ChiChi stood silently over the many different pamphlets and brochures. She'd separated them into different piles—the 'no way', the 'maybe' and the 'please, please please!' She and Gohan had briefly discussed them though not to the extent that she'd wanted.

In a swift movement, she swept her hand over them all, sending them into the nearby trash can before sitting, rather suddenly in the nearby chair and resting her head onto her left hand. The baby inside her squirmed a little bit and she allowed a half smile at the reminder, resting her other hand on the rounded belly.

The soft pad of feet made her look up and the soft glow of the few lamps they'd left on made Goku's face shine. It would have been romantic in under any other circumstance. As it was, it only served to illuminate his exhaustion.

He flopped down next to her in the empty chair, though still offered her one of his warm, slow smiles. He did not give those very often and usually they were directed at her. Usually, this would have filled her with giddiness but not today.

"Is he asleep?"

Goku nodded. "Out like a light. Can't say I blame him. Korin's little ki exploration would knock anybody out." He added, almost apologetically, "Sorry, I shoulda told you but I thought if we could get to the bottom of things then—"

ChiChi looked down at her fingernails, tapping the table and shook her head, "Don't be sorry, Goku. If I'd have thought we coulda found an answer right then, I dunno if I'd have thought to call you either." She looked up at her husband, eyes damp. "Did...did I really do so much damage to him?"

Goku reached out, took her hands. "I tol' ya the truth, Chi. Yeah...all the pushin' and studyin' and wantin' him to do better...ya just went about it wrong. I know you were tryin' to make his future all bright and make sure he was happy. And Gohan knows it too!"

"Goku, you told me that my own words were weighing him down! A twisted version of ME was attacking him!" She shuddered. While she was grateful for Goku for telling her, it had cut her deep. The concept of her son being afraid...truly afraid...of her like that...

Goku's fingers reached up and gently brushed her hair aside. "And it was also a version of you that protected him, Chi."

She stared at him. "What?"

"When he was makin' his way towards me. It was the you that said you were sorry and that you loved him. That ChiChi came right on in and ooo, that ChiChi wasn't budging!" He meant what he said. "Gohan knows you're tryin' to fix old things you used to do."

She nodded. "I never knew it had grown that bad." She looked at the packets of paper in the trash. "I only wanted to give him the best chance he could have. I thought gettin' an education would do that and havin' the best marks would do that." She squeezed her husband's hands. "I shoulda taken your advice, Goku and just focused on lovin' him."

Goku shook his head. "Chi. You do love him and Gohan knows it. And you're showin' him how much you love him because you're fixin' this. You decidin' to fix this was a big ol' part in helping Gohan come out better. He knows now. And you showing him that it's okay to be wrong and to fix it...YOU helped him do that."

ChiChi felt a bit comforted by that. "Thank you. I'm glad I..." she shook her head. No, she was not going to focus on herself right now. "So...feeling like he has to be perfect? That's what was the root of all this?"

Goku nodded, letting his hands fall flat. "Yeah, seems like it. Now, Gohan knows that he don't have to but I know from talking with that therapy lady that thoughts don't change overnight. But now Gohan knows how to know it when he sees it."

ChiChi nodded. "So...what can we do?"

Goku frowned. "I wanna take him to see the therapy lady. I know she can't deal with the battles and stuff that he's seen but the building his self esteem and working on this idea of having to be perfect. Maybe she can give us some ideas if nothin' else."

ChiChi was agreeable to that. It was unlikely that her son could do a full therapy session—not given their lifestyle—but getting any ideas that they might be able to work with—well, then that's what they would do! "Would he be open to it?"

Goku nodded, "I think so. Might ask me to go with him but that's okay. If it'll help him, I don't got no problem with that."

ChiChi just nodded, still looking at her hands. She knew it did no good to linger but if they wanted Gohan to be honest then didn't that start with them? With her and Goku?

"You know, I was considering lightening up on the studies...maybe letting him follow you and learn if he wanted when you all went to Master Roshi's that day."

Goku eyed her, baffled but he didn't interrupt her.

"I saw how much you wanted to share it with him and even if he was still my anxious little boy, I'd hafta to be blind not to see how he idolized you." A low smile took her face. "He'd come to me when you were out and show me what he'd seen you doing." She bit her lower lip. "I shoulda let you two bond more..."

Goku eyed her, seriousness in his eyes. "ChiChi. What is it?"

She ground her hands into tight fists. "I was gonna tell ya when you came home that you could maybe start showin' him some things. I'd finally tol' myself that she was wrong."

By now, Goku's eyes were tinting light green. "Who? That who was wrong?"

ChiChi met his eyes. She never could resist him when he became this passionate. It was one of the things she loved about him. "Remember when we went lookin' for the Bansho Fan when Papa's castle caught fire? When you were goin' to get snow from Mount Frappe, I stayed with Grandma Hakkake. She tol' me that she was going to tell me how to be a good wife."

Goku blinked. "Ya didn't need anyone to tell you that, Chi!"

"Well, I didn't know what I was gettin' into!" She protested. "I didn't have a Mama to show me. And she was makin' sense—said that if I was a good cook and kept the house clean that it'd make you happy."

"Chi—"

"And she tol' me that if I thought I was gonna be able to still be the same then I was wrong. She said that if I wanted my family to be safe, happy then cookin', cleanin' and studyin' for our kids was what I'd have to do because the world don't respect martial arts anymore."

Goku took her hands again, sat on his knees on the ground, "ChiChi..."

"I thought that...that maybe she was wrong. After all, it'd been four years and nothin' was happening. Maybe I could relax some, huh? Especially now that Gohan wasn't a baby anymore...But then...the day I wanted to...to loosen up, to be more like I used to be—you died and Piccolo took Gohan. And all I could think was—the spirits or the world or whatever makes all these things happen had heard my thoughts. And were punishin' me for not listening."

"Aw, Chi!" Goku shook his head. "It didn't have nothing to do with that."

Tears fell from her eyes. "What was I 'posed to think, Goku? You were gone, I had no idea where our little boy was and then...there was Namek and that damned Freeza..." she ground her teeth. "I hadda blame something! Blame someone! Anyone! There hadda be something I could do to keep it from happenin' again!" She grasped her hair, tightly at the temples, shaking. "You know what it feels like to be helpless? To hafta sit and watch everyone you love rushin' into danger and know that you can't do nothin' to stop it. I couldn't do...anything. So...if Grandma Hakkake was right—I had somethin' I could do to stop it! It was stupid and made no sense but it was...something..." She shook her head. "Guess Gohan ain't the only one that learned to live in a lie."

Goku gently tilted her chin up. "Chi...it wasn't your fault."

The woman sniffed, rubbed her eyes and an odd smile returned to her. "I...I know that now. And I know that Grandma Hakkake can't have been right. Being a good wife and mother means my family loves themselves. My job's to help them do that. And I wasn't doing that. "

"ChiChi, you—"

"Not the best way I could, anyway." She rubbed her face. "But...but now I know. Now you know. Now, Gohan knows. And this little one will know too." She took a breath and that fiery spirit burned in her face. "I made mistakes and I gotta fix them."

Goku swallowed. "ChiChi, why didn't you tell me that she tol' you this stuff? I woulda tol' you that the way you were is the best wife ever."

She laughed, with true emotion. "I'm sure you would have, Goku. If I knew then what I know now..."

Goku softened his look and lay one of his kisses on her lips. "Me too." He grinned at her even though his heart ached. His son and his wife had been fed all these lies and he'd somehow missed it. His job was to protect them and he couldn't help feeling he'd failed at it. "But, we know now."

She nodded, rested her forehead on his. "We do."

They stayed that way for a time, just silently relishing in one another. For ChiChi, it felt like the weight she'd been carrying for a decade was gone. But Goku had walked with her, carrying it with her, unknowingly, all because he loved her.

She cursed Hakkake. Deeply. Passionately. As she had herself several times and how her son had been doing for years.

But this was changing. It all was changing.

"Why don't you talk to Gohan tomorrow? Take a picnic out with him?" Goku's gentle baritone soothed her ear. "I know you both probably need some time together."

She raised a brow. "He'll want you here too."

"Oh, I'll be here later. Maybe I'll catch something yummy for us for lunch." He beamed and stood back up.

"What about the mornin'?"

Setting a dark gaze outside in the direction of Mount Frappe, his voice was cold. "I got some people to talk to."