Little Chi Chi's Fan Fiction

Part One: I'll Be Home for Christmas
She wasn't as strong as she looked. All her life, she had been a tough girl, comparable to any boy she had known. Her father supported her tomboyishness, having no sons to follow in his footsteps. Even when ChiChi was young, she'd chase dragons and wind up decapitating them with her special helmet. ChiChi sighed. She was no longer the model of her feisty youth. She probably wouldn't even have the strength to get past Round 1 at the Tenkaichi Bodukai. She closed her eyes, recalling the 23rd Tournament with fondness. She had since then married Son Gokou and had two children. But now the house was empty. Gohan and Videl were married and had a daughter of their own. Goten and Paris moved to Satan City to be together, and now ChiChi was alone.. To occupy her during the day, she had kept an immaculate house; come night, Gokou was still usually away. She often found herself shivering, cold, and alone in a half-used bed. ChiChi's eyes watered as she thought about her husband. He had a natural love for fighting. It seemed that he loved to fight more than he loved to be with her, usually. Finally, her suspicions were confirmed when he left home to train someone. He never returned. It has been years, but she especially missed him during this season, when families gathered together to share holiday cheer. Traces of gray started to announce their presence on ChiChi's head. Many years of worry were finally starting to take their toll on her weary body. She could barely gather the energy to climb out of her rocking chair to do the dusting around the room. She groaned inwardly. Her joints throbbed, but she didn't let that stop her from doing her work. It was Christmas-Goten and Gohan would be visiting with their respective families any minute now. Cold, she rubbed her hands together and blew on them. This started a spastic coughing episode that took her many moments to recover from. Curse the disease that was eating away at her life! By that evening, she had slowly yet completely removed almost every speck of dust from her house. It was just in time, too. When she was about to recline in her rocker again, the front door was thrown wide open. Goten tromped into the house, followed by Paris, Gohan, Videl, and Pan. ChiChi managed to smile at the members of her family. "Merry Christmas," she greeted them, almost wishing that her husband had been among them. Gohan and Goten hugged their mother. Gohan drew back after a moment. "Mother, you're so cold! Are you feeling worse?" Gohan was concerned because his mother had fallen ill recently and she never completely recovered. In fact, it seemed to be that she was slowly being consumed by the disease. ChiChi shrugged and coughed. "I guess it's just the cold air. I'll be fine." Goten disagreed. "Mama, why don't you sit down? I'll go find a blanket.." ChiChi followed Goten's advice and sat in her rocking chair. Minutes later, he returned with a small quilt. ChiChi took it gratefully and wrapped it around herself. "Please make yourselves comfortable," ChiChi said to her guests. Paris, Videl, and Pan sat on her couch. Goten and Gohan retreated into the kitchen to talk. In the silence, Goten whispered to Gohan, "She looks thin." Gohan nodded. "She looks weaker, too. Her cough sounds worse," he commented after hearing a coughing fit from the next room. "I wish Dad were here," Gohan mumbled. "He knew how to cheer Mom up." "Yeah, and how to make her mad." "True?I just wish we could help Mom." "Lets just go visit-it might be our last Christmas with her," Goten suggested as he heard his mother attempting to converse with the ladies. Gohan sat next to Videl and picked up a perfectly wrapped present. "Hmm," he said aloud, shaking it a little, trying to lighten the somber atmosphere. "I think it's present time and this one sounds like a gift for Pan. Says here it's from your mother and me," he addressed his daughter. He gave her the gift with a laugh. With a look of approval from ChiChi, Pan quickly unwrapped the gift box to find a text book on the history of paper clips. Videl beamed, "I want you to be a scholar just like your father," she announced. Goten laughed while Pan and Gohan both scowled. ChiChi watched with a small chuckle, remembering all the time and money she sacrificed for Gohan's studies. "Err, I'll take you shopping tomorrow," Gohan whispered to his daughter. Goten gave Paris a necklace with an iridescent, pearl-like gem in the middle of an expensive pendant. ChiChi then sighed, reminiscing about the year Gokou had bought her a ring. She looked at her hand. She still wore the band even though she had given up hope of his return. If he ever does come back, she thought, I ought to beat him with a frying pan just to let him know how angry I am that he deserted me. After Paris and Videl prepared Christmas dinner because ChiChi was too exhausted to do so, everyone sat around the table. Still wrapped up in her blanket, ChiChi served the women's meal to her guests. Pan's bright eyes glowed like those of any other child during the blessed holiday of Christmas. "Grandmother, we didn't give you a present yet!" She noted. ChiChi managed a smile. "Why do I need a present? I've got all the gifts I need right here!" ChiChi stretched out her arms to acknowledge everything around. Her blanket had loosened and slid to the ground as she stretched. Just as the quilt landed on the floor with a soft swoosh, a knock resounded through the house. It was so sudden and unexpected that it was almost deafening. All eyes turned to the door. It opened slowly. Upon seeing who stood behind it, ChiChi's jaw dropped, Paris and Videl started pushing food aimlessly around on their plates, and Gohan and Goten exchanged skeptical glances. They all looked at ChiChi for a response. Pan was undaunted. "Granddad?!?"
Part Two: Reluctant Reunion
Gokou took a complete step inside ChiChi's house. Spying the meal on the table, he noted, "Still a big cooker, I see." ChiChi shook her head, almost paralyzed with apprehension. She found it ironic that the one she had just been thinking about would show up at her door. Then again, she reasoned, she'd been thinking about him constantly since she'd acquired this illness. "No? It can't be? G..Gokou.. What a surprise!" She folded her hands in her lap so no one could see them shaking.. She was clearly aware that her movements were being scrutinized. Gokou smiled. "ChiChi, it's so good to see you again. You look older." ChiChi's temper flared, proof that she still carried traces of her previous disposition. "Of course I look older, Gokou. I was left to stay here, finish raising half-Saiyajin children and live by myself in an unforgiving world. You expect me to look young?" Gokou shook his head. "That's not what I meant. ChiChi-" He was interrupted by one of her coughing episodes. Hastily, she grabbed her napkin and covered her mouth with it as she doubled over in the fit. After many tense moments, she finally straightened herself, folded her napkin, and stood up, shaking. "Mom, your blanket.." Goten said softly, momentarily breaking the silence of those at the table. "Look at me," ChiChi mumbled, "I'm getting to be so careless.." She bent down to pick up her quilt, the wind from her movements unfolding the napkin on the table. Gokou spotted small red dots on the napkin. "ChiChi?" He asked. "What is it? What's wrong?" "I don't want to talk about it," she said with authority. He arched a brow and scratched his head. "ChiChi, I came to apologize? It's Christmas you know." ChiChi closed her eyes, putting a hand on the back of her chair to steady herself. She suddenly felt very cold. She heard Gokou's voice as a mumble, but didn't understand a word he said. She forgot about everyone else in the room. Her chest felt surprisingly tight and constricted, her field of vision narrowing. Again, her blanket slid off her shoulders, but she didn't even notice because she was shaking so hard. Gokou retrieved it for her this time. "Soft," he commented. "Where'd you get it?" ChiChi half-opened her eyes, her knuckles white from gripping the chair so hard. "I made it? when you were gone? for when you came back. But you didn't." She faltered, swaying slightly. "Gokou, I feel dizzy?" Gokou remained silent and replaced the blanket around her shoulders. When she didn't protest, he wrapped his arms around her from behind. He bent over her, scooping her up to hold her under her shoulders and her knees. Cradling her like this, he carried her to her bedroom. ChiChi's other guests looked at each other. "Well, Dad's back," Gohan said almost too cheerfully. His good humor didn't sound convincing. "Yeah, but for how long?" Goten asked no one in particular.
Part Three: Guilt and Remorse Gokou laid ChiChi carefully on the mattress and sat down by her side. He smoothed her hair behind her ear. "ChiChi, I'm so sorry? I won't leave you again." "Gokou, why are you really here?" ChiChi liked this new behavior, but she was also skeptical. It wasn't like Gokou to be thoughtful like this. He shook his head. "Honestly, Chich, I don't know. I just felt like I needed to come back." ChiChi closed her eyes. "Oh." Another coughing fit seized her. Gokou held her up as she wheezed, and she greatly appreciated his concern. Every time she made an effort to breathe, she gasped through a red haze and needed to cough again. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and shuddered. Nervously, Gokou wiped at the small beads of blood-tinted saliva at the corners of her mouth. "Chich? please tell me you'll be okay.." Gokou said softly. "You will be, won't you?" ChiChi looked up at him helplessly and shivered, unable to say anything. "No?" was all he could whisper. "I won't let you suffer like this.. I can't!" Gohan stood in the doorway, and interrupted. "Dad.. can I talk to you outside for a little while?" Gokou cast a glance at ChiChi and shrugged. He complied by rising and following Gohan into the hallway. He closed the door behind him. "What do you need, Gohan?" He asked impatiently. Gohan sighed. "Are you back for good?" Gokou flinched at Gohan's directness. He shrugged and told his son that he supposed so. If ChiChi wouldn't let him stay, then he would stay at Bulma's house. He had a gut feeling that something at home was wrong, but he hadn't expected it to be ChiChi. Not the strongest woman on Earth. Not the only woman he loved. How could it have been her? Gohan's voice softened a little. "Dad.. I missed you. So did Mom. You should have come back sooner. Maybe this wouldn't have been as bad." He was referring to ChiChi's illness. "Maybe it would have even increased her willpower to prevent it." Gokou frowned, his eyes filling with thick tears. Gohan stopped himself before pushing his father off the edge. "I wanted to come back," Gokou said softly. "But I didn't know what would happen. I was afraid to.." Gohan found it ironic that the strongest man on the world was afraid of coming home to his wife. Then he remembered that his mother had indeed been in a rather angry and violent mood when Gokou left. But ChiChi had certainly abandoned her cruel thoughts in the home that the one she loved would return home to her. "Dad, it's too late now," his own face was contorting with this acknowledgement. "There's nothing anyone can do for her anymore. She probably won't make it through the next month, let alone the year.." His wavering voice trailed off softly. Gokou stared at the ground, concentrating on his boots. How could he have let things get this far out of hand? He looked at his hands. They were balled up into tight fists, shaking. From the other room, both men could her ChiChi coughing and gasping for air. Gohan winced at the sound and Gokou's face dropped even more. With a hint of pain in his voice, Gohan mumbled, "It's getting worse. Sometimes she'll have an episode of coughing and she won't be able to breathe. Other times, she just loses her voice. And then there's the days when she doesn't even have the energy to get out of bed. Look around though, she keeps most of the house clean, but doesn't even bother to tidy her bedroom anymore. I don't know if it's the illness or not, but it's horrible seeing her this way!" Gokou nodded, walking back to the door leading into ChiChi's room. He cracked it open a bit and peered in at her. Her eyes were closed, a grimace plastered on her face. But the coughing had stopped and she appeared to be asleep. He closed the door again and sighed. "Has anybody tried senzu beans?" Gohan nodded. "They didn't have much effect. She completely lost her will to survive. Oh, she hangs on, alright, but only for the sake of wanting to see you again. She knows that I'd be there for Goten if trouble came up-what use does a hen have of a nest if the chicks re all grown up?" Gohan got no response so he shrugged and started walking back to his family still in the kitchen. "If you need anything, let me know.." Gokou leaned against the wall, his head bowed. He slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position, hugging his knees close to his chest. His head drooped even further forward until his forehead came to rest against his knees.
Part Four: Unfinished Dinner / A Night Without Sleep
Back at the dinner table, Pan pushed food around on her plate. The silence still hadn't broken, and Pan was confused. "Uncle Goten?" she whispered, afraid to use her normal voice, "What just happened?" Goten looked at his niece silently, and sighed. "I wish I knew. Shock, maybe? It's been a long time since Dad's been home. A long time," he repeated himself, remembering the time when Gokou went out to train with someone and didn't come back. He remembered his mother trying to be cheerful, hopeful that her husband would be back soon. She stayed up late each night, praying that her husband wasn't caught up in a fiasco similar to what had happened before with the training of Uub. Every day, she had slaved over creating hot meals in large quantities, only to have to throw away massive amounts of unwanted leftovers. Goten knew how much ChiChi longed for someone to fill Gokou's spot at the table. He sighed, thinking about how everyone would be affected by ChiChi's absence after the disease finally consumed her. Paris looked out the window, seeing dark clouds rolling in. A threatening bolt of lightning illuminated the sky in the distance. "Videl-chan, Goten, do you think maybe we should stay here tonight? There's a storm on the way." Pan's eyes lit up. "That would be fun!" she said to her mother, Videl. Videl, sensing the tension among the Son family looked at Goten. "What do you think Gohan and ChiChi would want us to do?" Goten shrugged, looking down at his own untouched plate. He knew that his mother loved it when her sons were visiting, but she seemed to not want company lately. Then again, the situation with his father's arrival seemed to throw things off balance. "I guess we can stay, but we'll have to be really quiet and let Mom have peace." Videl agreed to this and rose. "Since it seems like nobody's too terribly hungry, I guess I'll do the dishes. It's also starting to get late.. As soon as I have ChiChi's kitchen cleaned again, I think we should call it a night and try to get some sleep before this storm comes in and keeps us all awake." The wind howled against the windows, snow falling from the sky at a rapid pace. Gokou was back in his own bed, which felt strange to him after being away for so long. ChiChi was asleep next to him-her breathing had softened and sounded less labored. With his hands behind his head, Gokou studied the ceiling. How could things have gotten this bad without me knowing? And why ChiChi? Gokou pondered, guilt pressing heavily on his heart. I love her. Why is she being taken from me like this? Why did I ever leave in the first place? He sighed, glancing over his shoulder to make sure ChiChi was alright. She let out a small sound almost like a purr-she was probably dreaming peacefully. At least, he hoped so. He looked back up at the ceiling. He had put her protection before that of the entire universe. He loved her and no one else. And he had violated her trust. Now it was too late to do anything for her. He remembered her innocence as a child-she was cute and carefree. But Gokou had to admit that he was more concerned with gathering the dragonballs for the first time than he was with befriending ChiChi. Alas, about ten years later, they got married. They had a son, and ChiChi was bent on keeping him in school and helping him grow up to have values. Well, he admitted, she succeeded. No thanks to me, he thought miserably. Gokou flinched, looking down to see that ChiChi had moved in her sleep. She was now curled up along his side, her head resting against his chest. He sighed, wrapping his arms protectively around the sleeping woman. She looked so serene and so innocent in her slumber. He held her close against him, feeling her shivering body pressed against him. He kissed her forehead, heavy tears threatening to roll down his cheek. This time he didn't stop the flood. I love you so much, my ChiChi, he thought to himself as he held her soothingly in his embrace. I always will, and I promise I'll never leave you again. No matter what.
Part Five: Amazing Recovery?!?
Goten woke to the smell of bacon being fried in the kitchen. He rolled off the couch and stumbled toward the source of the smell. There he found a surprise-Paris was helping cook breakfast? with his mother! He scuffled to Paris, still drowsy, and hugged her. He then kissed his mother's cheek. "Feeling better, I assume?" Goten said hopefully. ChiChi smiled earnestly. "Yes, and I hope you're hungry, because we're making one heck of a breakfast for everybody!" Goten's stomach growled, a reminder that he didn't eat any of his dinner the night before, thanks to the unexpected turn of events. Within minutes, the scent of breakfast cooking had woken up Pan, Videl, and Gohan as well. By the time ChiChi had served the morning's meal to everyone, Gokou still had not risen. ChiChi knew that no matter how much Gokou appeared to have changed, this was still something to worry over. ChiChi left her company to finish their breakfast, and went in search of Gokou. He was still in bed, laying on his back, focusing far off into the distance. She bent down and gave him a tight squeeze around the middle. "It's time to get up! Come on, I've let you sleep in long enough, and I have breakfast all ready for you!" She tried to be cheerful and peppy, but only half succeeded. He closed his eyes, focusing on ChiChi as he reopened them. "Do you forgive me?" He asked softly. "Forgive you? Oh Gokou, here you are being silly again. Come on," she tugged at his arm, "Food's getting cold!" He sighed. "You didn't answer me. I want to know-do you forgive me?" With this, ChiChi gave him the brightest smile she could muster. "Gokou, I'd forgive you anything. You should know that." She was right-no matter how many times he had dissappointed her, she was always waiting with open arms for him to come back to her. Gokou sat up and put his arms around her, pulling her into a close embrace. "Shouldn't you be resting?" He asked, concerned about her health. "I? No. Last night was just a fluke-You surprised me, that's all. I'm feeling much better today-really!" ChiChi assured him this with a kiss on his cheek. This barely convinced Gokou, and he held her tightly. He rested his cheek up against hers, memorizing the feel of her body, the smell of her hair, the almost unnoticeable rasp in her throat when she breathed, her warmth. She must be doing much better, he decided, since she was so cold the night before. He finally climbed out of bed and stumbled toward the breakfast table. While he scarfed down ChiChi's delicious meal, she leaned against a wall. She closed her eyes in concentration and sighed. With the deep intake of breath, she had to work with all her might to suppress a cough and winced at a pain in her side. She looked up and saw Gokou scarfing down her food. She was instantly relieved, and hoped now that maybe things could return to the way things were. Throughout the next few weeks, ChiChi stayed primarily in her house. She laxed up on her chores a bit, finding that it took all her strength to maintain her healthy appearance in front of Gokou. She did, however, take time away from Gokou in order to regain her composure. She was leaning against a wall one day when Bulma was visiting, nearly in tears over the pain her illness was putting her through. "Bulma," she whispered, her voice nearly gone from a previous coughing episode. "You have to help me?" Part Six: Coup de Grace "Hi, Vegeta! Ya know, ChiChi seems to be doing a lot better? Want to spar for a little while?" Vegeta stared at Gokou with a cold, icy gaze. He shook his head and sighed. "Kakarotto, you baka." He said no more than that as he entered ChiChi's room, slamming the door behind him before Gokou could follow. The bedridden ChiChi looked up at Vegeta. She grimaced. "Does he know?" Vegeta shook his head no. Bulma sat in the corner of the room silently, looking at ChiChi. "Then I'm ready," ChiChi said in a broken whisper. Vegeta glanced uncertainly at his wife and then looked back at ChiChi. "Are you sure this is what you want?" ChiChi looked up helplessly. "Yes? it hurts so much? and I'd rather that Gokou have fond last memories of me. This is going to kill me anyway, so why postpone it? It'd rather get it over with as painlessly as possible." Bulma stood and walked over to her friend. She took ChiChi's hand comfortingly. "What do you want us to tell your family?" ChiChi winced at this thought. "Tell Gohan and Goten that I love them and to take good care of their families. They'll understand, I think. I hope. Gokou, on the other hand, I don't know about?" ChiChi's eyes filled with tears. She had just reunited with him and now she would be leaving him again. "Make sure he knows that I didn't mean for all this to happen. Tell him that I'll be waiting for him, like always. Tell him I love him, and always have. Tell him-" her voice cracked, tears falling freely down her cheeks and along the sides of her nose. Vegeta usually had low tolerance for emotion and sentiment such as this, but he made an exception for these circumstances. ChiChi, once the Earth's strongest woman, was the first member of the gang to die of natural causes. Even the dirty old man was still alive, hitting on a new generation of younger chicks. Vegeta, the cold-hearted Saiyajin prince, was sympathetic. ChiChi swallowed hard, fighting to breathe. Speaking like this had already put a drain on her body. "Tell him not to be sad; that it's better this way." Bulma nodded, squeezing ChiChi's hand comfortingly. She looked at her friend. "It won't be the same without you.." ChiChi nodded, her eyes black, tearful, and laced with pain. She clutched a hand to her side with a grimace. She began convulsing at a feeling of sudden, searing pain. "Vegeta-san?" she muttered almost inaudibly. "Please?" Bulma left ChiChi's side and headed toward the door. "I'll go distract Gokou for a while. Vegeta," she faced her husband, "make it quick, and don't hurt her any more than she is now. Don't make her suffer?" "Just leave, woman," Vegeta grunted, trying not to get emotional. "Thank you, my friends," ChiChi winced, her hand still against her rib cage. Her breathing had become shallow and labored. When Bulma left, Vegeta sighed. "You really want me to do this?" "Get it over with," ChiChi whimpered in response, her eyes flashing him a look that seemed to plead for mercy. "I've been training for years, but I don't know if Bulma's idea will work," Vegeta rambled. "I'll have to power up slowly and under control so your family won't notice." Vegeta said this as he gathered energy into a small ball. He closed his eyes, calling more energy into his grasp a bit at a time. He shielded his own power level as the level of the energy ball increased, leaving the power level of the room in stasis. "I'm going to focus the energy into a small ball," he said, trying to combat the anxiety of the room. "What!? What's going on!?" He suddenly asked himself as he noticed the energy take on a purple-ish hue. The ball shrunk and Vegeta's face contorted under the strain of withholding such power. "This is like nothing I've ever seen before.. What's happening?" His voice faded away as he focused all of his strength on controlling this power. ChiChi braced herself as the energy ball condensed and then grew. Vegeta turned his head away as he struggled to maintain the energy. With this control, he released the energy upon her body. The violet ki didn't immediately blow up-instead, it seemed to sparkle in the light and melt over her. "G?gomen," Vegeta muttered, and staggered away from ChiChi.
Part Seven: Omniscience
(Disclaimer: I confess-I had to read Faulkner in school and so I've been writing through the style known as "Stream of Consciousness." Forgive me if this seems choppy or confusing or just plain off-the-wall.) It started out as a soft flicker in the center of her chest. The flutter of her heart beating weakly for life. The flicker was a small flame, and would be extinguished with her last puff of breath. Hot. Cold. She didn't know exactly how to describe the energy consuming her. It was a tingling sensation, while at the same time, she was drowning and suffocating in the power. Numbness. Pain. The feeling of a thousand uncried tears caught in her throat. She was going to explode. No. Implode. She could recall every moment she and her husband spent together. She recalled all the time she spend missing him and yearning for him. She was aware of information flooding her mind as if it were water rushing through a river. Suddenly, she could think of every single word she had wanted to say to Gokou. She instantly wanted to go back and say those words, to act on that knowledge. But she was stuck, unable to move forward nor backward in time. She could not go back because there were rules. She did not go forward because she would wait for Gokou. She had always waited, albeit a few times she had given up hope on his return. She wondered why she had felt no pain during her last moments alive. Then she was aware that Vegeta's power was a new form of energy. Had the stone-faced Saiyajin finally learned Mercy and Sympathy? It was all perfectly clear now. Closing her eyes, she saw Vegeta slinking out of the room with his head bowed in sorrow. She saw into his heart, and realized that he feared the same fate for his wife. ChiChi felt a certain sorrow, knowing that it was all a matter of time before the whole gang would be here with her. Life, she snorted, was a game. And she had played her cards on a husband who was playing a different game with different players. It figures, she noted, that he would return just in time to raise the stakes before the game was finished. Oh well, I guess I can stick around and wait for the next deal, she reasoned. Part Eight: Gokou's Confrontations-Death, Family, Love Gokou's head jerked up. Bulma looked over at him uneasily and dropped the wooden spoon into the pot. "Gokou, how can I teach you how to cook if you won't pay attention?" Gokou forgot about the stew and stepped back from Bulma in shock. "I can't feel her?" "Gokou, you're being silly. Can't feel who? Come back, or the stew will burn!" He shook his head. "I can't feel ChiChi's energy!" Before Bulma could respond, Gokou was racing toward ChiChi's bedroom, leaving a gust of wind in his wake. All he found was Vegeta, leaning against the door frame weakly. "Kakarotto.." The Saiyajin prince gasped. "Vegeta! What happened to ChiChi?!" Vegeta narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists. "She's gone, you baka." "No?No, that can't be! You killed her, didn't you?!" Gokou could sense weakness in Vegeta, as if he had just powered up recently. "No?" In his heart, he felt a certain truth, and his spirit was suddenly filled with anguish. Bulma finally caught up with Gokou and stood at his side. She touched his arm softly in apology. He shook it away with such force that her arm was thrown back against the wall and would later bruise. "Leave me alone," Gokou snarled, his voice hard and strident. Gokou stalked to the room he had shared with ChiChi. Her body was still in the bed, but her spirit had long since departed. He sat down on the bed and put his head in his hands. "Why..? You were so strong.. Why now?" He lay his head against ChiChi's side, weeping bitterly. "Dende-sama, how could this have happened?" The warmth had left her body and he scooped her up in his arms. He cradled the pale figure against his chest and rose, lifting her away from the bed. Similar to what he had done for Vegeta on Namek, he brought her outside and lay her body on the ground. He dug his fists into the cold earth and fashioned a grave, moist with his tears. He lay her body in the depression and sighed. He couldn't bear to cover that sweet face with dirt-she was too clean and too innocent to be ruined like that! Sure, she had nagged at him when he was round, but she just wanted to take care of her family. Looking back, he couldn't think of a single time when she didn't put the value of her family before all else-including herself. She always had a meal prepared and waiting for him, even when he wasn't there to eat it. The house was always clean. She was always at the defense of her family, and wouldn't let anyone get in her way. He had shown his appreciation, hadn't he? Surely she knew that he loved her? He looked at the stony features of her face, and choked back a cry. This feeling of loss was more deep and profound than any other feeling he had ever experienced. Could that be what she had felt each time he had passed on to the next dimension? It was a wonder that she always forgave him for such pain. After knowing this, how could he forgive himself? "Otousan," a weak voice came out of nowhere. The voice wavered a little, but was unusually soft and calm. Gokou loathed the demeanor of the voice-how could anyone speak so evenly and under control when ChiChi, his only love, had just died? Gokou turned, only to be face to face with his son, Goten. His own voice was thick with anguish and grief. "What do you want?" He snapped at his son. Goten flinched but did not back away from his father. Instead, he inched nearer and touched his shoulder lightly. "'Tousan, I felt it when she left... Dad, why did it have to happen now? Things were just starting to get better!" Gokou's eyes blinked back a surge of tears. Rather than pushing his son away, Gokou clapped a hand on his shoulder. Neither of the men would allow himself to cry in front of the other, but each could understand the other's profound sorrow at the loss. "You both knew it was going to happen," said a third voice out of nowhere. "She was preparing us this whole time. Bulma-san and Vegeta-san as well." Gohan was unusually harsh as he passed this judgement. Usually he had a soothing and understanding aura-not Goten's edgy attitude. "How could we have known? She was getting better!" Goten insisted to his older brother. "Don't tell me you couldn't even sense her power level constantly dropping. She wasn't getting better; she was using the last of her energy to say goodbye to us in her own way!" Gokou's head snapped up to face Gohan. "Don't say things like that about your mother. It was Vegeta who killed her." "But it's true!" Gohan defended himself, his voice quivering as if he were about to burst into tears. "You're being selfish-you came back after being gone for ages and expected everything to be alright. She was fading long before you came home, but she used her strength to give you something more positive to remember. Can't you see? She loved you so much that she used all of her strength for you-She probably even asked Vegeta to put her out of her misery! She was in a lot of pain, you know. Or would you rather her suffer? I love her just as much as you all do, but she wouldn't want all of us to be this upset about it! She was too proud for that!" Goten's energy flared and he stood apart from Gohan and Gokou. "Don't talk about Mom like that! Of course she'd care about how sad we are!" Tears of sorrow and anger streamed down his cheeks and he scowled, "You never even loved her, did you? You just wanted to sneak out and train with Piccolo-sama!" Goten accused, his anger rising until his hair stood on end. A golden aura surrounded him as he was consumed by the sole thought of retribution toward Gohan for this insult. "Of course I loved her! I always did what she told me to do! Heck, I even became a scholar, just to make her happy! I don't see you slaving over any upper level science or math books!" With that, Gohan also powered up to the level of Super Saiyajin. "Neither of you loved her as much as I did," Gokou mumbled, barely heard over the static buzz of Gohan and Goten's energy. The oldest of Gokou's sons overheard his father and he yelled in response, "At least we were here for her when she needed someone! We stayed up late nights taking care of her when she was too sick to even sit up in bed! You don't even know how bad it got, do you?" Gohan was disgusted, acting completely out of his usual character. He raised a clenched fist and shook it at his father threateningly. Goten noticed that Gokou was saying nothing to his own defense. His father was just sitting in silence by ChiChi's side. A sense of reason flooded Goten and he powered down suddenly. He stood near his father and addressed his brother. "Gohan," his voice was again calm and soft. "Look, we're all upset, ok? It's nobody's fault, though. We all loved Mama. What would she say if she saw us all about to fight each other?" Gohan thought for a moment and powered down. His hands were shaking with disbelief that he had threatened his father whom he loved. "You're right.. for once," Gohan said to his brother. He seemed to be choking on his words, but not wanting to cry in the company of his brother and father. "I'm not being fair. I'm sorry, Dad." Despite all their best efforts, the three men were soon releasing their sorrow over ChiChi's death. Goten was standing with his head bowed over his mother, letting out small choked sobs. Gohan was leaning against the side of the house, eyes closed in painful memory with occasional tears leaking out of the corners. Gokou was still kneeling next to his beloved wife, not even trying to hide his grief. He had been away for so long, and now his whole reason for return had been stolen from him. Tears cascaded down his cheeks, his eyebrows furrowed together in pain, and his mouth in a sad scowl. "Ai..Ai shiteru, ChiChi. I love you."