Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Dragonball franchise. This is just a work of my imagination.

A/N: Eeek! Sorry this took so long! Anyway, it's here now and I really do hope you will enjoy it. I'd like to give a quick shout out to my beautiful friend and fellow K/18 enthusiast Cj4Dj! You've been a friend for more years than I can remember and I am thankful for all of them! Thank you for always being my #1 Fan!

-D.B

Unbroken

Chapter Six

Morning sunlight streamed in through the open window and directly into Krillins eyes, waking him from his peaceful sleep.

Rolling over, he was disappointed to discover that he was alone in the bed. Lately 18 had been joining in him in his room while Marron had her last feed of the night. Usually they would watch the late night news together, shaking their heads in disbelief at all the Hercule propaganda, wondering how exactly he had managed to trick the entire world into thinking he was their hero, and more often than not, 18 would fall asleep beside him, drifting off as she listen to Krillin tell stories of all the times Hercule hadn't actually saved the world.

His bed had always been his fortress of solitude, a place he had been reluctant to allow others, but now; he reached out and touched the empty space beside him – still warm, this bed seemed far too big for one.

So far, there had been nothing more than completely platonic bed sharing going on. They were taking this whole thing very, very slowly, getting to know each other as people and adjusting to their new lives as parents before any thoughts of romance even entered their minds. Krillins dismay at waking up alone though, hit him like a mini revelation. Maybe he was ready for things to speed up just a little bit.

Lazily, he climbed out of the warm bed and wandered across the hall into 18's bedroom, she wasn't in there, but Marron was, sound asleep in her crib sucking her thumb. For a moment he stood and watched the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest as she dreamed, he could have happily stayed like this all day, just watching her. The words literally did not exist to describe the intensity with which he loved his daughter. She had given his life purpose where before there had been none. Carefully, so as not to wake his princess, he ran his hand over her soft head and smiled before turning and leaving the room in search of the other blonde in his life.

He found her exactly where he suspected he might, though it saddened him to see her there, sitting on the big flat rock down by the water's edge.

Cautiously, Krillin headed down the beach towards her. 18's mood was so unpredictable when she was down here, so he had learned to always approach with trepidation.

"Morning," he squeaked gingerly as he closed in behind her. There was of course, no sneaking up on 18, she was a master of reading Ki and was able to pinpoint his location on the island almost down to the centimeter, even when he wasn't exerting his energy.

Luck was on his side this morning though, it seemed, because 18 looked over her shoulder and smiled at him, before scooting over on her rock in a silent invitation to Krillin to join her.

"Good morning to you too," she replied as she took a cool glass of juice from Krillins outstretched hand. "Thanks."

"No problem," Krillin made himself comfortable beside 18 and took a sip from his own glass, "how did you sleep?"

18 turned to look at him, "fine," she grinned. "As always." The implication there being that 'always' meant since she had been sleeping in Krillins bed.

"Hn" he grunted bashfully while feeling the temperature of his face steadily climb.

The moment passed and 18 turned her attention back to the skies, her eyes scanning this way and that, but never finding what they were looking for.

"I'm sorry," Krillin spoke up. He knew he was risking putting 18 in a bad mood by doing so, but she seemed happy this morning, so he decided to take the chance, "That you were never able to find your brother. I wanted to be wrong you know? About what I said that day."

"I know," 18 replied absentmindedly as her gaze drifted across the horizon. She turned to face him again before she continued speaking, and the way her crystal blue eyes glittered in the early morning sunlight caused Krillins breath to catch in his throat and he felt himself fall just a little bit further under her spell. "All I used to care about was finding him, but now I'm kind of glad that I didn't."

"Really?" That was not what Krillin had expected her to say, he knew how important 17 was to her, "Why?"

"Because I have so much more to care about now," she smiled.

Instantly, Krillins mouth dried up like the Sahara. Was she talking about him? His brain tried valiantly to form a cohesive response, but all it could come up with was a stream of incoherent babble, not unlike the gibberish he heard from his three month old.

The combination of his bright red face and his mouth gaping open like a fish out of water was too much for 18 and she couldn't help but laugh at her companion. The sound was music to Krillins ears and made all his embarrassment worth it, he would gladly put himself through an entire lifetime of awkward moments just for a chance to hear her laugh.

"Anyway," 18 spoke once she had composed herself, "you could still be wrong. Just because I haven't found 17, doesn't mean he isn't out there somewhere, doing his thing," she paused for a moment, pondering the thought, "he always was kind of a loner."

"Hmm," Krillin mulled over her words, and shrugged his shoulders, "who knows…." With that, he stood up, his feet quickly sinking into the wet sand, and stretched his arms up into the sky. The warm sun felt invigorating against his bare chest and he closed his eyes and smiled. As 18 watched him, a smile grew on her face too, happiness was an emotion that she had truly believed she would never be able to feel, yet here she was, feeling it spread through her entire body like a warm glow.

"Bulma called yesterday while you were napping and invited me to Capsule Corp this afternoon, it's been a long time since I've seen her," Krillin looked down at the sand and ran his hands through his unruly bed hair, it was an action that 18 had come to realize as some sort of a nervous habit of his. "Would you mind if I go?"

"Mind?" 18 sounded surprised, "why would I mind? Go." She encouraged. "If you're worried about Marron, then don't be. We'll be fine."

"Are you sure? I'd probably be gone for most of the day."

"Krillin, are you implying that I'm not capable of looking after our daughter on my own for an afternoon?" 18 asked, the tone of her voice clearly suggesting that she was toying with him, but it went straight over Krillins head.

"No!" he burst out, "No! Not at all. Of course you are able to! I just…" he fumbled, looking for the right words, "I worry about something happening to either of you when I'm not around." The blush returned to the small warriors cheeks and he smiled sheepishly at 18. He knew how weak that sounded, 18 was more than capable of protecting herself and Marron, more capable than he was, in fact, but he didn't care. He was embracing his new found dad-lameness.

18's own cheeks felt flustered at Krillins little show of affection and it caught her off guard. "Just go and have fun," she turned her head and mock shooed him away, "Roshi is still here to protect us if evil breaks loose."

Now it was Krillins turn to emote, he flung his head back and laughed loud and deep, "Thank god for that!" he exclaimed as he wiped a happy tear from the corner of his eye, "Okay then, I'll call her and let her know I'm coming."

Was Capsule Corp. always this big? Krillin gazed down at the sprawling complex below him – an intricate maze of near identical dome shaped buildings, trying desperately to remember which one was the Briefs family home.

The compound was right in the middle of the thriving metropolis that was West City, he was surrounded by hustle and bustle in every direction, and it made him feel somewhat nervous. Living in such an isolated part of the world, it was easy to forget about the sheer volume of humanity that congregated in places like this – it was a jarring reminder of the responsibility he and his friends had been entrusted with. So many innocent lives to protect, and now one less of them to help do it.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts before they headed down a path he clearly recognized as dangerous, Krillin returned his focus to his original task. He was able to sense a massive power that he could only assumed belonged to Vegeta, and figuring it was a good a starting place as any, began his decent in its direction.

As it turned out, once he had landed, his memory was jogged and he was able to find his way to Bulma's front door. 'Please don't let Vegeta answer,' be begged as he knocked, took a step backward and waited to be greeted.

"Krillin!" the door swung open to reveal the last person he had expected to see.

"Yumcha? Hi." Krillin did a double take, "What are you doing here? Where's Bulma?"

Yumcha turned and headed back into the house, motioning for Krillin to follow, "Bulma? She's around, one of her assistants needed her in the lab. She shouldn't be too long. Coffee?"

Krillin did not understand the scene that was currently unfolding in front of him, he had so many questions, "Yeah, sure," he replied, his voice thick with confusion, "So what…. Do you live here?"

"Ha!" Yumcha exclaimed. "Hell no! Can you imagine living with Vegeta?" He stuck his tongue out and scrunched his face up as if he were a child being forced to eat his broccoli, "Bulma and I are just mates, that's all. I guess I do spent a lot of time here though, now that you mention it." He laughed bashfully.

"Yeah, I should start charging you rent, you big moocher!" Bulma exclaimed as she walked through a side door and into the room, she picked up a cushion off the couch and hurled it directly at Yumcha as she strolled right past him and towards Krillin. Without a word she wrapped him in a big hug and held him tight.

"Oh, I've missed you!" she said as she continued to strangle him, her cerulean blue hair tickled his face and made him itch.

Finally she pulled away, but not before planting a big kiss on his cheek, leaving a bright pink imprint of her lips behind.

"I've missed you guys too," Krillin wiped at the mark on his cheek, he didn't want to have to explain that to 18 later, "I was surprised when you called me yesterday."

"Well it didn't look like you were going to call me!" Bulma accused him as they sat down on the plush, expensive looking sofas in the middle of the room. Yumcha joined them, handing each of them a mug of coffee and keeping one for himself.

"What do you mean?" Krillin asked, he'd only been here for 5 minutes, and already he'd been confused in at least 10 different ways, which for him, sadly, was completely normal for a visit to the Briefs house.

Bulma scoffed, "what do you mean, what do I mean?" she joked, "Chichi told me you visited her weeks ago," she emphasized the word weeks, for dramatic effect, "so I assumed it was only a matter of time before I heard from you too, but you're a big snob and you never called! And you know that if there is one thing I'm not, its patient. And I missed you, so I decided to take matters into my own hands!"

A wave of guilt crashed over Krillin and he instantly felt like a big jerk. Of course Chichi would have told Bulma about his visit, his coming out of hiding would have been big news within the tight knit group. "I'm sorry," he groveled, "I've been taking small steps, you know. I'm glad you called." He smiled at the pair of friends sitting across from him and was relieved to see two big grins reflected back at him. This wasn't going to be so bad. Heck, it might even be fun!

The trio chatted and gossiped for what ended up being hours, between them, their friendship extended back almost 20 years, and the adventures they had shared together were innumerable. They laughed until they cried as they reminisced though journeys past. Some of the decisions they had made at the time, now, with the wisdom and hindsight of adulthood seemed utterly absurd and really, downright dangerous, but still, those formative years together had shaped them into the people they were today, and they'd all turned out mostly ok.

Goku, of course, featured heavily in their stories, and Bulma and Yumcha threw his name around and talked about him as if he was sitting right there beside them. It still struck Krillin as painful, that people could move on in a world without Goku in it, and if he was totally honest with himself, he found it more than a little confronting, the way Bulma and Yumcha could speak his name with such joy.

It was something that he desperately wanted to be able to do to, and he was beginning to feel that with time, it would be possible. But he wasn't there yet. He had only just taken the first tiny steps on the path of healing, and while he recognized that he still had a long way to go, he was proud of himself for finally being ready to attempt it at all.

Still, that said, there was only so much Goku talk he could take before it started to get to and upset him, and when he started to feel those triggers, he did his best to change the subject.

"So, Bulma," he quickly skulled down the dregs of his third coffee, "is it just me, or has this place gotten bigger since my last visit?"

"Yes!" Bulma's eyes grew wide with excitement and she jumped up off the couch like a teenager. Beside her, Yumcha buried his head in his hands, he was so sick of hearing Bulma talk about her boring work. "We just finished our new robotics wing last year, it's huge! State of the art everything!"

"Robotics?" Krillin prompted her, "I didn't know Capsule Corp worked with robotics."

"We didn't, really," Bulma began, "actually, in a strange, round about sort of way, it was you who inspired us to delve into it! Follow me, I'll give you the tour!"

Krillin almost fell over, what exactly did Bulma know about him and what he had been up to? Quickly, he scuttled off down the hall towards her, "What does that mean?" he asked as he caught up.

"Well remember those blueprints for Android 17 that you gave to me?" she asked, not turning to look at him or slowing her pace.

"Yeah…" Krillin didn't really like where this was going.

"Well, after the whole Cell thing was over, dad and I sat down and had another really good long look at them and we just found them fascinating. Gero was a monster no doubt, but he really seemed to know what he was doing, I'll give him that. The work he did on the androids was flawless. He was years ahead of the rest of the scientific community. It's a shame really, that all that work had to go to waste."

If she had of turned around, Bulma would of completely changed her tone when she saw the look on Krillins face, he was not impressed, to say the least. "What do you mean, go to waste?"

"You know, when they were absorbed. C'mon Krillin, keep up!" Krillin wasn't sure if she was referring to the conversation or the walking, but either way, he didn't appreciate it.

"18 was revived."

Bulma stopped dead in her tracks, "Oh my goodness, you're right. I'd forgotten all about that. You don't happen to know where she is, do you?"

"No." Krillin lied bluntly, "Why?"

"Oh no reason," Bulma started walking again, "I'd just love to run some tests on her one day, if I ever got the chance, it'd be just awesome to get to see how those blueprints translate to the real thing."

A sarcastic, deadpan laugh escaped Krillins throat without his permission, there was absolutely no way on this Earth that 18 would ever, ever allow Bulma to experiment on her, and for that matter, neither would he.

Suddenly, he didn't feel like a tour anymore, "Actually, Bulma, it's getting late, I think it's time for me to head off."

"Oh, really?" Bulma's face fell, she'd been excited to show off her latest work to someone new. Yumcha was sick of hearing it, and Vegeta just downright refused to listen at all.

"Yeah, it will already be after dark by the time I get home, and I promised, uh…. Roshi, that I wouldn't be too late"

Bulma stared Krillin down with a suspicious raised eyebrow, "Roshi?" she asked, dubiously. "Okay then, but don't be a stranger you understand!"

"I won't, I promise." With that, the old friends shared a final hug, before Krillin blasted off into the sky towards his home, and more importantly, his family.

Marron kicked and splashed her arms and legs all around in the warm bath, sending water flying all over the bathroom. She squealed with delight as she seemed to realize her actions were causing the effect.

18 shook her head and wiped the soapy droplets from her cheek. Bath time used to be such a peaceful routine at the end of each night, but now, as Marron was getting bigger and beginning to understand that she could use her body to cause reactions, it was starting to become a rowdy mess.

"Now now, little one," she cooed as she used her free hand to gently clean Marron with a soft cloth, "I don't need a bath too."

Marron flashed her mother a big toothless smile and kicked her legs through the water again. Deciding that they were both wet enough for one night, 18 declared bath time officially over and lifted her 3 month old out of the tub and wrapped her in a warm, fluffy towel. She grizzled for a moment, not happy that her fun had come to an end, but quickly relented and snuggled into her mother's chest.

The moment wasn't lost on 18, she squeezed Marron just a little bit tighter, kissed the top of her head and inhaled her sweet baby smell. They had gotten off to a rough start together, that was for sure, but now, 18 just couldn't imagine a life without this tiny being. The past three months had taught her more about herself and more about humanity that any of Gero's stupid databases ever could. Every day she walked into the living room of the small home and looked at the pictures of Goku on the wall, and every day she was able to stare at them for a few seconds longer and ignore the mission objectives that flashed up in front of her eyes. It may have only been small steps, but every day she felt a little bit less under Gero's control and a little more under her own.

She knew there were some things about herself that she would never be able to change and the scars she carried with her would make it impossible to ever completely forget where she had come from. But she was also beginning to understand something else. That try as he might, Gero hadn't been able to completely change her either, and even though he had done a very good job of burying it somewhere deep down inside her, she still held onto some small piece of her humanity. Marron and Krillin were helping her to bring it out.

Krillin. The metamorphosis he had been undergoing since Marron's birth was truly amazing, and while she did have to admit that she was somewhat jealous that her own transformation would never be as dramatic as his, seeing the walls he had put up around himself start to come down made her happy. He may have lost himself for a while after Goku's death, but now, he was finding himself again, and 18 knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the man she had known before Marron had arrived was not the real Krillin. She was meeting the real Krillin now, for the first time, and he was kind and caring, compassionate and humble. He was funny and warm, trusting and trustworthy.

Trust was something that 18 did not give out easily. And why should she? Relying on anyone other than herself had never gotten her anywhere in the past, in fact, it was probably what had gotten her into this whole mess to begin with. But she was finding more and more that she was willing to put her trust in Krillin. There was something about him, that she couldn't quite put her finger on, that put her at ease. She could be herself around him without fear of being judged. Everything that 18 knew about herself, Krillin knew too. He knew about the additions, the removals, the scars, and yet he still smiled whenever she walked through a door. He had seen her at her absolute worst, her lowest of lows, and had still seen something there that he thought was worth holding on for. Nobody had ever looked at her the way he did, and she doubted that anybody else ever would.

It never took long after bath time for Marron to drift off, and soon she was tucked up in her crib, sound asleep. 18 pottered around the house for a little while preparing tomorrows bottles and taking a warm shower of her own, she tried to sit down and read a book, but kept catching herself looking at the clock. She wasn't waiting for Krillin, she tried to tell herself, but there was no point denying it. He had been gone since early afternoon, and the sun had set now, she missed his company. She missed the lame jokes he cracked and the silly conversations they had, she missed the way he made her feel totally at ease with herself. She missed him.

It was a strange sensation, to miss someone, the idea of relying on someone made her feel uneasy, but in a good sort of way that she wasn't used to. Giving up on the book, she headed upstairs and soon found herself in Krillins bedroom, where she flicked on the TV and nestled into the big pile of soft pillows. She felt her eyelids growing heavy, and she knew she should get some sleep before Marron woke up for her next feed, and so she gave in to her human needs and let herself drift off, hoping that when she woke up again, she wouldn't be alone.

Silently, with the skilled practice of a ninja, Krillin climbed the stairs to the second story of his home, expertly avoiding every squeaky step on the way up. His bedroom door was ajar and a faint glow was coming from inside, he grimaced as he headed toward it. Popping his head around the door, he surveyed the scene. The TV was on, but the sound had been muted, and 18 was sound asleep in his bed.

For a moment, he stood exactly as he was, just watching her, a million different thoughts and emotions running through his head. He'd been stewing over something the entire flight home and the knot forming in his stomach was starting to make him feel queasy. Turning away from his room, Krillin leaned his back against the wall and slumped down to the floor, he folded his arms over his bent knees and rested his head on them. Closing his eyes, he let the thoughts run rampant for five minutes, hoping they might miraculously sort themselves out, of course that wasn't the case and if anything, it only made things worse.

The problem was Bulma. Or, more to the point, something she had said earlier in the day. The mention of her desire to 'tinker' with 18, if she ever got the opportunity, had been completely innocent on her part, the blue haired scientist had no idea whatsoever of the goings on at Kame House over the last few months and years, and despite her tendency to be at times a teeny-tiny bit selfish, Krillin knew his friend well enough to know that if she had even an inkling of what was going on in his life, she would of kept her mouth shut about experimenting on 18.

No, the problem wasn't what was said, it was his own reaction to it that had startled him. He had physically felt the words slamming into him as they left Bulma's mouth, striking him with a blow so powerful they almost knocked the wind out of him. Even the mere mention of any sort of harm coming to 18 had caused him actual, physical pain. It was in that moment he knew. He was absolutely, unequivocally and totally in love with her.

Realistically, he knew that he had always known it, and not in the 'always' as in since Marron was born sense, but in the 'aaaaalways' ever since the very first day he laid his eyes on her kind of way. He'd known since that first moment that a life without her was not a life that he'd ever be willing to live. But then, well, then Cell happened and Goku happened and him going a little bit crazy happened and his poor brain had resembled a tumble drier for a while there, with everything getting mixed up and confused. It had been impossible for him to think about loving someone else when he had hated himself so much.

There was a second emotion he had experienced this afternoon too though. No sooner had the love shockwave rode its way through his body, than an aftershock of dread had shown up. What if something ever did happen to 18 – he had worked so hard to pull himself out of his Goku spiral that the thought of falling into an 18 spiral, of which he knew there would be zero coming back from, was more than a little bit scary. And the most terrifying thought of all, what if she didn't love him back? What if he put it all out there, put his heart on the line for her, and she gave him a 'thanks but no thanks'? Could she even love?

Yes, of course she could! Krillin mentally slapped himself for having such awful thoughts, as far as he was concerned, she was every bit as human as him and was as capable as anyone else was of experiencing the full gamut of human emotions. He saw the way she interacted with Marron, she could love alright. She did love, fiercely. No, the question wasn't could 18 love. It was could she love him?

There was no denying that their relationship had blossomed over the 12 weeks since Marron had been born. In what really, was a very short amount of time, they had both grown and changed so much. They were learning how to understand and compromise with each other, meaning that the fighting that had been so all consuming in the beginning was now becoming a thing of the past. Of course there was still the occasional sleep deprived brain snap, but that was to be expected. On the whole though, they were having far more good days than bad. They were enjoying each other and their daughter, but what if that was as far as 18 wanted it to go? She had been through so much, so much more than Krillin would ever be able to understand. It would be perfectly reasonable of her to want to distance herself from her emotions, she'd been hurt by everyone she had ever let get close to her.

"Uuuuuugh!" a frustrated moan echoed across the landing, why must everything in his life always be difficult? What he wouldn't give for just once, the answer to be easy and obvious and right in front of him.

"Krillin?" a confused voice broke him from his musing and he turned to look up at 18, standing in the doorway, corn silk bed hair plastered to her cheek and groggily rubbing sleep from her eye, and there it was. His answer. Easy and obvious and right in front of him. As he gazed up at the captivating beauty who had just wandered out of his bedroom, illuminated only by a silver moonbeam , it was as if there had never even been a question. He had to take the risk. "What are you doing out here?"

"Nothing," Krillin stood up and flashed her a goofy grin, to which she responded by rolling her eyes and disappearing back into the bedroom, the fact that she headed into his room and not her own was not one that was wasted on Krillin, and he found himself standing there, in the middle of the hall, grinning giddily like a school girl.

"Are you coming or not?" 18, who had already nuzzled herself back under the warm covers, called out to him. The drowsy smile that graced her lips when he appeared in the doorway was completely automatic.

He stood with his shoulder resting against the doorframe, hands stuffed in his pockets, smiling at her like a nervous idiot while she gazed drowsily back at him. "Go back to sleep," he eventually broke the comfortable silence between them, "It's almost eleven. I'll feed Marron and then I'll be in."

18 mumbled something in response, but it faded into nothing as she drifted back to sleep. Krillin lingered in the doorway for a moment longer, letting the scene sink deep into his brain. Something told him that in years to come, he would look back on his life and remember this as an important moment, and he wanted to etch every tiny detail into his memory.

This was the exact moment that he knew that things were going to be okay, that he was going to be okay. A swell of emotions rose up inside of him, like the tide crashing into the shore, and for the first time in a long time, he welcomed them.

The End.

A/N: I knew how I wanted this story to finish in my head, but I just couldn't get the words out right. As a result, I had about 95% of this written for at least a month and then just hit a wall. I think I was trying to cram one scene too many into this last chapter, and it just finished the whole thing on a note that was a little to 'cheery' given the tone of the rest of the story. I'm much happier with it now, without the extra scene. I feel like this is their happy ending without the over the top, 'happily ever after'.

So that's it for Unbroken. I know it's not perfect, but I hope that each of you who has read it has found something about it to enjoy. I know that I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. I love looking at Krillin and 18 from all different angles and I hope that if nothing else, you found this unique and interesting and worthy of your time.

As always, I appreciate any and all feedback, I love to hear your thoughts and opinions on my work and appreciate everyone who takes the time to review my writing! I have lots of idea brewing around in my head for new stories, so trust that it won't be very long until I'm back with something new!

Until then, thank you and see you around!

~Deadly Beauty