Bulma sighed as she flipped through her magazine. As badly as she did not want to admit it, a part of her was really disappointed that her wedding day was not going to involve a beautiful gown and a big party. She knew perfectly well that the number of people she would invite to the event was so small that it would have been pointless to get a large venue. She knew that she was trying to keep a low profile. She knew that those people she would invite would hate a formal event. It would have made no sense at all to throw an extravagant affair.

That did not make the magazine any less frustrating.

Though, when honest with herself, it was not the magazine that was frustrating. No, it was the brunette across the table from her. Chi-Chi had subconsciously decided that while the boys were working or in class, and Gohan was down for a nap, it had to be female bonding time. And her favorite topic of the moment? Weddings. Big, beautiful, over the top weddings.

The bluenette knew where it was all coming from. Chi-Chi had been a homeless, pregnant teenager. All she had for years had been her dreams of a happier tomorrow. It was not lost on Bulma that Chi-Chi probably fantasized about her own big, white, over the top wedding. The difference between them was that Bulma would ultimately be able to shrug it off, while Chi-Chi would not. Chi-Chi's inner princess would likely never get her fairy tale day, but that was a reality that neither woman wanted to talk about.

"You know what would look great on you?" the brunette said, sliding another magazine over toward her friend.

Bulma smirked. "Everything looks great on me," she confidently responded. "I've got great legs, a flat stomach, and a pretty decent rack, if I do say so myself."

"Which you do," Chi-Chi replied with mock exasperation. "But before you get all high and mighty about how great your chest is, you may wish to note that it's not the most impressive one in the house."

Chi-Chi's bolder language also only came out when she and Bulma were alone, and the former heiress kind of liked it. The normally proper young lady had to let her teenage self express once in a while, and she finally had a place to do it. It still felt very odd, though, for someone so demure to speak so brashly. "Oh, please," Bulma returned. "You think you can keep up with me?"

The brunette shot back a smirk of her own. "While I'm still my son's primary food source, you bet your ass I can."

Bulma laughed. "Okay, this conversation is officially getting weird. What were we talking about before we got into a measuring contest?"

"Do you two really need change back?" a voice called out from the doorway. "I kinda like this topic!"

Red flew across the cheeks of a mortified Chi-Chi, while Bulma simply laughed harder. "Goku!" she called out. "How did you get home so soon?"

The tall young man entered, grinning broadly. "Our afternoon class got cancelled," he explained. "We waited outside for half an hour before some frantic person shoved his way past us, said he was sorry, and taped a note to the door. Our teacher is, like, caught in monster traffic or something."

"See, when you say things like that, all I can do is imagine a bunch of monsters, in cars, stuck on the freeway," Bulma said. "These sorts of things never crossed my mind before I met you, Goku Son!" She paused briefly and looked around her friend. "Um, didn't two of you leave the house this morning?"

The unmistakable sound of feet trudging up the steps was heard by all three of them in the kitchen. The smile on Goku's face fell. "I don't think he slept well last night," he honestly reported. "He's been barely keeping it together today. I mean, it's more than just him being tired. There's something else on his mind, too."

"Do you know what it is?" Chi-Chi asked, finally able to speak again.

"Wish I did," Goku sighed. "He's been having a hard time sleeping most nights lately, but I don't think he slept at all. And…" He hesitated, glancing in the direction of the footfalls. "I think he snuck out last night. I think...I think he got in trouble."

Bulma frowned. "What kind of trouble?"

"The kind where someone else hurt him."

Chi-Chi hugged herself tightly before softly asking, "What happened?"

All sense of joy was gone from Goku as he pulled up a chair and sat down. "Look, I don't know specifics, but I do know that he's exhausted, and I do know that he's been beaten up recently." His eyes slid to the floor. "He had bruising on his face, and he was walking weird, but when I asked him about it, he got mad at me and told me to stop."

"God," Chi-Chi whispered. "What could have happened to him?"

Goku opened his mouth to speak, but Bulma beat him to it. "You guys found Vegeta the other day."

"So?" Goku asked.

"So," Bulma reasoned, "don't you think Krillen, who felt more abandoned than any of us by his departure, would be more than willing to take a few risks to hunt his best friend down?"

Chi-Chi shook her head. "Vegeta would never hurt him," she insisted. "I may not have always gotten along with him, and we all know that he has a temper on him, but no matter what, Vegeta would never hurt Krillen."

"But someone else might have," Bulma countered. She turned her eyes to Goku. "You guys said he was beat up when you found him, right?"

His eyes still down, Goku nodded. He had not gotten as good a look as Krillen had, but it was enough to know the situation was bad.

"And if that's the case," the former heiress continued, "then isn't it possible that while Krillen was out hunting for Vegeta, the people who hurt Vegeta hurt Krillen, too?"

Without exchanging verbally, Chi-Chi and Goku glanced at each other, then their friend, in confirmation.

Softly, Chi-Chi asked, "What do we do?"

"We can't let him go back out there," Bulma said. "We've got to find some way to…"

"It won't work."

Goku was not known for speaking softly, which made him impossible to ignore when he did. "We can't stop him. There's no way to stop him without chaining him to the walls, and even then, he'll probably find a way out. We're talking about Krillen here. Krillen doesn't give up, not with a friend on the line. He's as worried as we are, if not more, about Vegeta. I know Krillen. He won't let a friend suffer, not when he thinks there's any chance at all of being able to help. He's going to leave. He's going to sneak out again. I know he will."

Chi-Chi frowned. "Should we send people with him?"

"No," Goku firmly said, finally bringing his eyes back up. "Look, I know this isn't safe. In fact, I know it's downright stupid to let him go alone. But here's the thing, guys: Vegeta left, Vegeta doesn't want to be found, and Krillen's the only one who might be able to talk some sense into him. If Vegeta suspects for even a second that any of us are with him, he'll disappear again."

"We can't let that happen," Bulma angrily hissed. "It's…"

"It's not the time to discuss this," Goku quickly said, getting to his feet and opening the refrigerator. Before anyone could retaliate, they heard the door open again.

Radditz walked in, a confused look on his face. "What the hell are all of you doing here?"

"We live here," Goku said, his face still deep in the refrigerator.

"You know what I mean, dumbass," the older brother returned. "It's the middle of the day. I know Bulma and Chi-Chi are here during the day, but what are the other two of you doing here?"

Bulma smirked. "No offense, honey, but I kind of had that question for you."

Radditz finished walking into the kitchen and kissed his intended on the top of her head. "Remember what I told you about a bunch of guys having 'food poisoning' the other day, and me having to do five people's worth of work for one day?" The others nodded. "My boss, it turns out, has a hell of a sense of humor. I get the next five days off with pay, while they have to go to work. He said it would 'encourage better behavior' from the others."

"Can he really do that?" Chi-Chi asked.

"I just got five paid days off," Radditz laughed. "Why the hell would I question it?"

"Ah, so true," Bulma said. "Anyway, apparently Goku and Krillen's class got cancelled, so they got home early."

Radditz glanced around the room. "Where is short stuff, anyway?"

"He didn't sleep well last night," Bulma casually mentioned. "I think he's taking a nap."

As Radditz shrugged and grabbed for a snack, Goku and Chi-Chi exchanged a glance. It unsettled them just how smoothly Bulma had delivered that information, particularly to a person she was romantically involved with. They said nothing in the room, though, silently agreeing to save that conversation for a later time. Quietly, they excused themselves, leaving the other couple alone.

"So, five whole days off, huh?" Bulma said with a smile. "That's going to be nice."

"Well, yes and no," her fiance said. "I mean, yeah, it's nice to not have to go to work and all." He stopped and crinkled his nose slightly before his next point. "I just don't know how I feel about being in a diaper filled house all day."

Bulma approached him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "Oh, it's not that bad," she assured. "It doesn't even smell that much. Actually, according to the books, it won't smell like much as long as he's living off of what Chi-Chi provides. When he starts eating other stuff, then it's going to get nasty. I plan to be working outside of the house at that point, oh soon-to-be-husband of mine." True enough, they had picked a date for the wedding, and it was just around the corner.

"Speaking of that," Radditz said, clearing his throat and blushing slightly, "we still need to talk about, well…"

Bulma nodded. "The wedding night."

"Well, yeah."

Over the past few months the two had become quite close, but there were steps to their physical relationship that they were yet to take. Something had always held them back. "So, what about it do you want to talk about?"

Radditz groaned. "You know I hate talking about this."

"And you know," Bulma countered, "that I think it's the responsible thing to do, and that you're going to continue the dry spell you're on if you can't talk about this like the responsible adult I like to think that you are."

"I would like to say, for the record," Radditz pointed out, "that I did not, in any way, say that I would not talk about it. I also did not say I was going to fight you on it. All I said was that I don't like talking about it."

Bulma narrowed her eyes at him. "It was not I don't like, it was I hate."

"Does it really matter?" he groaned again. "I'm still having the damn talk, aren't I?"

Laughing, Bulma sat beside him. "I know you're having the damn talk, and you know I'm just screwing with you. But hey, if you keep playing along, you'll eventually get screwed in the good way."

"And skipping ahead isn't an option?"

"Nope." She leaned forward again and kissed his forehead. "Look, I know you're eager to get to the fun part, but it's important to know that I'm a little, well, scared about it. It's my first time, and I've heard some stuff, and I really don't know how it's going to go. What I do know is that it marks a very important moment in our relationship, and I just, well, feel like we should be on the same page."

"I know," he assured. "And I know you have concerns, and like I promised you, you will never be pressured by me to do anything you're not comfortable with."

She smiled, kissing him again. "I know. And I thank you for that. Now, you and I need to discuss a few things…"

/

Krillen had his eyes glued to the clock. The brilliant green numbers indicated that it was time to get up. Not for class or work or anything like that. No, it was the middle of the night, and the rest of the house was sleeping peacefully. It was time to get up, though. It was time to sneak out. It was time to find his friend.

He slid his feet out from under the covers, placing them delicately onto the soft carpet. Years of practice had him well skilled at moving about silently. He knew how to get in and out without making anyone else aware of it. His shoes were already on his feet, and his jacket had been resting on his bed. No unnecessary stops were to be made. Barely making any sound at all, he left the house.

It was no brighter that night than it had been the night before, but this time, he knew what he was doing. He had mapped out exactly how he was going to get to the old arcade. He did not want to waste any time getting there. His time out was going to have to be short if he wanted to make sure to get back before anyone noticed. He had his own room, but he did not want to chance someone noticing he was gone when the baby woke up crying in the night.

It did not take long for him to reach his destination. He could not help but feel a little excited. For the first time in a long time, he actually had a plan to meet up with his old friend, and he knew that he was going to be met without being assaulted. There were so many things he wanted to say, wanted to hear, wanted to know about. There was no way in hell he would be able to have all of it accomplished in one meeting. In fact, he would probably would barely hit the tip of the iceberg on any of it. That was okay, though. Just knowing his friend would be there was enough for now.

With great care he went in, still ensuring his silence. Vegeta would know he was there without making an announcement. Vegeta would also not appreciate having someone shout out his location. Stealth was the name of the game, and Krillen could play it well.

Not well enough, though. Krillen was good, there was no denying that, but he was not perfect. He had not been overly concerned with being followed. After all, in the middle of a quiet night, he had been confident that he would be able to hear anyone else on the street.

He had missed the shadowy figure that had followed him there from the beginning. He had missed the person who had matched him turn for turn along the way while maintaining a safe distance. And as he entered the old building, Krillen had no idea that he was being cautiously monitored.

The figure came out of the shadows and simply stood before the building. His hands rested in his pockets as he gazed at the crumbling facade. He contemplated going in, but something inside told him to stay put. It was not his place, not yet. Soon, but not yet. He did not like the situation, but he did not know exactly what to do next.

Goku Son frowned as he stared at the old arcade building. He had stayed awake all night, waiting to hear the telltale sounds of Krillen sneaking out. His friend was as quiet as possible, but even a master can not make up for the mild creak of a floorboard or the subtle squeak of a door. Goku had been sure that Krillen would try to leave again, and he did not want to miss it.

Those marks he had seen on his friend's face that morning were the marks of a beat down. While they did not talk about them anymore, both he and Krillen had taken a few beatings when they were younger. Krillen had taken more, but Goku had been through his fair share. The streets were not a safe place to live, a lesson they had all learned the hard way. They had healed, they had gotten back up, and they had gone on with their lives. But neither of them had ever forgotten what it looked like or felt like to be beaten. Krillen had been beaten.

So Goku had stayed up that night and waited for Krillen to move, and quietly he had followed. Krillen was not the only one in the group willing to take a huge risk for a friend. If Krillen was attacked again, Goku wanted to be there to defend him.

It had not seemed necessary so far. Krillen had gotten there and gotten in without conflict, and the silence was assuring. There was little doubt in Goku's mind that behind those walls sat his two friends, struggling to rebuild a fractured friendship in whatever way they could. If Goku stepped in at that moment, Vegeta would never again have enough trust to set up another meet. Whether Goku was there because Krillen had invited him or Krillen had simply not seen him, Vegeta's faith in Krillen would be shaken. At this stage, it would be unfixable.

Stepping back, Goku played with the insides of his pockets. It was the middle of the night, and his girlfriend had no idea he was gone. If Gohan woke up for a feeding, it was going to become very obvious very fast. Chi-Chi would find out Goku was gone, she'd run across the hall and find that Krillen was gone, and then she would probably start screaming bloody murder, alerting Bulma and Radditz to the fact both of them were gone. Things would only go downhill from there.

Convinced that Krillen was safe enough, Goku turned around. He intended to talk to Krillen about it, and he was pretty sure that he was going to discreetly tell Chi-Chi about it. However, without knowing more, he was not going to bring his brother or Bulma into it. Those two were not just hot headed, they were also impulsive.

No, he had to start quietly, and he would start in the morning. At that moment though, he was going home.

It was his turn to get the baby.