"We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust." - David Levithan

I was approaching Capsule Corp., riding on top of Flying Nimbus with Goten strapped to my back and Gohan flying beside us as we soared through the evening sky. We landed in the backyard, just as a precaution, so as to not draw too much attention to the already weird occurrences that actually surrounded the famous family.

I gracefully jumped down to the ground and the mystical cloud took off upwards into the sky to lie dormant amongst the other clouds until it was needed once again. Gohan landed beside me and we began walking towards the home.

"Mom, what do you think is going on with Bulma?" Gohan asked, having not said a word since we left the house.

I slightly adjusted the red cloth carrier that was tied diagonally around my torso, having shifted during the ride over. "Who can ever tell what's going on with that woman," I shrugged off, but underneath was asking myself the exact same question.

A couple of days ago, I had called Bulma as I reminded myself to do the previous night. It was around ten in the morning on Saturday, so I thought it was a good idea to call her up. The weekends were usually a pretty lax time for my workaholic friend, especially during that time of year. But that was definitely not the case for that day.

To begin with, it was Panchy who answered when I called Bulma's cellphone, not Bulma herself. Panchy had told me that Bulma was unavailable, and probably would be for a while. When I asked what she was up to, all Panchy could tell me was that Bulma had been working on something in her lab and hadn't come out since the night before.

Panchy then told me that Bulma had indeed been behaving strangely since her accident, which actually correlated with what Gohan had told me. Spacing out behind the wheel, forgetting things, falling asleep out of nowhere. And that odd little moment she had when she was waiting for Gohan. All of these could've been put off on work finally taking its toll, for a normal person. But when it was happening to Bulma these things become big, glaring red flags.

I called again earlier that day, only to find out that Bulma had done nothing but work in her lab, run out to do something she refused to tell anyone about and then came back and went straight into her lab.

This worried me, so I figured it had been a while since I visited West City and wanted to go see how my friend was doing.

Gohan looks over at me. "I'm being serious Mom,"

I reached over and ruffled his shaggy hair. "I know," I told him as we reached the back door. "Let's just see her before we make any assumptions, alright?" He gave me a nod before pressing a button on the intercom beside the door. A few seconds later, the door unlocked and we walked inside.

Once we entered the hallway, we were almost immediately met by the Briefs matriarch.

"Chi-Chi, Gohan!" Panchy happily greeted, coming up to engulf me in a hug. "How long has it been since you've been here at the compound?" she pulled back to look at me.

"About three months, I think," I answered with a smile.

"Hi Mrs Briefs," Gohan greeted.

"Hi Gohan, it's nice seeing you again so soon," she released me and hugged him. "So, Chi-Chi, what have you been up to for all this time?" Panchy asked, ushering us into the living room.

I began to untie the carrier and my older son came to take the sleeping toddler off of my back before we all took a seat on the couch. "You know, just busy having my hands full with these two," I said, gesturing to where Gohan was holding his brother. "Just the same as always,"

"And I see that little Goten is still absolutely adorable," she gushed about the small child. "He's going to be quite the looker when he's older, just like his big brother," she said with a wink, causing my eldest to blush. "Speaking of, how are your studies going, Gohan?"

"Really good, actually. My lessons are a lot easier for me now, so I'll be starting my AP courses pretty soon,"

"That is so wonderful to hear,"

"Yeah, it is. And it's all thanks to that program Bulma convinced me to put him in," I said. "You know I'm still not so sure about all that equipment she had set up around our house, but if a computer can help my son get a proper education then I can't really complain,"

"You're just more of a good old pencil and paper type of gal, as am I. I've never really been very keen on technology,"

"The curse of being old-fashioned, I guess,"

"There's nothing wrong with that. Old-fashion is the best fashion,"

"I couldn't agree with you more, Panchy," I laughed a little. "Speaking of that high-maintenance daughter of yours, where is she?"

The blonde's face became a bit solemn at the mention of her daughter. "She's still in her lab," she said with a sigh.

I picked up on her sudden change in mood. "Hey Panchy, where's Trunks?"

"He's in his playroom upstairs,"

I turned to my son. "Gohan, why don't you wake up Goten and take him to see Trunks,"

He nodded. "Yes ma'am," he stood up and walked out with his brother in his arms.

I waited until I could no longer hear footsteps before speaking again. "What is going around here?" I asked in a hushed tone.

"What do you mean?"

"This morning you told me that Bulma has been basically living in her lab for the past three days, acting strangely and working herself ragged. What is going on with her?"

Panchy leaned back into her seat with a sigh. "It's been quite a while since I've seen her get like this," she said, staring straight ahead.

I raised an eyebrow. "She's done this sort of thing before?"

She nodded. "A few times, actually. The first time was when she was seventeen. It was right after she came back from that year-long trip that she met Goku on. She threw herself into her studies and accepted an internship with her father, which kept her very busy. All she ever did was work and go to school,"

"That doesn't sound so bad,"

She turned to look at me. "She did that for three years straight, all year round, until she finally got her first degree. Her father had always worked less than three hundred thirty days out of a year, but she worked for almost three hundred twenty for those three years,"

"So what made her take a break?" I asked, curiously confused. "Clearly she mellowed out enough to want to attend the World Martial Arts Tournament after those years, right?"

"How did you know that she had gone to that tournament?"

"I was there," I said with a shrug of my shoulder.

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was one of the competitors," I recalled.

Panchy hummed at the information. "Bulma never told us about that," she said, looking away thoughtfully. "But anyway. Once she saw that another tournament was being held she said that she knows that her friends will be there to compete. I guess she was right. After she came back, she went on to finish grad school, but as she did that she was more...like her old self; still a perfectionist, but a lot more laidback,"

"You said that this has happened a few times," I brought back up.

"More times than I'm comfortable discussing. But the last time was when she found out that she was pregnant with Trunks. Admittedly so, this particular time was a lot less severe than those that came before it, but still worrying, nonetheless,"

"Seems like the price one must pay for being a tortured genius," I lightly joked. "But I never would have guessed that Bulma had these workaholic episodes,"

"I wouldn't expect you all to know about that. Regardless of how much she cares for her friends, she is still a very private person when it comes to her own problems,"

I thought this over for a moment. "So she usually gets like this when something happens, right?" Panchy nodded. "So what triggered it this time?"

"I believe that it may have something to do with her accident last week. It's not as if she hasn't been in an accident before, but it's as if this one did something to her, something we can't see, and it's bothering her to the point of paranoia,"

"Paranoia?"

"You would have to see it in order to understand what I'm telling you,"

"I'll take your word on that," I murmured. "So can I go see her?"

"She hasn't really welcomed anyone's company for a while," she said, having obviously failed in trying to get through to her daughter.

"What if I went in there and just talked to her?" I offered, standing up from the couch.

"You can try,"

I gave her a nod before walking off.

As I made my way through the many hallways of the building, I passed by Panchy's garden. I stopped when I spotted someone familiar through the glass doors. I could see Vegeta crouched down, doing something that I could not see because his back was turned.

I shrugged it off and continued on my way.

A few minutes later and I was standing in front of the door to the lab. I gave the door a light knock, waited a few seconds and just opened it muself before walking inside.

The door must have been soundproof, because the second I cracked it open the sound of a loud power tool being used seeped through.

I peeked my head in and looked around. "Bulma," I called out, coming farther into the room and shutting the door behind myself. I spotted the woman in the far right corner of the room, leaning over a table. "Bulma?" I said, walking up to her, but she seemed to have not heard me. Once I reached her I placed a hand on her shoulder. "Bulma,"

The woman whipped around with a small saw in her hands, that was still on.

Thanks to my years as a martial artist, I was able to notice the blade just in time to dodge it by leaning my head back, allowing it to narrowly miss my neck.

"Chi-Chi?" Bulma exclaimed, pulling up the safety goggles she had over her eyes onto her forehead.

"Dammit, Bulma, you nearly slit my throat!" I angrily told her, taking a couple of steps back.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" the startled woman apologized, turning off the tool and placing it on the table behind her. "I didn't know who you were,"

"So you were just going to decapitate whoever it was?" I mockingly asked.

"No, of course not! You just surprised me a little there," she attempted to explain.

"Remind me to never throw you a surprise party. Ever," I deadpanned. "Why are you so jumpy anyway?"

"I'm not jumpy. You snuck up on me,"

"I called your name three times, you jackass. I didn't sneak up on you,"

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes. "How long have you been here anyway?" she asked, leaning back on the table.

"Not very long. About fifteen minutes at the most,"

"Are you here by yourself or...?"

"No, the boys are with me," I told her, confused at the lack of strangeness that I was expecting from the woman.

"Where are they?"

"With Trunks in his playroom,"

Bulma pushed away from the table and walked over to sit in the seat in front of her computer. "So what made you come to the city again?"

I walked over to join her at the computer. "Well, I thought that the boys could use a little time away from the house, which was why I let Gohan go with you the other day,"

"Is he still upset with me about cutting our day short?" she asked, sadly.

I waved my hand dismissively. "He was never upset with you, just a little worried really," I told her. "Which brings me back to why I am here. Bulma, what is going on with you?"

"I don't understand what you're asking,"

"Bulma, I spoke to Panchy a few minutes ago," the scientist groaned at this. "She told me that you have done nothing but work in here all weekend, and I find out today that you're still cooped up in here and won't tell anyone the reason as to why you are doing this,"

"Doing what?"

"Becoming a workaholic recluse,"

"That's a bit of an over exaggeration, don't you think?"

"Oh really? So answer me this, have you been sleeping in here?"

"That's not as uncommon as you think. Chi-Chi, trust me when I say that this is not me having some mental breakdown, as I'm sure my mother made it seem,"

I just crossed my arms over my chest. "Then please elaborate for me, because from what I've heard it seems as if you've been having some sort of episode since your accident," Bulma turned the chair away from me. I grabbed her shoulder and turned her back around. "Talk to me. What is going on in that head of yours?"

The scientist bowed her head, hiding her face beneath her bangs. "Just go away," she said quietly.

"Bulma, I'm not going anywhere until you talk to me,"

"I don't know," she said, almost a whisper.

"What?"

"I don't know, okay?" she said a bit louder this time, now looking up at me with a fallen face. "You asked me what is going on in my head, but I don't know the answer to that. So I am trying to do what I do best, and that is try to make sense of what this is and why it's happening to me,"

I was confused by her sudden admission. "What're you talking about? What's happening to you," there was silence between us. "Bulma,"

The genius combs her hand through her hair. "By now I'm sure that everyone knows about my accident last week, right?"

"I guess so. Especially since it happened right here in the city," I shrugged.

"But what everyone doesn't know is how it happened in the first place," she leaned back in the chair. "On my way home from East City Wednesday night...something happened," she flexed her jaw a bit. "It was already dark when I got back to West City, so I was able to see this light coming from somewhere on the ground below. I don't know why, but I decided to fly lower to see it better. Something hit my jet a few seconds after that," she sighed. "The next thing I knew that light was inside the jet with me and my arm felt like it was on fire," she rubbed at her left bicep. "I can't fully recall what happened after that, other than some bits and pieces and Vegeta finding me,"

I was perplexed by what I had been told. "It sounds like you're saying that your accident ...wasn't ...an accident," I said, very unsure of myself.

"That's because it wasn't," she clarified, all too calmly. She turned around in her chair to face her computer before I had a chance to say more. "I've been desperately trying to remember what happened to me that night in the park," she typed away as she continued. "I finally got a lead Friday night," she opened a file and went right to a picture.

I leaned beside her to get a better look at the screen. "What is this?"

"Someone I know took pictures of the scene that night and gave me these. At first I was just looking for my briefcase, but then I found this instead," she zoomed in on a particular spot in the background and focused the image. A person could be seen from behind.

"What am I looking at here? Who is that?"

"That is the person whom I believe may have been the cause of the crash,"

"Oh my God!" I exclaimed, baffled by what I was being told.

"And I haven't told anyone else about this, but I also vaguely remember someone was with me in the park, and I think that they attacked me," she calmly shared as she leaned forward on her elbows and rested her chin atop her intertwined fists.

I turned to look at the oddly relaxed woman. "Do you realize that you just said that someone caused your accident and then attacked you? How can you be so calm about this?"

"That shock kinda wore off by Saturday morning," she said with a nonchalant shrug.

I gave her an incredulous look. "Then what the hell have you been doing the last few days?"

"I've been running back and forth between all of the locations that the company has here in the city. I decided that it was time to put a former idea to use,"

"What were you doing?"

"I personally installed new locking systems after some of our warehouses were burglarized early on Friday," she explained.

"Is that why everyone thinks you've been avoiding them and working yourself into a stupor?"

"Well excuse the hell out of me for taking the initiative to get shit done," she bit. "And the only reason I've been working non-stop is because I'm trying to get this out of the way while my mind is still working with me, and not against me like before,"

I covered my eyes with my right hand. "Bulma, if things are this bad why haven't you told anyone about it?"

"Who could I have told?" she seriously asked.

I dropped my hand and stared at her. "Vegeta, your parents, hell even your evil cousin could've been helpful. Anybody!"

"Don't you think I know that? But I didn't want to be the cause of a panic until I found out if there was a real reason for it. Everyone is already treating me like glass, I don't even wanna imagine how they're going to be after I tell them about this. I just wanna get a better understanding of what's going on before things get too out of my hands,"

I looked around the lab space, trying to figure out how to process this. "What do you want me to do with all that you just told me?" I sullenly asked, not looking at her.

"I want you to do nothing with it. This is my problem and my problem alone, so don't let this worry you,"

I reached down and turned the chair around to face me. "Bulma, as your friend, I cannot allow you to carry on like this. Goku would be so disappointed with me if I did,"

Bulma stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder. "Chi-Chi, listen to me, I need to figure this out, but I have to do it my way. Goku, of all people, would understand that,"

"Just promise me that if you feel overwhelmed by all of it that you will tell someone about this," she actually remained quiet. "Bulma, promise me," I sternly said, staring directly into her eyes. I could feel the uncertainty radiating off of her, as if truly having to contemplate her answer. I look to the side and saw a plethora of firearms sitting on a table in the back of the room. I looked back to her. "Bulma, have you been using your gun range lately?"

"I..." she began, hesitantly, but before she gave her answer the door to the room came open.

Bulma looked at something over my shoulder, causing me to whip around to see what it was. Standing in the doorway was Bulma's cousin.

"Hey Van, what're you doing here?" she asked her cousin.

"What the hell do mean what am I doing here?" the lightly tanned woman said, coming over to us. "Bulma, why aren't you dressed?" she asked, looking her up and down.

The scientist looked down at herself. She was wearing a black v-neck t-shirt and dark blue jeans with a pair of black Nike's. She looked at her cousin's attire. She was wearing a black jumpsuit and a white jacket with yellow, blue and red patterns all over it, paired along with red stilettos. And her brown hair had been set free and was cascading over her shoulders.

"Dressed for what?"

"You're kidding me, right?" she deadpanned. "We have to be in Orange Star City in two hours for that party the mayor is throwing,"

She pinched the bridge of her nose with a groan. "I'm sorry, I totally forgot about that,"

"I know, you've been doing a lot of that lately," she bit.

She sheepishly looked downward. "Let me just head upstairs,"

"Wait a second," I interjected. "Bulma, do you really think that now is such a good time to be going out?" I asked, thinking about our conversation a few minutes ago.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Van asked me.

I looked to my friend, who gave me a stern look with a subtle shake of her head, knowing what I was thinking about saying. "Nothing. Never mind," I conceded with a sigh.

"Chi-Chi, right?" the bitter woman suddenly asked me.

"Yes, that's right. We've met many times before," I answered with a bored tone.

Van began to approach me, somewhat menacingly. "I don't really expect any of Bulma's little friends to understand the importance of keeping up public appearances, so I'll give you a pass for now," she insulted, now standing about a foot away. Which was way too close for me.

"Van!" Bulma exclaimed.

"You'll give me a pass?" I echoed, almost laughing at her snobbish words, not backing down.

"That's right. But the next time you hear me discussing something, that you obviously know nothing about, I expect you to keep your mouth shut and your opinion to yourself," she spat at me, obviously trying to appear threatening.

"Or what?" I challenged, a bit irritated now, taking a step a closer.

"I'd tell you, but it might be a bit too complicated for you to comprehend,"

"Alright, Van, that's enough!" Bulma said, sliding in between us and facing her cousin.

"Your friend needs to learn her place," she further insulted.

"I said that's enough," she practically growled, surprising both of us. "Now back up,"

I couldn't see her face, but from the look on Van's said that she did not look happy.

When the woman didn't move after a few seconds, Bulma stepped closer until their noses were nearly touching. "Back off, Van. I won't say it again," she openly warned, causing my eyebrows to rise to my forehead.

Van simply rolled her eyes with a scoff. "Whatever," and she turned to walk away. "I'll be upstairs. Just go get dressed," she called out over her shoulder as she exited the lab.

With the room now silent, the sound of Bulma's heavy breathing could be heard. She suddenly grabbed at her left arm as if she were in pain.

I walked around to stand in front of her. "Bulma, are you okay?"

She got a hold of her breathing and closed her eyes for a moment. She stared at me and gave a nod. "Yeah, I'm fine,"

"Maybe you should think about skipping this party," I suggested.

"No. It'll be good for me to get out and be around people again,"

"Okay, if that's what you want. I think I'm gonna go see what the boys are up to," I said, turning on my heels and walking towards the door.

"Chi-Chi, hold on a sec," she called out.

I turned back to her. "What?"

Bulma walked up to me. "I'm sorry about Van,"

"Even though I was about a second away from breaking her jaw, I honestly should've saw it coming. The woman has always been a total bitch to everyone. Please do not waste your breath trying to apologize for her," I assured her.

"I could not agree with you more on that one," she laughed a little. "But I was wondering if maybe you would like to come with me,"

"Oh, I don't know if that's..." I trailed off.

"Come on, when was the last time you went out and did something?" before I gave an answer, Bulma interrupted. "That didn't involve children,"

"Before Gohan was born, I guess,"

"You do realize that Gohan is thirteen years old, right?"

"And now I have a two year old to take care of, remember?" I pointed out.

"From one mother to another, I can tell you that it is perfectly natural to want to spend some time away from your kids. It doesn't make you bad parent for taking the night off,"

I couldn't deny how tempting the offer was. It was true that I had dedicated my life to taking care of my family, wanting nothing more to see my children thrive in life, selflessly doing whatever was necessary to see that happen. During the years after Goku passed it seemed that everything had been going smoothly in our lives, all thanks to his sacrifice. Exactly what he wanted. So why not take advantage of the peace that had been bestowed upon our lives.

I gave a defeated sigh. "I don't even have anything to wear," I said, gesturing my hand over my clothes. I was wearing a white Chinese blouse with a pink floral pattern and blue silk pants.

Bulma gave me a smirk worthy of her normal self. "You let me handle that part,"

Over in the garden, I was crouched down low, staring intently at the plant in front of me.

I had decided that I would accept the challenge presented me and prove that I was capable of doing anything anyone else could. So I stuck out my chin and chose a plant. An African Violet.

I was currently giving my project its daily watering, careful to not to get water anywhere else except the base.

I chose this particular flower simply because of how difficult the woman said it would be to take care of it. She told me everything I needed to know about it before I started, leaving me to figure out how to keep it alive. But if the wilting buds were of any indication, I wasn't doing very well.

"Well, it looks like you're over-watering it again," Panchy said from behind me, looking down at the flower with me.

"You said that it needed eight ounces of water a day," I harshly reminded her.

"Yes, but not all at once. About four ounces in the morning and another four in the evening should do nicely. But try to hold off on watering it for about twenty-four hours to allow it enough time soak up the extra water and heal,"

"Stupid, fragile weed," I mumbled, placing the watering can down and standing straight up.

"I told you that this was a very delicate one. It does require a bit more attention than the average flower," she said. "If you want to choose a different one I'll understand,"

"It's just a flower. I think I can handle it," I sarcastically said.

"Alright. But try to remember that flowers are like children in some ways. You can't force feed it an entire daily dose of what it needs. You have to do so periodically throughout the day for a proper balance of nutrients,"

"That's an extreme comparison,"

"It's actually not. Plants are like people in many different ways, you just have to pay close enough attention to see it,"

I shook my head at her banter before walking off. "I need something to hit right now,"

As I made my way through the hall, I see Bulma and...Kakarot's woman rounding the corner and walking towards me. We all met in the middle and stopped.

"Hello, Vegeta," the dark haired harpy snarked, whilst Bulma simply stood there staring at me.

We hadn't really seen much each other since that past Friday, and we were on somewhat good terms, so I was confused by her cold reception.

"Why are you here?" I told the snarky little woman.

"Not that it's any your business, but I'm here to see my friend. And now we're going to get ready to go out."

I raised an eyebrow. "Going out where?"

Bulma didn't answer, the other woman did. "We're going to an event thrown by the mayor that Bulma was invited to," she explained.

I looked over at Bulma, who still hadn't said a word. "Can I speak with you for a moment. Alone,"

She stared for a moment before responding. "Chi-Chi, why don't you head on up to my room. I'll be up in a minute."

"Sure," she surprisingly said without protest and left.

When I was certain that she was out of earshot I spoke. "Do you really think that's the best thing for you to be doing right now?"

"What?"

"Maybe don't go out as you are,"

"So now you know what's best for me?" she scoffed and attempted to walk past me but I gently grabbed her arm.

"What is wrong with you, woman? I am speaking to you," I told her.

She yanked her arm away and turned to me. "Do not talk to me as if I'm some child," she practically snarled at me.

I was taken aback. "What the fuck is wrong you?"

"I could say the same to you,"

"All I did was suggest that you not go out with your current mental state,"

"I don't need you to suggest anything for me. So just keep it to yourself,"

I flexed my jaw in growing frustration. "Fine. Do whatever the hell you want,"

"Don't worry, I was planning to anyways," she sneered as she brushed past me and went in to the direction Chi-Chi had gone.

My eyes followed her. "What the fuck was that about?"

I was so angry yet so confused by what just happened. Little did I know, little did we all know, it was only just the beginning of the madness.

A couple of hours later, Chi-Chi, Van and I all arrived at the party in Orange Star City. The three of us walked inside and Van immediately broke off to go make conversation with the other guests.

I looked around the crowded venue and spotted a bar. "Do you wanna go get a drink?" I suggested.

"Sure, why not?" she said, following me through the sea of people.

The two of us took a seat at the bar, completely unaware that one of the other guests was watching us from across the room.

"Two glasses of merlot, please," I told the bartender.

"Well if it ain't Madam President herself," a loud, gruff voice said.

I looked over and groaned at the person I saw coming my way. "Incoming," I warned.

"What is it?" Chi-Chi asked.

"You remember that guy who took all the credit for beating Cell?" I pointed out towards the crowd at the man coming our way.

"Great," she groaned out.

The bartender brought out out drinks and I picked up mine. "Hercule Satan," I said once he stopped in front of me. "I thought I smelled bad cologne and cigars," I mocked with a straight face.

He laughs loudly at my insult. "That's that Briefs humor I like so much,"

"So what brings the champ back O.S. City?" I asked him, taking a sip of my wine.

"This is my hometown, so the mayor invited me back for this little shindig. Ya'know, this is all for me. Held in my honor," he smugly boasted.

"What honor? And why? Are you getting another reward you don't deserve?"

"Sorta. The mayor is renaming the city after me,"

I stared baffled at him.

Chi-Chi downed her drink in a single gulp. "Bartender, can I get another?"