Goku and Chi-Chi had barely been married a month, but that month had been filled with euphoric bliss for them both, discovering what it truly meant to be married. While Goku was out fishing one morning, Chi-Chi was outside, hanging laundry on the line. Suddenly, she felt that she was not alone, and apprehension crawled into her chest for reasons she could not explain. She turned, and there were eight men- well, sort of men. They stood erect like men, were around six feet tall, but they had the bodies and heads of wild boars. Not that Chi-Chi had never seen men or women who were not humanoid, but these strangers in her yard in the middle of nowhere gave her pause.

"Who are you? Are you lost?" she asked them, managing to keep the quiver out of her voice.

Oh, Goku... please come home!she pleaded inside her mind.

They spoke to each-other in a language she could not understand, and began surrounding her. She instantly moved into a fighting stance, keeping them at bay the best she could. However, it was merely a moment before she was on the ground, surrounded by furry claws, pinning her down. She screamed at the top of her lungs, struggling, but it was no use.

"Goku!" she screamed.

She felt her boots being removed, and panic started closing up her throat as a sandpaper-like tongue went over the sole of her foot. Suddenly, the hands were off and the darkness from their shadows was gone. As she painfully pulled herself up, all she could see was the Pig Men lying on the ground like a bunch of bowling pins, being knocked down over and over as they tried to get up by some unseen blur. And, one-by-one, in a matter of seconds, they fell the final time, their necks broken. Finally, she could make out Goku, who was standing in front of her with his back to her, his body vibrating as small bits of earth around him floated and electricity visibly came off of his body. He was shaking, growling, and suddenly he held out his hands towards the dead bodies, bellowing loudly, and she had to cover her eyes from the blinding light that came forth, disintegrating them.

Goku panted, and then suddenly turned, kneeling down and gathering Chi-Chi into his arms. He tenderly rained kisses onto her face, pulling her tight to him. She clutched to his shirt with both fists, the events of the morning finally setting in, unable to contain her shuddering or tears.

"Shhh..." Goku soothed, rubbing her arms gently. He sniffed suddenly at her; she smelled of them... he felt his chest swelling with rage once again. "Did they hurt you?" he asked, his chin resting on top of her head now, trying not to look her in the eye yet.

At first she didn't answer, so he cupped her chin to make her look into his face. "Chi-Chi," Goku demanded softly, "Did they hurt you?"

Chi-Chi managed to shake her head "no", and the painful swelling in Goku's chest deflated at least enough that he could breathe again. He picked her up into his arms and carried her to their outdoor bathtub, sliding her quickly out of her clothes, which he threw onto the fire he kept going to keep the water warm. Chi-Chi's eyes widened, looking at him in surprise.

"They... their smell was on you." he explained shakily, and lifted her back into his arms, flying into the water with her.

She knew he didn't even notice that his clothes were still on, but that didn't matter right now. She leaned backwards into his arms as he reached for the bar of soap, and finally relaxed, melting into her husband's touch...

Around dusk, Chi-Chi woke up to see Goku packing a suitcase. She sat up, wrapping the bedsheet around herself.

"Goku? What are you doing?" she asked, suddenly alarmed.

"We're getting out of here for a couple of days." Goku explained, and then frowned as she breathed a sigh of relief, and looked as though she were calming down from a slight panic. He knelt in front of her. "Chi-Chi, what's the matter?"

"I..." she began to sniffle. She couldn't possibly tell him she worried hewas going on a quest...

But, he clearly read her mind, and gently brushed her long, ebony hair back from her face. "I wouldn't leave you... and if I had some quest to go on or something, I'd take you with me, okay? Even if today hadn't happened." he swore.

"I'm sorry... I-"

"Shhh, shhh..." Goku soothed, pulling her into his arms, rubbing her back gently with his fingertips...

It wasn't long before they showed up at Krillin's apartment. Krillin opened the door, surprised but pleased to see his friends.

"Goku! Chi-Chi! Come in!" he said, opening the door.

"We had to get away, thought we'd come visit you. Missed you guys." Goku said with a smile.

"Well, come on in. Yamcha's gonna be here in an hour, this is perfect," he said, leading them to the couch. "He's bringing over two girls, so it'll be like a couples party."

"Oh, we didn't want to intrude on your date..." Chi-Chi hedged.

"No, you're not; it's a blind date anyway. I've never met them." Krillin dismissed.

"Okay... is there anything I can do to help you set up, then?"

"Well, you could order the takeout if you want, the menus are in the kitchen over there." Krillin said, gesturing to the swinging door.

Chi-Chi nodded, walking into the kitchen, and Krillin lead Goku to the couch.

"Everything okay, Goku?"

Goku fidgeted, having trouble explaining. "Krillin... you've known me a long time, right?"

Krillin looked confused, but nodded. "Yeah... since we were kids..."

"And, you're my best friend, you've seen me fight."

"Yes..."

"After a fight, I'm trying to remember... did I ever have trouble coming down off it?"

"What?" Krillin frowned.

"Well... I can't remember it happening before," Goku explained. "but, I had this fight this morning with these guys... no big thing, only eight of them..." he said, "but... I still feel... I feel like there's this monster in my chest. They're dead, Krillin, and I don't feel over it. I feel... something I can't explain."

"Anger?" Krillin guessed. "That's new... what was the fight about?"

Goku swallowed hard, his hand clenching the side of the couch. "Chi-Chi... they... they were hurting her..." he said, and as he spoke, his fist clenched tighter and tighter, and suddenly ripped the side off of the couch into his hand. His eyes went big. "Uh... oops. Sorry..."

Krillin's eyes were wide, but he patted Goku's shoulder. "It's okay... could do with a new one anyway." he dismissed lightly. "Look... this is different," he said gently to Goku. "She's your mate. That's... you have instincts there." he shrugged.

Goku nodded, feeling slightly better. Krillin always knew the right thing to say... Chi-Chi came out of the kitchen. "I wasn't sure what these women might be allergic to, so I just ordered- what happened?" she gasped, looking at the couch.

"Uh... I asked Goku to help me make it more roomy." Krillin lied, giving his friend a wink.

Chi-Chi shook her head. Men... "I think you'd've just been better off to get a new one..." she said, but Goku yanked her into his lap and she kissed him gently...

After Yamcha had brought the girls, the evening seemed to be going halfway all right, except the one supposedly for Krillin kept eyeing Goku, much to Chi-Chi's silent annoyance. But, when her hand "innocently" dropped to his thigh, Goku looked down uncomfortably, but Chi-Chi stood, walking behind the couch and reaching down, bending the girl's fingers and wrist back painfully until she cried out.

"Owww! Let go you crazy-"

"He's married." she said calmly.

"You're going to break it!" she whined.

"To me." Chi-Chi continued, just as calm. "Now, you can go through life with a wrist that's floating free inside your arm, which will make your hand pretty much useless, or you can remember that married men are married- and not to you."

The men were wide eyed, but Goku also looked impressed- and a little turned on... Chi-Chi let go and the girl got up, rubbing her wrist. Her friend got up as well, and they quickly made their way out of the door.

"Aw, the redhead was a sure thing!" Yamcha complained about the loss of his date. But, he shrunk back as Chi-Chi gave him a filthy look. "Her friend was a slut." she growled, and Goku pulled her back into his lap again. She flushed, looking at him. "I'm sorry, I didn't embarrass you, did-" But, she was cut off by his mouth insistently on hers. "O-kay, apparently not..." she smiled, stroking his cheeks gently.

Goku threw her over his shoulder, walking into Krillin's bedroom, kicking the door behind shut him with his foot. Krillin ran a hand down his face. "Hey! I just got those sheets..."

But, he knew that he would be ignored. He slumped onto the couch next to Yamcha. "Beer?" he offered, and Yamcha nodded. "Good, get me one too, man."

Back in Krillin's room, after the lovemaking was over, Goku looked around. He and Chi-Chi would have to buy Krillin a new bed to replace the the one they just broke... But, he didn't mind that right now. All that mattered was right here in his arms... and the fact that she had the monster in her chest too... well, that was just another thing about her that turned him on...