DISCLAIMER: DBZ I do not own.

A/N – As usual I’m sorry this is late but I’m really bad at writing angst…I hope this chapter turns out okay, humor and romance are more my forte. Anyhow, in this chapter somebody dies and, yes, it is going to be either Turles or Goku, but don’t think this is the last chapter! This character’s death is going to have some major repercussions.

Lyrics from the song ‘Sleep’ by the Dandy Warhols.

Chapter 12: ‘Sleep Forever’

~*~

~*~ And will he not come again? ~*~

~*~ No, no, he is dead: ~*~

~*~ Go to thy death-bed: ~*~

~*~ He never will come again. ~*~

- Ophelia from ‘Hamlet’

~*~

“Please don’t do this, Turles!” Bulma tugged on his arm as he followed Goku down the hallway. “I’ve got a really bad feeling about this!”

“He wants to fight me, Bulma, so we’re going to fight.” Turles didn’t look at her as he spoke; his attention was focused solely on Goku.

“But, what if one of you gets hurt or killed? I couldn’t bear to lose either one of you.” Bulma tugged on his arm again. “Listen to me, dammit! I don’t want you ending up dead!”

“This won’t be a battle to the death.” Turles still didn’t look at Bulma as he walked along. “It will most likely be a battle to draw first blood.”

“Turles, I’ve seen you fight! You lose control sometimes and get caught up in the blood lust…don’t ignore me, Turles!” Bulma let go of his arm and watched him walk away from her before sighing and following them out to the training grounds.

Turles itched to stop and wait for Bulma, but he couldn’t. He knew that she was only doing what she thought was best, but Turles had to fight for his mate, for her. His instincts and his pride would let him do nothing else. Besides, until Goku was defeated, Turles knew that his brother would give him no peace.

~*~

Goku listened to Bulma pleading with Turles and felt his pulse race when he caught the words; ‘I couldn’t bear to lose either one of you!’

She still cared for him! Perhaps she didn’t love him, yet, but Goku knew that as soon as he defeated Turles, Bulma would see him as he really was and would come to him instead of staying with that murdering pirate. Goku reached the training grounds and turned to wait for his brother, who was following him with a dangerous looking scowl on his face, his tail twitching like an irritated cat’s tail.

“We’ll fight here.” Goku indicated the training field they were on. “And we’ll fight without weapons, just with our bodies and our ki.”

Turles nodded. “Will this be a fight to first blood?”

“No.” Goku shook his head. “It will be a fight until one of us gives up. I would be unwilling to stop fighting for Bulma just because you drew blood.”

“Me too.” Turles nodded, and for an instant, a moment of understanding passed between them. They both loved her and both of them were equally determined not to lose what they considered was their claim on her.

Goku began to stretch, missing his old uniform, which, in his opinion, was much more comfortable then the tight-fitted Saiyan uniforms which Vegeta insisted he wear.

“Turles!”

Turles halted in the middle of his own stretching and turned to face Bulma, who came running out to him. “Bulma, I have to do this…”

“I know, and since I can’t talk you out of this, all I can do is ask you to be careful. I know you and I haven’t always gotten along wonderfully, but I…I do love you and…” She sighed and kissed him. “I just wanted to wish you good luck.”

Turles blinked. “Thanks.”

Bulma leant forward and kissed him again, unaware of Goku’s annoyed gaze on them.

“If you’re quite finished,” he interrupted, “we can get started.”

“Fine by me.” Turles narrowed his eyes and kissed Bulma again. “I love you,” he whispered, as he looked deeper into her eyes then usual, as if memorizing them.

Bulma nodded and walked away. “Good luck.”

Turles turned back to Goku and smirked. “Let’s dance, little brother.”

~*~

“Do you feel that?” Nappa looked across at Vegeta as two giant power levels appeared. They were meditating in one of the free training rooms - but the fight outside was distracting.

“It’s Turles and Kakarot.” Vegeta informed him, not bother to open his eyes. “They’re fighting over Bulma.”

Nappa snorted. “Why would you bother to fight for a human? Is she that great?”

Vegeta opened an eye. “I wouldn’t know, but from what I gather, she’s something else.”

“Who do you think will win?”

“I have no idea.” Vegeta shut his eyes again. “All I know is that this is not going to be pretty.”

~*~

Turles ducked under Goku’s punch and tried to slam a fist into his face, only to have Goku disappeared from under him and kick him viciously in the ribs. Turles growled and leapt at Goku, managing to hit him twice in the face before he was battered away by another ferocious kick to the stomach. He watched as Goku leapt at him again, his face contorted in rage and Turles easily slipped under his punch, punching him with all of his strength in the stomach from underneath him and sending Goku flying across the compound.

Turles followed him across, hitting Goku in the stomach again as he tried to stand, and kicking him once he’d hit the ground again. Goku convulsed and coughed up blood, trying to pull himself to his feet, but Turles kicked him yet again, sending him crashing into the wall of the compound, cracks appearing on the wall around Goku’s battered body.

He slumped onto the ground and was still. Turles waited for his brother to move again, knowing that he wouldn’t be out for the count yet. Slowly, Goku pulled himself to his feet, breathing heavily. Blood seeped from a deep looking cut above his eye and was splattered around his mouth.

“What’s wrong, little brother? Can’t take the heat?”

Goku growled and coughed up some more blood.

“You should never have even bothered to fight me for her. Bulma is mine, she belongs to me and she always will. Someone as weak as you doesn’t deserve to have her, anyway.” Turles looked at Goku and laughed suddenly. “Why, if you’d only stood up to Raditz when he came to Earth to get you, then maybe you could have stopped me before I grew this powerful and you could have saved everyone on Earth.” Turles continued to taunt without mercy as Goku began to grit his teeth. “Why, if you’d still been on Earth, your wife would be alive. Your son would be alive and all of you’re friends would be alive instead of being nothing but rotting corpses.”

Turles laughed and ducked under Goku again as he charged him. This time he charged up a ki blast and sent it at him, the blast hitting Goku dead on and knocking him to the ground.

“Weakling.” Turles dropped to the ground and waited for the dust to clear, not surprised when he made out the shape of his brother getting to his feet again.

“I’m not going to let you beat me,” Goku ground out. “Someone as evil as you doesn’t deserve to have Bulma.”

“You can’t stop me, Goku.” Turles began to gather his ki again, watching with only mild interest as Goku did the same.

“Kaaaaa Meeeeeee Haaaaaaa Meeeee…”

Turles’ power began to glow and frazzle around him as Goku continued to gather his ki in an attack that Turles had never seen him use before. Turles’ energy peaked and he leapt at his brother, hurling the ki ball at him as his brother finished his strange incantation and shot a beam of ki at him at the same time.

“Haaaaaa!”

The world flashed a brilliant bright white around them and both of them realized that they had underestimated the others attack. The light grew brighter and brighter. Bulma, watching from inside the compound, felt a strange tearing feeling within her, followed by an excruciating pain that quickly shut itself away from her.

But, had it been Goku or Turles?

Finally, the light cleared and Bulma ran out onto the training field and into the cloud of dust. She could make out two shapes lying in the dust and she made her way to the closet person. Her breath stuck in her lungs when she caught sight of who it was and how bad his injuries were…

~*~

Well I could sleep forever, but it's of her I dream.

~*~

Turles opened his eyes to find Bulma crouched over him, tears trickling down her face. He felt a burning sensation in his chest, but when he tried to move, Bulma pushed him back down again. She opened her mouth and spoke but Turles couldn’t make out what she was saying over the white noise in his head. Slowly, Turles felt the pain numb and tried to sit up again, pushing Bulma away when she tried to stop him…

Oh, God.

Turles stared at his chest and felt a wave of pure nausea sweep over him. His entire chest was messes of blood, gore, and bone, it was a wonder he was still alive.

“Turles?”

Bulma’s voice sounded far away, but at least he could hear her again. Against his will he slumped back down, feeling his strength rapidly running away as the blood continued to leak out of his ruined chest. Above him Bulma wavered as if she too might slump to the ground, and Turles frowned; was the woman faint?

He tried to open his mouth as ask her what happened, but it suddenly seemed too much of an effort to get his mouth to move.

At least the pain in his chest had faded.

He looked at Bulma and managed a smile, it was funny, but lately he hadn’t noticed how beautiful she’d become. And she was beautiful and a part of him knew that it was too late to tell Bulma how sorry he was for hurting her so often. To really tell her, not just say those things to get her to bond with him, or to get her to sleep with him, but tell her simply because it was true.

With a strange sense of detachment, Turles realized he was dying.

~*~

If I could sleep forever, I could forget about everything.

~*~

He felt some blood ooze its way out of his nose and from the corner of his mouth. It snaked its way down his face until Bulma wiped it off with a shaking hand. Turles felt his eyes drift shut, but forced them open as Bulma shouted his name again.

“Don’t you leave me, Turles! Don’t you dare leave me!” She was crying now, really crying.

“Bulma.” He managed to lift a hand to her face and trace the curve of her jaw. “I’m sorry.”

Bulma sobbed as she caught the defeated look in his eyes. “You don’t have to be sorry, Turles…please, don’t be sorry.”

“Don’t cry.” Turles traced her lips, using every inch of his strength to keep his hand in the air.

~*~

If I could sleep forever.

~*~

Turles’ hand dropped back onto the ground and he coughed up more blood. He felt so light all of a sudden…but when he looked up into Bulma’s eyes he felt saddened knowing that he wouldn’t see her again. He coughed up blood again, his body wracked by spasms which were painful even through the numbness.

“Bul…Bulma…” He tried to stop himself from shaking long enough to talk…but it was hard…he felt so cold…

“Turles…no!” Bulma’s voice sounded far away again, even though he could see her above him.

“Bulma…I…love you.” He coughed up more blood, his body slowly stopped shaking and eventually only twitched.

He had said what he needed.

“I love you, too…” Bulma started crying in great wracking sobs as Turles slowly became still, his eyes staring past Bulma.

Turles looked beyond Bulma at the sky and, for the first time, noticed how blue it was.

Then everything went white.

~*~

If I could sleep forever.

~*~

“Turles?” Bulma shook Turles’ body, willing him with all her heart to wake up again. “Turles…no…you can’t be dead! No, no, no, no, NO!” Bulma sobbed into her hands, slowly sinking down onto the ground to cuddle up next to Turles, the pain in her chest building and building until she thought she would die.

She clung onto her dead mate’s body and cried into his neck.

It hurt.

Bulma sobbed even harder as she felt something inside of her break and, suddenly, that part of her which had been filled with Turles was empty. Bulma clung to Turles even tighter and muffled her screams into his shoulder.

She was empty...

He was gone…

Bulma tried to find some part of Turles inside of her, but he was gone…He was gone…She couldn’t find his essence…She was empty...

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…” Bulma unconsciously curled her body up into the fetal position, her head still resting on Turles as she stared blankly ahead of herself and rocked.

Turles had left her alone…

~*~

If I could sleep forever.

~*~

A/N – Turles is dead!*Sobs* and this song is so sad! I recommend everybody go and download the song ‘Sleep’ by the dandy Wharhols and listen to it…it so beautiful and sad…and I killed Turles! What going to happen to Bulma now? Will she die or go mad like Vegeta foretold? Is Goku even still alive? Well the next chapter is going to be hell, that’s all I’ll say.