40- All is Well

Late Summer

Chi-Chi sighed as she watched the first sun of Vegeta-Sei start to rise. The night was fading into a reddish hue of the morning. It was quiet moments like these when Chi-Chi could stop and think about all that had happened in such a short span of a few months.

Her Goku was back. It still felt like it could be a dream because it was something she had wished for so long. The first several days were spent catching up. Goku has wanted to know everything and anything that had happened while he was gone. Those nights, both him and Chi-Chi fell asleep talking. It took a few more nights before the tension between them couldn't last any longer.

Chi-Chi had been nervous at first because it had been so long. Her nerves quickly vanished as soon as Goku had started to kiss her. It felt even better than she had remembered it being.

It seemed that her whole family was buzzing with happiness.

The rebels from the north were almost completely captured, thanks to the help of the Saiyans. A new royal court had been established, chosen by the people, and Gohan was respected as he should be. He had confessed that the new court honestly did care about the people, and because of that, the earth kingdom was thriving.

Chi-Chi knew that wasn't the only reason as to why Gohan was in such a good mood nowadays. She was sure a certain woman had something to do about it as well. Truthfully, Chi-Chi didn't know what to think of Marron at first, and she was a little leery. She was part-cyborg, and Chi-Chi had never heard anything good about them. Soon though, she realized just what a fantastic person Marron was, and it was very easy to see just how much Gohan liked her.

Goten was doing well too. He had been promoted into the royal guard, and his relationship with Bulla was blooming. Chi-Chi has missed him tremendously over the years, and she was so happy to see what a fine young man Goten had grin to be. He reminded Chi-Chi a lot of Goku, and now that the two of them could be together again, the similarities were striking.

Pan was glowing. Chi-Chi didn't think she had ever seen her daughter so happy. She still looked to be about four months along, but according to Dr. Brief, the baby was healthy. That's all that mattered to Trunks and Pan.

Chi-Chi felt it when Goku walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the back of her head.

"Mornin' Chi," he said as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"Good morning, Goku-Sa," she smiled.

They stood quietly, watching the sunrise for a few minutes before Goku spoke. "I never thought I would see this again," he whispered. "But I'm glad I can, and I'm glad you're here with me."

"Me too," Chi-Chi sighed.

All was well.

XxXxX

Marron was still staring at the letter in her hands when Gohan found her.

"Hey," he said gently. He took a seat beside her on the bench in the garden where she had been for the last hour. "Are you okay?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Marron whispered.

"I'm here if you want to talk about it, and if you don't, I'm still here just to be here."

Marron let out a sigh. Weeks ago, she had written home. Trunks and Pan were happily married; there was nothing her mother could do to stop it. Masson wasn't writing her mother, anyway. Her father was the one she wanted to speak with. He had been the only one to know if her plan to run away, and he hadn't tried to stop her.

Marron had hoped to get a letter back from him, but as weeks passed and no letter came, she started to suspect something terrible had happened. Her fears came true when she received a letter from Saibogu. Her father had passed away due to 'weak human' conditions. On top of that, her mother disowned her.

"I'm not surprised about being disowned," Marron mumbled. "But dad-" her lips trembled. "If I had been there, could I have protected him? My mother is behind this. I know she is!" She declared hatefully. "She never loved him, and now that my uncle is back, there's no room for anyone else around."

Gohan was silent as he wrapped an arm around Marron. He squeezed her shoulders, and she turned to him as the tears came. She hated her mother, more so than she had ever hated anything. Her father had been her only comfort on Saibogu, and now he was gone. Eighteen was making it impossible for her to return at all.

"Marron, it's not your fault," Gohan's quiet voice said.

"Why didn't he tell me things were getting worse?" She cried. "He knew where to reach me in case of an emergency!"

"Because protecting you was what was most important to him," Gohan rubbed her back gently. "He loved you a lot, Marron."

Marron leaned closer to Gohan until her head was on his chest. Her arms wrapped around him and held him tightly. He was there. He was solid. He had welcomed her into his castle without second-guessing it.

Things were not the best, but as Gohan held Marron, she couldn't help but feel calm.

All was well.

XxXxX

Bulla breathed in through her nose before slowly breathing out through her mouth. Her hands were twitchy as she waited for training to begin.

A bell went off overhead, and in a flash, targets swept out of their hiding place. Bulla grabbed her daggers at her side and quickly began tossing them as she rushed across the room. She didn't stop until she was on the other side. And then she turned around and did it again. Bulla worked the rep until she was nearly out of breath, and sweat rolled down her temple.

She placed her hands on her bent knees as she caught her breath. Loud clapping made her stand up straight, and she turned to see Goten leaning against the wall.

"What are you doing?" Bulla asked him with a grin.

"Can't a guy admire his girlfriend throwing her knives around without being judged?" He asked with a frown. Bulla raised a questioning eyebrow, and Goten grinned. "Alright, alright. I was checking you out. It made me think of the first time we met, and you nearly poked my eye out."

"I did not!" Bulla gasped.

Goten chuckled as he walked over to her. "You have gotten a lot better, Bu-" he leaned down to kiss her temple.

"Go!" Bulla pulled away from him with a frown. "I'm all sweaty," she mumbled.

Goten glanced around before he looked at Bulla with a smirk. "We can do something that'll make both of us sweaty," he winked.

"Goten!" Bulla gasped as her cheeks grew hot.

"What?" He laughed. "You don't want to spar with me?"

Bulla punched his arm with a huff. "That wasn't what you meant, and you know it!"

"I can't help it!" He was still laughing as he wrapped his arms around her shoulders to hold her tightly. "You're too beautiful."

Bulla felt herself smiling, and she wrapped her arms around Goten and rested her head against his chest.

"You know what the best thing is about living in the castle now?" He asked.

"Hm?" She hummed as she glanced up at him.

"The food is to die for."

Bulla pulled back and frowned at him, and Goten laughed and tightened his grip so she couldn't go far.

"I'm kidding! I'm kidding! The best thing is that I get to see you any time I want," he smiled at her. "Every day and anytime. I love it," he sighed as he leaned down and rested his forehead against hers.

Bulla could feel her heart beating against her chest. "Yeah," she whispered with a smile as she reached her arms up. Her fingers ran through the back of his hair as she let out a sigh. "I get to see you too, and without that mask."

"I thought that mask made me look mysterious," Goten mumbled.

Bulla rolled her eyes. "Maybe, but I like you better without it. Why don't you transmission us to-"

She wasn't even finished talking, and Goten picked her up. She could feel the shift in the air, and she giggled as she held him close.

All was well.

XxXxX

Freedom was a very precious thing. Tarble knew that well. For years, he had been in a dark place, mentally and physically. His only light was his friend, who was the constant optimist between the two of them.

Tarble has been in Frieza's prison for weeks, waiting in terror for the moment when the tyrant would decide to kill him when he got his cellmate. To his shock, it had been Kakarot, someone he hadn't seen in close to two decades! The two of them hadn't been very close growing up. Kakarot was most of Vegeta's friends than his, but seeing him was such a relief for Tarble.

Kakarot had been just as surprised. To pass the time, the two told each other stories of their lives. Tarble had been shocked to find out that Kakarot had run off to earth, gotten married to the Princess, and now had three kids. A family like that had always been sort of like a dream to Tarble, but Frieza had come and snatched it away. Or so he thought.

Days faded into months. Soon, Tarble or Kakarot couldn't keep count of what year it was. The biggest surprise was that Frieza didn't kill them. Kakarot had said that Frieza had most likely told their families they had died, and Tarble wondered why. What did their deaths have to do with anything? Why did Frieza keep them as prisoners? He didn't even torment them. He just ignored them mostly. However, he would visit every one in a while. He wouldn't say much, but his eyes lingered on Kakarot more than anything.

Now Tarble was free. Actually free. He could run if he wanted to. The first few nights had been challenging to adjust to. For so long, he slept in complete darkness that he had to sleep with all the lights on just reassuring himself that he was okay.

Trunks had changed a lot from the little boy he had been when Tarble left. He was a husband and soon to be a father. But the way Trunks followed him around for the first few days like a little puppy was so much like how when he was younger that Tarble soon felt at ease. Even Vegeta hovered over him, something he usually didn't. And Bulma and Bulla was always, were so lovely and warm. With his family's love and patience, Tarble's anxiety soon started to fade.

He kept himself busy by practicing with his swords again. Trunks was all too eager and excited to practice with him, and Tarble was impressed by how well his nephew had gotten. Trunks was teaching him the tricks now!

After a few more weeks, Tarble felt well enough to explore a little bit on his own. He decided to check out Earth since Kakarot had talked to highly of it. His oldest son, Gohan, was the king, and he allowed Saiyans to visit as they pleased and told Tarble to visit anytime.

As Tarble walked through a small garden and looked up at a bright blue sky, he could see why Kakarot had fallen in love with such a planet. It was beautiful, in its way.

The castle on earth was a lot quieter than the one on Vegeta-Sei, and Tarble could feel himself being at ease. He wondered how his life would have been if Frieza hadn't taken him as a prisoner. Would he have been married by now? Would he have kids? How different would he be than he was now?

A strangled scream caught Tarble's attention and rushed towards the sound. He exited the garden just in time to see a man stand up with a loud huff and shake a fist at a snickering horse.

"You think you're funny, huh? You brat!" He scolded. "No extra carrots for you!"

There was something oddly familiar about that man, Tarble thought. Like he had known him from somewhere. He was quite tall and had a scar running along the side of one of his cheeks.

The man glanced up, and Tarble's eyes widened at being caught staring.

"Hey," the man said. "You're Trunks' uncle, aren't you?" He asked.

"I am," Tarble answered, surprised that he knew.

"I thought so!" He grinned. "Panny said you might be coming for a visit sometime. I'm her uncle, by the way. My name is Yamcha."

That was it! Kakarot had told him stories about Yamcha. He was his wife's adopted older brother. Pan had even told him a few stories about Yamcha. His nephew and this man liked to aggravate each other, according to Pan.

"I'm Tarble," he said. He glanced at the horse, who was now grazing several yards away. "Did you fall off?"

"Nah, she just pushed me down," Yamcha waved his arm at the horse. "She's so stubborn. Women," he rolled his eyes. "How much of the castle have you seen?"

"Just the gardens."

"Would you like a tour?" Yamcha grinned. "I know all the great places."

Tarble thought it was odd at how quickly he nodded his head and accepted the offer. There was something about Yamcha that was calming. Maybe it was the way he smiled so nicely.

"Great! Come on, I'll show you inside," Yamcha said.

Tarble felt his lips twitch as he walked over to Yamcha, who was waiting for him. He had a feeling that he was going to find out a lot of things he would like about the earth.

All was well.

XxXxX

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow.

Bulma coughed and wiped some soot off of her arm. "Nothing," she said. "It wasn't that bad."

"You nearly caught yourself and this room on fire, you blasted woman," Vegeta huffed. "And you're saying it's not that bad?"

"Well, it's not as bad as it could have been," Bulma sighed with the roll of her eyes. "I still need to-"

"No," Vegeta shook his head as he grabbed Bulma's arm. "You're done for the day."

"What?!" She nearly shrieked. "Vegeta! Let me go!" She tugged on his hand, but he didn't budge.

"You're going to our room and taking a bath," his nose scrunched up. "And then you're going to stay away from your lab for the remainder of the night."

Bulma let out a huff and let him lead her. "Who do you think you are? The king?" She grumbled.

"The King and you're husband," Vegeta grunted. "You're taking a break for the night for your health, so you don't catch yourself on fire for real."

Bulma's pout turned into a small smile. She would never tell Vegeta, but she secretly loved it when he would burst through her lab and force her to take a break.

Vegeta looked back at her, and Bulma put a pout back on her face. "I'm working on a big invention, you know!" She muttered. "I need to finalize the last-"

"Yeah, yeah," Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Do it another day," he told her.

Bulma smiled and shook her elbow free from his grasp. He let it go, and a second later, her hand was in his.

All was well.

XxXxX

"Can you do the Galick Gun?" Pan asked Trunks as she looked through the book her father and Vegeta had written in. All their moves sounded so funny, but Pan could only imagine how powerful the attacks would be.

"Barely," he laughed as he walked out of the bathroom after getting ready for the night. "I got down Final Flash pretty good, though."

"The Kamehame Ha looks like it would be fun to do," Pan laughed.

Trunks crawled onto the bed, where Pan was resting. She had pillows propped up against the headboard where she was resting.

"Boy or girl?" Trunks asked.

Pan smiled down at her stomach. She had had dreams of baby, but she had never been able to see the baby's face or know what it was. So her and Trunks guessed every day what it would be. They were waiting until she was a little bit bigger before they asked Dr. Brief to find out the sex.

If things were normal, then Pan would be hugely pregnant and nearly about to give birth. But things were strange, and their baby was growing surely but slowly.

"Girl," Pan said with a small nod.

"I was thinking girl too," Trunks said.

Pan continued to read the book, and after several quiet minutes, she glanced up and smiled. Trunks' was asleep. His head was resting on her thigh as his hand rested on the top of her belly. Her heart melted at the sight.

Pan couldn't believe she had ever doubted that Trunks didn't want their child. He was amazing. He always was stroking her belly or checking up on the baby, and he had become fiercely overprotective of her. Already, he had told Pan of all the things he wanted to teach their child.

With a small sigh, Pan reached over and brushed her fingers through Trunks' silky hair. "All is well," she said.

"When I fall in love, it will be forever."
-Jane Austen