Just One Week
V.
And that's exactly how it happened and everything started out. Out of all of it, I'm just glad Goten and Trunks accepted him so well. I knew right off the bat that Gohan would be delighted, but the other two could be pretty ignorant if they wanted to. More Trunks than Goten, but since my son is older, well…you get the idea.
Since Goku was so eager to meet everyone else, I let him go without arguing. Of course, the three boys went with him, too ("Just in case he forgot his way around."). When he later came back, he told me some very interesting news. First off, he said he went to go see Yamcha, but since he doesn't live around here anymore, he didn't have the greatest luck. I could have told him that.
But the part I found…interesting, to say the least, was what he had to say about Krillin. Turns out Krillin and Android 18 got married and was just blessed with a baby girl they named Maron. Isn't that Krillin's old girlfriend's name? …Whatever then. None of my business there. They also live with Master Roshi on his little island (another…different idea), Goku saw him, also. Guess those were all the people Goku saw, or could think of, for he did come back pretty early. Our group keeps dwindling down!
Other than that, I told Gohan he could stay home from school for the week his dad would be back. He's a smart kid, so a week won't hurt him, besides…who am I to keep him away from seeing his dad six hours each day?
So day one continues…Sunday.
* * * * * * * *
Bulma opened and closed cabinets that were located all over the kitchen, "What to have for supper, what to have…" she kept repeating this line as she looked at all the food she kept…well…everywhere.
Finally, she stopped in the middle of the kitchen floor and put her index finger to her chin to thoroughly think it over.
"Now…what would be something special for this occasion?" Fortunately, it didn't take her more than two seconds to come up with that answer.
"Pizza."
She picked up the phone that hung on the wall and ordered fifteen twelve-cut pizzas. The pizza place was surprised, to say the least…she usually only orders ten twelve-cuts!
Luck was on her side, for as soon as the guys came back, the pizza arrived, so she didn't have to listen to any complaints of being hungry.
"So did you boys have fun?" Bulma asked, as Goku, Gohan, Goten, and Trunks all sat at the kitchen table, seemingly to have a race of whom could eat the most in the shortest amount of time.
Goten was the first to speak up, "Uh-huh!" Even though his mouth was full, it wasn't that hard to understand him, "After we went to see peoples, Daddy taught us some martial arts! Gohan teaches us some, but he's not as good."
Suddenly, Gohan choked on his pizza, punching his fist into his chest to breathe again. Once he was settled, he sent his little brother a glare, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?!"
Everyone, excluding Gohan, laughed at this, before quickly dismissing the subject and going back to the pizza.
About ten minutes later, everyone was done and holding their stomachs, indicating that they were very well full. The first one to yawn was Goten, whose eyes were also dropping.
"I'm tired now…" he said, his eyes closing slowly, but opening again very quickly, only to droop back down the same way.
"You're a big baby," Trunks commented, but gave a big yawn himself. This was always how it went…Trunks was always tired after dinner, just like Goten, but he would never admit it. He would go upstairs with Goten and Bulma, moaning and groaning all the way, often mumbling things like "Man…why do I have to go to bed?" or "I'm not tired…the kid is." But no matter what, as soon as he got under the covers, he was fast asleep and stayed that way for about two hours.
Bulma stood up from the table and went around it to where Goten was sitting, "Want me to take you up, honey?"
He only nodded and held his arms up, letting Bulma grab him from under his armpits and lift him up, resting him on her hip with her one arm around him. He laid his head on her shoulder and seemed to already be asleep. She held out her free hand for Trunks and he slowly took it, hopping off the chair. They headed for the living room.
Before they exited, Bulma turned her head around to take a quick glance at Goku and Gohan, "I'll be right back, just gonna get these two to bed."
Goku smiled at her and kept on smiling even when he heard her going up the stairs. He turned back to Gohan, who was now throwing the pizza boxes away and getting a wet washcloth to clean the table.
"Wow Gohan, you seem to be a big help around here," Goku said, leaning back on his chair so only the two back legs stood on the floor.
"Yeah, well…" he paused for a moment as he slowly ran the cloth over the tabletop, "Bulma deserves all the help she can get, plus I think she needs it."
Goku put his chair back down and stood up, standing beside Gohan before putting his hand on his shoulder, making Gohan stop what he was doing, "That's great, Gohan, I'm really proud of you."
Gohan gave a small, forced smile, "Thanks, Dad…" and as this was said in a low whisper, Goku's eyebrows went up to give a sympathetic look.
"Is there anything you want to talk about?" he asked, never leaving his hand from his son's shoulder.
Though Goku was expecting Gohan to pause and seem reluctant to speak, Gohan decided to do the complete opposite as he dropped the washcloth and turned towards his dad and began speaking immediately, "Dad, why didn't you come back? Couldn't you have somehow knew that Mom was gonna die so you could make it right? I know what you did was for the good of the world, but what about your family? What about…everyone?"
Gohan paused in his speech, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Goku's expression never changed, but he knew that Gohan would ask him these questions sometime or another during his week on Earth.
Shaking his head, Gohan averted his eyes to the floor, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—."
"It's okay, Son. You went through a lot. You have a right to ask me all these questions that…I have no good answer for," Goku shook his head this time, "I swear to you, Gohan…if I knew any of this was going to happen, I would've thought twice of my decision."
Hearing this, Gohan looked back at his dad and gave a smile, nodding a bit, "I know that…I'm just glad Bulma was there. Without her…I don't know what I would've done."
Goku gave a short chuckle and tilted his head towards the living room, knowing Bulma was now standing out there, "That's for sure. Bulma's a wonderful person, though she doesn't show it sometimes."
"Yeah. Everyday that I wake up here, I keep thinking of things I could do for her to repay her for what she's done for Goten and I. But so far…nothing seems good enough," Gohan was completely oblivious of Bulma standing in the other room, for he was so caught up in his thoughts.
Goku turned away and began walking very silently to the other room, "I'm sure just seeing you everyday is good enough for her," he said, making his voice lower until he was up against the wall in the kitchen, right next to the doorway.
Gohan blinked a couple of times, wondering what he was doing, but then felt Bulma in the next room also and smirked. He knew what his dad was planning, so he just shook his head and wiped the table a few more times.
Bulma, hearing that they were done talking, stood up straight from having been crouched over a bit to listen better, and began to walk back into the kitchen. She opened her mouth to say that the boys were in bed, but before she got that far, Goku suddenly jumped in front of her, yelling with his thumbs on both sides of his head and his fingers wiggling and his tongue hanging out.
Seeing him pop out from nowhere, she screamed and turned around quickly to flee back into the living room, but Goku caught her, wrapping his arms around her waist and picking her up, turning around to walk her into the kitchen.
Bulma wiggled a bit, trying to get her arms free that were locked to her sides, but to no avail.
"Look Gohan! I caught a spy!" Goku exclaimed, chuckling at the strength Bulma was trying to use to get free.
Gohan looked up and saw this, throwing the now dirty washcloth across the room, making it land perfect over Bulma's face.
"Ew, Gohan, this is disgusting!" Bulma commented, throwing her head forward to make the cloth fall to the floor.
He laughed good-heartedly walking over to the two.
Bulma smiled suddenly, giving a break to were squiggling, "Gohan, you're going to save me!"
"Huh?" he asked, now walking past them, "No, I was just gonna go up to my room and study for some of my finals I'm having next week. Since I'm not gonna be in school this week, I'm going to miss the reviews, and I really don't want to fail all my finals," Gohan shined a grin at Bulma, "Good luck though."
And he was gone.
It took her a couple seconds to register that Gohan completely abandoned her, before she began wiggling again, "Goku, lemmie go!"
He chuckled again and carried her into the living room, depositing her on the couch, "Now no more eavesdropping, you hear?" he grinned and sat on the couch himself, "It's not very healthy at all."
Bulma sent him a glare and crossed her arms over her chest, "I can do whatever I want!"
"I'm sure you can," Goku responded, "what's new?"
She happened to catch that right off the bat and reached over to punch him in the arm with all she had, though it only made him laugh more, "Hey! My first day back and I'm already getting abused?!"
"Yes!" Bulma exclaimed, sitting back against the couch and crossing her arms again.
Deciding to just ignore that answer, he looked up the stairs before looking back at her, "So what time do those two wake up?"
Forgetting their little "argument", she uncrossed her arms and looked at the TV clock, "Well, they usually sleep for about an hour-and-a-half, so they should get up at six-thirty. Then they'll wear themselves out so much, they'll be ready to go to sleep again at ten."
Goku nodded, "Sounds reasonable." He gave her a side glance before reaching out for her hand, quite the exact same thing she had done earlier with him, "Bulma, even though you already heard me saying this, I really am grateful that you took in my two sons for Chi-Chi and I. You don't know how much it means…"
Bulma blinked, not used to hearing Goku sound this serious too often. Sure, it's been four years, but Goku is not a person that you can meet and forget about easily. She looked down at their hands and realized how good it felt to touch him again. It finally began to really sink in that he was back and here to spend the rest of the week with her. Looking back up at him, she gave a smile, "It was the least I could do, Goku, really…"
He gave a lopsided grin, "Sure," then without any other warning, he pulled her to him to give a warm embrace.
Bulma couldn't help but gasp from the sudden contact, then blushed, quickly embarrassed from it.
It's just Goku for Kami's sake! I've hugged him millions of times! …Maybe it's just the moment…
Slowly, Bulma raised her arms up to hug him back, gently rubbing his upper arm. She smiled happily…yes, she hasn't felt this happy in quite awhile, "Your welcome, Goku."
"Hey, Dad, I…er…" Gohan was coming back down the stairs when he suddenly saw the two hugging, "Umm, sorry…didn't mean to interrupt anything."
The two separated, Bulma still blushing, but Goku not even giving it a second thought, "No, it's okay Gohan, what do you want?" Goku wasn't about to say anything, but he did catch Bulma's gasp, along with her never endless blush. What was up with her? When he was younger, she used to do that all the time, but it wasn't like he knew exactly why she did it. But now that he was older, he knew that it usually meant from embarrassment or affection not wanting to get out. Did that have a significant meaning though?
"Nothing really," Gohan interrupted his thoughts, "Just wanted to tell you goodnight. I don't know how long I'll be studying and what time you guys are going to bed, so…"
"Oh, okay, that's fine Gohan," Goku said.
"'Night," they both said in unison.
Gohan nodded and went back upstairs before Goku turned back to Bulma, "So he never dropped his study habit that Chi-Chi put him into, eh?"
Bulma giggled a bit and shook her head, "Nope, for awhile, that's all he would do in his free time. So I finally decided to send him to Orange Star High School where he could meet some friends. And sure enough, he did." She paused and grinned, leaning in closer to him to say it in a lower voice, "I think he even has a girlfriend."
Goku blinked this time, "Really?" he returned her grin, "Wow, go Gohan!"
She nodded and put her cheek in her palm, getting a dreamy look on her face, "It's so sweet. I remember when I was sixteen and in love." She sighed contentedly, "What great times."
"They were…always on a search for the dragon balls. Nothing beat that," Goku commented, going into his own little flashback.
"You can say that again," Bulma looked at him normally and pictured him as a little kid again. He was so young and…free. Then he got married to Chi-Chi and it seemed like they stopped seeing each other as much as they used to. He couldn't even be gone for an hour more than what he said he would be to her, or she would flip out. She knew Chi-Chi meant well, but…she could've done better, nonetheless.
"'Member all those times I had to fight the Red Ribbon Army?"
And that was the question that began a multiple hour reminisce of the old days. Around the time Bulma said that Goten and Trunks would get up, sure enough, they did, and instead of running all around the house, they sat in between Goku and Bulma and listened intently to all the adventures they went through when they were younger. In fact, they were so quiet, Gohan had to come down and see if everything was all right. That was when Gohan joined their little story-telling group. He remembered hearing most of the stories before, but they were still interesting, especially after four long years.
**********
Before anyone knew it, it was eleven at night and Goten and Trunks were again asleep from the long bedtime story and Gohan's eyes obviously said that he was tired also.
"Think we should take them up to bed?" Bulma asked, brushing some hair back that fell in front of Trunks' face.
"Yep," Goku answered, standing up and picking Goten up, carrying him upstairs, while Bulma carried Trunks, then Gohan walked up behind the group.
"G'night again," Gohan said, going into his room and closing the door.
"Where's their room?" Goku asked, but instead of answering, Bulma walked past him and into the room that was about two rooms down from Gohan's, on the opposite side of the hall. He followed her and saw that there were two beds. Laying Goten down on the bed that Trunks wasn't occupying, he covered him up and ran his hand back through his youngest son's hair.
When he looked up from staring at his sleeping son, he noticed Bulma was staring at him, smiling her genuine Bulma smile.
He grinned back, "What?"
She shook her head and exited the room, going down the hall a little more, Goku again following her. She entered the room that was on the same side of the hall that Trunks and Goten's room was on and when Goku walked in also, he realized that it was a free guest room and most likely, his room for the week.
"Here's your room," Bulma said, turning back around to look at him, "Sorry it's nothing special, but all of us are together, so I figured you didn't want to be on the opposite side of the building."
He shrugged, "This is fine. It has a bed and bathroom. All I need."
"Yeah, so…goodnight Goku, I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Bulma said, heading towards the door backwards.
He nodded, "Uh-huh. Oh, and Bulma?"
"Hmm?" She stopped in the doorway.
"Thanks again."
Bulma closed her eyes, smiling. She opened her eyes slowly and Goku could've sworn that he saw something in them that explained more than anyone ever could…
"Anything for you, Goku."
And that wraps up this chapter! Now since I'm one chapter 5, I decided to stop and answer some previous questions from people.
King Darkness- As you have read, Bulma has said that Gohan has a girlfriend. Well, you know how they are, I don't think they're going out yet, but I'll try my best to add Videl in there for ya, okay? ^^
Any many people have been asking if I'm gonna bring Vegeta back. In my opinion, I think if Vegeta says he's going to leave and never come back…he's going to leave and never come back. But Secretsquirl gave me a little idea. She happened to mention that Vegeta could possibly sense his ki from wherever he is and come back to see if Goku really is on Earth. But about time he gets back, the week should be up. ::begins thinking of a plot:: Heheheh…