Once More with Feeling
By elektra12
Disclaimer: I write for fun, not profit. Dragonball/Z/Gt is owned by Funimation and others, but not by me.
Rating: T
Genre: Drama/General
Summary: A series of short stories centered on Chichi's life nearly three years after Goku leaves with the dragon. Features her family members as well.
Warning: Character deaths. It plays fast and loose with the GT timeline so consider it AU.
One Thousand Days
She sits atop her mountain over looking the surrounding land. She's done this for a thousand days since "he" left for the final time. A mist clings to the shrubs below like cobwebs on faded velvet drapery. The fuss-budget in her wants to sweep it all away but what would be the point? It always comes back and nobody cares whether it's there or not. Instead she picks at the pilling of her old sweater, then stops because that doesn't matter either.
Through the fog she can vaguely see the small village below. Progress, technology, the future. They've left the village behind to languish like the memory of a spurned lover. Day by day another person leaves and soon it will be as empty as place in her heart where "he" once lived. Her eyes drift over to a corner of the town where a tiny patch of headstones bloom like mushrooms on a dew-soaked lawn. Her father, once king of all she surveys, lies buried there. The Ox King died four hundred some odd days after "he" left, just another resident escaping the dreary inertia of this place.
Seeing the headstones reminds her of a task she has today. Yamcha is having a funeral service and wake for his best friend. She should bring food, flowers too. That seems appropriate for a western style burial. Her father had a more traditional chinese funeral. Thankfully her eldest son took care of all the arrangements since she was not in her right mind.
"Is someone helping Yamcha with the arrangements?" She wonders.
"Probably," she decides. "Puar was well liked and people would want to say goodbye to the little blue cat."
Puar died nine hundred ninety seven days after "he" left. Her heart breaks a little but now she has a reason to come down the mountain.
"Gohan will have to plan another one soon," she thinks as she stands up.
Her in-law, Hercule, is gravely ill. No one knows how long he has, but it doesn't look good. Videl is an emotional wreck, and Pan talks to no one. Hercule insists on Pan having her birthday party despite the girl's protest. Everyone thinks this is a bad idea, but they haven't the heart to say no. Even on his death bed the man insists on spoiling his granddaughter. Still, it's another reason to come down the mountain.
Pan's birthday will come one thousand one days after...never mind.
A thousand days ago, Son Goku left her life for good and everyday since then, Son Chichi has been trying to start her life over. Every day she surveys her land and counts her daily tasks as blessings. And, though one by one, her friends and family are leaving her life. And, while she no longer connects with her grandchild, or anyone for that matter. And as the hole in her heart grows bigger each day, every day, she makes the decision. She will come down the mountain to start her life over.
Once more without him.
TBC