"Mom, are you okay?"

ChiChi laughed, lightly and despite everything, she really felt it. In spite of everything, she truly felt it. Her son, despite dealing with so much in his life, still cared enough to ask about her well being. Knowing what kind of form her words had taken on for him, it touched her heart all the more.

"I'm fine, sweetie. I'm glad we get this time together." She carried the rolled up blanket and her son had the baskets layered on his shoulders. It reminded her of how Goku would carry things and her smile grew all the more because of it. She used to keep such things to herself, felt that it would turn Gohan's head the wrong way—that he wouldn't strive to be better. But with everything Goku told her...was it really so bad if her son wanted to make a living off the land? Or as a martial artist? What Grandma Hakkake had told her wasn't true. And even if it was...their family wasn't like other families.

And she was coming to terms with the fact that such a thing was not only okay but something to be celebrated. In all the world, no one else was like her Goku or her Gohan. Her smile grew at such a prospect. Too much time spent fantasizing over what they weren't that she nearly missed what they were.

She was lucky to have them.

"Gohan, I'm so proud of you."

The boy turned, stared at her. There was utter shock in his eyes and that cut her heart. Had she truly been so selective with her praise? She'd never bothered to think about it. Had taken too much to heart that she shouldn't have.

Well, no more of that!

"I know I haven't been good about telling you." She went in before he could answer. "I've been trying to do better but you need to know that I am proud of you. Not just because of school or things like that. You're strong Gohan, in so many ways. You remind me so much of your father."

Oh, those bright eyes all but outshone the sun. "Really, you think so Mom?"

Walking a bit faster to catch up with him, she nodded. "I've always seen it. I should have told you before how proud I am at what you've done. Cause I have been." She sighed and eyed him. "Remember when I said that I had some false ideas in my head that I was trying to get rid of? It's all from that and I'm so sorry, Gohan."

The boy considered this. "Dad tol' you about what happened at Korin's." It was a statement, not a question.

ChiChi nodded as they reached their destination—that old apple tree. Spreading out the blanket, one she had patched up herself, ChiChi set herself down though slower than normal and Gohan flopped down beside her.

"I'm so sorry, sweetie. I never meant for anything but you having the best chance you could have. To do better than me and your father could." She reached out, stroked his hair. "I believed some old wives' tale about what I should do, how I should act, how a family should look."

Gohan eyed her. "You said you learned to cook from an old woman in the woods, can't remember her name though."

ChiChi smiled. "You've such a good memory. I can't have told you about that too much."

"You didn't but I always liked hearing it. 'Bout you and Daddy going to get the Bansho Fan to save Grandpa and his castle."

ChiChi huffed a bit but with a giggle "And my wedding dress."

Gohan grinned. "Yep. Daddy said that was real important to you."

She nodded, "It was. Lost my own mother before I could remember her so it was all I had of her." She leaned back against the tree. "Maybe that was why I thought I had to take Grandma Hakkake at her word. I didn't have a mother so..." she shook her head. "Don't matter much now. No matter why I did it, I did it."

She shifted, eyed her son. "I needa change that. You and Goku are my family. We're not like anybody else and that's okay." She felt odd saying it but she knew more than ever that this was what she needed to do. Her family was the best thing that ever happened to her and it was time they knew that! She gently laid her hands on Gohan's cheeks. "Do that Super whatever your father taught you."

Gohan eyed her. "You sure?"

She nodded. "Yes. I've always just shouted about it and that's not fair." She took a breath. "Lemme see it with my mind not all muddled and without my mind already made up."

Gohan paused, a moment more and truthfully, ChiChi couldn't blame him. After all, how many other times had she wept or screamed. She'd never stopped to consider what it meant. Okay, maybe others might think it was representative of something else...rebellion or whatever but she knew her Gohan better than that!

"Go on. You and your dad worked so hard for it." And all I could think about was you breaking dishes...

There was a slight further delay but then Gohan closed his eyes, focused and as he reopened them, she saw those dark irises glitter and sparkle before a cool blueness rushed in, spreading like a wave to overtake the black until a color unlike anything ChiChi laid eyes on before gazed back at her. There was power, intensity, battle hardened readiness but she also saw her little boy that rushed to protect the smallest animal and now held the ability to do it.

Then there was the hair. It was subtle at first then they rose into peaked spikes and that golden color started at the base, then swirled up and over and through, dotting each hair until it shone like the sun. It reminded her of a painting, subtle but swift and the resulting light warmed her face.

"Did you make that more thematic for me?" She raised a brow as her son's cheeks turned red.

"Maybe a little?" He offered. "Daddy and I experimented a lot in the Room of Spirit and Time. Once I learned to go Super Saiyan, I wanted to see what else I could do with it."

Exploration, curiosity, ingenuity. All things that she'd always admired in her son but never tried to see outside of books. "Well, color me impressed, Gohan." Her eyes were soft. "I bet there's a lot you can do that would just blow me away."

Gohan eyed her and took a bite of the many array of foods spread before him. "But neither Daddy or I can cook. You know what it's like eating Daddy's cooking for a year?"

Despite herself, ChiChi laughed. "Oh, my poor boy. Your father is many things and given a campfire he can do miracles but the kitchen is not his forte."

Gohan smiled. "Maybe you can reach me that."

ChiChi nodded with a smile of her own. She'd seen her son's lack of understanding in the kitchen. But that didn't mean he couldn't try and that didn't mean that she would not love to teach him. "Let's say we start tonight with dinner, hmm? You can help me."

Beaming at her, Gohan shoved another spoonful of food into his mouth and the two of them spent some time simply enjoying the fresh fruits, meats and breads that ChiChi had brought.

After a few moments, she eyed her son. "You know, Gohan, looks like I forgot something."

He paused, noodles half to his mouth. "Huh? Forgot what, Mom?"

She gestured to their spread. "Rice, noodles, vegetables...no fish. It's a crime to have all this and no fish!" She laid back again, hand on her stomach. "Now who do I know that could fix THAT?"

Catching on right away, Gohan leapt to his feet. "Lake's not far Mom! I'll bring back plenty of fish!" All energy, he rose to the air. "You want the big tuna?"

She smiled, glad more than anything to see such happiness and pride on his face. She knew all too well that there would be times it would fade and they'd need to fix that. But this was a start. He had many skills. It was high time she praised them! "You're the wilderness expert. You pick."

Taking off like a shot, Gohan called, "Be back soon, Mom!"

As he disappeared and she heard the telltale sound of splashing water, she took a deep inhale. There was a niceness to this that she'd not felt in a long time. No pressure to be what a family should be but rather to just...be.

To be her. To be Gohan. To be Goku. And whatever this little boy in her belly would be. Yes, she could still feel the draw to be what the stories, what people, what society said they should be but she found, focusing on how happy Gohan looked made it all the easier to push that voice aside.

What of her and Goku then? Oh. Her life had been lovely in their times of peace but now, she had time to ponder—all those times that she had been full of frustration and rage. So sure that she was right and not wanting to hear anything different.

When they'd first gotten married and they'd come to Mount Paouz—Goku had built up the tiny house by hand. Much like he had now. She remembered their early days. When she'd first found out she was pregnant, they'd both been thrilled and she remembered taking off with Goku on Nimbus, seeking out the Dragon balls. Their goal has been the four star ball, an heirloom to give to Gohan.

It wouldn't be long before they could seek them out again. Gohan deserved to have his heirloom back.

And perhaps they could give another to this child. Much as the dragon balls caused commotion and mayhem, they had also brought Goku into her life. He was so honest, so vibrant, so full of life.

When had she turned a blind eye to it?

Was she too old to find herself again? To find the self she had been before? She was a cook and a mother and a wife but was she still her? The her that seemed so distant yet as if she was calling to her?

"Mom! Mom!"

She looked up, a wide smile to her face as Gohan reappeared, dragging two large fish with him. They flopped on the ground a bit until he slammed his fist sharply into one, making it go still.

Goku had done that on their voyage around the world, so happy that he could cook for her for once. The grin he carried then was mirrored in her son now.

"I can fix them up, Mom. If you don't mind them roasted."

Warmth in her voice, she handed him a knife. "That's my favorite way."

She meant that too. Much as she had learned how to boil, fry, fillet and dozens of other ways to prepare a fish, nothing compared to Goku or Gohan making it for her. Cooking, she'd found, was as much about the process as the end result. She found herself all smiles as her son fussed about, setting the fish on large spits and set the timbre and kindling ablaze for a small fire.

"Gohan?" She asked as he reached a pause.

He turned, glanced at her, "Yeah, Mom?"

"It...it makes me so happy to see you so happy. To see you just being you." She stood and walked over to him, held him close. "I know there was so much we couldn't control but I could have controlled me—"

"Mom." Gohan interrupted her. "I know you did what you thought was best. You and Daddy always do. You made mistakes and you're fixing them. I won't say it doesn't still hurt and that I won't needs fix some things I used to believe but..." he paused, willingly considered a moment, "But I forgive you."

ChiChi wept, tears falling like rain and she buried her face in his hair. Maybe the baby was making her more emotional but to hear that after all the damage..."You put me to shame, Gohan."

"Shouldn't." Gohan argued. "You had all mixed up thoughts too. You're gonna struggle to fix them too but we'll do it together, I know it! You, me, Daddy...we can do it."

She hugged him tighter. "We can. We will." She pulled away. "I lost myself a long time ago I think. When we had those moments of peace...that ol' ChiChi that made a pledge to your father—she came out, a bit. She's still there."

Gohan grinned, "Course she is, Mom. In that ki based place...it was layers. Layers and layers of memory and thought and feelings. But the real me is still there. Still here." He put a hand to his chest. "So I just needa urge him out. I...it's scary. I mean, I'm excited. I want to...when I said...when I said...I don't have to be perfect...it was like seeing myself for the first time. Scary but...amazing." He shook his head. "You and Daddy'll help me and me and Daddy will help you."

ChiChi nuzzled him a bit until he squirmed to get away. "Thank you, Gohan. We will. We're a tough bunch. I know we will. Just wish I knew where to start sometimes."

Gohan eyed her, considered his answer. "Well, what were you like when you and Daddy got married?"

"What was I like?" What a question. It brought back so many memories. "Naive. But happy. So ready to just take on the world and see what it had to offer. Not sure of what I wanted or what we wanted but wanting to figure it out together. Explore. Be wild." She paused.

Gohan grinned, eyes wide no doubt picturing as best he could such a figure. He cut off large chunks of the fish, passing it to her as he sat down with a plate of his own. Swallowing, he asked, "Be wild?"

ChiChi took a bite, savored the taste before slipping amid her memories. She'd given up those ways, thought she had to. Thought it had to be that way. Had bound her hair and hardened her heart and readied herself to be the best she could be. The best wife, the best mother. Nothing but the best—

She stopped, mid ponder. Her hand shook a bit, trembled and shoveled more into her mouth to try and stay the thought. But it would not leave. It echoed, thundered at her, as loud and relentless as the roar of the beasts that plowed through Mount Paouz.

To keep her family happy and safe, she had to be the best wife. The best mother. Nothing but the best.

Nothing but the best.

And what did that sound like?

Perfect or nothing.

An odd feeling rushed through her. Not rage, not anger per say but a sense of importance. A sense of determination and absoluteness. She set her plate down and stood, looking down at her son.

"We explored. We traveled around the world, Goku showed me all over the mountain. He showed me where the secret spots were, introduced me to the animals that knew him inside out. I showed him where I grew up. We went up and up north, as far as we could manage and half froze to death. We found the dragon balls, sought out the four star, the three and six star." She spun on her heel. "We -lived.-" Tears ran as she felt that joy, that sense of freedom, of feeling like nothing was impossible because it was her and Goku. Whatever the world wanted didn't matter. "Kami offered his position to Goku, offered to make us God and Goddess."

Gohan's eyes were alive and he stood, pushing their plates together. "No! He did?!"

"He did. But Goku said no. Said trainin' there had been boring enough. Said his home was here." She smiled, eyes all aglow. "And he was right."

Hovering upward, Gohan reached over and hugged her tight. "Daddy's always been smarter than people think. I think he made the right call."

"He sure did."

Gohan looked up at her. "You said you wanted to capture that feeling again, Mom. Find yourself again." He cupped his mouth. "Nimbus!"

After a moment, the loyal yellow cloud appeared and Gohan flopped onto it. Patting the space next to him, he said, "Daddy'll find us real easy when he's ready. But maybe we needa go find you again, Mom. You and Daddy went north. How 'bout we go South?"

ChiChi stood there, silent a moment, hands on her stomach.

Gohan moved to his knees. "I'll protect you, Mom. I...nothing will hurt you or little...brother." That was said with some hesitation. But then, as if reminding himself, Gohan sat up. "I promise." That was said with more assurance. "C'mon, Mom. Whatta you think?"

ChiChi placed one hand on the cloud, doubting. How could she ride it anymore? After what she'd done? Confused as she was? Scared as she was but she'd still—

Gohan gently grasped her arm and pulled. She collapsed onto the cloud and sank before bouncing back up. The fluffy cloud almost seemed to purr, as if happy to see her again.

Gohan grinned. "I've always wanted to explore with you, Mom. Daddy and I do it all the time. What do you say?"

After a moment of drowning in the joy in his face, ChiChi reached up and tore her tie loose, letting her black hair fall loose around and past her shoulders. Pointing south, she commanded, "Go, Nimbus!"

And in a flurry of speed that took the breath from her lungs, they left the mountain behind them.

They laughed together.