| A Light in the Darkness - part
6 A Saiyan's Idea of Romance |
A Light in the Darkness | A Light in the Darkness - part
8 Why Did Chi-Chi Marry Goku |
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A Light in the Darkness
- part 7: Return of a Prodigal
by Mia Skywalker & Wataruo
PAIRING: Goku/Chi-Chi
RATING: G
WARNINGS: None
DISCLAIMER: Neither of us owns any of the DBZ characters or anything about DBZ, but we both wish we owned Vegeta. And Goku. And Yamcha. These characters are owned by Toei, Viz, Akira Toriyama, and FUNimation, even though the last one is a crying shame. We do own what we've written here, and our specific storyline, just not Dragonball itself. We make no money off of any of these guys, nor off this
fic.
SUMMARY: Return of a prodigal
NOTES: Goku is an idiot, but so is Chi-Chi. No, this fic isn't only about Bulma & Vegeta, although the first dozen chapters or so mostly concentrate on those two. There are at least
three major couples involved in this fic. No hints on WHO those couples are, but I'll bet you can guess the first two! ^_~
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS: A great thank you to
Magnes for her beta'ing of this.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Goku looked out the window of his space pod and sighed. He had hoped that Hakusai would come with him. ::Well she could always change her mind:: he mused as he watched the stars go by. He knew that if she met Vegeta her opinion of him would change. But he hadn't been able to convince her to give him the chance.
~~*~~
"Why would I want to met him?" she had asked incredulously as she finished fixing up the pod for him.
"Well he is your brother for one thing," Goku had pointed out. This had only earned him a snort from the tall Saiyan woman. "And he can change."
"Sure Son-kun." She had used his old nickname. "And monkeys might fly out of my butt."
"Hakusai...."
She'd held her hand up to him to get him to stop speaking. "Son-kun. I know you think he can change. But he really can't. It's in his blood to fight and destroy. Frieza honed those instincts. It's not just something that you can stop like that." Hakusai snapped her fingers.
"You changed," Goku had pointed out.
Hakusai's jaw had dropped open to give him an angry retort then she'd snapped it closed again. "I didn't grow up on Vegeta-sei."
"Neither did he."
Hakusai had made a face. "Forget it Son-kun. You are my friend and training with you has been great. But I am not going to Chikyuu with you."
"But..."
"No, buts! Now go and blow up something while I finish this or you are never getting home." Hakusai had shooed Goku away from the pod and two hours later he had left Yardrat without her.
~~*~~
"Well, maybe she'll come on her own," Goku said out loud. ::Yeah and monkeys might fly out of my butt.:: He grinned. He could just hear her saying that now.
"Planetfall in fifteen minutes," the computer voice informed him. Goku smiled. ::At least I get to see my friends again.:: He settled back into the seat and watched as the Chikyuu appeared in the distance signaling to the Saiyan that he was home.
~~*~~
Goku fidgeted in his seat as the pod approached Chikyuu. It had been a whole year since he had seen his son. He found himself wondering how big his son has grown and if Chi-Chi had missed him. He smiled at the thought of his wife. He really should learn to be a better husband and stop taking off to train all the time. ::I'll tell her where I am going in the future:: he decided as the space pod broke through the atmosphere and headed toward his home.
The pod struck the Chikyuu and skidded to a halt a little ways from the home that had been his grandfather's. It did leave a huge crater in the ground where the pod hit and Goku winced when he saw it. ::Chi-Chi will have a fit.::
"Chi-Chi! Gohan! I am home!" he yelled to announce his presence.
~~*~~
Gohan was a few miles away, playing with his dragon friend. His mother didn't know about the dragon; if she'd known, he knew she would be angry. She didn't like him playing with Hiya Dragon. She didn't like him having friends at all, he'd noticed. Sometimes he was tempted to run away from home so he could have some friends, but he loved his parents too much so never did. Besides, his father could always find him. He knew that his father could find him by his ki. It occurred to him that Goku had never sensed his ki since it had grown so much, so might have trouble finding him, but he dismissed that. He really didn't want to leave home and never see his parents again. He just wished his mother wasn't so hard on him.
He had run away a few times this past year since his father was gone. Sometimes his mother stifled him too much, and he felt the need to burst loose, go off on his own. His mother would yell at him when he returned, angry with him because she would feel that he'd neglected his studies even if he took a single day off, but it would be worth it, for that day or two of freedom. He hadn't done it very often, just when he'd felt so suffocated that he'd felt he couldn't breathe. He didn't understand why his mother was always so angry with him. He still got all A's, so why was she so upset?
He'd gone off today ostensibly to study, and although he was doing some studying, he was having more fun having the dragon fetch sticks that he'd toss high in the air. He was laughing at the way the dragon was wagging its tail, begging Gohan to throw the stick again, when he heard a voice calling his name. He paused, wondering if his mother was calling him to lunch, and then his entire body stiffened and his face brightened in sheer joy when he recognized the voice. "DADDY!" he cried out, pure joy in his voice, as he shot towards Goku.
~~*~~
Chi-Chi had grown used to her husband's absence for the past two years, although she still felt the void left behind from it. He'd died, and she'd blamed him for the fact that their son had been kidnapped by Radditz, although secretly she was aware that he'd done everything he could have. After she'd ranted for a while about how it was his fault that Piccolo had stolen Gohan, she'd found out that he had allowed himself to die to prevent an alien from capturing Gohan and taking him off Chikyuu entirely. She was too proud to admit that she'd been wrong in blaming Goku, but she did stop vocally blaming him. Instead, she waited.
She was a little resentful when she found out that he'd asked not to be returned to life when they first gathered the dragonballs, but she understood his need to train in order to fight those aliens that had wanted to take Gohan. She understood his need to protect his son, although she couldn't completely comprehend his need to protect everyone else.
Then he'd snuck away and followed the others to Namek. Once again she was furious that he'd left her, but had known, deep in her heart, that he'd had to. After all, he was protecting their son, who had run off to save the world again. She was still angry - and feeling a little rejected – that he'd left so easily. But what really hurt, what really infuriated her, was when the others had been wished back to Chikyuu, and Goku had chosen not to be wished back. She'd sort of understood that he was still fighting a villain that would otherwise choose to come to Chikyuu and kill all of them, but at the same time she wished someone else would do it. Why did Goku have to do everything? Why couldn't someone else be the hero for once? And then, when the second set of wishes came around and they were wishing the others back - Tien, Yamcha, and Chaotzu - Goku told them that he did NOT want to come back.
The humiliation that Chi-Chi had felt at that moment was overwhelming. Everyone had stared at her as though she must be some sort of monster that her husband didn't even want to come back to her, and she'd fled in tears, unable to bear the shame any longer. She hadn't left her house much since then. She'd been harsher on Gohan, driving him at his schoolwork even harder than before, demanding that he become a scholar instead of a warrior. She didn't want Gohan to do to her what Goku did... although she knew, subconsciously, that it was too late. But she was afraid, afraid that he'd leave her the way Goku had. She already knew that Goku didn't want her anymore, or he wouldn't have refused to come back....
She heard his voice calling out to her and her ears perked up momentarily, and then she sighed, once again beset with loneliness. She knew it was only her imagination; Goku had already refused to return to her. She knew she was never going to see him again. She continued washing dishes, determined to try to live her life the best she could, when she heard Gohan's voice calling out 'Daddy!' She froze. Could it be? Was he truly back? She heard her son's excited voice and waited expectantly, then almost fainted when she heard her husband's deeper voice reply. ::He's back? He's really back? But... why did he come back now? Does he still want to be with me, or is he just back for Gohan?:: She was abruptly afraid to face him, to find out that after all this time, that he still didn't want her, that he still didn't need her. She stood frozen over the sudsy water, eyes filled with unshed tears, entirely uncertain what to do.
Goku laughed as his son shot out of the woods that surrounded his home and tackled him. "Wow! You've certainly gotten stronger." Goku told him as he ruffled his son's hair. He smiled as he stood Gohan up and studied him carefully. "You've grown a lot too." Goku barely managed to get to his feet when Gohan embraced him again. "I missed you Daddy," Gohan said, his voice muffled against Goku's clothes.
"I missed you too son." Goku said hugging his son back. "Now have you been good for your mother while I've been gone? Studying hard?"
Goku knew how important studying was to her. It was an obsession of hers that he really didn't understand. All he cared about was that his son was happy and healthy, and from the looks of Gohan, he looked very happy indeed. "It should almost be lunch time. Let's see if your mom has finished it yet."
Gohan giggled. "No, daddy. We just ate lunch. Mommy wants me to have a regular schedule, so we don't eat as many meals a day as we did when you lived here. She said she wants me to get used to living with real people, since you're gone now." He didn't realize how that might sound to his father, and continued obliviously. "Mommy makes me study all the time," he said sadly. "She won't let me have any friends or ever play with anyone. She says I have to study and not be a warrior like you are." He looked confused. "Daddy? I get all A's. Why does she keep having me study so much?"
"You ate already?" Goku looked really disappointed at that and looked down at his son. "She really wants what's best for you, Gohan. But I am going to have to talk to her about making you study all the time." Goku decided that for once in his life he should stand up to her. His son was a warrior; he needed to train, to be with his friends, and with Gohan only studying, it wasn't making him very happy.
"Thank you daddy!" Gohan beamed at his father, hugging him again. Goku noticed that Chi-Chi had dressed his son once again in a Chinese robe, which wasn't very good for running around and being active. He didn't notice that Gohan had apparently discarded the robe for a while today and probably ran around with nothing on, since there were wrinkles on it in odd places. But then, Goku wasn't that observant, and would have done the same thing himself.
"Are you hungry, Daddy? Mommy put lunch away, but maybe she'll make something for you!" Then he looked at his father seriously. "Mommy cries a lot, Daddy. I think she misses you. Are you going to stay home for a while?"
Goku nodded. "Of course I am," he told his son. "After all, Chikyuu is safe again. I have no reason to run off. Except when we are training with Piccolo," he said in a whisper so Chi-Chi couldn't hear. "Let's go say hi to your Mom."
Gohan placed his hand in his father's and the two entered the house together. "Hi Chi-Chi," he greeted her. "You look nice." Granted she was up to her elbows in soapy dishwater but she still was pretty. Goku had always thought so, even when they had first met. "I'm home."
To be continued.....
~~~*~~~
And in the next exciting episode of DragonBall Z: A Light in the Darkness... Sometimes ya gotta wonder just WHY Chi-Chi married Goku.