A/N: Hey, special thanx to all my readers. Thanx for stickin through this with me. Special thanx to all who have reviewed. Your reviews keep me on my toes and I love them all. Please keep reviewing with your thoughts, thanx again. By the way this chapter contains some time skipping so I don't have to go through Bulma's whole pregnancy. mean thoughts. DISCLAIMER: If I still have to say it then maybe I should sue instead of the other way around. Don't be stupid I don't have money; I am a poor college student on the way to major debt for school.

Survival

Blackness surrounded her. Everything was so dark and she could hear voices. These voices were hushed, so hushed, so concerned, but his voice wasn't there. I wish I could just not wake up, just let everything go. She thought as she slowly opened her eyes and looked up to see her two best friends staring down at her with worried expressions. She sat up slowly, her head reeling with the slight effort.

"Well, that was fun." She said quietly

"Wow B, you kinda scared us there for a minute." She could hear the concern in Chi-chi's voice.

"Yeah, well it ain't every day you find out your pregnant. Huh?" She tried to sound humored as she spoke but somehow it didn't work as well as she had hoped.

Goku watched his friend for so many years and he could see the hurt in her eyes. He knew why Vegeta left, they obviously had fought. He knew Vegeta needed time, time to accept what was going on inside him. He probably didn't understand his feelings for Bulma and he didn't want to be distracted by them. Another part of Goku wanted to kill the shorter saiyan for leaving his best friend pregnant and alone. Maybe Vegeta hadn't known, maybe he hadn't stayed long enough to feel the way her ki was changing. He hoped that was the case.

"Hey, Chi. You think you could make us something to eat. I'm kinda hungry and Bulma probably hasn't had anything to eat yet."

"Sure." His wife said quietly.

He walked over and sat down next to Bulma. He looked at her and he could see all the emotions playing across her face. She smiled at him. He smiled back and just as he was about to speak, she whispered:

"I can't believe he left. Somewhere along the way, I fell in love with him."

"Bulma I- hmm. How long have we been friends?" He asked her quietly.

"A long time Son-kun. A very long time." She whispered with a small smile touching her lips.

"And in all that time have I ever let you down? Or left you when you needed a friend the most?"

"No, I- no. Why?" She asked, confusion written clearly on her features. "Well, I suspect Vegeta is same way. I don't think he knew." He stated quietly.

"Well how could he not have known? You knew before I did. That doesn't make sense!" She said loudly.

"Bulma, it takes time. Vegeta left rather quickly right?" He asked gently.

"Yeah, yeah he did. He said that I had done something I shouldn't have. He said that I had bonded us. I don't understand it very well but I guess it's bad." He heard her say quietly.

"No, not if you love him. Love is never bad Bulma, you used to understand that."

"He'll never love me Son-kun. He doesn't know how." She said, her voice cracking with pain she wanted to hide.

"Then teach him." He whispered as he pulled her into a warm hug. He felt her arms wrap around him. He could feel her shaking with quiet sobs, the hot tears wetting his training shirt. Again he could feel a part of himself seething with repressed rage. He wanted to tear Vegeta apart for leaving his best friend this way. Oh, well. I'll have to wait until he gets back and wants to spar. Then I can take my anger out on him, little arrogant bastard. He thought with a smirk.

Bulma pulled back and looked up at the tall saiyan she had known for most of her life.

"Thanks Sun-kun. Shall we join Chi in the kitchen I smell something tasty."

At this point her friend nodded eagerly and pulled her to her feet so they could go and sit in the kitchen. As she walked into the kitchen she noticed two fairly large dents in the tile below the counter. It almost looked as if they had tried to set something very heavy on the floor. It didn't make sense though most pieces of furniture had four legs not two. Unless it had two arms and was seated at the table staring at her other best friend. She had to stop herself from laughing, that would also explain why Goku had smelled so strongly of his wife.

She sat down on the opposite side of the table and pretended not to notice the damage to the tiles.

"Oh, Chi. Isn't it done yet? I'm starving. You watch, by the time I'm ready to have this kid I'll look like a whale." She said laughingly.

"Well B, I ate like a horse when I was pregnant with Gohan. Just ask Goku, I couldn't stop eating it was like I couldn't get full." Chi-chi replied giggling.

She joined in the laughter as Chi-chi began placing various dishes of food on the table. She watched as Goku successfully stuffed his mouth with as much food as was possible. The trio ate in relative peace with scattered conversation here and there. Goku stood and stretched his arms and spoke,

"I'll let you guys talk. I am gonna go and pick up the yard a bit and do some warm-ups.

And with that Goku stepped out of the house as Bulma watched his retreating form.

Bulma took the dishes away from the dark haired woman standing before her and pulled her to the table. She wondered if Chi-chi saw the excited expression she wore.

"Ok Chi. Spill it."

"Spill what?" Her friend replied with a look of mock innocence on her face.

"Oh, come on. Really Chi, I know the dents and crumbled tile didn't come from furniture." Bulma replied, sarcasm edging her voice as she watched Chi-chi blush.

"Well, yeah uh... Well we were uh..." Her voice trailed off as she blushed a nice shade of red.

"You were... Making love? So come on spill it, there's gotta be some good details on how the holes got in your tile." Bulma said excitedly.

"Well yeah. Umm well he kissed me 'there' and he was messing with my tail and well now I know that tails are way sensitive." She replied quietly.

"So, was that the first time he did that to you? It feels good huh?" She asked as she scooted closer to her friend.

"Yeah, I can't believe I let him do it though. I got so out of control B. Oh Kami, I was crazy." She replied in a horrified whisper she watched Bulma laugh. "So that doesn't explain how the holes got in your floor. What did you do to him to make him loose control like that?" Bulma asked as a fresh fit of giggles came over her.

"Well, I uh... Well I kinda kissed him 'there'. But, but not for long cuz after that he pretty much pinned me to the floor. And of course I was messing with his tail 'spot'." She replied looking at a very shocked Bulma.

"Dang Chi. I didn't know you were so 'liberated'." Bulma said as they both laughed even harder.

---Eight months later---

She kneeled on the bathroom floor beside her best friend. Her hands held soft blue strands of hair away from Bulma's face. Chi-chi could still remember what it had been like when she had been pregnant. Every day almost for the first six months she was in the bathroom at least once. Poor Bulma, she had it worse. She rubbed her friends back trying to give her some kind of comfort as she retched yet again into the toilet. When she seemed finished Chi-chi stood and got her a cool wet napkin. She reached and helped her friend to her feet. Bulma gave her a small smile as she stood.

Bulma felt horrible. She was always sick, always sore and on top of that she couldn't train. The only training she had been allowed to do was flying and even then she had to stop when she got further along. She sometimes felt as if the child inside her practiced kata's morning, noon, and night. Of course if he's anything like his father that's probably the truth. She thought with a smile.

She often wondered what he would look like. She figure he'd probably have Vegeta's looks and hopefully more of her personality traits.

She was spending the night at Goku and Chi-chi's again. She spent a lot of her time there lately. She had gotten to know Gohan better and she was happy because of it, after all she was his godmother. She sighed and wobbled toward the guest room she had been using. She entered the room and thought again of Vegeta. He was never far from her thoughts and sometimes it felt as if she could feel him. Sometimes she got glimpses of his mood or thoughts when she was asleep or meditating. Her last thought before she fell asleep was of naming her son.

Goku jerked awake in the middle of the night. Something was wrong, he could feel it. His wife was sleeping peacefully beside him. He reached out for his son's ki and was satisfied when he felt it strong and steady. He frowned, it was eating at him and he couldn't figure out what was going on. Suddenly it occurred to him, it was a sudden spike in ki and then a dramatic fall.

"Bulma." He said aloud.

He shook his wife awake and jumped out of bed. He was sure of it. It was Bulma. He raced to her room and pulled the door open. He saw her lying peacefully, she looked asleep. He reached the bed and tried to wake her. She wouldn't wake. He felt her forehead, it was hot and wet. Her whole face and neck were soaked and she moaned weakly when he tried again to wake her.

"CHI!" He bellowed.

He heard his wife enter the room and step closer to the bed. No words were needed as she leaned and felt Bulma's head where his hand had been.

Chi-chi felt sick, Bulma was so warm. She looked at her husband with concern. She pulled the blankets down off her friend's body. Her hand encountered something wet. She jerked her hand away as if scorched. She looked down and saw what she had feared most. The nightgown was clinging to Bulma's legs with warm fresh blood.

"Take her to the hospital Goku. Tell the doctors that she's four weeks to term. I'll get Gohan and we'll take the car okay. Don't leave her, stay with her." She told her husband quickly.

Goku nodded once and picked up his friend's unconscious body. He put two fingers to his forehead and focused on the hospital. An instant later he stood in front of two very shocked nurses.

"She needs help, she's almost four weeks to term and she's losing a lot of blood." He said quickly.

He watched as the nurses scrambled and left running down the hall. He frowned; they seemed to be running away. He was about to get angry when one suddenly returned with a bed. He laid Bulma gently down and the nurses began to push the bed away from him.

"Hey! Wha" He began and was cut off by a short blonde nurse.

"Sir, why don't you come with me. I'll get you something clean to wear and you can wash up. Then you can go and be with your wife." She said.

Goku had been about to correct her when he thought better of it. If he told them the truth they might not let him stay with Bulma and Chi had said not to leave her. He washed his hands and arms, he looked down at the blood washed away from his skin. There was so much of it. He shook the thought from his mind and hurried and dressed in the blue cotton clothing the nurse had given him. As he entered the hall, the same nurse ushered him into an elevator and down to where he supposed Bulma was. As he opened the door he rushed over to where Bulma lay. Her eyes were open slightly and the bed was pushed up so that she was almost in a sitting position.

He rushed over to her and looked at her, she smiled weakly at him. He couldn't believe she was awake. He took her hand and smiled back at her. Just as he was about to tell her she would be fine he saw his wife walk through the door. She was dressed the same way he was he figured it had something to do with being clean. He watched as Chi-chi spoke with the doctor and then walked over to the bed.

"Bulma hon., they can't give you a c-section. The baby is too far in the birth canal ok. They gave you medicine so you should start feeling better soon. But you have to stay awake, alright?" She said looking at Bulma.

"Ok." She said quietly.

Bulma watched as the doctors left the room. She knew they were speaking outside about her condition. She knew it was bad. She felt as though she had just taken a sleeping pill. Everything was kinda fuzzy as if she was looking at everything through a dirty window. She felt a pain suddenly and she cried out. She saw Goku about to jump up when Chi-chi put a hand on his shoulder. She heard them talking.

"It was just a contraction. They gave her medicine that makes the baby come faster." She told him quietly.

"Oh." She heard him reply.

To Bulma everything seemed to go in slow motion. Every time they told her to push it seemed like an eternity. It hurt so badly and it was so difficult to stay awake. She could hear the doctors' instructions and she felt Goku's hand holding tightly to hers. At some point she heard her mother's soft voice telling her she was doing great. Voices came and left, but Goku stayed with her. At least she thought it was him, everything seemed so dreamlike. The pain was the only thing that seemed real. They kept telling her to push but she was so tired. She kept hearing Goku's voice telling her to push, telling her she had to. He was telling her she had to be strong, that the baby was counting on her. That's all he had to say, that this child was her responsibility. With strength she hadn't known she possessed she pushed again and again. Finally she felt empty and a blessed peace surrounded her, her work was done and now, now she could rest.

Chi-chi watched in horror as her best friend slipped into unconsciousness once more. She heard the baby's cry but no sound came from Bulma. She yelled at the doctors when they ushered her and Goku out of the room. Bulma's family was asking questions and she couldn't tell them. She watched Bulma's mother break into fresh tears and she felt them sliding down her cheek as well. The doctors brought the baby out for them to see and hold. She looked down at the child in her arms. He was beautiful; he had a little tuft of lavender colored hair like his grandfather, a slight widow's peak reminiscent of his father, but he had Bulma's eyes. She stared into his eyes and whispered,

"Trunks... Your mother wanted to name you Trunks."

"Trunks is a good name."

Her husband said quietly as he stepped up behind her.

It had been four days now. Bulma still hadn't woken up. Goku didn't understand it, the doctors had no explanation for her coma. Future trunks hadn't said anything about Bulma being sick after she had him. Could the wish have had something to do with Bulma's strange sickness? No, that couldn't be it, if anything that would have made it easier for her. It dawned on him, Trunks from the future had said that his parents had had only a fling only once or something like that. Maybe it had to do with the two of them getting closer and the whole bonding thing. It was time to find Vegeta.

Goku put two fingers to his forehead and focused on Vegeta's ki. He found it almost instantly, Vegeta had grown powerful in his training.

Definitely super saiyan. He thought to himself.

He focused again and in an instant he was standing in front of the enraged saiyan prince on a deserted planet. He smiled at Vegeta only to receive a deeper scowl than usual.

"Hey Vegeta." He said politely.

"Kakarott, how many times have I told you not to use that infernal technique to follow me around?" Vegeta asked, his voice harsh to Goku's ears.

"Yeah well Vegeta, this is kind of important. Oh by the way congratulations on reaching super saiyan. I knew you could do it."

"Get to the point fool. What's so important?"

"Oh, right. Well it's Bulma." Goku replied seriously.

"What's wrong with the onna? Did she break a nail or something?" Vegeta replied sarcastically.

"No Vegeta." Goku could feel himself getting angry, his ki flaring slightly at the prince's unconcerned tone. He watched as Vegeta's eyebrows rose slightly in surprise. He continued,

"She was giving birth to your son and there were problems. She's in a coma and the doctors don't know why she won't wake up. She told me after you left something about bonding with her. I thought you might have answers."

"Take me to her," was the only answer he received.

Vegeta hated having to use the fool's technique to get him somewhere. But if his words were true then he needed to get to the woman. He was surprised that he had a son but there was time for that later. More importantly he had tried to sever the bond between them and had probably caused her problems. He stood staring at the door in front of where he and Kakarott had appeared. He heard the fool mumble something about that being her room. He strode forward and stepped into the dimly lit room. He walked over to where she lay. She looked so pale, so fragile, so unlike who she was awake. He put his hand over her forehead and his eyes narrowed. He reached out to her with his mind, he received no response.

He reached out again, calling her name softly.

Bulma, you have to wake up. Our son needs his mother. Onna?

He watched as her eyes fluttered once then twice as she blinked at the offending light. His face softened slightly. He smirked at her and spoke,

"Just like you woman to be slacking off when you have other responsibilities."

"Vegeta?" She whispered quietly.

"Humph" He replied stonily.

"You have a son."

"So I heard."

"Have you seen him yet?" She asked him.

"No, I came to see you first." He replied testily.

"Would you have someone bring him in? I haven't seen him yet either."

Bulma stared at his retreating figure. She didn't think he'd come to see her in the hospital. As a matter of fact she didn't think she would wake up. Her head had stopped hurting thankfully. Had he made it stop hurting? Was he the reason she woke up? She looked up as she saw Goku bring her child in, he smiled at her. She should have known that he wouldn't stay. A part of her was saying 'I told you so'. She ignored it and looked down to se her son and she gasped,

"Goku, that boy, that boy from the future, he's my son. He's my little Trunks." She whispered. "I know. He told me." She heard him reply softly.

She stared down into her son's eyes with wonder. They had created something so perfect. Who would have ever guessed they could create something so beautiful.