Disclaimer; 'Congratulations DB, you've just purchased the rights to DBZ'. Wakes up from the best dream ever and looks around her boring bedroom, the only sound the gentle humming of the computer which her sister has so rudely turned on without asking. DB snaps her fingers and sighs 'Damn'.
A/N; Alright here we go!, Chapter 16 is up and ready. Before we begin I want to say thank-you to AgalaxiaGoddess and Aymei who reviewed several chapters each, Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you and also thanks to everyone else who's reviewed, it means heaps to me. Oh and an extra thanks to Aymei who took the time to read my bio and discover DB's fic of the week, it means a lot to me that you would take the time to check my bio out.
Ok this time around Krillens having a bachelor party and Chi-chi and Bulma are taking 18 out for a night on the town, to a karaoke bar. HAHAHA. And oh no, 18's having cold feet, could she be preparing to call the whole thing off? ~DB
A Helping Hand
Chapter 16
"All right Krillen, how do you want to spend you last night as a single man?" asked Tien as he, Yumcha and Krillen landed in the city and headed towards a small pizza shop. Krillen shrugged his shoulders, "I really don't know" he said.
"Lets go to a strip club, lets go to a strip club" chanted Yumcha, getting all excited at the prospect of seeing naked girls dancing around a pole. Krillen and Tien looked at Yumcha, he was so pathetic.
"Yumcha, we are not going to a strip club" said Krillen. Yumcha's face fell. "You guys are a bunch of spoil sports" he said.
"No. We're just not as perverted as you" said Krillen.
"I'm not perverted" said Yumcha. Krillen and Tien tried not to laugh but failed miserably "Yumcha that could be the biggest lie I have ever heard" said Tien.
Soon the 3 men arrived at a small pizza restaurant right in the heart of the city. A waitress came over to them and took them to a small table by the window. The ordered their pizzas and waited for them to arrive.
***
"Hmm, what should mummy wear out tonight Marron?" asked 18 as she pulled about 4 different outfits out of her bag. Her Bulma and Chi-chi were going to see a movie and them they were going to a little bar for a few drinks. She couldn't wait, it was going to be great fun, she just hoped Mrs.Briefs would look after her little Marron all right. Well she wasn't little anymore, well she was, just not as little as she had been. Marron was just over 6 months, half a year old, 18 found it quite hard to believe. Currently Marron was lying on her stomach pushing herself up, she was going to start crawling soon, 18 could feel it in her bones, she could already roll over, and she talked a lot to, of course it was just baby talk though. 18 thought back to those first few months after Marron had been born, to think she was scared of her, it was absurd, to be scared of such a miracle, and Marron really was a miracle. 18 had though it was impossible for her to ever have children, not that she had ever planned on having any. She had planned to live with her brother the way she had been two years pervious for the rest of her life. Now she looked back on it, she didn't know how she ever managed to live like that. Now she didn't think she'd be able to live her life without Krillen in it. How times change.
"Are you ready yet 18?" asked Bulma as she began to pound on the door.
"No" 18 called back.
"Well hurry up" said Bulma and she walked off. 18 quickly decided on a pair of black leather pants and a silky sky blue tank top, which had silver glitter on it. She pulled on her shoes, picked Marron up off the floor and placed her on her hip, then she pulled open the door and headed downstairs.
"Hurray, she ready" said Bulma.
"You look great 18" said Chi-chi. 18 looked at her friends. Chi-chi was wearing dark blue jeans and a black halter neck top, she had a black jacket tied around her waist too. Bulma was wearing a pair of tight blue pants, which flared at the bottom and a white singlet top.
"You both look good to" she said as she moved Marron to the other side of her body. Mrs.Briefs came into the room then. "You girls have fun tonight you hear, don't stay out to late though, you all need to get a good nights sleep.
"Yes mum" said Bulma then she turned to look at Trunks who was sitting on the couch with Gohan and Goten.
"I want you to be good for Grandma while I'm gone ok," said Bulma. "If you're not I told daddy to punish you and I'm sure you don't want that." Trunks nodded his head, he didn't want Vegeta to yell at him "I'll be good".
"And you two be good as well" warned Chi-chi as she looked at her two boys, though she knew they would be.
"Ok mummy" said Goten and he stood up on the couch and gave Chi-chi a big hug.
"And Gohan, make sure you do some homework ok".
"Yes mum" groaned Gohan, he was so sick of homework, it was all he ever did.
"Now, I trust you'll take good care of Marron while I'm gone" said 18
"Of course I will, you don't have to worry about that, I look after Trunks all the time" said Mrs.Briefs.
"Ok then," 18 gave Marron a kiss on the head and reluctantly handed her over to Mrs Briefs, "Everything you'll need is in that bag over there".
"C'mon 18, let's go" said Bulma and she grabbed onto 18's arm and dragged her out the house.
"I'm not sitting in the back" said 18.
"Fine, I will" said Chi-chi and she climbed into the back of Bulmas red convertible.
"I just love this car" said Bulma as she buckled her seatbelt and revved the engine a few times. Then she pulled out the driveway and towards the cinema.
***
Krillen and Tien watched on in disgust as Yumcha flirted with the waitress.
"C'mon, I'll give you a game of pool, the looser has to tell Yumcha we're leaving" said Krillen. Tien quickly agreed and they got up and headed towards the pool table in the far corner of the room.
"You can break" said Krillen.
"All right" agreed Tien. As it turned out, neither Krillen nor Tien were very good at pool, and one game ended up taking nearly 45 minutes, but it was ok, they were enjoying themselves and that was all that really mattered. It wasn't like they had to be home anytime soon anyway, no one was waiting for them there. Krillen doubted if Master Roshi even knew they were gone. Soon the topic of conversation turned to the events of the following day.
"Are you nervous yet?" asked Tien.
"A little" confess Krillen, Tien raised an eyebrow and looked at Krillen, who groaned. "All right, I'm as nervous as hell". Now Tien smiled. "Don't worry, when you see her tomorrow, all the doubt will disappears, all you'll be able to think of is how gorgeous she looks" he said.
"Thanks Tien"
"No probs". Tien aimed his pool cue, he was trying to hit the number 4 ball, but he missed completely and hit the 8 ball, sinking it in the process. "Well I guess you win".
"Which means you have to go tell Yumcha" said Krillen.
"All right" Tien sighed and headed over to the table.
"Yumcha we're going" he said.
"But we just got here" complained Yumcha.
"We've been here for nearly two hours, let's go. If you really have to, you can come back another day" said Tien.
"All right then" said Yumcha and he got up and walked out the shop. Tien took care of the bill then met his friends outside.
"Well what now?" asked Yumcha.
"Now we go home, even if we leave now, it'll be dark by the time we get there" said Krillen.
"He's right," said Tien "Let's go"
***
"What did you guys think of the movie?" asked Bulma.
"It was so romantic" sighed Chi-chi.
"It was too romantic" remarked 18.
"Well I thought it was great" said Bulma
"Me to" agreed Chi-chi.
The movie had been a romantic comedy, not really 18's cup of tea, but she sat through it, most of the time wondering if Bulmas half wit mother was looking after Marron properly. The 3 women headed towards the cinema parking lot and they all climbed into Bulmas car, much to Chi-chi's displeasure she was in the back again. Bulma started the engine and revved it a few times, which caught the attention of a couple of teenage boys, they looked to be about 18 or 19 years old. The started to whistle and hoot at the girls in a suggestive manner. Chi-chi was shocked at there behaviour, if her boys ever did anything like that she would lock them in their room for a week and make them do double the amount of homework. 18 simply rolled her eyes, teenage boys would always be the same, and nothing would change that. Even 17, her own brother, liked to do that to girls he thought were attractive and passes the '17 test' as he called it, he hadn't done that for a long time now though, he had become very secluded, much like a hermit. Unlike Chi-chi and 18, Bulma wasn't the least bit shocked or embarrassed at the boy's behaviour. She stood up and started to wave and blow kisses at the boys, who in return, did it back.
"Bulma! What the hell do you think you're doing?" asked 18 as she grabbed hold of Bulma's hand and pulled her back into her seat. Since 18 was so much stronger than Bulma she had no choice but to sit back down.
"I was just playing with them" she replied, and she buckled her seat belt and zoomed out the car park
20 minutes later they pulled up outside a bar, it looked brand new and it just seemed to scream 'this place is fun, so come on in'. So that's exactly what they did. Inside the bar loud music was playing and people were crowed around tables or hanging out at the bar. The strange thing about this bar was the fact that there was an ugly middle aged man standing on a stage in the middle of the room singing extremely off key.
"Bulma!" shrieked Chi-chi, "You never said we were going to a karaoke bar". Bulma shrugged her shoulders and laughed, "I never said we weren't", she grabbed onto Chi-chi's arm and dragged her to the only vacant table left in the building, 18 rolled her eyes and followed after the pair. A waitress came over to the table and took their drink orders then she went to go get them.
"Well Bulma, you brought us here, so now me and Chi expect you to get you ass up their and sing your heart out" said 18.
"Oh don't worry, I plan on it. In fact I bet I can sing better than you can 18" said Bulma.
"Is that a challenge?" asked 18.
"You bet your ass it a challenge" replied Bulma.
"You're on," said 18 "the person who gets the least amount of applause has to buy the next round of drinks. So who's up first?".
"I'll go" said Bulma and she stood up and made her way over to the stage
"Hi I'm Bulma and I'm here with my friend who is getting married tomorrow, her names 18 and she's going to be up here next, but before that I'm going to sing for you." Bulma went quiet as the audience clapped for her and the music Bulma had chosen came on, she was going to sing to Kiss kiss by Holly Valance.
When you look at me
tell me what do you see?
This is what you get
It's the way I am
When I look at you
I wanna be I wanna be
Somewhere close to heaven
With Neanderthal man
Don't go
I know you wanna touch me
Here there and everywhere
Sparks fly when we are together
You can't deny the facts of life
You don't have to act like a star
Try your moves in the back of a car
Don't you know that we can go far
'Cause tonight you're gonna get my
Kiss kiss
Don't play the games that you play
You know that I won't run away
Why're you askin' me to stay
'Cause tonight you're gonna get my
Kiss kiss
You can be mine
Baby what's your star sign
Won't you take a step
Into the lion's den
I can here my conscience calling me
Calling me
Say I'm gonna be a bad girl again
Why don't you come on over
We can't leave this all undone
Got the devil on my shoulder
There's no place for you to run
You don't have to act like a star
Try your moves in the back of a car
Don't you know that we can go far
'Cause tonight you're gonna get my
Kiss kiss
Don't play the games that you play
You know that I won't run away
Why're you askin' me to stay
'Cause tonight I'm gonna get my
Kiss kiss
If you forget
I'll remind you
If you're paranoid
I'm behind you
You lose your head
I'll find you
Kiss kiss
You don't have to act like a star
Try your moves in the back of a car
Don't you know that we can go far
'Cause tonight you're gonna get my
Kiss kiss
The music stoped and the crowed clapped and cheered. Chi-chi and 18 stood up and clapped loudest though. Bulma took a bow and jumped off the stage.
"Alright 18, it's your turn" she said as she pulled 18 towards the stage. Bulma grabbed hold off the mic again. "Ok guys here's my friend 18 to sing for you, and don't forget to congratulate her cause she's getting married tomorrow" Bulma spoke to the people in the bar like she had known them all forever. 18 picked her song and took the microphone off Bulma, who got off the stage and went to go sit with Chi-chi. The music came on and 18 began to sing. Everyone was surprised, she had an amazing voice.
You can say what you want about me
Wanna do what you want to me
But you can not stop me
I've been knocked down
It's a crazy town
Even got a punch in the face in LA
Ain't nothing in the world that can keep
me from doing what I wanna do
'Cause I'm too proud, I'm too strong
Live by the code that you gotta move on
Feeln' sorry for yourself
ain't got nobody no where
so I...
(Held my head high)
Knew I (Knew I survive)
Well I made it (I made it)
I don't hate it (Don't hate it)
That's just the way it goes
Yeah
I done made it through
Stand on my own two
I paid my dues, yeah
Tried to hold me down
You can't stop me now
I paid my dues
So straight back on
You cannot stop me
I paid my dues
Now I'm still tested every day
people try to mess with Anastacia
gotta nothing in common
cause I handle mine
and I thought I better let you know
I'm no punk I can't get down
I don't give a damn about whose around
that was just fine 'til now
So I...
(Held my head high)
Knew I (Knew I survive)
Well I made it (I made it)
Ohh (Don't hate it)
That's just the way it goes
Yeah
I done made it through
Stand on my own two
I paid my dues
Yeah yeah
Tried to hold me down
you can't stop me now
I paid my dues, yeah
yeah yeah yeah
Took so long to get me here (here)
But I won't live in fear (fear)
You try to steal my shine (shine)
But first they wanna build you up (up)
Then they tear you down (down)
It's a struggle, you try to bubble
so I...
(Held my head high)
Knew I (Knew I survive)
Ohh (I made it)
(Don't hate it)
Said that's - just - the – way
(I done made it through)
(Stand on my own two)
I said I paid my, I paid my dues
Yeah
(Tried to hold me down)
But you can't stop me now (you can't stop me now)
(I paid my dues) I paid my, paid my dues
(I done made it through) Ohhh
(Stand on my own two) oh
(I paid my dues) I paid my, I paid my dues
yeah (Tried to hold me down)
But you can't stop me now (you can't stop me now)
(I paid my dues) I paid my dues.
18 waited for the applause to die down then she walked back over to the table, sat down and took a sip of her drink, it was Vodka and something else that she wasn't quiet sure of.
"I win" she said.
"I don't think so," said Bulma, "I clearly got more claps than you"
"You did not!".
"Ladies, ladies there's obviously only one way to settle this" said Chi-chi and she got up and walked over to the stage.
"Alright people, here's the deal, my two friends had a little bet and now they can't seem to agree on the winner so if you liked Bulma's song best I want you to cheer now." She waited for the sound to die down before she spoke again, "and if you liked 18 better", once again she was quiet while she waited.
"Sorry Bulma, but 18 won, you owe us a round of drinks".
***
Krillen sat on the couch in the living room watching the 3 drunken men make idiots out of themselves. Yumcha was putting ice cream down his pants, Tien was trying to tell Oolong something but it was to slurred to understand and Mater Roshi had a bucket on his head. God, if 18 was around to see this she'd have a heart attack and ban Krillen from ever seeing any of them again, which in the case of Roshi, wouldn't be all that bad. But all this nonsense wasn't helping to calm Krillen's nerves, then suddenly, out of the blue he had an idea. He stood up grabbed a note pan and a pen then he went out to sit on the beach, he was going to write a poem for 18.
It was a beautiful night, the air was warm and the light from the moon and thousands of stars was enough to illuminate Krillens page so he could see what he was writing, everything around him seemed to have a sliver glow. It was almost perfect. Soon Krillen was writing away, he wasn't much of a poet but he was going to try his best to write something that he could give to 18 before the wedding tomorrow.
"Why aren't you inside?" came a deep voice all of a sudden. Krillen nearly jumped out of his skin, he looked up and saw Piccolo towering over him.
"What are you doing here Piccolo?" he asked, Piccolo sat down in the sand next to Krillen
"Just stopped by to wish you luck for tomorrow" he said.
"You're not coming?"
"I don't think so, to many people" said Piccolo.
"It's only going to be small, about 35 people I think" said Krillen.
"That's still to many for my liking, sorry".
"Hey that's ok" said Krillen. Piccolo looked up at the pink house, all sort of strange noises were coming from inside. "What is going on in there?" he asked.
Krillen just shrugged his shoulders and looked down at his page, "I wouldn't have a clue".
Soon Piccolo had to leave, since it was pretty late, but Krillen decided to stay out on the beach for a while longer, he had finished his poem so he just layed back in the sand and gazed up at the beautiful night sky. Of course this was nothing though, compared to the woman he was about to marry, Krillen still didn't fully understand why she had stayed for as long as she had, it confused him beyond all reason, but he loved it. He loved every single second he spent with 18 and he loved every little thing she did. It really was amazing how just one person, could change your life so much and in so many ways. Before her, Krillen had just been a single lonely man in the world, but now he felt like his life had meaning, that he had a purpose, to love and protect his little family the best he could, and he was going to try his very best to do just that.
Standing up and yawning Krillen turned and made his way back into the house, where the 3 man party was beginning to die down. Tien, who was the least drunk of all 3 men, was asleep on the couch, Roshi was flipping aimlessly through the channels on the t.v and Yumcha was slumped up against the wall with a bottle in his hand. Krillen carefully pried the bottle of his hand and threw a blanket over each of the men, they could clean up their own mess in the morning, then he headed upstairs to his room.
The bed felt big and empty without 18 by his side and Krillen tossed and turned restlessly for several minutes before he became comfortable, he didn't know how he'd ever managed to sleep before he met 18. Krillen glanced at the clock, it had just gone one a.m., he knew he should get some sleep, but with the amount of excitement and nerves flowing through his body he doubted he would get any at all.
***
18 was thrashing her arms around hopelessly trying to fight off the worst dream she had ever had. She was screaming and shouting and tears were streaming down her face. Then all of a sudden her crystal blue eyes snapped open, and 18 sat bolt upright and screamed. It took her a few seconds to realise where she was. Her breath was coming in short uneven gasps and she was shaking like mad, and from the scream she had just emitted it was amazing Marron hadn't woken up, since she was sleeping in a port-a-cot on the other side of the room, but someone had because the door creaked open and the light flicked on. 18 turned her head and saw Chi-chi making her way towards the bed, with a very concerned look on her face.
"18 are you alright? I heard you screaming". 18 looked at her friend and wiped a few tears off her face.
"I can't marry Krillen" she said, as the realisation dawned on her. Chi-chi sat on the bed and looked her friend straight in the eyes. "Why not?" she asked.
"I just had the worst dream, I killed Krillen and Marron and I was enjoying it and my brother was there telling me to keep going. I was drenched in their blood and," 18 stopped for a few seconds "Oh Chi-chi, it was so horrible".
"18 that doesn't mean you can marry Krillen, it was just a nightmare, you just have cold feet that's all". 18 climbed out of the bed and walked to the other side of the room, amazingly enough, Marron was still sleeping peacefully. She allowed a small smile to spread across her face then she turned to look at Chi-chi.
"It better only be cold feet Chi-chi" she said.
"It is, trust me, every single girl gets it before their wedding, you could almost say it's natural. Now what do you say we go back to sleep, I'd hate to think what Vegeta would do to us if we woke him up"
"Ok then, I guess I'll see you later" said 18, Chi-chi nodded her head, turned off the light and left the room.
18 sighed and rested her head against the pillow, she was to excited and nervous to sleep and she had every right to be, after all, it was her wedding day.
A/N, Lookie, 16 chapters and still no wedding, how much can I possibly stretch this thing out. Don't worry thought, I promise the wedding is in the next chapter ok. What did you think of the songs I chose? PLEASE review, it means so much to me. Thanking you in advance ~DB