Restless Spirit

Chi Chi POV

It was a beautiful morning on Mount Paotz. It was a Sunday, meaning Goten had a day off from his studies and would likely spend the day with his father. Goku slept in knowing he would have all day to spend with his son. I stayed in bed knowing that neither of the two would be getting up soon.

While laying awake in bed, I used the time to admire Goku's peaceful sleep. In so many ways, he never stopped being that little boy I fell in love with so many years ago. Despite his long absences, he still somehow pulled off serving as a pretty good father to both his sons. Though he never taught them the finer side of life (such as table manners), he did instill into them strong lessons of hard work, resilience, and never quitting.

As I thought about this, it occurred to me that whether Goku was a good husband was a much more 'iffy' matter. When he was here, he did always look after me and ten to me-even with all his training and my nagging. Before Raditz came to Earth and now after Buu had been destroyed, he had definitely compromised with me on several things like farming, gardening, cleaning the kitchen, having the boys study. However, the man I have always and will forever love was a restless spirit. That's what makes the good husband part 'iffy.' How can a man be a good mate when he's often gone? He left me to raise two growing boys without any money.

I've tried to shove these things away since his return from being in other world for seven years. Things have been so…perfect. Just as I had imagined as a girl and when I first married Goku. Gohan had since graduated valedictorian of his high school, attended MIT, and married a wonderful (and wealthy) woman in Videl. The boy everyone had pushed so hard in their own ways-from me with his studies, to Piccolo with training, and even Goku making him his Ace in the Hole against Cell. He had managed to side stop all of his youth pressures and come into his own to form a happy life for himself. I even have a little granddaughter now, who possesses much of the same spirit for fighting and adventure as her grandfather. Even Goten has been doing pretty well with his studies, despite not having Gohan's intellect and the same level of pressure from me. When Gohan graduated from MIT, I tearfully told him what a mistake I made in pushing him so hard. It was my greatest fault as a parent. Gohan never really got to be kid. I was always pushing him to study, he had to spent a year training with Piccolo when he was four, had to fight Nappa and Vegeta when he was five, and then had to cross the galaxy to end fighting the Ginyu Force and Frieza. If that weren't enough, I made him study his brains out during the three year period before the cyborgs showed up. Then, he had to take down Cell after his supposed savior of a father had failed. After that, he was forced into being a father figure for his brother because father wasn't around. I broke down in front of him again in private on his wedding day. I felt so bad for never letting him enjoy his childhood. My poor son had to endure so much. Anyway, that's the reason I never pushed Goten like that. I wanted to him to study, sure; but it's part of a mother's job to let her child simply be a child. I learned that too late with Gohan.

Fortunately, my Gohan is very happy now with his wife and daughter, and is a great provider, unlike his father. Also, simply having Goku around makes everyone happy. Even though I bark at him for XYZ matters, I could never stop loving him. Being his mate, and the one who can comfort him and confide in him makes me so happy I feel like my heads in the clouds. However, as I stated, he is a restless spirit. I can't help but feel like this perfection of life will be gone at some point when he decides he needs to pick and leave for whatever reason.