta's stomach turned just at the thought, if the scientists failed to find a cure in time he'd never see his sister awake again, never hear her tease him or chatter away with Bulma or train with her until they both dropped. He sighed, this must be the way Bulma felt about him. He wished she didn't have to suffer because of him, but there was little he could do. Not for the first time he wondered if he should have taken the antidote for himself, if only to spare Bulma pain, but shoved the idea away. Kiyashi would be long since dead by now. His only living relative would have lost any hope of livng and the guilt would be laying heavy on his shoulders.

"Why am I so fucking selfish?!" He cried, slamming both fists into the table beside the Saiya-jin no Hime's bed, "Everything I do I do for me! Give the antidote to Kiyashi because otherwise I'd have to bare the guilt of her death, regret it because I feel guilty for making Bulma worry. I should have stopped this entire bond from happening! All it's done is make more trouble! I should have left Bulma alone, and lived like I always did, damn it."

"You shouldn't blame yourself." An older man's voice spectulated.

Vegeta looked up to see Dr. Breifs, watching him through his thick rimmed glasses.

"What do you want, old man?" He demanded, but the sharp edge was gone from his voice.

"I want you to do as Bulma told you to and go rest. If you care about her as much as you seem to do and want to cause her as less pain as posible then do everything in your power to overcome this poisen."

"I'll make my own desicions thank you." The prince replied rudely, turning his back.

Dr.Breifs sighed, but left the room. After a second Vegeta glanced over his shoulder to make sure he was gone. The sound of the front door opening and closing proved that the scientist had gone back to the lab. The Saiya-jin no Ouji rolled his eyes and started off towards his room. Maybe it would increase his chances? Who knew?

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