AN :Climbs out from under the HUGE heap of reviews:
Blimey! I should post 2-part finales more often if this is the response I get!
Enjoy, and don't be too sad when it's over, as I have a present for you...:smiles enigmatically:
Finale, Part 2
When Bulma came to, the first thing she registered was a golden light. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, "Uhhh…Am I in the Other World?"
A masculine voice grunted softly in amusement, "If you are, then I don't know what I'm doing here." The gruff yet silken voice sliced through her disorientation and she opened her eyes to be met by a beautiful turquoise gaze,
"Veh-Vegeta!" She threw her arms around him, startling him so much that he fell back from his crouched position over her onto his behind and slipped from his new SSJ form back to normal. He winced as Bulma squeezed his now vulnerable and strained body,
"Yes, Woman, It's me." He croaked around her death-grip. She released him and sat back.
"But I thought you were dead for sure, I…I thought you were trying to kill yourself."
He smirked but his eyes held immeasurable sadness, "For you? Don't flatter yourself." He looked away, unable to hold her gaze through the lie.
"Vegeta…" How to tell him without sounding like a moron? "…Yamcha and I," she watched as his brows pinched and one eye twitched, "we were over a long time ago, and he…well…" he scowled and glared at her, waiting none too patiently for her to finish, "he doesn't seem to be over it."
Vegeta curled his lip, his customary mask sliding effortlessly back into place, "So? What does that have to do with me?" If all else failed, aggression was always his friend, his shield. When her fingers touched his chin to bring his eyes back to hers, he tried to glare at her but found he couldn't and instead a crack appeared in his emotional defensive wall.
"I think you know."
A half hearted snort, "Enlighten me."
Bulma took a few calming breaths, she had to handle this just so. Vegeta's ego was fragile, far from the invincible aura he projected as a kind of shield to everyone else, and if she wasn't careful, she could crush any chance they had of salvaging anything from this mess. "I know you'd never admit this to anyone else, but we have a connection, you and I." He frowned and she hurried on, "When you first came here, you wouldn't speak to anyone other than to order them around." A faint smirk drifted across his face, "But when I started mouthing back at you, I think you saw, I don't know," she waved her hands absently as she sought for the right words, "Uh, a kindred spirit." He raised an eyebrow, "Okay, okay, a soul that echoed yours." She slapped her head at the cheese that was spewing from her mouth, "What I mean is that I wasn't afraid to talk back, I didn't cower before you like everyone else did, like Frieza's minions would cower before him."
He'd stopped frowning now, and was watching her as she explained herself, "And," she leant over and winked, "I'm cute." The flippant comment had the desired effect: a wry smile slowly spread over his lips.
Clambering to her feet, she offered him a hand, which he surprisingly took. He stood, but Bulma didn't relinquish his hand, instead she removed his tattered glove and ran her finger tips over the palm of his hand, surprised at how soft it was. When she raised her eyes to his, she saw the same thing there that had been present just before he'd kissed her before. Steeling herself for a slap in case she'd misjudged, she slowly raised up onto her toes and was tilting her face up to his when she suddenly stopped, snapped her eyes open in realisation and shrieked right in his face,
"OH MY GOD! YOU TRANSFORMED!"
Vegeta stood blinking for a moment while she wooted and hopped around, shocked at her outburst and more importantly, what it had interrupted. She grabbed his arm in excitement, "I have to call Chichi, Goku has to know!" then raced back to the house.
"But…he'll already know…" he spoke to the air. After a moment, the reality of what had nearly just happened sank in and a rarely seen, genuine smile lit his face, "…Bulma."
FIN
A/N There you go, how's that for a lovely mushy ending?Muchas graciastoEVERYONE who reviewed, but especially the regular returnees like lil mari, me, fujutsu and of course the fabulous catgirl26, your continued feedback was much valued, and if you didn't review? Well go and do it now! I have a sequel I might just post if enough people tell me what they thought!
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Thanks for reading
Doc xx