Bulma gazed out the window of the medical facility, her breathing sharp and shallow, each small taste of air racked her body as it slowly slipped away. ' This is the end, no more adventures...no more sailing the sky carefree. I'm going to die alone in a hospital.' Bulma was dying, she wouldn't go in a heroic way as so many of her friends had, dying for the world so it could at least see one more day, allow children to laugh one more time; to live a carefree life.
The frail, old woman smiled softly, thinking of when she was a small girl and still living at capsule corp with her parents, she recalled the times when she tried to capture the stars in the palm of her hand, yet as always the stars were too far away for one as small as her to take a hold of and keep in her pocket forever.
Bulma snickered hoarsely at her own ignorance in her youth, always thinking of beauty and boyfriends instead of just living life and enjoying it for what it was.' I miss them, all of them, Yamchu, Krillin, Vegeta, especially Vegeta...and Goku..' Even after all these agonizingly long years, she still missed him, his goofy smile, always positive attitude, carefree outlook on life, her Goku.
She'd been the first one to discover him, not Chi-Chi as she always proclaimed to have done, it had been her, so long ago she couldn't even recall all the details, just seeing him as a child. And her, the first girl he'd ever seen. The dying woman felt her heart fly as she remembered those days, just her and him, flying around mountains, searching for the dragonballs, defeating evil as it came.
Then she'd been at the sideline, not fighting a battle, watching as Goku grew into his powers, his strength, himself. The woman had thought he'd forgotten her, left her in the sidelines as he gained more friends and allies, but no, she was still there, he still cared about her he always would. She was his first real friend, not a parent or guardian, someone who was always there for him and respected him for who he was. Ok, so she hadn't always been that understanding of him, calling him names, yelling at him, yet she was still there, always there.
Then, he was gone for years gone, caught up in his training with Master Roshi and then Kami, that was the one that hit her the hardest, when he left to train with Kami. She'd been with him for what seemed like forever, at least the other times he was still around for her to see, now he was gone not to be seen by her for years until the 23 budokai.
Bulma recalled the excitement she felt knowing that she be seeing Goku again, to hear his silly questions, see his funny tail. Then, she'd had the shock of her life, seeing Goku all grown up at the age of 16, and already taller than her! No longer remained the squat, funny looking little boy she knew and loved, but a man all grown up with muscles and a handsome face. Once again, the familiar feeling of loss had overcome her, until she saw his eyes, their was still that sweat pure kindness there, that she'd never been able to comprehend, the same innocence she'd grown to love. When he finally hugged her enveloping her with his body, she knew for sure, at that very instant, that no matter what happened, even if he died and went to heaven, she'd always see him again, always ready to help him on another adventure in any way she could.
After the tournament, when he'd put his new body and abilities to the test, one of her proudest yet saddest days came; when he wedd Chi-Chi. She'd felt like a father handing off his little girl to some man he knew nothing about...forever. As she watched him kiss Chi-Chi, or more or less her kissing him, jealousy and loss had overcome her, yet the oddest sence of pride, the little wild boy she'd helped to raise was getting married, but that was just it, he was getting married, she was giving her little baby to some other woman, someone who wasn't her, someone she felt knew nothing about him, she simply took him away stole him away, he was no longer her proprerty, her own.
At that thought, dying Bulma had a coughing fit, driving her very bones to the edge, it was just another step to her final death. Their would be no coming back this time, no being ressurected by the dragonballs, no free ride back, just another step to never seeing this world again or anyone for that matter.
Thinking back once again to her early days, he once again disappeared with Chi-Chi, only this time when she saw him again he returned with his son, Gohan. A little boy who looked so much like him, except for his shyness, he even had a little tail.
Bulma had larger problems to dwell upon though, including the shock of her life when she discovered where Goku's immaculate power came from, his heritage as a saiyan, an alien, in fact an alien with amnesia who was originally supposed to destroy the earth. It did explain the tail problem though. He left then, she was by his side as he died, passed on, whatever one wanted to call it. At that moment, all thoughts of the dragonballs and wishing him back to life left her as all she saw was her little boy lying before her in a pool of his own blood, dying, she'd never see him again, never, only memories and tears.
He was gone, his body with him, her boy, her son, her baby, was simply gone. Done. Over. The end. Right? No, it had been only the beginning.
000
He'd stopped by this afternoon, her son. He acted couragable enough, yet she could tell, tell that he felt he must be there as if it was expected of him to visit his dying mother, even thought he would rather be off locked up alone in his office going through paperwork. Though he was her first son in blood, he was her second son in raising through life. Even he was old now, her little super saiyan son, Trunks. He was no super saiyan now though, hadn't been one for years. He'd grown old, forgotten his youth and heritage, his true self; the warrior. That man was gone now, the one with a sense of justice and truth in his heart, instead the only one that remained was a hardened business man who didn't so much as flinch at cheating millions out of innocent men and women.
That was how all of them ended up in the end. They forgot, they forgot the warriors, the Z fighters who'd always been there for the world at it's most crucial hour. Gohan had become a crippled old professor, a far cry from the once pure heart, strongest man on the earth. Yamcha had simply gone back to baseball, except his heart was never in it, so by time he had retired, no one even knew his name, he was just a burden to the team, not a hero. Piccolo had finally given up training and gone back to the planet Namek, no one truly knew what happened to him, not even Gohan, that last to ever see him.
Krillin. The best friend of Goku. Surprisingly, he didn't lose his sense of humor or good will. He still continued on as always, with the exception of training. The cube-head took care of his family, raising his daughter, teaching her of the secrets of the world. Maron was so entertained by his stories that he wrote them all down in a book for her, a book about the Z fighters and all their trials in life. Even with his calm exterior, one could always sense something missing, perhaps his attention to a conversation, which would always lead to more.
The most memorable of these events had been when she'd stumbled upon him in his and 18's room at Master Roshi's place, where he'd broken down pouring over that book of his, wailing of happier times and lost memories.
Chi-Chi, who'd been shattered at Goku's leaving, was broken and torn. The proud, opinionated spouse became a quiet glaze eyed, crippled woman, whose hair turned to white and who no longer cared about much of anything. She'd died 16 years ago of unknown causes, though everyone knew her heart had finally broken and given it's last beat. Goku was the only thing keeping her together, without him, she was nothing.
Perhaps the one who took the hardest blow though was Goku's lifetime rival: the man whose whole life had been based upon being better than Kakkarot in every way, with him gone he'd simply spit and continued on training and exerting his body to the limit. The spark was gone though, the fire that inspired him to excel, to push himself far beyond his own capacity was smuffed out. Every action was slow, hazy, nothing deliberate, all simply a blur and passing before the world's eyes. The saiyan prince had finally found his match, having nothing to prove his worth. As the years wore on, Vegeta's strength remained at a stand still, never wavering yet never proceeding. Vegeta was gone, only a shell remained, a corpse with no reason to remain in the world.
They all shared similar stories, from 18 giving up her fighting to Tien leaving to the next world with Chauzu. They'd all suppressed it, yet just fluttering underneath the surface, they knew the real reason they'd fallen into the shadows of themselves, their inspiration, their hero, their friend was gone, not gone in a bodily way as he had been so many times before, he was now somewhere none of them knew, a place beyond death. The worst feeling of them all, was the constant turmoil of knowing, simply knowing for a fact they'd never see him again, see his face smiling, hear his laugh at something irrelevant to anything, feel his power as he surpassed time and time again everything they ever thought possible, as he grew and left them trailing in his dust, Constantly trailing after him trying to catch up to be equal or just plain with him again.
Being a friend to everyone the ailing woman had surmised these facts over the years. She knew she wasn't effected, sure she missed him but it wasn't something...anything beyond that, she just...missed him...
000
She'd lost him, she didn't see him for 6 years and suddenly he was gone again, this time into death. Her first thought was to simply bring him back using the Dragonballs, then after Master Roshi had spoken to him and the small group discovered he didn't want to be resurrected until almost a whole year later. Then came the constant waiting, the feeling of being in the path of an unstoppable wave and no way of clearing out of the way, except this time it was the arrival of the saiyans, the unnstoppable final remaining beings of a long gone race. The day finally came when they arrived, and Goku was no where in sight, the world on the brink of destruction and he had abandoned them.
At the moment when all seemed doomed and lost he finally showed up, defeated the invaders and was the hero again. It was always the same whenever the earth was in danger, he'd show up and do away with them never afraid to put his own life for the world's. If he didn't help who would? Even as he grew steadily older, he still fought on taking the danger in stride and always prevailing. She helped out from time to time, other times she made it worse for him by being seduced by the evil of the universe...or her husband.
As time went on, a moment happened in her life she'd never forgotten, as Goku had flown away off to another adventure with Buu's reincarnation, she realized they were no longer a team a fighting duo, the fish boy was gone, her place beside him, being beside him always was gone, she was gone. He hadn't even said goodbye to everyone, but he hadn't even looked at her, he'd simply been to caught up in the moment was what she always told herself. The thought that he might have not even cared about her was always tingling her spine or tormenting her brain endlessly.
Gone for years, so many she didn't even bother remembering. That's when she cut her heart off from caring, caring about him her son, or anything else for that matter. When he came back, for she knew he would, she promised herself to never forgive him for forgetting abour her, and that's exactly what she did.
Of course, when he'd come back, she'd had the utmost shock of her life, her little boy was back, not the super powerful super saiyan Goku, her lost little son, trapped in a body he shouldn't have had. She listened to his voice as his childlike mind took over. Same Goku, always the same.
He left off on some mission to save the world again, he came back, same old story she knew well. Except in the end, she had to say her final goodbye to Goku, the last time she'd ever see him, riding off on the back of the Dragon Shenron. She'd told herself not to cry, she'd convinved herself not to cry, and in the end she cried.
They say that life goes on after you lose someone, but it really doesn't, it's like your in a dream, your always moving and doing something, but it's as if you have no control over it, as if you're watching a movie and can never push rewind or stop, it just goes on. After that day, I changed, I've always denied that I have, said that I simply missed him. But, without Goku I'm nothing, I had him for so long, my whole life, I can't even remember a moment where I didn't know him, he was my life, these past years have all gone by in a blur, and now I'm alone...all alone, he didn't even say good-bye. Sure, he said it to everyone, he'd miss us, never forget us, but it wasn't the same. I was on equal scale as them all, even though I'd known him longest, cared for him the most, been with him from the start. It was me who had introduced him to the dragon balls in the first place, without me, none of this would have ever happened, without me, he wouldn't have become who he is.
None of that matters now though, I'm alone, the world has gone on without me, forgotten the Z fighters, but how could it forget, for it never knew them, never knew what they did for a world which would never answer back to they're ever caring call.
As I thought of this, I realized that all I want before I die is not to see my son, not to see my husband or my daughter, my one last wish would be to see him again, just to see his face, not even hear him speak just to see him, with that goofy smile on his face and his ever enduring spirit, that's all that I wish for. All I could ever want, is one simply last good-bye.
As the breathing of the ancient woman became shallower, the spiking line on the moniter next to her began to falter, as it began to slowly descend downward to it's inevitable rest, the woman took one last look around the room, at the weeks old, wilting flowers in the corner, to the sad food she'd had for supper, at the forgotten birthday card in the corner, no doubt picked out for her by her son's secretary. As the line got lower, and as did her eyelids, as her lungs took one last swell, in the far side of the room near the door, the woman could swear she saw something, something smiling a goofy smile, with it's hand raised waving in the air and it's spiky hair tossing back and forth, and as her lungs collapsed and as her eyes finally closed, a smile appeared on her lips for she knew she had gotten her last wish...