"How much longer to Earth's World Martial Arts Tournament, King Kai?" I called down toward the ground from where I floated in the air after Pikkon and I ended our sparring match.
"A few days!" shouted King Kai from where he stood on the grass of Grand Kai's planet.
I whooped as I landed in front of him. "I can't wait to see everyone!"
King Kai sighed. "I know."
Olibu—watching my match with Pikkon along with a few other fighters—approached.
I smiled. "You lookin' for a good fight?"
Olibu shook his head. The guy loved sparring about as much as I did so his troubled frown was especially off-putting.
"Are you okay?" I asked.
"I am well but I must speak with you," he said.
I glanced at King Kai—noting the weirdly knowing look in his eyes and mirroring Olibu's troubled frown. I twitched my shoulders as I returned my attention to Olibu. "Sure. Okay."
"Thank you. Please follow me," said Olibu and floated up into the air toward the pink sky and fluffy golden clouds.
I took off after Olibu. He led me well away from the sparring areas and toward a rocky range of mountains. Olibu angled his flight straight up toward the tallest of the barren, pillar-like mountain peaks. He landed on the rocky mountain peak and I landed next to him, my boots crunching in the dry gravel.
"What's up?" I asked.
With his gaze toward the training fighters in the distance and the Kais and the other warriors cheering them on, Olibu said, "I wish to offer you a word of caution. As your friend, it would be remiss of me if I did not. I simply want you to be prepared."
I nodded slowly. "Okay," I said, drawing the word out. "So, what do you want to tell me?"
"You are not the first warrior to be granted this privilege to visit your home," said Olibu.
"I'm not?" I shrugged as I took in the pretty view. "Heh. I guess I never really thought much about it but I know a lot of people have been around here longer than me." I looked at him again, my eyes widening. "Hold on. Are you saying you got to go back and visit, too?"
"Aye," said Olibu with a single, solemn nod. "Like you, it was some years after my life ended."
"Wait, is this about my visit?"
"Aye. As I said, I want you to be prepared," said Olibu as he finally turned to look at me.
I lifted an eyebrow. "Prepared? Prepared for what?"
"Your reunion with your family may not go as well as you hope," said Olibu.
I frowned. "That's what you brought me up here to tell me?" My hands clenched into fists at my sides. "Did King Kai put you up to this?"
Olibu said nothing to that. I took his silence as an admission. I growled under my breath. I was going to have a talk with King Kai after this myself.
After a short silence, he said, "My visit with my family was not joyous. My wife hated me."
My mouth fell open as I rocked back on my heels.
I shook my head slowly. "Chichi wouldn't—"
"You don't know that," said Olibu. "In life, maintaining my power sometimes required long absences. My wife was… displeased with the arrangement."
I scratched the back of my head. "Heh. Now that sounds familiar but..." I smiled. "Chichi knows how much she means to me," I murmured as I remembered our last two days spent alone before I died fighting Cell.
"Seven years is a long time to pass in life," said Olibu. "I've often heard absence makes the heart grow fonder but absence can have the opposite effect as well. Where there's friction, absence can worsen it."
"That I know," I scoffed, thinking back to my year training with King Kai and my time in the hospital. "Things were a little rough between Chichi and me for a bit there and then I had to leave again for over a year." I sighed. "I thought we patched things up when I got home. At least, she seemed happier with me."
Olibu nodded. "The warning I offer you is this: you may be excited to see your wife but understand your wife may not feel the same. She might even have found happiness elsewhere because years are a long time to wait. You may need to let her go as I had to mine." Olibu sighed and shifted in place, his shoes scraping over the gravel, and turned toward the training area again. "I wish someone warned me prior to my visit."
"You're saying Chichi might have… with another—" I cut myself off with a quick shake of my head.
I couldn't bring myself to say the words. They made me sick to my stomach. I ran a hand through my hair.
"I always knew it was hard on them when I died," I murmured. "I didn't think they would… I didn't think she would…"
We stood in silence for a time as my brain worked to process what Olibu said. I frowned toward the empty dirt under my feet and crossed my arms. As much as I didn't want to admit it, the guy had a point.
"I have given you much to think about," said Olibu. "I will leave you to do so and see that you are left undisturbed. I hope your family is more understanding than mine was."
I stared at Olibu as he flew off toward the training area.
King Kai had to have talked to Olibu. The Kais were able to watch things in the living realm. While I trained to face Vegeta and Nappa, King Kai let me watch Gohan and Chichi sometimes but King Kai refused to let me look at Chichi and Gohan at all since Cell.
"I know you miss them terribly. Trust me when I say looking at them now will only make that worse. You're dead and you've decided you're not going back. It's better this way."
Maybe he saw Chichi and Gohan happy with…
Chichi deserved to be happy. They both did. I was gone a long time. It didn't occur to me she might have moved on—that I might have lost her like that. I couldn't figure out why the idea hurt so much. I always was a selfish person.
The stubborn ache I had been doing my best to ignore since I died flared up again, stronger than before. I couldn't ignore it anymore. I sat down in the dirt on top of the tallest mountain peak of Grand Kai's planet, braced my elbows on my thighs, and let my face fall into my hands. In a few days, I'd know for sure. Even though time moved differently in Other World, the waiting around was hard.
I had to focus. There was also a World Martial Arts Tournament to prepare for. I straightened up where I sat, put my hands on my knees, and closed my eyes. Meditation was a good distraction. I always could count on that to pass the time.
###
"Ready to go?" asked Fortuneteller Baba.
I nodded even though my heart thrummed with a fast-paced rhythm. I was about to see Chichi for the first time since I died. I wanted to see her. I hoped she wanted to see me.
I took a deep breath and locked onto my family and friends for Instant Transmission. I caught them with their backs turned and watched them spin on their heels.
Chichi's big, dark eyes were the first I caught in the group of people smiling at me. She was smiling, too.
"Oh, sweetheart. I missed you," she murmured.
"I missed you, Chichi," I said.
The look in her eyes and her soft smile made the doubt left by Olibu's warning—and that stubborn ache—melt away. Chichi waited. She didn't have to, but she waited. I swallowed the lump in my throat and smiled as my family ran to me for a big hug.