Just One Week
XIX.
I know many people may think I'm crazy, but I wasn't sure if I was happy to see Goku standing there or not. It was sort of like a dream come true thing…but it's nothing like you would have expected. Though I know I did grow up a bit more when I had my second child, I was still as stubborn as ever and ready to be pessimistic when I thought best fit.
What was Goku doing at this tournament…really? Did he magically get granted another free week on Earth…another week for him to lift my spirits up only to drop them like a ton of bricks when he leaves seven days later? Was he allowed to pick one day out of the whole year to come back to Earth…so he picks the day of a stupid fight?
Makes me feel special, let me tell ya…
However…there is one thing I happened to notice that wasn't the same as all the other times he came back while still being dead. That was his halo. It was missing this time. So I found myself thinking…he's back for good?
No! I have to dismiss all such foolishness as that. I won't make a fool of myself in front of everyone by acting so happy it brings me to tears, only to get slapped back to my own humiliation.
While I sense everyone else around me smiling like crazy at that tall, handsome Saiyan, I feel my face contort into a glare. So…Gohan knew about this? If he knew about it…did that mean all the others knew about it? All of them but me? If his showing up was supposed to be a surprise, someone should inform him that I don't like surprises. I did before…but starting now, I don't.
How long did they know?! I wanted to shout out all these questions that got my blood boiling. If they knew…say…around the time when that week was over…that means that they had me suffer all that time…because I thought he was never coming back. But there he was…could it really be possible that all my misery was for nothing? What would have Goku done if I found someone else! (Not saying that I wanted or tried to, no one could match up to his standards.)
Everything else faded into the back of my mind; all the people standing around me, rational thoughts, the annoying tug on my shirt…everything. My eyes and brain focused on that should-be-dead man not ten feet from me and what I should do for pay back. With clenched fists, I began striding towards my destination…
Bulma didn't stop until she was directly in front of him, her neck craning to look right into his face. Though her eyes were as narrowed as could be, Goku didn't seem to take notice in her obvious anger.
"Hey, Bulma, did ya miss me?" Her blood steamed more with his casual tone. That's all he had to say about all this?! Asking if she missed him!
She began to raise a fist to strike out at him, knowing full well that it would do him no harm. But she had to let this frustration out some way! If she held it in any longer she was going to starting ripping out her hair…which wasn't something that sounded too pleasant. She sucked in a deep breath and opened her mouth to begin screaming at him, much like how she used to do with Vegeta.
Raising his own hand faster than her, the back of his finger slid gently across her cheek, putting a few loose strands of hair behind her left ear. Again, he smiled down at her, but in a way he saved only for her, "I know I missed you."
Her mouth clamped shut, her jaw locking in an instant. Her palm burst out, leaving her fingers unrestrained. All the heat her anger let off that once filled her face was now it the pit of her stomach. As her eyes softened and became more vulnerable, tears stung them in the back, making water appear in her ocean-like irises.
Now when she opened her mouth, nothing came out but a sob that she wanted to hide by digging her face in his chest. Her fingers once again clenched to have a tight hold on the front of his gi, her body tensing and untensing when she felt his arms coming around her form.
"Hey, why you crying?" She heard the slight teasing tone in his voice, making her want to cry even more, "I would think you would cry when I wasn't there. 'Cause that would make sense…be sad when I'm not there and happy when—."
"Goku…" she interrupted, finally finding her voice but still hiding her face.
His big, curious eyes blinked twice down at the woman trying to hide herself more than what she was achieving, "Huh?"
Bulma couldn't help it; she had to let out a laugh that soon turned into a joyous giggle. She tried to forget about what her tear-stained face looked like when she took a small step away from him to look up into his dark eyes again. She showed him a toothy smile, some tears still sliding over her cheeks.
"Dad!" A double echo rang out, making the two lovers look down to see Trunks and Goten at each of Goku's legs, their eyes brighter and more enthusiastic looking than Bulma's seen in quite awhile.
Unwrapping his arms from around Bulma, Goku kneeled down to their height, though their preteen forms were now at a little above stomach level.
"Wow! You guys both grew so much since I've been gone," he watched as they both looked at each other curiously, like they were now just realizing they did grow from three years ago.
"We're both a lot stronger now, too!" Goten piped, doing a macho man pose and showing off his muscles.
"I'm still a little stronger, though," Trunks had to add as he tried to flex his arm muscles to be bigger than Goten's.
Goten looked at Trunks with a little bit of pity in his eyes, "Stop denying, Trunks, we're equal and you know it."
Goku laughed abruptly and stood up straight before the two of them broke out into an argument, "I'd like to spar with you both sometime soon, I'm sure they'll be exciting matches."
Trunks crossed his arms and again looked at all the people that seemed to tick him off, "Unfortunately, we won't be able to fight in the tournament. They made this stupid new rule with a Children's Division."
Goku shook his head, "Yeah, I heard about that. It's a shame; it doesn't give the kids as much excitement as it would if they were fighting with the adults."
"I don't know about that, Dad," Gohan finally stepped forward, holding Pan in his arms, "Did you see some of the kids here? They look like they haven't eaten in a month!"
Grinning, Goku shrugged, "You never know, Gohan." He looked down at the little girl in Gohan's arms, her eyes staring up at this new man inquisitively. Her hair was short, stopping right at her neck, and her eyes her as black as his own.
"Hi, there," he spoke, softer than usual to make sure not to scare her, "I'm Goku, what's your name?"
Right away, she fell in love with him and when her eyes grew, it was obvious she was a Son, "I'm Pan!" She gave him a slightly suspicious look, "Do I know you from somewhere…?"
"Pan, this is your grandfather," Gohan introduced him better, smiling when she seemed to become even happier.
"Grandpa?" She flew free from Gohan's arms, keeping her levitation level to equal his eye height to see him perfectly, "I heard so much about you! Everyone seems to know everything about you except me! I always have Daddy tell me all these cool stories about how you kicked some major butt when—and Grandma tells me a lot, too…how nice you are and stuff. Trunks and Goten even tells me some things…like how you helped train them. Will you train me, too?!"
Goku couldn't hold back the laughter he had, reaching out to grab her and seat her on his right shoulder, "You bet I will, you have a great energy to you."
Pan giggled at the compliment.
"Um, excuse me?" Hearing another small voice made Goku look down to see the miniature version of Bulma staring up at him, "Hi, are you my daddy?"
Goku seemed taken by surprise for a moment; after all, it's not everyday a little girl just comes up to him and asks him that. He looked up to see Bulma's reaction, only to see she looked a little uncomfortable, almost sad, as she looked down at her daughter. Feeling his eyes on her, her own lifted to meet his again. Smiling softly, she simply nodded.
He looked back down at the blue-haired beauty. He finally had a daughter? With Bulma? Ha! It figured he could have sons that looked exactly like him, but once he had a daughter, she would look exactly like the mother. Of course, Pan made up plenty for the other girl's lack of Son features.
He knelt down for a moment to scoop her up in his arm opposite Pan and look into the blue-ist eyes he's ever seen, save Bulma's.
"Trunks, Goten, and Gohan are my brothers and since you're their daddy, that must make you mine, too, right?" she questioned, saying the whole situation like it was a big puzzle now finally being put together.
Grinning from ear to ear proudly, he nodded and hugged her tightly to him without hurting her, "Right, it makes me your daddy, too."
Bra nodded once and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling proud of herself for assuming right, "We have a lot to catch up on. But for starters…my name's Bra."
Bulma had to laugh at the way Bra was acting…trying to show off and make a good first impression. She looked on at the scene with Goku holding Bra and Pan and couldn't help but remember all those years ago…on that certain day that seemed like almost any other…when Goten and Trunks first met him. It seemed like déjà vu…no time at all passed. The overwhelming feeling clenched her heart and brought tears to her eyes again. That was the day that started everything…
Goten and Trunks took to Goku just as well as Pan and Bra were doing now. Of course, Bulma never forgot about those tests she took and finding out that Bra was also Vegeta's kid. But in this family of hers that seemed to keep growing, biological fathers and mothers weren't needed…what mattered was who was a plain out good father and mother to those children. All they needed was caring and loving parents for them to be happy.
Maybe one day her and Goku will tell them all their real histories…and also, maybe one day she would get up the nerve to tell Goku that Bra wasn't his. But for now…as she saw…everything was fine the way it was. She didn't want to ask questions about why or how he was back. For once in her life, she wanted to just accept the way things were.
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That first day flew by for all of them, but for Trunks, Goten, and Pan, it went by even faster. Day one was for the Children's Division and Day two and three were for the rest of the contestants.
The first few hours were boring, however, with the weaker kids taking over the spotlight. They were each beating the other in the weirdest of ways, such as simply having them skin their knees, falling out of the arena from a light push, or sneezing on each other. When Trunks, Goten, or Pan was in the arena, one punch left the other kids begging for mercy. Trunks ended up beating Pan and also Goten in the final match. Everyone made sure to treat all three of them like winners, though, and they were all good-sports.
At the end of the day, they all checked in at a nearby hotel, since the main one was all booked up. They bought out the last four rooms, one for Gohan and Videl, one for Trunks and Goten, one for Pan and Bra, and another for Goku and Bulma.
Goku decided to stay out a little later with Trunks and Goten, giving them a few pointers on what they should have done differently to make the battle look neater and to not lose their breath so quickly. It gave him some time to warm up, too.
In their room, Bulma just got done taking a bath and was now sitting in front of a mirror running a brush through her hair that fell a little past her shoulders. Staring at herself, she seemed entranced. She noticed the difference in herself from three years ago…she was getting more noticeable wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and the sides of her eyes. She noticed that her age was showing, but she wondered if Goku noticed. He hadn't seemed to age one bit since those three years ago, but she figured that was to be expected. After all, he had been dead in those years. But if this kept up, she was soon going to look sixty while he still looked twenty-five.
Her eyes mellowed and she set her brush lightly on the table. Then what would happen? Her looks were always one of the things that kept her going, leaving her to almost always get her way. Would she still be happy when her whole face was wrinkles and her hair was gray?
She heard the door do a double click to let her know Goku was coming in. She continued to look into the mirror while her peripheral vision watched him close the door and walk over to the bed where he could take off his sweaty undershirt. By now, he was behind her so she could view him through the mirror.
"Guess what?" he spoke up first, finally getting the shirt off that stuck to him like glue, "I ran into Krillin and his family. Don't know how we missed them earlier today. Him and Eighteen are planning on fighting tomorrow, too. It was weird to see Krillin around her and Marron…he looked like he could be the father of both of them. It's funny how Eighteen didn't change one bit, but I guess androids usually don't."
Trying not to let the comment get to her, she smirked a little, "Almost makes me wish I could be an android."
"Nah," he answered immediately, now sliding his gi off, "that would mean you would have cold eyes. I don't think it's very becoming."
Bulma slid around in her seat to face him, looking slightly amused, "You'd rather have warm eyes than a perfect face?"
Goku finally got to the point where he was just in his boxers, throwing his dirty clothes in one corner of the room, "I think warm eyes is what makes the perfect face."
She felt her heart skip a beat and do a flutter while her stomach did a flip-flop. Kami, how perfect is this guy?
"Goku…?" she stood up slowly from her seat, her silky blue nightgown rubbing smoothly against her legs. She walked over to him, one bare foot in front of the other. From where he was sitting on the bed, she got on her knees gracefully in front of him, grabbing both his hands into hers and looking up at him, "Are my eyes warm?"
He showed her a huge smile and tugged one of his hands free to go to her shoulder and give it a small massage; "They're one of the warmest set of eyes I've ever seen, Bulma. Yours…and Pan's…and Bra's…" his smile softened into that of a lovers, though his eyes still showed the child in him, "All of you are beautiful."
The annotation made her mimic his smile and raise her head up to kiss him, the first time in so many years. She felt his hands slide down her arms and to her hips where he then lifted her off the floor like she was nothing but a feather. He sat her down on the edge of the bed with him for a moment, keeping the kiss light and simple. His arms then slid around her in a protective embrace, laying her gently on the bed. His body half covered hers, her hands placed firmly on his shoulder blades.
Their lips moved over one anothers with such expertise it would take an experienced person's breath away and leave an innocent longing for something they never knew of before.
Bulma folded her knee up before slightly bring it back down to hug one of Goku's legs in between her own, her hands finally sliding over him to feel his bare skin against her. The deep passion both of them were expressing very obviously made them panting for much needed air. They recaptured it quickly, going in for another kiss, but Bulma pulled back quickly.
His sweet smile led her to beam and pull his head down to rest on her shoulder, "I love you so much…" she whispered with such extreme sincerity she felt his heart begin to beat quicker against her chest, "Tell me you'll never leave me again."
Suddenly, she felt him tense up, his breath getting sucked in quickly. Her eyes traveled down to look at the side of his face as she questioned him. She brought his head back up so she could look into his eyes, knowing instantaneously he was hiding something.
"Goku…what is it?" She heard her voice waver, but couldn't help it. Something was wrong and when Goku also thought that, something was extremely wrong.
He finally let out the breath he'd been holding in, knowing he had to tell her sometime. He already informed Gohan of it when Shin first told him of it, and he had told Goten and Trunks that there was some danger coming and that they would be a lot of help. They were more than willing to pitch in, of course.
"Bulma, there is a reason I was allowed to come back."
Sighing, Bulma shook her head, "So it wasn't just someone up there having a really good day and decided to pick a random person to bring back to life?"
Goku let out a breathy laugh and kissed her nose, "Unfortunately, no. There was a price that came with this life."
"Oh, great…a deal involving life. That can never be good," She commented, rolling her eyes while her fingers subconsciously got tangled in his hair.
"Earth has a new threat," Goku blurted out, "A Kai told me about him, someone named Majin Buu. He said he was the strongest enemy they ever faced when he was first created and they have a prophecy that he's going to come back again around this time. They said I was the only one that stood a chance against him and if I agreed to fight him, I could have my life back."
As Goku summed this all up, she could do nothing but blink up at him. It didn't take long for her eyes to narrow, though he saw past the façade and saw the hurt in her orbs, "So, what your saying is that you got your life back only to put it on the line again?"
"Well…" Goku paused for a moment, thought it over, then nodded, "Yeah, I guess."
She slapped him on the shoulder, "Why are you always doing that?! Why can't you just come back and enjoy yourself?!"
"Bulma," he grabbed her wrists and pinned them to the pillow beneath her so she wouldn't slap him again, "I would like to do that, really…to just spend time with my family. It's not my fault this guy decided to show up on Earth, but I wasn't about to dismiss this chance at the risk of any of you getting hurt. Plus…" he leaned down to kiss her again, "I'm enjoying myself right now and I did all day today. That's something, right?"
Glaring a little bit longer, she finally sighed and gave up, figuring there was no use arguing with it, "I guess you're right. But Goku…please don't get killed again. I really need you here."
"Hm…you seemed to have done a pretty good job without me," he teased, bringing his lips to the side of her neck to nibble on a tender spot.
She squirmed underneath him and giggled, craning her neck better for him, however, "Believe me, it's a lot easier to get stuff done when you keep the kids occupied."
"Oh, is that all I'm good for?" he questioned, giving her neck a short nip. It made her squeal giddily and squeeze his leg tighter between hers. Because her wrists were still trapped to the pillows, she couldn't reach out and touch him.
She stared up at the ceiling as he loved her neck, every once in awhile closing her eyes with bliss when he hit a certain spot that made her skin tingle. His lips moved down to the front of her neck, then over to her collarbone. He finally let go of her wrists, his hands sliding down the length of her body…
There has to be something special about the two of us that we keep getting reunited, no matter what obstacle comes between us and for how long. We balance each other out so perfectly, it seems right out of a storybook.
Speaking of stories, I happened to think about that one book I was reading way back when Goku first came for that week. I can't even think of the title it's been so long, but I remember getting deeply into it. I pretended like I was the heroine and Goku was the hero. We were simply living through our lives, one moment at a time.
I don't remember finishing that book…I think back then I was too scared to see how it ended. What if they did get together and I was left alone? Then what would I compare us to? Or what if it was a depressing book and they didn't end up together and it left me with no hope? No…I decided to live out the book and conclude it that way.
I don't think I ever want to complete that book…I'll live through it. With Goku, I believe there never will be an ending, no matter what comes along. Whatever this new enemy has to offer, I say bring it on. The Earth's heroes will find a way to destroy him, just like the many times they did in the past. And if Goku doesn't make it and never gets another chance, well…I believe I could live with it. I realized it's time for me to grow up and not just say I did. Through Goku, there are his sons and his granddaughter, to which I'm sure there will still be more to come.
But who knows, maybe everything will turn out for the best in the end…maybe Goku will live. Maybe it is time for me to begin thinking optimistically. With everyone's help, it'll be just like how it was in the beginning—never ending.
In case you're wondering…I have no idea if this is the last chapter or not. It kinda sounds like it…and I know a few chapters ago I said I was gonna end it soon, so…it depends. I know if I ask you guys, most of you will say not to end it. So I'll make a deal…
If someone gives me a good reason to continue it, I will. Such as, if someone gives me an idea I can go into that I like. Tell you the truth, I don't feel like going into the whole Majin Buu deal. I mean, you know how it is…Goten and Trunks practice fusion, Goku goes SS3, and all the works. The only thing different is that Vegeta won't be there. And I know a lot of you will say that it'll be cool if Vegeta comes back when he feels Goku there again and then starts up a conflict when Vegeta moves back into CC.
Quite truthfully, I guess I could turn that into something dramatic, but I think Bulma will stick with Goku and not pay Vegeta a second glance. The only reason she slept with him that time when she got pregnant with Bra was because she was lonely…and trying to distract him from starting a fight with Gohan, Goten, or Trunks.
So…I might, actually there's a good possibility, that I'll do an epilogue for…so many years into the future to let everyone know how they're doing. But for now…be happy that Goku and Bulma are finally together. =)
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR REVIEWING EVERYONE!!!!