Chapter 11.
A few months had passed since that first night between the two lovers. They did not share a room now but did usually spend the night in the arms of each other.
The small black haired man was still sleeping, snug under the blankets with an almost childish innocent expression on his face. He had grabbed the thin sheets and brought them up to his face. The young woman next to him was already awake, had been for the last half hour. She had spent all that time just observing Krillin, she loved that little habit, it was very attractive to her the way he would snuggle into the blankets not a care in the world. Granted, he was not the most handsome guy in the world but she didn't care about that. She loved him.
Eighteen would have never dared to imagine that one day she could love someone as much as she did Krillin, sometimes she did wonder if that really were the case before dismissing the thought entirely, she loved him more than her own brother. Her, Eighteen, loved a simple small earthling. She smiled to herself.
Eighteen loved her new life, every new day and her new circle of friends, though a few of them were not as understanding as Gohan and Bulma had been.
She finally got up out of the bed, careful not to wake Krillin and took a good look around. She didn't come into his room that often and the instances when she had her focus had been entirely on Krillin, not the decoration of the small space. There were a lot of pictures on the walls and his closet, depicting almost his whole life.
There were those of him with a younger Goku, both wearing a turtle shell, a few where he was older with Yamcha and Goku at the martial arts tournament. And then there was the one taken right before he left for Namek.
The last one was a recent one, taken just a few weeks back at capsule corps. It was a group photo with everyone. Eighteen looked at it intensely for a few second before softly tracing the image of the little man.
The sudden sound of movement behind her made her turn around and return to the bed where Krillin was starting to wake up, stretching as he did so. When he finally opened his eyes he was met with a blue gaze before Eighteen bend down and kissed him good morning.
"Why are you always up before me?" He asked jokingly.
"Well.." Eighteen started as she planted a soft kiss on his chest, "because I like to surprise you in the morning." She finished before resting her body on top of his.
Krillin smiled as he gently took her face in his hands and kissed her before enveloping her in a full body hug which lasted for a while before they finally decided to get up. Eighteen went to her own bathroom to get dressed while Krillin used the shared one.
Moments later, they found themselves at the breakfast table with Master Roshi who had obviously suspected what had happened between the beautiful blonde and his disciple.
"Good morning Master Roshi." Krillin greeted him.
"Oh, hello Krillin. How are you this morning?"
"I'm good, thinking about getting a gift for the baby today."
Indeed, Chichi had given birth to her second child, a boy. She had named him Goten. This had happened a week ago and Chichi wanted to have a small party to celebrate the event. Since Krillin was the best friend of the family she required him to be there which he didn't mind at all.
He also had something else in mind for today and knew exactly what to do. Around ten in the morning, both he and Eighteen left the island to spend the day in the city to get a gift for Goten.
"Well, where to start?" Krillin asked as he eyed all the different stores around them.
Eighteen shrugged. "No idea."
"Alright let's just go and try to find a present for Goten first, then we'll have the day to ourselves."
With that he took her hand and led her to one of the many toy-stores the city possessed. The store was quite large and sold almost everything from soft plush toys to clothes to learning toys like ABC cubes and the like, he was tempted to get a few of them knowing that Chichi valued knowledge and would actually be thrilled to start teaching Goten as soon as she could. He felt a little lost
Finally they settled on a plush dinosaur that Goten would probably like if he was going to be anything like his big brother.
They left the store and went to an ice-cream parlor that was close by. They ordered, chocolate for Krillin and cherry for Eighteen. Krillin was too enamored with watching Eighteen eating hers that he dropped his. He awkwardly scratched his neck before handing her one of his credit cards.
"I have an other small errand to run, why don't you take this and buy whatever you want?"
Eighteen nodded before kissing him on the cheek and taking the card from his hands. Krillin waved her bye before disappearing among the bustling people of the city while Eighteen went to a few clothing stores. She bough a few new t shirts before returning to her previous spot near the ice cream parlor. She took a seat on one of the benches and waited for Krillin to return.
"It's been nearly an hour, where is he?" She muttered to herself as she began to lose her patience. Krillin usually was very punctual, what could be taking him so long?
He reappeared a quarter of an hour later, holding two flower bouquets in his hand behind his back.
"You're late..."
"I'm sorry sweetheart."
"Don't count on me for tonight." Eighteen replied dryly.
Krillin chuckled softly at that before handing her the flowers. They were beautiful red roses. Eighteen was surprised but closed her eyes and took a deep breath , smelling their wonderful scent. She gave him a small smile before turning away, Krillin smiled too, She wasn't angry anymore.
They made their way home to the island which was deserted since Master Roshi had already left for Chichi's party. They each went to their separate rooms to get dressed.
Krillin rummaged through his closet trying to find something suitable to wear since Chichi had insisted to dress formally. Fortunately he did own a couple of suits. He stopped when he reached a black suit, his eyes widening as he realized this was the suit he had worn on Goku's 'funeral' which had been almost a year ago and he still missed him dearly. A single tear made its way down his cheek before he wiped it away continuing to search for an appropriate suit. He found one he liked and slipped it on, being careful to not forget the most important thing as he made his way downstairs where Eighteen was waiting for him, she was wearing a beautiful black dress with a slightly dropped neckline.
"You're so beautiful." Krillin said without hesitation.
"You're not too bad yourself." Eighteen replied.
They made their way to Chichi who was already waiting for them. The party was nice and calm with everyone fawning over little Goten and remarking just how much he looked like his late father. Little Trunks seemed to be particularly interested in this new baby. Krillin figured they might become good buddies when they got older.
Around 9 pm everyone left. Krillin and Eighteen took a different route back home than Master Roshi. The ex-monk insisted they'd stop on a small island.
"Why did you want to stop here?" Eighteen asked in a curious tone.
"You remember, Eighteen? What happened here almost a year ago?"
Eighteen was puzzled by his statement until she took a second good look at her surroundings, then she recognized the scene immediately. She was baffled that she hadn't seen it the moment they had landed. Of course the island did change a little over time, you could still see the damage done by Cell and Trunks after their battle but overall it seemed the island was thriving, lush grass surrounded them and new small trees were sprouting from the ground.
"This is where you destroyed the remote."
"Yes this is where my life took a dramatic turn which rocked my entire core because I realized I couldn't destroy you because I loved you. But even so, I never thought I would be here today with you by my side, the most beautiful and kind woman in the world who makes me so happy. Eighteen, today I want to ask you something, something I have never asked of you before."
He then dropped down to one knee while pulling out a small black satin box from his pocket never breaking eye contact with the beautiful cyborg who was staring back at him. He opened the box, presenting her with a small ring which had a beautiful modest diamond in the center which had visibly cost a fortune. She didn't react when he slipped the ring around her finger.
"Eighteen, would you do me the honor of becoming my wife?" Krillin asked, his voice slightly wavering with nerves as he stood up.
Eighteen's eyes widened as she took it all in, looking at the ring on her finger before looking back at him. She didn't say a word and she didn't need too, Krillin could read the answer in her kiss.
It was a yes.
He wrapped his arms around her waist he let himself be pulled into her kiss, all the while thinking to himself that he was truly the happiest man in the world right now, something he would have never believed if someone had told him all those month ago.
The end!