Part 4

From his throne on Mount Paozu, Briefs, god of all gods, looked down in pity on his daughter. Her body shook with horrific sobs and he feared she would die from sorrow. In an instant he was standing beside her in the patch of moon anemones.

"Daughter, why do you mourn so for this man? He is but a mortal and you can make any man you wish fall in love with you."

"Oh, Father," she hiccupped between sniffles. "It was because I could not make this man love me that made me want him so. His dying breath admitted his love for me. I watched his soul trickle through my fingers and all that remains of our love is this patch of flowers."

Her head dropped lower and her words were barely a whisper. "Father, I wish that I could join my love in the afterlife."

"Bulma, so you know the severity of your words?" Briefs was incredulous. His daughter was the goddess of Love, but that did not mean she had to succumb to the throes of the emotion.

"Yes, Father, I do," she replied. "Without his love, my life is worthless."

"If you are serious about what you say, daughter…"

"Father?" Her clear blue eyes gazed up at him with the faintest glimmer of hope.

"I can reunite you with this man," he offered somberly. "It will not be without a cost, though. Is his life worth giving up your immortality?"

"Yes, Father, he is worth that and more!" She leapt up and rushed into her father’s arms. "Bring him back to me, Father!"

"To bring a halt to your sorrows, I will do such a thing." He placed his arm across her shoulder, leading her away. "Come, let me explain."

The pair walked away from the site of such distress and Briefs divulged to his favorite daughter how they could rouse Shenlon, the mighty dragon, to grant one wish. Bulma could use that wish to bring the prince back to life, but by calling forth the dragon, she would forfeit her divinity. She would no longer be allowed to run the palace halls on Mount Paozu.

"For the love of this man, Father, I willingly relinquish all the privileges of immortality," she said with wisdom far beyond her years. "The cost required to live the remainder of my life with one such as he is recompense far greater than any I have yet experienced."

"Then so it shall be," the god sighed as he stepped away from his favorite child. "We shall call Shenlon to arise from the center of the earth and entreat him to grant your wish. Choose your words wisely, daughter, for once they are uttered, they cannot be rescinded."

Bulma cast one final glance back toward the patch of wood anemones that were softly waving in the breeze.

"I understand, Father," the goddess looked deeply into her father’s eyes. Great pools of tears filled his midnight blue eyes as he smiled sincerely at this strong willed woman-child. "Come, let us summon the dragon."

"Yes," the great god nodded as he raised his arms to the sky.

"I summon you, oh Shenlon, to come forth and grant the wish of this child!"

The sky darkened and a terrible wind whipped around the two immortals. Bulma grabbed her father’s arm to steady herself from the tempest that was erupting around them. His words were drowned by the ferocity of the wind. Lightning suddenly struck repeatedly, burning a perfect circle in the ground nearby.

Within the circle, the earth suddenly erupted, and a great serpent rose into the sky. When his entire body was free from the confines of the ground, he stopped his ascent and looked down at Briefs and his favorite daughter. The dark clouds encircled the dragon’s head like the eye of a hurricane.

"What is it you wish," Shenlon asked in a commanding deep voice.

"Great one," Bulma started without a shred of fear in her voice. "I now know what it is to have truly loved, but I lost that love immediately after it was returned to me. My request is that you to return Vegeta, my true love, to me in the form he was before he met up with the devil boar."

"You understand, goddess, that if I grant this wish, you forfeit your immortality," the great beast’s voice boomed.

"I do, lord, and I willingly relinquish it for a life with him." In so granting my wish, would this also rescind my curse?"

Shenlon nodded. "Because of the purity of your request, your curse on love will also be rescinded."

Bulma turned to her father and gave him one last hug, conveying all the love and gratitude she could amass. With tears glistening in both their eyes, Love stepped away from the god of all gods and turned back to Shenlon.

"So be it," came the resounding reply. "Your wish is granted."

Chills ran up Briefs’ spine as his daughter offered her power to the dragon.

After one last mighty gust of wind and lightning, the sky cleared and peace returned to the earth. Bulma was unconscious and lying in the bed of wood anemones.

Stepping from behind a nearby oak, the perfection that so captured Love’s heart slowly walked to the sleeping woman. She looked familiar, and he somehow knew her name was Bulma, but he could not place when or where he had previously seen her. All he knew was that the moment he knelt down and touched her warm cheek, he loved her with an immeasurable magnitude, and would never leave her side.

He gently scooped her into his strong arms and held her as if she was an infant. He planted soft kisses on her cheeks and eyelids, urging her to awaken. He covered her lips with his and was finally rewarded with a soft sigh. He pulled away from her mouth to gaze into the purest blue eyes he had ever encountered.

"Vegeta," she whispered. "Didn’t you go with your friends to hunt the boar?"

He gave her a smirk that would melt her heart from now on. "I did, goddess, and we didn’t encounter a single one! It doesn’t matter, though, because all I want to do now is spend time with you."

"Vegeta," Bulma hesitated. "Why did you call me ‘goddess’?"

"I’m not sure," he offered truthfully. "It just seems to fit, I guess. I suspect that there is no goddess that can compare to your beauty."

"Oh…"

She threw her arms around his neck and let him kiss her with more fervor than ever before. Soon they were simply a tangle of arms and legs rolling in the patch of wood anemones, crushing Love's offspring as he gave to her what he had previously withheld.

Back on his throne at Mount Paozu, Brief’s eyes twinkled with unshed tears as he gazed down at the loving couple.

"Well done, daughter," he whispered.