a/n – I apologize about any discrepancies you may see; please feel free to leave a review! Anyway, this idea came to me and wasn't intended to be anything more than a silly joke between my friend and I. So, as a result, I implore you, dear reader, to imagine for yourself why Bardock is alive and why his main goal is to hunt for the Goku and the others. Please enjoy!
One Hell of a Trip
"I-i'm s-sorry Chi-Chi, but Goku is...well..." Krillin stood before her doorstep, looking up mournfully at his friend's wife. He paused, drawing off into silence and for the second time wished he could be anywhere but here. Why was it always him that had to be the bearer of bad news? He bitterly mused. Well, no time to whine now. Better just get this over with, Krillin thought with a suppressed sigh. Raising his gaze to Chi-Chi's again, he was surprised to find her nearing tears.
"Oh, he's dead again isn't he?" She blurted out in a choked sob before he could speak. Taken back, he opened his mouth and quickly shut it.
Inhaling deep, Krillin explained, "Well no..but...actually we don't know." He shrugged his shoulders sheepishly, lowering his gaze. "He sorta...disappeared one day. Vegeta and Piccolo think he's just gone off training with Gohan and Goten-"
"He's taken my Gohan and Goten?!" Chi-Chi sobbed in despair, tears beginning to spill against her cheeks. "O-oh that, that stupid man!" She sniffed angrily, straightening her shoulders with a stubborn huff. "Thinking he can go whenever and wherever he pleases, and just waltz home half-dead and expect me to be okay with it?!"
Krillin stepped back, eyes wide in fear. Chuckling if only to ease the tension, he said with a tremor in his voice, "I-i'm s-sure they'll be fine...y-you know Goku, eh, w-why look at all the beatings he's taken before, and he was okay...sorta..."
"Well," Chi-Chi sniffed a final time, lifting her chin up defiantly. "if he thinks I'm just going to welcome him home with open arms, he's got another thing coming! How dare he take my sons, my precious sons.."
She gazed back at Krillin now, as if seeing him for the first time. "When my husband decides to show his face, pass along a message for me!" In a thick rush of anger, she slammed the door before him.
With a resounding bang, Krillin stumbled back, fearfully gazing at the shut door with wide eyes. Sighing, he stood back up and brushed himself off, muttering beneath his breath, "Good luck dealing with her later, Goku..."
Her anger faded as quickly as it came. Hands shaking, she viciously wiped away the brimming tears threatening to spill. Chi-Chi tried to tell herself it was just his nature, he always did this...she tried to summon the anger she felt before, and yet all she could muster was a hollow feeling in the pit of her stomach. With a low moan rising up from her chest, she collapsed against the door, shoulders heaving as she sobbed.
Why, why on earth did she marry that man? It wasn't as if she didn't love him, which she did. But it sometimes killed her to sit alone at home, knowing Goku was off fighting and saving the world at the risk of his own life. Chi-Chi leaned back, wiping the tears from her eyes. She had to be strong; it wasn't as if this was the first time Goku had done something like this. There had been plenty more times, to be sure. And most likely, plenty more to come, knowing her husband. An anguished cry ripped free from her throat, blurring her vision with tears. Couldn't she have married a normal man, who didn't have to fight or train every second of the day? Couldn't she have married a man who didn't get himself killed or potentially threaten the life of their son?
"Oh...get a hold of yourself..." She whispered softly beneath her breath, slowly raising her head to gaze around the household. Chi-Chi flinched, as if physically wounded...it felt like it, anyway, with the thought of an empty house for the rest of her life staring her in the face.
Stop it. Now. You don't have time for this foolishness.
Encouraged by this thought, she moved about the rest of day as if nothing had happened. As if she still had a family patiently waiting for her to cook dinner, or clean their clothes...draw a bath for them...
Evening fell, and she sat alone at the dinner table. She ate quickly and quietly, as if it was another chore on her list. Chi Chi looked up, gazing around at the empty table. She did not cry, but she did feel that familiar hollowness swell in the base of her throat.
"Hey Chi Chi, is this all there is?" Goku asked, looking up expectantly as he set down his empty bowl. On cue, his stomach growled angrily.
"You've already had how many servings of food, Goku!" Chi-Chi cried out in exasperation, trying to hide the small smile on her face. "It's a wonder you aren't fat, the way you eat."
"Aw, c'mon, give me a break! I get hungry!" Goku laughed, a hopeful smile on his face as he glanced over the empty dinner plates again. "You sure there isn't anything left?"
She chuckled at the memory, fondly glancing at her husband's usual seat at the table. "Oh, Goku..." She sighed wistfully, wondering where the times had gone. And unfortunately, in her reminiscing, her food had grown cold. Sighing in disappoint, but knowing she wouldn't have eaten it anyway if it were warm, Chi-Chi stood up.
With the dishes taken care of, she moved slowly through the house and to her bedroom, deciding there wasn't much else left to do but let her thoughts fester.
Dressing herself into her nightgown, she slipped beneath the thick blanket and tried to ignore the pressing weight in the back of throat. She tried to ignore the single tear running lone down her cheek, staining the pillow as she shut her eyes to rest.
The sun shone brightly in his eyes as he stepped from the battered spaceship. Swearing beneath his breath, he raised his hand and glanced around the forest he found himself in. "So," Bardock mused with a scornful tone, "this is Earth, huh?"
Pressing a button on his scouter, he was unsurprised the planet lacking anyone of substantial power.
"That bastard better not have lead me on a wild goose chase..." He growled, wrapping his tail around his waist as he sauntered forward. "I've wasted enough time getting here as it is."
Glancing about again with a scan of his scouter, he swore again. "Saiyans on planet Earth my ass." Bardock muttered, heaving a weary sigh. "Damn it, what now..."
Birds chirped above him, flittering about amongst their flock and whistling happily. The whole place was sickening. Was this the planet his youngest son was sent to? Unconcerned, he set the thought aside and soared up easily through the sky.
"Couldn't hurt to have a look around, I guess...not that it'll do me much good." Another sigh, and he shot off through the air and into the distance.
Daylight broke through the curtains. It was time to face the day again, Chi-Chi mused bitterly. She curled herself deeper into the bed, burying her face into the pillow with a moan. It smelled just like Goku; musky like a normal guy smell, yet with the undertone of the outdoors and strangely, sweat. A weak smile broke across her face as memories of her marriage flooded her; memories of the small, tender moments Goku displayed just as she thought he was the most irritatingly unromantic man on the face of the earth.
"Aren't you daddy's little boy?" Goku cooed, holding the baby Gohan with his signature grin on his face. "Yes you are! You're daddy's little warrior, huh?"
Chi-Chi stood next to him, smiling the way only a new parent could. Yet, with a stern look, she swatted Goku's arm and gently scooped her son from his hands.
"Our little boy is going to be a scholar, not a warrior." Chi-Chi said firmly. Her resolved broke as she glanced down at the large, dark eyes of her son. "Aren't you, my precious little boy?"
Goku chuckled as he moved behind her, placing his hand on her arm as he rested his chin her shoulder. He kissed the base of her neck gently, moving his hands down around her waist.
"Our little warrior." He whispered in her ear, a gentle smile captivating his face as he gazed down at his newborn son.
Even now, years later, she still could feel the familiar warm blush steal across her face. Despite his apparent naivety, he could be romantic at times. Maybe not as frequent as Chi-Chi would've liked, but it was enough to remind her that her husband wasn't as bone-headed as he appeared.
"Oh, what am I doing?" She wearily sighed, rolling over to stare absently at the ceiling. "Laying here moping about in self-pity...yes, Goku's gone...mostly likely dead, and your children are gone but that doesn't mean you can just give up, Chi-Chi." She scolded herself, sitting up briskly in her bed. She gazed out at the window, thinking how Goku would've enjoyed today. The sun was lazily peaking its head above the horizon, spreading brilliant red and gold across the skyline. A blush stole across her cheeks as she imagine him rolling over lazily in the bed, draping his arm over her waist as he would snuggle back into sleep. She would blush, giggle a bit and tell him she had work to do. He'd grin at her, tightening his grip enough to pull her towards him. His hands would begin to stray, and she'd swat at him and tease him some more before he would relent and let her up.
"Oh...Goku..." She quietly whispered, her eyes watering up with tears as she tried to ignore the fact that he could be bleeding to death on some foreign planet, or fighting a losing battle that would have him killed and send the Z Fighters and planet earth into a frenzied fear of impending doom.
Unable to take the thoughts roaring through her mind, she swept to her feet and forced herself to think of anything but her husband's cold, dead body floating through space or lying face-down in the ground in a pool of his own blood.
"Come on Chi-Chi, you've been stuck at home for months now! It couldn't hurt to have a little girls night out, could it?"
Chi-Chi sighed, cradling the phone against her shoulder as she hung up the linens on the clothesline. With a breeze stirring the pesky sheet, she spoke into the phone, "I don't know, Bulma..."
The other woman sighed, briskly chirping as carefree as possible, "Oh, you've been with the man enough to know he'll bounce back eventually. Tonight is about us! Enough worrying about Goku and the kids."
"Maybe some other time, Bulma, I just don't feel up to it tonight." On any other occasion she would jump all over the opportunity to get out of the house and have a night of fun. Yet, despite this, the thought of dressing up to go out seemed like a daunting task. The most she wanted to do was enjoy the day in the comfort and privacy of her home, no matter how lonely it could be.
"Oh come on! Don't be a boring stick-in-the-mud. You can stay home as long as you want when Goku's home; then maybe he can get Vegeta out of my hair for me. I swear, he's driving me crazy!"
Bulma sighed, "Anyway, you're going out with me. This is exactly what you need to get your mind off Goku; a nice night out on the town."
Chi-Chi smiled despite herself, pausing in her work to adjust the phone up to her ear.
"You know, Bulma, you're right...I, we, deserve a night out."
"Thats the spirit!" Bulma giggled. "Come to Capsule Corp. around 8 or so, and dress up too; we're going out to catch us some guys!"
"We're married, Bulma!"
"Oh, what our husbands don't know won't hurt 'em."
He bit into the strange fruit, juice dripping against his chin as he surveyed the seemingly never-ending forest. Was there any intelligent life around here at all? Finishing the fruit, he tossed the remains away and stood up.
"This is getting me nowhere." Bardock growled, glaring around furiously. "I can't a single sign of intelligent life anywhere...this damn forest goes on for miles."
On cue, his stomach growled. Bitterly glaring at the fruit tree, he spat in disgust, "And there's no good food around here anywhere. Damn."
He pressed a button on his scouter again, glancing around in vain for a sign of something. Just about to throw the dumb thing into the next century, he growled, "There has to be something on this stupid rock of a planet. That or I've been lied to...which isn't surprising, actually."
Sighing, he floated slowly in the air. Was this all the planet had to offer, forests and more forests?
Just about to give up, he was overjoyed to hear the insistent beeping of his scouter as it picked up something. Reading it, he just about swore in disappointment. Whatever it was, it wasn't strong enough to be any sort of a threat...or be considered a Saiyan. Despite this fact, Bardock found himself out of ideas. He could roam this stupid rock for who knows how long looking for Saiyans and never find them, or ask and hopefully find some information on them. Yet again, he countered bitterly, the locals here might not know about Saiyans at all.
Torn, he paused mid-flight and gazed in the direction of the scouter's readings. Spitting in disgust at himself, he flew towards what he hoped to be someone or something who knew something about Saiyans.
To Be Continued