Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Youthful Perceptions ❯ What are best friends for? ( Chapter 3 )

**…** denotes thoughts.

This is a shorter chapter than usual. Will make up for it in the next chapter.

Youthful Perceptions 3

What are Best Friends for?

The sun over Western Capital city was shining brightly, the clouds wispy and high. She could feel the power of the engine under her as she glided through the air. **What power! ** She thought with glee. **It's a shame that everyone can't fly. I wish I could. It is such an amazing feeling. ** She caught sight of the large dome and the tall skyscraper that had been attached to it in the last 15 years. It had grown so large so fast that some times even she had a hard time accepting it. Her Capsule Corp Air bike landed on the front lawn of the yellow dome and she looked up at it in awe. ** Some times I can't believe that this is all mine.** She thought as she removed her white helmet from her head and let her shoulder length aqua blue hair fall into place around her neck. Pushing the little capsulation button on the side of her bike, she watched as the bike collapsed in a puff of smoke and left a tiny little round cartridge on the ground. She loved to fly.

As Bulma Briefs walked back towards Capsule Corp 1 dome, a sad fleeting thought crossed her mind. **Too bad I am getting too old to really enjoy it often.** She had only managed to sneak out from her house because Trunks was busy with a conference call, Bra was out dealing with some of the buyers. Vegeta had become oddly protective of late since the disappearance of the dragon balls and had started to watch her like a hawk. He had recently come to the realisation that he was going to outlive her by far and had forbidden her from doing things that put her in danger. " I forbid you from doing from going off by yourself. It just makes me waste my time by protecting your weak human body when you get yourself into trouble. I don't have the time to bother with you." He had said. With that obviously protective statement she realised that her relationship with Vegeta was some how beginning to make sense. But that did not mean that she had to submit to his little whims. She had taken to sneaking out whenever she could, taking the air bike on trips, just like she used to when she was younger. She had made many friends all over the world in the last 60 years and since she had retired from daily corporate work she had even more of a reason to go explore and visit people around the earth.

She approached one of the lesser-known entrances to her home as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. It was an old trap door that led through a tunnel into her lab. Not even Vegeta knew about the tunnel and he would often think that she was in her lab working when she had snuck off to go explore. She saw a small figure standing right next to the spot where the door was hidden. It was wearing a pair of jeans and cut off tee shirt. " Pan ? Is that you honey?" stuttered Bulma nervously.** How did Pan know about my trap door?**

"No Bulma. It's me…" a soft but surprisingly mature voice came from the small girl's body, "Chi Chi"

"Chi Chi?????" What in hell happened to you? You are a kid like Goku!" Bulma shrieked. She looked up and down the now small body of her friend. She lifted her face, and there she was, almost a Pan look-alike in the jeans, but with a difference. She seemed more mature than Pan, even though Pan was older than this child appeared to be. The eyes also seemed darker, if that was even possible, filled with a terrifying fierceness that all people who had met her were afraid of. **Yes** She concluded in her mind. This was Chi Chi.

" I need your help Bulma. I am confused and I need someone to listen," whispered the voice again. This time Bulma recognised the pain that filled the voice. Something was up and her curiosity was piqued. "Let's go into my lab and we can talk there." She pushed the lever that was hidden in the grass and the trap door was raised to reveal the tunnel under it. " I was worried for a while. I thought that some one had figured out my trap door ploy. I only told you about it just in case some thing happened and we needed to get into my lab without going through Capsule Corp.

They clambered into the hole. The tunnel was not smooth at all. Rather it had many jagged edges of rocks that protruded through the earth and some holes in the ground that they needed to avoid. Bulma grabbed the already lit torch that was at the entrance to help show their way along the dangerous tunnel. " I would have thought that a scientist like you would have come up with another light source than a wood torch," noted Chi Chi with a giggle.

" Well, you would think that but that shows that you are not really observant. I invented this torch to give light and heat but the trick is that the flame is constantly lit and lasts for years. The wood burns very slowly but does not produce any smoke when lit. It's my new, improved old-fashioned wood torch," explained Bulma with a know it all smirk plastered on her face," But of course it would take a genius like myself to realise that."

Chi Chi grinned happily at the egotistical remark Bulma had made. " It takes a big headed person to say words such as those. And you have the biggest head of anyone I know; that is except Vegeta. No wonder you love him. Is it the large cranium that attracted you to him?" she jabbed good-naturedly.

Bulma paused and cringed, her head bent low, and then a low guttural moan came from her body. Chi Chi paused. She wondered if she had gone to far with the insult, but was relieved when Bulma threw her head backwards and began to laugh loudly. Her laugh began to echo through the tunnel. After a second Chi Chi joined in with her own giggles and the tunnel wall resounded with the waves of laughter.

Bulma started to speak again, her words broken up as she gasped to regain her breath. " He…does have… a big… head… doesn't he? In all senses… of the word," She finally regained the control of her body, "But he's my big headed man. I still love him." She said dreamily and started to walk again. Chi Chi smiled knowingly and followed her lead.

They made it out of the tunnel and into the lab. Bulma turned around and closed the door to the tunnel. At first glance it resembled one of her inventions, rounded and sleek with few controls on the outside and a neat CC logo on the outside, but Chi Chi knew that it was the disguise for the entrance to the tunnel. She had hidden it from all her family and lab assistants and Chi Chi herself was the only one who knew. It was a relic from the old days, when Bulma would be out for months at a time searching for dragonballs. She would sometimes sneak out without her parents ever knowing it. When the time came that she and Chi Chi began to spend more time with each other, after Goten and Trunks were born and used to play together, she would bring Chi Chi down to the lab and work while talking to her. That was when they really became friends. Some would say even best friends.

Bulma walked over to the couch in the corner of the lab and plomped herself down onto the padded blue cushions. All the excitement of her little flight and then finding Chi Chi in her new form upon her landing had taken its toll. She was tired. "Chi Chi, would you be a dear and go over to the fridge and get me a bottle of water. I am really dehydrated."

"Sure Bulma." With that Chi Chi walked quickly over to the old mini fridge Bulma kept in the corner. She pulled open the door and leaned in. It was packed with little beakers filled with coloured liquids. A few nondescript packages wrapped in plastic emblazoned with the Capsule Corp logo were lounging around on the bottom shelf with a giant size Kit-Kat bar lying on top of them. On the middle shelf were a few bottles of water. She pulled one out, turned around and pushed the door shut with her butt.

Bulma watched her walk back over to the couch and took the water, unscrewing the top and taking a few healthy gulps. "Want some?" she offered.

"No thanks. I am fine. I just want to talk." Chi Chi stared passively as Bulma swigged the water, leaning on the arm of the couch right next to Bulma, her small form covered in her granddaughter's clothes, ones that she had never thought she would wear. " I know the way I look must come as a shock to you. I did not tell anyone about this and we have not had any chance since to spread the word around. I mean, I haven't really talked to anyone much recently… been pretty isolated up in the mountains I guess." As she spoke her last words, her voice began to drift off and a mist of silence fell between them.

Bulma cocked her eyebrows. She had never seen Chi Chi this way before. She was not usually this vacuous. "It's ok Chi Chi, I guess I understand you not telling me sooner. But.…what happened to your body. You still haven't explained this whole thing yet. How did it happen? Did Shenlong come back? Is it some sort of spell or …a … a sickness? It isn't a disease is it? Are you sick or something?" Bulma's scientist's curiosity exploded in full force.

Chi Chi held her hand up to stop the flood of questions. " No. I'm perfectly healthy, Gohan called the doctor right after it happened." She broke into a sardonic grin. "I actually did this to myself."

Bulma sat there, dumbstruck; "To yourself… you did … WHAT??", was all that could come from her mouth.

" Let me explain this. Well, what I said is true. I did this to myself. It's not a very complicated story. I used a magic knife that restores youth. It was a part of my father's treasure trove." She paused again for a moment then continued in a rush. "It's just that I missed Goku so much. I didn't know what to do. I thought that it would bring us closer together. I thought it would solve the age difference problem." She stopped and caught herself. She was getting too worked up. She continued, teeth gritted, " All I had to do was to cut myself with the damned knife. And I did it. I cut myself." She pushed her palm towards Bulma and showed her the scar. The cut had healed rather quickly, but it was still there, her scar, scratched from thumb to pinky, red and angry. " I did it three days ago. I have been awake and in this body for two days. And still nothing has changed. Goku still leaves me at home to go to school and go train. I still mope about the house, cleaning and cooking. It's all like some disturbing fairy tale, where nothing ever changes really." As she spoke her face leaned forward and Bulma could not see her eyes anymore.

"That's why I came to see you. I was sitting there, doing my job, my wifely duties… doing what I have been doing for the last 40 years, sitting and working, hoping and wishing. I wanted to know if you could give me any insight on what's going on with me. You were the only one I could think of."

Bulma rose from the couch and walked over to the small mirror on the east wall of the lab. She stared into it. She had been staring at that image of herself all her life. In her youth she would have professed how beautiful she was and how desirable she was. Her fingers brushed over her hair. The way her healthy thick hair had glistened had diminished over the years. Her hair was now silver streaked. She pulled it out of the high ponytail it had been held in for the last few minutes. It fell around her shoulder in layers. After a few seconds she pulled it back up into the ponytail and turned around to face Chi Chi once more. She was still sitting on the couch, face lowered.

"I guess we are a lot alike, hey Chi Chi?" Bulma stated quietly, turning away from her again. " I know how you feel too. I don't know if it was the getting old thing that was getting to us or our topsy-turvy lives or our fear of loosing it all. I don't know. All I know is that I feel sometimes like I am not needed. Like I am expendable. What do I really do that is significant now? Trunks and Bra are taking over Capsule and Vegeta still trains like he is going to fight another monster, leaving no time for me. Not that he ever gave any time or thought to me before. I found that all I could do was come down here every day and work on my inventions, the only thing I seem to be good at anymore. It's like I am not satisfied to be wealthy, have a family and be smart. Some people would tell me to be happy, stop being selfish and age gracefully. But I don't feel like it. I am not that old. I can't just lay down and wait for death to come for me… again." She added absentmindedly, remembering her time in Enma Diaou's place.

The couch creaked as the body that was sitting on it got up and moved behind Bulma, gripping the back of her shirt. When Bulma turned, she saw that Chi Chi's eyes were red and her cheeks were moist. She thought of how others had seen Chi Chi before. She was a tough mother and was sometimes impossible to deal. She was stubborn, wilful and emotional. She was a woman. But now, she had this vulnerable look in her eyes, a thing that could only come from youth. She bent to hug Chi Chi, and as she did this, she thought of when Trunks and Bra had been that size and she would hug them and make their fears go away. The two women hugged tightly, sharing in their fears, one small and fierce, the other older and passionate.

*****

Two hours had passed since Chi Chi and Bulma had entered Bulma's private lab. They had sat in the florescent-lighted underground lab and talked and cried, then talked some more. None of their problems had been solved but they were now laughing as Chi Chi was explaining her predicament with respect to clothes.

"When I went over to Gohan's and asked Pan for clothes, you should have seen her. It was hilarious. She gave me a pair of her jeans and this top." She pointed at the cropped top that had the phrase "Warrior Girl" emblazoned across her chest. It was also a tighter fit across her chest than it was on Pan. It appeared that she was better endowed at 12 than her granddaughter was at 15. When grandmother and granddaughter had looked at each other, it was if they were seeing double. Chi Chi had appeared a bit shorter than Pan, but Pan's lean warrior build was in stark contrast to Chi Chi's rounded shape.

"I just could not take Videl's frilly clothes any longer." Chi Chi quipped with a scowl on her face, her black orb-like eyes shimmering. Bulma giggled at the thought of little Chi Chi in frilly lace dresses. She had seen some of the monstrosities that Videl had been forced to wear when she was young and had no choice over her wardrobe. "To tell the truth, I was actually kinda glad when the dress ripped." She grinned.

"Well…" Bulma said, excitement in her voice, " I guess we have to figure out what kind of clothes you should wear." She paused, pondering the dilemma. " You can raid our old closets for now, see what fits."

Chi Chi grimaced as she pictured herself in Bulma's short and tight dresses or Bra's notorious red leather collection. She remembered how Bra had gone through a stage where all she wore was reminiscent of a punk/ pseudo gothic teenager. "Umm… that may not actually be the answer to my problem. I need to find clothes that not only fit me, but also suit me. I really can't go back to wearing my old style dresses, they are much too old fashioned and would look odd on me now that I look so young." She paused, not knowing how to phrase her next point. She began tentatively "And I really want to get my own clothes, not hand me downs from others. It is tolling on me right now to be wearing Pan's clothes. I need to get my own."

"That's ok, Chi Chi we will think of something. But for now I am really hungry. We should really get out of here, don't you think. It is nearly dinner time," She said, and then added with a grin, " Vegeta is probably getting ready to come in to yell for his food."

Chi Chi's eyes widened. "Oops" She said embarrassedly. "I forgot that I have to make dinner for Goku and Goten. I should get going, shouldn't I?"

"Why don't you stay here for dinner? It would take too long for you to fly back home now to cook dinner, by the time you reached there it would be late night. Come on, you can call Goku and Goten and tell him to eat at Gohan's. And plus, I want to see Vegeta and the kids' reactions to you. It would be worth it." Bulma grinned deviously. Chi Chi paused for a moment, a worried look on her face. Then, she shook her head and smiled. She knew that Bulma was right. Bulma grinned back at her. They left the lab smiling, happy with the companionship they had rediscovered in each other.

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