#but i miss my grandpa gyu

[purrplegyuu]

Cold | Choi Beomgyu

Index

Chapter three

Warnings: unhappiness, slightly angst, soft beomgyu, abusive mother, swearing. omg the softest chapter eveeer

Word count: 1.4k

Taglist: @arianap23e, @haatohwa

I don't know why is it soooo soft, I don't like it ughhh. Like this is a dark story. Anyways, the following chapters are gonna be waaaay darker (i mean i hope). I kinda like soft Beommie tho...

Let me know if you find any kind of mistake, i'm not a native speaker and this helps me so so so much ^_^

Also let me know if you want to be added to the tag list, if you want to suggest an event to happen on next chapters or if you have any question about any detail. Luv yaa (●'◡'●)

I’m not happy. I know that. I know I will never go to school with a bright smile on my face like Jiwoo, because unlike her, I don’t have anything that makes me enjoy sitting on an uncomfortable chair for hours, looking at the professors as if I am paying attention, and talk kindly to my classmates as if I don’t hate them so much.

I even started to believe happiness is a vile lie American series have shown to us.

However, lately, these bad feelings have been increasing. And dad knows that.

That’s why he came home early on a saturday night and announced that we were going on vacation to that pretty house on a lake that his mother left him as an inheritance. 

“You okay guys?” He asks while driving, looking at me through the mirror. I smile slightly at him, nodding. “Gyu, I heard you got really good grades again. Bet your mother is really really proud” Beomgyu looks at him back, quiet, and totally ignores him. 

The awkward aura all over the car now, as dad looks at Beomgyu’s mother, scared of making his relationship even worse. He has tried thousands of ways to get along with Beomgyu, but the boy sitting by my side never really cared.

Once we arrive, dad gets out of his car, stretching his back. I look at Beomgyu. He really hates my father. At least that’s what it looks like—he gets even darker when our parents are close to him, doesn’t even smirk at any kind of jokes and doesn’t say a single word until they are far away again. 

But today, he looks even more dark than usual, which makes me feel a bit scared.

I get out of the car when he does. I see his mother running towards my dad in order to enter the house with him. 

We both stand in front of the house quietly, looking at the way our parents play like kids with their luggage as they take it in the house. They really look like a young couple. However, I find it a bit weird, but I guess it is just because I never liked her.

I look around. There are so many memories from my childhood—the garden full of flowers I planted when I was five, the rustic oven I used to make pizza in when I was eight, the lake where I learned how to swim when I was nine. But everything looks just too old and dirty—it’s been seven years since the last time we came here, it’s been seven years since the last time I enjoyed being in such a place… it’s been seven years since I last saw her.

I walk through the trees until I have reached a certain place. A small dock made of old wood, mouldy and poorly stable. Hundreds of drawings all over one of the wood tiles—’Jeongseo’ on top of everything, followed by ‘Namhyuk’ and ‘Dami’.

I really miss those times.

By 6 p. m., dad calls me to the big dock in front of our house. 

“Gaeum, honey, could you please go get the meat?” Beomgyu’s mom smiles at him, and makes a disgusted face when she turns around. Dad’s on the white boat his father used to drive right before dying three years ago. Everything I can think about when I see it, is him swearing he will never use it again because it was his dad’s, not his.

“We’re taking Luna on an expedition” he says. I can see the happiness on his face. Luna is the name grandpa gave his boat. “Remember when we used to go to the other side of the lake?” I nod. “Well, we are going to go there to take the dinner tonight” a big smile on his face makes me force myself to smile although I’m not happy or excited. 

“I will go get a sweater”

When I get in the house, I don’t see Gaeum in the kitchen, which I found a bit weird, but don’t really pay attention to it. I go to my room, take a pink sweater and try it on in front of the mirror. I’m wearing a long-sleeved dark shirt which is supposed to cover me up enough to make me feel warm, however, the short jean skirt makes it hard for me to get warm. Even with a big coat, and in the house, I’m trembling.

However, I get out of my room, holding a white blanket, and stop walking when I hear some noises in Beomgyu’s room. The door is closed, so I cannot see anything, but I don’t also see any light under the door, even though it’s 6:30 p. m., and it’s very dark already. 

“Don’t be fucking dumb” Gaeum’s voice sounding so different—meaner, unlike her usual fake sweet voice tone. “Could you please think a bit? Ha, you’re almost an adult, why would I have to ask you to not be so dumb?” The door of my room closes strongly due to the air running through my open window, which makes me jump, touching my chest. No more sounds in the room makes me feel scared someone can catch me, so I walk back to the door.

Gaeum gets out of Beomgyu’s room, and I look at her, trying to look as natural as possible, holding tightly my blanket, faking a blank face to her like I didn’t hear anything. 

“What?” I ask when she keeps looking at me. I even impress myself with my almost perfect acting. 

“Are you ready? I’m asking Beomgyu if he is also ready” I look in his room. He’s not visible from outside, so I just nod to her, going down once again.

Some minutes after that, Gaeum gets on the boat, giving dad the things he asked for and his coat. Beomgyu walks behind her, blank face as always, and doesn’t look at dad, just gets in the boat and sits by my side. 

Dad knows perfectly how to drive the boat, so he does it while we all try to warm ourselves with our coats.

The place we and Beomgyu are sitting is lower than the place our parents are at, so they can’t see us unless they go down.

That’s why he puts his hand on my thigh, caressing it as we’re alone over there. I look at him, looking at the lake deeply. His soft hair moving with the air, his face even prettier than ever, flawless skin, and some red marks on his cheeks like he has just cried. 

“You don’t seem that happy” he says, still looking at the lake. 

“I never look happy” I say, jokingly. Spending so much time with Jiwoo has started to affect me. But he doesn’t laugh. The silence makes me want to be sincere with him. Guess he has this effect on me. “I don’t really like here” He turns around to look at me, almost surprised at my words. It’s a pretty and almost paradisiacal place. Why wouldn’t I like it? “Everything I can think about when I’m here is her… the last time I saw mom” 

We stay silent for a few minutes, weirdly enjoying each other’s company. 

Then, he talks once again. “I know you listened” his husky voice should make me feel scared, however, his hands touching me so softly, his head against mine, his arm around me, his body warming me up… I can’t be scared even if he says he will kill me after that.  And I wonder if that kind of scenes are the reason I love him so much even when he treats me so wrong most of the time. Maybe I don’t love him, maybe I just love the way he treats me so wrong, but sometimes, he acts like he loves me back.

I don’t try to deny it. He knows me well. The voice tone he used isn’t even doubtful. He knows I listened.

“Don’t want to know why was she so mad?” Weirdly, everytime he doesn’t use pet names, it’s just because he’s treating me well. 

I look at him quietly. I find it a bit acted the way he fakes peace, like it doesn’t really bother him. His eyes a bit red, like his nose and cheeks. 

“She found out I’m fucking someone” He flashes a bit more than usual. “, and scolded me for not using condom” His eyes shiny, and can feel like he’s being forced or something like that. However, I don’t say anything.

I never say anything. 

[binnniebee]

Here are my interests if any of you are interested :)

I like kpop(skz, txt, ateez, enha, crvty, bts, exo, tbz, svt, idle, b999, itzy, twice and many many others)

I play tons of intsruments(electric bass, guitar, drums, flute, piano, and hopefully violin soon)

I am under the age of 18

I don't care what you refer to me as(all pronouns, king, queen, royalty, man, woman, bro literally anything is fine)

I like writing fan fiction but i'm not that great yet(better when I started)

I have a really close friend that I am often shipped with and I lowkey wouldn't mind dating him... his code name on the internet is Teddy

I like the rain, cities, woods, ocean(the coast), the sun, and when its 68 degrees Fahrenheit partly cloudy with a wind speed of 2mph.

I live in the midwest of the US and have a slight Wisconsin accent(ik fun.)

I hate snow, cold, chewing loud, loud noises, people touching me without warning and when people have an opinion they no reason for.

I'm super enclusive. Idc what you identify as, what you listen to, what you look like. Idc.

My favorite artists(jpop, kpop, western) are Nicki Minaj, Stray Kids, and Fujii Kaze

I like organizing and clothes design and crocheting

I've been a Stay(skz) for a little more than a year and have been into kpop since December 21, 2021.

I used to hate kpop and anime(I love both sm)

I dye my hair a whole(I started again in November by dying my hair orange. Its purple now and soon blue)

I stay up late into the night(EST)

I get attached easily and fall in love even easier

I collect charms and put it on my bracelet that my grandpa gave to me 3 years ago(a little while later, he died :( )

I'm introverted whos self concious(i dont text unless the other texts me first)

I tease a lot (i call myself and others losers bc I love them and slightly myself)

If Fujii Kaze wasn't my favorite jpop artist then I would probably choose Yoasobi

My wall is full of posters

I have horrible circulation with low blood pressure(This is genetic I hate it sm. stupid stars.)

If you have the time(i'm not at all forcing you), please check out my blog thingy. I spent like an hour on it and Im super proud of it.

I want to go to University of Washington(Seattle) but my grades suck. I'm trying my hardest to study.

I severly miss my old best friend that moved away sm that I text him every day. He never responds.

I'm pretty optimistic for a pessimist

I usually keep my twitter nice and happy but here is where the real shit goes down. if anyone wants me to stop, I will

I'm very much awkwad

My biases are Han Jisung(skz/main), Hongjoong(ateez), Woobin(cravity), Gyu(txt), Enhypen(Niki), Soyeon and Minnie(idle), Hobi(bts), Kai(exo), Vernon(svt), Ryujin(Itzy), Jihyo and Mina(Twice), Ollie and Jay(bp999)

I am a proud supporter of Ollie from Bp999 (VOTE FOR HIM PLSSSSS)

I read in my past times

I play some genshin

I'm a drummer in my school jazz band(I auditioned :D)

This is as much as I can think of rn... I hope you welcome me here! Today(04/03/23) is my first day on here and will never be close to last.

(why am i wording this so weirdly...)

[hus-pus]

@tits4joji omg he looks so good here

[unnie-lili]

Can We Talk? (3/9)

Requested : yes

15. “Fun fact : I haven't listened to a single thing you just told me.”

14. “Are you blushing?”

from my Prompts list

Requests are : OPEN

pairing : Wonwoo x Mingyu, other Seventeen members make an appearance, fem!OC (Mina) x Mingyu

genre : Enemies to lovers!AU, College!AU, a bit of angst, Wonwoo and Mingyu are the same age to simplify the story

word count : 12.5k

warnings : cursing, mentions of violence (not graphic), a small fight (a few pushes, nothing more), alcohol consumption

A/N : I got carried away with this request. Hope you all enjoy 💜

MASTERLIST | PART ONE | PART TWO | PART THREE | PART FOUR | PART FIVE | PART SIX | PART SEVEN | PART EIGHT | EPILOGUE

After that awkward first meeting, or re-meeting, Wonwoo hadn't left his room. At all. Mingyu would've been worried, if it didn't mean he could roam the small dorm without fear of being death-glared by the other man. He wondered why Wonwoo was hiding, what he was doing in there and if he ate during the day. Mingyu hadn't seen any empty plates in the sink, or any food disappearing from the pantry. He also hadn't heard the shower run once while he was at the dorm, so maybe it was a great thing Wonwoo stayed in his room.

“How are you holding up, Gyu?” Mina asked him, breaking his train of thoughts.

“Better than expected, really,” Mingyu shrugged, taking a bite of his lunch. “Haven't seen him since the first day of school.”

“That's great, you must feel so much better,” she smiled, poking at her own lunch without much envy.

Mingyu noticed.

“You don't like that?”

“It's fine, I just-” Mina shook her head, trying to prevent Mingyu from swapping their meals.

He did so anyway, happily starting to eat Mina's lunch.

“Thanks, Gyu,” she leaned on his shoulder for a second, Mingyu giving her a kiss on the scalp.

“But yeah, I do feel so much better,” he continued. “Like, he hasn't bothered me at all.”

“And you expected him to?”

Mina's question was genuine, and it made Mingyu think. Was he expecting Wonwoo to continue hassling him until the day he died?

“I don't know. I didn't expect anything, but I feared the worst, I guess.”

The woman nodded. She was about to add something when the rest of their friend group showed up, talking loudly.

“Hey guys,” Jeonghan and Joshua spoke at the same time, getting a smile from the couple in front of them.

“Hello!” Chan greeted them happily. “I made new friends, their names are Jun and Minghao, they're from my dance group. There's also a guy named Soonyoung and he's just like me! They're coming to eat with us, like, right now.”

“Take a breather, why don't you,” Joshua said, a bit taken aback by the wall of information Chan just threw at them.

“You're so cute, you're like a kid going to preschool and making new friends,” Jeonghan cooed, wiping a non-existent tear in his eye. “I'm so proud of my baby.”

Mingyu giggled at that.

“Hey, fuck you, grandpa,” Chan retorted, sitting beside Mina.

Jeonghan snickered, wanting to add more fuel to the fire before Joshua stopped him.

“So, Mingyu, how's the first week going?” he asked. “Anything going on with Wonwoo?”

Mingyu shook his head.

“Nothing, radio silence” he replied. “Haven't seen him since the day I moved in.”

“Which is a positive thing,” Mina added.

Joshua nodded his head in agreement.

“What if he's making a bomb in his room?” Jeonghan wondered. “Have you noticed if any batteries, electronics or acid has been missing from the dorm?”

“Jeonghan,” Joshua said softly. “Don't.”

“Wait, how do you know how to make a bomb?” Chan asked, slightly perturbed. “Should I be scared?”

“For scientific purpose, evidently,” Jeonghan smiled. “And yes, you should.”

“Stop it you two,” Joshua scolded, bringing back his attention on a frightened Mingyu. “Don't worry, no bombs. So, you have had peace of mind since then?”

Mingyu nodded silently as Mina wrapped her arm around his to comfort him. She knew he felt all tangled up in his emotions whenever Wonwoo's name was spoken out since he never had the closure he deserved.

“You should've seen Wonwoo's face when he saw Mingyu,” Chan blurted out. “It was straight out of a cartoon.”

Jeonghan agreed.

“Yeah, I have never seen any emotion except anger on this man's face, and this wasn't it.”

“He probably was shocked to see Mingyu there,” Mina explained. “He didn't know he was his roommate.”

“Heyo!”

The friend group was startled as a guy spoke loudly, sitting besides Jeonghan with a big smile. He was followed by two quieter men, who sat down at Chan's side.

“I'm Soonyoung, nice to meet you all,” he smiled. “Chan told us we could sit down with you, is that okay?”

“Of course,” Mingyu smiled, glad the subject of the conversation had changed. “And you must be...”

“Jun,” the taller guy smiled shyly.

“Minghao,” the other said, deadpan. “We're sorry about Soonyoung, he doesn't have a mute button.”

Chan and Soonyoung were already in a passionate conversation about something, speaking louder than anyone else in the group.

“So, that's what he meant when he said they were alike,” Joshua closed his eyes, rubbing his temples.

They all started to eat their lunches, the friend group making small talk to their newest additions. Jeonghan and Minghao were in a deep conversation about art, both majoring in Visual Arts, as Jun listened happily.

“I have to go, committee meeting,” Mina excused herself.

Mingyu tried to kiss her on the lips, only for her to offer him her cheek.

“Okay, see you tonight?” he asked, holding her hand softly.

“I'll text you about it, but I'll try my best,” she gave him an apologetic smile and left the table.

Mingyu was wondering if she was getting more distant with him or if he was just overall anxious in his life and reading too much into things. He was about to get lost in his thoughts again when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He checked the notification, expecting it to be one of his classmates for his photography project. He dropped his phone on the table, as if it burnt his hand.

“Something's wrong?” Jeonghan asked, furrowing his brows.

The whole table felt silent, looking at Mingyu. The taller man stayed silent.

“Mingyu?” Joshua inquired, reaching to grab Mingyu's hand softly.

“Wonwoo texted me,” Mingyu blurted out.

Chan stood up from his seat.

“He WHAT?”

Minghao pulled at Chan's arm to make him sit back down.

“He,” Mingyu simply stated, eyes on his phone, “texted me.”

“What did he say?” Jeonghan asked, grabbing the phone to answer his own question. “What the fuck.”

Chan stood up again.

“What did he say?” he exclaimed. “Do we need to beat him up?”

Soonyoung stood up as well.

“I'm so lost but, do we need to beat someone up?”

Minghao pulled both men by the arm.

“Guys, no violence, please,” he sighed. “Unless it's justifiable.”

“He hates Mingyu,” Chan explained briefly. “For no apparent reason.”

Minghao looked at Mingyu.

“Okay, that's justifiable,” he stood up, making Chan and Soonyoung do as well. “I don't know you, Mingyu, but you have the eyes of a lost puppy and look like you couldn't hurt a fly even if you tried to and I won't tolerate that kind of hatred against you.”

“Hao,” Jun spoke. “No.”

Mingyu shook his head, finally speaking up.

“No violence, guys, I've had my fair share already.”

The table felt silent again, Jeonghan visibly wincing. The friend group definitely remembers the few times altercations between Wonwoo and Mingyu turned violent. Wonwoo would always push Mingyu to his limit and wait for the first punch to reciprocate. Jeonghan never wishes to patch up a bloody Mingyu again.

“So...” Joshua cleared his throat. “What did he say?”

Jeonghan showed the text to everyone.

12 : 38 PM

Wonwoo : Can we talk?

PREVIOUS : PART TWO | MASTERLIST | NEXT : PART FOUR

[bts-reveries]

daddy duties | 19

“Good morning beautiful,” Jimin says, peppering your face with kisses. You couldn’t help but laugh, putting your hand on his chest. 

“Good morning,” you say back, pressing a kiss to his lips. 

“How was your sleep?” He asks. You press your head deeper into your pillow. It being the first time in a while where you had decent sleep.

“The best~ Mingyu slept all night…” speaking of your son, you look around, not seeing him at all. “Where is he?” You ask your husband. Jimin laughs, pulling you up.

“He’s with our parents. Your mom and dad came early.” Your eyes widen at his words.

“Mom and dad are here already?!” You yell. As if they heard you, your mom yells out: 

“Yn! Are you not out of bed yet?” You turn to the sound of her voice, laughing before zooming out of the room. Jimin smiled so big as he followed you, walking out of the room. 

“Mom! Dad!” You yell, running to hug your parents.

“Oh!” Your mom lets out as you hug her tightly. “Omo, you act as if you are still a teenager,” she says, pulling away to hold her daughter’s face. “Oh my, honey, your dark circles…” You groan pulling away from your mom. It’s the first time she’s seen you in a while and this is what she tells you!

“You’re still adorable my princess,” your dad says, hugging you next. “You always admired pandas didn’t you?--”

“DAD!” You yell out, making everyone laugh. “You both always have something to say…” You pout.

“We say it out of love,” your mom said, winking at you. You roll your eyes playfully.

“Yeah, yeah. I missed you both though,” you smile. You look around for your son and see your mother in law holding him. You gasp as he smiles and kick his feet when he sees you, reaching out for you immediately.

“There’s my baby!” You say, walking toward him and taking him into your arms. “Good morning mini,” you say, pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Ahh… I still can’t believe my baby -- has a baby!” Your dad says, walking over to poke Mingyu’s cheek.

Jimin felt so happy being surrounded by his parents and your parents. Mingyu’s grandparents loved the three of you being in Busan and wanted to spend as much time as they can with you three as possible, keeping the entire weekend full. 

“So what’s the plan today?” Jimin says, looking at his parents. His mom started putting lots of food out on the table as they talked, preparing a huge breakfast.

“We were thinking we would go to the beach,” she says. Jimin starts to help her put food out as well. 

“That would be fun, we only went to the beach once with Mingyu. He liked it though,” you say. “Right Gyu?” Mingyu blankly stares back at you and you laugh, turning back to your parents. “Maybe not so much..”

-

“Look at all the seagulls!” Jimin says, running on the sand, chasing the birds away.

“Yah! Can you help?” You yell out, taking Mingyu out of his car seat while both yours and Jimin’s parents take out food and a blanket for you seven to lay on. 

Jimin comes running back to you and squishing your face in his hand.

“Don’t be a grumpy bear,” he says in a baby voice, taking Mingyu’s bag.

As soon as you all were settled on a picnic blanket on the sand, you wrap Mingyu up in a blanket because it was super windy and cold out. You then wrap your arms around him, making sure he’s extra warm.

“Babe let’s go near the water,” Jimin says, holding his hand out to you.

“But Gyu,” you said, looking down at your shivering baby. 

“Give him to me honey,” your mom says, reaching out for your son. You turn to your mom and hand her Mingyu, who she wraps tighter in the blanket and hugs tightly.

“Let’s go,” Jimin says, grabbing your hand and pulling you up.

“The water is so cold,” Jimin says, trying to walk closer to the waves rolling up. You scream as the waves come running to the both of you.

“Don’t get wet, you’re going to get sick!” You tell him, pulling him away from the water. Jimin laughs as he pretends to push you in, making you yell and grabbing onto his jacket tightly.

“I will kill you!” You say. Jimin couldn’t help but laugh as he pushes you away from him and runs off.

“Park Jimin!” You yell, running along the shore, chasing your husband. Jimin manages to turn back and run past you before running through a crowd of seagulls.

“We should feed them,” he says, running back to the blanket where your family was at.

“Mom did you bring any chips?” He asks, his dad turns around and grabs one out of the picnic basket they brought.

“Oh- thanks dad!” He says, running back to where you were standing. He rips the bag open and pops one in his mouth, handing the bag to you after getting a few chips in his hand. He then takes one chip between his pointer and middle finger, raising it up when a seagull passes by. The seagull misses it and flies off, making Jimin pout. He was about to put his hand down when another seagull rushed to him and stole the chip, catching him off guard.

“oH!” He yells. His yell and the bird passing by your face surprised you, making you throw the bag of chips up into the air where a flock of birds rushed to.

“AHHHHHHH!” You yell, stumbling backwards as the birds fight over the bag of chips, making you fall.

“Babe! Are you okay??” Jimin says, rushing towards you. You reach your hand out for him when a wave comes up the shore, soaking your entire bottom. 

You yelp at the cold water, Jimin’s eyes widening as he quickly pulls you up.

As if your mom already knew what was going to happen, she had a towel ready for you when you two walked back to the blanket. 

-

“Why’s it so cloudy?” Jimin says, looking up at the sky. He was laying right next to you as you fed Mingyu. You turned to look up at the sky and noticed that it was starting to cover up the sun.

“Oh no.. is it going to rain?” As if the sky wanted to answer your question, a few small droplets fell on you and Jimin’s faces. 

“I checked the weather this morning and it was supposed to be sunny all morning,” Jimin’s dad comments. Your parents began helping Jimin’s parents pack up, noticing that the rain was only going to get heavier and none of you brought an umbrella.

Jimin helps you up as you’re still feeding Mingyu. He takes another towel and covers Mingyu with it as he helps you walk back to the car. The rain was only getting harder. 

“Well that was a fail,” Jimin’s mom says, apologizing to everyone as they all got into the car.

“It’s okay mom! I’m sure we can still have some fun at home,” you say, reassuring her that the day was not at all ruined. You fastened Mingyu into his car seat, he was already falling asleep.

“We can watch a movie or have a board game night?” Jimin’s dad suggests. You nod, agreeing to his idea. Movies and board games were always a safe and fun home activity to do. You did it with the group all the time. 

“Oooh! I brought Uno cards!” Jimin excitedly announced. You scoff at him.

“You really brought it? Honey… I don’t think our parents know how to play that.” He rolls his eyes at you as if you weren’t stating the obvious. 

“I know,” he whispers, “this is the only chance I have at winning. Shhh..” 

-

“I’m going to put Mingyu down for a nap,” you say, as soon as you all get back home. Jimin immediately jumps on the couch and grabs the remote, searching for a movie to watch. 

“Ahh… we’re back at grandma and grandpa’s house,” you say softly to Mingyu, who had his eyes closed but was still half awake. “I’ll come get you in a few hours okay?” You kiss his little head before setting him in the little crib you guys had in the room. 

As soon as you put him down, you sneeze. Then again. And…. it went away. You rub your nose on your sleeve, immediately taking your clothes off to change into dryer ones. Your pants were still pretty cold from when you fell and the water hit you. 

Your nose kept running and you kept sneezing as you were getting into new pants. As if he sensed something, Jimin walks into your room.

“Are you okay?” He asks, “I was wondering what’s taking you so long.” You sniffled a bit before you answered him, your voice sounding muffled with your congested nose.

“I think I’m getting sick,” you shivered. Jimin’s face had worry written all over it as he rushed over to you and helped you lay in bed. He made sure to tuck you in and make you all warm.

“I’ll tell our parents we can continue our hang out later, but you should rest and warm up. I’ll bring you some tea and I’ll ask my mom if she has any medicine you can take, okay?” He tells you, you nod your head, snuggling into the blanket a bit more to get yourself warm. He presses a quick kiss to your forehead before getting up.

-

A couple hours has passed and you seem to have fallen asleep, matching the rhythm of Mingyu’s nap time. 

You look over at his crib, finding him missing once again.

“Jimin?” You called out with a raspy voice. No one answered so you peeled off the bed sheets off of your body and you slowly got out of bed. You walk out of the room and into the living room where you saw Mingyu laying on his dad’s chest as his dad watched tv.

“There he is,” you say, Jimin turns to you, startled.

“You’re awake,” he says. “How are you feeling?” You smile lazily at him.

“Tired. Stuffy.” You tell him, walking over to both your boys and sitting down next to Jimin, snuggling his side.

“Oh no… but don’t worry, your parents went out to get medicine for you,” he says, wrapping an arm around you and pulling you even closer. You rub your cheek on your husband’s chest, staring face to face with your son. You caress his soft head and he stares at you funny. Before you knew it, he sneezed on your face next. 

“Ah--” You back up from him and his dad, reaching for the box of tissues on their side table. Jimin looks at you, then at Mingyu with his mouth the shape of an “O.” 

As soon as you wiped your face your frown at your baby.

“Oh no, did I get you sick?” You say, and he responds with another small sneeze. “This is not how this weekend was supposed to go,” you say, leaning against the couch. 

“It’s okay, at least we had fun yesterday and that we’re with our family,” Jimin says, pulling you back in to cuddle him. He leans in and presses a kiss to your forehead. 

“Babe, you’re going to catch our cold.” Jimin shakes his head.

“I’m pretty sure it’s inevitable,” he responds. 

“Honey are you still feeling sick?” Jimin’s mom asks, walking into the living room. You nod your head.

“I think I got Gyu sick too,” you confess. 

“I don’t think it was such a good idea to take you three to a cold beach during the rain,” Jimin’s dad says sheepishly. “Speaking of, there’ll be heavy rain again tomorrow so you two be careful going back to Seoul.”

“Why don’t you three just stay a little longer? Until you two get better at least. I don’t want you two getting worse,” your mother in law suggests. Jimin nods, agreeing with her instantly. You couldn’t help but think of Sarang’s wedding and how she wanted you all to get back safely to ensure that everyone would be complete. But also you didn’t want to risk the health of your son. You knew you would be back before the wedding anyways, and Sarang would understand the situation.

“Okay, we’ll stay.”

☔︎☔︎☔︎☔︎☔︎☔︎☔︎

daddy duties

☔︎part nineteen: pandas☔︎

pairings: newdad!jimin x wife!reader

a/n: i’m so sleepy but i wanted to post before i slept

it’s 2am T.T im reading this like rlly tired so if there’s any mistakes i’ll fix it tomorrow. i literally fell asleep like 5 times trying to read this through

also, long distance tweet was about jimin sjefkrhghg

taglist:

@crazyferalvigilantedragonwriter @taekookcaneatme @osnapjenn @rjsmochii @cosmicdaylight @monosomes @the-things-in-the-dark @kimchii7 @softboyfriendtae @smauslut @igotarmyofarohas @heartfeltscribblings @ruinsofangels @sope-and-shine @ephyra1230 @uglyratlmao @samros95 @hellotherehoneybee @moon6rop @kpopliisu @butterflylion @moonlightrose19 @teawithbucky @strwberry-jam @listless-losers @dreamcatcherjiah @httplovemaze @raplineh0e @salty-for-suga @chiminilove @bts-kay @my-chaos-in-stars @kookiemonstersugatea @vantaexx @blueberrykenn @sunnyoongles @knjkitten @itsjynop @seoulicitae @sayanne @prdshobi @thegirlwhocares @btsxdoll @callmepaopao @sterynlis @cribabieee @incredibleella @nctssidehoe @dammit-jjk @goldenchemistry

TAGLIST IS CLOSED!

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[elisajdb]

GoChi Week 2021: A Fulfilled Life Part Seven

GoChi Week 2021

A Fulfilled Life

Day Seven: Afterlife @gochi-week

“…… he grabbed his toy and tossed it at me. Babies need to know who is boss so I smacked his fanny hard.”

“Babies do try to test you. Gohan and Goten did, but,” ChiChi smiled fondly of the memories of her sons as babies, “I handled it.”

The older man chuckled. Spending this time with ChiChi, he definitely knew ChiChi was a strong woman who could handle anything, especially two-hybrid Saiyans. He imagined Goten to be a spitfire and energetic baby testing his limits like his father but he pictured Gohan to be a calmer baby.

“Gohan? You told me he is a sweet child.”

ChiChi giggled. Everyone who knew of Gohan always thought that. They thought of him as a kind well-mannered person and he is but Gohan had another side. Gohan can get cocky. Gohan can get moody. He had a temper like hers when he got really angry but most tend to avoid that and focus on his gentler nature.

“He is but Gohan has an aggressive personality, too. He’s strong like his Dad but I think Gohan has a perfect blend of my and Goku’s personality.”

“Like his Momma.” Son Gohan leaned back in his chair admiring the strong and proud woman sitting across from him. “I can’t wait to meet them.”

“You will,” ChiChi promised. “But not any time soon.”

“No, no,” Son Gohan chuckled. “I want it to be a very long time before I meet my great-grandsons. I’m very happy to be spending time with my granddaughter-in-law instead.”

ChiChi was very happy, too. When she crossed over, it was a new experience even though she died before. She didn’t have memories of that brief period she was dead except flashes of moments. She didn’t remember waiting in line with floating spirits except for a brief second she remembered being at eye level of a floating spirit. She had a body this time and couldn’t recall having one the first time she died. When she met King Yemma the first time, she was alone. This time, Son Gohan was waiting for her.

After her judgment, she went with him and explored the afterlife. She learned her father, even though he changed, wasn’t able to keep his body and were the many floating spirits. It was sad but ChiChi was happy knowing her father was with her mother. With Son Gohan as her guide, ChiChi wasn’t alone and very happy. She traveled the afterlife with him, met different people and shared stories of Goku and his great-grandsons.

“I enjoy spending time with you, too. You’re the only one who knew my Goku before and after his accident. It’s been cathartic talking to you about him. I never had this connection talking about Goku with anyone.”

“There were times Goku drove me up the walls before and after he hit his head. So, I know what you went through with him, and when he was dead, I gave him a piece of my mind on his decision to stay dead.”

ChiChi imagined that wasn’t pleasant for Goku. From stories Goku told her, to spending time with him personally, ChiChi learned Son Gohan was kind but was a stern and tough man with odd quirks. “I thank you for that because Goku was a changed man when he returned. He treated me differently but those seven years made both of us grow up.”

Son Gohan expected it would and he was very grateful to learn Goku had returned to the living and wouldn’t return for a long time. “And you had a much longer and even happier life: you saw your sons marry, have grandkids and even great-grandchildren.”

Now it was ChiChi fondly smiling. She lived a long and eventful life. When Goku died at the Cell Game, she didn’t see this ending for herself. She thought she would’ve died a decade or two earlier. She thought Goku returning gave more years to her life and let her see her family blossom into a long and healthy line. “Yes. Yes, we did.

“Goku’s a bit thickhead but once I explained it, he understood. He promised he will be waiting for you when you crossed over.”

“But instead of Goku, you were waiting.” ChiChi never questioned it then but now she was curious. “Why were you waiting? I mean, how did you know I will be there?”

“After Goku returned to the living, I knew the next time he crossed over, he will be alone. Before he came with Kami on Earth and King Kai. I didn’t want Goku to be alone so the next time I saw Fortune Teller Baba, I told her to let me know when Goku crosses over so I can greet him. When she told me you were crossing over I knew Goku wouldn’t want you to be alone, so I came.” As Son Gohan said this, something caught his eyes behind him. “And it seems I wasn’t alone in that idea.”

ChiChi turned to see Fortune Teller Baba floating on her crystal ball. She saw the sage mystic some time ago and while she couldn’t ask Baba of her family, she made a request. “It’s time?”

“He just crossed over.”

Third time’s the charm I guess.

Goku mused to himself as he waited in line to check-in at King Yemma’s palace. Goku felt more at peace with dying this time than he did with Cell. There were no loose strings. No regrets. No need to stay dead to protect everyone. The future was secured. His family was happy and Earth no longer needed him and has been taking care of herself for many years.

Son Goku was truly done. In the last year of his life, he went on a farewell tour. He visited friends he made throughout his life. Upa, Suno and of course Eighter were still alive. Some, Yamcha and Yajirobe had already passed on but those who were still alive, Goku chatted and recalled the days and adventures of their youth. One of the hardest goodbyes Goku made was to Master Roshi. Both knew Goku’s visit will be his last. It was hard for Master Roshi as he will keep on living and spend the next several years saying goodbye to everyone who made the last seventy years very exciting for him.

When his tour was done, Goku spent his last month with his sons, Gohan and Goten. Father and son went fishing together, camping and hike through Mount Paozu. The sons listened to Goku's adventures when he was a kid. Sometimes Goku repeated the same stories due to his declining mind but Gohan and Goten pretended it was the first time they heard it.

On his last day, Goku knew this was it. It was a feeling he had that felt stronger today than other days. It was time to go. So, he went to ChiChi’s grave to speak one last time to the slab of stone. He told her he will see her soon. He asked Gohan for a big family dinner. It was last minute to get all fourteen members of the Son Family together but Gohan made it happen.

There, Goku had dinner with his sons, their wives and children and their spouses and great-grandchildren. Goku hugged and said goodbye to each one. It was more emotional and bittersweet for Gohan and Goten for they suspected their father’s time on Earth was coming to an end. After dinner, Gohan asked Goku to stay the night but Goku declined, saying he will sleep in his own bed. That night, Goku walked the short path from Gohan’s house to his, but before going inside, he went into Grandpa Gohan’s home. The old shack was a national landmark in his eyes. He expected it to be here long after he, his sons, their children and grandchildren are gone.

Goku recalled sitting on Grandpa Gohan’s lap and listening to his stories. He remembered the times Grandpa was stern with him. If Goku wanted to eat, he had to earn it through Grandpa Gohan’s rigorous training. He sat on the futon he shared with Grandpa, recalling the talks they had before they slept and laughing at himself as a child at the position he slept on Grandpa’s lap. He’ll miss this place but as Goku left the shack, he smiled.

Grandpa, I’ll see you soon.

When he entered his home, Goku readied himself to say goodbye to every room. He stood in his kitchen for an hour, soaking in all the memories his family made in this room: the meals, the laughs, sneaking out food behind ChiChi’s back and even the arguments. All were fond memories now. With one last parting, Goku went upstairs.

Goku entered Gohan’s old room. A swarm of memories surrounded Goku. The memories in this room with Gohan came after he returned from the dead after Majin Boo. The family upgraded their small dome home to one with a bigger dome. He didn’t have the memories of his old home where he encouraged Gohan to put down his books and play with him outside or the nights he slept in here on a rocking chair holding Gohan as a baby. In this room, he remembered times from Gohan’s teen years: talking with him before prom, sitting on his bed watching Gohan practice his Valedictorian speech from high school graduation and the serious father and son talk they had the night Gohan proposed to Videl.

Goku went to Goten’s room next. He tucked Goten in this room the first night in their new capsule home. He told Goten many bedtime stories of his life as they played catch up after his seven years apart. It was in this room, Goku gave Goten his haircut when Goten decided to change his style. Here, Goku and Gohan had the hilarious and uncomfortable talk of Goten’s discovery of girls, Goten’s first date and the day of his wedding.

When Goku left Goten’s room, he walked down the hallway towards the room he shared with ChiChi. He passed a wall of family pictures: wedding photos of Goku and ChiChi, Gohan and Goten with their wives; baby photos of Gohan and Goten, their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren; family group photos in and outside the house, at Gohan and Goten’s home and at Gyu-Mao’s castle.

There was an air of relief when Goku entered his bedroom. Even though their homes changed over the years, the memories were still with Goku. He remembered watching ChiChi shyly step out of their bathroom, dressed in lingerie and hoping she is desirable to him. He thought of the first time they made love; the many times after as they learned and love the emotions intimacy brought out of them; the late-night talks they had of their past. There were happy times, sad and worrying times. Goku remembered the night he returned from Yardrat; how ChiChi was angry was with him for the news of the Androids and hurting her. He remembered the night before the Cell Game where their second son was created. Goku remembered holding a tearful ChiChi and promising her Cell will be defeated. He remembered the tearful reunion the night he returned seven years later; the joy of talking of their first grandchild, their second; their third….

When it came time to say goodbye to ChiChi, it wasn’t a time of sadness. In Goku’s eyes, ChiChi was leaving to set up their permanent home. His last words to her before she died were: “I’ll see you soon.”

As Goku laid in bed counting down to close his eyes forever, one more time, he looked around the room that surrounded him with so much love and happiness. He looked at the pictures on his walls of him and ChiChi, Gohan and Goten. In his hands, were a photo of Goku and ChiChi on their wedding day.

He lived a happy, adventurous and long life but Son Goku was ready for this chapter to end.

As he closed his eyes, he thought of the one he will see and smiled.

ChiChi, I’m coming home.

Goku stepped up next in line. “Hi again, King Yemma!”

“Goku,” King Yemma perused his book. He read Goku’s long list of good deeds again. “You’re back again. For good this time?”

Goku confirmed with a nod. “Yup.”

“You know the drill and I am a God of my word…..”

Goku smiled aware of what he and King Yemma agreed on. From the corner of his eye, he saw her.

ChiChi stood in front of a side entrance. “ChiChi!”

Goku ran to ChiChi, picked her in his arms and swung her around before settling ChiChi on her feet and placing a passion-filled kiss on ChiChi’s lips in front of King Yemma, his assistance and the line of floating spirits behind them.

When they parted, Goku looked ChiChi up and down. Head to toe, she had her body and looked as youthful and beautiful as she was in the early days of their marriage. “You’re here and you have your body.”

“So, do you,” ChiChi admired Goku’s youthful face again. No white hair. No wrinkles. No age spots. He looked as young as he did in his prime. She kissed him. “Thank you.”

“For King---”

“No,” ChiChi shook her head. “For letting me go first.”

“Ah,” Goku grinned, “it was nothing, ChiChi. It was my time to wait.”

“Well, we don’t have to wait for each other anymore.” Happy tears rolled down her cheek. “We’re together… forever.”

“Forever,” Goku promised. “Forever.”

[vellihor]

選擇 ° chpt 2.

genre 》 skz mafia!au

word count 》 1857

warning 》 angst, violence, gore, etc.

__________________________________________________________

YUBIN

i knocked a few times on changbin's door. i roll my eyes as i hear loud rap music being blasted on the other side of the door. i slide the door open anyways. i see changbin punching furiously at the punching bag.

i walk over to the speaker to stop the blaring music, only to have my brother spin around to glare at me. seeing me, he hesitates before taking off his boxing gloves and hanging them up on the rack. i toss a towel at him, grossed out at the sweat dripping down his body. as he caught the towel in midair and cocked an eyebrow at me.

" we havent had sibling heart to heart talk in a long while changbin."

he motioned for me to sit down on his bed. which i graciously took up his offer on. i hugged his plushie, gyu, the only clean thing around the room. i watch as he pulls out a fresh shirt from his closet. he drags a chair from his desk to sit infront of me. then i decide to start the ball rolling.

" so whats your deal with minjung? hm? "  

i see him facepalm himself and groan into his palm. because changbin was older than me by two years, he always had trouble opening up to me. he felt as if he was not doing a good job as an older brother. thats why i started this heart to heart talk between the two of us. i waited as he lifted his head to look at me, thinking about how to put it in words.

" that woman simply ticks me off. shes single-handedly the most stubborn person i have met- "

" says you. "

i pressed my lips in a thin line as changbin gave me an unamused expression.

" i dont know we just dont work well together. i work well with anyone and everyone except her. she hates my guts, i hate her guts. we are even. then chan has to force us to work together. to be honest, i thought making the situation worse would make chan rethink about this shitty paring. guess i was wrong. "

" well from my point of view, i think the both of you should try to tolerate each other. i mean you have always been good at tolerating people. why not just tolerate each other. you guys cant jump at the first chance to kill each other. who knows maybe you guys will end up liking each other. "

he grabs a nearby soft toy and chucks it at me. probably from my last sentence. but i see him slowly consider my words.

" then whats with you and hyunjin trying to send each other to your respective graves huh? "

" thats a different situation! "

" mhmm tell me. how so? "

" ugh youre impossible. "

" lets make a deal then. if you try to get along with hyunjin, i promise to try to get along with minjung. "

i eyed him suspiciously and stuck out my pinky. he locked his pinky with mine. he shot me his goofy smile. i scoff at him as i lay down on his bed. he lies down next to me and we stay in a comfortable silence, staring at the ceiling. until i break the silence.

" do you ever miss mum and dad? "

he pauses before replying.

" all the time. i just wish they didnt leave so soon. maybe then we wouldnt have ended up like this. sure we have been through tougher things but i wonder how different things will be if they were still here. "

" remember that time we stole from the convenience store? we nearly ended up in jail. i still cant believe we survived by ourselves for so many years. "

he chuckles softly as he recalls the memories. ever since our parents died in a fire, changbin and i have always been relying on each other. i vaguely remember changbin sitting on the pavement and bawling his eyes out. his head was buried in his two hands as he sat there trying to comprehend the life-changing situation he had experienced. i remember twelve year old me being lost and clueless, wandering about in the crowd that had formed in front of the building. changbin shot up as soon as he heard my voice and engulfed me in a hug. the both of us had tried so hard to forget about that incident. but one of us would get a nightmare about it every now and then.

it has been five years since chan took us in and decided that we would have family members to look out for us. now we feel like SK is our family.

i watch as changbin stands up from the bed and looks at me in disdain before snatching gyu out of my hands. he strokes gyu before placing it down on the bed. changbin offers his hand to help me stand up. but i know better than to fall for that trick again. i push off the bed on my own. changbin looks offended that i didnt take his hand. i punched his left arm before walking towards the door. he gives me a look of pure pain and disbelief, while holding his left arm.

" did you just-? did you not hold back anything in that punch?"

" come on. dinner is about to be done. i bet you a hundred bucks that grandpa woojin is going to complain about how nobody helped him to prepare dinner. "

i chuckle as i slide the door open. i walked to living room, spotting hyunjin playing pool. changbin nudged me towards him. i scowled at my brother, only to have him flip me off. he shooed me off, mouthing "get along with him".

i walked to the pool table and picked up a cue stick. hyunjin pretended to not see me. i was going to give up being nice. but changbin was watching from the sofa. so i resorted to poking hyunjin in his ribs with the cue stick to get his attention. hyunjin saw it coming and dodged it before i even hit his ribcage. he sneered at me. i scoffed and threw my hands up.

changbin was still watching from the sofa. i took a deep breath before speaking.

" best out of three. loser treats the winner to a round of drinks. "

i sigh in relief as i see hyunjin consider my offer, nod and reset the pool table. i look towards changbin. he was giving me two thumbs up. i grin widely at him as i see him being awkward with minjung, who had just came out of the shower. he was trying so hard to start a conversation without being weird.

i turn my attention to hyunjin.

" ladies first. "

" wow hyunjin is being a gentleman for the first time. "

" hey take it or leave it. "

i say nothing as i rest my cue stick on my fingers.

__________________________________________________________

HYUNJIN

i eye the woman infront of me suspiciously. her behaviour seemed too abnormal today. she was actually being nice to me. just to clarify, that has never happened. ever.

yubin clears her throat and gestures to the pool table.

"um.... so i won and drinks after dinner are on you,"

i shrug and continue staring at her unknowingly, watching her put the cuestick down and run to the kitchen to help woojin with dinner.

i snap out of it when woojin shouted for everyone to eat dinner. i walked over to the dining table with jisung. dinner was the usual. everybody was talking loudly and enjoying dinner.

i noticed that changbin and minjung were talking to each other. i scrunched my nose in confusion. i nudged seungmin.

"whats with changbin and minjung?"

"what?"

"nobody realises that theyre being friendly to each other ????"

"yeah no dumbass. they are on a truce. they just said it just now. pay attention to the table conversation will you?"

"ouch, no need to snap at me like that. that hurt my feelings."

my mind wandered to yubin being not-so-hostile to me. she DID try to puncture my ribs with the cuestick.

__________________________________________________________

after dinner, i brought two bottles of beer up to the roof. i looked around looking for yubin but i couldnt see her anywhere.

"did she just bail on me?" i thought.

just then, i spotted a dark ball snuggled into one of the many oversized beanbags that jisung bought. i walked over to see her looking up at the sky. i plopped myself on the beanbag next to hers.

"so whats up there that got you staring for so long?"

she doesnt even look at me. no acknowledgement of my presence whatsoever. i scoff at her.

"wow so youre not even going to reply me? even after i got you beer? come on you have got to be kidding me."

after a few minutes of silence, i hear soft snoring coming from my right. "no way. no fucking way. is she sleeping?" unsure of what i had just heard, i snapped my head to look at her. leaning in closer to check if she was indeed asleep. upon a closer look, i realise i have been sitting next to a sleeping yubin.

i sigh as i sink back into my beanbag while taking a swig out of the bottle in my hand. after a few minutes, she stretches and somehow manages to hit my eye in a state of half conciousness. my right hand presses against the injured part. she recoils in shock and grabs onto my arm. her face was full of worry and she was starting the panic.

"ohmygod ohmygod i am so sorry. fuck fuck fuck. you need ice. wait here im going to go get ice for you. do not move."

i chuckle at her and removed my right hand.

"im not injured you dumbass. that was payback for making me wait for you to wake up."

she freezes with an unreadable expression. i stiffen at her reaction. she then slowly sinks back down in her beanbag with an almost inaudible "oh".

the atmosphere becomes awkward again. yubin clears her throat and reaches for her bottle of beer.

"um yubin?"

"what?"

"thats my bottle."

.

.

.

"yea i know. my bottle isnt open yet."

*awkward silence yet again*

*caw caw caw*

"so,, um hyunjin, do you have any siblings?"

*caw caw caw*

"uh....... sure yea of course i do. i have a twin sister and an older brother. my twin sister went missing when we were five and my older brother ran away from home when i was seven."

i looked over at yubin to see her mumbling to herself.

"hey dont worry its fine. really."

she looks at me with a forced smile.

"and your parents- ohmygod i just asked a stupid question didnt i? ah fuck sorry. im bad at this."

i let out a loud laugh as she facepalms herself. she gives me a questioning look.

"hey hey relax. no need to panic so much. just breathe okay? and yes to answer your question, i do have parents. both are healthy and fully alive."

"what about you, yubin? whats your story?"

"where do i even start?"

[hcneymilkks]

Bestfriend! Kim Sunggyu (INFINITE)

- mKAY so like ppl are probs like why this sir and LET ME TELL YOU SMTH...Kim Sunggyu is literally so handsome and lmao I would love him as a BFF but I know already that I will be given lectures and scolded at ahaha

- also because I miss INFINITE a lot

- trust me y’all will like this or else I’m throwing y’all into the gutter.

- wow my first drabble of 2019 what a great start to life

- ^^ jk i skipped out on studying to write this mr sunggyu wouldn’t like this.

- ANYWAYS

- o right, it’s based on this random dialogue prompt I found on Instagram: 

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything.”

“Don’t care. Shut up.”

- this sounds like me and one of my guy friends who I call a grandpa....honestly grandpa Gyu is ikonic so that’s why we use him MKAY

- ANYWAYS

- bff’s with Infinite YeS please

- Golden Child too girl ya living the dream

- younger sister of Sungyeol and Daeyeol so of course music was in your blood

- ofc you were debating on becoming a trainee but then you were like “psh I don’t even do school work it’s too much effort.”

- so you instead support your annoying brothers on the sidelines...sometimes backstage on music shows where you see your favs

- the many times you come into Woollim entertainment w/ or w/o your brothers has been many times to the point that the staff knows who you are.

- heck may as well add in the CEO

- “yo idiots I brought food for you and mom is asking how you guys are.”

- ^^ what nice of a sibling you are.

- then again they call you names too so it’s natural

- chubs is their favorite one after watching Weightlifting Fairy Kim Bok-Joo

- anyways skip skip to the good tea

- meaning this is where bff Sunggyu comes in

- so like Sungyeol’s group always practices in the same practice room and Daeyeol’s is the one beside it

- and like of course you have seen Seungyeol’s groupmates on t.v but not in real life..yet

- and what do ya do?

- yo bitchass here’s your food i brought extra for-OHMYGOD YOU’RE NOT SEUNGYEOL SKSKSK”

- “um....excuse but who u?”

- tryna remember who is who in ur brain.

- “mkay so my leader is Sunggyu, hes the oldest so we call him Grandpa Gyu. he looks small and has small eyes.” - award of the year goes to Seungyeol tryna describe his leader in the “NICEST” way possible to his confused sister

- “AH! YOU’RE GRANDPA GYU!” you pointing at him.

- cue dramatic silence and hysteric laughing

- “excuse?”

- “SHIT I MEAN UH HELLO SUNGGYU OPPA THIS IS FOOD FOR SUNGYEOL OPPA AND ALL OF YOU UYS IF YOU WANT SOME AND UH...BYE!”

- cringes at thyself and mentally scolds them for calling the well-respected leader Grandpa Gyu

- but that’s the start of a beautiful friendship

- on the other hand:

- “No I’m serious who’s that?”

- “It’s my sister Y/N. I guess she didn’t receive my text that I didn’t need her to bring food for me.”

- “Why did she call me Grandpa Gyu?” *cue little mouse leader Sunggyu angry mode*

- “uh...YEET!”

- another skip skip

- you come back again after apologizing profusely to Sunggyu in which he responds with;

- “Oh it’s no problem it has been dealt with already.”

- despite the nine? ten? year age gap y’all hit it off pretty well.

- “Y/N whatthehell I know how to send a text.”

- “Then tell me why it’s still in the unsent mode.”

- “...oh.”

- you teach him the new trends and in return you gain wisdom

- o man here’s a example

- “Y/N wat is a maymay?” -Christian Yu I kennat 

- “huh?”

- “it’s spelled m-e-m-e.”

- “t-that’s a meme.” laughing so hard your stomach hurts.

- you ain’t ready for the wisdom part yet so it coming soon

- NICKNAMES ARE A YES

- “you’re old. I’m calling you a grandpa.”

- “what why?” although he small, he fight....But Sungyu wouldn’t hurt you

- “You’re literally legal everywhere...you passed the age limit like fifty years ago.”

- “Y/N i’m not one-hundred...not even close.”

- “still, you old and I’m still a child.”

- “I am not a grandpa you child. I run faster.” 

- You look at him. “Not with those short legs I see. And only I can call myself a child”

- cue Sunggyu fighting the urge not to strangle you then and there. “I don’t care I’m calling you child.”

- here’s the wisdom part at: (texting version)

- GYU: Y/N, wehn u turn lgeal dont dirnk k

- GYU: is ad for u 

- GYU: no dnrinking k

- GYU: u git no job. git eddicted ot it. si bad

- GYU: on do

- translation: Y/N, when you turn legal don’t drink okay. its bad for you. no drinking okay. you get no job. get addicted to it. is bad. no do.

- Y/N: Grandpa, are you drunk?

- GYU: on

- GYU: no*

- needless to say, when you reminded Sunggyu that you already passed the legal drinking age, he nodded and said “I know.” 

- Seeing drunk Sunggyu would be so funny

- other than drunk texts, y’all have so many blackmail photos/vids of each other it’s impossible to still have space on your phone

- although you are close with the other Infinite members, Sunggyu is the person you go to advice for.

- “So if a guy likes you how do they show it?”

- “Y/N ask your brothers this...not me. Anyone else but me.”

- “No I asked both Sungyeol and Daeyeol once and they literally said chubs, he probs was looking at the window.

- ^^ cue Sunggyu scolding both Sungyeol and Daeyeol for saying something like that. 

- Even if Sunggyu is sometimes harsh, he still loves you a lot and has officially (probably) adopted you as his own child adding on to the other six children he has to watch 

- I ain’t letting Hoya go I’m sorry

- He honestly would protect you forever and would risk his life for you 

- he be the older brother you never had

- JK you love Sungyeol and Daeyeol a lot but they be too much at times

- Oh, homework help

- “And then they did it like this but I don’t understand how we got this number to this number.”

- “Wait hold on this wasn’t how I was taught.” - Rip getting Sunggyu to help ya

- So instead of him helping you it goes like this:

- “Shut up.”

- “Y/N I said nothing I literally just breathed.”

“ Don’t care. Shut up. I need to concentrate. You’re no help”

- “If you show me how they did it-”

- “Sunggyu I just showed you.”

- Y/N that is not the way I learned it.”

- “well grandpa your way is ancient now, math is always changing.”

- “HOWTF CAN MATH ALWAYS BE CHANGING.”

- Heated arguments like this would turn into...laughter.

- Yup, there may be serious times but mostly, your guys’ friendship is filled with smiles and laughter and great memories you never want to let go.

- uh...I guess we can end here because i have run out of ideas mkay bye

-SKSKS WAIT i THOUGHT OF ONE MORE THING

- BONUS CONTENT:

- “who’s ur bias in INFINITE?”

- “Dongwoo”

- “wat why? Y/N I thought we were tight? You were supposed to be my ride or die.” 

- “grandpa Gyu please don’t say those words ever again that’s not trending right now.”

-okay im done now bye

© highlyflora 2019

[sungggyu]

“신흥무관학교” / “iron mask” / “barnum” fan accounts

just a little over a week ago, i returned home from yet another korea trip in this year alone - this time to watch not only sunggyu but also dongwoo and woohyun’s musicals! so now that i’m back, i’ll be sharing a fan account of their musicals as i’ve done before with other performances i’ve attended ´･ᴗ･`

for those who are interested, i’ll put up a plot summary for sunggyu and dongwoo’s musicals in the next few days in a separate post!

sunggyu: shinheung military academy

16th september 2018 1430

18th september 2018 1500

18th september 2018 2000

19th september 2018 2000

sunggyu’s musical was the very first musical i watched, not just in the course of this trip but also the very first in my entire life. in other words, i have never ever been to a musical before this!! being able to experience a musical for the very first time through watching one of sunggyu’s therefore felt like somewhat of an honor, in a way?

before talking about the musical though, i just want to add that i saw sunggyu’s family…….. on the very day of my first show……………. like, what are the odds!!!!!!!!!! i had only just taken a photo of my ticket with sunggyu’s character banner at the side and turned around to walk to the seats at the back when a really familiar lady walked past me. i was still trying to recall where i’d seen that face before when not even a moment later, a squirming yoonhoo (sunggyu’s nephew) came into view and that’s when it clicked in my head.. she was sunggyu’s sister (இ﹏இ`。) i was so shocked that according to my friend, i froze on the spot LOL. after a few moments though, i finally got myself together and we went to the seats at the side as we originally intended. we caught a few more glimpses of his family a bit later and honestly they were just like any other ordinary family with a baby haha. yoonhoo kept throwing an empty bottle on the ground when he played with his dad but when he played with his grandpa, he kept tugging at grandpa’s clothes! eventually, when we went into the theatre, sunggyu’s parents stayed outside watching the baby while his sister and brother-in-law entered the theatre. after the musical, when we were leaving and making our way to woohyun’s musical venue, we walked past sunggyu’s mother carrying yoonhoo again near the theatre’s lobby. it seemed like baby-sitting duty was over for her so she’ll be watching the evening show with her husband while sunggyu’s sister and brother-in-law took over the baby-sitting role ahaha. it was such an unexpected but pleasant encounter! （´·｀ ）♡

what was really funny though (sorry sunggyu), was that yoonhoo looked so happy the entire day yet as soon as he saw his uncle....

moving on to sunggyu’s musical “shinheung military academy”, it’s a state-produced musical to commerate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the korean army. with this in mind, i was a little wary that the musical may be full of state propaganda and therefore, potentially lacking/subpar compared to those produced by privately owned production companies. as it turns out, however, the musical went above and beyond my expectations. it was most definitely not subpar and it was not just average either! it was so good that it exceeded all of my expectations ;-; imo the plot of the musical was brought out even better due to the A-list actors they recruited (ji changwook, kang haneul)..? seeing those two actors live in action had been a really incredible experience as well. both ji changwook and kang haneul really surprised me with how well they sang and it was not until days later that i found out they both actually made their debut in the musical theater.. which explains…

sunggyu plays ji cheongcheon, a korean general who was trained in the japanese imperial military academy before defecting to guide and lead the guerilla forces behind the korean independence movement under japanese colonial rule. to be really honest, sunggyu doesn’t have a very huge role and doesn’t appear much in the musical. he may be listed as one of the “main” casts alongside ji changwook and kang haneul but personally, i feel that this is very much just an honorary title? what’s interesting to note is that sunggyu’s character is one of the few, if not the only, character that is based on a real life war hero. i think sunggyu mentioned that he felt really honoured and awed to be playing an actual war hero, and he was so intrigued he spent lots of time reading up on the man’s biography.

in the first part of the musical, sunggyu only appears very briefly to sing one verse in the first song and in one of the next few songs. probably due to the character he is playing, he runs a lot, which was honestly a pretty refreshing sight lol. every time he makes an appearance, he’s basically running onto stage before running off stage again after singing his lines. he has one solo song in the first part of the musical, complete with a long sword dance and i have to say it was so!! hot!!! especially in that military uniform of his? wow. at the end of the song, he runs off stage with a torchlight, down the left aisle in the audience seats before turning and making his exit from the right side of the theatre’s door. he appears more in the second part of the musical, complete with lots of fighting moves due to the thickening of the plot. he does roundhouse kicks and punches here and there, taking down all the enemies with ease depsite being surrounded and outnumbered by them. (i know this is just a fictional plot but just picture that.. super hot)

there are times when many of the cast members sing together for an ensemble piece and in times like this, i would say you can hear pretty distinctively that sunggyu takes the notes that are an octave higher than most other cast members ;-; i checked with a few of my friends who watched the musical as well and most of them thought that the high note sounded like him too! other giveaways include the extra quivering of his lip, the subtle movement of him opening his mouth wider the very same time the high note comes on.. and many more haha. but honestly i do think it sounds a lot like sunggyu too. my boy :’)

personally, as much as i enjoyed the musicals, the part i always looked forward to the most was the curtain call at the end of the musicals because that’s when actor!gyu goes away and natural!gyu comes back :-( when he makes his appearance, he climbs up this huge stage prop and stands at the top, beaming for a short moment before making his way down to stage center to take a bow, do a salute and greet the audiences. he does so in a very sunggyu-like manner (aka in all the glory of his natural cuteness), fists half hidden in his big coat, waving frantically and excitedly in every direction all with a really precious and genuine smile on his face ;-; after all the cast members have greeted the audiences and taken a final bow together, they returned to the center of the stage as the curtain draws. it was always during these short-lived moments that sunggyu does the most adorable actions!! on the first show and the last show i went to, he shot cute little fingerhearts to audiences in every direction (ಥ﹏ಥ) on the evening show on the 16th of september which i missed due to woohyun’s musical, he even did a little dance according to my friend who watched it (T⌓T)

i must add that it was also really heartwarming to witness sunggyu’s interactions with his new friends! in one song where kang haneul’s character dusts off sunggyu’s shoulders as part of the performance, i personally witnessed sunggyu wiggling his brows at kang haneul hahaha. during the curtain call in the final show i watched, sunggyu was doing thumbs up to all the actors around him and subsequently, ji changwook turned around and patted him on his cheeks.. he is just so loved wherever he goes ´·ᴗ·`♡

my friends who have watched sunggyu’s musicals have always told me how one could see that he genuinely enjoys doing musicals and now that i’ve finally seen it for myself, i can’t help but to agree, it seems like the stage is truly where he belongs ♡_♡

dongwoo: iron mask

19th september 2018 1600

dongwoo’s musical “iron mask” was set in paris, france in the 1600s and it was really interesting to say the least! i must admit that i spoiled myself beforehand by looking up the plot but then again if i hadn’t, i doubt i would’ve understood much of the musical considering how weak my korean language skills are :/

after watching dongwoo’s musical, i personally felt that his singing in there wasn’t his best ever yet, but i think this has more to do with how musicals demand much more than just simply singing a song. it requires (emotional) acting, which dongwoo portrayed REALLY well, and i would say his acting makes up for it a lot. that said, his singing was still pretty damn good even though it didn’t seem to be the best i’ve heard from him. it was a bit shakier in the first half of the musical but once intermission was over and we moved to the second half, it stabilised a lot more ♡ when curtain call rolled around, i realised dongwoo must’ve been really nervous earlier because many of the older cast members were all patting him on his head, his back, ruffling his hair and just babying him. from an outsider’s perspective, those seemed to be acts of encouragement, praise and comfort.. which was why i think dongwoo must’ve been nervous before.. not to mention the fact that it was his first ever show for this musical.

expanding on dongwoo’s performance in the musical, i must say that he was an amazing actor. he’s such a wasted talent (πーπ) dongwoo played double characters in this musical - his role was both the elder and younger twin born to the parisian royal family in the 1600s. basically, the elder twin, louis, was the king whereas the younger twin, philip, who had been kept away from the public eye ever since he was young, was as good as a prisoner to the extent he’s unfamiliar with all the royal ettiquete that his elder brother has long been acquainted with. simply put, louis was a huge ass of a person and a king and philip, his complete opposite, was kind and gentle, albeit clumsy. the musical showcased dongwoo’s ability as an actor due to the huge contrast in the characters of both brothers he was portraying. dongwoo could leave the stage laughing his head off as a deranged (and somewhat psychopathic) louis after he had some man killed just so he could have their lover all to himself as his queen but within a minute, when the scene changes, he’ll be back on stage as weak and clumsy philip, who apologises to everyone for the slightest things he couldn’t have had control over anyway. dongwoo did such a great job in portraying each twin so cleanly without any overlap or confusion which is why i say he acted so well ;-; with enlistment coming round the corner for dongwoo, i doubt that he’ll have time to be doing anymore musicals, especially if we consider how there had been mentions of his solo as well. but if there’s a chance in the post-enlistment future, however, i’ll definitely be looking forward to his potential projects!

woohyun: barnum - the greatest showman

16th september 2018 1830

truthfully, i remembered the least from woohyun’s musical because i was feeling a little under the weather on the day i went to see his musical :-( that and the fact that it’s one of the earlier shows i watched compared to the other dongwoo and sunggyu shows.. but from the bit i do remember, he sang (really well, obviously) in a lot of lower range notes which was kinda refreshing considering how he’s usually in charge of a lot of high notes in infinite songs! if my ears didn’t fail me, the usual reminder to audiences to turn off their phones and that recordings of any form were prohibited was announced through a voice recording made by woohyun? hahaha. as soon as that ended, he appeared on stage right away and started the first song.

i would like to make a note that there was so much bromance going on between woohyun’s character (amos scudder) and the lead actor who played p.t. barnum and it was so adorable. the lead actor was easily taller than woohyun since woohyun is not the biggest man so during the many scenes where barnum grabs and hugs amos in joy, the lead actor literally lifted tiny woohyun off his feet in a tight hug and it was soooooo cute (ಥ﹏ಥ) there was another scene where the lead actor (i’ll just call him barnum from now) and woohyun ventured into the audience seats on the ground floor as part of the scene where they were pooling funds. at one point, after collecting enough “funds” (which were really just fan letters in envelopes), barnum said “i’ll give you amos” and then pushed woohyun into the crowd. the screams!! were so loud!!! woohyun was man-handled easily and i don’t know how else to say it but it was just so cute ugh. woohyun is smol, we get it, no need for the constant reminder (⋟﹏⋞) these aside, there were also the scenes of barnum and woohyun almost kissing (on the lips lol) and barnum slapping woohyun’s butt so yeah that’s about it for their bromance.

miscellanous notes from the musical:

there was this part at the start where barnum said amos was good-looking so woohyun made a flower pose

woohyun did a cartwheel

woohyun’s character got angry a lot and shouted so much it was lowkey 🔥

woohyun danced to ‘tell me’

after the show, we went to catch woohyun at his post-show greeting with fans at the lobby of the venue. it took some time before he appeared but when he finally showed up, he talked for quite some time and it was so sweet even though i understood close to nothing. other than the fact that inspirits are 너만이’s mom(s) from now on ;-) when he left the venue, fans lined the pedestrian walkway to send him off in the driveway and at one point he was so close to me i was so !!!#$%%#^@!$@! HE WAS SO BEAUTIFUL.. that perfect face barely 2 metres away from me.. i had an internal breakdown seeing this beautiful man that up-close..

there was some talk going on later that night on twitter about a fan who allegedly grabbed his hand from the open car window and kissed it but personally i doubt it happened. after looking at the photos i realised said fan was actually the one right next to me and in the fancam i managed to film, there was no kissing going on. it was probably the photo angle in the initial photo that spread. if there was anything awful about that send-off, however, it was all those fans who ran after his car when it drove out of the driveway just because it stopped at a traffic light outside. that was really something.. which i hope will never happen again in the future :-/

all in all, this had been a really great trip! even though i got to see sunggyu’s solo concerts in the previous trip (featuring these two as well), this trip just felt so much better overall in that i was able to see each of my faves performing on a different kind of stage. oh, and did i mention our chance encounter with hoya at his brother’s restaurant too? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) as i’ve said, this trip was truly 10/10.

[chickensmugglermyungsoo]

Infinite (missing)Content MASTERLIST

some of my posts and my favs

text/picture posts

Infinite:

Infinite Ranking King/With Infinite Only series:

- Deserted Island (Text Vers.)   pic vers. 

- Google search: How to…?

- Infinite as little kiddies  txt vers. , 

-  Your lifetime crushes with INFINITE ONLY

- Infinite as Youtubers

How the most mature maknae deals with his hyungs series 1, 2   3   4                 

How to be become an Inspirit

How Infinite takes care off their maknae

When Maknae becomes violent because of his huyngs

Grandpa Gyu 1  2  3

Diss is Infinite series 1  2  3   4   5

Infinite synchronicity 99,9% series 1   2

Infinite’s SNS/IG abuse megalist 

When your bias is a kid/pabo (Woohyun) 1, 2, 3 ,4 ,5 ,6 , 7

Honestinfinite 1,  2,  3

Infinite’s or more like Sunggyu Anecdotes

1, 2, 3  4  5  6   7   8   9   10   11   12   13   14   15   16   17

Infinite as Animals 1  2  

Animal Series 

Name series: Hoya, L,

English time with INFINITE ONLY (one line vers.)

funny Inspirit Infinite Photoshops 1 2 3 4 5  6 7 

Infinite’s Nam Woohyun aka Nampuppy series

Infinite Logo Lockscreens HQ 1   

other groups:

Lyrics 1 2 3 4  

My first impressions of Pentagon

When your bias looks better than you as a female 1 2 3 Infinite Vers. (not mine) 

not mine:

Diss is Infinite

Happy 7 year anniversary Infinite

Hierarchy of Infinite’s aegyo

Hierarchy of Infinite’s airport fashion

Hierarchy of Infinite’s selfie taking skill

If Infinite was your best friend

If Infinite played five nights at freddy’s

Infinite Airport fashion

Infinite as College Students

Infinite as Pokemon trainers

Infinite as Taxi Drivers

Infinite Ending poses

Infinite in 4 words

Infinite in Fanfictions

Infinite in a zombie apocalypse

Infinite Memes

Infinite Mood Boost 

Infinite most likely to steal

Infinite Reaction when their daughter shows them her bf

Infinite reading their own fanfiction

Infinite Shipping Chart

Myungsoo is a frog 1 2 3

Myungsoo tried to smuggle chicken 

Parallels between Running Man and INFINITE members

Should you fight infinite?

Sunggyu laughing about his own joke

this is my new fav reaction pic, used for any occasion

Tweet about you

What type of dad Infinite would be

Funny Infinite Scenarios 

other groups: 

Sistar Wedding 

Introductions/about Infinite (not mine)

Infinite ot7 

12 Days of Christmas Challenge - Day 7: Our seven boys  

Why You Should Stan Infinite! 4

INFINITE CHALLENGE PART 14

INFINITE CHALLENGE PART 15

INFINITE CHALLENGE PART 17

INFINITE CHALLENGE PART 18

General Report 

Infinite Member’s in other MVs

introducing infinite

Infinite Anatomy lesson

JDW-jusseyo introduction 

Translating OT7

individual members

Anatomy with Infinite; 5/7 - Sunggyu

woohyun’s brain map,

Sungjong making the airport his personal runway and photoshoot is my aesthetic

Shows, MVs links 

[UPDATED] Some of the many reasons why I have mad respect and adoration for Infinite: 

INFINITE ONLY - Variety & Radio Shows Masterlist (Week Three)

JDW-jusseyo links 

JDW-jusseyo links 2 

Woohyuns solo performance

INFINITE member dramas 

IFNT weekly idol 

ifnit variety shows

 ifnt individual tv appereances 

Interviews (tagged with interview) Infinite + B1A4 mainly

fav fanart 1  2  3  4 

HD Screenshots

INFINITE EFFECT ADVANCE

INFINITE 24 hours 

INFINITE CB 2015

The Eye

Comeback again

White Confession  

 Back

She’s back

Nothing’s Over

Lately

BTD

TELL ME (short vers.)

audio 

Infinite English time (7th Anniversary Vers.)

Frank Sungjongie and bad leader gyu translation

Infinite’s first impression of each other (trans.+audio)

Infinite Sunggyu English Compilation

Lemoncandy Namstar 

A compilation of Woohyun being… Woohyun

Dongwoo & Hoya & Woohyun pretended to be the fangirls waiting for Infinite and Myungsoo & Sungyeol were just themselves

Sungjong Puberty is amazing

Woohyun’s good night kisses 

music audio tracks (mainly live compressed cuts):

INFINITE Journey 2010-2017 (all songs in 5secs)

Kim SungKyu live Immortal Songs  

Sunggyu Kontrol live 

Sunggyu I need you acoustic vers.  (not mine)

Sunggyu 60s piano vers. (not mine)

Onew Rainy Blue live 

Downpour PD 101 S2  

Love Coctail (Daehyun, Jieun, Hyosung)  

Beautiful Goblin Kyuhyun

Ipanama Girl by Jonghyun (CNBlue), Sunggyu (Infinite). Taemin (SHINee)

Sorry by Pentagon 

See you Again covered by Pentagon live 

Kyuhyun and Lee Sun Hee 

video:

Infinite:

Dates with infinite only: - Date with Namgrease, Date with Myungsoo, Real Date with Namgrease, Infinite Date Ver. , 

Infnite Mental Breakdown

Infinity of Infinite 

Drunk WooYeol 

A fan asks Sunggyu when is he coming to Thailand and his reaction when another asks when is he coming to her heart

Nampabo and a mic 

QTPie Woohyun. He looks hot but acting cute.

Infinite Trot 

Infinite The Eye Acapella - Stan Talent Vers. 

Infinite MV History 2010-2016

Infinite dancing to ‘Come Back Again’ in Singapore hotel room

Drunk Sunggyu singing Nell's Stay (cr to Sungyeol)

Infinite when watching their maknae dancing

Infinite acting cute bunny arirang 

Woohyun Namjukebox

When your older siblings decided to make fun of you together LOL

Myungsoo is even handsome while breathing 

Namstar’s biggest fan 

Funny No_Energygyu 

Paradise live with black tank tops

other groups:

Sandeul hitting Baro with veggie (by fyb1a4)

When a seagull stole Sandeul’s ice-cream short ver., long ver.

[elisajdb]

Life With You: XXV

Part Twenty-Five:

 Homecoming

  The morning was calm as Gohan ate his breakfast and ChiChi cleaned the morning dishes. ChiChi’s mind was flooded with her painful decision and how she couldn’t hold off anymore. A week ago, she called her father to let him know she and Gohan will move in his castle. She delayed an immediate move telling her father she wanted her and Gohan’s rooms repainted and new furniture. He surprised her by coming over the next day forcing ChiChi to pick out colors for the rooms and new furniture. Two days later, Gyu-Mao called to let ChiChi know the rooms were ready. She ignored her father’s calls the next day but the day after that, Gyu-Mao visited wanting ChiChi to set a date for her move.

 Which brought her to this morning when she will tell Gohan the news.

 ChiChi wiped her hands on her apron. She walked over to Gohan happily eating his meal. ChiChi pulled out a chair and sat down. “Gohan, do you like visiting Grandpa’s castle?”

 Gohan swallowed his food before answering. “Yes. I still get lost sometimes.”

 After everything, Gohan stilled acted like a child when exploring her father’s home. She remembered how Gohan used to cry when he got lost when she and Gohan visited. Those days were over. Gohan didn’t cry anymore. He seemed more reserved. ChiChi figured it was the effects of Gohan’s time on Namek and the year he was away from her. The nightmares had stopped, Gohan was attending school and making friends his age. It wasn’t perfect but things were better.

 “Gohan, you know Grandpa loves us, don’t you?”

 “Yes.”

 “Grandpa loves us a lot and he misses us in his big castle. He wants to take care of us.” ChiChi prepared herself for Gohan’s reaction. “He wants us to live with him in his castle.”

 “Oh,” Gohan said quietly. “So, we’re really moving to Grandpa’s.”

 “Really?” ChiChi repeated Gohan’s words slightly surprised. “You knew about this?”

 “I heard Grandpa that night,” Gohan confessed. “I never heard him angry at Dad before.” To Gohan, seeing his grandpa angry was very strange. He was always happy and loved him, Mom and Dad a lot. “But we’ll move back home when Dad comes back so I don’t mind.”

 ChiChi wasn’t sure about that. “Grandpa have our rooms fixed up. There’s new paint and furniture. With us living closer to Grandpa, we’ll be closer to your school.”

 That was fine to Gohan. He liked going to school and the friends he made.

 “There are boxes in my room and the pantry. We’ll start packing after breakfast.”

 ******************

 By early afternoon, there were boxes in every room. Some filled. Some empty. ChiChi was in the kitchen carefully wrapping her dishes when she heard the sounds of a car approaching. ChiChi looked out the window slightly grimacing at the arrival of her father. ChiChi unlocked the door and kept working. She was in the middle of placing wrapped plates in a box when her father entered her home.

 Gyu-Mao entered speaking a greeting to his daughter. He looked around the room pleased ChiChi was packing but disappointed it was still a slow process. If he had his people helping, they would’ve packed Gohan and ChiChi in his castle by now.

 “Finally packing I see.”

 “Yes, Dad,” ChiChi gave a curt reply.

 Gyu-Mao understood his daughter’s anger but he was doing what was best for his daughter and grandson. “ChiChi, you don’t---“

 “It’s my home, Dad. These are my things. I’ll pack them and no one else.”

 “I was going to say you don’t need to pack your dishes. I have plenty at my castle.” He wasn’t a fool. He knew what ChiChi was doing. “You’re stalling.”

 “I’m not stalling. I’m packing like you want and I like eating on these dishes.”

 “The only things you and Gohan need to pack are the items in your rooms.”

 ChiChi glared at him. “You expect me to leave the photos of my family I have hanging on the walls of my home? I have those to pack; all the items in the hall closet….”

 Gyu-Mao sighed as he pulled out a seat as ChiChi droned on what she had to pack. “You know what I mean, ChiChi.” After a moment he asked, “Where’s Gohan?”

 “Probably packing or doing his homework,” ChiChi answered. “He has school tomorrow.”

 “How did he take the news of the move?”

 “Very well actually.” It was still surprising how well Gohan accepted the move. Of course Gohan thought this move was temporary. “He thinks we’ll move back home as soon as Goku returns.”

 “If,” Gyu-Mao emphasized.

 ChiChi almost broke the glass she was wrapping. “You’ve really given up on Goku, haven’t you?”

 “ChiChi, I’m looking at this realistically. What possible excuse could Goku have being away this long if he hasn’t decided to come back? It’s been a year. He could’ve returned but he didn’t. What am I supposed to think after all this time, ChiChi?”

 ChiChi didn’t know. She didn’t have an answer herself. She had a theory and even that was farfetched. As much as her father’s decision angered her, ChiChi understood his feelings. This situation left her conflicted. ChiChi rose from her seat to answer the ringing phone but it stopped after one ring. Perhaps it was a wrong number.

 Instead of returning to the table, ChiChi checked on dinner cooking on the stove. “Does everyone in the village know Gohan and I are returning?” ChiChi imagined what a stir it will create when everyone realizes she and Gohan are permanent residents.

 “Just the ones working on the rooms. They know not to say anything until you two arrive home.”

 ChiChi gripped her ladle. “Gohan and I have a home. Here.”

 “You had one here. It’s with me now.”

 ChiChi stopped stirring her stew. She couldn’t have this argument now. “Dad, thanks for coming but as you can see, Gohan and I have a lot of packing to do.”

 “I just got here.”

 ChiChi stepped away from the stove and went to the door, opening it. “I have a lot to do and you’re in my way.”

 Gyu-Mao stared at his daughter for a moment before shaking his head, rising and heading to the door. When Gyu-Mao stepped outside, he dug in his pocket to hand ChiChi a capsule. “This is an airship. I’ll call tomorrow to find out how much packing you’ve done. You have two days to finish or I will bring my crew to finish the job.”

 ChiChi opened her mouth to retort her father but both heard a loud thump. They turned their heads to see Gohan flying away from home. “Gohan!” ChiChi called after him. “Where are you going?!” She noticed Gohan wearing that strange armor she found him in when they reunited. “Why are you wearing that?!”

 “What is that he’s wearing?” Gyu-Mao asked.

 “Clothes he wore on Namek.” ChiChi wasn’t aware Gohan kept it. Why would he after the nightmares he had of that planet? “He’s been so good lately. Why would he act this way? I should take Nimbus and follow him.”

 “Perhaps Gohan is going to Goku’s friends,” Gyu-Mao guessed. “When is the last time Gohan seen them?”

 “Since Tien and Chaozu were revived.” ChiChi didn’t speak with any of Goku’s friends except Krillin that day. He approached her to apologize for hearing them the last time they gathered, but other than that she kept herself and Gohan from them. “He’s my son. Not theirs,” ChiChi defended her actions. “After everything that’s happened, I deserve to have my son with me as long as I want. Since he’s not with them, Gohan’s being a well-mannered child again.” He was until this moment when he flew off without telling her. “But I will have a talk with him when he gets back.”

 ******************

 Goku’s eyes snapped open. What was that? A sharp jolt of Ki? He blinked several times as his mind slowly awakened from his long month sleep. He felt groggy and low to react but still felt a very strong Ki. Looking above, Goku noticed the ship was still in sleep mode. No wonder he was so groggy. He woke up too early. He wasn’t supposed to awaken until ninety minutes from now. He would go back to sleep but he could still feel that large Ki. What was it? Goku turned sleep mode off. A large blast of air blew into the ship clearing away the sleep induced atmosphere Goku slept in for a month. Goku’s vitals slowly rose to normal. His mind became clearer; he felt stronger.

 Alert, Goku searched for the large Ki he felt. It wasn’t near him. It was ahead of him and moving fast.

 Freeza!

 It was him. Goku knew Freeza was alive but thought Freeza’s condition was so bad he wouldn’t fight anymore. He was wrong. Goku could tell Freeza wasn’t as strong as before but he was still a threat and wanted his revenge against him. With the speed his Ki was moving, Goku knew Freeza was in a ship moving much faster than his. He’ll beat him home. Goku looked at the panel of his ship again. From what he could understand he wouldn’t reach Earth until almost three hours from now and Freeza was landing on Earth now. He could feel it. He could feel Freeza and another strong being with him. Among these two large Ki, Goku felt his son and his friends nearby. Vegeta was still on Earth, too. Maybe they could hold on until he arrived.

 Then again, maybe not. Goku knew what happened the last time his friends bought time for his arrival. Luckily, Goku learned a trick from Soba that would help him. He prepared to teleport himself to Earth but felt a new Ki arrive.

 It was a strong one, too. Goku wondered if this Ki was with Freeza but suddenly felt many smaller Ki around Freeza and the strong one vanish. Who did that? Goku wondered. Goku kept his senses tuned to the battle and to his shock felt Freeza’s Ki suddenly vanish. Someone on Earth killed Freeza. Was it this new Ki he felt or was it the combination of Vegeta and Piccolo. Together, maybe they had a chance.

 Not long after Freeza died, Goku felt the other large Ki with him disappear, too. What was going on? Who killed all these people with relative ease? Goku glanced at the clock on his ship. Three hours until he reached Earth. He’ll soon find out.

 ******************

 So much for peaceful times.

 That was Goku’s thought as he watched the young man named Trunks fly off. Vegeta and Bulma’s son of all people! That revelation was as mind blowing as Trunks telling him three years from now all his friends will die by these mysterious killing machines that will appear on Earth. On top of that, his son will be killed by them eventually while he will be dead before all this happen.

 Maybe not. Goku gripped the medicine Trunks had given him tightly. If he takes this medicine he’ll be ready to fight in three years. A heart virus. Of all the things to kill him, Goku never thought a heart virus would be the one to do it. As Goku pocket the medicine, he saw the future he envision changing before his eyes. There will be no fishing or camping with Gohan. He’ll spend time with ChiChi but not as much as he wanted. There’s no way he and ChiChi could even think of another child with this threat looming.

 Although if they fail, maybe he and ChiChi should have a child before the Cyborgs arrive. Maybe this child can help Trunks and Gohan. Maybe it can save Gohan from dying. If Gohan’s alive, then ChiChi wouldn’t be alone. Wait. Was ChiChi even alive in the future? Trunks never mentioned ChiChi. Goku thought it was strange Trunks didn’t tell him the fate of his wife and Gohan’s mother.

 It was too late to ask that question with Trunks on his way back to the future. As he dealt with the grim news, everyone joined him. Piccolo, having heard their conversation, told everyone what will happen in three years, leaving Vegeta and Bulma’s union a secret. As Piccolo talked, Goku looked at his friends. Three years they can all be dead again and it will be his fault. He never thought fighting the Red Ribbon Army would come back to haunt him. He never heard of Dr. Gero. He fought commanders and assassins of the Red Ribbon Army. Muscle men. He never battled any brains of the operation. Commander Red was dead when arrived and after he killed Commander Black, the Red Ribbon Army was no more. Sure, there were survivors since he didn’t kill everyone but as far as he knew they weren’t threats anymore. To think after all this time, Dr. Gero spied and planned his revenge on him….

 Goku pushed the negative thoughts aside as his eyes settled on Bulma and Yamcha while it briefly glanced over at Vegeta who stood far off from everyone. It was the end of an era thinking Bulma and Yamcha wouldn’t be together anymore. They were always together and then not together. It was strange but Goku thought that’s how their relationship worked.

 I guess it makes sense Vegeta and Bulma went there. Bulma and Yamcha have been together since I met them but I had a kid before them. I guess it wasn’t meant to be for them.

 Goku’s eyes settled on Gohan. It bothered him Vegeta’s son survived the horror in the future but not his son. If Trunks can turn into a Super Saiyan then Gohan, as his mentor, obviously reached this stage, too. He didn’t understand how they killed Gohan in Trunks time but Goku vowed to not let it happen in this one. ChiChi will be upset about the idea of Gohan fighting but he will get his way on this. For his own future, Gohan had to fight. With him being a teacher to Gohan this time, Goku knew he needed a sparring partner to keep him on his toes. So, he invited Piccolo to train with him and Gohan.

 With a parting for everyone to meet three years from now, Goku, Gohan and Piccolo flew home. Goku’s eyes followed Gohan from the top of his head to his toes. His hair grew back. Goku bit back a laugh thinking how happy Gohan must’ve been when it grew back. Gohan also grew in size. Goku suspected Gohan had to have grown another two or three inches. He was six years old now and he missed two years of his son’s life. If he knew ChiChi, she threw a big sixth birthday party to make up for the one she missed. He didn’t think birthdays as a big deal but he didn’t want to miss anymore of his son’s.

 Though Goku was excited at the thought of fighting again, he thought the timing was bad, too. He thought after all this time, he could go home and connect with his family. It’s been a year since he saw his wife and son and over two years since the three spent time together as a family. When he was on Yardrat, Goku envisioned his family going on picnics, riding on Nimbus or just staying home.

 Home. He hadn’t been there in two years. He missed the peaceful silence of Mount Paouz. He missed seeing his small and simple home in the mountains. He missed the smell of the kitchen. He missed napping on his sofa. He missed his own bedroom, sleeping in his bed, sleeping with his wife.

 It had been two years since intimacy with ChiChi. He was definitely looking forward to that again. He had to be careful. He was a lot stronger than the last time he and ChiChi were intimate. He might have to be careful until he knew what ChiChi could take. Then again, he grinned, if ChiChi trained while he was dead, she trained this past year, too. He couldn’t wait. The way Goku was feeling, he wanted to go all night and into the next morning and be intimate in as many positions as possible before they tire out.

 Maybe I better stop off at Korin’s for senzu beans. Then we can go all night and in the morning.

 Last time they went all night, Gohan wasn’t born. ChiChi wouldn’t have sex with him all night with Gohan in the house. She wouldn’t get as loud either and resorted to muffling her voice in the pillow or her hand when he wanted to hear it. Maybe he could arrange it for Gyu-Mao to take Gohan for a night. He would understand his need to be with ChiChi. He remembered Gyu-Mao taking Gohan off their hands a few times allowing them to be alone. Goku was certain Gyu-Mao will do it now.

 “Gohan, how has Mom been?”

 “Some days she’s happy. Some days she’s sad.” Gohan grinned at his father. “Mom’ll be real happy to see you even though she will be mad.”

 He was expecting that. “How mad?”

 Gohan shrugged. “I don’t know but she was really mad you didn’t want to come back when we wished you back. Mom was so excited you were coming home. She made a lot of food. We even made a “Welcome Home” sign and hung it in the kitchen so you’ll see it when you came in the house.”

 Oh, this wasn’t good. He knew ChiChi would be upset with him but if she did all this….

 “And when you refused the wish….” Gohan suddenly fell silent. He debated on whether to tell his Dad what his friends had said. Remembering how his mother reacted, Gohan decided his father should know. Maybe Dad could make Mom feel better. “Master Roshi thought you didn’t want to come home because of Mom.”

 The words were a slap to his face. ChiChi and Gohan were his reason to come home. “Why?”

 “He thought you were afraid of her. Mom got angry but Master Roshi said he was joking. Then everyone else started talking about Mom.”

 Talking about? Suddenly Goku had flashes of his conversation with his friends in the hospital. They wouldn’t. They wouldn’t be speaking badly about ChiChi again. “What did they say, Gohan?”

 “That Mom wasn’t a good wife and if you did return it will only be because of me.”

 Goku grabbed Gohan’s shoulder stopping them both in midflight. He couldn’t believe his ears. His friends spoke badly about ChiChi again and in front of Gohan?! His voice was a mix of outage and shock as he asked, “They said this around you?”

Gohan was quiet for a moment before nodding. “I heard Mom crying that night and several days after. Mom was really sad for a lot of days but she got better.”

 ChiChi. What am I facing when I get home?

 “It wasn’t all bad. Mr. Aki came by a few times, too,” Gohan said absently. “Mr. Kaifun came by once, too.”

 Kaifun?! Goku’s energy spike even caught the attention of Piccolo and Gohan. What was Kaifun doing in his home with ChiChi? Did she forget her promise? ChiChi promised him to never be alone with Kaifun but if Gohan was there, technically, ChiChi didn’t break her promise. Still, the idea of Kaifun in his home with his wife irritated him.

 “Dad?” Gohan sounded worried.

 Goku forced a laughed to ease his son’s worry.  It wasn’t enough to ease Piccolo as he continued to stare at him. “I’m fine. Just surprised. Why did Kaifun come over?”

 “Mom was really upset when we came home. She broke the kitchen light and created a hole in the ceiling. Mom called Grandpa but Mr. Kaifun fixed it.” Gohan felt a burst of pride as he said, “I helped him, too. He’s really a nice person. I saw him at the festivals at Grandpa’s village. He always buys me something and he’s always asking about you.”

 He bet he did! “What did he ask?”

 “Just where you were and when you were coming back.” Gohan’s smile faded. He debated but decided his Dad should know. “A lot of people from Grandpa’s village wondered about you. Some thought you abandoned Mom and me since you’ve been gone so long.”

 This wasn’t surprising to Goku. At least once a month, he, ChiChi and Gohan visit Gyu-Mao’s village. ChiChi told him how she dealt with their absence when he and Gohan were away. Aki told him about Mrs. Niver during that time, too. He suspected the old woman was running her mouth when ChiChi and Gohan appeared in the village alone.

 “I didn’t see it,” Gohan continued, “but I heard Mom made a big deal about you coming back before the Spring Festival. The day before the festival Mr. Aki told Mom to not come. He said it would be embarrassing for her and confirm the rumors Grandpa and Mom were protecting you and you abandoned us. Mom wouldn’t listen and I think Mr. Aki was wrong,” Gohan gave his opinion. “Everyone was nice to me and Mom.”

 Maybe they were nice to Gohan and ChiChi in his presence but Goku wondered what happened when Gohan was away from ChiChi. Whatever pain ChiChi felt, Goku knew she kept it all in so Gohan wouldn’t see it.  

 “It’s so great you’re back, Dad!” Gohan became happy again. “Everyone will see you didn’t abandon us and Mom and I don’t have to move in with Grandpa!”

 What?

 Goku heard the words but he wasn’t sure if heard correctly. “Why are you and Mom moving in with Grandpa?”

 “Grandpa’s mad at you, too. Grandpa told Mom if you didn’t return in a year, Mom and I should live with him.” Gohan wasn’t upset but smiling at his father as he explained, “It doesn’t matter since you’re here. Mom and I are staying home and Grandpa won’t be mad at you anymore.”

It just kept piling up on Goku. His friends. The people in Gyu-Mao’s village. Gyu-Mao. He knew ChiChi would be upset he didn’t come back. He thought after the hospital his friends wouldn’t be that way anymore. He didn’t consider Gyu-Mao or the people in his village’s thoughts and how that affected ChiChi.

 I’m dead. ChiChi’s gonna kill me when I walk in our house.

 The three resumed flying home. “So, besides seeing Grandpa, what else have you been doing?”

 “I caught up on all the schoolwork I missed. I’m attending school.” Gohan stopped speaking as he realized something. “Since we’re training for the next three years, does that me I won’t be in school?”

 “Yeah,” Goku confirmed. “I’m gonna need you for this fight, Gohan. You understand, don’t you?”

 “I do, but my class has a fieldtrip to the zoo. I wanted to go.” He added, “Mom won’t be happy if I miss school for three years.”

 He really didn’t need Gohan to remind of that.

 Finally after two long years, Goku landed in the yard of his home on Mount Paouz. Goku stood outside taking a moment to look around this place. It hadn’t changed in two years. There were times he wasn’t sure if he would ever see this place again.

 Goku felt a hand slip in his. He looked down to see Gohan holding his hand and smiling at him. He saw tears around Gohan’s eyes. His little boy. How he must’ve missed him. He missed him, too. Goku picked up Gohan and held him to his chest to give him a proper hug.

 “I’m so glad you’re back, Dad,” Gohan whispered. “I really missed you!”

 “I missed you and Mommy, too,” Goku whispered to his son. His hand stroke his son’s long, shaggy hair and inhaled his scent. For the moment, Goku didn’t think of the future. He focused on the present. He was home again with his family. Now that he properly greeted his son, there was one more person he long to greet in a more passionate way. Goku lowered Gohan to the ground but didn’t let go of his hand. “Come on. Let’s tell Mommy I’m home.”

 Gohan wiped his tears. “Okay.” He noticed Piccolo in his usual meeting spot when Gohan saw him behind his mother’s back. “Mr. Piccolo can’t come in our house, Dad.”

 Goku turned to see Piccolo standing far from his home. “Why?”

 “Mom doesn’t like I still see Mr. Piccolo but she doesn’t stop me from seeing him. She said monsters aren’t welcomed in our home.”

 Goku winced at ChiChi’s choice of words. Sounds like she hasn’t forgiven Piccolo what he did to him at the tournament or kidnapping Gohan. He couldn’t blame her but ChiChi allowing Gohan to see Piccolo is still impressive. He doubt she would allow that if she knew what Piccolo did to Gohan that year he was away from her.

 Goku had his own issues, too, in regards of Piccolo’s treatment of Gohan and it was something he will discuss with him at some point. For now, there were bigger issues to focus on. “I’ll talk to ChiChi about it,” Goku promised. “Stay out here, Piccolo.”

 Piccolo grunted, crossed his arms and stood in his usual spot.

 Holding Gohan’s hand, Goku walked to his home. He turned the knob, opened the door and entered. Goku stood in the doorway looking around, taking in the fact he was truly home. The familiar sounds of a timer beeping on the stove, the bubbling of the rice cooker, and the smells of delicious foods drew him to the kitchen where he spotted her.

 ChiChi’s back was to him and Gohan as she stood at the counter chopping food. Pots were on all four ranges on the stove, food cluttered the counters and a pile of dishes were filling the sink. Goku just stared, happy to be home, happy to be with his family again. His eyes swept over ChiChi in her cute bun and her cute dress. She always looked good from behind but he wanted to see her pretty face, inhale her wonderful scent, touch her lips and taste that sweet mouth of hers that’s haunted him in this year away from her. She will be angry when she saw him. She will be angry when he tells her he’s taking Gohan out of school for three years but all Goku wanted right now is to pull his wife in his arms and give her a kiss.

 “Sit down, Gohan. I wanna talk to you.”

 Goku grinned, amused ChiChi hadn’t noticed him. He made a gesture to Gohan to play along.

Gohan pulled a chair from the table and sat down. “Yes, Mom?”

 Slowly, Goku approached ChiChi as she continued, her food chopping getting louder as Goku neared her. “You know better than to run off like that. It’s bad enough your father left us alone for a year, making me a single mother, making me wonder if he’s ever coming back.” It was as if ChiChi stabbed his heart. Goku brushed it off and quietly crept to her. “I will not accept that behavior from his son! Do you hear me?!”

 Goku grabbed ChiChi’s waist and turned her to face him. He smiled down at her as he said, “Perfectly.”

 It was like a dream for ChiChi. One moment she’s chopping vegetables for dinner and lecturing Gohan for flying off with no word on where he’s going; the next she felt a pair of hands on her waist and her body whirling around to the face her husband. Her gone for a year husband. Her husband that refused to be wished back. That husband. This was a ghost. It had to be a ghost staring at her with that wild hair of her husband, that handsome face, that cute smile. Her husband could not be here in the flesh.

 “Go….ku?”

 “ChiChi,” his deeper voice rumbled as he closed the thin space between them.

 ChiChi managed a squeak as Goku practically pounced on her. His sudden lips on hers knocked ChiChi off her feet. Losing her balance, ChiChi grabbed a piece of his hair with one hand but felt part of her body still slipping. That’s when Goku grabbed the wrist of her other hand. The one that held the sharp knife. She felt his fingers put pressure on her wrist as he forced her to drop the knife. Her mouth was forcefully opened by Goku’s as she was lifted to settle on the counter’s edge with Goku’s body molding to hers while her legs dangled helplessly off the floor.

 Struggling was a futile battle as Goku’s tongue navigated itself in her mouth. He felt an arm settle around him as ChiChi returned with a fierce, heated kiss of her own. Though her breasts and his chest were covered, the feel of their clothed bodies rubbing against each other was enough to stimulate sensations both hadn’t felt in quite a while. Goku held back a moan as the scent between ChiChi’s legs reached his nose.

 Damn he missed that scent!

 Only ChiChi’s need for air forced Goku away. ChiChi put a hand over her chest to calm her racing heart and rapid rise and fall of her chest. With the other, ChiChi’s hand touched Goku’s face in disbelief. She touched the bangs of his hair, his cheeks with a finger brushing over his lips.

 “Goku,” she was breathless. “Is it really you? I’m not dreaming this, am I?”

 Feeling playful, Goku’s mouth opened and pulled ChiChi’s finger in his mouth. ChiChi’s cheeks turned pink as Goku’s tongue swept over her finger. When he pulled his mouth out, he winked at her, “Stew for dinner? I sure missed your cooking, ChiChi. I can’t wait to eat it!”

 “Goku!!” ChiChi screamed. She jumped off the counter into his arms. Goku stumbled back at ChiChi’s sudden attack. He held an arm around her waist as her legs wrapped around his and her arms around his neck as she squeezed him fiercely.

 Goku laughed as this brought back memories of ChiChi jumping in his arms after he beat Piccolo. At the time, he was embarrassed and confused by the affection. Now he embraced it as he returned the hug and spun around the room with his wife in his arms and his son looking on happily.

 “Ah, I missed ya, ChiChi.”

 ChiChi unwrapped her legs as she settled them on the floor again. Her eyes were still on Goku as she touched him; making sure her husband was really here in their home. “Goku,” ChiChi whispered. “I…. thought you…. I wasn’t sure if…”

 His fingers thread her hair while the other hand held her waist as he bent her back for another kiss. He wanted to erase the negative thoughts that filled her mind about him from his friends, the people in her village and her father. He wanted ChiChi to not believe those foul words but believe in them and what they have.

 So lost in connecting with his wife, Goku hadn’t noticed or probably didn’t care Gohan was watching them. They showed affections in front of their son but they were hugs and brief kisses. Never this. Before the ordeal with Raditz, Gohan vaguely remembered his parents’ kiss, hug and hold hands. Times were happier then. Easier, too. There were no worries of fights or anyone dying. Mom was happier then, too. Sometimes she got upset with Dad when he interrupted his studies but she was mostly happy.

 After seeing his mother so unhappy this year, Gohan was overjoyed she was smiling again. He knew Dad coming back will make things right. He’ll make Mom happy again, make Grandpa happy with him again. His family won’t have to move. Everything will be perfect again.

 Goku pulled ChiChi to stand upright again as he parted from the kiss. ChiChi smiled at him tenderly. He could see the happiness on her face and love in her eyes for him as she took in the fact he was home. He mirrored her smile happy to be home and reunited with his family again.

 It was a perfect before ChiChi’s pretty face turned into a scowl and her hand slapped across Goku’s face so hard it echoed over the room and Goku stumbled back several steps with the table saving his body from falling on the floor.

 “Where the hell were you and why didn’t you come home when we wished you back?!”

 Goku touched his stinging face as his furious wife approached him. He thought with the kisses he bought some time avoiding this confrontation. “Uh….well…..” he looked over ChiChi at the cooking food. It smelled so delicious. It was torture being without ChiChi’s food for so long. It was inhumane to be near it now and not allowed a taste. “Could we eat first?”

 “No! You’re not eating until you explain yourself!!”

 After a year, ChiChi did deserve that. “After my fight with Freeza, I found a ship and escaped before Namek exploded. I crashed on a planet called Yardrat. I spent the year there recovering and learning a new technique taught by my friend, Soba.”

 “Technique?” ChiChi did not sound happy he spent time away learning a new skill. “What technique?”

 If he tell her about it, even show ChiChi, it could distract her from asking anymore questions. It worked with his son and friends. “I can move miles in seconds. All I have to do is find a Ki very far away and I can take myself there. It’s called Teleportation.”

 “He really can, Mom,” Gohan spoke up for his Dad. “It’s amazing! Dad went to Master Roshi’s island and came back in seconds!”

 ChiChi ignored her son. Her eyes were solely on Goku. “So the reason you were away for a year, you were recovering from your fight against Freeza and learning this Teleportation technique?”

 Goku grinned as ChiChi’s face softened. She believed him. “Uh-huh.”

 The scowled quickly returned to ChiChi’s face. “Do you take me for a fool, Goku?!”

 Damn. He told Soba he could fool his friends but not his wife but even he thought he would have more time before ChiChi saw through him. “Um…..”

 “Gohan, stay here!” ChiChi grabbed Goku by the collar of his strange top and dragged him to their bedroom. She could hear Goku whining and protesting as he was dragged down the hall. ChiChi pulled Goku into her bedroom and slammed the door shut.

 Goku took a moment to look around. ChiChi had made some changes in two years. There was a new comforter on the bed; new curtains and boxes. Boxes of her things Gyu-Mao wanted ChiChi to bring with her back to his castle. The biggest change Goku didn’t understand was ChiChi.

 “Why are we in here?” Goku asked. “You never minded yelling at me in front of Gohan.”

 “That’s not why I brought you here.”

 ChiChi’s calm voice forced Goku to turn around. If she wasn’t going to yell at him why did she bring him to their room?

 “Goku,” ChiChi stepped away from the door to approach him. “When you were in the hospital, the doctors told me physically you will never be the same again. They told me it will be four months before you are healed and with therapy you can walk in six months. You walked in nearly two months. Since you made it to a spaceship to escape planet Namek, you were obviously in better condition than you were after your fight with Vegeta. Am I right?”

 “Yeah,” he said slowly not sure where ChiChi was going with this. “I was still hurt though and running on adrenaline.”

 ChiChi exhaled. This man she love was testing her patience again. “Goku, you won’t be a scholar like Gohan but you’re not stupid. In terms of fighting, you’re a genius. You pick up things easily when it comes to fighting so don’t think for a second I believe it took you a year to recover and learn this Teleportation technique. Something else kept you away and I wanna know why.”

 Goku mentally cursed. He was stupid to think he could fool ChiChi the way he fooled his friends. She knew him much better than them.

 “What happened to you on Namek?”

 That soft voice of hers; the concern in her eyes. She was breaking through his barrier. “Hmm?”

“Gohan said you turned into a Super Saiyan; that you raised your voice at him. What’s that all about?” ChiChi linked her hands in his and kept her eyes on him. “He said it happened after Krillin was killed by Freeza. You told me how angry you were when King Piccolo’s minions killed him. I can only imagine what witnessing Krillin’s death did to you.” Her hands released his. She cupped his face in her hands forcing him to look at her. “What did turning into a Super Saiyan do to you, Goku?”

 Goku broke ChiChi’s hold on him and turned his back on her. He had control but he still didn’t like thinking of how he reacted when he struggled with it on Yardrat. He knew at some point he’ll have to tell ChiChi. He just didn’t want it to be now. “I’ll tell you later.”

 ChiChi turned Goku to face her. “Tell me now.” She brought his face down to hers for a kiss. “Please.” She whispered between kisses. “Please tell me now.”

 Her lips were like a magnet. Her scent was intoxicating, compelling him to open up to her. Still, he resisted. Goku gently grasp ChiChi’s wrist, broke the kiss and shook his head at her. “Not now. Maybe later.” He smiled hopeful. “I just got home. Let’s celebrate that right now. There’s time for the other stuff later.”

 Goku moved to kiss her again but ChiChi pulled back hard. “Maybe later? I’m your wife. I deserve to know now.”

 The tenderness in her voice was gone. It was laced with rising anger. “ChiChi…..”

 “Don’t I deserve to know what happened to my husband? Why he didn’t return home when he could’ve?”

 Disgusted, ChiChi snatched herself from Goku’s hands. If looks could kill… “ChiChi, it’s not like that.”

 ChiChi was too angry to listen. All she knew her husband refused to tell her something she rightfully deserved to know and that pissed her off. “After what I’ve been through this year, you think I don’t deserve to know the truth?! Do you care our son had a mental breakdown after he came home from Namek? He couldn’t get out of bed for a week! Do you know how many nights I had to go to Gohan’s room because he woke up screaming over what he went through on Namek? How many times I had to stay with him until he went back to sleep?!”

 Nightmares. He had a few of those on Yardrat. Sometimes he couldn’t go back to sleep. He didn’t think about Gohan suffering from them, too. He never considered Gohan having a mental breakdown. He’d guess he had something similar while on Yardrat. The thought of his son suffering like that and he wasn’t there to help him…

 “I did my best to make things as normal as possible for Gohan,” ChiChi continued. “Me and my father. It was a month before things started to get back to normal and the only thing that got me through it was the thought of you coming back in four months but you know what happened when we gathered the dragon balls to wish you back?” Goku knew what happened; wished things were different. He wanted to come home but ChiChi didn’t know that as she screamed in his face. “You refused to come back!! Do you know how crushed and embarrassed I felt when you rejected that wish?!”

 “I’m sorry,” Goku apologized. He knew that wasn’t enough for ChiChi. She was in full rage now. “I knew you would be upset, but…..” he shrugged not knowing how to explain himself so ChiChi could understand.

 “Upset?” ChiChi scoffed. “If only that’s all I felt. I had to listen to your friends blame me for you not returning!”

 Goku knew about that, too. “Gohan mentioned something about that.”

 ChiChi will always consider their words cruel but it was so hurtful they did it in front of her son. “They gossiped how I’m not a good wife for you; how they expected me to yell at you for being away for so long even though I thought you died on Namek.” ChiChi laughed mirthlessly. “I didn’t know what really happened on Namek until Gohan returned to Earth.”

 “Really happen?” Goku felt a heavy sense of dread. ChiChi couldn’t be saying what he thought.

 “Master Roshi told me everything was fine; the Nameks were helping Gohan and Krillin locate the dragon balls. He didn’t tell me about Vegeta or Freeza.”

 A frustrated sighed escaped Goku’s lips and a frustrated hand ran down his face. Dammit. Why did Master Roshi lie again? “Why didn’t he tell you?”

 “Bulma told him not to. Bulma told him to tell everyone what’s happening on Namek except me, your wife, Gohan’s mother, the one person who’s at risk of losing everything!!!”

 Goku rolled his eyes. They did do it again. “Fucking hell.” What was Bulma thinking? What was Master Roshi thinking listening to her?

 The sharp language surprised ChiChi. Goku cursed occasionally but he never used that word unless they were intimate.

 Goku rest his hands on her shoulders. He spoke seriously to her. “ChiChi, I’m sorry. I thought Master Roshi told you the truth. After I talked to them, I thought they wouldn’t keep anything from you anymore.”

 She felt Goku pull her to him probably for a hug or a kiss but ChiChi broke away him. She didn’t want his affections now. That moment was over when he refused to tell her why he didn’t come back. “Don’t you try that! I’m still mad at you! These two years have been hell for me. You couldn’t prevent your death but you didn’t have to abandon me and Gohan for a year! You won’t tell me what really happened to you! Your friends have nothing to do with that! That’s your decision! ”

 “Chi-“ The soft hand of his wife clapped against his face hard.

 “I felt like a single mother because of you!” She slapped him again. “The pitying looks of my people; the whispers you abandon us; trying to be strong for Gohan when he wondered if you will ever come back.” Her hand stung his face again. “Every day I had to wonder if you’re coming home and as more time passed I started to believe your friends were right; that you didn’t think I was a good wife for you.” Whap! She hit his face again! “You didn’t want me or Gohan!” His face turned at another slap. “And you didn’t want to come home!!”

 ChiChi swung her hand to slap him but Goku caught her wrist. ChiChi tried to pull away but Goku kept a firm hold on her. He yanked ChiChi to him. ChiChi pressed a hand against his chest to pry herself from Goku but he wouldn’t let her go. Her eyes went up to Goku’s. He looked so serious, so angry and teal eyes? His shocking look brought a pause to ChiChi’s actions.  

 “Don’t you think that. Don’t you EVER think that! There’s a reason I spent five years with you and didn’t think of visiting them!” ChiChi could feel rage seething from her husband; hear it in his voice and see it on his face; his eyes. “My friends didn’t always understand me. They don’t understand you. They never even tried.” His frustration was evident as he just didn’t understand how his friends could treat ChiChi this way. “You can’t believe anything they say about us.”

 “What…..” ChiChi gasped. “What’s happening to you? Your eyes….” Her hand caressed his hair blonde hair. “Is…. Is this that Super Saiyan thing Gohan talked about? Is this why you didn’t come back?” ChiChi saw Goku’s hair changed to black, fall back into place, eyes returned to normal and him turn his back on her. “Goku?”

 Several moments passed and Goku still didn’t say anything. Now that she saw his transformation, saw his anger, ChiChi started to see there was more to Goku not returning than she thought. Whatever happened, it bothered him so much he didn’t want to share it. It reminded her of early in the marriage when Goku was reluctant to tell her about his Grandpa. As much as she wanted to know, she realized she had to wait until Goku was ready to talk to her.

 “I …. I should check on dinner,” ChiChi started for the door, resigning she will have to wait.  

 “I….I snapped,” he spoke as ChiChi touched the door knob. ChiChi released it and turned to Goku. “Being a Super Saiyan is nothing I’ve experience before.” Slowly, ChiChi walked away from the door and returned to Goku. “I wanted to kill Freeza. I wanted to make him suffer for what he did to Krillin. I was blinded by rage. I barely had any reason left when I sent Gohan away.

 “In the end, I showed Freeza mercy. I still thought he was dead but I didn’t finish him off like I should’ve. When I was on Yardrat, I didn’t have control of this new power. I would change suddenly and it wasn’t easy turning it off. I didn’t know becoming a Super Saiyan changed me forever until much later.”

 ChiChi was now standing in front of him. Her hands linked with his again. “How did it change you?”

 “I started remembering things I never remembered before. Those blackouts I had when I looked at a full moon; my memories came back in dreams and sometimes during the day if something I do or something that’s said trigger it.” His fingers brushed over hers. “Some were nice like us being intimate under a full moon but there were memories that triggered my rage and it was a struggle to control. I nearly destroyed a city on Yardrat because I had a memory I never wanted to recover.”

 “Never wanted….?” ChiChi thought for a moment what that could be. “Gohan?” she whispered. “You remembered when you…..” Goku’s heavy nod confirmed it for ChiChi. “And you exploded in rage.”

 “I killed some bad guys, nearly destroyed a city and hurt a friend. I wanted to come home but I couldn’t. I would’ve hurt you and Gohan if I did.”

 There were still some holes in Goku’s story that ChiChi knew Goku will later fill but she understood enough. “That’s why you stayed away for a year.”  

 “I have control of it now,” Goku swore to her.

 “I believe you.” ChiChi knew Goku wouldn’t come home if he was still a risk. “I believe you,” she told him again. “And I understand why you didn’t want to tell me.”

 “I wanted to,” he needed her to understand that, “but I wanted to wait first.”

 “I know.” She gave him a kiss to let him know she understood. “So,” her smile became playful, “do you think I can see it again? The Super Saiyan thing?”

 Goku’s eyebrows went up surprised. “You wanna see it again?”

 “I didn’t really see it the first time. I was in shock and you were like that for a few seconds.”

 That was true. Well, if ChiChi wanted to see it, Goku saw no harm showing her. “Rrrh!” he growled raising his Ki to transform before ChiChi’s eyes again.

 With a second look at the transformation, ChiChi’s eyes went up and her mouth fell opened. She stared for the longest time before finding the courage to touch her glowing husband. ChiChi touched his hair. It always defied gravity but it felt as it had before when it was black. The change was striking and oddly simplistic. “The way Gohan described it, I expected a monster.” She touched his face. Usually when ChiChi touched his face, Goku’s eyes would soften. There was a kindness in his eyes that only she saw. It wasn’t there now. There was a passionate rawness in his eyes now. She had seen that before. Well, a few times actually during the full moon.

 ChiChi’s hands fell to Goku’s shoulders. Her fingers gripped him as she explored him over her clothes. Her heart skipped a few beats as that raw need in Goku’s eyes bore into hers. “You…feel bigger…..” With one hand on his chest and the other on his arm, she squeezed the material of his clothes to feel the flesh underneath. “Stronger.”

 Transfixed by his intense stare, ChiChi raised herself on her toes. She wondered what it would be like to kiss him this way. A spark of electricity zipped through her as her lips pressed against his. Oh, wow! There was an intensity in this kiss, a different taste in this form. Her mouth moved with his as Goku’s tongue swept inside her mouth, tasting her as if he was starved. ChiChi clutched onto Goku even tighter as she felt him harden and swell against her. She could feel herself becoming wet against him.  

 Goku’s hand gently pressed the back of her neck, keeping her in place as he explored her mouth more thoroughly. ChiChi didn’t protest the prolonged kiss as his other hand grabbed her hips and rubbed against her for temporarily relief.

 He felt ChiChi’s hands in his hair, tugging the spikes. He remembered that warning. Goku pulled away allowing ChiChi a chance to breathe. As ChiChi caught her breath, Goku kept her close to him. “Your slaps hurt.”

 ChiChi laughed against his chest. “Liar.”

 “No, no, it’s true.” His hand caressed her back. “I’ve gotten a lot stronger since I’ve become a Super Saiyan. I didn’t think I could feel you hitting me.” He touched her chin forcing ChiChi to gaze at him. “You’ve been training since I’ve been gone.”

 ChiChi shrugged. She didn’t think it was a big deal. “What if I have?” She felt Goku’s hands rubbed her backside appreciatively while his stiff front pressed her against his hips. “Oh.”

 There was a wicked smile on Goku’s face as he stepped forward, forcing her to step back: one steps, two steps, three until the back of her legs touched the bed. “We are gonna have a rematch.”

 “Rematch?”

 “You don’t think I will let you keep that victory over me in that desert?” he laughed at his wife. She actually thought that. Silly woman. “I’m a Saiyan,” he whispered to her flushed face. “I have to win. I can’t stand losing. But before our rematch….” He grabbed the top of her cheongsam and ripped it open. Buttons flew and ChiChi was momentarily speechless her husband ripped her top open with only her bra to protect her against his grabby hands.

 Goku pushed her. ChiChi was momentarily stunned as she felt herself land on the bed. “What do you think you’re----“ Goku tugged her pants. ChiChi yelped as she felt herself sliding towards him. She grabbed the headboard to steady herself. Her body no longer slid to him but her pants did as Goku pulled them and her boots off her.

 ChiChi laid on the bed panting, momentarily dazed as she realized her position: her ripped top was open; leaving her exposed in only a bra to momentarily protect her from the lustful gaze of her husband. Without her pants, her legs were free and exposed to her hips; also unprotected from her husband who was now crawling over her.

 “Goku…. stop,” she tried to protest. “We can’t. Gohan’s still awake and your hair’s still---“ Her mouth was shut when Goku’s lips settled over her. His hand opened the front clip of her bra. He pushed aside the cups revealing ChiChi’s breasts to him.

 ChiChi muscled some strength to break the kiss but Goku grabbed ChiChi’s hands and pinned them to the bed. His wicked smile made ChiChi nervous. “I haven’t returned the favor you gave me in the hospital. I gonna make up for that now.” Leaning over he licked her neck. “Mmm. You taste better when I’m a Super Saiyan.”

 “What?” ChiChi gasped.

 “I learned all of my senses are enhanced when I’m a Super Saiyan.” He followed up with another lick. “Your smell is driving me crazy. I can’t wait to taste ya!”

 ChiChi felt Goku released her hands. This was her time to move but she laid frozen as Goku palmed both of her breasts, massaging the flesh tenderly while his fingers pinched her nipples. His mouth capture one plump breast in his mouth. “Mmm,” she whimpered feeling his tongue circling her nipple before his teeth gave it a firm tug. “Ah!” her body arch and Goku opened his mouth wider to take more of her breast in his mouth while the other swelled under Goku’s other hand as he squeezed the flesh and pinched the nipples before mauling it with his mouth in the same treatment he gave her other breast.

 As much as ChiChi enjoyed the attention on her breasts, there was another part of her that desperately wanted attention badly. ChiChi gripped Goku’s shoulders urging him off. Confused teal eyes met her dark ones. “Please.” She wrapped a leg over his, opening herself wider for him. “We can focus on the rest later.”

 Goku’s grin turned sly as he settled between ChiChi’s open legs. As a Super Saiyan, Goku’s senses were heightened. ChiChi’s tasty scent between her legs was always alluring. Now it was like a potent drug. He licked his lips seeing how she was already oozing with her juices. Her panties were soaked. He pressed his hands on her thighs, keeping ChiChi open and pinned down as he ripped the soaked piece with his teeth.

 To ChiChi’s shock, he swallowed it! “Goku,” ChiChi gasped, “those aren’t the edible ones.”

 “Edible to me.” He dived in licking ChiChi from the bottom to the top of her sex; stopping only to tease her hardened clit with his hungry tongue. He could feel ChiChi squirm under him and struggling to suppress her voice the more he licked her sweet taste. In his Super Saiyan state, ChiChi tasted sweeter, which made him hungrier for ChiChi as he licked and sucker her faster and harder.

 “Oh!” He heard ChiChi cry out when his tongue slipped into that long neglected hole between her legs. ChiChi’s hand intertwined in his blond hair and pressed him further against her wet folds as if she wanted to mold his tongue to him here. “Keep going!” she begged him. “Don’t stop.”

 Goku honored her request alternating between digging his tongue in her, licking her wet folds and nibbling her clit. ChiChi felt her body clenched his thrusting tongue a few times, her orgasm building as his teeth nibbled at the sensitive nerves of her clit, forcing her body to shake and more moisture to spill from her onto the sheets Goku’s hungry tongue until it all came together when her trembling body released a blissful cry tore from her throat.

 “Mmm,” ChiChi said dreamily as her body still buzzed with beautiful feelings she hadn’t felt in far too long. “Oh, Goku. That was…..” she stopped seeing Goku sit up with his legs straddling her hips. The bulge in his pants was big and the stain in the patch of his pants was growing. Mesmerized, ChiChi viewed Goku pulling his shirt from his pants, over his stomach and higher to give her a teasing strip show over his rippling muscles.  

 She should tell him to stop stripping. Gohan was in the kitchen waiting for them and they've been in here long enough to raise suspicion on what they're really doing. It would be wise to stop now and resume later when there's more time for exploration. On the other hand, it's been two years and her husband looked so delicious right now. Her eyes settled on the thick bulge.

A taste she decided as she licked her lips. She just needed a taste. 

As soon as Goku tossed the shirt over his head, Chichi grabbed the waist of his pants and pulled herself to sit up. With Goku's assistance, she tugged the pants down to his knees. Her eyes widen slightly. He was bigger and his tip oozed with his juice. Knowing time was limited. Chichi settled between him cocooning her breasts between his thick shaft. She squeezed, giving herself some pleasure and smothering him slightly that some of his sweet taste dripped on her breasts. With a firm grip of Goku sandwiched between her breasts, Chichi leaned forward to give him a teasing lick. 

“Mom? Dad?” Gohan's voice followed with a few knocks. "Are you still in there?"

 “Gohan?” He was on the other side! The door! She never locked it! ChiChi shoved Goku away, leapt off the bed and grabbed the doorknob before Gohan could turn it. At the same time, Goku flipped backwards off the bed from ChiChi’s shove and fell on the floor with a hard thud. 

 “Ow!” Goku howled. “ChiChi, I fell on my cock!”

“Goku!” ChiChi screamed at him. Hand still on the doorknob, ChiChi addressed her son. “What is it, Gohan?”

 “The food is burning up.” Gohan spoke from the other side. “I turned the stove off. Is Dad okay?” Gohan could hear his father groaning.  “He sounds in pain.”

 “He’s all right. He just tripped and hit something.”

 “You pushed me!” Goku yelled back.

 “Shut up!!” ChiChi snapped back silencing him. To the door, she told Gohan. “Go back to the kitchen. I’ll be there.”

 “Okay,” Gohan sounded hesitant but ChiChi could hear his retreating footsteps.

 ChiChi placed a hand on her forehead and sighed. That was too close. She noticed Goku still lying on the floor groaning with his hand on his groin. “Are you okay, Goku?”

 “No!” He pouted frowning at her. “I hope it’s not broken.”

 “It’s not broken.” If can he survive a fight with an evil tyrant on a dying planet, ChiChi knew Goku will survive falling on his hard penis. “You’ll be fine when the sting goes away.” She went to her closet for a fresh set of clothes. The tatters she wore will have to be thrown away. “I need to clean up real quick and you need a real shower.”

 Goku perked up at the idea of a shower. He and ChiChi hadn’t taken one together in two years. Just imagining him and ChiChi in the shower together caused his still tender penis to react painfully. “Ow!”

 “Oh, Goku,” ChiChi rolled her eyes as she stepped in the bathroom. “It can’t be that bad!”

 ******************

 After a quick shower and change of clothes that left Gohan puzzled, ChiChi focused on finishing dinner. While ChiChi placed food on the table, she became aware of her predicament. She only cooked enough for her and Gohan. She hadn’t prepared for Goku. As she thought of her husband and his bottomless pit of a stomach, he entered the room wearing loose blue pants and a white tank shirt. Her eyes drifted on the muscles on his arms and the outline of his chest through his tight shirt.

 Her eyes moved to the center of his pants. No bulge now but she remembered what it looked like. An inner shudder passed over her as she felt her body getting hot and moisture form between her legs again. Her eyes continued to stare at him there, imagining him stretching her…..

 “ChiChi?”

 “Huh?!” ChiChi snapped out of her daze, looking around frantic. “What? Huh? What?”

 Goku stood in front of ChiChi. “Is dinner’s ready? I’m starvin’.”

 “Oh, um,” ChiChi turned away from Goku fanning herself. “It’s ready but I only made enough for me and Gohan.”

 “I can always hunt something if I’m still hungry.” Goku looked back to see Gohan wasn’t watching them. He took the moment to rub himself against ChiChi’s backside. “But I think after dinner, I’ll be ready for bed. It was a long trip and I’m tired.”

 ChiChi gripped the counter unable to move lest she cause a scene that will direct Gohan’s attention on them. Goku’s rub against her let her know he’s recovered from earlier and he had plans for them later. Before she found her voice to whisper for him to stop, Goku pulled away and join Gohan at the table.

 Distracting herself, ChiChi focused on placing food on the table. She was so happy. Their first family dinner in two years. As she gripped the hot pot of stew, ChiChi noticed something from the window. Someone or something was outside. The person wore a long white cape and dark clothes.

 Piccolo? She couldn’t stop Gohan from being friends with him or see him but she made it very clear to her son she didn’t want to see Piccolo near her home. Why was that monster blazingly making himself known on today of all days? Why did Gohan disobey her?

 Then again, maybe Piccolo wasn’t out there because of her son. She turned to her husband. For a year, her orders were followed but Goku didn’t know about it which meant if Piccolo was here, it was because of Goku. Did Goku invite Piccolo to his house?

 Grabbing her pot, ChiChi carried it to the table and nearly slammed it down to get her husband’s attention. “Goku, why is Piccolo in our yard?”

 “Hmm?” Goku thought for a moment then laughed remembering he did invite Piccolo to stay and be his sparring partner. “Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you. He’s gonna be living with us for three years.”

 “WHAT?!”

 ChiChi’s scream caused Goku and Gohan to jump out of their seats. Oh, boy. He was hoping to tell ChiChi this tomorrow when he, Piccolo and Gohan started training. He thought by then he would’ve thought of a way to calmly tell her. “You see, in three years, we have to fight these Artificial Humans or Cyborgs created by Dr. Gero that’s gonna kill everyone.”

 “Wh—“ Three years? Artificial Humans? “What the hell are you talking about?! How do you know what’s gonna happen in three years?! What are Artificial Humans and why the hell did you tell Piccolo he can stay here for three years?!”

 “Dad,” Gohan nervously spoke, “maybe you better start from the beginning.”

 “Good idea!” Goku thanked his son. “ChiChi, when I landed, Gohan and everyone else were waiting for me.”

 Instead of focusing her anger only on her husband, ChiChi directed it at her son, too. “Is that why you ran off? Why didn’t you tell me your father was back?”

 “No, Mom,” Gohan clarified. “I left because I felt Freeza’s Ki on Earth. Dad hadn’t arrived yet.”

 “Freeza? That monster your father fought on Namek?” ChiChi directed her anger back on Goku. “You told me you showed mercy but you did kill him.”

 “How was I to know leaving him on exploding planet wasn’t enough to kill him?” Goku’s argument was enough to silence ChiChi for the moment. “Long story but he recovered and wanted revenge on me so he came here but before I could get to Earth, another person arrived. He killed Freeza. He told Gohan and everyone when I will be coming so they waited for me.”

 “How did he know when you were coming?”

 “Because he came twenty years from the future.”

 ChiChi’s mouth open but it took several moments before words could come out. “The future? Y—you’re saying someone traveled in time to see you?”

 After everything that’s happened to them, Goku didn’t understand why that seemed so hard for ChiChi to believe. “Yeah, but that’s not the important part. He told me three years from now Cyborgs will kill off more than half the population. All our friends will be killed by them. Even Gohan.”

 “Gohan?” ChiChi clutched a hand over her heart. Her baby will die?! “Why couldn’t you stop them?!”

 “I die before they come.”

 “You die?” ChiChi’s head shook in denial. “You’re taken from us again,” ChiChi whispered. Not again. She couldn’t handle losing her husband again.

 ChiChi felt her feet giving away but Goku gripped ChiChi’s shoulders and prevented her from collapsing. “A heart virus kills me,” he broke the news as gently as he could but tears pooled from ChiChi’s eyes anyway. “Don’t cry, ChiChi. The boy from the future gave me the cure. I already put it away for safe keeping.”

 “So,” ChiChi softly, wiped away her tears, “you will be alive to fight these monsters?”

 “Yep.” A smiled returned to ChiChi’s face. Good. Now she understood she didn’t have to worry anymore. “The good news is we have three years to prepare. Me, Piccolo and Gohan will start training tomorrow.”

 “Gohan?” ChiChi pulled out of Goku’s grasp. “Why do you include Gohan if you’re gonna be alive to stop them? Why do you have to start training so soon? You just got back. You have three years.”

 Now Goku was confused. Didn’t ChiChi hear what he said? “We have to prepare for the fight, ChiChi.”

 ChiChi couldn’t believe this. Her husband just returned home after being away for a year. Well, almost two and a half years if you count him being dead a year. For the first time since that awful reunion, she, Goku and Gohan can be a family again. Gohan was back on track with his studies. With Goku back, ChiChi thought Goku will find a job that brought in a steady income. She also thought they will get started on their second child but everything was going to be sidetracked again! Goku standing before her smiling as if it wasn’t a big deal for them to give up three more years of their lives pissed her off! Goku was too far gone to save but what about Gohan. If she let Goku take Gohan from his studies for three years, Gohan will be a fighter like Goku always wanted which will lead Gohan unprepared for adulthood like he was when they marry.  

 No! No! NO!! ChiChi was not going to allow that!

 “NO!” ChiChi roared causing Goku and Gohan to flinch. “I can’t believe you want to go off training again when you just got back! What about getting to the life we had before you died?! What about financially providing for your family again?!”

 Goku rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He wanted that, too. Not the working part but definitely the family part but there wasn’t time for that. He couldn’t be Earth’s defender and have a happy life with his family. These last two years told him he was done being the hero. He had the intention of looking for a successor but Trunks’ grim news told him he had to be the defender a little longer. The world depended on him but more importantly, ChiChi and Gohan’s future depended on him.

 “I can’t focus on that now, ChiChi,” he told her seriously. “Not with these Cyborgs coming.”

With the change in Goku’s voice, ChiChi knew he was going to train no matter what she said. “I can’t stop you but you are not dragging Gohan into this! With that medicine, you’ll be alive to fight! Go fight, but you are not putting Gohan’s life and future at stake by dragging him into this, too!”

 No. ChiChi needed to understand Gohan was fighting with them. The last thing he wanted right now was a fight with his wife but that was the direction they were going. “I can still get killed by them, ChiChi. Gohan needs to train to so he can help us. We need him. He’s incredibly strong.”

“I don’t care that he is! Three years will put him farther behind in his studies!”

 “What’s the point in studying when the world can be gone in three years?” He looked at her amused. Was his wife serious now? “You can’t think Gohan’s studying is more important than saving the world.”

 He looked amused as if what she thought was silly. Was he mocking her for caring about their child? She wished she could smack that silly grin off his face. “Yeah, I do!” She yelled getting in his face. “Nothing is more important than Gohan’s studying!”

 Yeah, right. No way ChiChi was serious. Goku laughed, “You’re such a kidder!” he slapped her arm amused. It was meant to be a light tap but that ‘light’ tap knocked ChiChi off her feet, through a wall of their house and into a tree several feet away. His wife’s screams and two loud crashes alerted him to what he did.

 “ChiChi!” Goku screamed as he ran out the house. He saw ChiChi’s legs standing in the air with her body buried among a rubble of rocks and the broken tree her body collided with. “ChiChi! I’m sorry. I meant to tap you but I’ve gotten so strong!” As he stood there looking at his unmoving wife, Goku’s mind flashed back to that day on Yardrat when he lost control.

 I thought I had control. I know I had control. What have I done?

 Goku was brought back to the present when Gohan sprinted pass him. “Why are you standing there, Dad?!” Gohan yelled at him. “Mom needs help!”

 When Goku reached ChiChi, Gohan was carefully pulling ChiChi’s body from the rubble. Goku could hear Gohan murmur ‘Mom,’ worriedly over and over. The bun in ChiChi’s hair had loosened and her hair spilled over her face. Gohan placed his ear to ChiChi’s chest. “Her heart’s beating.”

 Goku crept closer and pulled the hair from ChiChi’s face. She had a sharp cut on her cheek where blood spilled profusely. “ChiChi,” Goku touched her forehead. “Please wake up.” His first thought was to transfer some of his Ki to ChiChi but after his light tap, he was afraid he would give her too much.

 To Goku and Gohan’s relief, ChiChi’s eyes fluttered opened. “Mom!” Gohan cried and threw his arms around ChiChi.

 Goku noticed ChiChi’s face grimacing in pain. “Take it easy, Gohan. Mom’s hurt.”

 At the sound of his voice, ChiChi’s eyes shifted to Goku. “No thanks to you, you monster.” ChiChi ignored the hurt on Goku’s face as she tried raising her left arm. She howled in pain. “Ah!” she whimpered. “I think it’s broken.”

 “I’m sorry,” Goku apologized. “Please forgive me, ChiChi. I got so strong,” he tried to explain but ChiChi didn’t look at him. Goku touched ChiChi’s face but that caused ChiChi to scream, “Don’t touch me!!”

 Goku flinched but gingerly picked up ChiChi anyway. “Be angry with me but I am gonna touch you.”

 Goku carried ChiChi back in the house. Gohan had already left ahead of them to get the first aid kit. He brought it in the kitchen just as Goku placed ChiChi in a chair.

 “Gohan,” ChiChi said tiredly as Goku examined her left arm. “Give me a glass of water and aspirin.” She cried out feeling Goku touch her too hard. “That hurts!” She bopped him on the head with her good hand. “I told you not to touch me!!”

 Goku said nothing as he rubbed his head. That hit was nothing compared to what he did to her. Gohan returned with a glass of water and aspirin. “Thank you, Gohan.” ChiChi put the pill in her mouth and swallowed the water.

 Goku waited until ChiChi finished the glass of water before approaching her again. “I need to look at your arm, ChiChi.”

 ChiChi slammed the glass so hard on the table, it cracked. “You are not a doctor, Goku! My arm is broken! My head is killing me! My body hurts all over!! I need a doctor!! Not a husband who is so strong a simple slap can knock his wife through walls and trees!!!”

 If ChiChi needed a doctor, he’ll give her one. He ignored her protests as he picked her up. “Gohan, grab on.”

 Gohan touched his father’s leg, looked at him worriedly as all three disappeared in a matter of seconds.

 ******************

 Dr. Barkley grabbed her purse. Her long day was finally coming to an end. She didn’t have any plans except picking up her ordered food at her favorite restaurant and soaking in a hot bath with a good book.

 She took one stepped from her desk when something large materialized before her. With a scream, Dr. Barkley jumped back, lost her footing and fell on her butt. Goku, ChiChi and Gohan appeared before her.

 “Wha….” Her mind could not comprehend what she was seeing. Where did they come from?

 “Dr. Barkley,” Goku’s panicked voice got her attention. “Please help, ChiChi!”

 Dr. Barkley noticed ChiChi in Goku’s arms. Her hair was disheveled, a large bruise was forming on her face which was grimacing in extreme pain. “What happened?” she asked as she rose to her feet.

 “I meant to tap her but I hit ChiChi too hard. She went flying out of our home and into a tree.”

 Dr. Barkley gasped. “You hit your wife?!”

 “It was an accident,” he told her. “Scream at me later. Just help ChiChi!”

 Dr. Barkley opened an exam room of her private office. “You put ChiChi in there and get the hell out!”

 Goku carefully placed ChiChi on the exam table and stepped out of the room with Dr. Barkley’s angry eyes on him the entire time. She closed the door on him as soon as he left and turned the lock.

 An hour later, Dr. Barkley emerged from the exam room, looking as annoyed was when she entered. Goku and Gohan rose from their seats and approached the doctor.

 “How is ChiChi?”

 Dr. Barkley removed her exam coat. “If I didn’t know your wife and know you’re an alien, I would call the police on you.” She looked completely disgusted with Goku. Goku couldn’t blame the doctor. He was angry with himself, too. “ChiChi,” Dr. Barkley spoke more calmly, “has a dislocated shoulder, fracture in her arm and a concussion. She’ll need to rest. I don’t want her doing strenuous activities, housework or cooking. I’ll come by in a couple days to check on her but despite my advice, she insists on going home tonight. She also wants to talk to you alone, Goku.”

 Goku bypassed the doctor who looked like she wanted to hit him. ChiChi up sat on the exam table with her legs dangling on the end. Her hair was down but neatly pulled back in a braid. Her left arm was in a sling with an ice pack on her left shoulder and her lower arm in a cast. She didn’t even look at him when he entered.

 “ChiChi, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. When you were with Dr. Barkley, I went to Korin’s Tower but he didn’t have any senzu beans.” He bowed his head ashamed. “Yajirobe ate them all again. Korin won’t have any for three weeks.”

 ChiChi remained silent and refused to look at him.

 “Tell me what I can do to make up for this, ChiChi.” Goku pleaded with her. “I’ll do anything.”

 Again, ChiChi didn’t look or say anything to him. “You can train Gohan,” ChiChi quietly spoke. “The wife has to back down to her husband. It’s always the wife who has to make the sacrifices and cry alone.” She finally looked at Goku with tears rolling down her face. “When I married you, I knew you were the strongest man in the world. I was never afraid of you or your strength because I knew you wouldn’t hurt me.” She sobbed. “I just knew you wouldn’t.”

 Goku took a step to embrace ChiChi but she held her good hand up signaling Goku to not come near her.

 “What can I do, ChiChi?” Goku asked. “Just tell me what I can do?”

 “I just wanna go home, Goku. Get Gohan and let’s go home.”

 “Okay.”

 “One more thing, Goku.” Goku turned to ChiChi. “After you defeat these Cyborgs, I won’t allow you to interfere in Gohan’s studies anymore and you are going to work!!”

 ******************

 The rest of the evening continued in silence. ChiChi sat at the table with ice on her injured arm. She scowled as Goku and Gohan served each other dinner and did the dishes. Goku winced each time he cracked a dish, not daring to look at ChiChi. She hadn’t look or spoken to him unless asked. After the dishes were done and kitchen cleaned up, the family called it a night. Goku and ChiChi saw Gohan off to bed before going to their bedroom in silence. Goku kept his distance watching ChiChi struggle to get her wounded arm out of her clothes.

 “Do you want me to help you undress?” Goku asked. “Since your arm is in a sling and all.”

 “That’ll be fine, Goku.”

 He hated that dull, lifeless voice from his wife but until she felt better, that’s how she will address him. Goku carefully opened her cheongsam and gently pulled ChiChi’s arm out. He helped her undress until she stood before Goku in her underwear.

 “Get my gown,” she told him. ChiChi noticed Goku didn’t move. Instead, he stared transfixed at her. “Goku!” Goku jumped before rushing to the dresser. He had to think for a moment. It had been so long he forgot where ChiChi kept her clothes. “Top right drawer,” he heard ChiChi say. He pulled out a yellow one. Gently, he helped ChiChi into her night gown.

 ChiChi mumbled thanks and started to turn away but Goku kept his hands on her good shoulder. ChiChi frowned puzzled on what was going on in Goku’s mind. ChiChi didn’t have time to react before Goku pressed his lips on hers.

 ChiChi pressed her good hand against Goku’s chest, making him stop. “What do you think you’re doing?”

 “Kissing you. I thought it would make you feel better.”

 “After what you did, you think I want you kissing me?! I don’t want you in bed with me!” She pointed to the floor. “You’re sleeping on the floor!” To prove she was serious, ChiChi grabbed a pillow and threw it at Goku, hitting him squarely in his face.

 Goku looked at the floor, the bed, an angry ChiChi and then the floor again. “You want me to sleep on the floor?” He looked at the floor and then ChiChi again. “For how long?”

 “Until I say otherwise!”

 Goku shrugged accepting his punishment. “Could I get a blanket?”

 “Check the closet.” ChiChi was already making her way to bed. Goku pulled a blanket from the top shelf. He opened the blanket and laid it on the floor with his pillow near ChiChi’s side of the bed.

 Goku slipped off his pants leaving himself in his tank shirt and boxers. He laid on half the blanket and covered himself with the other half. ChiChi’s eyes thinned as she noticed Goku’s nearness to her. “I can step on you if I wake up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.”

 Goku shrugged his shoulders. “I deserve that if it happens.”

 With a hmph, ChiChi laid down and placed the covers over her. This was not how she envisioned her first night with Goku. After what transpired earlier, she thought they would be ripping clothes off, bouncing on the bed with their sweaty bodies, stroking, kissing and sucking each other. Instead, they were sleeping separately and ChiChi didn’t know how long that will be.

 “Good night, ChiChi.”

 ChiChi rolled on her good side to see Goku lying in his makeshift bed smiling at her. Even when he’s being punished he will smile. Damn him. ChiChi rolled on her back and pulled up the covers. “Good night, Goku.”

 ******************

 When ChiChi woke up the next morning, she felt as if a truck ran over her. Her whole body ached. All this came from a light tap. What if she and Goku were intimate last night? In the moment of ecstasy, Goku wouldn’t be focused on controlling his strength. She remembered the few times Goku was a little rough with her. When she gave him blowjobs, sometimes he would thrust a little too forcefully in her mouth or force her head a little harder on him. During sex, Goku would thrust too hard and fast at times. There might be a bruise here and there but otherwise she was fine and it didn’t hurt that much.  

 Last night, he really could’ve hurt her. It’s been over two years since they’ve been intimate. That’s a lot of buildup. They waited four months before being intimate after Gohan’s birth. Gyu-Mao offered to watch Gohan for three days. Two of those days, ChiChi barely left the bedroom. If Goku reacted like that after four months, what did a two year drought do to him?

 Holding in a groan, ChiChi sat up. In spite of everything, she was happy her husband was home and from the looks of it, he was dog tired. Goku was usually up by sunrise. The bedroom clock told her the sun had risen nearly two hours ago.

 Maybe traveling in space tired him. Knowing Goku, he kept that to himself.

 ChiChi knew Goku had the tendency to hide his feelings from everyone. He didn’t want them to worry. Being a Super Saiyan changed Goku in ways she had yet to discover. If she knew Goku as well as she did, he put up a show hiding his feelings to his friends and made them think he’s the same person he’s always been.

 To undergo this transformation to be a Super Saiyan; the rage; the struggle to control led Goku to being away from his family and friends for a year. No matter how much he tried, ChiChi knew he wasn’t the same.

 ChiChi thought all of this was unfair. When Goku had a chance to get back to his normal life, when they had a chance to be a normal family, it’s uprooted again over a grim future. Why couldn’t the world give them a break for once?

 ChiChi heard shuffling from Goku as he stretched his arms over his head. His puzzled eyes opened. “Where am….oh…..I’m home.” A smile slowly spread on his face. “I’m finally home.” Blinking as if realizing he’s not alone, Goku turned his head in ChiChi’s direction. “Oh…” Goku laughed nervously. “Hi, ChiChi. How are you?”

 “Sore all over.” He was trying to hide his feelings but ChiChi saw it. “You slept well.”

 Goku sat up, rubbing the back of his head. “Uh, yeah. Guess I did. Ya sore? Do you anything?”

 “Some water so I can take my medicine.”

 “I’ll get your water.” Goku left and entered the kitchen expecting it empty but was surprised to find Gohan. “Gohan? Wha…..” he looked around seeing the counter covered with food and many bowls. Gohan hovered by the stove stirring a large pot. “What are you doing?”

 “I’m making breakfast since Mom can’t do it.”

 That explains the mess of food and bowls everywhere.

 “Once the fish is done outside, breakfast will be ready.” Gohan stopped stirring the pot and lowered himself to the floor. “Mr. Piccolo is outside. He wants to know when we’re training.”

 Goku slapped his forehead. He forgot all about that. “I’ll talk to him.” Goku stepped outside to see Piccolo standing with his arms crossed by the fire of the fish Gohan caught. “Hey, Piccolo.”

 “Finally,” Piccolo grumpily acknowledged Goku. “We’re getting a late start today.”

 “Actually, we might have to hold off training for a while.”

 “Because you hit your wife?” Piccolo guessed. “What’s the matter with her? She’s a martial artist, right? Did she forget how to fight?”

 “We weren’t fighting. I meant to lightly tap her and…..” he just stopped. With his ears, Piccolo heard all of it yesterday.

 “So…” Piccolo tried to understand, “married people don’t hit each other?”

 “No! Why do you think that?”

 “How should I know how humans interact?” Piccolo asked. “I’ve lived in the woods away from them my entire life.”

 Oh, boy. Goku could already see some awkward interactions in the future. “We won’t be training for a while. At least not until ChiChi gets better.”

 “We don’t have time for that.” Piccolo was already annoyed he wouldn’t train today. He didn’t want to put off any more training because of Goku’s wife. “Give her a senzu bean.”

 “Korin’s out. He won’t have any for three weeks.”

 That didn’t make Piccolo happy. “You’re telling me we can’t train for three weeks?!”

 “I’m not stopping you from training,” Goku said. “Gohan and I can’t train.”

 Piccolo shook his head disgusted. “She really is your weakness. Human emotions,” Piccolo snorted. “I’ll never understand.”

 “You understand enough to save my son’s life,” Goku quipped.

 Piccolo didn’t have a response to counter that retort. “I’ll be back in the evening.” Piccolo flew off already regretting training with Goku.

 While his mother rest and his father talked to Piccolo, Gohan stood at the kitchen table putting together his mother’s breakfast. He was pouring miso soup in a bowl when the phone rang. Putting down the pot, Gohan rushed to answer the phone.

 “Hello? Hi, Grandpa!”

 “Gohan,” Gyu-Mao was surprised to hear his grandson pick up the phone so early. “Good Morning. Is your mother up?”

 Gohan looked towards his parents’ bedroom. Mom would be up at this time but given what happened yesterday, Gohan figured his Mom was still asleep. “Mom’s probably still sleeping. My Dad’s up. Do you want to talk to him?”

 “Goku?” He didn’t expect this news. “Your father came back?”

 “Yep,” Gohan said proudly. “He came back yesterday. That means we don’t have to move in with you, right, Grandpa?”

 Gyu-Mao hesitated to respond. “It’s good your father is back. I’ll be over soon. I want to talk to my son-in-law.”

 “Okay.” That was fine with Gohan. “See you soon, Grandpa. Goodbye.”

 ChiChi was annoyed. Goku left over twenty minutes ago. How hard was it to get a glass of water? Is this how it will be until those senzu beans are ready? Think Goku will actually take care of her but ultimately, she will be doing everything as usual? Growling, she tossed the covers off, slipped on her house shoes and opened the door.

 Goku stood on the other end struggling to balance his tray in one hand and open the door with the other. “ChiChi?”

 “Goku?” Stunned, ChiChi noticed the tray in Goku’s hand. Rice, miso soup, grilled fish and a glass of water. “Did you bring me breakfast?”

 ChiChi stepped aside to allow Goku in. “Well, uh, Gohan actually made the breakfast. Do you want to get back in bed so I can give this to you or…..?” He paused seeing tears in ChiChi’s eyes. “What did I do wrong?”

 “Nothing,” ChiChi shook her head, touched. She giddily got back in bed. “You can bring my breakfast.”

 Goku stared at his wife for a moment before shrugging and placing the tray on ChiChi’s lap. Some days he understood ChiChi and others like now with ChiChi tearing up at breakfast, he didn’t understand her.

 “This is good,” ChiChi said while eating her soup. “Gohan is so sweet to do this, but I’m afraid to see how messy my kitchen is.”

 “Don’t worry about that.” He’ll help Gohan with that later. Right now, Goku wanted to get started on making things right with ChiChi. That was a long list but Goku knew where he wanted to start. “Last night, I was thinking and I want you to tell me what happened with my friends.”

 ******************

 “Why are you so worried, Yamcha? We have three years to prepare.”

 This morning, Bulma and Yamcha were enjoying a calm walk outside. Yesterday’s events were still heavily on the two’s mind. While Yamcha was depressed about the grim future, Bulma tried to be upbeat.

 “It may not be enough, Bulma. In three years, I may be dead.”

 “You’re not the only one,” Bulma reminded him. “Everyone can be dead, including Goku.”

 “He’s supposed to be dead because of that virus.” Goku was invincible. Someone that strong should not die by an illness, and if Goku died, Yamcha didn’t have a lot of hope for himself or anyone else to survive the fight in three years.

 “Goku won’t die because that kid gave him the cure. He’ll be fighting with the rest of you in three years.” Bulma believed in her oldest friend to save them all. To her, Goku will always come through. “With Goku, we have a chance. Of course if you want to guarantee we survive you can destroy Dr. Gero’s hidden lab.”

 “I thought you agreed to not do anything since Vegeta, Goku and even Tien wants to fight those Cyborgs.”

 Just recalling how Vegeta, Goku and even Tien wants to fight frustrated Bulma all over again. “That kid didn’t mention what happened to me but if more than half the population gets killed, I could be among them!”

 “But—“

 “But what?!” Bulma hated passiveness. “I know you don’t want to fight, Yamcha. You haven’t trained much since you came back to life. The least you can do is go with me on this.”

 “I haven’t trained much because I’ve been playing baseball.” Unlike his friends, Yamcha had other interests besides fighting and he wanted to make his own money instead of relying on his rich girlfriend. “Besides, there’s more to life than fighting. I want other things.”

 “Other things?” Bulma queried. “What other things?”

 “Marriage. Kids,” Yamcha alluded to desires he’s had since his teens but never mentioned to his longtime girlfriend. This was partly due to Bulma never mentioning these yearnings either. Now with him facing death again, Yamcha thought it was time to finally mention his wants, too. “Goku wished you have a healthy baby. He’s probably telling us to not waste any more time and settle down with a kid because there’s a part of life we’re missing out on.”

 Bulma gave Yamcha a ‘get real’ look. “You actually think Goku’s that deep?”

 Yamcha shrugged. “Maybe.” Bulma laughed at the idea. “Goku spent five years away from us, Bulma. He must really like the life he created with his wife and kid. I think we’re missing out and I want a kid. If I die, at least there’s a part of me still around.”

 In all their years together, Yamcha never mentioned marriage and kids. She thought he wasn’t interested in those things like she. “That’s not something I want.”

 The way Bulma shrugged off Yamcha’s dream crushed him. “Come on. Bulma. Do you want to leave this world with nothing?”

 Bulma briefly thought of herself as a mother with the late night feedings, diaper changes and attention a child would need. She shook her head, not finding the idea appealing. “I’m not wired that way. Maybe I’m not meant to be a Mom. Not all women have kids, Yamcha. Besides, I rather focus on finding Dr. Gero’s place and destroying it.” Bulma pulled out a capsule and tossed it on the grass. Once the smoke cleared, Yamcha saw a stack of magazines and books. “These are some old books and magazines that talk about Dr. Gero. The last published interview was years ago when the Red Ribbon Army was in its prime. One of these should give us a clue as to where he is.”

 It was a good idea but it would take longer to find Dr. Gero this way. “What about using the dragon balls like you suggested?”

 “It would be easier,” Bulma agreed, “but that damn Vegeta destroyed my dragon ball radar as soon as we got back! I can make another one but he’s expecting that.” Bulma grinned as she tapped her right temple. “So I’m gonna outsmart him with these books.”

 Yamcha looked up, suddenly feeling a strong Ki. “Get back!” Yamcha pushed Bulma out of the way as an energy blast flew in their direction. There was a basketball size hole in the ground where the books and magazines once were. Looking up, both saw Vegeta descending from the sky.

 Once Vegeta landed, he snarled at the two. “I thought I made it clear I’ll kill anyone who destroys Dr. Gero’s lab!”

 Fuming, Bulma got up and marched to Vegeta. “You idiot! You almost hit me!”

 “Next time it won’t be almost!” Vegeta threatened. “This is your last warning. If you stop Dr. Gero from building those cyborgs, I’ll kill you!”

 “So?!” Bulma got in his face. “I’ll have my friends wish me back with the dragon balls! And if you kill me again, they’ll wish me back using the Namek dragon balls! So, keep killing me if you want, I’ll keep coming back!”

 Yamcha watched as Vegeta and Bulma angrily stared at each other. It wasn’t a surprise to see the two arguing but something about it left Yamcha feeling uncomfortable.

 Vegeta smirked amused at Bulma’s boldness. In retaliation to her anger, a ball of his Ki emitted in his hand. “As you wish!”

 Bulma’s eyes widened slightly fearful as Vegeta aimed the energy ball at her. She took a step back. “You wouldn’t kill a beautiful woman like me, would you?” Bulma laughed nervously. “Right?”

 Yamcha jumped in front of Bulma. “You made your point, Vegeta. Bulma didn’t mean it about looking for Dr. Gero.”

 “Oh, she meant it! She’s a prideful fool with guts. It would be impressive if she wasn’t challenging me and disobeying my orders. Fools like that I kill!” He increased the size of his energy blast. “And since you want to protect her, you can die together.”

 “Vegeta,” Dr. Briefs stood in the doorway. He casually lit his cigarette and blew a puff of smoke not caring his guest for a year was on the verge of killing his daughter and her boyfriend. “I’ve been looking for you. I have a room that might suit your needs but I’d like your opinion first.” He waved him over. “The sooner you approve, the quicker I can get started.”

 A moment passed before Vegeta diminished his Ki. He walked to Dr. Briefs but momentarily stopped in front of Yamcha and Bulma. Bulma clutched Yamcha tighter while Yamcha stood bravely in front of Vegeta. Vegeta jumped towards Yamcha as if he was going to hit him. He barely moved and to Vegeta’s amusement, Yamcha flinched.

 Laughing arrogantly, Vegeta walked off before disappearing with Dr. Briefs inside the house.

 Bulma stepped away from Yamcha disgusted. “You didn’t have to be scared of him, Yamcha. He wasn’t serious.”

 Yamcha sputtered. “You were hiding behind me!” He noticed Bulma walking off. “Where are you going?”

 “‘Bulma didn’t mean it about looking for Dr. Gero,’” Bulma repeated Yamcha’s words. “If you’re going to throw me under the bus like that, then forget about me helping you find Dr. Gero’s place! Train and face your fate like everyone else!!”

 Bulma stomp up two floors to the floor where her room was. She was only a few steps from her door when Goku materialized before her. Bulma jumped back screaming before recognizing her friend. “Goku? What are you doing here?”

 Goku kept his expression calm as he said, “I need to talk to you.”

 “Did you change your mind about fighting the Cyborgs?” Bulma asked hopeful. “Vegeta destroyed my dragon ball radar but I can build another in a few hours. With you protecting me, we can get all the dragon balls and wish for the dragon to tell us where Dr. Gero’s lab is located.”

 “I still want to fight, Bulma, but that’s not why I’m here.”

 “Oh?” Bulma didn’t understand what other reason Goku was here for. “Why are you here?”

 “Why did you want everyone but ChiChi to know what’s happenin’ on Namek?” Goku asked. “Why did you tell Master Roshi to leave ChiChi out?”

 Bulma had to think about this because she didn’t know what Goku was talking about. “Oh!” Now she remembered. “ChiChi’s still angry about that? That was over a year ago.”

 “Why didn’t you tell her?” Goku repeated.

 “What good would it have done telling her?” Bulma repeated the same defense she used when ChiChi questioned her. Being her friend, Bulma expected Goku to see it her way. “She would’ve been panicking when she couldn’t do anything. I was saving her stress and possible grey hairs.”

 That answer wasn’t acceptable to Goku. “Didn’t you learn anything from our talk in the hospital?”

 The hospital incident. She did not want to be reminded of that. “Look, I really was trying to spare ChiChi’s feelings. She had that big blow up in the hospital over Gohan going to Namek. Imagine how ChiChi would’ve been if she had known the truth. She would’ve camped out here and made my Dad build a second spaceship so she can rescue Gohan.”

 That was very possible but Goku couldn’t blame her. “You went after me to the Red Ribbon Army Headquarters.”

 Now Goku was splitting hairs. That was a different situation. “You were a kid going against the most powerful army in the world by yourself! Gohan had me and Krillin and you were on the way. Gohan was fine. Nothing happened to him.”

 Obviously, Bulma didn’t know what happened between Gohan and Recoome.

 Bulma took a step back as she looked her friend over. The annoyance in his face; in his body. He was actually mad at her. He was annoyed with her a few times but Bulma never felt real anger from Goku towards her. This person before her was not the Goku she’s known since she was sixteen.

 “Why are you acting like this, Goku?”

 “What’s your problem with my wife?” Goku finally asked. “Is this one of those jealousy things because ChiChi got me before you could?”

 “Jealous?” Bulma laughed. Now Goku was losing his mind. “Why would a gorgeous woman like me be jealous? Where did you get that stupid idea?”

 “ChiChi heard you saying I was attractive at the last tournament.”

 Now where did she hear that?! Bulma did not understand how one little comment spread through their group like wildfire. If Oolong told ChiChi this, she will cook that pig! “Where did ChiChi hear that?”

 “From you and Yamcha.”

 Bulma gasped insulted her privacy was invaded. “She was eavesdropping on my private conversation with Yamcha?!”

 Goku would not allow Bulma to play victim. “She was in the bathroom crying because of what you and Master Roshi said about her when I didn’t come back!”

 Goku’s raised voiced had Bulma flinching in shock. Her friend. How could he be this way to her? All right. She was wrong to say those things about ChiChi in front of her and Gohan but ChiChi was wrong, too. “So, ChiChi heard me and Yamcha the entire time and said nothing?”

 “Bulma, will you stop making this about yourself?!” Goku was irritated. Truly irritated. “This is my wife we’re talking about. Not you!”

 Again he raised his voice at her and Bulma was left speechless.

 “Bulma, you’re the first person I met after Grandpa died. You got me to leave Mount Paouz. I’ll always be grateful to you but I really don’t like you right now.”

 His words felt like a slap to her face. “You don’t like me?” She pointed to herself. “Me?”

 “You blamed ChiChi for me not wanting to come home. You said a lot of mean things about her. ChiChi and Gohan are the reason I wanted to come home but I couldn’t.”

 Bulma nearly rolled her eyes. Wanted to come home? He had a funny way of showing that.  “Well, you should’ve come home instead of wasting your time learning that teleportation technique. If you came back when we wished you back, ChiChi wouldn’t have been crying. Don’t try putting all this on me.”

 “It was more than a learning that technique that kept me away.”

 “Like what?” Yesterday, Goku gave the impression he took so long because of the teleportation technique and enjoying his time with the Yardrat people but the grimness on his face, the seriousness of his voice told her there was more to this delay. “You didn’t tell us.”

 “Because you’re not ChiChi.”

 “What does that mean?” Goku’s dismissiveness frustrated Bulma. “I’m your friend. We’ve been through a lot together; more than what you’ve gone through with ChiChi. I, all of us, deserve to know.”

 “Actually, you don’t because you’re not ChiChi.”

 Even though she understood, Goku’s words frustrated her. She’s his oldest and first friend but ChiChi is his wife and that surpassed everything.

 “Anyway,” Goku went on, “ChiChi thinks you have feelings for me and it’s why you said those mean things about her. Is it true?”

 Bulma crossed her arms over her chest. “Don’t you believe ChiChi?”

 “Should I?”

 He was putting the ball in her court. It was a simple gesture but she felt Goku was telling her if she said it wasn’t true, he wouldn’t believe ChiChi. He’ll believe her over his wife. It gave her encouragement to say what she felt.

 “When I saw you at the tournament, you were attractive. It was a shock really. Even at fifteen, you were a short, little runt. I thought you would always be that way but you grew into a tall, handsome guy, and with your strength it was very appealing. Five years later, you were still the same but different. There was some maturity and with Gohan, I knew you did things I didn't think you were capable of doing. I'd be lying if I say I didn't find it appealing especially with how off and on Yamcha and I have been.”

 Bulma stepped to Goku. She placed a hand on his bare arm and searched into his eyes. “We've been through a lot together; a lot of life and death scenarios. As kids, I didn’t feel certain things. When I got older, I looked back on what we went through together. Feelings develop and can you blame me for wondering what I had and what it could've been if I did things differently; if I waited for the runt to grow up and not go for the shiny object. What would have happened if I intervened at the tournament when I had the chance?”

 Bulma removed her hand and stepped back. “I know the chance was missed.” She laughed. “I probably blew it and that’s okay.”

 Goku stared at Bulma for several moments. Bulma knew that look. He had that same expression when Master Roshi gave a long winded speech at Baba’s palace when he told Goku he surpassed him as a student and his next teacher was the world and to travel it alone on foot. Bulma suspected her words meant nothing and Goku didn’t comprehend until he suddenly got in her face, invading her personal space as he stared in her eyes.

 With Goku so close to her, Bulma felt very confined and heated with Goku in the hallway with her in a mini dress and Goku in his blue loose pants and a tight, white tank shirt. Not even Yamcha filled out a shirt so well.

 “So……” Goku said after a long silence, “you do like me?”

 Bulma nearly fell over.

 Goku pulled back, scratching his head to make sense of all of this. “If you’re being mean because you’re jealous or you want me like ChiChi has me, just stop because I don’t want you. I don’t think you missed your chance because there never was one. You’re my friend, Bulma. ChiChi’s my wife. That’s how it will always be. That’s how I want it.”

 Even though she settled her feelings on Namek, it was still hurtful to hear Goku say this. It was rare for a woman like herself to be rejected. She wanted to be angry but she couldn’t be. She had no right to be.

 “ChiChi is for me like Yamcha is for you. No,” he corrected himself. “It’s better. ChiChi understands me. She never looked at me or treated me like you and everyone else have.”

 There was something about Goku’s words that triggered something in Bulma. She suddenly found herself thinking of what ChiChi said to her two years ago when she visited ChiChi and Goku’s home and collect the dragon ball he had.

 “Tell me, Bulma. Did any of you ever see Goku as more than a bodyguard? More than a strong person who can save you when you’re in over your head; more than someone who can overcome any adversity because he’s strong? Did you ever see him as someone with thoughts and feelings of his own? Did you ever look past Goku’s strength and try to get to know him?”

 Bulma’s lips turned up in a smile. I’ll be damned. Goku, you’re incredible.

 Bulma’s sudden smile left Goku very confused. “Why are you smiling like that?”

 Bulma chuckled. “Nothing.” This little runt. I never imagined you understanding love but I can see it on your face. ChiChi really is a miracle worker. She’s your forever, Goku. I finally see that and I want that kind of love for myself.

 “No, what is it?” Goku was whining now. “Tell me.”

 Bulma laughed. Now this was the Goku she knew.

 “Kakarrot!” Vegeta’s voice bellowed from the end of the hall.

 Both turned to see Vegeta approaching them. Bulma had her eyes on Vegeta but the Saiyan Prince kept his eyes trained on Goku as he came to stand in front of him looking annoyed as usual.

 “Hey, Vegeta.” Goku grinned. “You sure you don’t want to team up with me and Piccolo? You might become a Super Saiyan faster that way.”

 Vegeta growled. “You smug bastard. Are you mocking me?”

 “I don’t know,” Goku scratched his cheek innocently. “What does mocking mean?”

 “Enjoy being the strongest for now,” Vegeta spat out the words. It made his blood boil he had to accepting being second for now. “I will become a Super Saiyan and I will be the strongest among us.”

 Goku shrugged as he cheerfully laughed. “If you say so. I tried. See ya guys in three years.” And with that, Goku vanished before them.

 “Rrrgh!” Vegeta punched a hole in the wall. “That cocky bastard. When I become a Super Saiyan, the first thing I’m going to do is kick his ass!”

 Vegeta stormed off in an angry huff without saying a word to Bulma. Saiyans were definitely a different species. Strong. Proud. Violent. But there was more to them than on the surface. Bulma saw a glimpse of that herself in her conversation with Goku. ChiChi knew it as well but Bulma was blind to it. Goku found in ChiChi what she had been looking for when she first sought out the dragon balls. She thought she found it in Yamcha.

 Perhaps I’ve been wrong about that.

 Her eyes zoned in on Vegeta once more before he turned the corner. He was short but strong; second to Goku for now. He was very proud but that’s admirable. He was a mass murderer but maybe there was more to him.

 Did you ever see him as someone with thoughts and feelings of his own? Did you ever look past Goku’s strength and try to get to know him?

 ChiChi words rang Bulma’s head as she suddenly smiled. I wonder.

 Earlier, Vegeta walked around an empty room as Dr. Briefs spoke. “I think this room is best to build a gravity room for your specifications. What do you think?”

 Vegeta tested the room, jumping to the ceiling, coming to the ground before bouncing himself off a wall a few times. When he landed Vegeta said, “It’s high enough but it needs more width.” He ran a hand over a wall before punching it. The wall cracked into several pieces and crumbled to the floor. “Use this room, too.”

 Dr. Briefs scratched his head as he stared at the new hole in the room. “You’ve could’ve just said you need more room and ask if the one beside it is available.”

 “Just give me the room!” Vegeta snapped. “It’s what I need to be a Super Saiyan.”

 Dr. Brief stared at Vegeta for a long moment before he broke out in chuckles.

 His laughter aggravated Vegeta. Who did this pathetic Earthling think he is laughing at him? “What’s so funny?”

 “You. You must get what you want.” Vegeta didn’t understand how that was funny to the old man. “You must’ve been spoiled, too, like Bulma. Bright child, wonderful daughter but sometimes she thinks the world revolves around her.”

 Spoiled? “I don’t think the world revolves around me. I only think certain things are rightfully mine. I want to be a Super Saiyan. Kakarrot, or as you call, Goku, is a low class warrior. If low class trash like him can be a Super Saiyan then it’s only right me, a Saiyan Prince, can become one.”

 “Jealousy,” Dr. Briefs chuckled. “Bulma can be like that, too.”

 Vegeta’s left eye twitched. Who the hell did this man think he is to compare him to his daughter and accuse him to be jealous of Kakarrot, too? If he didn’t need him to build a gravity room, he would kill him right now!

 Dr. Briefs didn’t notice or didn’t care he infuriated Vegeta. “For a while, I thought letting Bulma do what she want instead of exacting some discipline ruined her for men. She’s beautiful and smart enough to attract a guy but her temperament and sense of entitlement ran off many suitors.” With a sigh, he added, “It made it hard for her to make friends, too. She was sixteen when she found that dragon ball in our basement. When she learned the story behind them, she decided she will gather all the dragon balls and wish for the perfect boyfriend. I didn’t like the idea of Bulma wishing for the perfect boyfriend and told her to forget collecting the dragon balls and wait. The right man will come along but when Bulma wants something, she wants it now.”

 Dr. Briefs lit up another cigarette. “I’m glad Bulma didn’t get her wish but made a friend in Goku and found a potential suitor in Yamcha. Nice young man but he’s not what she needs.” He was smiling at Vegeta now which unnerved him. “Yamcha can’t handle Bulma’s strong and sometimes demanding personality. She needs someone who will stand up to her and put her in her place sometimes.”

  Vegeta’s eyebrow shot up, highly suspicious. Why was he saying all this to him?

 Dr. Briefs put a hand on Vegeta’s shoulder which left Vegeta staring at it and expecting an attack. “We all have our sins. Sometimes outside forces beyond our control cause our sins and makes us do horrible, contemptable things. Some need more forgiving than others but if that life is really over and if one really wants to make a fresh start, perhaps give a kind, old man a grandchild or two, Earth is a nice place to start over, don’t you think?”

 Vegeta stared at Dr. Briefs for several long moments trying to comprehend what he was being told. Finally, he knocked the old scientist’s hand off him. “What the hell are you talking about?! Just build me my room!”

 “Of course.” Dr. Briefs wasn’t put off by the brush off. Instead, he smiled. “I can have the room built by the end of the week.”

 As Dr. Briefs drone on about the room, the modifications he will make, asking Vegeta if he wanted a stereo system, Vegeta suddenly felt a presence. He hadn’t much time to test his knowledge of understanding Ki with him but Vegeta suspected Kakarrot was nearby.

 Vegeta immediately left the room. He followed the path of the Ki two floors up where he found Kakarrot and Bulma talking. Kakarrot seemed to be complaining about something but Bulma was laughing. What was so funny and why was he here now? He stormed to them determined to find out.

 ******************

  Questions filled Gyu-Mao’s mind when he greeted his grandson. What happened to the large tree outside? Why was there a hole in the kitchen?  Gyu-Mao suspected this was tied to his son-in-law. Other than the damage to the kitchen ChiChi caused a year ago, there weren’t any issues to the home.

 “What happened in here, Gohan?” Gyu-Mao pointed to the hole in the kitchen that was crudely covered by planks of wood.

 “Oh, that was Dad,” Gohan nervously explained. “He forgot how strong he is.”

 “Ah,” Gyu-Mao understood. “So, he hit something and that created the hole in the wall and tree.” He pitied the poor object his son-in-law hit. He looked around frowning as he realized the packing boxes he saw yesterday were no longer out. He also noticed the kitchen was messy. The sink was filled with dishes and food on the counter. “Where’s your mother? She doesn’t leave a kitchen like this.”

 “Gohan?” ChiChi stepped into the kitchen. “Who was at---Dad?!” Oh, no. Her father was the last person she wanted to see.  Her father did tell her he was returning today and she forgot to call him to delay him stopping by.

 “ChiChi,” Gyu-Mao was horrified at ChiChi’s appearance. His beautiful daughter had a bruise on her face and a broken arm. “What happened to you?” He touched he face. “Who…” Gyu-Mao looked at the hole in the kitchen. He remembered the tree outside. “Did Goku do this to you?”

 “It’s not what you think.”

 That was all Gyu-Mao needed to hear to know it was true. His son-in-law was a dead man. The King of Fire Mountain long cooled temper boiled! “Where is he? Where’s my son-in-law?!”

 As if summoned, Goku suddenly appeared behind ChiChi. With his sudden arrival, Goku didn’t have time to read the room before Gyu-Mao’s large hand grabbed his neck, raised his feet off the floor and threw his body towards a wall of his home. Goku’s body knocked the kitchen wall down like children’s blocks. He landed outside and hit the grass with a thud.

 “Ow!” Goku sat up rubbing his head. “What was that for?”

 Gyu-Mao stepped out of the hole Goku’s body created. His heavy footsteps had the ground shaking as he approached Goku. “I trusted you with my daughter. I treated you like a son and you hurt my baby girl!!”

 Uh-oh! Goku got on his feet. “It was an accident. I only meant to ta—“ Gyu-Mao’s hand swallowed Goku’s head as he was pulled off his feet again and flung towards his home.

 “Goku!” ChiChi screamed as Goku’s body crashed through the wall of the living room.  “Dad! Stop it!”

 “Dad!” Gohan tried to go to his father but ChiChi held him back.

 Before Goku could get up, Gyu-Mao grabbed Goku’s right leg and dragged him through the rubble to outside on the grass again. His large fists smack Goku’s face; not once or twice but multiple times as he spoke. “I’m not strong enough to kill you but you will be in pain after I’m done with you. No one hurts my daughter and gets away with it!”

 “Dad!” ChiChi screamed at her father. “He didn’t mean it!”

 Gyu-Mao refused to listen. He saw the injuries on his daughter. He knew what his son-in-law did and if it took his dying breath, Goku will pay for it. His fists pummeled Goku’s face over and over. “I’m taking my daughter and my grandson away from here! They will live with me from now. I will never allow you to see them!”

 Just as Gyu-Mao’s fist came towards Goku’s face again, Goku raised his hand over his face blocking Gyu-Mao’s fist. Though his hand was much smaller than Gyu-Mao’s, his strength was more than enough to push Gyu-Mao back as he easily rose. Try as he may, Gyu-Mao didn’t have the strength to hold Goku down.

 Goku stood before Gyu-Mao. While there were dirt on his clothes and his pants and shirt were ripped from being tossed and dragged, Goku’s skin was uncut. Despite the multiple punches to his face and body from Gyu-Mao, his skin never broke. Gyu-Mao strikes didn’t affect him.

 “You can be angry with me. You can hate me and I wouldn’t blame you. I left ChiChi and Gohan for a year. They didn’t know where I was and when I had the chance to come home, I refused. They didn’t know when I will come back.” Goku wasn’t upset with Gyu-Mao attacking him. He understood and he would do the same if he were in the same situation. After what he did to ChiChi, Goku felt he deserved it. He would’ve let Gyu-Mao hit him until he tire but Gyu-Mao threatened to take his family from him. That crossed a line.

 “ChiChi and I have been talking. This is between us. Not you. ChiChi is MY wife. Gohan is MY son and no one, not even you, will take them from me.”

 Gyu-Mao towered over Goku. He hit his daughter and tells him the matter is between him and his daughter and he’s excluded? Gyu-Mao knew it would not help him but he wished he had his ax right now.

 “No! It’s not between you and ChiChi. You’re her husband for now but I’m her father and I will always be her father.”

 For now? He was ChiChi’s father but Gyu-Mao was pushing a fine line. He didn’t want to hurt Gyu-Mao but if he tried to take ChiChi and Gohan from him….. “At the wedding, you gave ChiChi to me. She became my responsibility. I took those vows. ChiChi’s my wife. ChiChi will always be my wife!”

 “Vows and responsibilities you neglected for over a year.” Gyu-Mao wasn’t backing down. If he had to fight Goku for his daughter and grandson, he was ready.

 “Enough!” ChiChi stepped between her father and husband. “You’re scaring Gohan and destroying my home!”

 Gyu-Mao eyes fell on her Gohan. The child stood by the house but looked on worried and not scared. Either way, Gyu-Mao hated making his grandson feel anything but happy. Goku and ChiChi’s home was a mess. The walls of the kitchen and living room were destroyed along with the television and bookcase Goku crashed into. In his anger, he didn’t realize how much damage he did to his daughter’s home.

 “I’m sorry. I made a mess and your home isn’t a safe place for you anymore. ChiChi, you and Gohan need to come home with me, especially now with the condition of your home.”

 “No,” ChiChi rejected her father’s offer. “My son and I are staying here.”

 “With the house the way it is?” Gyu-Mao glared at Goku. “With him?”

 It was brief but ChiChi noticed Goku’s eyes flicker to teal and back to coal black. ChiChi stepped before Goku. She felt getting in the middle would squelch any idea of the two fighting each other. “Dad, I understand your anger but you misunderstand. Let us tell you what happened yesterday.”

 Gyu-Mao listened as ChiChi told him what happened with Goku adding a few words here and there. It wasn’t what he thought but Gyu-Mao still didn’t like it.

 “If that’s what held Goku back then it was right he stayed away but he still hurt you, ChiChi. I can’t forget that.” Some of his anger had melted but he had strong concerns. “Goku can still hurt you even by accident. He’s too strong. He endangers your safety.”

 “I hate this happened to me,” ChiChi admitted, “but it’s not that Goku is too strong for me. He’s stronger, yes, but he caught me off guard. If we were sparring, I would’ve blocked or avoided his attack. I wouldn’t have been hurt like I am.”

 “But your guard can’t be up all the time,” Gyu-Mao tried to make ChiChi understand the danger she was still in. “How can you be so sure the next time Goku won’t hurt you even more?”

 “Because I know Goku will never allow something like this to happen again.” To Goku’s surprise, ChiChi grabbed his hand. It was the first time she initiated contact with him since the incident. “I know Goku didn’t mean it and you know I wouldn’t stay if I thought I was in danger. Do you really think I would risk Gohan’s safety by staying with Goku if I didn’t feel safe?”

 Gyu-Mao knew how much ChiChi loves Gohan. His safety always went above everything else. ChiChi would never stay if she thought Gohan was in danger. That was the only thing that held Gyu-Mao from arguing anymore.

 “I don’t like it but I do trust you would never endanger Gohan.” Gyu-Mao accepted his lost this battle. “Still,” he gestured to the ruined home. “You will need another home. Goku and I could build another one…..”

 “I don’t think that’ll be a good idea,” ChiChi giggled despite the seriousness of the situation. “Maybe we’ll buy a bigger dome home once we get some money.”

 “I’ll buy you one,” Gyu-Mao offered. “It’s the least I can do.”

 Though ChiChi hated taking money from her father, she wasn’t in the mood to argue. “Thanks, Dad.” ChiChi released Goku’s hand and touched her head. She swooned.

 Goku caught ChiChi. He put his arm around ChiChi and held her close. “Are you all right, ChiChi?”

 “Just my head and shoulder hurting. I need my medication and another ice pack.”

 Goku picked up ChiChi. “Don’t worry, ChiChi. I’ll take care of you.”

 “Goku,” Gyu-Mao addressed his son-in-law before he could leave. “Don’t hurt my daughter my again.”

 Goku nodded, promising he wouldn’t. He didn’t like Gyu-Mao threatening to take his family from him but Goku couldn’t be mad at Gyu-Mao. He acted out of love for his daughter and grandson. Goku knew he would’ve done the same thing.

 Goku carried ChiChi back inside their broken home. Only the kitchen and living room were damaged. The rest of the rooms were intact. Goku carried ChiChi to their bedroom. He place her on the edge of the bed. He left and returned with a glass of water and ice pack. ChiChi took her medicine but as she struggled with the ice pack on her shoulder, Goku attempted to help when ChiChi snarled at Goku.

 “Don’t…. touch…. me.”

 Goku took his hands off ChiChi and stepped back. Gone was the kind face of his wife who convinced her father it was safe for her and her son to live with him. What he looked at now was the face of a very furious woman who looked as if she didn’t want anything to do with him.

 “ChiChi?” He didn’t understand. He thought with her touching him, her staying meant things were good between them again.

 As if reading his mind, ChiChi explained herself. “Gohan would be upset if we left. Even though my father made a lot of good points, it would crush Gohan if we moved back because he loves and believes in you so much. You could never do anything wrong.”

 That didn’t make Goku feel better. “So, you really wanna move back in with your Dad?”

 “No, but I’m not fond of staying with you right now either.” This whole situation left ChiChi feeling angry, sad, conflicted and confused. “I know you didn’t mean to hurt me, Goku, but it still happened. It’s not something I can forgive and forget in a day. I’m still angry and I don’t really trust you right now.”

 He should’ve known it was too much to hope ChiChi forgave him that quickly. Still, Goku wanted to make things right with ChiChi and he was willing to do anything. “What can I do?”

 ChiChi looked away from him. “I just need time, Goku; time to adjust to a lot of things; my injuries; what you are now and the next three years. It’s not what I imagined. It’s not what I wanted for us. Things aren’t good between us right now and I’m not sure if they ever will be again.”

 Part Twenty-Six: Making Up

AN: I know they were going for humor but it never came across as funny to knock your wife through a wall and a tree and only say, “I’m sorry. I meant to go easy but I’ve gotten so strong.” I also don’t think bandages on the arm and head should be the only treatment. Realistically it might be wise to take your wife to a doctor. I also wondered if there were real consequences for Goku and how long it took ChiChi to forgive him. It WAS an accident but still.

 In the anime, the series started off with a different house for Goku and ChiChi than the one we saw in the Androids arc to the end of Z. In the manga, there’s a glimpse of their home in the Freeza arc but we never saw a full view of the house until the Androids arc. I like the anime one at the beginning but I knew I had to change the design of the house to match the one we see in the Androids arc.  

 One of the downfalls of Bulma and Yamcha were they were two people who wanted different things and they really reached the end of their relationship. In DB Yamcha did say he wanted marriage and kids. Bulma not so much and that’s fine. I think Bulma’s the type of woman who didn’t think she needed kids or wanted kids until she had a child. There are many women like this. If being a Mom was a main goal for Bulma like using the dragon balls to wish for a boyfriend, she would’ve had one with Yamcha. She stuck with him on and off for ten plus and there are many women who be with men in lesser time and have kids. At the end, they wanted different things. Bulma still wanted that adventure but Yamcha having died already had a different viewpoint. He was not looking forward to fighting in the Trunks and Android arc. He didn’t have that same bravado and confidence before he died and that probably changed Bulma’s feelings in her eyes and really think on what she wanted. I won’t go into too much depth but Yamcha and Bulma’s breakup and Vegeta and Bulma’s union will be mentioned.

 Artificial Humans is a mouthful when describing 17 and 18 but I don’t know why Funimations went with Androids instead of Cyborgs because technically they are Cyborgs and not Androids

[elisajdb]

Life With You: XXI

Family Reunion: Part Two

 Being stuck in bandages and the recuperating bed was a boring experience for Goku.  Korin told him the senzu beans wouldn’t be ready for a month. At this rate, it will feel like years especially when Gohan leaves. Gohan was getting a checkup now. If all went well, Gohan will go home tomorrow and next week, will leave with Bulma and Krillin for Namek. They wouldn’t be back for two months. He’ll miss his son but the time alone will give him and ChiChi time to catch up and talk even more.  

 Goku was very frustrated to learn how ChiChi spent her year of solitude. A year Goku thought ChiChi spent with Gohan, she spent it alone and searching the Earth for their son. Hearing ChiChi’s experiences during the past year left Goku feeling bitter and very confused towards his friends. Why didn’t they tell ChiChi what happened that day? Why did they let her find them the next day and force a confession out of them?

 Goku wasn’t only annoyed with his friends. He was bothered by Gyu-Mao, too. He did understand Gyu-Mao’s fears. It was reasonable for Gyu-Mao to have doubts about his marriage. Goku knew he made enough mistakes for Gyu-Mao to question it but that was early in his marriage. Not now. Goku was also irritated Gyu-Mao took the letters his Grandpa Gohan wrote and he kept the knowledge he is an alien from them during ChiChi’s pregnancy. He and ChiChi would’ve still been stressed waiting on the test results but at least they would’ve had an understanding why there were complications during ChiChi’s pregnancy.

 If Goku had known he’s an alien, Raditz’s words wouldn’t have shocked him. Maybe he would’ve known at some point, someone from his past will return. Still, Goku could forgive Gyu-Mao and Dr. Barkley. They were coming from a place of concern and protection, but his friends….. he needed to talk to them.

 As if they felt the same thing, the door opened slowly. “Goku, is it safe to come in?” Krillin poke his head in.

 “Why wouldn’t it be?”

 “You know…” Krillin walked in with Bulma and Master Roshi following in after him. “ChiChi.”

 Goku’s sudden frown went unnoticed by his friends.

 “Where is she?” Master Roshi looked around for ChiChi.

 “Gohan’s getting a checkup and ChiChi went with him.”

 “After yesterday, we didn’t know what to expect,” Bulma sat in a chair by Goku’s bed. “She was insane. Maybe five is too young to go in space but Gohan is your kid. He can handle it. ChiChi was way over the top.”

 “What happened to her?” Krillin sat on Gohan’s bed. “At the tournament, ChiChi was worried about you against Piccolo but after the fight with Vegeta, ChiChi jumped over you to get to Gohan, she didn’t speak to you on the ship and she delayed getting you treatment. You’re the one who’s really hurt. Does she hate you?”

  Krillin was his friend. They’ve been through a lot together but Goku felt Krillin was pushing a fine line with his words towards ChiChi.

Does Krillin understand ChiChi was angry with me because of what he, Bulma and Master Roshi told her?

“Why didn’t anyone tell ChiChi what happened to me and Gohan?” 

Krillin chuckled. This was classic Goku. Always forgetful. “We did, Goku.”

 Goku didn’t find this funny. “You told ChiChi when she came to Master Roshi’s island. The next day. Why didn’t anyone tell ChiChi the day I died?”

 “Um…” Krillin rubbed the back of his head. Suddenly, this wasn’t funny. Goku knew they didn’t tell ChiChi the truth and from the sound of his voice, he wasn’t happy.

 Bulma spoke up. “We had to tell the others what happened. They needed to know Kami wanted them on his temple so they can train in preparation of Vegeta and Nappa. We also had to get the dragon balls. Time kind of flew.” Of course all that happened in the days after Goku died but Goku didn’t need to know that.

 Bulma had a point but Goku couldn’t agree with her decision. “I know Yamcha, Tien and Chaozu needed to know but ChiChi spent the entire night wondering why me and Gohan hadn’t come home.” Goku waited for an explanation from his friends but no one said anything. “I told you there were dragon balls at my house. You could’ve gotten those dragon balls first and told ChiChi what happened.”

 Krillin, Master Roshi and Bulma looked at each other; each were expecting the other to say something. Once again, that fell on Bulma. “To be honest, Goku, we didn’t want to deal with her.” She knew that sounded bad but it had to be said. “If ChiChi can stop you from training Gohan, she must be too much to handle. You ranted at us how ChiChi stops Gohan from learning martial arts. We thought she’d kill us if we told her you were dead and Gohan was taken by Piccolo.” Feeling justified, Bulma added, “And we were right. Look at how angry she was after that fight with Vegeta. She didn’t think of you at all.”

 Goku did vent to them ChiChi wouldn’t let him train Gohan but Goku didn’t see that as justification to leave ChiChi in the dark. “Gohan could crawl, walk and talk younger than expected. ChiChi thought Gohan was a genius and felt his mind should be nurtured. I thought his body should be nurtured, too. I’ve been trying to teach Gohan martial arts since he was two. The few times I snuck in lessons, I couldn’t figure out how to draw Gohan’s strength. Gohan couldn’t either but ChiChi was right to not want Gohan learning martial arts. Gohan was too young at the time and I wasn’t patient.”

 “Two is too young for training,” Krillin agreed. “But he is your son, Goku. Your kid should be doing Kamehameha Waves in his diapers.”

 “And it worked out,” Master Roshi wanted to ease Goku’s frustration in pushing Gohan too young. “Look at how strong Gohan is. He was so shy and timid a year ago. That wasn’t you. Now Gohan’s brave enough to go into space. He’s definitely your kid now.”

 Bulma shook her head at Master Roshi and Krillin. Goku explained himself eloquently for once but those two only heard one thing. “Unlike these two, I get it. Gohan was too young to be taught martial arts but ChiChi was cruel to you. She ignored you when we picked you up. This is the best hospital in West City and she let you suffer waiting for some doctor to arrive instead of getting immediate treatment.”

 “I heard you yelling at ChiChi the other night.” If he could move his body, he would’ve crawled out of his room on his hands and knees to get Bulma to stop yelling at Chichi. “Dr. Barkley is the family doctor. I trust her. ChiChi knew I would be comfortable around her over any other doctor.”

 Bulma rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you hear me, Goku? This hospital has the best doctors in the city. They’re better than any country doctor you trust.”

 She didn’t get it. “I think I understand why ChiChi didn’t explain why she waited for Dr. Barkley.”

 Bulma fumed. “What does that mean?” She defends her oldest friend and he turns around and insults her?

 Goku ignored Bulma. There were more important things to discuss. “ChiChi was angry with me because you told her I agreed Piccolo should take Gohan. I died thinking Gohan went home to ChiChi. Why did you lie to her?”

 Krillin and Bulma’s eyes turned to Master Roshi. He was the one who said it. He should be the one to explain himself. “You told ChiChi this, Master Roshi?”

 Master Roshi grumbled something about backstabbers. “It was for the best. From what we knew of her, we knew ChiChi wouldn’t understand.”

 “What you knew of her?” Goku repeated. Master Roshi didn’t know ChiChi at all. None of his friends did.

 “For the record,” Master Roshi wanted to be clear, “I wanted to tell ChiChi the day it happened but Krillin didn’t go to your house.”

 “Don’t put all this on me!” Krillin refused to take all the blame. “We all should’ve went but you and Bulma were too chicken.”

 “I wasn’t chicken!” Bulma argued. “I was busy studying Raditz’s scouter. You and Master Roshi sat on your asses drinking beer the rest of the day arguing who should tell ChiChi. All that time you two wasted going back and forth, one of you could’ve done it!”

 “So…..” Goku pieced it together, “you didn’t tell the others about me or searched for the dragon balls the day I died. That was another lie.” At least they looked guilty but Goku knew it was only because they were caught. They had no remorse as long as they could get away with it. All these lies and deceptions. Goku felt his patience wearing thin. “The truth, please. After I died, what happened?”

 Goku rolled his eyes at Krillin, Master Roshi and Bulma glaring at each other to speak. Couldn’t one of them just say it? “We did have the intention of bringing Gohan to ChiChi.” Master Roshi felt being the oldest it was on him to be truthful to Goku. “Piccolo decided he will take Gohan and train him. We argued you and ChiChi should make that decision for Gohan but Piccolo didn’t listen and flew off.”

 “So, you let Piccolo take Gohan.”

 “Well, yeah,” Master Roshi knew Goku would understand unlike his wife. “We couldn’t help you with Raditz, Goku. What could we do against Piccolo? We were gonna wish you back and let you deal with Piccolo but the next day, Yajirobe told us to hold off on wishing you back for a year.”

 Goku accepted that his friends couldn’t stop Piccolo from taking Gohan but it didn’t sound like they even tried. Now that he was aware of what Gohan went through, it bothered Goku they didn’t try. “You still haven’t told me why you waited a day to talk to ChiChi.”

 Bulma rolled her eyes. Her attractive friend was still dense after all these years. “ChiChi’s not a rational person. Goku, you’re the strongest person I know. If you bent to her will on not teaching Gohan martial arts, can you imagine what she will do to us if we told her the truth?”

 Bulma repeated this already but it took Goku hearing it a second time to really understand. “Wait. Are you telling me you didn’t tell ChiChi because of what I said on Master Roshi’s island?” All of this stemmed from him complaining ChiChi got upset whenever he tried to train Gohan? “That’s really cowardly to judge someone you don’t know.”

 “Cowardly?!” Bulma furiously leapt from her seat. “You share blame in this, Goku. We don’t know ChiChi and that’s your fault! You left to marry her and we didn’t hear from you for five years! I went to your house. I saw the wedding photos. It had to have taken days to set up a wedding like that so why weren’t we invited? If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have met ChiChi.”

 Why was Bulma bringing up his wedding and why was she upset she wasn’t invited? “I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

Bulma accepted that. Goku wouldn’t know anything about weddings but his wife did. “Why didn’t ChiChi extend an invitation to us? We’re your friends, too, or did she think only her friends and family should be at your wedding?”

 “No.” ChiChi didn’t think like that. “ChiChi talked to me about inviting you but I didn’t think it was important.”

 “Ugh.” Bulma disgustedly fell back in the chair. She didn’t like that answer at all. “Even if you didn’t think it was important, ChiChi should’ve made sure you invited us.”

 “I accept your answer, Goku.” To Master Roshi, Goku’s reasons made sense. “You wouldn’t understand how big marriage is but why didn’t you tell us about Gohan? Was it your wife’s bidding we didn’t meet him?”

 “Yeah, Goku,” Bulma wanted to know. “For five years, you had a life we didn’t know about. I saw the photos in your album. Is ChiChi the reason why we weren’t part of it?”

 “ChiChi?” It was subtle but Goku felt anger coming from his friends towards ChiChi. This anger arouse something in his blood. He felt it when Yajirobe took jabs at ChiChi. Goku didn’t want to be angry with his friends. They’ve been through a lot together but they were pushing a fine line. “ChiChi has nothing to do with this. We’ve always met up for a little while before not seeing each other for years.”

 “That was different.” Now Krillin was getting involved. “We didn’t see you because you were focused on training for the next tournament. The tournament’s gone and it’s been peaceful for years. Didn’t you think about us at all? Didn’t you think we would want to see your kid?”

 Goku did think of them but not strong enough to visit them. It’s always been to meet for a while and part for years. Goku didn’t grasp why it should change now he had a family.

 “We were your family before you married, Goku,” Bulma reminded her oldest friend. “We’ve had adventures collecting dragon balls, we experienced tournaments, the Red Ribbon Army and King Piccolo. You leave and we don’t see you for five years! You show up with a kid and tell us he’s yours. You didn’t think that would shock us?”

 “Why would it?” Goku was genuinely confused. He did think it was strange Master Roshi, Krillin and Bulma were shock at Gohan. He assumed they would’ve immediately guessed Gohan’s his son. “I got married. Married people have kids.” That’s what ChiChi told him. His friends were more aware of societal norms than he so Goku didn’t understand his friends’ behavior at all. “Why is it shocking I had a kid?”

 “You were really naïve, Goku,” Master Roshi chimed in. “I couldn’t get you to tell the difference between a pretty girl and an ugly girl. None of my magazines, books or movies affected you so I wasn’t sure if you ever went there with ChiChi.”

 “You never noticed me,” Bulma pointed out with a flip of her long hair. “And I’m a very attractive woman. I thought you got divorced once you realize what marriage meant and moved back to that shack I found you in. Honestly, I never thought you would have a kid or still be married after all this time.”

 Goku admitted he was slow to catch on but for them to think he wouldn’t understand intimacy or think he and ChiChi were divorced left a bad taste in his mouth. He agreed with them he didn’t notice the attractiveness in women. He never noticed Bulma. Looking at her now, he could see how men found Bulma attractive but she wasn’t ChiChi. Goku noticed Krillin didn’t say anything but he suspected Krillin shared the same feelings as Master Roshi and Bulma.

 “You’ve changed so much,” Bulma rattled on. “You’re not the Goku I knew growing up.”

 “Change? I’m still the same.”

 “You’re not, Goku.” Master Roshi slapped the bottom of his stick on the floor. “I trained you because you’re Gohan’s grandson. You’re important to me because of him. You, Krillin….all my students are sons to me. I know the feeling was mutual before you married but since then…..” Master Roshi’s hands went up; lost for words. “I don’t know if it’s your wife’s influence or you but you have changed,” Master Roshi repeated. “Some changes I can accept but I can’t accept your disloyalty to your friends for your own selfishness!”

 “Selfishness?” What was he…? Goku looked at Krillin who refused to look his way. Oh. Krillin told them.

 “Krillin told us you let Vegeta go.” Master Roshi thought a day or two would cool him but he was still infuriated. He bopped Goku’s head with his wooden stick.

 “Ow!” Goku winced at the smack. “I’m still hurting, Master Roshi.”

 “Yamcha, Tien, Chaozu and Piccolo were killed by those Saiyans! Krillin told me Piccolo sacrificed his life for your son! You dishonor them letting their murderer get away because you enjoyed fighting a strong opponent after being bored all these years!” Master Roshi whapped Goku with his stick again. “Maybe if you hadn’t settled down, you wouldn’t have gotten bored. The Goku I knew years ago wouldn’t have let his friends’ murderer get away! The Goku I knew would’ve avenged his friends like you avenged Krillin and me against King Piccolo!”

 Harsh but Goku agreed with some of what Master Roshi said. Years ago, he was filled with revenge against King Piccolo. He felt that way when he returned and saw the bodies of his comrades but that changed when he fought Vegeta and Nappa.

 “You’re right to be angry with me, Master Roshi. I was selfish when I told Krillin to let Vegeta go. I was thoughtless with my wedding. I was thoughtless not letting anyone know about Gohan or seeing you in five years. That’s my fault. Not ChiChi’s.” Goku accepted his friends’ anger at him. He was wrong but so were they.

 “But I’m angry for what you did to ChiChi.” Their excuse for not telling ChiChi wasn’t acceptable. “If you told ChiChi what happened instead of letting her wonder all night, she wouldn’t have reacted the way she did. You said a lot of bad things about ChiChi because of how she treated me but it was your lies that made ChiChi angry with me. You lied about ChiChi and Gohan. I don’t like that.”

 “Gohan?” Bulma didn’t understand. “We told you about Piccolo.”

 “That’s not what he’s talking about, Bulma.” Krillin knew what Goku was referring to. “We knew Piccolo had Gohan but none of us checked on him. With Raditz’s scouter, we could’ve found them. I should’ve visited Gohan but I was too scared of Piccolo. If it helps, Goku, Piccolo has changed and Gohan is fond of him. Piccolo did a good job taking care of Gohan.”

 Goku wondered if Krillin would feel this way if it was his son. “Piccolo’s first lesson to Gohan was leaving him alone for six months. For six months, my son had to defend himself against wild animals and dinosaurs that tried to eat him. Gohan had to find his own food and shelter. I wasn’t that young when I was on my own. Gohan did get strong under Piccolo’s training but he was attacked every time his guard was down, struck whenever he complained Piccolo was too rough, tossed in the river, left dangling off a mountain and went to sleep every night with several cuts, bumps and bruises.”

 “Geez.” Gohan sounded cheerful of his time with Piccolo. He never gave the impression it was brutal. “Well, we had similar training under Master Roshi.”

 Master Roshi smacked Krillin’s head with his stick. “I wasn’t that harsh. I didn’t leave you alone for six months, you lived with me, had futons and food prepared for you every day by Lunch.”

 “Well, yeah,” Krillin agreed, “but it was still brutal. We swam with sharks, got chased by dinosaurs on milk runs---“

“Enough!” Goku was not in the mood to hear his friends petty arguing. “That’s not why I’m upset.” Krillin could’ve visited Gohan but that wasn’t the real issue. “When I saw Vegeta as a giant ape, I realized it was me who killed Grandpa. You all knew that.” Unsurprisingly, no one denied this. “You wanted to spare me the pain of knowing I killed Grandpa. I appreciate you protecting me but when you saw Gohan’s tail, you knew what he could do. You asked if Gohan has seen the full moon. Why didn’t you tell me the truth?”

 “What would be the point?” Bulma asked. “You said you, ChiChi and Gohan all go to bed early. Gohan never would’ve seen the full moon.”

 And his friends called him naïve.

 “Me and Grandpa we went to bed early, too. The night I killed Grandpa, I woke up to take a leak. I saw the full moon.” Flashes of that painful morning surfaced. Grandpa’s mangled body filled his mind again. Goku closed his eyes to squelch his emotions. He wouldn’t break down in front of his friends. “One day, Gohan would’ve seen the full moon. He would’ve changed into a giant ape. He could’ve killed ChiChi or I could’ve killed him thinking he’s the monster that killed Grandpa.”

 Master Roshi bowed his head. Bulma and Krillin remained silent as they finally understood. If Raditz never arrived, Goku would’ve returned home never knowing the truth. His family had been lucky so far but that luck would’ve ran out.

 “You should’ve told me the truth when you saw Gohan’s tail.”

 This anger. They’ve seen this anger from Goku at his opponents; never at them. “Goku,” Bulma tried to get Goku to see it from their point of view, “we didn’t want to hurt you. It would’ve been devastating if you knew you killed your Grandpa. We were in a bind.”

 “How do you think I would’ve felt if I killed my son?” Goku turned the question on Bulma. “Would you let me think there was nothing I could’ve done to stop it? Would you have told me what you knew?” The deafening silence from his friends was too much for Goku. “I think you three should leave now.”

 He was kicking them out? “Goku, you can’t be serious.”

 Goku looked away from Bulma. “I am. Please leave.”

 “But I… we……”

 The opening door prevented Bulma from saying anymore. Gohan entered licking an ice cream cone. “Good news, Goku.” The smile on ChiChi’s face fell when she saw Master Roshi, Bulma and Krillin. “Oh.” She liked the three in the room even less after her talk with Goku. “Gohan,” ChiChi addressed her son. “Once you finish your ice cream, I want you to read your book. You have a lot to catch up on.”

 “Okay, Mommy. Hi, everyone.” The child was unaware of what he and his mother interrupted.

 ChiChi stepped to Bulma who sat in the chair besides Goku’s bed. ChiChi stared at Bulma with a raised eyebrow. Wordlessly, Bulma got up so ChiChi could take the seat besides her husband.

 “Good news?” Goku inquired cheerful as he masked the anger he felt moments ago.

 “The doctors gave Gohan a clean bill of health. He’ll go home tomorrow.”

 Goku grinned at his son. “Wow, Gohan. You’re going home tomorrow and you’re going into space next week. You’re so lucky. I’m stuck here until Korin’s senzu beans are ready.”

 “By the time we come back, Daddy, you’ll be home from the hospital.”

 “I’ll be glad when you return from space, Gohan.” ChiChi tried not to worry but she didn’t think this trip will be as easy as everyone thought. “We’ll finally put this awful business behind us and get back to our lives.” ChiChi turned to acknowledge Goku’s friends but noticed while she chatted with her family, Master Roshi, Bulma and Krillin quietly exit.

 Bulma hit the down button on the elevator. “That was awkward. ChiChi’s affected Goku more than I thought. I thought it was a good thing but now I’m not so sure. I can’t believe Goku got upset with us.”

 “We deserved it, Bulma.” Hearing Goku’s side of things, Krillin’s eyes were opened to the mistakes he made. “We shouldn’t have let ChiChi wait all night. Hell, we should’ve told him about Gohan’s tail.”

 “Goku’s a blind husband, Krillin. He can’t see ChiChi couldn’t handle being told the truth.” Bulma stepped in the elevator. “Letting ChiChi wait all night was wrong but even if we talked to ChiChi the day it happened, she would’ve found some way to blame us.”

 Master Roshi agreed with Bulma. “ChiChi’s not used to this side of Goku’s life, Krillin. She’s had the peaceful one. She will be a handful to deal with until she gets used to the adventurous life we’ve experienced with Goku.”

 “If she gets used to it,” Bulma corrected Master Roshi.

 “You’re right,” Master Roshi agreed. “The peaceful times are over. Whether Goku’s marriage survives remains to be seen.”

 Gohan looked out the window of the family truck, sullen. Today he left the hospital. He will eat his mother’s cooking and sleep in his own bed for the first time in a year. Gohan should be happy but he was numb. It was sad for him to leave his Daddy in the hospital. Mommy promised they will see Daddy every day until he left for Namek but Gohan didn’t want to leave. He liked it when everyone left him and Daddy alone for the night. They spent nights talking of their year apart.  

 “I’m so happy you’re coming home, Gohan. I made all your favorite foods!”

 While he was used to eating off the land, Gohan really missed his mother’s cooking and looked forward to her delicious meals.

 “After dinner, I’m gonna prepare you my special hot baths and give you a nice, good cleaning.” ChiChi looked at Gohan through the rearview mirror. “Do you remember those baths? You love the hot water like Daddy and the special scented soaps I made that makes you smell so good.”

 Baths were nice but the thought of Mommy preparing his bath and even cleaning him was uncomfortable. Maybe other five-year-olds were fine with that. Maybe he would’ve been, too, if the last year didn’t happen but he didn’t feel that way anymore. “I can prepare my own bath and I can clean myself.”

 “But…..” ChiChi felt her joy waning. “I always give you baths.”

 “I can do that on my own.”

 Deflated, ChiChi focused on driving home. “I see.” Gohan always loved bath time. This year away changed Gohan so much. “Your hair grew a lot. Maybe I should cut it before you go to Namek.”

 “I like my hair the way it is.” Gohan closed his eyes and pretended to sleep. As expected, his mother stopped talking which pleased Gohan. He wasn’t in the mood to talk to his mother. He had a lot on his mind. He will leave for Namek in a week and there was so much to do. He had to continue his training which will be harder now he’s home under his mother’s watchful eye. He had to make a new fighting gi behind her back, too. He knew his mother wouldn’t make the outfit Piccolo gave him. She hated Piccolo. His mother had plenty of sewing and clothes making books in her room. If he can get his hands on those books and study the patterns…..

 “Wake up, Gohan,” ChiChi gently called his name. “We’re home.”

 When his mother parked the truck, Gohan unbuckled his seatbelt. He opened the door, grabbed his bag of books his mother brought during his hospital stay and jumped out. A year ago, Gohan was scared to climb out of the truck on his own. He was always so high off the ground. Now, it was a short jump. He grinned when his feet touched the ground. How silly he was silly thinking he was so high a year ago.

 “Gohan.” ChiChi closed her door. “You got out of the truck by yourself.”

 “I know.”

 “But you always needed my or Daddy’s help.”

 “I can do it now.” Gohan placed the sling of his bag over his shoulder. “It’s not high anymore.”

 “You don’t need me to carry your books?”

 “No.” Gohan closed his door and brushed past his mother towards his home.

 ChiChi followed after Gohan. She picked up the pace to meet him at the door. His attitude bothered ChiChi. It was as if Gohan couldn’t wait to get away from her. When ChiChi unlocked the door, Gohan pushed it open and hurried inside. He paused when he saw a banner hanging from the ceiling that read ‘Welcome Home, Gohan.’ With the banner were balloons and boxes of wrapped gifts on the kitchen table.

 Gyu-Mao stood by the table wearing a party hat on his head. “Hi, Gohan!”

 “Grandpa?” Gohan looked around at the decorations. “What is this?”

 “It’s a welcome home party for you.” ChiChi closed the door behind him. “You haven’t been home in a year.”

 “But…” Gohan turned to his mother, “Daddy isn’t here.”

 “We’ll have one for Daddy,” ChiChi promised. “This is for you.” She ushered him to look at the balloons, gifts and banner. “Do you like the decorations? Grandpa and I worked hard on them.”

 Gohan ignored the question. He went to the table of wrapped gifts. He read one of the cards. He went to another gift and read the same greeting. “These are birthday gifts.”

 “We missed your fifth birthday,” ChiChi touched his hair and gently caressed his spiky locks. “Turning five is very important. We wanna make up for missing it. Go on,” ChiChi encouraged him. “You can open one before we sit down to eat.”

 Gohan stepped away from ChiChi. “I want to wait until Daddy comes home.”

 ChiChi touched his shoulder. “Okay. We’ll wait for Daddy to return home.” ChiChi grabbed the strap of Gohan’s bag. “I’ll take this to your room.”

 Gohan stepped away from ChiChi again. “I can do it.” Before ChiChi could stop him, Gohan hurried to his room.

 It was very surreal for Gohan when he stepped in his room. He dreamt of this place for many nights when he slept under the stars alone and with Piccolo. There were times where he wondered if he will be here again. Gohan placed his bag on the floor and climbed on his bed. He giggled as he rolled around. Not hard like the ground outside, not lumpy like the hospital bed. His bed was perfect. Gohan got up and went to his closet. All his clothes and toys were in here. Gohan noticed a black tuxedo hanging on the doorknob. He didn’t remember this being here but he remembered trying it on for Mommy.

 “You were to wear it at Aki’s wedding.” Gohan turned to see his mother at the door. “I stayed home to put a hole in the pants for your tail. I also adjusted clothes Grandpa brought you.”

 It was fuzzy but Gohan remembered his mother declining Daddy’s suggestion she come with them. Gohan remembered trying on the suit and how Mommy was excited he will be a ring bearer at Aki’s wedding. Gohan completely forgot about the wedding during his ordeal.

 “So many times I’ve replayed the last time I saw you and Daddy.” ChiChi entered the room. “I’ve wondered how things would’ve been if I went. You wouldn’t have been kidnapped if I were with you.” ChiChi dropped to her knees and embraced Gohan. “Every night, I’ve wondered what that monster was doing to you.”

 Gohan didn’t like ChiChi referring to Piccolo as a monster. She had so much hate towards him. Maybe he was a bad person in the past but he wasn’t now. If only his mother could understand that. “Mr. Piccolo isn’t a monster.”

 “Yes, he is!” ChiChi cried. She sobbed as she rocked Gohan in her arms. “He took you from me. You’ve changed so much because of him. You’ve talked back to me. You’ve yelled at me. I don’t even recognize you anymore! It’s not your fault,” she told him. “It’s mine. I’m sorry I couldn’t find you. I’m sorry you had to be with Piccolo for a year. Please forgive me, Gohan.”

 Couldn’t find him? What was his mother talking about? Gohan wanted to push his mother away. He almost yelled at her to stop squeezing him but he remembered what his father told him.

 Mommy has no idea what happened to you since you saw her a year ago.

 Don’t raise your voice at her again.

 Gohan wouldn’t break his word with his father. He wouldn’t yell but he needed to put some distance between himself and his mother. “Can we eat? I’m hungry.”

 He was rejecting her. He didn’t say it but ChiChi could tell from Gohan’s body language. It left her cold and wanting to cry all over again. “All right,” she gave in quietly while her heart broke. “Let’s eat.”

 When they entered the kitchen, ChiChi distracted herself by finishing dinner. Behind her, ChiChi could hear her father and Gohan clearing the table of Gohan’s gifts. Gohan sounded happy and cheerful talking to Grandpa. It hurt ChiChi Gohan couldn’t be this way with her.

 ChiChi loaded the cleared table of dinner dishes, glasses, a pitcher of water and plates. Gohan poured his own glass of water. When Gohan grabbed a plate, a serving spoon and began adding food to his plate, ChiChi grabbed his arm. “What are you doing?”

 “Fixing my plate.”

 “But I fix your plate, Gohan.”

 “I can do it now.” Gohan added food from each dish on the table. “I’ve learned to feed myself.”

 It was as if she was slapped by her son. He learned to do it because I wasn’t there for him.

 Gyu-Mao noticed the exchange between his daughter and grandson. He smiled at his daughter and held up his plate. “You can fix my plate, ChiChi.”

 ChiChi understood what her father was trying to do but it wasn’t the same. Seeing Gohan quietly eat his meal, ChiChi wasn’t sure if things will ever be the same for them.

 Goku looked at the door in what had to be the fifth time. Today Gohan will leave for Namek. ChiChi promised to stop by so Gohan can say goodbye. After his talk with his friends, Goku had concerns leaving his five-year-old son in the care of Bulma and Krillin. Vegeta was also a concern. Vegeta was recovering from his injuries but Goku knew as soon as Vegeta’s well, he’s going to Namek or coming back to Earth for a rematch. With Vegeta being in as bad as shape as he, Goku figured Vegeta’s recovery would be months unless the facilities Vegeta uses heals faster.

 Goku knew he had to get to Namek. Bulma said building a ship will take years. He needed a functioning ship and upgrading it like Bulma did with Kami’s ship. The only ship Goku knew of was the ship he came in as a baby.

 “We’re here,” ChiChi cheerfully announced as she stepped in the room. She held the door open. Goku looked on expecting Gohan to enter but no one walked through the door. “Don’t stand out there. We have to hurry to Master Roshi’s. Come and say goodbye to Daddy.”

 “Gohan?” Goku called for his son. Why wasn’t his son entering the room? Didn’t he want to say goodbye to him?

 “Come on!” ChiChi snapped. “Unless you don’t wanna go to Namek!”

 Gohan shuffled in the room. He looked completely different from yesterday. Yesterday, Gohan’s hair was long and shaggy. He wore jeans and a T-shirt. Today, Gohan’s hair was straightened and cut into a bowl hairstyle. He wore a dark suit jacket with a white crisp shirt, red bowtie and dressed shorts to match his jacket.

 His son looked ridiculous.

 Goku bit his lower lip trying to suppress his laugh but a snort then a snicker escaped before Goku gave up and submitted to full blown laughter.

 “Gohan,” Goku managed between laughs, “your hair….. your clothes….” he was near tears, “what happened to you?”

 Gohan bowed his head blushing embarrassed. “Mom thought I should look nice when I go into space.”

 Goku laughed even harder. “His hair looks like you cut it with a bowl, ChiChi! Ow!” he bellowed between laughs. “It hurts when I laugh.”

 ChiChi crossed her arms over her chest. “Honestly, Goku. It’s not funny. Gohan looks very nice.”

 “I think it’s excessive, too,” Gyu-Mao stepped in the room. “But ChiChi had her mind set on this.”

 And Goku knew when ChiChi had her mind set on something, it was near impossible to change it. However, he suspected there was a reason behind this and Gohan knew the answer. “I wanna talk to Gohan alone.”

 ChiChi and her father didn’t question Goku’s request. They quietly left the room.

 Alone, Goku asked his son. “What did you do?”

 “Huh?”

 “You did something for your Mommy to style your hair and dress you like that.” The only times he and Gohan dressed in suits were for parties at Gyu-Mao’s castle. ChiChi straightened Gohan’s hair when he was three. She was experimenting and Gohan didn’t like it so ChiChi never straightened it again. For ChiChi to cut and straightened his hair, Goku knew ChiChi was punishing Gohan for something. “What did you do?” Goku pressed again.

 Gohan lowered his head. “Mom’s always around me. She makes it hard for me to get ready for Namek.”

 Goku raised an eyebrow. Gohan always called ChiChi Mommy. When did he start calling her Mom? “How is Mommy doing that, Gohan?”

 “I have to get up before she does or wait until she sleeps to train. I have to secretly pack what I want to bring to Namek. Mom thinks I need my medication, books and clothes I don’t want to wear.” Now that Gohan was free to speak his mind, he couldn’t stop. “Mom’s always trying to make my plate, my bed or my baths. I can do that myself. I don’t need her to do it.”

 “I’d never turn down Mommy when she wants to fix my plate or make my baths.” Goku didn’t understand his son. “Her baths are great. She knows how to get the water hot enough for me and her special bath soaps makes me smell so good!”

 “Mom can do that for you,” Gohan grumbled. “I don’t need Mom to do that for me anymore. I’ll be glad when she understands that.”

 “Oh.” Goku figured it out. Gohan was still upset with ChiChi over her feelings for Piccolo and this trip to Namek. “You’re not raising your voice at Mommy, are you?”

 Gohan shook his head. “No.”

 “Good.” He’ll allow Gohan to be in this sour mood for now. If this continues after he returns from Namek, he’ll have another talk with Gohan. Goku opened his hand. “Punch my hand.” They did this every day since Gohan decided he will go to Namek. Gohan punched Goku’s hand hard. “Good.” Goku liked the power he felt behind that punch. “It should be an easy trip for you to collect the dragon balls but if you run into trouble, listen to Krillin.”

 “What about Bulma?”

 “Listen to Krillin.”

 “Okay, Daddy.”

 “You’re gonna have to stand in for me, too. When I looked for dragon balls with Bulma and Krillin, they depended on my strength to get them out of tough situations. That falls on you now. I know it’s a lot but can you handle that, Gohan?”

 Stepping in Daddy’s shoes was hard but Gohan knew he can do it. Piccolo and everyone who died depended on him to do it. “I can do it, Daddy.”

 Goku pulled an arm out from the cover of the recuperating bed. He unlocked the sides allowing the cover to pop open. He groaned as he pushed himself to sit up. Bones were healing fast but Goku was still in pain. Pushing himself in a sitting position was a strain on his body but Goku vowed to give his son a proper goodbye.

 Gohan elevated himself off the floor. He climbed in his father’s lap and wrapped his arms around his neck. “I’ll miss you, Daddy.”

 Goku wrapped an arm around Gohan. “I know.” He squeezed his son against him. “Send Mommy in.”

 Gohan released his hold on Goku. He jumped down and left the room. A moment later ChiChi entered. Her eyes swept over Goku sitting up with the hood of his healing bed opened. “Goku,” she growled stomping to him. “What are doing? You need this to help you heal until the senzu beans are ready!”

 “I’m healing fine. I feel better every day.”

 ChiChi didn’t believe him. “Gohan said you wanted to talk to me.” Goku snickered and ChiChi rolled her eyes. “Are you still laughing at Gohan?”

 “Why’d ya do that to Gohan, ChiChi?”

 “He has been a delinquent ever since he came home. After a year with Piccolo, Gohan is suddenly too big for my hugs and kisses. He won’t even let me fix his plate or draw his bath. Whenever I try to talk him about his ordeal, he says he wants to read and catch up on what he missed.”

 “Isn’t that what you wanted?”

 “Gohan’s doing it to keep away from me.”

 That was probably true. “Sit down.”

 ChiChi noticed Goku patting his bandaged leg. “Goku, no. You’re still healing.”

 “You ain’t too heavy for me.” He grabbed ChiChi’s hand and pulled her on his lap. “Sit down.”

 Sitting on Goku’s lap, feeling his arms around her was too much for ChiChi. It reminded her of happier times before all this madness started. “He’s not our baby anymore, Goku. He’s so independent from me.” The stress she felt not connecting with her son released through her tears. “Our son grew up so much. He doesn’t want to do anything with me. It’s like living with a stranger. A whole year I spent searching for him. I had so many nightmares. Gohan doesn’t care I worried about him. He only cares about bringing Piccolo back.”

 “Gohan’s learning he can do things on his own now. I did, too.”

 “You were too young to be that independent.” ChiChi sniffed. “Gohan won’t even tell me about his ordeal with Piccolo.”

 That might be for the best Goku thought. He was bothered with some of the things Gohan went through. If ChiChi knew, she’ll kill Piccolo a second time. “I’ll talk to Gohan when he gets back,” Goku promised. With that settle, there was something else to discuss. “Did you bring the map?”

 ChiChi pulled herself out of Goku’s arms. She wiped away her waning tears as she pulled a map from her purse. It was the map she and Goku used when they went hiking around Mount Paouz years ago. “I called Dr. Briefs. He’s coming by later. Do you think he can make a ship out of the one you came in?”

 “He made one out of Kami’s ship.”

 For Gohan’s sake, ChiChi hoped that was possible. If Goku’s baby ship can get him to Namek, she would feel a lot better about this trip. She couldn’t ignore the bad feeling she had about the trip to Namek.  

 “995… 996….. 997.”

 Goku collapsed on the floor. Getting back in shape was a lot of hard work. He was nowhere near ready for Namek in this condition.

 Dr. Briefs visited later that morning. He promised Goku he will find his spaceship and use it to build a second one. Now he knew he will be joining Gohan, it motivated Goku to get his body ready.

 In the ten days since he arrived in this hospital, Goku felt strong enough to escape the recuperating bed to exercise. His legs weren’t strong enough for him to walk but he could do sit ups. On a normal day, Goku could easily do 1,000 sit ups. With his broken body, it was a chore reaching that number.

 “998…. 99--- ah!” Pain shot up his back. Goku collapsed. He tried to pull his body up. “Ow!” Not good. He pulled something in his lower back. Goku looked around. Where was that cord to call the nurse?

 “Damn.” It was on the other side of the bed. Stuck on the floor, Goku considered his options. He could try resting a few minutes before attempting to move again. If that didn’t work, he’d have to wait for a nurse to visit him on her rounds. A nurse left him before he started his sit ups which meant he will be on the floor for another hour.

 Or not.

 Goku heard the door open. Perhaps he got the timing of the nurse visiting him wrong. “Um, Nurse, could you help me back in bed?” He laughed nervously. “I overdid it on my exercises and I can’t move.”

 “Only you will exercise while you’re wrapped like a mummy.” That wasn’t the voice of any of the nurses who treated him. It was a familiar, male voice he hadn’t heard in a year. “Aki?”

 Aki’s friendly face suddenly appeared over him. “Goku.” His friend from Gyu-Mao’s village looked him over. “What the hell happened to you?”

 “A lot,” Goku laughed. “ChiChi told you I’m here?” Goku wasn’t aware anyone from Gyu-Mao's village knew of his condition.

“Reluctantly. I saw her and Gohan at the king’s castle the other day.” Aki bent down to pick up Goku. “Gohan looks bigger. Those martial arts lessons he took paid off.”

 ChiChi told Goku the excuse she gave for his and Gohan’s absence from Gyu-Mao’s kingdom in the last year. Goku didn’t care it’s known he’s an alien but ChiChi explained it could be a problem if others knew.

 Aki secured the hood of the recuperating bed over Goku. “Can you move in this?”

 “Not right now,” Goku groaned. Spasms hit his back again. “I overdid with the sit ups.”

 “Since you can’t move, how about telling me what you were really doing this year? ChiChi told me you and Gohan were receiving training by a special Martial Arts Master that didn’t allow visitors.”

 Oh, boy. Aki wanted to know the truth. “You don’t believe ChiChi?”

 “This year has been very strange, Goku. King Gyu-Mao has been closed off about his family. ChiChi hasn’t visited the village much and no one has seen you and Gohan in a year. I knew something was wrong but I was too upset with you bailing on my wedding to investigate.” Seeing Goku now, Aki really wished he pushed aside his feelings to investigate. “I’d like to think we’re friends, Goku, and I think I’ve proven myself trustworthy. Whatever is going on, you can trust me."

 Goku considered Aki’s words. Aki has been friendly to him since their first meeting. He didn’t think of him as an idiot like Kaifun. He explained things to him, gave him advice that helped him in his marriage and fatherhood. ChiChi told him they will have to keep his alien heritage a secret. ChiChi worried people wouldn't understand or their family will be taken away and examined like lab rats.

 He was taking a risk but Goku thought Aki could handle the truth.

 "It started a year ago when I had a reunion with my friends…..”

 Aki paced the room. He struggled to wrap his head around what Goku told him. Alien. Long lost brother. Gohan kidnapped twice. Joining forces with Piccolo. Dying for a year. Fighting his own people. Aki knew of dragon balls. Gohan wore one on his hat but he always thought they were toys Goku collected for his son.

 “An alien, huh?” Aki ran a hand through his blond hair. “Honestly, that explains some things. Hell, it explains a lot of things. Damn!” he cursed. “You were dead and Gohan was taken by Piccolo?! I knew something was wrong but I never…..” Aki shook his head at a loss for words.  “I’m sorry, Goku. I really am.”

 “Sorry?” Goku’s eyebrows went up in confusion. “For what?”

 “For not being there. I knew something was wrong but I was mad you didn’t come to my wedding. Shit.” Aki was very frustrated with himself. “I failed my friend and princess."

 "Failed me?" Goku didn't understand. “How?”

 "I didn't check on your wife, Goku.” Aki knew Goku wasn’t the sharpest knife but he thought his friend would understand that.

 Not even the friends he’s known for years bothered to visit ChiChi. It stunned Goku why Aki was so upset with himself. “You would’ve visited ChiChi?”

 “ChiChi’s your wife but ChiChi will always be princess of Fire Mountain and her people will always care for her. If we’d known, we would’ve convinced her to move in with the king. Mount Paouz is safe but a woman shouldn’t be out there alone.” Aki sighed again. “I guess it doesn’t matter since your friends checked on her but I feel bad her own people didn’t.”

 “Don’t be,” Goku was genuinely touched by Aki’s loyalty. “ChiChi wanted to keep it a secret. She worried how people will respond to me and Gohan being aliens.”

 “Yeah.” Aki couldn’t argue against that. “If Mrs. Niver or Kaifun knew…..” he shuddered. “It wouldn’t be good for you or ChiChi. Mrs. Nivers started rumors again after your absence."

 “Rumors?” Goku nearly rolled his eyes. He thought he was done with that grumpy old woman. She’s been quiet ever since Gyu-Mao fired her the day of Gohan’s birth.

 “Last time anyone saw you, Gohan and ChiChi together it was at the Fall Festival a couple weeks before your death. Your family’s growing absence and the king’s behavior made people talk but it was your absences at the New Year’s celebration and Spring Festival that convinced everyone something was wrong. People believed the training story less and less. Mrs. Niver said you took Gohan and ditched ChiChi but since Gohan's shown up at the village, people aren't believing that anymore. I don't think Kaifun believed her but he has been concerned about ChiChi. I think he talked to her at my wedding.”

 What? The thought of Kaifun visiting ChiChi while he was dead and Gohan was with Piccolo stirred that odd feeling in his blood. "Kaifun talked to ChiChi alone?"

 "Only at my wedding.” Aki thought for a moment. “Kaifun did say he visited your house a few times but ChiChi was never there.”

 He probably visited while ChiChi looked for Gohan. Goku trusted ChiChi but he didn’t like Kaifun visiting and wanting be around his wife when she was so emotionally vulnerable.

 “Anyway,” Aki changed the subject, “after Gohan comes back, we all should get together. Maybe have a barbecue at my place and really catch up.”

 Goku liked that idea. With his family and friends, Goku realized he had a lot of catching up to do. Bulma, Krillin and Master Roshi haven’t visited since that day. It bothered Goku they didn’t come by before they left for Namek. When Goku told them to leave, he expected to not see his friends for a few days. He didn’t think they wouldn’t return at all. Perhaps when he gets to Namek, they’ll be on speaking terms again. They had their faults like he but they have been friends for years. It would be a waste for it to end like this.  

 “I gotta head back,” Aki told Goku. “It’s a long trip from here to the village. It’ll be dark when I get home but I’ll come by this weekend.”

 “Aki….” Goku knew he was asking a lot but he didn’t have anyone else he could trust with this. “I’m not in any position to ask but I need a favor.”

 “Sure, Goku.”

 “Bulma’s Dad is working on a ship for me. When I leave Earth, I’ll be gone for a while. Could you check on ChiChi until I get back?”

 “Sure, but what’s going on?”

 “Hopefully, nothing.” Like ChiChi, Goku had an uneasy feeling about Gohan on Namek. “It’s never easy searching for dragon balls and Gohan is on another planet. I'd feel better if I'm with him."

 “Got ya.” Aki would feel the same way if he were in Goku’s shoes. “One more thing. That Vegeta guy that got away. What if he comes back to Earth while you’re on Namek?”

 “Don’t worry. I’ll stop him before that happens,” Goku promised.

 “You better,” Aki told him with a sly grin. “I got a kid on the way.”

 Goku laid in his hospital bed bored. Visiting hours were almost over and Goku hadn’t seen ChiChi. Master Roshi stopped by for a few hours. It was his first visit in nearly two weeks. He worked with Goku on his exercises. It was a silent, mutual agreement between both nothing will be said of their last talk. Goku thought it was for the best. Both had different opinions and that wouldn't change. Working on a common goal: getting Goku back in shape was the best thing to focus on.  

 "Surprise!" ChiChi cheerfully announced as she arrived with an armful of bags.

 "ChiChi!" Finally! Goku was very happy to see his wife and very curious in what she carried.  “What are those?”

 “Dinner and overnight bag. I convinced the nurse to let me stay tonight.” She winked at him. “I spent the day making food for them and you.”

 It had been a week since Gohan left with Krillin and Bulma. ChiChi worried but Goku smiled and promised Gohan’s fine. Perhaps Gohan is fine. However, five years with Goku had ChiChi convinced she knew her husband better than anyone; even his friends. Despite his happy demeanor, she knew he was concerned about Gohan.

 And something else. ChiChi couldn’t pinpoint it but she knew something else was on Goku’s mind. There were times she noticed Goku looking upset. When she enquired what was wrong, Goku complained about his bandages. ChiChi knew it was more and Goku wasn’t sharing.

 So, she conjured up a plan to spend the night here. If all goes well, she’ll spend more nights over in the future. ChiChi also thought by spending the night, there’s less chance for interruption and Goku will feel more willing to talk to her.

 Goku wasn’t aware of ChiChi’s intentions. He was happy ChiChi was here and she brought food. During Gohan’s stay at the hospital, ChiChi cut apples for Gohan while he was fed intravenously. He couldn’t have solid foods yet but ChiChi would slip in her specially made smoothies and juices for him.

 “How’s your back?” ChiChi pushed the table of food to Goku’s bed. Goku sat up but ChiChi didn’t like how Goku’s pillows were arranged. They looked too flat to her. “I should fluff your pillows before you eat.” Without Gohan, ChiChi completely focused on him; pampering Goku in ways that reminded him of the early days of their marriage where taking care of him was ChiChi’s sole priority.

 “The pillows are fine.” Goku stared at the table of food. It was so close and so far away. “Let me eat now. Do this later.”

 “I’m doing it now.” She playfully bopped him with the pillow. “You’re so impatient.”

 Maybe he was but it’s been over a year since he’s had ChiChi’s cooking.

 Seventeen days have passed since Goku was admitted to the hospital. Then, doctors thought it would take Goku four months to heal before physical therapy could begin. In seventeen days, Goku healed enough to be transported from the healing bed to a regular bed. He still wore bandages but he wasn’t covered like a mummy anymore.

 Finished with his pillows, ChiChi sat on his bed and opened the food containers. Goku licked his lips. He drooled at the smell of ChiChi’s food. “You’re recovering faster than the doctors predicted.” Goku nearly inhaled the food ChiChi fed him. “But Dr. Barkley did suspect this could happen since you’re not human.”

 The delicious taste of ChiChi’s food soured at ChiChi mentioning he’s not human. Just her saying it reminded Goku of the secret he kept from her; that he and Gohan possessed the ability to turn into a giant ape devoid of any reason. When Kami’s revived, Goku vowed to take Gohan to see Kami to permanently remove his tail.

 “Goku?” ChiChi called his name. “Aren’t you hungry? Is the food not good?”

 “It’s great.” Goku put on a smile. “I missed your cooking.”

 ChiChi resumed feeding Goku again. “I wonder how Gohan’s coping in space.”

 “Gohan’s fine.” Goku knew that was true. If Gohan can survive six months alone and six months with Piccolo, he can survive two months with Krillin and Bulma.

 “Probably right. I know he’s wearing that Piccolo outfit he made.”

 Goku swallowed more food. “Piccolo outfit?”

 “He’s been so secretive since he came home. The night before he left, I checked Gohan’s bag to make sure Gohan had everything for his trip. I saw the outfit. It reminded me of what Piccolo wore at the tournament.” ChiChi shook her head. “Now I know why my sewing books have turned up missing.” ChiChi grabbed another container of food and fed it to Goku. “I don’t like the influence Piccolo has on our son. Maybe I should take him to a therapist when he gets back.”

 “A therapist? Why?”

 “It’s not right for a child to befriend his abductor. This is why I wanted Gohan to attend school. At school, Gohan’ll socialize with other kids and have friends his age. Living with us on Mount Paouz and even visiting my Dad, Gohan was very isolated.”

 “Gohan played with the kids in your Dad’s village.”  

 “Gohan did but he mostly kept around us. Being Dad’s grandson, Gohan was still treated differently. That’s why I enrolled him in preschool away from Dad’s village. I wanted to give Gohan a chance to be on his own. He was starting to come out of his shyness and make some friends but he was taken by that monster.” ChiChi put away another empty container and grabbed a third one. “Gohan hasn’t mentioned school or his classmates since he came back. He’s only focused on Namek and bringing Piccolo back.”

 Goku didn’t eat his food. He inhaled it. “Bringing Piccolo back is important to him, ChiChi. Piccolo got him really strong and gave his life for Gohan. Gohan appreciates that. I do, too. Gohan also feels guilty he survived when others died. He froze during some of the fighting.”

 “He shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”

 “We can’t do anything about that now, ChiChi. Let Gohan do this and after Piccolo’s back, everything will go back to how it was before. Gohan will go to school and make friends. He’ll probably forget about Piccolo and this whole ordeal.” ChiChi snorted. She didn’t believe it anymore than he did. “We can get back to making another baby. That’ll be fun.”

 That brought a smile to ChiChi’s face. “Another baby will be great and with a baby brother or baby sister maybe Gohan will forget about Piccolo. Maybe this whole thing will be a bad memory.”

 ChiChi put the third container away and reached for the fourth when Goku told her. “No more, ChiChi. I’m full.” The stunned looked on ChiChi’s face had Goku laughing. “My stomach is still recovering, too.”

 ChiChi zipped the food bag. “Your bottomless stomach.” ChiChi went into another bag and pulled out a blanket and an electronic pad. “That should’ve been the first clue to me that you’re not human. No one ate like you. I missed so many obvious signs.” ChiChi noticed Goku frowning again. What was wrong?

 She’ll figure it out. ChiChi slipped off her shoes and climbed in bed. “Remember I told you Dr. Barkley kept notes on you and Gohan.” She showed Goku the pad. “I thought we could look at it together. Maybe we’ll see how you’re an alien and how you’re like an Earthling and why everyone missed the clues.” Goku’s deepening frown clued ChiChi to what bothered him. “Goku, does it bother you you’re not from Earth?”

 “Does it bother you?” Goku asked ChiChi. “You keep mentioning it.”

 The reverse question. ChiChi placed the pad on the table. Maybe they’ll read it another time. “I won’t lie, Goku. It was a shock to learn you’re not from Earth; that you’re a Saiyan. I never believed in aliens and suddenly I’m married to one and I gave birth to his son. That’s a lot to handle, Goku.”

 Goku bowed his head. He felt foolish for thinking him being an alien didn’t matter. ChiChi touched his face and tilt it to back to her. “I spent the entire year thinking over our marriage. I thought over everything you did, every nuance from you that screamed not normal. I didn’t feel disgust knowing you’re not human. I wondered how I missed it. I’m your wife. I’m to know everything about you and I was completely blind to something so obvious. Every time I thought something was off, I brushed it with an excuse. Your stamina during our intimacy. ‘Oh, Goku has trained his body all his life to be in top physical condition.’ Your bottomless stomach. ‘Goku exercises a lot. He burns up a lot of calories so he has to refuel his body with a lot of food.’ The fact you had a tail and our son has, or, er had one. ‘Oh it’s just a cute appendage Gohan inherited from his Daddy. It’s harmless.’ There’s also the times you saw the full moon.”

 “The full moon.” Goku’s heart thumped wildly in his chest. How did she know about Grandpa?

 “Oh,” ChiChi laughed. “You don’t know about that. I didn’t connect it at the time but when you looked at the full moon, you couldn’t keep your hands off me. Remember that night I was pregnant and we both couldn’t keep our hands off each other?”

 Goku couldn’t remember as much as ChiChi but he knew they were both eager for each other. They were intimate all over the house and outside, too. “You mean that has something to do with me?”

 ChiChi giggled. If only Goku could see his face. “Maybe it’s a lust thing with your kind and since I was carrying your baby, it affected me, too. It makes sense when you think of how I strong I was during my pregnancy, how hungry I was and how difficult it was when I gave birth to Gohan.”

 The labor. Knowing what happened to Grandpa, the guilt kept mounting. Goku cupped one side of ChiChi’s face. It was never intentional but Goku felt everything was his fault. “You could’ve died because of me.”

 ChiChi kissed the palm of his hand. “I live because of you. You gave me your Ki to help me deliver Gohan. Now we know what to do with our second baby.” ChiChi noticed Goku wasn’t smiling. What was wrong? Didn’t he believe her? If she couldn’t convince him with her words, ChiChi thought she could with her lips.

 Goku jumped as ChiChi suddenly straddled him. “Chi---“ He remained still as ChiChi’s lips brushed his tenderly. Her tongue slipped between his parted lips; her body pressed against his forcing Goku’s healing back further on the mass of recently fluffed pillows. Goku tightened his bandaged arm around ChiChi while her arms circled his neck and her fingers worked through his hair. They haven’t kissed like this in a year. If they keep this up….

 Need for air from both forced them to part. Satisfied, ChiChi pressed a kiss on his forehead. “I don’t care you’re not from Earth, Goku. You’re my husband. I love you and I love our son. Nothing will ever change that so don’t think my feelings will change.” ChiChi brushed a thumb against his lips. “When you’re better, I’ll really show you how I don’t care you’re a Saiyan. You’re just my Goku to me.”

 Goku wanted to believe that. He really did but he wasn’t sure ChiChi will feel that way once she knew the truth. He feared telling ChiChi the truth but Goku knew he couldn’t keep this from her. After what happen with his friends, keeping this secret would be cruel. “How much have you been told about what I am?”

 “By your friends? They told me you’re a Saiyan. You’re from a race of fighting warriors that exterminate lives on other planets for money. Adults went to stronger planets and babies went to weaker planets. Master Roshi explained that bump on your head affected your programming. What?” ChiChi noticed Goku frowning again. “Was that a lie?”

 “No.” Goku shook his head. “It’s true but there’s something else. It’s about the full moon. Saiyans change when we look at a full moon.”

 “Change?”

 “I feel so stupid, ChiChi. It was so obvious and I never put it together. I didn’t realize it until I saw Vegeta transform.”

 “Transform into what?”

 She looked so worried, so confused. There was no turning back from this. “A giant ape. That monster I said appears if you look at a full moon; the monster that killed Grandpa. It was me.” Goku kept his eyes on ChiChi. She shook her head murmuring ‘No’ over and over. He kept a firm hold on her in case she tried to run away. If she wanted to leave, he’d let her but he had to tell her everything first. “It’s true. Whenever I saw the full moon, I blacked out and when I woke up, it was the next day and everything was destroyed around me. It was obvious but I never thought it was me, ChiChi. Grandpa told me it was a monster. He never said I was the monster.”

 “No, they can’t be right.” ChiChi didn’t believe it. “You saw the full moon after we married. You never changed into a giant ape.”

 “My tail causes the transformation. That’s why Kami wanted to permanently remove it.” Goku knew he only had to wait for ChiChi to put it together.

 “Gohan.” ChiChi’s hand covered her mouth. Her hand slowly went to her chest as she processed this. “Gohan said he lost his tail during the fight. Are you saying he turned into a giant ape?”

 “Twice that I know of. The night I died Gohan saw the full moon. He woke up the next morning with no memory of the night before. Piccolo destroyed the moon.”

 ChiChi gasped. She remembered seeing the full moon that night. Hours later it was gone and she hadn’t seen the moon since.

 “Vegeta had a device to recreate the light of the full moon. He transformed and so did Gohan. If Gohan hadn’t transformed, we wouldn’t have stopped Vegeta.” He could see it on her face. This was too much for ChiChi. “I know it’s a lot but you needed to know.”

 “It is.” She wouldn’t lie. It’s one thing to know you married an alien but to know he and the child you created together can transform into giant apes, that was a lot to swallow. She’ll process all this later but there was something she didn’t understand. “You told me this monster, er, you as this giant ape appeared at Emperor Pilaf’s castle and at the tournament. Your friends were there.”

 “They didn’t tell me it was me.”

 “Why the hell not?!” ChiChi screamed. “You needed to know!”

 “They were protecting me. They knew it would crush me if I knew I killed Grandpa.” His eyes closed as he exhaled. He was losing control. He struggled to control the emotions in his voice but thinking of Grandpa brought him back to that horrible day. “It hurts, ChiChi. I killed Grandpa. All these years, I thought I will kill this monster if I find it and it was me all along.” ChiChi wrapped her arms around him. She pressed his head against her chest. ChiChi’s soft murmurs of comfort were breaking the emotional wall he held up since he returned.

 “That’s why you’ve been frowning so much lately.” Goku’s behavior made sense to ChiChi now. “You had to deal with what really happened to your Grandpa, your friends and you worried about telling me this secret. Oh, Goku.” Her fingers thread his hair. “You’ve been carrying so much with no way to unload. Unload,” she told him. “Unload to me. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”

 The walls around his heart crumbled. He didn’t know it until now but it was what he needed to hear. With a sniff and a sob Goku finally unload.

Part Twenty-Two: Namek

 AN: Always felt there should’ve been some confrontation between Goku and his friends on his decision to let Vegeta go. It worked out later on but at the time, there had to have been some anger at Goku for his reasons in letting Vegeta go.  It’s similar to Piccolo at the end of Dragon Ball but no one died then and this time it was personal.

 Always felt Goku should’ve questioned his friends on keeping quiet about the truth of Gohan’s tail. It was a matter of time before Gohan saw a full moon and if Goku was never told, it would’ve been disastrous for his family.

 I always thought Chichi gave Gohan that bowl haircut and forced him into that suit as punishment for yelling at her. Gohan’s lucky he wasn’t spanked for that. I think Gohan was a bit overconfident in going to Namek and not understanding of his mother’s concerns that there was some distance between them wouldn’t Gohan remorseful until he experiences what happens on Namek.

  Thank you for the reviews!

[elisajdb]

Family Album: III

Son Family Week 2019: @sonfamilyweek

Goku Day (5/9)

Characters: Goku

Prompt: Memories

“It’s coming together nicely.” Chichi leaned on Goku as she stared at the dwindling box of photos. “I’m almost done.” She kissed Goku’s cheek. “Thank you for helping.”

 “It’s not just me.” Goku tilted his head to the kitchen. “Gohan helped, too.”

 Gohan returned to the room with a tray carrying a plate of onigiri and senbei, a hot pot of tea and three tea cups. Gohan carefully placed the tray on the floor. “That was Grandpa on the phone. Goten stopped by after school.” He poured a cup of tea for his parents while Goku grabbed an onigiri.

 Chichi took the cup of tea from her eldest son. “That’s why he’s not home yet.”

 “I told you he’s fine.” Goku munched on his onigiri. “Mmm! These rice balls are so good!”

 Gohan placed a tea cup next to his father. “Goten’s on his way. I reminded him we have dinner tonight.”

 “Good.” Chichi sipped her tea. “We should finish this before we leave.”

 Gohan sifted through the pictures while chewing on a senbei. “Did I take this picture?” Gohan turned the picture around so his parents could see. The shot of the picture implied whoever took it either sat on the floor or wasn’t very tall. Chichi’s legs were captured in front of the stove. There was a clear shot of Goku who did pushups on his hands. On the edges of the photo were fingers.

 “Looks like it.” Chichi laughed. “I think I had the camera out that day and you got your hands on it. It’s a good shot of Goku. Isn’t it, Goku?” She noticed Goku eating his third onigiri. “Oh, Goku,” Chichi drawled seeing bits of rice around Goku’s mouth. Chichi took a napkin and wiped Goku’s face. “Your Dad exercised in the kitchen a lot while I cooked and you did your schoolwork. Sunny days, rainy days, hot or cold, your Dad was always in the kitchen with us.” Chichi kissed him. “I miss those times.”

 “I don’t remember seeing these pictures, Mom.” Gohan handed a stack to Chichi. “These are when I was a baby.”

 Goku looked over Chichi’s shoulder as she looked through the photos. “I remember this one, Chichi.” In the photo, Goku held a one-year-old Gohan who kissed his cheek while Chichi and Gyu-Mao looked happily. “I haven’t seen it in years. It’s been in this box all this time?”

 “No.” Chichi spread out the stack of photos. “All of these were taken at Dad’s place. A few years ago he made copies and gave them to me.” One photo captured her eyes. She tapped it with her finger. “I had no idea Dad took this one. He said you didn’t notice him peeking from the door.”

 Goku picked up the photo, awed this moment in time was captured. “I didn’t know he took this either.”

 It was taken the day of Gohan’s birth. Chichi lied in bed asleep, exhausted. Goku sat in a chair besides Chichi’s bed holding baby Gohan. He stared at the new life that came into his hours ago. Seeing the photo brought Goku back to that special day. 

Evening arrived to a very long, emotional, and happy day. It was amazing to Goku how his life changed in a matter of hours. This morning he and Chichi spent an hour lying in bed, talking and relaxing. Most of the conversation was on the impending birth of their child. That morning, Chichi was all smiles rubbing her belly and feeling their son move. She gushed about wanting to see their child, hold him and kiss him. Goku remembered touching her stomach to feel the child’s Ki. He remembered pressing his ear to Chichi’s stomach to hear their son’s heartbeat. He felt it but he also felt a tiny kick against his face. The two were full of laughs and happiness as dreamt of the day their son will be born.

 Hours later, it wasn’t all smiles and laughs. There was worry and fear as Chichi went into labor. It all happened so quickly. Goku remembered his heart pounding fast and hard against his chest. It was threatening to burst as he rushed to Chichi’s side. Chichi didn’t look good; it was fear the labor could kill her. If he hadn’t given his Ki to help Chichi through the birth of their child, she would’ve died. Losing Grandpa was a crushing blow. If he lost Chichi, he wasn’t sure how he would cope.

 Chichi was alive now, sleeping while hooked to machines that quietly beeped as it monitored her heart and blood pressure. Chichi was out of the danger zone but her doctor still recommend she rest and take it easy until she fully recovered.

 Goku turned his attention to their son, Gohan. He slept in a small baby bed next to Chichi. Gohan raised his arms as if he’s stretching before dropping them and falling back asleep.  

 Goku gently picked up his child. Gohan didn’t stir as Goku carried him to a chair by the window. For several moments, Goku stared at the newborn. He looked a lot better now than hours ago. When he was born, Gohan was a wet, bloodied sloppy mess and his body was so wrinkled. He didn’t look like any baby Goku’s seen growing up. He did now and Goku was absolutely mesmerized. The tiny spikes in Gohan’s hair reminded Goku of his own. The tail wiggling to get free from the blanket made Goku’s heart soar with pride.

 He couldn’t believe it. He was a father. He was still getting used to being a husband. Now he was a husband and father.

 It was funny. People; strangers and even his own friends called him stupid and slow. Fighting was all they thought he could do. After failing to understand the difference between a pretty girl and ugly girl, his magazines and erotica books, Master Roshi thought of him incapable in understanding women or marrying one.

 At the time, Goku wasn’t interested in women. His focus was to be the strongest fighter in the world. Goku was certain Master Roshi and his friends still had those doubts of him and women when he left them to marry Chichi.

 I bet they’d think differently of me if they could see me now.

 In truth, Goku didn’t know what he was doing except honoring a promise and following his instincts. He had good instincts about Chichi and it paid off in their first year together. He fell in love; found someone he could truly let his guard down with and now they had a son together.

 “Gohan. Son Gohan,” Goku whispered to the baby. “Nice to meet you.” Gohan’s eyes slowly opened. “Hi. You’re finally awake. You like to sleep a lot, don’t ya?”

 Gohan whined as he looked around in wonder and confusion. The whine in his voice got higher as if he wanted to cry. “Don’t cry,” Goku told his son. “You’re safe with me and Mommy. Oh, you probably don’t understand but I’m Daddy. That’s Mommy,” Goku referred to the sleeping woman near them. “And you’re Gohan. Son Gohan. You’re our son.” Gohan’s eyes went up to the soft lights above them. Didn’t seem as if the child was listening to him. “Mommy’s really tired,” Goku kept talking, “and needs to sleep but she’s happy you’re here. I am, too.”

 Gohan wiggled his body. He raised his arms again with one touching Goku’s chin. “We’re gonna do a lot together on Mount Paouz. I’m gonna take ya fishin’ and campin’. I’m gonna teach ya how to fight like Grandpa did with me.” Gohan’s eyes focused on Goku again. Goku wondered if Gohan understood him. He and Chichi talked to Chichi’s stomach during her pregnancy. She said their voices will be a familiar comfort to their child when he is born.

 Gohan’s attention on him encouraged Goku to keep talking. “You’re named after my Grandpa. He found me in the woods and took really good care of me. I hope I can take care of you just as good.”

 “You’re gonna do great, Goku.”

 Goku turned his head. Chichi was awake. “How ya feeling?”

 “Tired,” Chichi admitted. “But better. Is Gohan awake?”

 Goku turned around so Chichi could see Gohan’s eyes were open. “I think he recognizes my voice.”

 “Has he been given a bottle of milk?”

Goku shook his head. “Gohan hasn’t eaten since you fed him. He keeps making a whiny noise.”

 Chichi sat up in bed. “He’s probably hungry. Get in bed with me.” Chichi opened her gown exposing her breasts to her husband and son. Goku handed Gohan to Chichi and carefully climbed in bed with them.

 Goku watched Chichi gently guide Gohan to her full breast. Just as he did the first time she fed him, baby Gohan grasp the nipple and suckled quickly. As Gohan fed himself, his tail slipped from his blanket and wrapped itself around Chichi’s arm. “He’s so perfect. Aren’t you, Gohan?”

 “Wild it was just the two of us this morning.”

 “Yeah,” Chichi agreed. “Now there are three of us.” Chichi’s warm eyes met Goku’s. “I want it to be this way for a very long time; just the three of us; maybe four or more,” she said hopeful.

 “I want that, too,” Goku admitted. For most of his life, it was just him. He had Grandpa for a brief time and he was very happy. Alone, he was happy but not as much as when he had Grandpa. Now he was recapturing that happiness again with Chichi in a whole new way. It will only get better with Gohan. What he was forming now with his wife and child, Goku realized it was something he wanted to keep for a very long time.

 Gohan gathered the empty dishes and carried them to the kitchen. Chichi finished adding the photos Gyu-Mao gave her to the album. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Goku smiling at her. It wasn’t his usual happy smile. There was something behind this one.

 “What’s that smile for, Goku?”

 “Just thinking. I remember how our family grew from two to three when Gohan was born.” Goku looked towards the kitchen. Gohan’s back was to them as he cleaned their dishes. Goku slid closer to Chichi. “It didn’t turn out the way we wanted but it was the three of us for a while.”

 Chichi wrapped her arms around Goku’s neck. “And now it’s four and I know it will be this way for a very long time.”

 “How do you know?”

 Chichi playfully tugged a spiky bang hanging over Goku’s forehead. “Because I’ll kill you if it’s not.”

 Just as their lips met in a kiss, the front door opened and Goten burst into the room. “Mom! Dad! I’m home!”