Love in Strange Places

Disclaimer; Dragon Ball Z belongs to someone other than myself, and I make no money from the story here.

Chi-Chi sat outside, doing laundry.

The Cell games were over, by about a week, and she was doing laundry.

Her husband, dear Goku, had died for the second time, and he wasn't coming back.

She was doing laundry.

Her hands were wearing out holes in the sheets; she was slapping them on the lines.

Goku wasn't coming back, and she was doing laundry.

Her nerves were strung tight as harp strings; her breath would hitch ever so often, her eyes were blurring, and she could barely think.

She was doing the laundry.

Her muscles were knotted up, and she was about to explode.

Springing to her feet, she screamed, ripping through her tight throat:

"WHY THE HELL AM I DOING THE DAMNED LAUNDRY?"

Trembling, she couldn't take it anymore. She turned and ran. She had no idea where she was running to- just that she had to run.

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"Did you hear something, Mr. Piccolo?" Gohan asked, ducking a kick.

Piccolo paused, his sensitive ears having picked up something.

"I think I heard someone yell," he muttered, absently fending off his friend's blows. If they had actually been fighting for their lives, Piccolo knew that he wouldn't have stood a chance against his once pupil, but since the Cell Games, (and Goku's death, he painfully reminded himself,) the fire had just died in his friend's eyes. There was nothing left to fight for, and he only trained as a distraction from his grief. Piccolo didn't think about the times he had held Gohan while he cried his eyes out for his father, yet again.

"Who do you think it was?"

"I couldn't tell," Piccolo said, and went back to sparring. Yet, he had heard enough of the cry for him to know, something was very wrong.

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It was dark by now, and Chi-Chi was still running. She as rapidly becoming out of breath, exhausted, her lungs burning.

Tripping over something unseen, she landed on her face, and winced as she could feel the warmth of blood there. Her knees were battered from earlier falls, and her dress was in tatters.

The pain was far away, however, as images of her life with Goku ran in streams through her mind, one after another, never stopping, never shutting up.

I had been a fighter, once, echoed her own voice through the haze of pictures. I knew it could happen. Why does it still hurt so much? Why didn't I tell him I loved him one last time?

Why? Why didn't he come back to us?

I loved you, Goku, didn't you love me enough-

She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought. Sobbing even louder, she paused, not caring where she was- until she noticed-

Gohan doesn't need me- Goku must not have loved me-

What is the point anymore?

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"Mom?" called Gohan, as he entered the darkened house. He had expected a lecture when he got home about being late, and his studies, and the many other things his mother usually lectured him about, all the while being fed until he burst. Instead, she wasn't there.

Something was wrong, he decided. There was the smell of dirty dishes, unwashed floors, and he could see the laundry hadn't been finished. His mother would never let that happen.

Sudden terror raced along his nerves, as several things he had ignored while in the midst of his own pain made themselves known. Her listlessness, the fact that she hadn't given him a serious lecture in days…

Choking, he ran outside, trying to find her.

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Chi-Chi kept running in the direction- where she knew it was.

An ending.

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The sound of shambling steps alerted Piccolo to someone being there. His sensitive ears picked up the noise of the direction, accompanied by heavy breathing, and agonized sobs.

He blinked.

The cliff was in that direction.

To be continued!