"Please, Bulma!" whined Yamcha.
"No! Vegeta could be back any minute and the last thing we need is for him to find out about us!" A blue hair and blue eyed woman had her back to the Z senshi, slowly preparing dinner.
Standing in the shadows, was the last person Bulma wanted to discover their secret. 'What is she hiding from me and what the hell is that freak doing here?'
"Why do you put up with him? You don't love him."
Sighing, she put down the knife that had been chopping the vegetables to her stew and leaned against the counter. "One, because he saved my life and two, it keeps him from blowing up the planet."
Vegeta's shoulders drooped in agony, her words like a fatal blow; nothing, not even Frieza, had wounded him so emotionally. Tears streamed down his face, the pain tearing at what pride he had left; he clenched his fists together and didn't notice the pools of blood forming at his feet. 'Damn her!' Snarling in fury, he stepped away from the shadows and into the kitchen, his obsidian eyes filled with a murderous rage.
"Vegeta!" Bulma squeaked, not expecting him to be standing in the door way. "How long have you been home?"
Before Yamcha could defend himself, he found himself dangling from the floor and a hand wrapped around his throat. Vegeta ignored the protests from his unfaithful mate, feeling pleasure at the cracking bones under his fingers. 'He's not worth my time!' Dropping the pitiful excuse of a fighter, he whirled on Bulma, slamming her against a wall. "You're no longer fit to raise the heirs to the Saiya-jin throne. If you ever come near them or myself again, I'll kill you!"
"Wait, please don't!" She couldn't stop him from picking up his daughter, cradling her close to his warm chest. "Vegeta, this is all a misunderstanding! Maybe we can work something out!" Sinking to her knees, she sobbed hysterically, reaching for the sky for a Saiya-jin prince that would never return.
Two little boys tumbled around in the school yard, not caring about the shiners on their faces. "Is that your dad?"
In his strange position, one leg painfully pushed over his head and an arm between his teeth, Trunks tilted his head back and saw his father approaching him. Rolling to his feet he started to dust the dirt off his clothes, when he saw and felt the anger, betrayal and extreme pain. 'Mom, why?' He had known about Yamcha, but he had hoped she would quit seeing him before his father found out.
"Say good-bye, we're leaving!"
Goten grabbed his best friend's arm, his eyes clouding in panic. "Trunks, where are you going?"
"I don't know and I'm sorry." He couldn't say the words, hating the look of despair in Goten's face. "Maybe, we'll see each other again."
"What happened?" the boy cried, unable to hold back the tears. Not caring that he needed to be back in school, he ran to Gohan's classroom, disrupting the lecture.
"Goten! What are you...?"
"Trunks is gone! Vegeta took him away and I don't think they're coming back!" Gohan grabbed his hysterical brother and dismissed class, shutting the door behind them.
"Calm down and tell me what happened."
"I don't know, but I've never seen Vegeta so angry!"
'I have,' and that's what worried him as he tried to sense what Vegeta was thinking and failed. "We need to get dad!"
After Chi-chi's death, his human nature had vanished, replaced by the warrior that had originally come to Earth, but he had no desire to destroy all the life forms. Sparring with Piccolo, he was a bit startled to see both his sons skipping school and landing before him. "What happened?" he snarled, taking one look at the tear streaked face of his son.
"Trunks is gone!"
Lifting his head towards the sky, he opened his senses, feeling the deep pain of the man he had once called an enemy. "Stay here!" he ordered, having an idea about the source.
Sighing, '25 and I'm still alone.' Long golden hair, flew in front of her, a few silver strands starting to appear. 'I was once so happy, but now I feel like there's apart of me missing.' Ever since she had accepted the role of Sailor Moon, her world had been turned upside down, her fate decided before she could ever determine if she loved Mamoru or not. Several men had asked her hand in marriage, but the one man she had accepted, given everything for, disappeared every time she brought up the subject. 'Are we not meant to be together?'
They were growing further and further apart, making the once vibrant woman depressed. As time passed, she no longer knew if she wanted to marry the Earth Prince, but she couldn't or wouldn't walk away from her responsibilities. 'Was there someone else, if Endymion wasn't my soul mate?'
Sad blue eyes, rimmed with silver, stared at the calm waves of the sea, an image floating in front of her. She couldn't explain it, but the face was familiar and every time she saw him in her dreams or when she was walking in front of the window, her chest would begin to throb. 'Who are you and have we met before?'
The ocean was soothing to her confused soul and for a few moments she forgot her loneliness and pain. 'I'm such a fool, but can I turn my back on destiny.' At fourteen she had fallen in love with the word, but didn't understand the emotion. Sure Mamoru, Tuxedo Kamen, was handsome, but he was never attracted to her until after he found out that she was Sailor Moon and Serenity of the silver millennium. Swiping the bitter tears away from her face, knowing that she needed to tell him, but was it the right decision? 'I'm so confused.'
Serenity looked at the heavens, feeling something approaching and knowing that the peace the senshi had worked so hard for, would be shattered soon. 'They're so happy.' All the senshi were living their dreams, Usagi a cashier at a local super market. Thanks to her roommate Rei, she no longer was the clumsy cry baby, but a graceful young woman that turned heads as she passed, all except for the one person she thought would propose to her. 'Did I do something wrong?'
She remembered the one evening they had been strolling together after an evening meal, "Mamoru, how's your job?"
"Fine."
Hoping he would talk to her, "Can I see it sometime?"
"Only employees are allowed, Usagi," he sighed. His expression suddenly looked tired and he gently pulled away from the hand that was wrapped around his arm. "It's getting late and I have to be at work early." He never kissed her good-bye, never said he loved her and that day she had never felt so alone.
That was the night the time guardian had been watching silently, her eyes sad, but knowing she could do nothing for her moon princess. Not all Usagi's memories had returned and the future that she had seen, was only a glimpse of what could happen, not what would. "I'm so sorry little bunny."
Mamoru headed to his apartment after his date with Usagi, receiving a hug and warm smile. Tiredly, he wrapped his arms around her small waist, resting his chin on the top of her hair. "We can't keep this from them forever, especially Usagi."
"When will you tell her the truth?"
"I have no right! If it wasn't for her, I would still be under Beryl's control."
"I would still be a freak that never did anything but study. Oh Mamo-chan! What are we going to do? I know she feels isolated and alone, but if you marry her, it would be based on a lie."
"Do you know what will happen if she finds out? I can't live with her hating us!"
"We can't keep doing this to her."
He had enough money, but he would be damned if he was going to live off Bulma longer than he had to. Putting his daughter and son to bed, he left, needing the escape and fresh air. The water crashing against the shore called to him and without thinking, he landed and stared at the turmoil that reflected the deep pain in his heart.
She didn't know how long she had been standing there, but she couldn't ignore the presence that seemed to make her heart quicken and give her comfort. Pushing the feeling away, she let the anguish in her soul wash over head, slowly sucking the life out of her.
Vegeta saw her, feeling a stir in his heart. Scowling at his weakness, he wanted to walk away, but something about her reminded him of a dream, one he had learned to bury when he was a boy. 'How can she walk with that much hair?' She was trouble, but the pain and loneliness matched his own, lacking the rage. 'Impossible, how could she know what despair and loneliness is?' The tear that fell down her cheek, did not go unnoticed, or the reflection of the moon on her face when she looked up at it.
"Damn destiny! If we're suppose to be together, then why am I standing here alone?" she screamed.
She didn't see him approach and almost fell over the rail when he spoke against her ear. "Destiny is a mockery, only ending in betrayal. Are you wanting to be with him because you care, or for obligation?"
"Stay out of affairs that do not concern you! Who the hell do you think you are?" His hand shot out and grabbed her before she could run, pressing her against the rail. Usagi felt her mouth go dry, the pounding of her heart getting louder and faster. She should have been terrified, but she couldn't think with his fingers burning through the shirt she was wearing.
"A change in destiny," he growled, covering her mouth with a bruising kiss, sliding his tongue between her lips before she could protest or cry out. Her mind screamed that this wasn't right, but what started out to be punishing and demanding, deepened with powerful arms stroking her back. His lips softened to a tease, nibbling and biting, drawing a whimper from his captive. Pulling away, he softly caressed her pale cheek, a cynical smirk on his face, "If he was meant for you, you wouldn't have enjoyed that."
He left, leaving her confused and shaky. 'Was he right about me? No! What about Chibi-Usa? Why would Mamoru stay if he didn't love me? Tell me!' she shouted at the gods, crying for an answer that didn't come.
The questions only deepened the ache as she walked home, silently walking into an apartment where she was greeted by the arms of her best friend, Rei. Seeing the dazed look, a flash of concern crossed the priestess's face, "Are you ok, bunny?"
"Yeah."
"I don't believe you! What happened?"
"What did I do so wrong? Why won't he talk to me?" she sobbed hysterically, wanting to hate the warmth of desire caused by a stranger.
"I've asked the fire, Usagi, but it never tells me anything. I think it's because your future has yet to be decided upon." Rei promised herself that she would find out what was happening with Mamoru, Usagi not being able to take much more. She needed to be loved unconditionally, not half way. Usagi fell asleep in her arms, needing and wanting the comfort from the woman.
"Oh, Usagi? What is wrong and why can't we help you?"
Vegeta cursed, not believing that he had forced himself on the woman, but when she had responded, he had lost control. Now, he wanted more and it angered him, her soft fragrance driving him insane. Her body was pure, untouched by another man's hands and the unmarked skin on the side of her neck intrigued him. Again, he saw the image of a woman from a long ago dream, but this time he didn't push it away. 'They look the same. Where have I seen her before and why is she willing to throw her life away for something that makes her unhappy?'
'Is there no one that can understand my pain and love me for who I am?' A sob broke from the prince, finally allowing his grief to come to the surface at Bulma's betrayal.
A figure stood in the shadows of the apartment, sadly looking at the prince. 'You've been through so much and I swear that everything will be as it was.'