Author's Note: I was watching Son Goku and friends the other day (with Tarble) and I noticed how Yamcha is the one who protects Bulma (and Oolong) from being crushed under the tower of the resort, while Vegeta was off chasing Aka, the safety of his wife forgotten (once again, as we think back to Androids). Just a little drabble.

Waiting in Shadows

"He didn't save you again." She studies him for a moment, he can see she is being careful in choosing her next words. But instead, she says nothing and turns her face back to the panorama of the city, the sun slowly being swallowed by the hungry horizon. An amber glow reflects off of the soft features of her appearance, illuminating the porcelain fragility of her skin as she focuses on the world below her.

" Bulma." He says her name with such concern that she is forced to turn her attention back to him. "Doesn't it bother you?" He is exasperated, memories of the androids coming back to haunt him. Hearing of the stories that she almost died, that her son had to save her where her lover had failed. Forgotten emotions of rage and anger pricking at his skin, reminding him that had he been stronger, he could have saved her. She shrugs her shoulders and looks down at the forgotten drink that rests in her hands. Warm now by the touch of her body and the heat of the afternoon sun. No longer holding its delightful fizz.

"I cannot expect him to come rescue me every time I get myself into trouble." She is pensive now, swirling the straw in her drink.

"Bulma, if it wasn't for me, you and Oolong…"He trails off, flashes of the tower ready to crumble down and crush their frail bodies, Bulma hovering over Oolong and Puar to protect them, knowing full well that nothing she did could prevent the inevitable fall of the spiral building. Something that was never her fault.

"I know. Thank you Yamcha." The way she says his name sparks the lone butterfly that still flutters when she is around. The one that he cannot bear to extinguish. The one he holds onto, knowing that nothing will come of it.

"I would have been there, I could have protected you…If we had…." He trails off, knowing that the time for this conversation has long since passed. Knowing that his loss is permanent, marked by the birth of child she loves dearly, tainted by the presence of man only she seems to understand.

As they sit in silence, his unanswered question hangs in the air between them. She reaches over and squeezes his hand gently before letting go, as if to reassure him. The remnants of her caress imprinted in the palm of his hand. Reminding him that he will forever be waiting in the shadows for her. Picking up the pieces when the one she loves fails her.