Chapter 2

Gohan sighed over the boiling pot of soup. With his Saiyan appetite it had been hard to find enough food which was still edible in the city. As he stared into the pot of soup he looked over what he had put into it. A meagre amount of what could barely be called meat floated around in little chunks at the top, some had sank to the bottom and disappeared beneath the off coloured sauce. He'd made enough for six which, leaving one for Bulma, meant only five courses for him. Whilst that might sound like a lot, with his appetite he was practically starving to death. He poured a bowl and walked down the hall towards Bulma's room. He gave a knock at the door and was met with silence. He wasn't surprised. It had been over a week since her sons death and she hadn't said a word since her breakdown at the news. He opened the door to see her curled up and staring at a photograph of her son. Gohan's eyes drifted to the half finished meal which sat next to her just gathering meals. She never ate for the first few days, just sat there wasting away. Her body had eventually forced her to eat something but she only ever ate half meals, not a healthy amount, just enough to keep her going.

"I brought you some soup today Bulma." He said as he placed the bowl on the bedside table. Nothing. "I hope you like it..." She showed no signs of acknowledging him and kept staring at the picture. It had been taken when Gohan had first started training Trunks. By some miracle Gohan had found a working camera one day when he had been picking himself out of the rubble after yet another loss against the androids. It had been an old fashioned camera which would instantly print the photo when you took it. Gohan had gotten Trunks dressed up in a gi from when he was a child and had Bulma take a photo. Gohan stood stoic but with a gleam of hope in his eyes whilst Trunks stood with a large grin plastered across his face. Gohans eyes quickly flicked away from the photo, now going yellow at the corners from age and dirt. Too much pain was in that photo. He picked up her previous meal and turned to leave. When he was just at the door Bulmas voice stopped him dead.

"Gohan..." She said, barely above a whisper, yet he had heard it clear as day.

"Yes Bulma?" He replied, looking at her. She hadn't moved or even looked away from the picture. "Thank you." She said.

Gohan gave a grimace. He'd understood what was contained in those words. Thank you for killing the androids, I don't blame you for Trunks. He felt a slight reprieve that she didn't hate him after all that had happened. However, that feeling was smothered by intense sorrow. He almost wished she'd hate him, then maybe she would get up and move, shout at him, throw something at him, something to show that she hadn't given up. Sadly, he got nothing from her. He had nothing to respond with, so he just quietly opened the door, and left.

Gohan finished his "meal" half an hour later, eating slow to try and savour it. He walked down the hallway until he approached Bulmas lab. He walked inside and flicked on the lights. Electricity was supplied by whatever fuel could be found for the generators and two surviving solar panels on the roof of capsule corp.. He approached a desk which was filled with equations and scraps of paper which littered the floor nearby. He pulled over a blueprint that Bulma had been working on with his occasional input. A time machine. A way to go back in time and stop this mess from ever happening. To save the billions of people who had been hunted down and slaughtered, all for the entertainment of two machines. He had been working on familiarising himself with Bulma's work for the past few days and was on the final part of catching up. Several hours later and the lights began to fade. Gohan looked through a hole in the wall and saw it was night time. He'd have to continue tomorrow he decided. He flicked off the lights as he left, leaving the building on total darkness. Walking back down the hallway he stopped at Bulma's room. He did a quick ki check and found that she appeared to be sleeping. He was thankful for that much at least. He continued walking again and headed for his bedroom.

The next day he was up at dawn, preparing a breakfast for Bulma before he went out to hunt. He knocked again. Silence. Walking in he saw her still curled up like yesterday, and the many days before that. He placed the bowl of barely edible cereal and picked up the bowl of soup from yesterday. He grimaced. She had barely touched it, not even the usual half was gone. She had seemed to be recovering yesterday after speaking for the first time in days. Now she appeared to have gone back to square one. He moved towards the door and paused. No words came to him this time. He sighed, and left. When he had left, Gohan flew into the air and headed off in the direction of the countryside to hunt.

Bulma groaned in pain as she attempted to lift herself up from her bed. She had spent days in the same position and all of her body ached with the simplest of movements. She spent almost an hour trying to get her body to listen to her, to move her fingers when she wanted them to, to raise her leg when she wanted to. In the days she had spent locked in her own world, she had arrived at one simple fact. She couldn't take it. She had lost all her childhood friends, her lover, and now her son to the monsters which had plagued her nightmares for years. She couldn't take the heartache anymore. It was true that she still had Gohan, and while he could and would try with all his heart! he could never make up for the loss in her heart. She opened the door to her bedroom and stepped out. Fresh air met her nostrils as she stepped away from the room which had contained her stink and smell for over a week. She enjoyed the new smells as she walked down the hallway to the kitchen. She had her mind focused on two particular items. She opened a cupboard and pulled out a small box which she promptly dropped on the counter. Walking along to another cupboard she pulled out a glass bottle and a cup. She unscrewed the cap on the vintage wine she had put aside for celebrations when the androids had finally been defeated. She poured herself a glass and opened the box. Pulling out several yellow pills, she picked up her glass and walked done to her room.

Gohan had been flying for hours now, trying to find some sign of life throughout the countryside. He had been using his eyes for the most part, barely ki checking out of habit. He hadn't really used ki sensing much over the years of fighting. Since the androids had no ki he had no reason to try and sense them. He gave a growl of aggravation as he stopped above a forest. He quickly used his senses to try and find something big, like a bear or a t-rex. When he felt the tiny ki's of birds he quickly stretched out his senses as far as possible. He finally happened upon a sizeable ki which belonged to a poor dinosaur. Gohan flew off to get his breakfast. It had been a skinny thing admittedly, however he had still managed to get a decent meal out of it, all things considered. Thinking back to one of the lessons he had learned when he was a child, he stretched out his senses to find the nearest source of human life. When he felt nothing he nearly smacked himself in the face. Of course, he was still in a forest, there wasn't much chance that someone could live out here. Taking flight once more he headed to the nearest city that wasn't West city. He was disappointed to find he couldn't detect anyone. As he flew to the next city, and the next, his disappointment grew to uneasiness. It grew and grew with every location he traveled to until he felt sick to the stomach with disgust. They had done it, they had killed everyone. He had spent hours flying at ridiculous velocities, ki senses stretched as far as they could go and he couldn't pick up any ki which could match a person. He had scoured the globe to find out that he and Bulma were the only people left on the planet. Gohan fell to the ground and wept, he had failed them, he had failed to save Trunks from the androids, he had failed to save Bulma from another heartbreak, he had failed to keep the human race alive.

When he returned to capsule corp., his tears now dried he almost failed to notice it. The bottle of wine which had been left on the side, next to it...a box of pills. 'No...' Thought Gohan, panicking as his brain told him the most likely scenario. 'No, no, no, no, no.' He did another ki sense and felt nothing but a nearby rat. He quickly walked down the hallway, almost running to Bulma's door. He didn't knock and instead just opened the door. 'Oh dear Kami no...' Bulma lay on her side, photo clutched in her hand, near empty glass of wine on the bedside table, staring dead eyed out the window. Gohans breathing became erratic as he tried to come to terms with everything that had happened. He tried to steady his breathing but to no avail, until he let out a single wale. "WHY?!" He walked backwards and staggered outside into the dark night sky. He dropped to his knees and gazed up at the heavens. "WHY?! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!" Fresh tears rolled down his face. "WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?! WHY AM I THE ONLY ONE LEFT?!" He dropped to his side and began to choke out sobs, his pained wales filled the night sky and echoed across the city. He kept hoping for an answer as he passed out from exhaustion.

"Gohan..." A voice echoed through his mind. Gohans eyes slowly opened and he found himself to be...somewhere. There was no walls, no sky, no floor even. The entire world seemed to be a mess of purple and blacks. "Gohan..." The voice echoed again. A woman's voice, a familiar voice. He turned around and saw Bulma smiling a sad smile at him. "Hello Gohan."

"...Bulma?" Gohan stared at her, not believing what he was seeing. "Is that...is it really you?"

Bulma looked away and grimaced. She turned back and looked him in the eyes. "Sorry hun, I'm not the Bulma that you know. I'm just a memory."

Gohan took half a step back. "But...why?"

"You brought me here. I guess your brain is a little too smart for its own good huh?" She smiled again and walked closer to him. He didn't step away but eyed her wearily.

"You're not real."

"Nope, but I'm here for you anyway."

"Why?"

"Because you want me here. You want answers." She placed her hand on his remaining arm.

"...Why me? Why do I survive when everyone else dies?" She lowered her head and rested it on his arm. He could see her there, but he could not feel her.

"Sometimes...that's just what happens. Why things happened like this? I could never tell you. What matters is what you do next."

"Next?" She raised her head and nodded at him. "What can I do Bulma, there's no one left...I'm all alone..."

She stepped back from him. "Change things then." She turned and walked away from him.

"Change...things? Bulma?" He watched as she dissapeared into the darkness. He tried to move, to chase after her but his legs would not listen to him. "Bulma? Bulma!" He reached forwards to try and grab ahold of her. "Bulma!" She dissapeared into the darkness, leaving him alone once more. Everything began to dull and what little light there was diminished. "Bulma!" He was screaming now, begging her to return, to tell him what to do. Finally, the last of the light disappeared.

When Gohan awoke, it was morning. He was laid down in the dirt with still dying mud below his eyes. Slowly, he picked himself up and looked around him. He was back where he was last night, back when he... His thoughts were stopped by the realisation, Bulma had indeed taken her own life in grief. 'Change things...' Dream Bulmas words echoed through his mind. What was to change? Everyone was dead, he couldn't bring people back from the dead because the dragonballs were gone. He didn't know where new Namek was either so he couldn't go there. The only way he could change things would be if he...went back in time. 'So that's what you want Bulma? You want me to finish the time machine and save everyone. Stop this nightmare from ever happening.' Gohans fist clenched with determination. 'I'll do it Bulma, don't you worry. You can rest in peace now.' He turned and headed inside to collect his last friends body.

MrsTrunksBrief: MiraiGohan x present Bulma