Vegeta's teeth ached he was so irritated at the stupidity of the tournament. Every single contestant was weak and foolish and pointless. Himself included. He couldn't shake his feeling that everything in his life was pointless. Even Kakarot didn't seem excited or worried about their match, and he would fight Kakarot. Vegeta's only potentially interesting battle was with the strange pink men that Piccolo scrutinized.
His interest was further piqued when Piccolo forfeited his match with the smaller of the two, sweating and twitching like the tiny pink man was a god. Which it turned out, he was.
Vegeta was startled, even for their crew of misfits, how quickly things went sideways after Gohan lost his strength to some kind of chi pastry-filler. Vegeta wanted to give a shit. He wanted to be a hero, but all he could think about was how little time he had left with the woman. How little his life mattered if he wasn't a father. What was the point of anything? He could only think of one honorable way to escape the heartbreak that awaited him in a few short decades. He would fight to the death, one way or another.
He, Gohan, and Kakarot played rock-paper-scissors for battles, but Vegeta's whole mind sang for him to gain final glory and go out in flames. It was maddening the way Kakarot acted as if a real fight with Vegeta was trivial. Secondary. Meaningless. Vegeta wanted the larger Saiyan to know that he wasn't to be trifled with. He wanted the larger Saiyan to behave like a fucking Saiyan and hunger for battle. But the clown seemed only to care about averting disaster by fighting these pathetic foes.
It started as a whisper. A lulling, teasing, whining voice. It grew into a well-reasoned argument. A solution to all his problems. But he wouldn't go out as a slave like he'd spent most of his life. He would go out his own man with Kakarot's blood on his hands and he would never know the heartbreak of losing the woman. He would never see the light go out of her eyes.
But he did. He tried to force Kakarot's hand, tried to become the remorseless monster he had been before his domestication, so he sent a thousand souls to the Other World. And when he saw her, her eyes were flat with horror, the sparkle he always saw was gone, snuffed out by him. Then he knew there was no turning back. He could never face her again.
The soft-hearted clown still bested Vegeta. He hated that he could feel the idiot holding back. It humiliated Vegeta further. It destroyed him that Kakarot kept using the woman's name as though he was fit to utter such a thing. Vegeta hated him. He hated himself. He hated the world that had given him more longevity than the woman. He hated that he would never taste her again, that he would never hear her laughter, that her legs would never squeeze tight around his hips, that her sweet voice would never say the three words he lived for again. She would never love him, undoubtedly she already regretted that she ever had.
But he could save his boy. Save Goten. Save Piccolo. Save Scratch. Save Panchy and her wonderful books. Mostly he could save the woman. Give her her paltry few decades to spend with people who loved her well. Who loved her wholly. Who didn't do things like this. Who didn't turn to monsters in their grief.
Vegeta bid his son farewell. Brained him. Then he begged his best friend to save his sons. Piccolo argued, of course, when had the behemoth not argued with Vegeta? Vegeta powered up a final time, and bent his mind on her, his mate, whether he was hers or not, and he burned everything to the ground to save her, only wishing that he had hadn't made the saving necessary. Only hoping she would feel well rid of him.
But even sparing himself her mortality wasn't within the scope of Vegeta's luck. There was a certain dramatic irony that the gods should require his services to end the thing he had unleashed on the world. The fact that he had to do so united with Kakarot was more punishment than an eternity in hell anyway.
He escaped the eternal damnation of being fused with Kakarot only to find there were more miserable circles of hell. His final punishment was the shame of having his ass beat into the ground so that Kakarot could vanquish their foe. Vegeta never stood a chance. This ultimate humiliation outdid all others, and something inside Vegeta snapped. If he could endure this, why not every other form? Why not with the woman? Why not prostrate himself and plead for her to take him as a mate, regardless of how shameful the stronger party doing the asking was?
But how could he ask her, after what he had done? When the dust had cleared, and the world, including the woman, were returned to life, he met her eyes and wondered if the well of her forgiveness, her propensity for collecting villains, could go deep enough to take him back. He would never make her regret him again. He decided that this would be the last time he ever made her cry.
She said nothing to him as they made their way home. Vegeta put an exhausted Trunks to bed, Goten too, because their fusion might have ended, but Vegeta could feel the deeper connection it created for the boys. He suspected they would never really be parted again. They slept like the dead. He was proud of his son for facing off against Buu as a mere child. Proud of his son for doing so without fear and with an attitude worthy of the Vegeta line.
When he emerged from their son's bedroom, the woman sat at the kitchen table, a highball of liquor in her hand. Her blue eyes fell on him like a chi blast. He sat warily across from her. His mouth was a desert as he said, "Bulma…"
She narrowed her eyes. He never used her name outside the bedroom. He did so now out of desperation for her to hear him.
"Vegeta, what the fuck? I can't believe you had a murderous tantrum over Goku coming back for one godsdamned day!"
His eyebrows crashed together. "What? You…He…Kakarot was…he incited me, because he always fucking incites me, but is that…is that what you thought it was about?"
"Sure as hell looked like it. Unless it was a pity party that I don't want to have another kid while I'm in the middle of taking over the biggest fucking tech company in the world, Vegeta! You're not the one who has to be fucking sick for nine months. You're not the one who has to push a fucking person out of your body—which I did alone, by the way. So forgive me if I wanted a little time to think about having a fucking baby with a man who fucked off to space the last time I got pregnant!"
"You didn't want Trunks! I didn't know you were going to keep him or I wouldn't have fucked off to space!" Vegeta snapped, angry that he was fighting. He didn't want to fight. He wanted to love her. Tears stung his eyes and he held up his hands. He shouted, "No! I'm not…I'm not rehashing this! Please. Please just. Just listen! I'm sorry! Alright? I'm sorry!"
The apology shocked her enough that Vegeta felt like a bigger piece of shit than he had for destroying the world. He continued in her gape-mouthed silence. "I…I should have spoken to you long ago, and then I got…upsetting…information from Piccolo. I…I wish, I have wished, for years, from the very beginning, since before we fucked the first time, that you would want me as your mate. I hoped and I tried to be everything I could think of to prove to you, after my error in leaving, that I would be a good mate to you. I care for our son, he's strong and capable. I care for our ward, though I know you resented me taking him, but he is one of the last of my people! I wouldn't have him be a spineless twat like the elder whelp of that fucking clown! I tried, Bulma. I tried for fucking years to prove my worth as a mate. I can't…I can't stand that you don't want me as your mate! What more can I do? And our time…I…I…I didn't know! I didn't know until Piccolo mentioned it that humans are so short-lived! How could you keep your lifespan hidden from me!?"
The woman canted her head to the side. "I don't know my lifespan. Nobody does. And I certainly didn't keep it hidden. What are you talking about? Did Piccolo see the future or some weird Kami shit like that?"
"What? No! But he said humans live until about a hundred at best! At best! What the fuck?"
She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. The ferocity he loved so well was in evidence even now when he was seething and less than twenty-four hours from a full meltdown. "Wait, are you angry at me because of average human life expectancy?"
"I'm not fucking angry, Bulma! I'm heartbroken! I can't stand the thought of you going before me! I can't fucking stand it! I…all this…I…wanted to end things for myself and I'm too big a coward to only take myself out, so I…I…I can't do it. I can't watch you die!"
Her face softened and she scooted into the chair next to him. She slid her hand onto his forearm and over his hand, lacing their fingers. "What do you mean? Is human life expectancy different than Saiyan?"
"We live to three hundred or so! I…I can't, woman. I can't let you die. I can't…I can't carry on without you."
"Vegeta, you can't live your life being upset about an unknowable thing. I could die tomorrow, you could die tomorrow. We can't know how things will go in the future. Live with me now. Love me now. Stop doing stupid shit without talking to me now."
Vegeta's composure slipped away and tears dripped down his cheeks. "Please…please don't die before me."
She pulled him into her arms. He dropped to his knees and laid in her lap, sobbing. "I'm so ashamed, Bulma. I knew when you cut off your hair after I told you about...about my history that you could never see me as more than your...your bad man. I want to be your mate. I've tried…I've tried…and I can't stand it. If I have so little life with you left, I have to have you. Please!"
"My hair? Vegeta, I cut off my godsdamned hair because I was going gray and I hated taking care of my long hair. You had nothing to do with it. I love that you shared that story with me. What is this mate nonsense you're on about? Why would I ask you to be my mate? How could I, since I didn't even know that was a thing, Vegeta!" she said, laughing. He looked up, hurt that she was laughing, but he saw she wasn't laughing at him, only that he was afraid.
"But…but your mother asked your father—"
"No, my mom asked my dad to marry her because she realized it would never occur to him. But that's pretty weird. Come on. You read a billion romance novels, surely you know that the man asks the woman right?" she said, more laughter burbling out of her.
"I don't want the jewelry prostitution set-up!" Vegeta cried, horrified that she thought that would be enough. "Your mother said that she and your father were mates! I want you to be my mate! That isn't a legal question, it's a question of…of…of the heart!"
She cupped his face in her hands and finally, blissfully, deeply kissed him. She kissed him and slid down astride his lap, her short, sexy dress hiking up so he could palm her perfect ass. "Okay, Vegeta…I think we need to have some basic cultural knowledge exchange that I kinda thought we already had. My parents are married, my mom obviously just thought this was a translation issue, not a cultural issue. So...you know about marriage, but you think it's prostitution?"
"What else could it possibly be when you exchange a valuable gift for a commitment to exclusive sexual rights?!" he said, trying not to shout.
"Vegeta. Gross. No. It's not an exchange. The ring that is usually a part of the proposal is just…a gift. Just a way to show your commitment. It's not an exchange. It's not a purchase. The man usually wears a ring too, or both men, because two men can get married too. Or two women. But my point is, the rings are symbolic, not a financial stake in the other person's genitalia. Jeez, Vegeta, for such a romantic, sometimes you're kind of cynical."
He wiped away his tears. "On Vegeta-sei, only the weakest males used gifts to lure mates."
"Oh, okay…Yeah, well, I can see how that would warp your views on human marriage. Tell me about mates. Why didn't you tell me sooner that you were stressed about this?"
"I didn't want to pressure you! Saiyan males tend to be so strong that it's considered unseemly for the male, or in cases of male-male couples, for the stronger, to ask the weaker because how can the weaker one properly consent with the looming threat of violence?"
She raised an eyebrow at him. "So you thought I might just, what, give in to you? Like I'm afraid of you so I might agree to be your mate?"
"What?! No! You're absurdly fearless!"
"Then why didn't you just ask me if you wanted me to be your mate?"
"Woman, godsdamnit, it's not done except by the most pathetic male suitors. And I am asking now! I don't care if it makes me pathetic! I can't stand it! I can't stand the thought of you with another or without me! I can't!"
She kissed him again. "You make me so fucking mad sometimes, Vegeta. So fucking mad. I thought I'd trained you to use your words. Of course I want to be your mate. I have been. Fine. Here, Vegeta will you be my mate?"
The spiky bands of iron that had held his heart and lungs for the past decade dissolved and he could finally breathe. His heart thundered. "Do you mean it? Not just pity?"
"No, you silly man. I've been waiting for you to ask me to marry you for a lot of years now, with all your damn romance novels! I love you, Vegeta. I have. I always will. Even after you do the dumbest shit ever for the dumbest fucking reasons. I still love you. I always, always, always will."
He held her tight and kissed her again, his cock springing to life. She wanted him. She wanted him as her mate. He gasped, "Do you wish to marry me too? As humans do? It's not insulting? I'll get you a ring if you wish."
"Yeah, Vegeta, I'll marry you too, because we live amongst the humans, not amongst the Saiyans, okay?"
He smirked and held her beautiful face in his hands. "I love you, Bulma. I've always loved you. Thank you for taking me as your mate. I won't ever disappoint you again."
"Loving someone means forgiving them when they fuck up, sometimes, Vegeta. This was a pretty epic fuck-up, but I trust I don't have to worry about you doing anything like this again?"
He shook his head, pressing his forehead against hers. "Not if I know you're mine. That I'm yours. That you really want me."
"You may have taught me to fly way back when, but I guess I need to do a better job teaching you stuff, because I've always been yours, Vegeta. You'll always be my bad man. My husband. My mate."
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