Chichis Christmas Carol.
Stave One: King Kai's Prediction.
This is a story that is easy to tell, but difficult to believe. One of the most difficult aspects to believe about this story is that it takes place about 5 million years in the future. In that time period, animals have evolved back into monsters and dinosaurs, and human beings have evolved the power to obtain new abilities simply by "training" their bodies.
This story, however, is not about a lot of people. In essence, it is really only about one person; a woman known as Chichi.
Chichi was the daughter of a human woman and a giant known only as the ox-king. She possessed formidable martial arts skills, and had the strength of 35 strong men! Not only that, but she was married to an alien Saiyan known as Goku, (who was the strongest fighter in the universe) and their only child was called Gohan.
Chichis every waking moment was consumed by concern for Gohans future. Most notably, for his education. To call Chichi overprotective of Gohan would be a vast understatement, particularly since both Gohan and his father could fairly easily lift mountains and shatter stars through sheer physical strength alone!
However, Chichi had an air about herself that made her rage terrible to see. Though nothing she could do could ever conceivably harm Goku or Gohan, when she was angered, everyone around her got the evil eye so bad that it gave them headaches.
In general, people tried to avoid Chichi, whether she was mad or not. She seemed to have an aura of wrath about her at all times, she hardly ever smiled, if she ever had fun, no one was there to see it, and she was basically just an unpleasant person to be around.
As I mentioned earlier, Chichis first priority was and had always been to make Gohan study. At the time of this story, it was the evening of December 24th. Christmas Eve.
Despite this, however, Gohan was studying diligently, with Chichi standing over him like a vulture, to watch him, in case he should try to run off, away from his work. It had just turned 6:00 PM, when Goku came up the stairs to Gohans room, carrying a glass of milk and a plate of Christmas cookies that his friend, Bulma had made.
"Merry Christmas Chichi!" announced Goku in his usual, cheerful manner, "Have some cookies, Gohan."
"Oh, no you don't Goku!" exclaimed Chichi in an irritated tone, pushing the plate away from Gohan and into Gokus chest, "Gohan is studying. Cookies would just distract him."
Goku sighed and put the cookies on a nearby bookshelf. Then, as he turned to go, he told Gohan, "Me and the guys will be playing in the snow outside. Come meet us in a few minutes."
Gohan was about to respond, but Chichi beat him to it, this time obviously angry, "No way, Goku! Gohan is way behind in his work and he's going to be studying until bedtime! He can't play outside with you and your muscle-head friends!"
"But mom!" Gohan protested.
"But Chichi!" Goku protested, "It's Christmas Eve!"
"Just another excuse to slack off, if you ask me." Said Chichi, crossing her arms, "And furthermore, I intend to keep Gohan at work all tomorrow, and I'll be right here the whole time, making sure he doesn't run off!"
"What?" gasped Goku in shock, "on Christmas?!"
"It's a 5,000,000 year old holiday anyways." Said Chichi more calmly, "Everybody should work on Christmas. It's more constructive. Anyway, I don't celebrate Christmas, because I'm sensible and I expect Gohan to grow up and be sensible just like me."
"Oh." Said Goku slowly, drooping his head in resignation, "Well, that's a terrible shame, 'cause me and some of the guys put together a Christmas party over at the Kame house and we were going to invite you and Gohan, but if you're working all tomorrow, I guess that's out."
"I guess it is." Remarked Chichi coldly.
"Well," continued Goku, still obviously depressed by Chichis decision, "I've gotta go." Then, Goku was gone at super-speed.
It was fairly obvious what Gohan wanted, and he was so frustrated. He could study well, but he didn't really enjoy it, and he hated to miss out on fun activities, like playing in the snow and engaging in Christmas parties. It made Gohan sweat to think of his predicament. He could have snapped his mother's neck like a twig, but she scared the pants off him. As long as he had lived, Gohan had wanted to be like his father, but his mother practically went into hysterics every time he so much as suggested growing up to be a super-fighter. Chichi wanted Gohan to be a scholar, a record keeper, or an intellectual of some sort, but Gohan just didn't want that for his life. What's worse, Gohan didn't have the nerve to stand up to his mom and insist on his real intentions.
"That kind of nerve must be hard to come by." Thought Gohan as he scribbled down some more Algebra equations, "The only two people I know who have that nerve are Bulma and -ulp- Vegeta!"
Bulma was a scientist, tinkerer, and super-genius with blue hair and a dark side similar to Chichis. Most of the time, however, Bulma was cheerful. As for Vegeta, he was another case entirely. Vegeta was an alien of the same race as Goku. To be precise, he was a Saiyan prince and a vicious warrior who made his own rules and used to destroy inhabited planets for fun. More recently, Vegeta had been working with them against more terrible evil creatures such as Frieza: An alien who had once held the entire universe in his iron grip of fear, and Garlic Jr., the most powerful evil wizard to ever threaten the earth.
Gohan hadn't noticed, but while he had been reminiscing, some people had started singing outside. He subconsciously started tapping his foot to the music. One side of his brain churned out math equations, and the other side kept time with the music... "The newborn king to see, par-um-pum-pum-pum."
Then Chichi saw that Gohan had started to hum in time with the music as he worked, and decided that she would have none of it. Gripping a wooden spoon in her left hand, Chichi stomped angrily downstairs, and soon, the cheerful sound of carols was replaced by Chichi's loud threats and the soft padding of people's feet as they fled from Gohan's house across the snow.
It seemed like forever with his mother standing over him, but at around 9:30 PM, Chichi announced that it was time to put Gohan to bed. Gohan, of course, had no desire to resist, as even sleep was a welcome refuge from all the tense hours of studying and short meals. Gohan was in bed no more than a few seconds when he was asleep, dreaming of an imaginary future that he considered ideal.
Chichi hadn't had the guts to eat anything while she had been standing over Gohan. Now that he was in bed, however, she had the opportunity for a late supper.
Chichi frowned after finishing off a burger, salad, and glass of skim milk. Her husband, Goku, could pretty easily polish off a thanksgiving dinner for 12 in a few seconds, and consider it nothing more than a light snack, but he spent virtually his entire life building his muscles and training in Kamesennin martial arts, so that was hardly a surprise to Chichi. Still, Goku ate way too fast. One of these days he was liable to give himself the hiccups.
Running her plates through the sink, Chichi grabbed a flashlight and started the long walk upstairs to her bedroom, but the second she touched the banister, she heard a voice in her head, like someone trying to get her attention, "Chichi!"
Instinctively, Chichi looked around, but of course, there was no one nearby, so she simply ignored it and continued upstairs.
A few feet from the top of the stairs, Chichi could have sworn she saw the forms of a monkey and a flying insect skitter off into her bedroom, but by the time she had entered, she could find neither of the aforementioned creatures. The only other living thing in the room besides herself was her husband Goku, who was fast asleep on the bed and snoring loudly.
Then, as Chichi closed the bedroom door, she heard the voice again.
"Chichi, I know you're there. Answer, darn it!"
"Huh?" inquired Chichi in a soft voice, "Who's there?"
"It's me." Said the voice, "King Kai!"
King Kai was a martial arts master who resided in the land of the dead and had the power to communicate via telepathy. He had once taught Goku some powerful attacks such as Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb. In addition, King Kai was very good-natured and had a good sense of humor, which just might be the reason why Chichi disliked him so much.
"What do you want?" asked Chichi in a manner as cold as ice.
"Well..." responded King Kai, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but the powers that be have decreed that you're an abomination to all human beings. Normally, they just wipe out people like you, but since it's Christmas Eve, they decided to be nice and give you the secondary treatment instead. Sorry to have to be the one to break this to you, but you're about to be haunted by three spirits. Oh, you've been spitting on a lot of major supernatural forces lately, so I'm almost surprised they're going this easy on you. Oh, well. See ya later."
Through King Kai's entire speech, Chichi couldn't get a word in edgewise, and even now that he was finished, all she could do was sputter a bit. Her! An abomination on humanity! It couldn't be! And haunted by three spirits just like that scrooge character... But he was always so selfish, and she had given everything for her poor Gohan! It couldn't be! It just couldn't!
Stave Two: The Ghost of Christmas Past.
Chichi hadn't remembered falling asleep, but she remembered being woken up, because that was done by a hand as firm and strong as that of her husband. She rolled over in bed to gaze at her husband, but he was still fast asleep. Then, she turned in bed to face the direction of the hand and gasped in surprise!
Before her stood a figure of a grown man whose facial features resembled those of Goku, but instead of her husband's standard Kamesennin outfit, he had on a beautiful business suit, colored a gleaming white. It held in its hand a small appointment calendar, which it gazed at as it still attempted to rouse her. It also wore a small black watch on its left wrist, which told not only the time, but also the date and year as well.
Chichi, gathering her formidable courage, asked it, "Let me guess. You're the Ghost of Christmas Past."
"I am." Replied the Ghost in a perfect imitation of Goku's voice, "I have come to aid in your reclamation."
"You were much more spectacular in the Dickens novel." Commented Chichi swiftly.
The spirit smiled at this, and calmly explained, "Ebenezer Scrooge saw me as a blemished angel of the power of the past, because that is what he admired. I take the form of an angel to represent that which my charge most admires. In your case, I represent power atrophied by sensibility. That is what you admire, and what you have always desired to be known for."
"Impressive," admitted Chichi, "but does this really have anything to do with me?"
"Yes." Responded the Ghost, "For I will show you the Christmases of the past. Your past. Rise! And walk with me!"
Then, as if the spirit had stolen her God-given free will, Chichis body rose, uncomplaining from the bed, seemingly of it's own accord, and the two of them passed like phantoms through the far wall...
...and were suddenly standing before a magnificent castle atop a great mountain covered in dense oil. In her phantom state, Chichi couldn't slip on the oil, and the Ghost beside her seemed even less effected.
"You recognize this place." The Ghost observed.
"Yes." Replied Chichi speedily, "This is the palace of the ox-king; my father, atop Fire Mountain. This is where I was born and raised until the day my dad and I left to go on a picnic."
Glancing at his watch, the spirit said, "This is Christmas morning. The last one you ever experienced on Fire Mountain. At the time, you were no more than 3 and you got just what you wanted that Christmas."
"I never knew my mother..." Chichi reminisced, "...but my father always knew just what I wanted for Christmas, and he always got it." Then, together, without saying another word, they strode through several palace walls and into Chichi's bedroom.
The baby Chichi was laying on the floor, playing with dolls. She carefully maneuvered them from one side to another, making them battle.
"You were such a sweet child." Observed the spirit.
"I was young and foolish." Retorted Chichi, "I spent almost my entire childhood shielded from the world by the ox-king. I didn't know anything about education or qualifications or getting good jobs. I was..."
"An innocent little girl, just as you should have been. I notice that you had no particular dislike for force at this stage in your life."
"The only person I had ever known was the ox-king. Of course I had no dislike for force."
"Well then," said the spirit, "Let's look at another Christmas."
Within moments, the pair found themselves within some ruins at the base of Fire Mountain, the oil that had once coated it now ablaze! Chichi gazed up in horror at the flaming mountain.
"Now I remember." She said, "One day, when my father and I went on a picnic, an evil spirit set fire to our mountain. We couldn't get back up. It was awful. I spent most of my childhood at the base of the mountain, hoping the fire would go out, but it never, ever did. We made a home for ourselves among this rubble..."
"...And here comes your father now." Observed the spirit.
This observation was, of course, correct. Dressed all in armor and with a helmet on his head, the ox-king carried a large package over his head, and a small one under his arm.
"Chichi!" he bellowed in a fairly deep voice, "I'm back!"
"Daddy!" yelled the baby Chichi with glee, running up to meet him, "Is the small one for me?"
"Nope." Replied the ox-king in a lighthearted manner, "Yours is the big one! Merry Christmas, honey!"
Unwrapping the big package, Chichi found within it a helmet with an ion blaster on the front and a buzz-saw on the top, a book about basic martial arts, a mat to practice on, and a dinocap with a weight set inside it.
"Oh, thank you, thank you daddy!" yelled the young Chichi, "Now I'm going to train and exercise! I promise that someday I'll be as strong as you! What did you get for yourself?"
Her father smiled as he held up a large dinocap that he had just taken from the smaller package. Pressing the button on the top, he threw it to the ground a few feet away, and there, in a puff of smoke, it became a large metal house!
"I've wanted a new house ever since the fire blocked us out of our palace." Commented the ox-king, "This seemed about right."
"Oh, Daddy!" exclaimed Chichi, "This is the best Christmas ever!"
"You were more cheerful back then." observed the spirit.
"So what?" asked the grown Chichi coldly, "As tough as things were back then, I was still being sheltered. I didn't know what it was to really worry. I was still very young and very foolish."
"Call it what you will." Returned the spirit, "But your 'foolishness' helped you to be happy, kind and ambitious. In all your 'foolishness,' you still had plans for your own life, and in your 'foolishness,' you understood and appreciated the spirit of Christmas. Now, let us continue forward another year."
Again, their surroundings changed, and the two found themselves back at Fire Mountain, or at least what had once been Fire Mountain. It was now nothing more than a heap of rubble.
"Oh. I remember what happened." Commented Chichi, gazing at the rubble, "In the year past I met Goku, and he knew where Master Roshi was, so we went to visit him to try to get him to put out the flames atop Fire Mountain, but instead, he ended up demolishing the entire mountain and our castle too by accident. Of course, we immediately started rebuilding, and if I recall correctly, by Christmas, we had already finished the main hall and two bedrooms."
"And there they are." Said the spirit, "come."
As the pair walked toward the partly-made castle, a flying cloud zipped towards the castle at incredible speeds, with a small boy riding atop it."
"It's Goku." Exclaimed Chichi, "It's so odd. I was barely 13 back then, but I still had a major crush on Goku. He always seemed so powerful. At times it seemed there was nothing he couldn't do."
"Just a little while before this particular Christmas," said the spirit, "was when you asked him to marry you, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yes." Replied Chichi softly, "I didn't know it at the time, but he thought 'marriage' was something to eat. Poor kid."
By this time the two of them had reached the half-castle, and they both stepped through a wall into the young Chichi's bedroom.
"Merry Christmas Goku!" they heard the young Chichi say as they entered, "Have a sandwich!"
"On this Christmas" said the spirit, "you openly displayed joy, friendliness, generosity, and love. In essence the true spirit of Christmas. You also still had an admiration for Goku's power, I believe. This means, I take it, that at this time you were still 'foolish,' yet it is interesting to note that Goku flew to visit all his friends that Christmas. Around the whole world in one day, just like Santa Claus."
"Don't be absurd!" snapped Chichi a bit too harshly, "Santa Claus doesn't exist. He's nothing but a tale that people tell little children to give them false hopes."
"Santa Claus is not a person, if that's what you mean." Said the spirit, "he is, rather, the man-like form of hope and generosity. Within you, neither of those things exists. That is why you don't believe in Santa Claus."
Chichi was quite taken aback by these words. She had no hope within her? No generosity? No! That couldn't be true. Her every minute was spent giving things up for Gohan! That was generosity... ...wasn't it?
"Come." Said the spirit, interrupting Chichi's train of thought, "There is still more you must see."
Once more their surroundings changed, and they were back at Chichi's house as it looked in the present, minus a few flowers.
"This" announced the spirit after glancing at his watch, "is your house, approximately 12 years ago, just after you married Goku."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Chichi with terrible fear welling up in her voice, "This Christmas morning was the most painful time in my entire life! I can't bear to see it again!"
"But you must." Replied the spirit, and with a wave of it's hand, Chichi found herself frozen and unable to cover or close her eyes or resist the spirit's influence in any way.
Now, the pair stared back at the scene that surrounded them. They were inside the house, where a grown-up Chichi was reading a book and sitting on the sofa. Slowly, the front door opened, and in stepped Goku with a depressed look on his face.
"Don't tell me." Said Chichi, "No job yet."
"Sorry." Replied Goku, "The jobs available for people with no diplomas are woefully scarce. Even, it seems, though I'm an expert in Kamesennin."
Slamming her book shut and putting it in the bookshelf, she stood and stared out the window.
"I was such a fool" said Chichi testily, "to marry a muscle-head like you. I even admired your strength, oh my goodness. I'll never again have real joy in my life, and I'll never make a difference of any kind in this world of ours."
"But Chichi!" said Goku timidly, "We won't go hungry or anything! I can plant and grow food, and I'm the best hunter and fisherman I know, and if we ever need anything, we can always trade produce for it!"
"Of all the lives I ever dreamed I'd live, I never once thought I'd end up as a farmer." whispered Chichi as her palpable rage filled the room, "Now go away! I need to brood!"
As the scene before them faded, the spirit spoke again, "You seem to have lost a bit of your 'foolishness' by this time period."
This time, when Chichi responded, it was with pure malice in her voice, "How dare you! I lost all my hopes and dreams on that day! Who do you think you are to make me relive it? For heaven's sake, get OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
The spirit, however, was not to be intimidated. "Not yet. There is one place more we must visit."
Then, everything changed again.
"This is Christmas again." Said the spirit, "But this was two years ago. You remember this place."
Chichi simply mumbled cheerlessly at the spirit, still unready to forgive it for what it had just forced her to witness.
This time, they were in the headquarters of the "Capsule Corporation," which Bulma and her father owned and ran. There, Chichi was being held back by Bulma! While she was being forcibly restrained, she yelled and yelled and yelled at Bulmas father, who was working speedily on a spaceship!
"You hurry up and finish that now!" screamed the Chichi of the past, "I've got to go to Namek and rescue my poor baby Gohan!"
"We have seen enough here." said the spirit with more than a hint of disgust, "Come!"
Then, Chichi and the spirit were back in her room.
"Well," said the spirit, "In the first place it is terribly rude to yell in a place of business, and even more so to yell at someone in their own home. Not only that, but had you made it to Namek, the terrible Frieza would have killed you quite easily. That would hardly have helped your son. I hope you have a very good explanation for your behavior back there."
"I panicked!" exclaimed Chichi, "Gohan's the last big thing in my life! If I'd lost him, I'd have no one to take my place in the world! That special place that I'd always wanted to occupy! Gohan was going to grow up to be a super genius! Rich and successful like I foolishly threw away the chance to be! Don't you understand that?"
But Chichi got no reply, for the spirit was gone.
Stave Three: The Ghost of Christmas Present.
Though she wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, Chichi's ordeal had been emotionally draining. She immediately collapsed in bed, but hadn't been laying down next to Goku for more than a few seconds when a great beam of ghostly light sprung forth from the keyhole in the door to her room, hitting her square in the face.
Springing up from her bed, Chichi yanked open the door. Then, suddenly, out in the hallway, she saw something that made her gasp in shock and horror!
An enormous pile of Christmas presents completely cordoned off the stairs to the kitchen, green decorations flanked every wall, and seated atop the piles of wrapped gifts was... ...a little girl in a pretty pink dress, with long black hair, playing with a yo-yo.
"Oh... hullo!" said the girl as she noticed Chichi for the first time, "Are you the woman I'm to guide tonight?" She said it in such bland tones that she sounded as if she did this sort of thing all the time.
"The Ghost of Christmas Present, I presume." Commented Chichi, crossing her arms, "You were more spectacular in the story too."
"No one has ever put me in a story," Commented the girl, "but perhaps you are referring to my brother, GCP of 1843. He was featured in 'A Christmas Carol,' but he and I are not one and the same. As for my appearance, my current form represents the object of your envy. In your case it would appear that you currently envy the days of your youth more than anything else. That is good. That means the Ghost of Christmas Past has done his work. Now it is my turn. I will show you the events of this current Christmas. I fear, however, that nothing substantial is happening at this time, and in this place. Therefore, we must travel."
With those words, the girl began to spin her yo-yo in a fashion resembling the technique "round the world." Then, as she stopped her yo-yo from spinning, a great gaping black hole appeared where it had been. Then, the girl walked directly into it, and beckoned Chichi to follow. Her experiences with the former ghost had taught her that it just might be futile to resist, so she followed the second spirit into the black hole and was instantly somewhere else.
For what felt like a short time (it was probably a few hours) the spirit-girl and Chichi seemed to apparate into almost every kind of home in the world. The homes of the wealthy, the homes of the poor, and the homes of all those in between. They even observed far off soldiers and sailors, and all those who couldn't be home for Christmas, and worse yet, those who had no homes to call their own. In every place they visited, though, one thing seemed to be in common. Everyone seemed to be just a bit happier, everyone spoke more politely to others, and many exchanged presents, games, and hugs. After only a little while of observing these various celebrations, Chichi began to feel within her an openness to joy that she had thought lost forever. It had been locked away for a dozen years, this desire and hope of being truly happy, but now it burst forth like water breaking a dam. She felt the true spirit of Christmas within her heart. She wanted to celebrate with the rich, comfort the poor, and get to know all those in between. Generosity and joy had been total strangers to Chichi for twelve years. Now she longed for the fulfillment of both with a great yearning twelve years overdue.
As these feelings flooded over her, the spirit-girl spoke up.
"I fear we must leave now. We have two places left to visit before my time with you is up, and we must make haste to the first if we don't want to be late."
Then, with another spin of the spirit-girl's yo-yo, they were at the Kame house.
"This-this is the Kame house..." stuttered Chichi, with mixed feelings about this new vision, "where Goku said he was holding his Christmas party."
"Indeed." Said the Spirit Girl with a smile creeping across her face, "Come. The party is already underway."
Still playing with her yo-yo, the spirit-girl led Chichi through the nearest wall and into the house. Inside, the entire place seemed to be booming with activity. A set of tables on one side of the kitchen was being used as a buffet, a bunch of board games were being played in the bedroom, and outside, many athletic competitions were going on. It was food and fun for all.
Goku was there, zooming between the buffet and the athletic events over and over again, Yajirobe and Oolong (two of Goku's friends) remained steadily near the buffet, Tien, Chaotzu, Yamcha, and Krillin (Martial arts masters and more of Goku's friends) all participated in secondary athletic events while Bulma and Master Roshi chatted while playing a board game. Master Roshi was one of Goku's old trainers when he was young. He had taught Goku some powerful moves and was one of Goku's best friends. The ox-king had made it, still wearing his helmet, only now, instead of armor, he was decked out in a suit. Bulmas mother and father were present as well, and Yamchas talking cat Puar was playing a board game with Bulma and Master Roshi. Most surprisingly, Vegeta was there, but he seemed concerned mainly with the free food and free competition. Also there was someone the very sight of who made Chichi glad she had not allowed Gohan to go. Piccolo was there.
Piccolo was an alien from the planet Namek who spent his entire life in training and meditation. He didn't need to eat, he just drank water. Ever since Piccolo had first appeared, Gohan had liked him and had been training with him. Piccolo had a fire of anger within him that made his training almost ruthless. His desire for added power was almost adamant, and Chichi was afraid that if Gohan hung around him too often, he might become the same way. Piccolo had green skin, small antennas, and pink patches on his arms, legs and chest to represent the placement of his muscles. Currently, Piccolo was engaged in a competition with Vegeta and Goku. The competition was an obstacle course that Bulma had made for them, along with a machine at the end that told them how long they had taken.
Just then, Master Roshi brought up the subject of Gohan with Bulma.
"Y'know, if Gohan was here, we'd have four people to play this game."
"Please don't bring up Gohan." Interrupted Krillin, who was just next to him at the time, "We're friends and I hate to think of him being locked up in his house against his will, studying on Christmas. I think we can have a merrier Christmas without thinking about Gohan."
"Maybe you can." Retorted Master Roshi, "But I can't help but think of him. Even if I tried to stop thinkin' about him, I'd still have a tough time ignoring that empty seat at the table."
"There's two empty seats." Added the ox-king, passing by with a pile of presents, "If only Chichi could've been here."
"Bologna!" yelled Bulma, breaking into the conversation quickly, "Chichi could've been here, and she could've brought Gohan, too. She's just too stubborn and pigheaded to listen to reason! Goku says she doesn't even celebrate Christmas! I can just picture her, locked away in Gohan's bedroom, staring at him, mumbling 'bah, humbug!' to herself."
Everyone within earshot laughed at this last comment, because Chichi always had reminded them of Scrooge, whether they had realized it before or not.
From that moment on, the party was more fun, the only party-pooper being Vegeta, who wouldn't join in any of the non-athletic games. Chichi watched the group eat and play and talk and compete and exercise, and silently wished she could do it with them. Then, the spirit-girl beside her motioned that they should leave.
"Can't I have a few more minutes to watch them?" She asked the spirit-girl timidly.
"If you wanted to share the joy of Christmas with your friends," was the spirit-girls reply, "You should have accepted Goku's invitation."
Chichi contemplated this thought. Could she, in good conscience go with Goku and have fun, while quite possibly sacrificing a part of Gohan's future?
When Chichi looked around again, she was back in Gohan's room, facing herself and Gohan. Gohan was studying again, and she, of course, was standing over him and watching. Almost imperceptibly, the spirit-girl reached her phantom hand out to touch Gohan's head, and in mere seconds, the pair of them heard his thoughts.
"That hag! How could she do this to me? I'm a prisoner. That's what I am! I'll never forgive her for treating me like this! NEVER!"
The words faded away, and as they did so, so did Gohan's bedroom. Before Chichi knew what was happening, she and the spirit-girl were back in her room, and the spirit-girl was perched on a chest nearby, still playing with her yo-yo in one hand.
"So," the spirit girl addressed Chichi, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"What do you mean?" Chichi was quite confused.
"You've robbed yourself and your son of joy on Christmas day. The one day of the year when everyone should be joyful. Not only that, but you seem to have forced your son to study on Christmas against his will and the will, I might add, of everyone but yourself. Now, your son hates you for it."
"Well," said Chichi with a surprising amount of frankness, "I know he may be angry at me now, but it's for his own good. If he ever wants to get a good job and be rich and powerful, he'll need all the study time he can get. He'll thank me for it when he grows up."
"Will he?" the spirit asked in a puzzled way, "I wonder. Well, my time with you is up, and I fear I have nothing more to teach you. Farewell."
Then, the yo-yo in her hand seemed to grow enormous, sucking her inside, and then, both vanished, and Chichi was alone.
Stave Four: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
It was no more than a few seconds before an eerie, green ooze began to slide under Chichi's door, pulsating and bubbling like a thing alive! Needless to say, she was more than a bit disgusted by it, and backed steadily away from it. Then, suddenly, as it reached the foot of her and Goku's bed, its gelatinous center sprang upward, putting Chichi on her guard. Then, as she watched in shock and horror, the gel-like lump began to change its shape, molding arms for itself, legs, a head, a face, clothes, muscles, and two antennas on its forehead. Lastly, a white turban seemed to grow from its bald head, and Chichi trembled in fear as she realized who it was! It was the Alien! The Namek! Piccolo!
"What do you mean by intruding into my bedroom, Namek? I'm not impressed by your new powers, and if you think you're going to take us without..."
"SILENCE!" shouted Piccolo, who appeared much calmer that usual for some reason, "I only take the form of Piccolo! I am the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come!"
Ah! This was not the real Piccolo. But why had to spirit chosen this form?
"This form" said the third spirit, "represents that which you fear most."
"I'm not afraid of Piccolo." Mumbled Chichi indignantly.
"You do not fear Piccolo himself." Agreed the spirit, "Rather, you fear what he represents. The fire of combat that burns within him. You fear that, because it is an example of power corrupting a 'good brain.' Your every moment is spent striving in the opposite direction. Most of all, you fear that continued exposure to Piccolo will ruin your plans for Gohan."
"Well," admitted Chichi timidly, "I admit, that's true."
"At any rate, we are wasting time by staying here. Come."
With that, the spirit waved a white cloak that it had slung across its torso, and he and Chichi were elsewhere.
The place they found themselves in was a classroom in a high school somewhere. The kids had all gone home except for one boy, about 16, who studiously worked, zipping between a book and a collection of spare parts. In only a few minutes, a woman walked in, and seeing the boy there, walked over to him to hand him her keys.
"I know there's no point in asking you to stop your studies and go home for Christmas, but when I heard you were here, I just had to come. You can stay as long as you want, just lock up when you're done, okay?"
The boy nodded quickly and quietly, accepting the keys with one hand, and with an almost imperceptible frown, continued his experiment.
"Are you ever going home?" asked the woman as she neared the door of the classroom.
This question clearly offended the boy, but he took the time to answer it. "Not if I can help it. MY home was never what you'd call 'pleasant.' I could never trust anybody there, and my mother didn't really love me. As for my dad, he was a psychological pushover. I've been trying to make my own future for some time now, and if you don't mind my saying so, I think I've been doing pretty well. I don't, however, want to see them ever again unless I'm rich enough to buy and sell them a dozen times over."
Then, he went back to his studies, not knowing or caring that the woman was saddened by his response.
"What a terrible thing to happen to a boy of that age. To run away from home, and have to make a living on his science affinity." Chichi's words were sincere, but very much confused.
"You still don't get it, do you?" the spirit asked her as they continued forward in time, "I didn't show you that for no reason. That boy in there was your son, Gohan!"
"What?!" Chichi responded with a mixture of fear and anger, "How... could... I mean..."
But they were at their next destination already. They had reached a skyscraper, which seemed to be a company of some sort. The sign on top of the building read, "Castle in the Sky, Co."
Within the period of a few seconds, the pair was within the building, at the top floor, where a meeting was being held.
Three men sat in chairs at one side of a long table, cat-like, dog-like and fox-like people were also there, but the focus was on the man standing near one corner of the table with a yardstick in his hand, pointing to a blackboard.
"As you can see" said the man, "This device's applications are virtually limitless. It transforms electric energy into laser and energy fields the placement of which can then be manipulated by remote satellites and ground-based computers. I'm also working on a way to make this mobile. When that is accomplished, just think of the possibilities! Flying men, invulnerable cars, shielded buildings, BREATHING IN OUTER SPACE!!! This is not something, gentlemen, that I plan to sell. If you want a prototype, however, it'll cost you a solid 50 million, not a credit less."
The men at the table discussed this concept with one another, but Chichi couldn't believe her eyes. The man selling his "force field machines" looked more than a little like Goku!
"That's Gohan again." Muttered the spirit, "His 'affinity for science' is far greater than anyone suspected, and he is easily the most ruthless businessman on earth. He always gets the best out of every deal, even if it means cheating someone. This meeting was deliberately held on Christmas so he would meet only those whose first priority was business."
"Dishonest business dealings..." whispered Chichi to herself, "It couldn't be. Not my little Gohan! He couldn't! I have to see something!"
"Yes?"
"Show me the time period... The time when he met Goku and I again."
"If you wish to see you and your family together again, you would do far better to seek out the Ghost of Christmas Past, but I will show you another encounter..."
With these words, the spirit gave another wave of his cloak, and they had reached Goku's house in the wilderness. A grown-up Gohan in a business suit with a small device in his hand approached the house, tearing through the cold wilderness air.
As Gohan stepped through the door to Goku's house, Chichi rushed to meet him, hugging him, and saying hopeful words along the lines of, "I knew he'd come back. Goku, Gohan's come home for Christmas!"
The Gohan did something that made Chichi gasp in horror. He brushed her aside!
"Keep your hands off me." He warned testily, "I'm not your son anymore."
Then, turning to Goku, nearby, he pulled out a sheet of paper, and handed it to his former father.
"For you."
Goku read the paper with terror in his eyes, and closed it up quickly with a low growl. Turning on Gohan, he said in a voice like thunder, "You can't do this to us. This house is ours!"
"Right you are," Responded Gohan sternly, "And you're welcome to move it wherever you please, but I've bought this land you now trespass on, and if you want to keep your house here, you must pay my sum. Not a credit less."
"But we were here first!" insisted Goku desperately.
"It'd be a lot of fun seeing you try to prove that in a court of law." Gohan chuckled, "In the meantime, that eviction notice stands. And incidentally, 'mother.'" He said, turning to Chichi with a snarl, "I didn't 'come home for Christmas.' I chose today because I knew you'd both be here."
"But what about poor Goten?" Goku asked in one last, desperate plea.
"I have separated myself from you." Gohan said coldly, "I no longer care what happens to you or your son. Farewell."
"NO!" Chichi was livid after the vision she had just saw, "He can't be so cold and heartless! He can't be! Doesn't he have any friends at all? Can't they reason with him?"
"Come." Said the spirit, pulling aside his cloak again, and they were in a large, well-decorated office with a great desk in the center and a lone door at one end. In the desk was Gohan, his hair noticeably grayer now.
There was a knock at the door. "Come." Gohan said from his desk at the front of the room. The door opened a crack, and in walked Krillin. Krillin had once been one of Gohan's closest friends, but now it was obvious that even they had drifted quite a bit. Krillin had more wrinkles than normal, but otherwise, Chichi noticed not significant change in him.
"Gohan." Krillin addressed him carefully, "I have some bad news."
"Well," said Gohan quickly, not turning away from his work, "spit it out, man."
"Its Chichi, she... um... well... she's dying."
"So..." said Gohan, "What's the bad news?"
"Gohan!" Krillin couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Are you seriously saying you want your mother to die?!"
"In the first place..." responded Gohan angrily, "She's not my mother. Hasn't been for over 30 years. In the second place, she was emotionally never my mother, and in the third, I happen to hate that woman with all my heart and soul!"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I didn't realize it while I was living in the wild," Gohan began, standing, and looking out the window at the back of the room, "but apparently, mothers are supposed to love you, and care for you and think of what's best for you. Chichi never did that for me. Not only that, but I was her slave for almost my entire childhood! I say, HER slave, because in the long run, she was only doing what she did for herself! You can't argue that point, you know it's true. Chichi never saw me as a son who needed individual attention, she saw me as a piece of clay to mould in the image she had always wanted. I made that woman very, VERY sorry, let me tell you that."
Then, Gohan sat down and started working away, but stopped for a second as a new idea swept across him.
"Come to think of it," he said to Krillin, "neither you nor anyone I ever knew was willing to help me escape from Chichi. I remember, because I asked for your help and you wouldn't give it! The others were even worse! Goku, Tien, Yamcha, Chaotzu, Master Roshi, and even Piccolo all tried to turn me in when I asked for their help! You were the only one who never reported me! I sincerely hope you aren't advocating for her now, because that could put a serious dent in our friendship, Krillin."
Krillins face fell as he heard these words spring from Gohan's mouth, and soon he had left the building, humbled and depressed.
"In his time as a powerful businessman," said the spirit to Chichi, who seemed unable to speak, "Gohan made billions of dollars, and made millions of people sad. Not only on Christmas, but on every night of the year. Gohan's wealth and power became a feared name internationally, and he was looked upon as some kind of demon by most of the people in the world! 'How could anyone be so cruel?' they would ask, 'How can a person be so heartless?' Some of them even stumbled onto the right answer."
With this, the spirit leaned down next to Chichi, and whispered in her ear, "It was in his upbringing! He used the lives of everyone on earth, whether they knew it or not, just as his mother had tried to usurp his life!"
By this time, Chichi was on the floor, sobbing and in uncontrollable anguish! She writhed and cried out to be left in peace, and when the spirit said the word "life!" she lost control!
Brandishing her fists like maces of steel, Chichi struck the spirit in the face...
Stave Five: How Things Turned Out.
...And was back in her bedroom with her fist touching a nearby steel bedpost. Goku, who had slept through the arrival of all the spirits, wasn't, it seemed, about to let this bother him, and he merely rolled over in bed, mumbling something about a big machine.
Chichi tried to tell herself that none of the horrible things she had just seen were her fault, but in the end, she had no choice but to conclude that it was indeed her fault for pushing Gohan over the edge. At that moment, as she began to realize what she had done, and was doing, she felt the regret of the past, the joy of the present, and the guilt of the future coalesce into one big statement whose truth could not be denied!
"My goodness. I've been a villain. A monster! A Demon! I can't possibly make up for all the horrible things I've done, but I've got to try! Oh, I've got to try!"
Chichi leapt from her bed and rushed downstairs (it was 6:00 A.M.) to make breakfast before Goku and Gohan got up. In celebration of Christmas Present, she made their very favorite breakfast! Bacon and eggs with some milk and an apple! Soon, Goku was downstairs, and dressed in his Kamesennin outfit, but even he nearly fell over as Chichi, for the first time in many years, grabbed him and kissed him as if there was no tomorrow!
Goku devoured the breakfast, and he and Chichi had a great time exchanging greetings of "Merry Christmas!" but though their morning was joyous, Gohan did not come down.
Goku hadn't needed an explanation for Chichi's pleasant behavior. He hadn't wanted one. You see, Goku is not the kind of guy who seeks out unnecessary knowledge, and his philosophy for this circumstance was "It's works (oh, man does it work!) so don't fix it."
When Chichi didn't see Gohan come downstairs though, she began to worry, and started a search of the house. A million thoughts raced through her head! What if he had already run away? What if he was scared and hiding from her? What if he had flown to the Kame house and left her behind? She needed not have worried, though, for Gohan was up in his study room, trying to work, with no desire to upset Chichi.
Chichi couldn't stand watching him suffer there any longer! She ran up to him, hugged him, said "Merry Christmas, Gohan," and beckoned him downstairs.
Gohan was overcome with visible delight that Chichi had decided to take him to the Kame house for the Christmas party, and everyone at the party was glad to see her (for she was cheerier now, smiled more often, liked having fun and playing games, and liked talking to them).
In the years that followed, Chichi became much more like a true mother to Gohan. She professed to love him on a daily basis, suggested his studies, and praised him for his successes in recreational activities (like saving the world). People could hardly believe that it was the same Chichi who had once been such a blind, forceful grouch, but even when they brought up her past, she didn't mind, for she was taking joy from every aspect of her life now, and she found it almost impossible to be sad or angry.
In time, Gohan (who did NOT run away) came to love his mother more than anyone in the world, and when people referred to her, it was far more often by her generous and kindly qualities than by her former unpleasantness.
The best way, perhaps, to wrap up this story (though we are on such a pleasant note already) is by mentioning that at one Christmas dinner at Goku's house (the dinner was Chichi's treat), Puar the talking cat remembered her former discussion with Master Roshi about likening Chichi to Scrooge, and having seen the change in her as well, decided, on the spur of the moment, to say "God bless us, every one!"
But no one heard her. They were too busy eating.
The End.
For those who are DBZ fans, I've decided to mention that, although this story is incongruent with the rest of the series, it takes place just shortly after the defeat of Garlic Jr. and just before the start of the Android Saga.
P.S.: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the Characters in this story (Bubbles, Gregory, King Kai, Chichi, Gohan, Goku, Krillin, Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Chaotzu, Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar, Yajirobe, Bulmas mother, Bulmas father, Bulma and the ox-king are all the property of whoever makes DBZ {I have no idea who that is}). If I did own them I would be rich and would not be spending my time on fanfics. I also do not own Scrooge, or any of the Ghosts, those who does own them is a mystery to me. Sorry.
-This is a work of fiction and is not meant to offend-
-the collector of data-
Stave One: King Kai's Prediction.
This is a story that is easy to tell, but difficult to believe. One of the most difficult aspects to believe about this story is that it takes place about 5 million years in the future. In that time period, animals have evolved back into monsters and dinosaurs, and human beings have evolved the power to obtain new abilities simply by "training" their bodies.
This story, however, is not about a lot of people. In essence, it is really only about one person; a woman known as Chichi.
Chichi was the daughter of a human woman and a giant known only as the ox-king. She possessed formidable martial arts skills, and had the strength of 35 strong men! Not only that, but she was married to an alien Saiyan known as Goku, (who was the strongest fighter in the universe) and their only child was called Gohan.
Chichis every waking moment was consumed by concern for Gohans future. Most notably, for his education. To call Chichi overprotective of Gohan would be a vast understatement, particularly since both Gohan and his father could fairly easily lift mountains and shatter stars through sheer physical strength alone!
However, Chichi had an air about herself that made her rage terrible to see. Though nothing she could do could ever conceivably harm Goku or Gohan, when she was angered, everyone around her got the evil eye so bad that it gave them headaches.
In general, people tried to avoid Chichi, whether she was mad or not. She seemed to have an aura of wrath about her at all times, she hardly ever smiled, if she ever had fun, no one was there to see it, and she was basically just an unpleasant person to be around.
As I mentioned earlier, Chichis first priority was and had always been to make Gohan study. At the time of this story, it was the evening of December 24th. Christmas Eve.
Despite this, however, Gohan was studying diligently, with Chichi standing over him like a vulture, to watch him, in case he should try to run off, away from his work. It had just turned 6:00 PM, when Goku came up the stairs to Gohans room, carrying a glass of milk and a plate of Christmas cookies that his friend, Bulma had made.
"Merry Christmas Chichi!" announced Goku in his usual, cheerful manner, "Have some cookies, Gohan."
"Oh, no you don't Goku!" exclaimed Chichi in an irritated tone, pushing the plate away from Gohan and into Gokus chest, "Gohan is studying. Cookies would just distract him."
Goku sighed and put the cookies on a nearby bookshelf. Then, as he turned to go, he told Gohan, "Me and the guys will be playing in the snow outside. Come meet us in a few minutes."
Gohan was about to respond, but Chichi beat him to it, this time obviously angry, "No way, Goku! Gohan is way behind in his work and he's going to be studying until bedtime! He can't play outside with you and your muscle-head friends!"
"But mom!" Gohan protested.
"But Chichi!" Goku protested, "It's Christmas Eve!"
"Just another excuse to slack off, if you ask me." Said Chichi, crossing her arms, "And furthermore, I intend to keep Gohan at work all tomorrow, and I'll be right here the whole time, making sure he doesn't run off!"
"What?" gasped Goku in shock, "on Christmas?!"
"It's a 5,000,000 year old holiday anyways." Said Chichi more calmly, "Everybody should work on Christmas. It's more constructive. Anyway, I don't celebrate Christmas, because I'm sensible and I expect Gohan to grow up and be sensible just like me."
"Oh." Said Goku slowly, drooping his head in resignation, "Well, that's a terrible shame, 'cause me and some of the guys put together a Christmas party over at the Kame house and we were going to invite you and Gohan, but if you're working all tomorrow, I guess that's out."
"I guess it is." Remarked Chichi coldly.
"Well," continued Goku, still obviously depressed by Chichis decision, "I've gotta go." Then, Goku was gone at super-speed.
It was fairly obvious what Gohan wanted, and he was so frustrated. He could study well, but he didn't really enjoy it, and he hated to miss out on fun activities, like playing in the snow and engaging in Christmas parties. It made Gohan sweat to think of his predicament. He could have snapped his mother's neck like a twig, but she scared the pants off him. As long as he had lived, Gohan had wanted to be like his father, but his mother practically went into hysterics every time he so much as suggested growing up to be a super-fighter. Chichi wanted Gohan to be a scholar, a record keeper, or an intellectual of some sort, but Gohan just didn't want that for his life. What's worse, Gohan didn't have the nerve to stand up to his mom and insist on his real intentions.
"That kind of nerve must be hard to come by." Thought Gohan as he scribbled down some more Algebra equations, "The only two people I know who have that nerve are Bulma and -ulp- Vegeta!"
Bulma was a scientist, tinkerer, and super-genius with blue hair and a dark side similar to Chichis. Most of the time, however, Bulma was cheerful. As for Vegeta, he was another case entirely. Vegeta was an alien of the same race as Goku. To be precise, he was a Saiyan prince and a vicious warrior who made his own rules and used to destroy inhabited planets for fun. More recently, Vegeta had been working with them against more terrible evil creatures such as Frieza: An alien who had once held the entire universe in his iron grip of fear, and Garlic Jr., the most powerful evil wizard to ever threaten the earth.
Gohan hadn't noticed, but while he had been reminiscing, some people had started singing outside. He subconsciously started tapping his foot to the music. One side of his brain churned out math equations, and the other side kept time with the music... "The newborn king to see, par-um-pum-pum-pum."
Then Chichi saw that Gohan had started to hum in time with the music as he worked, and decided that she would have none of it. Gripping a wooden spoon in her left hand, Chichi stomped angrily downstairs, and soon, the cheerful sound of carols was replaced by Chichi's loud threats and the soft padding of people's feet as they fled from Gohan's house across the snow.
It seemed like forever with his mother standing over him, but at around 9:30 PM, Chichi announced that it was time to put Gohan to bed. Gohan, of course, had no desire to resist, as even sleep was a welcome refuge from all the tense hours of studying and short meals. Gohan was in bed no more than a few seconds when he was asleep, dreaming of an imaginary future that he considered ideal.
Chichi hadn't had the guts to eat anything while she had been standing over Gohan. Now that he was in bed, however, she had the opportunity for a late supper.
Chichi frowned after finishing off a burger, salad, and glass of skim milk. Her husband, Goku, could pretty easily polish off a thanksgiving dinner for 12 in a few seconds, and consider it nothing more than a light snack, but he spent virtually his entire life building his muscles and training in Kamesennin martial arts, so that was hardly a surprise to Chichi. Still, Goku ate way too fast. One of these days he was liable to give himself the hiccups.
Running her plates through the sink, Chichi grabbed a flashlight and started the long walk upstairs to her bedroom, but the second she touched the banister, she heard a voice in her head, like someone trying to get her attention, "Chichi!"
Instinctively, Chichi looked around, but of course, there was no one nearby, so she simply ignored it and continued upstairs.
A few feet from the top of the stairs, Chichi could have sworn she saw the forms of a monkey and a flying insect skitter off into her bedroom, but by the time she had entered, she could find neither of the aforementioned creatures. The only other living thing in the room besides herself was her husband Goku, who was fast asleep on the bed and snoring loudly.
Then, as Chichi closed the bedroom door, she heard the voice again.
"Chichi, I know you're there. Answer, darn it!"
"Huh?" inquired Chichi in a soft voice, "Who's there?"
"It's me." Said the voice, "King Kai!"
King Kai was a martial arts master who resided in the land of the dead and had the power to communicate via telepathy. He had once taught Goku some powerful attacks such as Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb. In addition, King Kai was very good-natured and had a good sense of humor, which just might be the reason why Chichi disliked him so much.
"What do you want?" asked Chichi in a manner as cold as ice.
"Well..." responded King Kai, "I'm not supposed to tell you this, but the powers that be have decreed that you're an abomination to all human beings. Normally, they just wipe out people like you, but since it's Christmas Eve, they decided to be nice and give you the secondary treatment instead. Sorry to have to be the one to break this to you, but you're about to be haunted by three spirits. Oh, you've been spitting on a lot of major supernatural forces lately, so I'm almost surprised they're going this easy on you. Oh, well. See ya later."
Through King Kai's entire speech, Chichi couldn't get a word in edgewise, and even now that he was finished, all she could do was sputter a bit. Her! An abomination on humanity! It couldn't be! And haunted by three spirits just like that scrooge character... But he was always so selfish, and she had given everything for her poor Gohan! It couldn't be! It just couldn't!
Stave Two: The Ghost of Christmas Past.
Chichi hadn't remembered falling asleep, but she remembered being woken up, because that was done by a hand as firm and strong as that of her husband. She rolled over in bed to gaze at her husband, but he was still fast asleep. Then, she turned in bed to face the direction of the hand and gasped in surprise!
Before her stood a figure of a grown man whose facial features resembled those of Goku, but instead of her husband's standard Kamesennin outfit, he had on a beautiful business suit, colored a gleaming white. It held in its hand a small appointment calendar, which it gazed at as it still attempted to rouse her. It also wore a small black watch on its left wrist, which told not only the time, but also the date and year as well.
Chichi, gathering her formidable courage, asked it, "Let me guess. You're the Ghost of Christmas Past."
"I am." Replied the Ghost in a perfect imitation of Goku's voice, "I have come to aid in your reclamation."
"You were much more spectacular in the Dickens novel." Commented Chichi swiftly.
The spirit smiled at this, and calmly explained, "Ebenezer Scrooge saw me as a blemished angel of the power of the past, because that is what he admired. I take the form of an angel to represent that which my charge most admires. In your case, I represent power atrophied by sensibility. That is what you admire, and what you have always desired to be known for."
"Impressive," admitted Chichi, "but does this really have anything to do with me?"
"Yes." Responded the Ghost, "For I will show you the Christmases of the past. Your past. Rise! And walk with me!"
Then, as if the spirit had stolen her God-given free will, Chichis body rose, uncomplaining from the bed, seemingly of it's own accord, and the two of them passed like phantoms through the far wall...
...and were suddenly standing before a magnificent castle atop a great mountain covered in dense oil. In her phantom state, Chichi couldn't slip on the oil, and the Ghost beside her seemed even less effected.
"You recognize this place." The Ghost observed.
"Yes." Replied Chichi speedily, "This is the palace of the ox-king; my father, atop Fire Mountain. This is where I was born and raised until the day my dad and I left to go on a picnic."
Glancing at his watch, the spirit said, "This is Christmas morning. The last one you ever experienced on Fire Mountain. At the time, you were no more than 3 and you got just what you wanted that Christmas."
"I never knew my mother..." Chichi reminisced, "...but my father always knew just what I wanted for Christmas, and he always got it." Then, together, without saying another word, they strode through several palace walls and into Chichi's bedroom.
The baby Chichi was laying on the floor, playing with dolls. She carefully maneuvered them from one side to another, making them battle.
"You were such a sweet child." Observed the spirit.
"I was young and foolish." Retorted Chichi, "I spent almost my entire childhood shielded from the world by the ox-king. I didn't know anything about education or qualifications or getting good jobs. I was..."
"An innocent little girl, just as you should have been. I notice that you had no particular dislike for force at this stage in your life."
"The only person I had ever known was the ox-king. Of course I had no dislike for force."
"Well then," said the spirit, "Let's look at another Christmas."
Within moments, the pair found themselves within some ruins at the base of Fire Mountain, the oil that had once coated it now ablaze! Chichi gazed up in horror at the flaming mountain.
"Now I remember." She said, "One day, when my father and I went on a picnic, an evil spirit set fire to our mountain. We couldn't get back up. It was awful. I spent most of my childhood at the base of the mountain, hoping the fire would go out, but it never, ever did. We made a home for ourselves among this rubble..."
"...And here comes your father now." Observed the spirit.
This observation was, of course, correct. Dressed all in armor and with a helmet on his head, the ox-king carried a large package over his head, and a small one under his arm.
"Chichi!" he bellowed in a fairly deep voice, "I'm back!"
"Daddy!" yelled the baby Chichi with glee, running up to meet him, "Is the small one for me?"
"Nope." Replied the ox-king in a lighthearted manner, "Yours is the big one! Merry Christmas, honey!"
Unwrapping the big package, Chichi found within it a helmet with an ion blaster on the front and a buzz-saw on the top, a book about basic martial arts, a mat to practice on, and a dinocap with a weight set inside it.
"Oh, thank you, thank you daddy!" yelled the young Chichi, "Now I'm going to train and exercise! I promise that someday I'll be as strong as you! What did you get for yourself?"
Her father smiled as he held up a large dinocap that he had just taken from the smaller package. Pressing the button on the top, he threw it to the ground a few feet away, and there, in a puff of smoke, it became a large metal house!
"I've wanted a new house ever since the fire blocked us out of our palace." Commented the ox-king, "This seemed about right."
"Oh, Daddy!" exclaimed Chichi, "This is the best Christmas ever!"
"You were more cheerful back then." observed the spirit.
"So what?" asked the grown Chichi coldly, "As tough as things were back then, I was still being sheltered. I didn't know what it was to really worry. I was still very young and very foolish."
"Call it what you will." Returned the spirit, "But your 'foolishness' helped you to be happy, kind and ambitious. In all your 'foolishness,' you still had plans for your own life, and in your 'foolishness,' you understood and appreciated the spirit of Christmas. Now, let us continue forward another year."
Again, their surroundings changed, and the two found themselves back at Fire Mountain, or at least what had once been Fire Mountain. It was now nothing more than a heap of rubble.
"Oh. I remember what happened." Commented Chichi, gazing at the rubble, "In the year past I met Goku, and he knew where Master Roshi was, so we went to visit him to try to get him to put out the flames atop Fire Mountain, but instead, he ended up demolishing the entire mountain and our castle too by accident. Of course, we immediately started rebuilding, and if I recall correctly, by Christmas, we had already finished the main hall and two bedrooms."
"And there they are." Said the spirit, "come."
As the pair walked toward the partly-made castle, a flying cloud zipped towards the castle at incredible speeds, with a small boy riding atop it."
"It's Goku." Exclaimed Chichi, "It's so odd. I was barely 13 back then, but I still had a major crush on Goku. He always seemed so powerful. At times it seemed there was nothing he couldn't do."
"Just a little while before this particular Christmas," said the spirit, "was when you asked him to marry you, if I'm not mistaken."
"Yes." Replied Chichi softly, "I didn't know it at the time, but he thought 'marriage' was something to eat. Poor kid."
By this time the two of them had reached the half-castle, and they both stepped through a wall into the young Chichi's bedroom.
"Merry Christmas Goku!" they heard the young Chichi say as they entered, "Have a sandwich!"
"On this Christmas" said the spirit, "you openly displayed joy, friendliness, generosity, and love. In essence the true spirit of Christmas. You also still had an admiration for Goku's power, I believe. This means, I take it, that at this time you were still 'foolish,' yet it is interesting to note that Goku flew to visit all his friends that Christmas. Around the whole world in one day, just like Santa Claus."
"Don't be absurd!" snapped Chichi a bit too harshly, "Santa Claus doesn't exist. He's nothing but a tale that people tell little children to give them false hopes."
"Santa Claus is not a person, if that's what you mean." Said the spirit, "he is, rather, the man-like form of hope and generosity. Within you, neither of those things exists. That is why you don't believe in Santa Claus."
Chichi was quite taken aback by these words. She had no hope within her? No generosity? No! That couldn't be true. Her every minute was spent giving things up for Gohan! That was generosity... ...wasn't it?
"Come." Said the spirit, interrupting Chichi's train of thought, "There is still more you must see."
Once more their surroundings changed, and they were back at Chichi's house as it looked in the present, minus a few flowers.
"This" announced the spirit after glancing at his watch, "is your house, approximately 12 years ago, just after you married Goku."
"Oh, no!" exclaimed Chichi with terrible fear welling up in her voice, "This Christmas morning was the most painful time in my entire life! I can't bear to see it again!"
"But you must." Replied the spirit, and with a wave of it's hand, Chichi found herself frozen and unable to cover or close her eyes or resist the spirit's influence in any way.
Now, the pair stared back at the scene that surrounded them. They were inside the house, where a grown-up Chichi was reading a book and sitting on the sofa. Slowly, the front door opened, and in stepped Goku with a depressed look on his face.
"Don't tell me." Said Chichi, "No job yet."
"Sorry." Replied Goku, "The jobs available for people with no diplomas are woefully scarce. Even, it seems, though I'm an expert in Kamesennin."
Slamming her book shut and putting it in the bookshelf, she stood and stared out the window.
"I was such a fool" said Chichi testily, "to marry a muscle-head like you. I even admired your strength, oh my goodness. I'll never again have real joy in my life, and I'll never make a difference of any kind in this world of ours."
"But Chichi!" said Goku timidly, "We won't go hungry or anything! I can plant and grow food, and I'm the best hunter and fisherman I know, and if we ever need anything, we can always trade produce for it!"
"Of all the lives I ever dreamed I'd live, I never once thought I'd end up as a farmer." whispered Chichi as her palpable rage filled the room, "Now go away! I need to brood!"
As the scene before them faded, the spirit spoke again, "You seem to have lost a bit of your 'foolishness' by this time period."
This time, when Chichi responded, it was with pure malice in her voice, "How dare you! I lost all my hopes and dreams on that day! Who do you think you are to make me relive it? For heaven's sake, get OUT OF MY SIGHT!"
The spirit, however, was not to be intimidated. "Not yet. There is one place more we must visit."
Then, everything changed again.
"This is Christmas again." Said the spirit, "But this was two years ago. You remember this place."
Chichi simply mumbled cheerlessly at the spirit, still unready to forgive it for what it had just forced her to witness.
This time, they were in the headquarters of the "Capsule Corporation," which Bulma and her father owned and ran. There, Chichi was being held back by Bulma! While she was being forcibly restrained, she yelled and yelled and yelled at Bulmas father, who was working speedily on a spaceship!
"You hurry up and finish that now!" screamed the Chichi of the past, "I've got to go to Namek and rescue my poor baby Gohan!"
"We have seen enough here." said the spirit with more than a hint of disgust, "Come!"
Then, Chichi and the spirit were back in her room.
"Well," said the spirit, "In the first place it is terribly rude to yell in a place of business, and even more so to yell at someone in their own home. Not only that, but had you made it to Namek, the terrible Frieza would have killed you quite easily. That would hardly have helped your son. I hope you have a very good explanation for your behavior back there."
"I panicked!" exclaimed Chichi, "Gohan's the last big thing in my life! If I'd lost him, I'd have no one to take my place in the world! That special place that I'd always wanted to occupy! Gohan was going to grow up to be a super genius! Rich and successful like I foolishly threw away the chance to be! Don't you understand that?"
But Chichi got no reply, for the spirit was gone.
Stave Three: The Ghost of Christmas Present.
Though she wouldn't have admitted it to anyone, Chichi's ordeal had been emotionally draining. She immediately collapsed in bed, but hadn't been laying down next to Goku for more than a few seconds when a great beam of ghostly light sprung forth from the keyhole in the door to her room, hitting her square in the face.
Springing up from her bed, Chichi yanked open the door. Then, suddenly, out in the hallway, she saw something that made her gasp in shock and horror!
An enormous pile of Christmas presents completely cordoned off the stairs to the kitchen, green decorations flanked every wall, and seated atop the piles of wrapped gifts was... ...a little girl in a pretty pink dress, with long black hair, playing with a yo-yo.
"Oh... hullo!" said the girl as she noticed Chichi for the first time, "Are you the woman I'm to guide tonight?" She said it in such bland tones that she sounded as if she did this sort of thing all the time.
"The Ghost of Christmas Present, I presume." Commented Chichi, crossing her arms, "You were more spectacular in the story too."
"No one has ever put me in a story," Commented the girl, "but perhaps you are referring to my brother, GCP of 1843. He was featured in 'A Christmas Carol,' but he and I are not one and the same. As for my appearance, my current form represents the object of your envy. In your case it would appear that you currently envy the days of your youth more than anything else. That is good. That means the Ghost of Christmas Past has done his work. Now it is my turn. I will show you the events of this current Christmas. I fear, however, that nothing substantial is happening at this time, and in this place. Therefore, we must travel."
With those words, the girl began to spin her yo-yo in a fashion resembling the technique "round the world." Then, as she stopped her yo-yo from spinning, a great gaping black hole appeared where it had been. Then, the girl walked directly into it, and beckoned Chichi to follow. Her experiences with the former ghost had taught her that it just might be futile to resist, so she followed the second spirit into the black hole and was instantly somewhere else.
For what felt like a short time (it was probably a few hours) the spirit-girl and Chichi seemed to apparate into almost every kind of home in the world. The homes of the wealthy, the homes of the poor, and the homes of all those in between. They even observed far off soldiers and sailors, and all those who couldn't be home for Christmas, and worse yet, those who had no homes to call their own. In every place they visited, though, one thing seemed to be in common. Everyone seemed to be just a bit happier, everyone spoke more politely to others, and many exchanged presents, games, and hugs. After only a little while of observing these various celebrations, Chichi began to feel within her an openness to joy that she had thought lost forever. It had been locked away for a dozen years, this desire and hope of being truly happy, but now it burst forth like water breaking a dam. She felt the true spirit of Christmas within her heart. She wanted to celebrate with the rich, comfort the poor, and get to know all those in between. Generosity and joy had been total strangers to Chichi for twelve years. Now she longed for the fulfillment of both with a great yearning twelve years overdue.
As these feelings flooded over her, the spirit-girl spoke up.
"I fear we must leave now. We have two places left to visit before my time with you is up, and we must make haste to the first if we don't want to be late."
Then, with another spin of the spirit-girl's yo-yo, they were at the Kame house.
"This-this is the Kame house..." stuttered Chichi, with mixed feelings about this new vision, "where Goku said he was holding his Christmas party."
"Indeed." Said the Spirit Girl with a smile creeping across her face, "Come. The party is already underway."
Still playing with her yo-yo, the spirit-girl led Chichi through the nearest wall and into the house. Inside, the entire place seemed to be booming with activity. A set of tables on one side of the kitchen was being used as a buffet, a bunch of board games were being played in the bedroom, and outside, many athletic competitions were going on. It was food and fun for all.
Goku was there, zooming between the buffet and the athletic events over and over again, Yajirobe and Oolong (two of Goku's friends) remained steadily near the buffet, Tien, Chaotzu, Yamcha, and Krillin (Martial arts masters and more of Goku's friends) all participated in secondary athletic events while Bulma and Master Roshi chatted while playing a board game. Master Roshi was one of Goku's old trainers when he was young. He had taught Goku some powerful moves and was one of Goku's best friends. The ox-king had made it, still wearing his helmet, only now, instead of armor, he was decked out in a suit. Bulmas mother and father were present as well, and Yamchas talking cat Puar was playing a board game with Bulma and Master Roshi. Most surprisingly, Vegeta was there, but he seemed concerned mainly with the free food and free competition. Also there was someone the very sight of who made Chichi glad she had not allowed Gohan to go. Piccolo was there.
Piccolo was an alien from the planet Namek who spent his entire life in training and meditation. He didn't need to eat, he just drank water. Ever since Piccolo had first appeared, Gohan had liked him and had been training with him. Piccolo had a fire of anger within him that made his training almost ruthless. His desire for added power was almost adamant, and Chichi was afraid that if Gohan hung around him too often, he might become the same way. Piccolo had green skin, small antennas, and pink patches on his arms, legs and chest to represent the placement of his muscles. Currently, Piccolo was engaged in a competition with Vegeta and Goku. The competition was an obstacle course that Bulma had made for them, along with a machine at the end that told them how long they had taken.
Just then, Master Roshi brought up the subject of Gohan with Bulma.
"Y'know, if Gohan was here, we'd have four people to play this game."
"Please don't bring up Gohan." Interrupted Krillin, who was just next to him at the time, "We're friends and I hate to think of him being locked up in his house against his will, studying on Christmas. I think we can have a merrier Christmas without thinking about Gohan."
"Maybe you can." Retorted Master Roshi, "But I can't help but think of him. Even if I tried to stop thinkin' about him, I'd still have a tough time ignoring that empty seat at the table."
"There's two empty seats." Added the ox-king, passing by with a pile of presents, "If only Chichi could've been here."
"Bologna!" yelled Bulma, breaking into the conversation quickly, "Chichi could've been here, and she could've brought Gohan, too. She's just too stubborn and pigheaded to listen to reason! Goku says she doesn't even celebrate Christmas! I can just picture her, locked away in Gohan's bedroom, staring at him, mumbling 'bah, humbug!' to herself."
Everyone within earshot laughed at this last comment, because Chichi always had reminded them of Scrooge, whether they had realized it before or not.
From that moment on, the party was more fun, the only party-pooper being Vegeta, who wouldn't join in any of the non-athletic games. Chichi watched the group eat and play and talk and compete and exercise, and silently wished she could do it with them. Then, the spirit-girl beside her motioned that they should leave.
"Can't I have a few more minutes to watch them?" She asked the spirit-girl timidly.
"If you wanted to share the joy of Christmas with your friends," was the spirit-girls reply, "You should have accepted Goku's invitation."
Chichi contemplated this thought. Could she, in good conscience go with Goku and have fun, while quite possibly sacrificing a part of Gohan's future?
When Chichi looked around again, she was back in Gohan's room, facing herself and Gohan. Gohan was studying again, and she, of course, was standing over him and watching. Almost imperceptibly, the spirit-girl reached her phantom hand out to touch Gohan's head, and in mere seconds, the pair of them heard his thoughts.
"That hag! How could she do this to me? I'm a prisoner. That's what I am! I'll never forgive her for treating me like this! NEVER!"
The words faded away, and as they did so, so did Gohan's bedroom. Before Chichi knew what was happening, she and the spirit-girl were back in her room, and the spirit-girl was perched on a chest nearby, still playing with her yo-yo in one hand.
"So," the spirit girl addressed Chichi, "What do you have to say for yourself?"
"What do you mean?" Chichi was quite confused.
"You've robbed yourself and your son of joy on Christmas day. The one day of the year when everyone should be joyful. Not only that, but you seem to have forced your son to study on Christmas against his will and the will, I might add, of everyone but yourself. Now, your son hates you for it."
"Well," said Chichi with a surprising amount of frankness, "I know he may be angry at me now, but it's for his own good. If he ever wants to get a good job and be rich and powerful, he'll need all the study time he can get. He'll thank me for it when he grows up."
"Will he?" the spirit asked in a puzzled way, "I wonder. Well, my time with you is up, and I fear I have nothing more to teach you. Farewell."
Then, the yo-yo in her hand seemed to grow enormous, sucking her inside, and then, both vanished, and Chichi was alone.
Stave Four: The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
It was no more than a few seconds before an eerie, green ooze began to slide under Chichi's door, pulsating and bubbling like a thing alive! Needless to say, she was more than a bit disgusted by it, and backed steadily away from it. Then, suddenly, as it reached the foot of her and Goku's bed, its gelatinous center sprang upward, putting Chichi on her guard. Then, as she watched in shock and horror, the gel-like lump began to change its shape, molding arms for itself, legs, a head, a face, clothes, muscles, and two antennas on its forehead. Lastly, a white turban seemed to grow from its bald head, and Chichi trembled in fear as she realized who it was! It was the Alien! The Namek! Piccolo!
"What do you mean by intruding into my bedroom, Namek? I'm not impressed by your new powers, and if you think you're going to take us without..."
"SILENCE!" shouted Piccolo, who appeared much calmer that usual for some reason, "I only take the form of Piccolo! I am the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come!"
Ah! This was not the real Piccolo. But why had to spirit chosen this form?
"This form" said the third spirit, "represents that which you fear most."
"I'm not afraid of Piccolo." Mumbled Chichi indignantly.
"You do not fear Piccolo himself." Agreed the spirit, "Rather, you fear what he represents. The fire of combat that burns within him. You fear that, because it is an example of power corrupting a 'good brain.' Your every moment is spent striving in the opposite direction. Most of all, you fear that continued exposure to Piccolo will ruin your plans for Gohan."
"Well," admitted Chichi timidly, "I admit, that's true."
"At any rate, we are wasting time by staying here. Come."
With that, the spirit waved a white cloak that it had slung across its torso, and he and Chichi were elsewhere.
The place they found themselves in was a classroom in a high school somewhere. The kids had all gone home except for one boy, about 16, who studiously worked, zipping between a book and a collection of spare parts. In only a few minutes, a woman walked in, and seeing the boy there, walked over to him to hand him her keys.
"I know there's no point in asking you to stop your studies and go home for Christmas, but when I heard you were here, I just had to come. You can stay as long as you want, just lock up when you're done, okay?"
The boy nodded quickly and quietly, accepting the keys with one hand, and with an almost imperceptible frown, continued his experiment.
"Are you ever going home?" asked the woman as she neared the door of the classroom.
This question clearly offended the boy, but he took the time to answer it. "Not if I can help it. MY home was never what you'd call 'pleasant.' I could never trust anybody there, and my mother didn't really love me. As for my dad, he was a psychological pushover. I've been trying to make my own future for some time now, and if you don't mind my saying so, I think I've been doing pretty well. I don't, however, want to see them ever again unless I'm rich enough to buy and sell them a dozen times over."
Then, he went back to his studies, not knowing or caring that the woman was saddened by his response.
"What a terrible thing to happen to a boy of that age. To run away from home, and have to make a living on his science affinity." Chichi's words were sincere, but very much confused.
"You still don't get it, do you?" the spirit asked her as they continued forward in time, "I didn't show you that for no reason. That boy in there was your son, Gohan!"
"What?!" Chichi responded with a mixture of fear and anger, "How... could... I mean..."
But they were at their next destination already. They had reached a skyscraper, which seemed to be a company of some sort. The sign on top of the building read, "Castle in the Sky, Co."
Within the period of a few seconds, the pair was within the building, at the top floor, where a meeting was being held.
Three men sat in chairs at one side of a long table, cat-like, dog-like and fox-like people were also there, but the focus was on the man standing near one corner of the table with a yardstick in his hand, pointing to a blackboard.
"As you can see" said the man, "This device's applications are virtually limitless. It transforms electric energy into laser and energy fields the placement of which can then be manipulated by remote satellites and ground-based computers. I'm also working on a way to make this mobile. When that is accomplished, just think of the possibilities! Flying men, invulnerable cars, shielded buildings, BREATHING IN OUTER SPACE!!! This is not something, gentlemen, that I plan to sell. If you want a prototype, however, it'll cost you a solid 50 million, not a credit less."
The men at the table discussed this concept with one another, but Chichi couldn't believe her eyes. The man selling his "force field machines" looked more than a little like Goku!
"That's Gohan again." Muttered the spirit, "His 'affinity for science' is far greater than anyone suspected, and he is easily the most ruthless businessman on earth. He always gets the best out of every deal, even if it means cheating someone. This meeting was deliberately held on Christmas so he would meet only those whose first priority was business."
"Dishonest business dealings..." whispered Chichi to herself, "It couldn't be. Not my little Gohan! He couldn't! I have to see something!"
"Yes?"
"Show me the time period... The time when he met Goku and I again."
"If you wish to see you and your family together again, you would do far better to seek out the Ghost of Christmas Past, but I will show you another encounter..."
With these words, the spirit gave another wave of his cloak, and they had reached Goku's house in the wilderness. A grown-up Gohan in a business suit with a small device in his hand approached the house, tearing through the cold wilderness air.
As Gohan stepped through the door to Goku's house, Chichi rushed to meet him, hugging him, and saying hopeful words along the lines of, "I knew he'd come back. Goku, Gohan's come home for Christmas!"
The Gohan did something that made Chichi gasp in horror. He brushed her aside!
"Keep your hands off me." He warned testily, "I'm not your son anymore."
Then, turning to Goku, nearby, he pulled out a sheet of paper, and handed it to his former father.
"For you."
Goku read the paper with terror in his eyes, and closed it up quickly with a low growl. Turning on Gohan, he said in a voice like thunder, "You can't do this to us. This house is ours!"
"Right you are," Responded Gohan sternly, "And you're welcome to move it wherever you please, but I've bought this land you now trespass on, and if you want to keep your house here, you must pay my sum. Not a credit less."
"But we were here first!" insisted Goku desperately.
"It'd be a lot of fun seeing you try to prove that in a court of law." Gohan chuckled, "In the meantime, that eviction notice stands. And incidentally, 'mother.'" He said, turning to Chichi with a snarl, "I didn't 'come home for Christmas.' I chose today because I knew you'd both be here."
"But what about poor Goten?" Goku asked in one last, desperate plea.
"I have separated myself from you." Gohan said coldly, "I no longer care what happens to you or your son. Farewell."
"NO!" Chichi was livid after the vision she had just saw, "He can't be so cold and heartless! He can't be! Doesn't he have any friends at all? Can't they reason with him?"
"Come." Said the spirit, pulling aside his cloak again, and they were in a large, well-decorated office with a great desk in the center and a lone door at one end. In the desk was Gohan, his hair noticeably grayer now.
There was a knock at the door. "Come." Gohan said from his desk at the front of the room. The door opened a crack, and in walked Krillin. Krillin had once been one of Gohan's closest friends, but now it was obvious that even they had drifted quite a bit. Krillin had more wrinkles than normal, but otherwise, Chichi noticed not significant change in him.
"Gohan." Krillin addressed him carefully, "I have some bad news."
"Well," said Gohan quickly, not turning away from his work, "spit it out, man."
"Its Chichi, she... um... well... she's dying."
"So..." said Gohan, "What's the bad news?"
"Gohan!" Krillin couldn't believe what he was hearing, "Are you seriously saying you want your mother to die?!"
"In the first place..." responded Gohan angrily, "She's not my mother. Hasn't been for over 30 years. In the second place, she was emotionally never my mother, and in the third, I happen to hate that woman with all my heart and soul!"
"Wh-what do you mean?"
"I didn't realize it while I was living in the wild," Gohan began, standing, and looking out the window at the back of the room, "but apparently, mothers are supposed to love you, and care for you and think of what's best for you. Chichi never did that for me. Not only that, but I was her slave for almost my entire childhood! I say, HER slave, because in the long run, she was only doing what she did for herself! You can't argue that point, you know it's true. Chichi never saw me as a son who needed individual attention, she saw me as a piece of clay to mould in the image she had always wanted. I made that woman very, VERY sorry, let me tell you that."
Then, Gohan sat down and started working away, but stopped for a second as a new idea swept across him.
"Come to think of it," he said to Krillin, "neither you nor anyone I ever knew was willing to help me escape from Chichi. I remember, because I asked for your help and you wouldn't give it! The others were even worse! Goku, Tien, Yamcha, Chaotzu, Master Roshi, and even Piccolo all tried to turn me in when I asked for their help! You were the only one who never reported me! I sincerely hope you aren't advocating for her now, because that could put a serious dent in our friendship, Krillin."
Krillins face fell as he heard these words spring from Gohan's mouth, and soon he had left the building, humbled and depressed.
"In his time as a powerful businessman," said the spirit to Chichi, who seemed unable to speak, "Gohan made billions of dollars, and made millions of people sad. Not only on Christmas, but on every night of the year. Gohan's wealth and power became a feared name internationally, and he was looked upon as some kind of demon by most of the people in the world! 'How could anyone be so cruel?' they would ask, 'How can a person be so heartless?' Some of them even stumbled onto the right answer."
With this, the spirit leaned down next to Chichi, and whispered in her ear, "It was in his upbringing! He used the lives of everyone on earth, whether they knew it or not, just as his mother had tried to usurp his life!"
By this time, Chichi was on the floor, sobbing and in uncontrollable anguish! She writhed and cried out to be left in peace, and when the spirit said the word "life!" she lost control!
Brandishing her fists like maces of steel, Chichi struck the spirit in the face...
Stave Five: How Things Turned Out.
...And was back in her bedroom with her fist touching a nearby steel bedpost. Goku, who had slept through the arrival of all the spirits, wasn't, it seemed, about to let this bother him, and he merely rolled over in bed, mumbling something about a big machine.
Chichi tried to tell herself that none of the horrible things she had just seen were her fault, but in the end, she had no choice but to conclude that it was indeed her fault for pushing Gohan over the edge. At that moment, as she began to realize what she had done, and was doing, she felt the regret of the past, the joy of the present, and the guilt of the future coalesce into one big statement whose truth could not be denied!
"My goodness. I've been a villain. A monster! A Demon! I can't possibly make up for all the horrible things I've done, but I've got to try! Oh, I've got to try!"
Chichi leapt from her bed and rushed downstairs (it was 6:00 A.M.) to make breakfast before Goku and Gohan got up. In celebration of Christmas Present, she made their very favorite breakfast! Bacon and eggs with some milk and an apple! Soon, Goku was downstairs, and dressed in his Kamesennin outfit, but even he nearly fell over as Chichi, for the first time in many years, grabbed him and kissed him as if there was no tomorrow!
Goku devoured the breakfast, and he and Chichi had a great time exchanging greetings of "Merry Christmas!" but though their morning was joyous, Gohan did not come down.
Goku hadn't needed an explanation for Chichi's pleasant behavior. He hadn't wanted one. You see, Goku is not the kind of guy who seeks out unnecessary knowledge, and his philosophy for this circumstance was "It's works (oh, man does it work!) so don't fix it."
When Chichi didn't see Gohan come downstairs though, she began to worry, and started a search of the house. A million thoughts raced through her head! What if he had already run away? What if he was scared and hiding from her? What if he had flown to the Kame house and left her behind? She needed not have worried, though, for Gohan was up in his study room, trying to work, with no desire to upset Chichi.
Chichi couldn't stand watching him suffer there any longer! She ran up to him, hugged him, said "Merry Christmas, Gohan," and beckoned him downstairs.
Gohan was overcome with visible delight that Chichi had decided to take him to the Kame house for the Christmas party, and everyone at the party was glad to see her (for she was cheerier now, smiled more often, liked having fun and playing games, and liked talking to them).
In the years that followed, Chichi became much more like a true mother to Gohan. She professed to love him on a daily basis, suggested his studies, and praised him for his successes in recreational activities (like saving the world). People could hardly believe that it was the same Chichi who had once been such a blind, forceful grouch, but even when they brought up her past, she didn't mind, for she was taking joy from every aspect of her life now, and she found it almost impossible to be sad or angry.
In time, Gohan (who did NOT run away) came to love his mother more than anyone in the world, and when people referred to her, it was far more often by her generous and kindly qualities than by her former unpleasantness.
The best way, perhaps, to wrap up this story (though we are on such a pleasant note already) is by mentioning that at one Christmas dinner at Goku's house (the dinner was Chichi's treat), Puar the talking cat remembered her former discussion with Master Roshi about likening Chichi to Scrooge, and having seen the change in her as well, decided, on the spur of the moment, to say "God bless us, every one!"
But no one heard her. They were too busy eating.
The End.
For those who are DBZ fans, I've decided to mention that, although this story is incongruent with the rest of the series, it takes place just shortly after the defeat of Garlic Jr. and just before the start of the Android Saga.
P.S.: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the Characters in this story (Bubbles, Gregory, King Kai, Chichi, Gohan, Goku, Krillin, Vegeta, Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Chaotzu, Master Roshi, Oolong, Puar, Yajirobe, Bulmas mother, Bulmas father, Bulma and the ox-king are all the property of whoever makes DBZ {I have no idea who that is}). If I did own them I would be rich and would not be spending my time on fanfics. I also do not own Scrooge, or any of the Ghosts, those who does own them is a mystery to me. Sorry.
-This is a work of fiction and is not meant to offend-
-the collector of data-