Just One Week
VI.
Our first day together complete. Okay, even though it has only been one day, is it just me or is time flying faster than usual? It probably is, I mean…one free week isn't going to last forever. Maybe I should invent something that could keep repeating whatever time you enter, so it's possible to live forever in a week. …Nah, I'm not about to waste the week Goku really is here on building something, especially if it were to not work. Not that I have any doubts that it will work, mind you. But that's not the point.
The point is Goku himself. I can feel myself wanting to be around him. Wanting to feel him close to me. Wanting to be able to spend every waking and non-waking moment with him! Do I sound like I'm going crazy? Maybe I am…after all; it's Goku, my best friend! Maybe it's because I haven't exactly been around a man I want to be around in the longest time, my heart and body are calling out to him.
Wait, did I just say what I think I did? I don't think I'm…dare I say…in love with Goku. I'm sure it's just a short fluctuation thing. A short fluctuation thing that has lasted since I was sixteen. That isn't that long ago…is it?
Okay, okay, I admit it! I do feel more for him than I let on. Maybe he can tell too…I did spot him giving me weird looks every one in awhile. But I can't do anything! I'm sure he wants to spend three-fourths of his time with the boys, and I'm sure he's still not used to living a life on Earth without Chi-Chi, and he's only going to be here for one week!
Yep, I'm going crazy.
Day two…Monday.
* * * * * * * *
"Too early in the morning…too, too early in the morning," Goku mumbled, having just woken up and spotted the clock beside his bed that read eight forty-six. He yawned loudly, throwing the covers off his body and, being he was only wearing blue boxers, he shivered lightly. The coldness was soon forgotten, however, once his stomach growled.
He put a hand over his stomach, looking down at it inquisitively, "You hungry, Tummy?" A smile came over his face as he walked towards his door, out into the hallway, "Me, too!"
Once he was fully out of his room, he spotted Goten, whose back was towards him. He was walking on his tiptoes, being extra careful as he quietly walked down the hall, seemingly heading towards the stairs.
Curiosity overtook Goku as he silently tiptoed behind Goten, wondering what he was going to do. Once Goten got within ten feet from the stairs, Goku leaned down to his son's level, putting his head right beside Goten's ear.
"What are you doing?" Goku asked, earning him a front row seat to see how people really react when they're frightened.
Instead of screaming, Goten jumped about five feet in the air, doing a flip over himself, and landing with a thud on his bottom, staring dizzyingly and wide-eyed up at his dad.
Goku stood straight up, putting his hands on his hips, and letting out a good-hearted laugh. Goten shook his head to get focused again, still seeming a bit confused on what happened. He picked himself up so he was once again standing on his feet, "…What? What am I doing? I'm uhh…just going downstairs to get somethin' to eat." He put his hand over his stomach, "Hungry."
"What a coincidence," Goku commented, copying his motions, "I am, too. So how 'bout we go down and see what we can find, hm?"
Goten nodded, but instead of running down the steps, he ran back down the hall to Bulma's room, "But Mommy's always said to wake her up when I wanted something." Was what he said before he opened her door and disappeared inside the room.
Raising an eyebrow, Goku wasn't even going to bother asking why Goten was heading down the steps a minute earlier without telling Bulma. He smirked, figuring he was just trying to be sneaky. He followed the little boy inside the room, spotting a bed in the middle with a sleeping Bulma placed in the center of it.
The soft thuds of Goten's feet smacking against the carpet was heard in the silence as he circled around the bed and reached out with small hands to shake Bulma's shoulders, "Mommy…wake up, I'm hungry." Goten commanded in a pleading voice, shaking her even harder when she didn't budge.
Bulma moaned a bit, stretching out her arms, saying incoherent words…then turning the other way and falling back asleep. This didn't seem to faze Goten any as he rounded to the end of the bed again, pulling himself up on its high stand, and began jumping on the bed. Still didn't convince Bulma.
Goku grinned, walking over to the bed himself, "Wow, Bulma's a pretty deep sleeper," he commented, sitting on the side of the bed her back was towards. He leaned over, looking at the side of her face as he looked down on her profile.
Her fine, blue hair covered her face, making him gently push it back, revealing her face and neck. He smiled, seeing her snuggle into her pillow more. Goku was soon bounced from his spot as Goten jumped closer to them, trying to shake the bed as much as he could.
Finally getting to her, Bulma squeezed her eyes shut tighter and rolled over to her back, again stretching her arms out to the sides, but stopping abruptly when her right arm hit something beside her. Slowly squinting her eyes open, she turned her head to see Goku staring down at her, grinning playfully.
"'Bout time you woke up," Goku said, grabbing her wrist and shaking it wildly, "Now we just need to get you out of bed."
To show what Goku meant by "we", Goten fell down beside Bulma, crawling over closer to her, and looking down at her with the same look Goku had, "Yeah, we're hungry and you need to make us something yummy."
Bulma raised her eyebrows, "Oh, do I now?" she asked before sitting up and flipping Goten over to his back, pinning him down. A smile crossed her face as she began tickling his stomach, making loud giggles ring throughout the room. Goten tried his best to cover his stomach or roll over, but it was quite apparent that he had low defenses when he was being tickled.
"Daddy, help me!" Goten managed to squeal out, now trying to push himself down.
Goku chuckled, waving his hands in front of his face, "No way! I'm not getting involved in this battle!" He stood up from the bed, deciding to watch the tickling fight from there.
"What's with all the noise?" came a voice from the doorway.
This made everyone look; only to see Trunks, with his hair messed up and his right hand balled up in a fist to rub the sleepiness from his eye.
"Trunks! Help me, you're my only hope!" Goten screamed, wiggling around more and more.
Trunks saw what was going on and a big smile overcame his features. He let out a warrior scream and ran over to the bed, jumping up as high as he could to land on his mother's back. But unfortunately, since his aim was a little off, he only landed on half her back, making him bounce off, onto the bed, then bounce again, making him fly right to the floor.
Boom!
"…Ow," came the painful sound from the boy on the floor.
Bulma blinked, looking at the spot on the bed that Trunks disappeared from, giving Goten the chance to wiggle out from under her. He didn't realize how close to the end of the bed he was, however, for he rolled right off the bed from the other side.
Goku looked down at his feet to see Goten rubbing the back of his head. He smirked and looked back up at Bulma, "You lose."
She narrowed her eyes, sticking out her tongue, and then throwing a pillow at him. Of course, he caught it easily, throwing it back down at her. That action only messed up her hair more, as it was static-fied. Bulma moaned lowly, running her hand threw her hair to try to keep it down, yet was unsuccessful.
"Don't worry about it," Goku told her, his hand getting grabbed when Goten finally got himself up, "You look good when your hair's messed up." After saying that, he gave her a playful wink.
Goten began pulling him towards the doorway with all his strength, "Come on, Daddy, I want food!" He wailed, eventually pulling him out into the hall.
The female left in the room stared blankly at the door after the comment Goku gave her. Was it a comment? Or an insult meant to sound like a comment? A smile spread across her face. No matter, she'll just take it as a comment.
"Mom, c'mon, you gotta make something," Trunks said, breaking her train of thought.
"Yeah, you better."
This made them both look towards the door again to see Gohan leaning against the doorway, arms crossed.
"What do you mean, "yeah, you better"? I don't have to do anything!" Bulma defended, pulling up the one sleeve from an old tee shirt she wore when it revealed her shoulder.
Gohan yawned, "I mean, you guys make enough noise for this early in the morning."
She shrugged, throwing the covers off her body, flipping her legs over and planting her feet on the floor, "Blame your father and brothers', not me."
"Hey!" Trunks yelled, putting his hands on his hips, "I got woken up, too."
Bulma smirked and messed up his hair more, earning her a scowl, "Go downstairs, I'll be down after I get ready."
"Okay!" Trunks didn't have to be told twice as he ran hurriedly out of the room, his loud footsteps heard going down the stairs.
She smiled and stood up, looking towards Gohan when she realized he wasn't going anywhere. She giggled and pushed him out of the way a little, grabbing her door to shut it, "That meant you, too, Gohan."
Gohan chuckled, "Right…hey Bulma?"
"Hmm?" she asked, the door only inches from being shut between the two.
"Ever since my dad came back, you…" he shrugged, taking a step back, "you just seem to be a lot happier."
Hearing this, Bulma smiled gently, closing her eyes to see an image of Goku behind her eyelids before opening them again and looking at Gohan, "It's just great having an old friend back."
Instead of saying a response, Gohan only stared at her for awhile before turning and heading down the stairs to join the other guys.
Bulma watched him go for a few seconds, sighing to herself. She slowly shut her door to get ready for the day.
**********
"Ten pancakes, ten waffles, twenty sausages, twenty-five pieces of bacon, and fifteen pieces of toast for everyone," Bulma called out, putting four plates filled with food piled high in front of them, totally ignoring the fact that they all dug in like wild animals. She got a smaller plate for herself and ate the most politely out of all of them.
Gohan swallowed hard before speaking, "So what are we gonna do today?"
"I know!" Goten chirped up first, a fork clenched tightly in his hand, "I want Daddy to train us again! I wanna learn how to fly."
Trunks nodded enthusiastically, for once agreeing with Goten without putting in a mean comment first, "Yeah, that sounds like fun! And Mom can come too."
From this, all four pairs of eyes turned towards Bulma, making her blush slightly. She shook her head, taking a sip of her orange juice, "I don't think you want me there bothering you."
"Aww, come on, Bulma," Goku said, making her look at him, "You won't get in the way. Who knows, maybe I'll even teach you how to fly." Without waiting for her to answer, he went right back to eating the rest of his food.
A smile slowly came over her face; "Okay…I'll go."
"Yea!" Goten and Trunks both screamed, banging their fists on the table in unison, causing all the silverware on the table to shake.
"Let's go now!" Goten said, hopping off his chair with a piece of toast still in his hand.
Bulma watched him run out of the room, "Don't you think you should get dressed first, Goten?"
A pause, then he was heard heading towards the stairs, "Yeah, that's where I was going."
She let out a laugh and that's when she realized that the other three guys were also still in their nightclothes. Shaking her head, she pointed into the living room, "You three get dressed, too. I'll clean up in the meantime."
Quickly, all three of them jumped up from the table and ran out of the room.
"I'll beat all of you!" Trunks exclaimed.
"That's what you think! I'll be back down before any of you can say toothbrush!" Gohan called back.
"Toothbrush!" came Goku's voice before all of them were upstairs.
Bulma only shook her head and put all the dishes in the dishwasher, "I kinda like this arrangement…"
***********
Five minutes later, as Bulma just turned the dishwasher on, Goten walked back into the kitchen, tying his dark blue sash even tighter around his waist, "I'm ready!"
Bulma looked him up and down, "Did you brush your teeth?"
"Uh-huh."
"Wash your face?"
"Uh-huh."
"Change your underwear?"
"Uh-huh."
Finally, Bulma nodded, completely satisfied now. She picked him up and gave him a big kiss on his cheek, making him squint his one eye.
"Mom!" he whined, looking towards the door to make sure no one saw that, specifically Trunks.
"I'm gonna win!"
"No, you're two steps behind me!"
"That's what you—."
Goku, Gohan, and Trunks suddenly entered the kitchen all at once, but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Goten. Goten blinked at all of them, his big, innocent eyes full of questions.
Bulma laughed, "Looks like you all got beaten."
They were all silent for another moment before Trunks finally spoke up, "That's only 'cause he got a head start."
"Yeah," both Goku and Gohan agreed, nodding their heads.
She rolled her eyes, pushing some buttons to put the washer on automatic, "Well, let's go!"
"Right!" all four guys said at once.
***********
They all got to their destination within minutes. It was the isolated place that Gohan usually takes Goten and Trunks when they have a picnic and, Bulma guessed, where Goku had trained them a little the day before.
"Okay, let's get started then," Goku spoke up first, choosing a spot right in the center of all the trees. Once he saw all the others nod, he nodded also, "Good, now…everyone knows how to feel ki, right?"
Right away, Bulma sweat dropped, "Er…okay, that's pretty bad when I don't even have the ability for the first step. I think I'll just watch you guys."
"No, you're gonna do more than watch," Goku said, grabbing her arm before she walked away from the group. "You can do it, Bulma. You've been around us fighters almost all your life, you should have learned something."
Bulma only shrugged, not knowing exactly how to answer that. Sure, she was a fast learner, but fighting was never one of her strong points. She always just depended on the guys to figure out if someone was coming and who it was. It wasn't like the thought crossed her mind continuously what it would be like if she could help.
"First off, let's calm our minds," Goku demanded, sitting on the grass Indian style, followed by Gohan, then Goten and Trunks. Bulma looked down at the others before sighing and sitting down in a similar position. Goku nodded in approval, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths in and out. The boys followed suit. Bulma kept her eyes opened and breathed the same. She figured she had to watch, just in case she missed something else. Besides, her mind was calm as it was. Or at least…as calm as she could make it.
This lasted for about ten minutes, when Goku finally opened his eyes, making a ball out of his fingers and putting it to his chest, "Now, focus all your energy into one little area of your body." He closed his eyes again. Once more, the boys copied him.
Bulma looked down at her hands and put her fingers together and putting it to her chest, looking at the position of the other four. They looked so relaxed and natural as they did it, but when she did it, she felt awkward and silly. Why was she, the smartest woman on Earth, sitting Indian style with four male fighters, trying to sense ki and learning how to fly?
After awhile, she felt the area begin to get warm and her eyes went wide in alarm, thinking there was a fire nearby. She was about to yell out a warning when she suddenly realized that all of them had small, bright blue ki balls swarming amidst the palms of their hands.
She felt her ears redden, thinking of what they would have said if she interrupted their deep trances.
"Okay, that's good," Goku suddenly said, making her jump out of surprise. Goku stood up, followed by the other four. "Now that we can all make energy, we're gonna put that all within the pit of our stomach and push it up. If you do it the right way, you'll feel your body lighten and your feet fly off the ground." Goku closed his eyes once again, his brows narrowing down.
Very soon, Bulma felt the wind pick up and as she looked upon her family, a swirl of wind surrounded them, seemingly lifting them into the air…while poor Bulma was still planted on the ground.
Goku opened his eyes to see the three boys also at his level. He smiled, "Very good, you guys. You can open your eyes now."
They all opened their eyes and looked down at the ground.
Goku raised an eyebrow, "Gohan…you already knew how to fly."
"Oh, yeah," Gohan laughed and put his hand behind his head, "I just wanted to go along with the others."
Goten chuckled loudly, giving him everyone's attention, "I can fly!" Quickly, he began flying in circles and higher into the air, only to dive out of the air quickly, then regain himself before he hit the ground, "Goten is a birdy, a birdy, a birdy! Goten is a birdy!"
Seeing this, Trunks crossed his arms and shook his head, almost in shame, "Kids. They get excited by the littlest things." Yet as he said this, he flew right up into the air, getting involved in a game of tag with Goten. Gohan soon joined in when he was tagged, having to go after someone else to tag.
Goku smiled at them before looking back down at Bulma who watched everyone from the ground. He floated back down in front of her, "Why didn't you go along with the training? Maybe you could be up their playing tag, too."
She giggled, the thought sounding very silly to her, "Nah…I would fall out of the air before I knew it. I couldn't—."
"Don't say there's nothing you can't do, Bulma. Anything's possible," Goku interrupted her, a stern look on his face. However, he quickly changed it back to a smile, "Close your eyes."
Bulma blinked and blushed deeply when certain thoughts swam through her mind, "Wh-what?"
"Close your eyes," he repeated, taking her hands into his own, "I'll lead you through it. Just think of it as…personal training."
She smiled, closing her eyes. She parted her lips, already beginning to imagine what this little flying session could turn into.
"Now, just imagine floating on a cloud. Imagine flying like bird, being as free as a butterfly. Imagine the soft wind blowing through your hair…"
Maybe it was her imagination, or maybe it was real…but she could've sworn she felt Goku brush away some of her hair that got in her face. Either way, it took her breath away as she felt her body get lighter and her feet were no longer touching the ground.
Her eyes snapped open and she looked down, realizing she was floating higher and higher from the ground with each passing second. She looked back up at Goku, who was still holding her hands in his, looking down at her with his big eyes and an encouraging smile. Bulma felt a small smile come across her lips also, not being able to avert her eyes anywhere else but into his own.
"This feeling is amazing…" she commented, her eyes shining with delight.
Goku nodded slightly, "Yes, it is…"
Her smile grew. Yeah, she knew that Goku was just passing his ki into her to have her leave the ground. She was around the guys long enough to know they could do that, plus, she knew she would know if she actually got up enough power to lift herself.
About fifty feet away, Goten, Trunks, and Gohan watched on in amazement at the two adults holding hands and flying with each other.
"What are they doing?" Goten asked, his large eyes blinking multiple times.
Trunks crossed his arms, "What are you, stupid? Dad's helping Mom fly."
"Is she scared or somethin'?" Goten asked again, "She doesn't look like she wants to let go."
"I dunno, probably," Trunks answered, suddenly getting tired of watching them. He smirked and pushed Goten, making him flip over himself in the air about four times, "You're it!"
Goten laughed and flew after Trunks, determined to catch him.
Gohan watched the two kids fly in circles before looking back over at his dad and Bulma with sad eyes. He shook his head, turning away from the scene, flying lazily around.
"I hope you two know what you're doing…"
---
Sorry this chapter took longer for me to post. ^^ Guess I got a little writers block at first, but than once I started, it just flowed. Notice how this chapter's a little longer and more interesting? Lol, or maybe it's just me, I dunno. Either way, I'm really proud of this chapter. =) I hope you guys are, too. So review please! You seem to be so good at that! I love you all! ::blows kisses:: ^^;;