Better then Food

"Ah man Chichi! That was great!" Goku said as he leaned back in his chair patting his (surprisingly) full stomach.

Chichi simply 'humph'ed and began pulling dishes from the table so she could stack them in the sink. Goku watched on in mild surprise as he watched his wife scrub one of her pans far more forcefully then she needed to.

"Er…Chichi? Is something…wrong?"

"Wrong? Of course not? What makes you think that something is wrong? Why in the world would anything be wrong?" On her final word Chichi slammed the now stripped skillet onto the counter next to the sink causing the counter top to crack just a bit.

Goku jumped nearly through the roof in shock as his normally (relatively) clam wife began slamming around her, now ruined from scrubbing, cook wear; damaging the counter top even more.

"I…uh…think I'll head back to Uub's place. I-uh…have a few things to teach him before dark. Is that okay?"

"Oh of course it is! Why would there be anything wrong with a woman's husband running off to go train somebody else's son in a part of the world that she can't easily get to when he only ever comes home once. A. Month. To eat. Dinner! Why would there be something wrong with that? It's not like they love each other or something equally as absurd! Of course not! She's just a means to fill his never ending stomach!"

Now Goku may not be the brightest crayon in the box but when it came to his family, especially his wife, he could be very sensitive. Just so long as he wasn't thinking about food or training. In this case however the food was taken care of and the training…He heard a soft sob coming from the direction of his wife and his resolve strengthened.

The training could wait.

Slowly pushing back his chair Goku rose to his feet and moved over to place a gentle hand on Chichi's slightly quivering shoulder.

She jerked away.

A sharp pain struck the seiyan's heart. Chichi had never pulled away from him like that before. Uncertainty clouded his eyes as Goku reached out once more. This time using both of his hands to grasp Chichi's shoulders gently, but firmly.

She froze.

"Chichi." Goku turned her to face him before grasping her shoulders once more. "Chichi is that what you think? That I don't love you?"

Chichi wasn't looking at him. Instead she kept her eyes firmly locked on the floor. "Uub is probably wondering where you are. You wouldn't want to keep him waiting."

"Forget Uub right now Chichi," Goku said. "This is about us."

Chichi still refused to look at him. That is until his right hand released her shoulder in order to wrap around her small chin, forcing her face up to meet his. "Please Chichi. Talk to me."

"What is there to say? You chose everyone over me. Time and time again. I could understand it when the world was at stake, but now? There hasn't been a threat to us in almost twenty years. But are you here? No. You're still gone. You're always gone. First when you died from that attack with your brother. That year after Namek. The seven after Cell. You missed the first seven years of Goten's life because you wanted to train in the other world. While we were at peace!"

"But Chichi! The time I spent up with King Kai was what made us able to defeat Buu!"

"But what about after that? Sure you were here but you weren't ever home. You where always carting Goten and Gohan off on one of your training trips. And then after Gohan and Videl got married you just kept taking Goten. I was here all alone! For practically ten years. Except this time I didn't have my sons to help me through it. It was just me."

"Chichi…"

"And then that tournament ten years ago happened and you ran off again. You didn't even say good-bye to me! You just left!"

"I said good-bye!"

"But not to me!" Chichi's eyes where pleading. "Do you even remember the last time we really talked before now? Do you? Probably not…it was so long ago…"

"Cell." Goku's voice was barely a whisper. "It was before the cell games. You were telling me to come back safe and then we just started talking…"

Chichi nodded. "About the time we met, our marriage, Gohan's birth…Maybe having another child…"

"Chichi…What have I done?" Goku let go of his wife so that he could run a hand through his wild hair. Finally his sorrow filled eyes looked up seeking out Chichi's. "I'm so sorry. I never meant to do that to you, Chi. Honest."

Chichi gave a soft smile. "I know…"

"But I still did." Goku finished. "Oh man Chichi. How am I gonna fix this one?"

"Stay." Chichi was pleading. "Just for today. You can go back tomorrow but for now…please just stay here. I want to talk to you again. Get to know you again. Please…just for tonight…"

Goku gently kissed his wife on her forehead and lifted her up. Chichi squeaked once in surprise before she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck.

"Goku?"

The seiyan didn't answer as he sat down on their living room couch and nestled her comfortably in his lap.

"Do you remember when you asked me to marry you and I thought that marriage was a food?"

Chichi's eyes were wide as she nodded.

Goku smiled and kissed her slowly on the lips. "Well. I'm glad that I was wrong. Marriage is way better then food any day."

Tears brimmed Chichi's eyes and she pulled her face up against Goku's gi to hide them. Goku brushed a stray tear from her slightly exposed cheek and he continued to stroke her skin softly.

"Chichi." He whispered as he bent down to kiss her hair. "I love you."

Pressed as closely to her husband as she could get, Chichi smiled. "I love you too."

Kaliea: Yay! Cute! I found this just tonight and thought I'd post it. Please review!