Welcome to Boxer & Rice

Bulma’s POV:

I can hear the sounds of the battle even where I am, and find myself fearing for my son again. I know he is an adult now, but he is still my baby boy and always will be. It’s a mom thing, I guess. Technically, he doesn’t really need me anymore. I am just the only family he has left, that’s all. ‘I just want him to come back safe.’ I find myself thinking, except…is that what I really want? There is nothing for him here after all. The world is rebuilding itself from the androids, some people have even forgotten those years of terror trying to embrace something new. I can’t say I blame them – the only thing that worries me is now that the androids are gone, what is there for my son? He is alone – the only one of his kind left – and one of the last not completely human beings left on the planet. He is alone. I love him and I understand him because I am his mother, but I am not isolated like he is. It would be better if he lives, but finds somewhere else to be. The sounds of the fight are disappearing but something is off, something is wrong. I run downstairs and go outside, however, something stops me.

“Bulma.” A familiar voice says softly, “It’s alright.”

I turn, surprised to say the least. It can’t be who I think it is – it isn’t possible. “Go…Goku?” I whisper. Somehow I know without a doubt it is. “GOKU!” I grab my old friend and hug him tightly. It has been such a long time – too long since I have seen him, talked with him. “I…I don’t understand.” I say out loud, probably sounding like an idiot. How can this be possible? He died of the virus, and the dragon balls are gone. Is there another way possibly?

“I called in a few favours I was owed.” Goku told me, as if he was reading my mind. “It’s over, Bulma.” He said. “Those creatures are gone for now, but they’ve done a lot of damage to this reality.”

Something is up here…he seems worried. “He isn’t coming back, is he?” I asked softly. Trunks…he isn’t dead, but he was taken somewhere else.

“It’s okay. He is back in the time-line he fixed. I don’t think we can bring him back here, even if we wanted to.”

“No, it’s fine.” I answered. “I’m all he has here anyway – he’d be alone, Goku.”

Goku looks at me with concern. “Bulma?”

“I’m fine.” I answer, although it is a bit of a lie. I’ve been very tired lately. I don’t know why – maybe I am starting to feel there is nothing for me here either. As long as Trunks is taken care of, I really don’t care what happens to me.

“Here.” Said Goku, pulling an apple out of his pocket. “You should probably eat this.” He looks so worried…well, if this will make him happy…I take a bite of the apple. It’s delicious – the best I’ve had in a long time. I find myself devouring it like I haven’t eaten in ages.

“That was really good, Goku, thank you.” I tell him. He looks pleased that I am feeling better.

“It’s been sometime, hasn’t it?” He asks me.

“It feels like a lifetime.” I tell him. “He will be alright?”

“They will take good care of him there.” Goku answered, knowing exactly what I am talking about.

“His things…”

“They’ll get to him, I promise.” I nod. If Goku makes a promise to me, I know he will keep it. I feel a little strange…I’m not tired but I feel almost giddy, like the years are melting away.

“Goku?”

“It’s fine Bulma, trust me.”

Of course I do. How couldn’t I? “There is…”

“I know. They will get it.”

“What about…”

“They will be taken care of. No worries.”

“You seem to have a plan for everything today.”

“I had some help.” It was out of character for me, but for some reason I found myself wanting him to hold me. Something strange was going to happen, and I didn’t want to be alone.

“Don’t be afraid.” Goku told me and took me in his arms, and comforted me like he would a small child. For some reason as he held me I felt like a child, safe and secure like I was with my father or something. Goku wouldn’t let anything happen to me – I knew it.

“Tired?”

“Uh-huh.” I answer.

“Go to sleep then. I don’t mind.” I curled up in his arms and drifted off to sleep, practically cooing against him like a child.

I woke up to a strange sensation, like I was flying. Did I just dream all that? “Goku?” I mumbled.

“I’m here.” Goku answered.

“So I wasn’t dreaming.”

“Nope.”

“What is…” I look around. We are flying in the sky, but it is different somehow…”What is going on?”

“Remember I told you I called in a favour?”

“Yeah.”

“You were going to contract cancer, Bulma – a really nasty and painful one. They wouldn’t have been able to save you, and you would’ve suffered alone. I…I couldn’t let that happen.”

That was so like Goku…he died of a virus – probably felt very little pain, but a cancer…I felt touched that he would be that concerned for me. “Bulma? You aren’t upset with me, are you?” Goku asked worriedly. He had done something, and he was worried I would be upset with him.

“Does this have anything to do with that apple you gave me?” I asked him kindly, doing all I could to show him I wasn’t upset.

Goku blushed and nodded. “Yeah. I, uh…there was a story I heard once…There was this guy, and he was the king of the underworld or something. And he was really lonely, and he found this girl he liked, so he took her back with him.”

I knew the story so I nodded. “I remember it. Her mother was Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. She was sad at the disappearance and while she was sad, nothing grew on the land.”

Goku nodded. “Somebody went to get the girl but…um, as long as she didn’t eat or drink anything, she could go home – but if she did, she’d stay with…Hades, I think they called him.”

“Yes.”

“Well, she…um, ate the six seeds of a fruit or something so…she did go home, but she also had to go back to the king who probably would have been really lonely again if she didn’t..”

There was something going on here. “Goku, I am not on Earth anymore, am I?” Goku shook his head nervously. He seemed to think I would blow up at him. “Where did you get the apple Goku?” I asked.

“King Yemma gave it to me.” Goku answered. “He said…if I was able to get you to eat it, you could come to Other World with me and be with our friends again. But I wasn’t supposed to make your choice for you, or something…”

He wasn’t supposed to let me know what the apple was until I had eaten it, in other words. I looked around where we were flying – it was so beautiful. I saw the line of souls going to King Yemma’s office but…we weren’t going there.

“Goku? King Yemma’s office was over there.”

“I know.” Said Goku.

“Then why…” Okay, that was strange. Instead, Goku flew to a beautiful area and in the distance I could see some houses – they were some distance apart, but all the distances were fairly reasonable. He headed towards the farthest house on the right and landed. Instead of letting me down, he carried me to the building near the house and knocked on the door.

There was an exasperated sigh from within but the door was opened to let us in.

“This better be good.” Muttered a grumpy voice from within. I couldn’t be hearing that voice…I wasn’t sure, but if Goku was here…”What do you want…” I didn’t need to hear anymore. I leapt out of my dear friend’s arms and into the arms of the prince of my heart. “You finally made it, woman.” The familiar voice told me with a smirk. “Took you long enough.”

Goku didn’t say anything. He knew how happy we were. “If you two…never mind – we’ll see you two later.” He closed the door and left, but I was too enthralled in the arms of my prince for either of us to really notice him leave.

“Vegeta, I missed you so much!”

“I missed you too, woman…I missed you too. Remind me to thank that fool sometime.”

“Hmm…maybe later.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”