Chapter 3: Home for good.

Summary: Goku is alive again and home, but has to patch up his marriage. Even he knows a happy wife makes for a happy home. Toward the end of the chapter, Goku sees just what his wife went through twenty years ago through her eyes.

I cracked my eyes open when I noticed an energy very near me, but I remained relaxed. I instinctively and carefully probed this energy and felt no evil in it. I didn't retain the ability to sense energies while my Block was still in place, but when the breakthrough happened, that ability along with all of my others flooded back to me. It had happened just a month ago and I still struggled to remember my training, but probing an energy and sensing energies around me was simple enough.

That energy puzzled me.

It wasn't Gohan's, but I knew the energy from somewhere. I reached out for him and – sure enough – he was at home in his room studying like I asked him to. That energy near me somehow… felt similar to his? I wasn't sure. I lightly brushed the mind of the person.

With that light contact, a flurry of unguarded thoughts and feelings rushed into me.

Not just unguarded… it sort of felt like… whoever that was welcomed the contact.

Love. Regret. Sadness. Even a little nervousness. All of that swirled around thoughts of… me?

It couldn't be.

Could it?

I supposed there was only one way to find out. I stood up and turned around slowly.

I felt my jaw drop and my eyes went wide as my eyes focused on a certain wild-haired man in a familiar orange gi. I was so sure I was dreaming. I blinked and rubbed my eyes, fully expecting him to disappear.

He was still there.

I felt that strange sensation of blood draining out of my face as my heart momentarily stopped beating and my head started spinning. I swayed and thought for a second I was about to faint, but somehow maintained consciousness. His left hand twitched toward me, but I steadied myself.

My voice small, I stuttered the name of the man I thought was dead for good: "G-Goku?"

He brought his hand up in a small wave. "Hi, Chichi!"

"Y-You're… here."

He nodded and his forehead crinkled as his lips quirked up in a small, tender smile. "I'm back!"

My brain chewed on those two simple words for what felt like an eternity while I did nothing but stare at him.

A familiar, intense rage began to bubble up from deep within and I snapped out of my blank, wordless shock. I felt my face contort into one of pure fury, as everything I've been furious with him for over the last two months slammed into me and I lost control.

I ran up to him – he tensed slightly – and grabbed him by the collar of his orange gi and pulled him down so we were eyelevel, my face inches from his. "HOW DARE YOU MAKE GOHAN FIGHT THAT MONSTER! THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU OUT THERE! WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING!? WHILE MAKING GOHAN BEAT THAT AWFUL MONSTER, YOU DIED AND REFUSED TO RETURN EVEN THOUGH YOU COULD. WHY? WHY?"

I slammed a fist into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him because he didn't even try to dodge it.

While he was doubled over, I turned and fled on foot without giving him a chance to tear down my anger as fast as my legs could carry me, which was pretty danged fast since I had my power back. I raced across the land, my bare feet pounding on the grass.

Every stride calmed me a little bit and cleared my head enough that I vaguely wondered what Goku thought of that punch from me that was strong enough that he actually felt it – not to mention that I didn't break my hand – and wondered what he thought seeing me race away at a speed impossible for me to hit the last time he saw me.

Without realizing where I was going, I ended up at the mouth of a cave with lovely crystal formations jutting from the rock deep within and hesitated at the mouth of it before walking into its narrow black maw. I didn't know why my feet led me there. We discovered the cave on a walk together a week before the Cell Games and ended up spending quite a bit of time in it.

I hadn't been there since. It was too painful.

I walked slowly deeper into the cave, making sure to keep my senses sharp for any predators who might be hiding in there – evidence of their presence scattered about the floor. The only thing I heard was the occasional crunch under my feet of the tiny bones of long dead prey, the sound echoing eerily in the empty cave.

I finally reached the heart of the cave, the crystals barely visible in the dim light. I formed a tiny ball of energy in my hand and lifted it up – its light not quite enough to light the crystals as brilliantly as Goku did. I gave it more power and was rewarded with beautiful patterns and tiny rainbows formed by the diffracted light dancing across the rough walls of the cave with each movement of my hand…

"Hey, Chichi! Watch this!" His voice echoes around the ten-foot wide chamber.

I turn to face him and see that boyish grin I know would be plastered on his handsome face.

A small smile touches my lips as his bright yellow aura flares up, and I stare around me. The light he emits diffracts through the crystals and creates beautiful patterns almost like water reflections and casts tiny rainbows on the rough, dark walls of the small chamber.

I pick up a loose crystal from the ground at my feet, hold it up and shift it in my fingers, making small sections of the patterns and tiny rainbows dance across the walls, as some landed on me, making my skin sparkle.

I took that crystal home that night as a souvenir and set it in our memory box – something else I haven't seen since. That box was just something else that was too painful to open.

Why didn't he come back?

I asked myself that question many times. I knew that same question was on Gohan's mind, too. Goku's enemies were gone, but the peace didn't last but hardly a month before I sensed that energy that tore through my Block. We needed him – impending battle or not. Why didn't he see that?

I allowed the small, warm ball of energy hovering inches above my hand to dissipate and I was plunged back into the near pitch-black darkness of the cave's crystal-lined chamber.

I felt my way to a wall, sat down and brought my knees to my chin, as tears sheeted down my cheeks.

He was alive again. I should have been overjoyed, but I was held back. My earlier rage was just to hide the root of the problem: The overwhelming pain I felt when Gohan told me he wasn't coming back and the fact that he dragged my little boy into his battles!

Seeing him out there… he just waved at me like it was no big deal. It was as if he was simply coming home after being out for the day training. He truly didn't understand what he did to me – to all of us – by leaving and reappearing as flippantly as he did.

I sensed a power at the mouth of our cave – a power that had quickly grown very familiar to me. When I sensed him, I remembered thinking I should have masked mine. I wasn't ready to be found. I realized I should have picked a better hiding place from the get go – one that he wasn't familiar with.

Oh, well. Too late to do anything about it now, I thought to myself, resigned.

He lingered at the entrance for quite a while before following me in. The sound of his boots crunching gravel and tiny bones slowly grew louder. A minute later, his footsteps echoed in the chamber. The scraping of loose dirt over hard rock reached my ears from the far side and then silence.

I could feel his eyes boring holes into me, even in the darkness. His eyesight was always very sharp even in instances where humans would be blinded by darkness; he could see enough to get around and I knew he could see me.

I stared pointedly at the ground in front of me. The cave was too dark for me to make out his face at all anyway, and that was okay with me. I still didn't want to look at him.

I kept those feelings bottled up for months and exploded when the reason for my grief and anger finally stood in front of me and then bolted, but not before landing a solid punch in his gut.

I hid them from Gohan because there was no point in making him feel worse. He blamed himself for Goku's death, and I didn't want to add to his burden.

Goku was alive. He was just on the other side of the chamber. I had dreamed of having him back almost every night over the last two months, wanted that – needed that – for so long. He was just feet from me, and was very much alive.

I had calmed down considerably, but that didn't mean I was ready to dive into his arms as if nothing was wrong.

I finally broke the silence – still staring at the ground – my voice soft. "You didn't want to come back. It's been so hard on us and now, you're back. For a battle because somehow you found out about that powerful, evil energy approaching Earth. I really don't know what to think."

I fought to keep my tears under control but failed miserably and angrily wiped them away.

A sigh reached my ears. "Chichi… I stayed away because I thought you, Gohan, and the rest of the world are safer without me."

With the mention of my baby boy's name, I felt myself on the edge of snapping once again, but managed not to. Barely. "You shouldn't have made Gohan fight! He's only eleven years old, Goku!"

"I'm sorry! There was no other option, Chichi! I wasn't strong enough to beat Cell! Only Gohan was."

I felt my eyes go wide – it couldn't be true. "You weren't strong enough?"

"I wasn't. In the Time Chamber while we were training, I couldn't push my power up and reach the next transformation, but Gohan did."

"You can't be serious! Gohan is… stronger than you?"

"Yes! He's a lot stronger than me! On the off chance anything came up, I knew he could save the world."

That anger welled up in me again and before I could stop myself, I snapped with, "That's not a burden an eleven year old should carry!"

Silence.

I sighed. "You're wrong, you know. You staying away won't keep powerful evil from showing up and trying to destroy the planet."

He sighed again and when he spoke, he was so quiet. "I know. I see that, now."

Did he know? I should explain what happened a month after he died – and maybe share a certain other piece of news I discovered. "So much has happened since you've been gone, Goku. I'm… different now and there's–"

"I know, Chichi. I know about everything. That'swhy I came back. I came back to help you and Gohan!" His voice took on that boyish enthusiasm, a tone I was much more accustomed to hearing out of him, as he said, "You're never going to believe who I met in Other World!"

I was confused by the sudden subject change. "What does that have to do with anything?"

I heard a crunch of dirt and something scraped across the ground. "That has everything to do with everything. She's why I'm here right now. Chichi, I met your mother and she told me everything."

I sucked in a breath. "What!? My – My mother?"

I couldn't believe what I heard. He met my mother.

"Yep. I met your mom – well actually, she found me. You look just like her, too. Your voice is almost exactly the same. Your hair is long and straight like hers but yours is darker. You have her eyes. When I first saw her, I thought she was you." He giggled after that last bit.

He fell silent for a short while and I could feel his intense gaze on me once again.

When he started talking, his tone was soft and tender. "Chichi, when I first saw her was when I realized how badly I missed you. I wanted to walk right up to King Kai and ask him to contact you so I could tell you I'm coming back, but I couldn't. At least not right then. When she explained everything to me and told me about this other Saiyan on her way here, I was so frustrated I wouldn't be able to help you because I was dead!"

That tender tone – along with picturing what I was sure would be a matching look in his eyes – almost broke me. I was still angry with him for making Gohan fight that terrible monster, but I realized – if a little slowly – Gohan was about to participate in a battle that had the potential to be every bit as huge.

Goku was back to help us. Not just for the sake of fighting, but to help and protect his growing family.

With Goku back with us, maybe we actually stand a chance.

That was a comforting thought but still wouldn't end my ever-present worry that bubbled to the surface in the quietness of that cave with my newly revived husband – worry that spilled out of my eyes.

I sniffled. "I'm scared, Goku."

There was another scrape of dirt followed by quick footsteps and I felt warm fingers brush my tears away. "We will win, Babe."

I finally did the very thing I've missed so dearly over the last couple of months and dove into his arms, burying myself in his broad, warm chest. He stiffened at first in surprise, but quickly wrapped his warm arms around me and pulled me onto his lap.

I shivered slightly as the cool, damp cave air got to me and he held me tighter, one of his large hands resting gently on my stomach – wordlessly telling me he knew about that other piece of news, too. We cuddled in the cave in comfortable silence for quite a while, neither of us in any hurry to move.

After several minutes, I felt warm lips brush against my ear and heard a soft whisper, his warm breath sending pleasant tingles down my back. "Remember this?"

I felt Goku's body tense for just a second before brilliant, almost painfully bright yellow light exploded outward away from him – the heat from his energy warming me completely. I shielded my eyes with one hand from the intensity of light and blinked several times, urging my eyes to adjust after sitting in pitch-black darkness for so long.

Strong but gentle fingers wrapped around my wrist and insistently tugged my hand away from my face. My eyes finally adjusted and I gazed around at a sight I didn't think I'd get to see ever again.

The diffracted light bouncing through the crystals, casting patterns and little rainbows on the dark, uneven walls of the cave instantly mesmerized me.

I twisted in his arms to stare into his eyes. The tenderness in his gaze made more tears fall.

His tender expression shifted into one of innocent concern – confusing me briefly – as he reached up with a large hand to stroke my cheek. "What's wrong, Chichi? Why are you sad?"

Oh, of course.

I playfully batted at his broad chest from my seat in his lap. "I'm not sad, Goku! I'm happy! You're back and I'm so happy! I missed you so much!"

His eyes lit up, his forehead crinkled, and my insides were a puddle at my feet.

He pulled me close again and slipped a hand behind my head as his face inched closer to mine, his eyes and mine half-lidded then fully closed as our lips connected. My heart fluttered in my chest – like the light, quick beat of a sparrow's wings.

Our kiss was a solid minute of pure bliss and when we pulled apart, we were both slightly breathless and our faces a little bit flushed before we got up and walked out of the cave, hand in hand, but not before I read the one-word promise of later in Goku's eyes.

My senses alerted me to Gohan approaching very, very fast.

He must have sensed his father when he went Super Saiyan. I glanced up at Goku to see his head turned in the direction of our son as he released his hold on his energy and his hair wilted down to its normal, wild shape.

A blue and white blur slammed into Goku and they both went flying several feet before skidding to a stop, leaving a gouge in the grass – and massive grass stains on Gohan's new jeans. Thankfully, Goku had the good sense to drop my hand right before impact so I wasn't pulled down with him.

I looked down at my boys, Gohan's face buried in his father's chest and his shoulders heaving, muffled sobs reaching my ears.

Seeing them together sent a burst of joy through my mended heart. Gohan was saying something but it was too muffled and soft for me to make out but his shoulders shook so I could guess what it was. Goku just rubbed his back and held him close.

After a few minutes, Gohan's shoulders stilled, he pulled away and the two of them stood up. Gohan stared up at his father with the brightest smile I had about ever seen him wear his eyes still moist. He was so very happy. That meant the world to me.

It was the sweetest picture, Gohan hanging off Goku's arm, staring up at him bright eyed and a huge smile plastered on his face and Goku looking down at him with a small, relaxed smile playing at the corners of his lips. It was absolute perfection and I wished I had a camera. Camera or not, I knew I'd never forget that moment as long as I lived.

A massive rumble, almost like the sound of an earthquake seconds before it hits shattered the picture perfect scene in front of me. That noise could only be coming from one place.

The culprit rubbed the back of his neck and laughed, his cheeks tinged pink. I crossed my arms and gave him a look. I rolled my eyes as Gohan laughed.

"Dad! Last one home's a rotten egg!" With that, Gohan blasted off in the sky, the shockwave rustling my clothes.

I sighed exasperatedly. "Gohan!"

At the same time, Goku blasted off after him with a whiny, "No fair! You had a head start!"

Well then.

They were just going to have to wait for their meal. It was going to take me nearly an hour to get home on foot from where I was. I supposed if I sprinted, I could cut that down to a minute probably, thanks to my newly reawakened Saiyan power. The trip would be even faster if I could fly, but I didn't know how to do that yet. Maybe I'd have to get Goku to teach me.

My mind made up, I tensed my legs to take my first stride and my right foot slammed into the soft grass but my left never got the chance because I felt my stomach end up somewhere in the general vicinity of my feet and I shrieked.

I was airborne with two hands clamped around my waist. After a second, he shifted me so I was held tightly against his broad, warm chest.

"SON GOKU!"

He giggled. "Sorry, Honey."

With a playful snarl, he transformed again, and gave himself a massive speed boost and caught up to Gohan. Despite that, Gohan still had him beat and touched down in our front yard just seconds before Goku and me.

Goku's rich chuckle sounded in my ear, sounding nothing but proud. "Well, I guess that makes me the rotten egg."

Gohan laughed.

He carried me inside and set me down in the living room.

My boys were all smiles as they chatted and caught up. Gohan had barely smiled at all the last two months. As he chatted with his daddy, he seemed unable to wipe that grin off his face. I smiled but I excused myself and stepped into the kitchen to set to work on dinner.

I hummed as I busied myself in the kitchen. That was the happiest I'd felt the last couple months, too. I giggled as a very loud rumble echoing throughout the house drowned out even the sounds of the fish Gohan had brought home earlier that morning sizzling in my favorite frying pan, unable to be annoyed with my husband's massive appetite.

A creek of a door caught my attention and I glanced over my shoulder to see Goku wearing a hopeful expression on his face. I knew exactly what he wanted to know.

"Dinner is almost ready, Goku. Just a few more minutes."

His stomach rumbled again in response, and a second later, an equally loud rumble from the living room sounded followed immediately by laughter. Some things really never changed.

I found comfort in that.

The truth was, everything was different. I was different. It was very unsettling and I tried to keep my uneasiness pushed out of my mind. The training Gohan and I started up as soon as we sensed that energy that night a month before helped, but I still had a hard time sleeping at night. I knew Gohan did, too.

Gohan had just beaten Cell and lost his father two months ago. Then Goku came back to us to help us with a battle – another battle Gohan would be dragged into. It was unavoidable, and yet I hated it. The protective momma-bear in me wanted to hole him up to keep him safe, but even I knew I couldn't keep him cooped up forever.

I continued down this anxiety-ridden train of thought as I set the table, complete with the food. I stepped back a moment to admire my handiwork and make sure I wasn't missing anything. It was a very good thing I had not broken the habit of cooking enough to feed Goku.

I poked my head into the sitting room. "Boys! Dinner's ready! Wash up!"

A large orange blur and a smaller blue and white blur right behind him whizzed passed me and came back into focus as they seated themselves at the table. Honestly, didn't they hear the second part at all?

My right eyebrow twitched. "Oh, no you don't, young man! Your father may be back with us, but that does not give you permission to forget your manners. You will go wash up before you get one bite."

Gohan cringed. "Yes, Mom."

He got up and dashed upstairs, his super speed footsteps sounding like they were pounding holes into our floor as we heard them over our heads.

Goku cautiously walked up to me wearing a hopeful expression, with his hands clasped in front of his chest. "Can I have a pass? I was just wished back."

Those eyes.

Dang it.

I had no chance.

I silently cursed those puppy-dog eyes of his. "Oh, fine. You can have a pass. Heaven help you if you so much as touch the food before we are all seated."

His face lit up, he pecked me on the cheek, and dashed back to his seat as Gohan returned moments later.

They were polite enough to wait for me to be seated, but that was it. The moment I reached for the serving spoon of the noodle dish in front of me, all bets were off and their cavemen tendencies reared their ugly heads, as food flew in all directions.

They polished plate after plate off like nothing in the world was wrong. They ate like they always ate: very quickly and very messily. They ate like there wasn't a thing to worry about. They happily shoveled food down just like they did the night before the Cell Games.

Goku was ever the optimist but I knew even he got nervous. He was careful not to let anyone see, but I could see through his smile when he hid it. During our meal, he was relaxed as ever, as was Gohan.

Weren't they worried about the battle?

"Chichi?"

My head snapped up and I glanced back and forth between two very concerned pairs of eyes.

I was confused for a moment – until I glanced at my untouched plate of food. Oh. I had forgotten to eat I was so wrapped up in my worries.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

I gave him a reassuring smile. "Just fine, Sweetie. Just thinking is all."

To drive the point home, I picked up my fork and knife and dug into my somewhat cold food.

Goku pushed his umpteenth empty plate away from him and rubbed his stomach. "I'm stuffed! That was awesome! So, what're you thinking about, Chichi?"

"Just… how different everything is. I'm different. I'm still me, but I can do some of what you two can do now. After living as a human for most of my life thanks to the Block, it's… a little overwhelming. Things went from being completely normal to… well… crazy in the middle of dinner a month ago. Even though it's been a month since it all came back, I'm still having trouble adjusting."

Goku gave me a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Chichi. Gohan and I will help you. Say, how did that happen, anyway?"

"Huh? Oh. How did my powers come back to me?"

He nodded.

"Can I tell him about it, Mom?"

I glanced at Gohan. "Sure, Gohan."

His eyebrows knitted together. "Well, a month ago right after we sat down to dinner, I sensed a weird energy. It was huge and very evil. It felt far away, like it was still in space. Pretty much the same second I sensed it, I glanced at Mom and she was… frozen. It was weird. Her chopsticks were frozen in her hand halfway to her mouth and she was shaking really hard. She looked far away, like she wasn't in the room with me and completely terrified. It was sort of scary.

"I reached out to touch her and when I did, I saw what ended up being snippets of a memory from her childhood. Bits and pieces of intense images and feelings that I had no idea how to make sense of flooded into my head – I didn't even know it was a memory at first. She dropped her chopsticks and ran to her room, but the look she gave me before she turned and ran… Her face was pale. After a couple of minutes, I followed her into her room where she told me what she is and explained what happened and why. She also… showed me that memory."

The whole time during Gohan's story, Goku was staring at me, his eyebrows pulled together while he processed what Gohan said.

His expression shifted to one of confusion as he looked at his son. "You said your mother showed you a memory, Gohan?"

"Yeah. Mom put her hands on my temples and closed her eyes. I closed mine, too and when I did, it was like I was in her head. It was strange. I saw – through her eyes – something that happened when she was very small. My heart was pounding when it was over. It was as if I was experiencing it."

Goku turned to me, slightly wide-eyed. "I had no idea that was possible! Can you show that to me, Chichi?"

I sighed. "Sure, Goku, but not right now. Later tonight."

I didn't want to relive that right then. When I first sensed that power, it was like I experienced that night all over again. Showing that memory to Gohan forced me to relive it a second time and I wasn't anxious to do it a third, but I knew Goku would need to see it.

"Okay."

Our dinner finished, Gohan stood up to help me clean off the table and dishes.

I smiled at my sweet boy. "Don't worry about it, Gohan. Are you done with your schoolwork for the day?"

He grimaced.

I cocked an eyebrow. "Then go get your work done."

"Yes, Mom."

He disappeared down the hall and I heard his door shut. Training or not, I wouldn't let him slack off on his studies.

I started working on the dishes and – surprisingly – Goku helped. I scrubbed while he rinsed and dried. He helped me put away the dishes and – by the time we were done – there were only a few casualties.

I gave him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Honey."

His eyes lit up and he gave me his typical cheesy grin that I loved so much and missed dearly in the two months he was gone. From what Gohan explained to me when he returned from fighting Cell, it seemed I wasn't going to see that smile for a very long time. Yet, Goku was in our kitchen, smiling at me.

I returned his smile with one equally as bright. In addition to making my knees go weak, when he smiled at me like that, he always pulled one out of me, no matter what was happening.

I turned around after switching off the kitchen lights to head upstairs to our bedroom and heard his quiet footsteps right behind me.

We stepped into our bedroom and shut the door behind us. I heard a rustle of clothes behind me, and turned to see him pulling his clothes off and throwing them on the floor. I rolled my eyes. Some things definitely never changed. I decided to get after him about that the next day. I was too busy loving the fact he was back with us again to be too mad at him for that.

I undressed myself – much more neatly, I might add – and changed into one of my usual nightgowns and I let my hair down like I always did at night.

When I slid under the sheets, Goku was already waiting for me. He watched me with a hopeful expression on his face.

I cocked an eyebrow at him.

Then it clicked. I remembered I told him "later tonight".

It was later. I sighed. "You're waiting for me to show you that memory, aren't you?"

His hopeful expression turned into an eager grin – there was that endearingly boyish enthusiasm. "Yeah! I want to see how this works! Your mother mentioned these rare abilities when she trained me, but she didn't mention showing someone else one of your own memories."

I smiled despite the seriousness of what I was about to show him. "Okay. I'll show you."

I shifted closer to him and placed my fingers first on his cheeks for a moment, then brought them up to his temples and let the memory of that horrible night flow as our eyes drifted closed…

I joyfully run through a field of wildflowers as high as my waist, their wonderful aroma wafting through the air. Mom and Dad – sitting on a blanket nearby – wave me over.

BOOM. My ears pick up disembodied shouts and screams. I look at my parents, still sitting on the blanket in the meadow, waving at me and smiling as if nothing is wrong.

BOOM. My dream dissolves as something startles me awake.

Must have just been a nightmare, I think to myself. I leave my room and set off for my parent's room down the corridor, needing a hug.

BOOM. The whole castle shakes, my ears catching more screams and shouts. This isn't a dream, I realize.

Then I sense them. Two huge, evil powers. Very close by. Dread seizes my heart.

I run as fast as I can, my heart pounding. Absolute terror, my mind racing, unable to form a coherent thought, panic pushing me forward.

BOOM. I lose my balance from the quaking and fall hard, skidding to a stop, smacking my head on sculptures toppled by the shaking. Intense pain explodes in my head.

The whole corridor is suddenly plunged into pitch-black darkness. I can't see.

A blinding flash followed by another bang, this one louder and closer than the others. My confused mind realizes these bangs are explosions causing the castle to quake.

I cry out, "Mommy? Daddy?"

Pillars and beams collapse all around me, and I try to find shelter in the chaos and rubble.

I close my eyes and curl into a ball, my ears covered, crying, and shaking uncontrollably, the whole time the two huge powers I sense oppressively hanging over me. I almost can't breathe from the weight of my own dread.

Without warning, I feel myself get scooped up in giant, familiar arms.

"D-Daddy?" I squeak.

I slowly uncurl from my tight ball and bury my face into my Daddy's big chest.

Relief.

I feel a gentle, soothing rub on my back and turn around in my father's arms to see my mother smiling at me, softly illuminated by a single candle in her hand. I feel safe again. Secure. My parents are with me now. Everything will be ok.

A blinding flash and BANG. I feel my father jolted by the shockwave and he holds me tighter. The candle goes out, and we are plunged back into darkness.

I hear my mom shout, "GET HER OUT OF HERE! RIGHT NOW!"

I can't see her, but I feel her running away from us – her voice still ringing in my head.

"MOMMY! NO!" I scream.

I feel my father hesitate. "Don't leave Mommy!" I plead to him. He holds me tighter, his huge hands protectively covering my head and the rest of my body. I feel him turn around and run, as fast as he can, away from the two huge, evil powers, away from my Mommy.

I hear a long scream of pain from a familiar voice, and feel the BANG of the largest explosion yet, causing my Daddy to stumble but he presses forward. An unfamiliar pain clenches my heart, and I realize I'm crying. I bury myself deeper into my Daddy's huge chest and he holds me tighter. He knows, but still he presses on. I can't feel her anymore. I know deep in my heart she's gone, a void in my heart already forming. Overwhelmed, I feel myself fading… Fight it… Too tired… Head hurts… Blackness swallows me and I surrender to it…

My eyes snapped open and I glanced around wildly, panic-stricken. My heart was in my throat, pounding painfully hard. It was as if I was waking up from an especially terrifying, vivid nightmare – except that one actually happened.

Instinctively, I quickly expanded my senses, but felt no one but my wife and my son close by. Much farther away, I sensed that evil energy.

That energy matched one of the powers from Chichi's memory.

I felt a soft touch on my shoulder and twitched, startled, but quickly calmed down. My heart dropped back into a normal rhythm and found its way back into my chest.

I brought my gaze up to stare into Chichi's tearful eyes, but I couldn't make my voice work so I grabbed her hand and pulled her close, as a sudden surge of protectiveness swept through me. With our close contact, I felt the tiny energy of our baby and placed a hand on her still flat stomach.

That surge of protectiveness brought steely resolve with it – quickly beating down the terror of what I had just seen – and I swore to her right then and there that I would protect her and our children. "We will not lose."

I felt her nod slowly against me.

I tipped her chin up with a finger and brought my lips to hers. Our kiss quickly deepened as our hands wondered over each other's bodies. It wasn't long before the little bit of clothing we wore to bed was scattered about our room and we were lost to each other.