21

"How long are you two going to do this?" Pan sighed.

"Huh?" Bulla blinked as she glanced over at Pan.

Pan rolled her eyes from her spot lounging on her bed. "You and my brother," she said. "How long are you two going to tip-toe around each other? It's obvious that you both wanna-"

"W-we're not tip-toeing around each other!" Bulla's eyes widened.

"Bulla, I was stuck in a small spaceship, in space, for months with your brother before we did anything. Trust me. I know what tip-toeing looks like."

Bulla stared at her friend for several seconds before she let out a small sigh and plopped on the bed beside her. "We have bigger things to worry about..." Bulla mumbled.

"Bulla, whether or not you and Goten start dating or not the situation isn't going to change. You two are bonding. You know you can't stop that."

"I don't want to stop it," Bulla whined. "Goten is amazing... And I want to be with him, but it feels selfish to want something like that at a time like this."

Pan reached over and grabbed her friend's hand. "Since when do you worry about being selfish or not?"

"Since the Nugget," Bulla mumbled.

A year ago, Bulla wouldn't have hesitated to put her desires first, but things changed when Baby started taking over everyone she knew. Things changed even more when she discovered that her best friend was expecting. A baby was coming. An innocent, helpless baby.

Bulla has never been a kid person. Even when she was a child herself, other children didn't amuse her and so the only child she could ever stand to be around was Pan. But something happened when she heard about Pan's pregnancy. That baby was apart of two people Bulla loved so very much... She couldn't let anything happen to it. Pan joked often that Bulla was already so over-protective of her future niece or nephew... Bulla thought that she just might be right.

Pan squeezed Bulla's hand. "Bulla... You know I am so thankful towards you. You have done so much for me and Nugget... We love you so very much. But Bulla, you're not alone in protecting this baby. I'm here, and you know I'm going to do everything in my power to keep them safe. Trunks is here now as well, and you know he feels the same. There's also Goten and Marron... You deserve to be a little selfish, even at times like this.

"I tell you what, didn't Trunks say that some parts needed to be scavenged? Why don't you and Goten go pick up the parts and I'll keep Trunks busy tonight," Pan smirked.

"I don't even want to know what's going through your head right now," Bulla mumbled as she glanced at her best friend. Pan simply laughed.

Bulla let out a small sigh. What Pan had said earlier continued to run through her mind, which distracted her from keeping focused on the mission. Thankfully, the scraps her and Goten found at an old lab of Capsule Corp, was easy collect. There had been no Tuffles whatsoever and they were out just about as fast as they had came in.

"Are you okay?" Goten asked Bulla as they walked through a wooded area near the East District. It was the closes way to get to Island Baku unnoticed.

"I'm fine," Bulla said. "Just thinking."

Goten looked at her curiously, but didn't ask any questions about what she was thinking about, which she was grateful for. "Can I show you something?"

"Hm?" She raised a blue eyebrow up at him.

He grinned and reached down to grab her hand. "Come with me!"

Bulla gasped as Goten begin to lead her through an unknown trail. She had never been this way, but she trusted Goten. He lived around this area his whole life. He could probably wander through it with his eyes closed and still get to destination.

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see," Goten just grinned.

"This is beautiful..." Bulla whispered as she took everything in.

Goten had lead her up a mountain to a huge cliff. The sight before them was breathtaking. The quiet woods was below them, the brightness of the moon shinning over them in a silver light. Above them, along with the moon, millions of stars shone. It was peaceful and so beautiful.

Goten sat down on the edge of the cliff and patted the spot beside him. Bulla took it and together they swung their legs as they stared at the scenery in peaceful silence.

"This is one of my favorite places to go," Goten said softly. "Before I left for space, I never thought I'd be so close to stars, and once I was, I wanted to get away from them," he chuckled. "I think looking at them like this from a distance, is my favorite way to look at them."

"They're beautiful," Bulla whispered, her eyes glued to the galaxies up above.

Goten's eyes glanced at her quickly before looking back up at he sky. "Yeah, they are..."

Bulla let out a small sigh. She felt comfortable around Goten, she always had. Things just felt right and bearable when he was around. Maybe Pan had a point about what she said earlier.

"Goten?"

"Yes?" His dark eyes met her blue ones and she smiled.

"I'm so happy you came back with Trunks," she told him. "Honestly, before you two arrived, I was working myself to death trying to build that ship and train. It was so stressful. Then you two showed up... Well, more specifically, you," she said.

"Me?" He blinked. "I don't see how I managed to help anything... I'm not an engineering genius like Trunks," Goten chuckled. "Everything I do is something Trunks just tells me to do."

"But you're you," Bulla said. "Just knowing that you were there with me made everything feel a little bit lighter..."

"Do you know why I care about Pan-Chan so much?" She asked him suddenly.

Goten tilted his head. "Well, you two have been friends for a long time," he said. "You're practically sisters, aren't you?"

"Yes," Bulla nodded. Even if Pan and Trunks had never gotten together, Pan was still her sister. "She was my first real friend. The first person outside of my immediate family who saw me as something more than just the Capsule Corp Princess... You were the second," her eyes held him. "Both of you- you and Pan, hold very special places in my heart... Goten, I..." She glanced down as she took a deep breath. Her heart felt as if it could burst out of her ribs and her cheeks felt so impossibly warm. She had never felt like this before.

Warm lips pressed against her own, causing her eyes to widen and a small gasp to escape her. She looked up just in time to see Goten pulling away, a faint smile on his lips.

"I feel the same way, Bulla," he whispered. "I know the timing isn't great, but I want to be with you. If something were to happen and I would never have a chance to be with you after all this mess, I would regret it so much."

Bulla's heart was still pounding. She watched with wide eyes as Goten stood up and offered her his hand.

"Stay by my side," he pleaded.

She thought back on what he had just said. If she didn't take his hand now while she could, then later on if she wouldn't be able to, she would regret it. She would regret every little thing that could have been between them. She placed her hand in his and he helped her up.

Their eyes said many things that neither one of them could say at the moment, but they didn't mind. The second time Goten leaned down to kiss Bulla that night, she met him halfway.

If there was one thing Pan absolutely loved about the bunker, it was the underground hot springs. It wasn't too far from the bunker and it was wonderful. The best part about it was that although it was a hot spring, it wasn't too hot to where it would be dangerous for Pan to soak in it a while. So that's what she was currently doing, and when she had invited Trunks, it hadn't take much for him to accept.

"You know what would be nice right now?" Pan said as she leaned against Trunks' chest as he leaned against the edge of the spring.

"Please don't say salt," Trunks said. "That's so unhealthy for you and nugget," he chuckled.

Pan's lips formed an adorable pout. "It's not my fault that your kid makes me crave weird things... But I wasn't going to say salt. I was going to say being on the beach would be nice right now."

"A beach?"

"Mhm, like the one on Htrae," she sighed.

"That was a nice beach," Trunks chuckled. He leaned his head down and gave her neck a few kisses. "A very nice beach."

Pan let out a giggle. "I'm pretty sure Nugget was either conceived on that beach, or the night before it... Or after," she shrugged. It was definitely some time around that time.

"Like I said, a very good beach," Trunks hummed, a pleased smirk on his face.

Pan turned so she could look up at him. "I have a slight confession to make." He knitted his eyebrows together in confusion and she smiled. "I tempted you to come with me so Bulla and Goten could be alone cause I'm trying to get them two together."

Trunks let out a long sigh and rolled his eyes. "You too?"

"Wait, what?" Pan raised a dark eyebrow.

"I've been telling Goten for weeks to just tell Bulla how he feels," Trunks said. "The dude's been too scared to since, well, to put it bluntly, things kinda suck right now."

"Bulla too," Pan murmured. "But you've actually been trying to get Goten to talk to Bulla? I'd thought you'd be a little bit pouty."

"Trust me, it's weird. Now I know how Goten felt out in space, but he did put up with us." He reached up and tucked a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. "I promised him I would try to be understanding when it came to him and Bulla..."

Pan smiled at him before she leaned up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "You're amazing."

"I am pretty amazing," Trunks smirked.

Pan let out a small snort before she gasped suddenly, her back straightening. Trunks was instantly straightening up as well, his eyes wide.

"What's wrong?" He asked, ready to scoop her up if needed.

"Sorry," Pan gave him an apologetic look. "Your Baby is trying to play soccer with my organs. But..." she grabbed his hand and placed it on her stomach. No one had been able to feel the baby yet except for her but that rather powerful kick made her think that maybe...

Suddenly, the baby kicked again and Trunks gasped loudly. "Was that nugget?!"

"Uh-Huh," Pan grinned brightly.

"Wow..." he grinned down at her stomach for a moment before he looked back at her. "You are the one that's truly amazing, Panna..."

"Are you trying to woo me?"

"Well, is it working?"

Pan laughed. "It definitely is."

Trunks grinned. "How about we ditch this hot tub and go back to our room then?" He stood up and held out a hand to her.

"Only if you do that one thing with your tongue again," she told him with a wink as he helped her up.

"Oh, I'll do whatever you want me to," he promised with a smirk.