Just over three years had passed since Cell met his end at the hands of the young prodigious demi-Saiyan... Gohan, the son of Goku, the child who followed in the footsteps of his father and idol and saved the planet from meeting its intended destruction.
Bulma and Vegeta got married a couple months earlier and now was one of several occasions when Chi-Chi visited Bulma at Capsule Corporation. The Saiyan Prince as usual was training vigorously in the gravity chamber, while Goten and Trunks were playing together outside, under the supervision of Gohan.
"You take that back!" Chi-Chi yelled, "Vegeta is not stronger than my Gohan!"
"Oh yes he is!" Replied Capsule Corporation's heiress, "All he ever does is train like crazy, while Gohan does nothing but study all day long!"
"So?!" Replied the Ox Princess, "At least he spends his time productively!"
"Apples and oranges, Chi-Chi, apples and oranges."
"You can say what you want, but it was my son who defeated Cell and saved the planet!" Argued Chi-Chi.
"With Vegeta's help!" Bulma countered.
Chi-Chi scoffed.
"Oh yeah, with Vegeta's help, huh?" She replied, "The only reason Gohan needed help was because he got his arm immobilized saving that reckless man's life..."
"It's not like Vegeta asked him to do that!" The heiress rebutted, "That was all on Gohan's accord! Bottom line is that without Vegeta's help, Gohan wouldn't have beat Cell!"
"Without Vegeta's interference, Gohan wouldn't have needed help!"
"Vegeta did what any good father would've done!" Exclaimed Bulma, "He stood up for his son and I'm proud of him for that!"
"Good father?" Chi-Chi scoffed, "Give me a break. From what I heard, he let you and Trunks almost fall to your deaths..."
"That was before!" Bulma seethed, "He's... different now and he proved it when he fought on Trunks' behalf! He's a great father and I wouldn't trade him for anything!"
"Whatever... He doesn't even come close to Goku..."
"Is that right?" Bulma yelled, "Then where is your darling Goku now, huh?! I'll tell you where he is! Gone! He left, abandoning you and your sons! At least Vegeta's here for us!"
Chi-Chi's heart wrenched the moment she heard that and she turned away... How could she possibly reply to that?
"Chi-Chi, I'm so sorry..." Bulma's expression softened and she placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, now regretting what she had said.
Silence ensued for a while and tears began to glisten the raven-haired mother's eyes.
"Chi-Chi?"
"Why did he have to leave me?" Chi-Chi croaked out. Bulma couldn't think of a response to that and after a while Chi-Chi continued, "Your right, he did abandon me... He abandoned us when I needed him the most... How could he do that?"
"I'm sorry..."
"Why're you apologizing for?" Chi-Chi sighed, "It's not like it's any of your fault..." The raven-haired widow soon burst into tears, "I miss him so much..." She cried, "I just wish he was here..."
"Chi-Chi, please, take it easy... Just relax... Take a deep breath and we can talk..." Bulma tried gently, placing her arm around her friend's shoulders supportively.
Chi-Chi did just that and fell into Bulma's arms, while the heiress began gently caressing the back of her head with her hand.
"Shhh... It's okay, Chi-Chi... It's okay..." Bulma tried being supportive.
"It's not okay..." Chi-Chi replied, still in her arms, "Sometimes I go to sleep and dream about him... I dream that he's next to me, holding me like he always did and when I wake up, I'm all alone and I know that I'll never have those strong arms of his around me again..."
Bulma's heart broke when she heard that, but she remained silent, allowing her friend to continue.
"I guess I shouldn't be surprised though..." Chi-Chi sighed, "All I ever did was nag him, shout at him and repeatedly make demands. All I ever thought about was what I wanted... I never really gave him space and took control of Gohan... Maybe if I were a better wife and mother, he'd still-"
"Stop it, Chi-Chi!" Bulma interrupted, pulling her friend up and holding her by the shoulders. Chi-Chi just looked at her, "You were a great wife and you're a great mom! Just look at Gohan! I've never known a kid as kind, gentle and sweet as him, not to mention intelligent! You did nothing wrong, okay?! I'm not going to let you blame this on yourself!"
"But-"
"But nothing!" The heiress interjected once again and then her expression softened and she took a deep sigh, before continuing, "Look, there's no excuse for what Goku did, but he didn't leave because of you, so don't go thinking that..."
"Then why?" Chi-Chi choked out and sniffled.
"You know why... He did what he thought was best for the world..." Bulma stated, "He blamed himself for all the times Earth was under attack and thought that by staying dead, he would make amends..."
"That's garbage Bulma and you know it..." Chi-Chi frowned, "If he wanted to keep the world safe, he should be here protecting it, not going on some stupid adventures in Otherworld..."
"I agree, Chi-Chi, but it's Goku we're talking about..."
"What's that supposed to mean?!" Chi-Chi narrowed her eyes further.
"Sometimes, he just doesn't know any better..." Bulma removed her hands from Chi-Chi's shoulder and held her hands in a tender grip.
Silence followed for a short while.
"I wonder if he even thought about us when he made his decision..." Chi-Chi said.
"Knowing Goku, he probably did..." Bulma replied after a short-pause, "But after Gohan surpassed him, I guess he felt that he should pass that responsibility on..."
"Gohan's just a boy!"
"Yes... a boy who became a man the moment he came out on top, when the planet's fate was in his hands..."
Chi-Chi shook her head.
"He's still a boy..." Chi-Chi replied, "He needs his father... So does Goten... I need my husband. Not a day goes by when I don't wish he was here with us... where he should be."
"I understand Chi-Chi..." Bulma said, "He should be here, but from his point-of-"
"I don't care about his stupid point-of-view!" Chi-Chi responded, "All I know is that he walked out on us when we needed him the most..."
Bulma didn't know how to argue with that... Her friend was right. How could she comfort her though? Why did she have to be foolish enough to bring up that topic in the first place? She should have let it go.
"Vegeta once left us too..." Bulma suddenly broke the temporary silence that ensued. Chi-Chi, whose face was downcast in thought, suddenly looked up, "I needed him more than ever, but as soon as he found out I was pregnant, he left the planet to go train in space... I had to raise Trunks all by myself for six whole months."
Chi-Chi scoffed.
"Six months... That's nothing... Goku's left us for more than three years."
"True, but my point is that I understand how you feel..." Bulma said, rubbing her friends arm, "Plus in the world that the older Trunks came from, I had to raise him all by myself on a planet that was completely desolate and look how he turned out."
"That's different, Bulma." Chi-Chi said, "Vegeta didn't abandon you in that world, he died fighting the androids and couldn't be wished back. Goku had the chance to be brought back to life, but refused outright..."
"I know Chi-Chi, but what I'm trying to say is that if I could do it, I know you can too..." Bulma explained, "You're not alone like I was in the future... You have Gohan... You have me as well and I know that can't make up for Goku, but it's still something... I know you can do this. Your children need you to be strong and fierce, like you always have been..."
Chi-Chi sighed.
"Yeah, your right Bulma..." She concurred after a short pause she continued, "By the way... how is Vegeta? I mean, as a partner and all..."
"Well, he can be a jerk and act like a spoilt child very often, but other than that, he's great..." Bulma smiled, "A short while back, he started training Trunks..."
Chi-Chi's eyes widened.
"What?!"
"Oh, don't worry, I keep an eye on them from time to time..." Bulma stated, "He calls it training, but all he's really doing for now is getting Trunks used to more intense gravity... Right now, he's training him in five times Earth's gravity. It's pretty smart if you ask me, plus Trunks seems to enjoy himself."
"I wish Goku was there to do that with Goten..." Chi-Chi said wistfully. "I used to get so mad when he trained Gohan... Now, I'd give anything to have that chance again... I just feel that I took him for granted."
"You didn't Chi-Chi..." Bulma responded, "Goku's a great guy and what you had with him can never be replaced... Hell, there's been so many times in the past when I was jealous of what you had with Goku."
"What?! For real?!" Chi-Chi gaped at her friend.
"Well of course..." Bulma replied, "All I had was that idiot Yamcha and I couldn't even last a few months, without wanting to punch him in the face... Sometimes he didn't even do anything wrong and I just wanted to whack him across the head, for no reason at all... He was a nice guy and all, but compared to Goku, he was nothing. I guess I've always been kind of greedy."
Chi-Chi chuckled a little.
"Goku was so strong, innocent, carefree, hardworking and extremely nice... Plus, I loved how he always lived in oblivion and acted like a dunderhead." SHe laughed a little, before continuing, "Yamcha, on the other hand, he was nice, but that's just it... He was too nice and after a while he got boring... I liked it better when he still had those elements of wildness to him from his life as a bandit, but a short while in the city and he eventually got domesticated. After that it was just boring, most of the time. He was never really all that challenging and he always came up with corny jokes to try and impress me, but those became trite after about two months... After he was revived, he just wasn't the same... He hardly ever trained and lost just about everything that drew me to him in the first place."
Chi-Chi giggled...
"Yeah, that's Yamcha for you..."
"Yeah..." Bulma smiled, "Truth is, there were times when I hated you for taking Goku away..."
"You're serious?" Chi-Chi gaped at her friend.
"Yeah..." Bulma giggled slightly, "I always used to brood and and think to myself: 'why, oh why, didn't I just go after Goku, before that bitch, Chi-Chi came along and stole him away...' or 'why does that obnoxious loudmouth get to have Goku, when I'd known him so much longer and spent so much more time with him' and all the rest of it... Hell, sometimes I even considered trying to seduce Goku away from you." Chi-Chi frowned in disapproval and growled when she heard that, "Oh don't worry," Bulma reassured, "I just considered it is all. I wouldn't have actually sunk that low and even if I did, Goku's too pure-hearted to give in to any temptation... even from someone as gorgeous as myself..." Chi-Chi rolled her eyes.
"Then there was Vegeta... I saw in him everything I'd lost in Yamcha and more. But he always did what he wanted and never really gave me a second look. When we woke up in the morning, I'd rarely ever find him lying to me. I could tell that a part of him did care, but he never showed it. After a few months, he found out I was carrying Trunks and left the planet..."
"Bulma, that's all well and true, but it was still in the past..." Chi-Chi replied, "I'm the one who's jealous now... Like you said, Vegeta's different now... He does care about you and you still have him to keep you warm in bed every night... I have no one..."
Bulma sighed...
"Yeah, that's true..." Bulma smiled, as she pondered on how her husband had changed so much over the years. "Still, what you had with Goku can never be forgotten no matter what. But you have to move on past that now... It's what he would want and what your children would want. I know it's tough, but you can do it, Chi-Chi... Besides, there's always the hope that Goku will visit you from Other World, like his Grandpa did him..."
"I hope so..." Chi-Chi smiled, yearning the touch of the man she loved, "I'll give that big oaf a piece of my mind."
"Hey, mom, Bulma..." Gohan suddenly made his appearance to the scene, unaware of the conversation taking place... The boy had matured a lot in the past three years and was almost Vegeta's height, through his strength level had dwindled by a large degree, due to lack of training, "Can I take Trunks and Goten to the amusement park? They won't quit nagging me..."
"Yeah, sure thing, kid..." Bulma smiled.
"Go for it, Gohan..." Smiled Chi-Chi... Just seeing her eldest son lightened her mood almost completely. Bulma was right... Her children were the most important things in the world to her and she would treasure them and hold onto them for dear life... They needed her and she needed them.
A/N: For those of you following my work (very few, if any, I know), my newest B/V fan-fic "The Light to My Darkness" will take a lot longer to be completed, since I'm planning on extending the story more so than I first intended.