It's been a while. Goku didn't quite remember the very last time he had one of these moments. Always so carefree and nonchalant. Though the man wasn't dumb. When something devastating was to take place, Goku would always rise up to the occasion and solve the problem by gathering the Dragon Balls or defeating a new enemy. But where he was right now, neither of those were an option.
"I...I don't even know where to start..." Goku was nervous, rubbing the back of his head as he always did when he didn't quite know what to do-consumed by uncertainty. He was older, way older. Like humans, Goku, too, had emotions. But still, he was an alien and knew not how he would be able to express them in the most natural manner that earthlings normally did. Goku didn't want to leave his current setting, though, without having at least said something. He was outside, the sun shining. At face value, it certainly would look like any good day for any typical person. But it was quite the contrary.
"Okay..." Goku crouched down, exhaling deeply. It was bad enough he found himself having a very hard time speaking with a knot in his throat. Very few times had he truly been speechless. At least back then he could do something about it. Feeling uncomfortable, Goku loosened the skintight tie had had with the suit he wore. Quite seldom he would ever were such apparel, but the time called for it this gloomy day. "Ahem." He cleared his throat. "Okay." He closed his eyes and took another deep breath. Instead of having to think of some cliche thing to say, why not speak from the heart?
"Being an old country bumpkin back then, I never expected much out of life. I was always focused on the present, the current moment. That's how I always lived and I felt really content with that lifestyle." Goku, even though having loosened his clothing, was feeling even more out of place. Ignoring the uneasy feeling, he continued to speak. "Swinging through the jungle, catching wild animals. That's how I was and it was fun. I didn't think there was anything out there bigger in the world for me. But it was until you showed up." Son remembered it vividly. From being hit by a car to being shot at and making a new friend within simple minutes. "I didn't think one little adventure would cause such a chain reaction. It became something so much bigger, something I had never anticipated before." Goku closed his eyes tightly. A few times before he got this feeling, the feeling of tears beginning to swell into his eyes. As he was losing control of his own emotions, he at least got to say a few more words coherently. "Sometimes I thought you were the evil witch from hell. You were so odd and I didn't understand you..." he then stopped, his voice having cracked at the last few words he had spoken.
Subsequent to his short pause, Son cleared his throat once more. He gradually opened his eyes, which were beginning to turn red. "Okay." The seasoned martial artist shook his head frantically, trying to shake his head back place. He tried to find some clarity in attempt to calm himself but to no avail. "Dammit...!" Just out of impulse, at the current moment of pure frustration, Goku smacked himself upside the head. "I just can't believe it, still. Out of all the people to go forever, I always thought I'd be the first." He closed his eyes once more.
It was a collage of memories flipping through his mind like pages in a book being blown by a soft, cool breeze. A lot of those memories consisted of him in his younger days, when Goku didn't have to worry about aliens attacking his planet, or having to fight for the sake of his own universe. Back when he was a kid, things were far much simpler. He had a lot more fun back then. Son was finding it excruciatingly difficult to let his emotions flow, no matter how bad he wanted them to. "But not you...!" Goku's tone of voice shot up, one full of sadness, a concoction of anger and regret. "I should have visited you more. You were the one to put me out there anyway. If not for you, I wouldn't be as strong as I am today. I have to thank you for everything. You meant a lot to me, I knew that."
Finally, the tears started to flow down his hardened cheeks to his clenched jaw, dripping to the green grass in the backyard of Capsule Corp. From afar, none would be able to notice how much Goku was shaking-trembling. So many emotions coming him at much from all different angles at such a bad degree was never something he was quite used to, something he rarely experienced. Not like this. "I know you guys knew how much I cared. I may not have shown it the way any other normal person would have, but I truly did. Honestly..." not knowing much else to say, Goku stood up on his two feet, his blurry eyes affixed to the tombstone of his beloved friend.
Son took another deep breath, trying to stay in the present. He didn't want to lose his mind. Things like these were to transpire naturally, it being the law of life. The use of the Dragon Balls were usually ones to bend the law, though this time there was no more room to bend-the law of natural death couldn't be broken. Finally, his tears were beginning to dry. " I don't want to bother you for too long..." Goku mused. "You need to rest in peace." Thinking he finally got some composure over himself, Goku spoke yet again. "All I want to say is that you mean so much to me. A lot of people say you never know what you had until you lost it. And I did lose you before, many a times." Thinking back on it, he left out a soft chuckle. "But this is forever now and there is no coming back." Son bent over and touched the tombstone softly and with great care, as if it was something to be cherished. "You know I loved you, always. You were like a sister to me...Bulma."