CHAPTER 2: Ripples

"But mother, why can't I go train with father and Piccolo?" Gohan asked in a disappointed tone. When he had learned his friend's future fate and the fact that he had been the sole survivor of the initial Android attack, he had decided he wanted to train to become stronger so as he could protect them or at least try to make a difference.

"Because, if you take any more time away from your studies you won't be able to get into a good school." Chi-Chi exclaimed as she crossed her arms and stomped her foot. Her true reasons of course ran far deeper than that. She knew Gohan would sneak out regardless to go out and train so he could help his father and friends, she just didn't want her little boy in danger or hurt like any other mother.

"But mom, if I don't help…" Gohan tried to protest before he was interrupted.

"Gohan! I said no, it's not going to happen. Now go up to your room and do your homework." She said firmly as she gazed firmly at the two causing Goku to nervously scratch his head.

"Yes mother." Gohan sighed softly knowing he had best listen to his mother lest he anger her any more than she already was.

"But Chi-Chi, we need him to help prepare for the androids." Goku urged as he glanced at Gohan's retreating form.

"No! I've made my mind up about this Goku! It's not happening! He's already spent too much time away from his studies with his trip to Namek." Chi-Chi said with a tone of finality.

"Chi-Chi can't we make a deal? He can study at night and during our breaks or even during..."

"No!" Chi-Chi yelled as she thrust her hands to her sides and stomped her foot once more before she turned and walked into the kitchen and began doing the dishes. She needed to get away from her husband for the moment and clear her mind. She knew if he pressed her any more than he had she knew she would either give in or say some things she knew she would later regret. She let out a frustrated sigh as she looked out the window.

"Why can't things just be peaceful for once and let me have time with my family? Is that too much to ask?" she mumbled quietly as a tear made its way down her cheek at the unfairness of it all. Every time Goku was finally home and safe he was forced to prepare for a new threat. Why couldn't they just be left in peace?

The Earth raised Saiyan peeked around the corner at Chi-Chi as she scrubbed a clean dish almost robotically. He wanted to go in and comfort her and apologize but he didn't know if it would only make things worse or not.

"I'm sorry I made you angry Chi. I just felt that Gohan would be a big help. He has so much power inside him." He said proudly causing Chi-Chi to stop scrubbing the plate for a second before she put it away and started on another plate.

"But you're right. Maybe it's best for Gohan to focus on his studies. This is my fight and I have to do what I can to stop these androids." He said as he wrapped his arms around his wife in a light embrace before he let go.

"I'll be back for dinner." He said with a smile and made for the door.

"I just want you and Gohan to be safe. You're always fighting to save the world or the universe. I...I just don't know what I would do if I lost him Goku. I already lost you once and it was horrible. It's something I never want to go through again and... and it hurt so much. I know we have the dragon balls, but what if something happened to Piccolo or Kami? He could be gone for good, you could be gone for good. I just don't think I could handle that. That boy from the future said he was killed and I know you're working to prevent all of that but it still hurt knowing that our baby boy fought so hard only to be killed. I don't know if I could handle losing both of you like that." she admitted as she continued to wash her dishes not daring to turn to face him lest she break down and say yes to letting Gohan train with his father. She knew they would need all the strength they could get but she knew how those battles could get and she didn't want her baby boy to be in the center of it.

"I know Chi. I know. But we can win. We know they are coming this time and we're going to stop them." He said softly as he left the house and set out to meet Piccolo to begin training for the arrival for the androids.

"Where's Gohan?" Piccolo asked as he saw that only Goku had shown up.

"Chi-Chi won't let him train and wants him to focus on his studies." Goku replied scratching the back of his head. Though, he now understood why she had always been so adamant about Gohan and his studies.

Piccolo let out a sigh figuring that this would happen, "I guess there are some battles even Goku can't win" he thought to himself with some slight amusement and disappointment. The boy was a genius in both academics and fighting despite the boy's dislike of the former. With a sigh, Piccolo cleared his head before he launched a ki attack at Goku which was blocked thus initiating their training session.

Meanwhile back at 439 East District, Gohan had begun his studies as he had been told. Or at least he attempted to do so. He found himself doodling on his homework instead of doing the problems he was supposed to be working on.

"I really want to help father and Mr. Piccolo..." Gohan sighed as he continued to doodle on his homework.

'I can't just sit here and do nothing when I know that the androids will arrive and wipe out everything!' Gohan set down his pencil and glanced to his window then to the door. He could sense his mom still in the kitchen and she would probably be there for most of the day. So, with some hesitation he snuck out his window and began to fly off to where he could sense his dad and Piccolo training.

Half an hour later Chi-Chi knocked on Gohan's door "Gohan. I'm coming in, I brought you your favorite orange soda since you've been working so hard on your..." she trailed off as she saw the room was empty and despite her position on the situation, couldn't decide if she should feel angry or happy that her son was willing to put himself in danger to save the world. Instead she let out a frustrate sigh as she set his glass of soda on the desk. Her eyes caught the drawing of Piccolo, Goku and Gohan camping out with a fish being cooked over a fire in the woods and smiled softly. Her son truly was such a talented boy. There wasn't a single thing he couldn't do if he put his mind to it. It was all the more reasons she didn't want to see her little boy hurt. That and she was very protective of her boy.

"Well if all else fails, he could be an artist..." she mused as she grabbed the paper and took it with her as she left the room so she could frame it.

"I feel a little bad just leaving like that" Gohan said feeling slightly guilty as he continued to fly in the direction of Goku and Piccolo. He stopped halfway as he sensed the two power down slightly and debated if he should go back or not but decided he had already left and his mother would no doubt have already found that he was missing by now. So with that he sped off towards his dad and Piccolo who looked as if they were expecting him.

"Hey kid." Piccolo said with a nod. He couldn't help the slight smirk that tugged at his lips as he had figured Gohan might sneak out or at least hoped he would. Though he knew Goku and the kid would probably get an earful when the two got home.

"Hey Gohan, what are you doing here? Did your mom say it was ok for you to train with us?" Goku asked with a cheerful smile. While he may have been a bit dense he knew Gohan had most likely snuck out but he didn't mind as it meant he could spend some time with his son for the day. He would try to talk to Chi Chi again later to see if he could work out something... right after he let her vent her anger out on him.

Gohan smiled bashfully as he scratched his head with a nervous chuckle. "Actually I...kind of snuck out." he muttered the last part not knowing if his dad would scold him, send him back or both.

"Oh. Well then we better make the most of it then!" The earth raised Saiyan said with a cheerful smile.

"Chi Chi will probably be pretty angry when we get back so let's have some fun while we can!" he added as he got into his stance and charged at Gohan making the boy go on the defensive only to get kicked into a nearby hill as Piccolo launched a roundhouse kick to the side of his head.

"Always keep on guard, Gohan!" The Namekian yelled out as he rushed at the half Saiyan with his fist cocked back only to abruptly flight up revealing Goku who aimed a kick to the boys stomach but Gohan rolled out of the way and fired several ki blasts at the pair only for them to be deflected. Gohan took advantage of the distraction and appeared behind Goku and launched a punch but older Saiyan caught it over his shoulder and threw his son at Piccolo. Thinking quickly, Gohan righted himself and fired a Masenko at his mentor and flew up just to be knocked back down by his father.

Piccolo had blocked the blast with a cross block and fired a ki blast at Goku and teamed up with Gohan and proceed to launch a barrage of punches at Goku only for the man to either block or parry each one. Goku sensed Gohan behind him and managed to block the boy's kick only to take a hit to the stomach from Piccolo allowing Gohan to kick the Saiyan down towards the ground. Goku managed to recover in time to see Piccolo launch a barrage of ki blasts at his son and resumed the fight as he launched his own flurry of blasts at Piccolo only for the Namekian to vanish and reappear behind him.

Goku managed to turn around in time to block the punch and the two began to exchange blows when Gohan appeared behind his mentor and made to punch him and managed to get a hit in before the man let loose an explosive wave knocking the two Saiyans away.

It was several hours later as the sun sat just above the horizon that they stopped. Gohan was the most roughed up as he had the least amount of experience but he had a massive smile on his face none the less. They made their way back to the house with Piccolo following a short ways behind them. They arrived home to see Chi Chi waiting for them outside the door. Her hands on her hips, one occupied with a spatula and she eyed Gohan as they landed but didn't say anything as she turned to Goku. She wanted to yell and scream at them but at the sight of that large smile on her husband and son's face melted her heart but not enough to let them get off scot free. "Dinner is ready. But a certain young man will only be getting half portions." She said as she glanced to Gohan whose stomach growled in protest but didn't say anything. He knew he was going to be punished and would accept it like a man or as Vegeta would say a true Saiyan.

Dinner had been the happiest Chi Chi could remember. She had missed family dinners like this as she watched Goku and Gohan talk with mouths full. Though Piccolo wasn't technically family, the Namekian had been there for Gohan when Goku couldn't and for that Chi Chi was grateful. Though, she still couldn't help the slight distrust of him due to what she had witnessed him do to Goku during the 23 world martial arts tournament. She knew his time with Gohan was the cause for the alien's change of heart and would die for the boy... did die for him.

After dinner and after Gohan had gone to bed, Goku decided to ask Chi Chi one more time if Gohan could train with them. "Hey Chi." He said quietly as he sat at the table while Chi Chi did the dishes.

"Hmm?" she hummed idly.

"I know you said you wanted Gohan to focus on his studies... but I was hoping that you might change your mind about him training." Goku quickly threw up his hands signaling he had more to say. "But he won't fight the androids with us. Deal?" Goku asked with a hopeful voice. "I want to spend time with him but I can't with this new threat when I'm going to be training."

Chi Chi gripped her drying towel tightly with a stern face. She wanted to yell no that he could not but didn't; "Only if you promise me, he won't fight." She said firmly.

Goku nodded happily with a large toothy grin on his face. "Thanks Chi Chi! I promise." he said loudly as he hugged his wife only to be lightly scolded.

"Gohan needs his sleep." The Ox Princess said with a glare making Goku chuckle nervously before he swooped her causing her to squeal in surprise up and took her to the bedroom to go to bed. After all it had been too long since he had spent alone time with his wife.

A/N: So yeah I didn't forget about this fic but since my DGM fic wont the poll for which fic my readers wanted me to focus on. That means don't expect to see chapter 3 any time soon or well maybe. Chapter 3 is technically done much like this chapter has been for some time. I just didn't upload it because I was focused on my DGM fic... so technically I DID forget about this fic kinda but not like that. I merely forgot I had this chapter done since I uploaded chapter 1 of the reboot. Whoops.

Now some of you may notice that this chapter is very similar to the original. That is intentional. I altered Chi Chi's interactions a great deal however as you may notice. Compare this chapter to the original and you should be able to see the difference easily. Prior, I had written her to follow the typical fanfiction way she is often portrayed as and allowed my own dislike of her character cloud my writing. Here I tried to show her in a different light that didn't make her seem like she was some study nazi who was impeding Gohan's training.