I don't own DBZ, British English spelling

Bulma adjusted Trunks on her hip and knocked on the door of the small cottage with more confidence than she felt, running through all the things she could say. But what did you say to a family whose father and husband had just died? And not only died, but refused to take up the chance to return? She'd lost her best friend, but this family had lost the most important man in their life, and this was one of the few moments where Bulma Briefs didn't know how to proceed.

The small pattering feet indicated who was answering before the door even opened, and Bulma pasted on a smile. "Good morning, Gohan."

The boy flung the door wide open, his solemn face breaking into a grin. "Bulma!" He reached out with a finger and tickled Trunks belly. "Hi, little guy."

Trunks giggled in response, his limbs flailing in glee and Gohan's smile widened. He looked so much like Goku in the moment that Bulma felt a sharp stab of pain, almost as severe as the moment she'd found out that Goku was dead.

She swallowed hard, blinking back tears. "Is your mother home?"

The smile on Gohan's face melted away and he nodded. "In the kitchen."

"Here." Bulma thrust the wriggling Trunks into Gohan's arms. "Why don't you play outside with him while I go see your mother?" She phrased it like a question, but breezed past Gohan without waiting for a reply.

As she moved through the small, tidy living room, she heard Gohan talking to Trunks as he carried him outside, babbling about how they could go butterfly hunting in the garden.

The sound of harsh scrubbing could be heard from the kitchen, and Bulma walked into the cosy, well-lit space to see Chi Chi scowling into the sink, a metal scourer in her yellow rubber-gloved hands, viciously attacking an oven tray.

She glanced up at Bulma's knock on the wall, her eyes narrowing. "Oh." She scrunched up her nose with a sniff. "It's you."

Despite knowing that Chi Chi was grieving, and more than entitled to have some bitchy moments, Bulma couldn't help feeling a little hurt by her greeting. It wasn't like the two of them were close - the only times Bulma had come here was to see Goku, and Bulma had always found Chi Chi closed off and hard to read - but Chi Chi had never been outright rude to her before, and Bulma couldn't think of anything that she'd done (recently, anyway) to warrant such an icy greeting.

"I thought I'd come see how you were doing," Bulma said, approaching the sink cautiously. She picked up a dish towel and began drying the plates in the dish rack, stacking them one on top of each other.

"You needn't have bothered." Chi Chi set aside the oven tray and began scrubbing a large pot with the same enthusiasm. "Goku isn't here any longer so I can't imagine what possible reason you have to be here." She set down the pot and pointed a foamy finger at Bulma. "Unless you are here to kidnap my baby boy again to go into space." She bared her teeth into a snarl, reminding Bulma of a wild Mama bear. "Which will happen over my dead body."

Bulma put her hands up, waving the towel in surrender. "I only came to see how you are, Chi Chi. We're friends, aren't we?"

Chi Chi's eyes widened. "Friends?" She dropped the pot into the sink with a splash, then ripped her gloves off and threw them on the bench. "Friends? You took my baby to that dreadful planet. You had… had intimate relations" - she spat that out with her lips twisted in disgust - "with the monster that killed half of your 'friends' and put my husband in hospital."

Bulma set the dish towel down and swallowed hard, half expecting Chi Chi to pick up one of the gloves and slap her with it, her face was so contorted in fury.

"You told my husband that it was his fault that danger comes to Earth, giving him a reason not to come back to life." Chi Chi's hands balled into fists and she stepped forward, making Bulma step back. "You're selfish, spoilt, and thoughtless, and when you got pregnant to that horrible man did you come to the one person who actually had experience with raising a Saiyan child? No! You kept it a secret because you're perfect Bulma Briefs, who can do everything by herself, with no need for a husband." She moved forward again, backing Bulma into the wall. "Well I've got news for you, you… you harpy! Some of us actually like the man they chose to have a child with!"

All through Chi Chi's rather frightening rant, Bulma was aware that only three years ago she wouldn't have let Chi Chi get more than the first sentence out without a verbal retaliation. In fact, the last person to speak to her like that had been Vegeta, and boy had she retaliated. Of course, they both relished those types of arguments because they inevitably ended up finishing them in the bedroom, and while they always had a kernel of truth to them, they were so over exaggerated that she'd never really felt hurt by Vegeta's words.

Right now though, Chi Chi's tongue lashing had an uncomfortable truth to it, and Bulma couldn't believe that she'd known this woman for so many years without sensing the underlying hatred she seemed to have for her. She'd always thought Chi Chi was quick to temper, but also quick to forgive - surely she had to be, to put up with Goku's antics - but it sounded like Chi Chi had years of resentment against her.

Bulma clenched her own fists, steeling herself against the waves of fury washing off Chi Chi. "First," she ground out. "That 'horrible man' is the father of my son, and my feelings for him are none of your damn business." Chi Chi opened her mouth as if to argue, but Bulma put up a hand. "No, I let you say your piece. You will hear me out. Second, I was being flippant when I said that to Goku, and the fact that he isn't here is his doing, not mine or anyone else's."

"That doesn't change anything else," Chi Chi said in an oddly sulky tone, but she stopped crowding Bulma against the wall and set the kettle on the element.

"No, it doesn't," Bulma agreed, watching as the other woman pulled out two teacups. Then she said the one thing she'd never expected to say. "I'm sorry."

Perhaps Chi Chi knew how hard it was for Bulma to force out those two words, because she paused, her hand on the lid of a jar of white jasmine tea. She didn't look at Bulma, but she'd stopped screaming at her, so Bulma supposed that was an encouraging sign.

"I wish Gohan didn't have to go to Namek and that he never had to…" Bulma swallowed as the horrors they'd faced on that planet came rushing to mind. "That he never had to see that. I wish he never had to stop being a little boy, I wish he never had to fight Cell. But he did Chi Chi and he is a hero. Your son is a hero."

Chi Chi set the brewing tea and the two cups on the small table in the middle of the kitchen. She sank into one of the chairs with a heavy sigh, motioning for Bulma to do the same.

Bulma obliged, sitting stiffly on the wooden chair. "I was terrified when I found out I was pregnant," she admitted quietly, staring at the knots in the table top to avoid meeting Chi Chi's eyes. "I wasn't ready to be a mother, and Vegeta… well, he hasn't exactly been father of the year. I so desperately wanted to come and talk to you. Not Goku. You. You were the only other woman on Earth who would have been able to help me through it."

"Why didn't you?" Chi Chi's voice was soft, and when Bulma finally looked up, she realised how small and vulnerable the other woman looked in that moment.

"I was scared of what you might say… of what you'd think of me," Bulma answered honestly, picking up the teapot and pouring them both a cup. If they were going to hash things out there was no space for lies. "I knew how much you hated Vegeta and I thought you'd think…" She set the teapot down and circled her hands around her cup, letting the heat seep into her fingers. "I thought you'd think I was a traitor, sleeping with the enemy."

"I did." Chi Chi picked up her own cup and had a sip. "And maybe I still do, but you are right. It isn't my business. But I still wish you'd told me, because if you'd come to me when you were pregnant then I… I would have been able to come to you now."

Bulma blinked in confusion. Now, she prided herself on being an intelligent woman. The most intelligent on the planet in fact, but it took a few seconds for that to sink in…

At least hormones could explain away Chi Chi's extreme reaction to seeing her. In the first couple months of pregnancy with Trunks she'd been a complete bitch to everyone.

"How far along are you?" she asked.

"Eleven weeks."

There was a long moment of silence between them as Bulma absorbed exactly what that meant. "He knew."

Chi Chi's face revealed the answer.

"That bastard!" Bulma stood up, her chair scraping behind her. "That selfish moron! He stayed dead knowing you were pregnant?"

"I think it was just another reason for him to stay away." Chi Chi's hand fell onto her belly. "One more person he wanted to avoid putting in danger."

"But… but…" Bulma found herself at a loss for words - a rare occurrence - knowing exactly how Goku's mind worked and how he probably thought staying away was a selfless act. "Men," she said finally, sitting back down in exasperation.

"Men." Chi Chi nodded sharply in agreement.

Bulma reached across the table and placed one hand over Chi Chi's. "What do you need?"

Chi Chi gave her a watery smile. "I suppose… a friend would be nice."

Bulma grinned and pulled back her hand to pick up her cup. "I think we could both do with one of those."

I think this is my first non-Vegebul! Let me know what you thought!