-1DragonBall Z
Goku's Greatest Challenge
Goku hadn't seen Chi-Chi acting this frantically since Gohan was six years old. Chi-Chi had agreed to watch little Rini while Serena and the rest of her family were away for a few weeks, and now Chi-Chi was frantically trying to dig out some of Gohan and Goten's old toys. "Uh, Chi-Chi, I'm sure Rini will have her own things to play with, so I doubt you need to go to all this trouble," Goku declared watching in amazement as his wife ran around the house like a chicken with its head cut off.
"I'm not having Rini saying that this is the worst place she's ever stayed at Goku, we're tending her, so it's our job to make sure that she is properly provided for!" Chi-Chi shouted angrily getting right up in Goku's face.
"I still don't get why she's sending Rini so far away. Yugi or Raye are much closer, why doesn't she have one of them tend her?" Goku asked.
"Because her mother wants an adult to take care of the child Goku, not a High School student!" Chi-Chi shouted continuing to arrange things, "Goku move that bookcase, if she knocks that thing down and hurts herself, we'll be in big trouble."
"Why do we have a bookcase?" Goku asked, "we don't even have a book, and what about Mr. Muto or Raye's…?"
"No more arguing! Just do it!" Chi-Chi shouted frightening Goku, so he decided to give up.
Back at East City, Gohan had just arrived at Serena's home to pick up Rini. "Oh, Gohan! Your early. Just a second, she's just finishing packing up her things," Serena said as she herself rushed to pack her things for her big trip.
"I'm ready!" came Rini's little voice as she came darting out of her room.
"Hey Rini," said Gohan, "Goten's really been looking forward to this."
"Rini has been too," declared Serena, "that's why we figured it would be best to send her to you, because then she'd have someone her age to play with."
"Can we go now!?" Rini asked, looking fit to burst with excitement.
"Give me your things and I'll get them secured on my Nimbus while you say good-bye," Gohan said taking Rini's bag.
"Bye Serena!" Rini shouted running out the door, "bye everyone!"
"Bye! Be good!" Serena shouted waving after her as she clambered up onto Gohan's Flying Nimbus.
"You ever flown before?" Gohan asked.
"Uh huh," Rini said looking up at Gohan and nodding her head.
"Well, hang on then, here we go!" Gohan exclaimed as the Nimbus blasted skyward.
For the first five minutes of the trip, Rini wouldn't release Gohan's neck for a second out of fear, but after some gentle coaxing, she agreed to sit down on the Nimbus Cloud, providing that Gohan held on to her tightly. About 20 minutes later, they arrived at Goku's home. The child instantly hopped off the Nimbus cloud and ran to Goku and Chi-Chi while Gohan collected her thing. "Hello Mr. Goku, Mrs. Chi-Chi," she said bowing slightly to her hosts.
"So well behaved," praised Chi-Chi, "why can't our Goten be more like that, Goku?"
"Trust me, after 3 weeks here, she'll be over that habit," Gohan declared laughing.
"I hope not," declared Chi-Chi.
"Where's Goten," Rini asked excitedly.
"He's spending the night with Trunks," Goku said, "but he'll be back early tomorrow morning to play with you," he added quickly upon seeing Rini's disappointment. "Until then though, I have an idea! You hungry kid?"
"Uhhh," said the child as her stomach growled loudly, "uh huh, I didn't have time to eat at home before I left."
"Then we'll make you the most delicious meal you've ever tasted, it'll knock your socks off," declared Goku.
"Uh huh, and tell me Goku," said Chi-Chi, "whose going to be making this meal?"
"You, me, and Gohan!" declared Goku smiling.
"That mean's mostly me," declared Chi-Chi looking at Rini, who just looked up at her with a confused expression.
Surprisingly, Chi-Chi was wrong! While she was preparing a delicious dinner for the small child, Goku and Gohan were mixing all sorts of things together ranging from Ice Cream to peppermint candies and created the most bizarre dessert any of them had ever seen.
"Ta da!" shouted Goku, "see Chi-Chi, I told you we'd help with part of it!" he declared folding his arms proudly.
Rini sampled a spoonful of the concoction. "Yum, it's delicious!" she shouted, her eyes lighting up with glee.
"Dig in!" ordered Goku setting about scoffing his dinner while Rini watched in amazement.
"Whoa, Goku's mouth is bigger then his head," the little girl declared.
"Huh," said Goku, "well that may be exaggerating just a little bit!" he said laughing.
"Somehow, I doubt it," said Gohan digging in to his own plate of food. Rini sat and watched Gohan for awhile, then looked over at Chi-Chi to see if she was eating like a maniac to. Chi-Chi was eating normally, so Rini finally decided that it was probably a good idea to just eat like she usually did.
"Yum, that was delicious Chi-Chi," Goku declared.
"Shhhhh," shushed Chi-Chi, "look at her." Goku looked over at Rini and noticed that the little girl's head was hovering dangerously close to her plate.
Searching through the child's toys, Chi-Chi eventually managed to find a small, brown teddy bear, and Goku carried the child up to a spare room. The grateful girl wrapped up in a blanket, and was soon fast asleep.
"Goku, you didn't tell me that little girl was so cute," declared Chi-Chi as they were walking away, "she's such a sweet little girl, why couldn't we have had a daughter."
"Huh, well, if we had had a daughter, we wouldn't have had Goten, and I wouldn't have wanted that!" declared Goku.
"I guess not," said Chi-Chi in disappointment.
Goten arrived home early the next morning and was greeted almost instantly by a grateful hug from his young friend.
"Uh, uh oh, Rini!" shouted Goten, "I didn't know you were coming today!"
"Actually Goten," said Gohan, "she got here last night."
"Come on Goten, I want to go play!" said Rini as the two young friends went off to play.
"Goku!" Get after them!" Chi-Chi demanded, "you can't just leave a couple of kids unattended!"
"Oh fine," said Goku, "I'm going." Goku had figured out during breakfast, that when it came to Rini, Chi-Chi knew best and arguing was pretty much pointless, but then again, what else was new.
Goten and Rini wandered deep into the woods chasing a ball. "Ahh, come on kids, can't we play closer to home!" Goku complained as he desperately tried to keep up with the anxious children.
"Ahhh, but I wanted to show Rini the cave I found yesterday!" shouted Goten looking back at his father.
"Oh, fine, but let's make it quick," Goku ordered, "it's kind of dangerous out here!" Goten and Rini arrived at the cave and entered together. Recognizing the area to be a dragon's feeding ground, Goku rushed after them! "Wait kids! There's a Dinosaur in there!" he shouted, but it was to late. Goten and Rini came darting out of the cave, being pursued by a giant dragon!
"Wah!" cried Rini, "Goku! Do something!" Flying down, Goku grabbed the dino by the tail and pulled him to a stop. Hovering up to the dino's snout he punched it right in it's top lip.
"Bad Dragon," he said, "picking on a couple of little kids, you should be ashamed." The dinosaur reached out, and ate Goku in one bite! Rini screamed, but Goten just looked on in anxiety to see what his father was going to do next. The dino's mouth opened and Goku flew out. "Alright tough guy, go home, git!" Goku shouted glaring at the dinosaur. The dino turned tail and ran as fast as it could back to the cave.
"I'm sorry Daddy," said Goten looking at the ground, "I didn't know that was a dinosaur's cave." Just then, though, he realized that his father was laughing!
"That was fun!" said Goku, "I loved it!"
"Uh, okay," said Rini as Goten and she looked on in confusion.
Goten and Rini continued to play with each other, but about 2 weeks into her stay, Rini was beginning to feel homesick. One day, Goten couldn't get Rini to get out of bed!
"Hey, what's wrong, are you sick?" Goten asked poking the little girl's hair, "Rini, are you okay?"
"Leave me alone," Rini said between sobs.
"Huh," grunted Goten, "Daddy, I think Rini's sick!"
"She's homesick Goten," declared Gohan, "probably missing Serena. Come on, and leave the poor child alone."
"Oh okay," said Goten in disappointment.
Rini stayed in bed until well after Goku, Gohan, Goten, and Chi-Chi were done with Breakfast. Goku and Gohan took Goten to play while Chi-Chi made a couple of turkey sandwiches to take Rini for Breakfast. She set the tray of sandwiches and a glass of milk on the girl's lap. Rini thanked Chi-Chi and ate the food gratefully.
"You know," said Chi-Chi, "Goten was really disappointed when you didn't want to go out and play with him today. What's wrong Rini, do you miss Serena." The little girl nodded her head and Chi-Chi continued, "well it's only natural for a child to want to be around familiar faces after awhile, but you're only here for 3 more days, and Goten's going to be really disappointed if you don't want to play with him anymore. You don't stop by here much, and he hasn't gone to visit you in a long time, so he was really excited about getting to play with you."
"I don't feel much like playing," said Rini sadly finishing the last sandwich.
"Well, I can understand that, but I know it'd make Goten really happy if you'd go out and play with him some more," declared Chi-Chi picking up the tray and leaving the room.
It was about noon, and Goten was picking flowers to give to Rini as a gift, when suddenly Chi-Chi screamed from the house! "Goku!"
Goku ran into the room where Rini was staying and gazed under the bed. "Mr. Goku!" came a frightened cry.
"What happened?" Goku asked Chi-Chi.
"Her bear fell under the bed, and she crawled under to try to get it, but she got stuck on her way back out," Chi-Chi declared. Goku reached as far under the bed as he could, but he couldn't reach the frightened child, so, changing strategies, he decided to lift the bed up instead. As Goku held the bed high over his head Chi-Chi took the frightened child out of the room. Then, Goku gently set the bed down.
"I want to go home!" said the poor child beginning to cry.
"Goku, call Mr. Muto and see if it's okay if Rini spends the last 2 days with them, at least that way, she's near home," Chi-Chi ordered. Goku turned his head and saw his young son looking on in disbelief. Goten didn't even say a word as he slipped quietly to his room. Rini never even knew he was there, and Goku and Chi-Chi could just look at each other, sadly.
The next day, Goku strapped down Rini's belongings to go to Yugi's house to spend the last few days until Serena returned home.
"Thank you for letting me stay Mrs. Chi-Chi," Rini said almost apologetically.
"Of course, come back anytime you want to," Chi-Chi declared smiling, "your always welcome here."
"That depends who you ask," said Goten turning and walking towards the house.
"Uh, Goten, what do you mean?" asked Rini starting to run after her friend, but Gohan blocked her path with a gentle hand. She looked up at him and he shock his head, so she decided it was better not to even try.
"Thanks again everybody!" Rini said climbing up onto the Flying Nimbus in front of Goku.
"Bye kid, drop by again sometime, by then Goten'll have had plenty of time to recover," said Gohan waving as the Nimbus darted skyward.
"Goku, why was Goten so mad at me?" Rini asked when they were out of sight.
"He's just upset. Not so much at you as with himself," declared Goku, "he was looking forward to your visit for weeks, do you realize that until you got to our house, he hadn't heard anything from you in 3 months?"
"No I didn't," Rini said guiltily.
"Well, when he forgot all about your visit to go and play with Trunks, he made a promise to himself that he was going to make it up to you, and now, with you leaving early and all, he's convinced himself that you're leaving early because you don't like him, and he's really having a hard time with that idea," Goku revealed frowning.
"I, I didn't know," Rini stammered.
"You couldn't have," declared Goku, "and trust me, Goten will be looking foreward to seeing you again, but he'll just be needing sometime to recover. By the way, when we get to Yugi's, you may want to check your things."
Goku dropped Rini off at Yugi's only a few minutes later. "Well, see ya around kid, thanks for agreeing to watch her for the last couple of days Yugi," Goku said as he gave Rini back her things, "well, I'll see you later."
Later that night, Rini reached into her bag for her bear, but her hand clasped around a thin, soft object. She pulled it out and saw it was a small bouquet of flowers that Goten had picked for her. "Goten," she said smiling.
Goten stared sadly up at the ceiling. "Come on Goten," said Gohan, "it's time for dinner."
"Okay," said Goten halfheartedly following his big brother.
"Poor kid," said Gohan.
"Ahhh, I wouldn't worry to much about it, I'm sure he'll be fine," Goku declared folding his arms.
"I guess we'll see," said Gohan watching his little brother doubtfully.