Even with so many grown adults and three small children crammed into my mother's bedroom, the crowded space was somehow eerily quiet. All present were focused on mom, propped up to a shallow angle on a small stack of pillows and covered with an old handmade floral quilt—one of mom's creations. Gohan and I sat on opposite sides of our mother and each gently held one of her frail, arthritic hands. She was the most relaxed if we maintained a point of physical contact, so we did. Gohan and I hadn't left her side and had no plans to even as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Hard to believe only a little over three days before, when we all gathered to be with mom, all was well. That was before Gohan found her slumped on her sofa, before her severe stroke. Another small one so soon after took any chances she had of recovery with it. She was only seventy-eight.
The kind middle-aged hospice nurse took mom's vitals. When she pulled the blood-pressure cuff off mom's arm with the distinctive sound of ripping Velcro, she said, "Won't be long now."
Gohan and I nodded, both still focused on mom as the nurse stepped aside.
Mom lightly squeezed my hand. If Gohan's small smile was anything to go by, she squeezed his hand, too.
"She knows we're here," I murmured.
Gohan nodded again and brushed a strand of silver hair out of mom's wrinkled face. "Yeah. We're all here, mom. Videl, Pan, Uub, their kids, and Marron and the twins, too. We're all here."
Her mouth moved with a single, silent word: Goku. She sighed in her sleep but even still, she smiled.
"Heh, I think she's dreaming about Dad," I said.
Gohan chuckled.
Dad had been gone decades and she still never stopped loving him. She held out hope dad would come back some day all the way to the end. Gohan confided in me he had a feeling we wouldn't see dad again after he left with Shenron. Mom wouldn't hear it. I didn't want to admit it but on some level, I knew Gohan was right. Dad was really, truly gone.
We all—Gohan and me and our families—banded around mom after that. Marron and I built a house next-door to Gohan and Videl's place on Mt. Paozu right by mom's house. Mom seemed okay. She was strong but she missed dad deeply. Sometimes, I caught her gazing at dad's picture with tears in her eyes. When she'd notice me looking, she'd hurriedly set the picture down, wipe her eyes, and pretend nothing was wrong. We all missed dad but sometimes his bright, light-up-the-room smile came out in my girls, and his tenaciousness came out in Pan. That brought mom comfort and having us close by helped.
Mom's face scrunched up. A tear rolled down her cheek. Gohan and I exchanged a small frown. Was this…it?
Gohan wiped the tear off her pale cheek with a tissue and then froze mid motion. Something tugged at my ki sense. I shook my head and pushed the strange yet familiar warmth out of my mind. Surely, I was imagining things. Yeah, it was just wishful thinking. Maybe Gohan froze because mom's already rattly breathing changed. I glanced at Marron and out of the corner of my eye, saw Pan staring out mom's open bedroom door.
"Goten?" asked Marron.
All I could do was shake my head at her and stare at Gohan. "There's no way that's…?"
Focused intently on the open bedroom door, Gohan didn't respond right away. I didn't see anyone but I felt him.
A warm, golden glow flooded the hallway darkened by the setting sun and then faded. Footsteps approached across the hardwood floor, grew louder, and then there he was. A collective gasp spread through the room and no one dared move even a muscle. Dad stood in the doorway and looked around the room. He wore that same easy-going smile and that same orange gi he always did. He was in the prime of his life—or rather his death. A golden, glowing halo hovered inches over his wild hair.
His smile broadened. "Heh, hi everybody. Been a while, huh?"
"Goku," came a weak, raspy whisper next to me.
Dad's bright smile turned tender as his gaze slid to mom.
Marron, Videl, Pan, Uub and their kids stepped aside, clearing a short path from the door to mom's bed. Pan and Uub's three young children stared at dad. A blue-eyed girl with straight dark hair, the oldest by the name of Pumpa, pointed and whispered something to one of her younger brothers, curious about an incredible man they knew only through pictures and bedtime stories.
Dad took my place next to mom and took her hand in his. Another tear rolled down her cheek followed by a lot more. Dad grabbed a tissue and wiped her tears away. He pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Mom's eyelids twitched and then fluttered open but only half-way. She blinked a few times and then her rheumy-eyed gaze focused on dad.
The stroke stole her ability to speak but she did recognize and boy did her eyes brighten as they settled on Dad. Dad brushed his fingers lightly on the wrinkled skin of her cheek and she turned her head into his touch. She closed her eyes and her already barely-detectable ki dipped. Her chest stopped moving with her breath. Her ki disappeared altogether. Sniffles spread around the room and my eyes stung. I checked on my girls. Akina sobbed quietly into her hands and Keiko wrapped her arms around her twin sister. The young woman tried to be strong, as she always did, but she broke down, too. Marron stretched her arms as far as she could around them both and drew them in for the hug they needed.
At a tap on my shoulder, I looked to dad.
He nodded down at mom. "Watch."
A strange, soft glow enveloped mother but, beyond that, it took me a moment to even process what I was seeing. She changed right before my eyes. Her face was the first to change. Wrinkled skin smoothed and healthy color blossomed across her cheeks. Her short, thin grey hair turned dark and shiny from the root to tip and dramatically lengthened to what I remember from when I was a little boy. Knobby, arthritic fingers tucked in dad's hand turned slender and young. Transfixed, I almost didn't notice the halo that twinkled into existence over her head still resting on the pillows.
"Dad?" asked Gohan. "How in the world…?"
Dad glanced at Gohan and merely winked.
Mom stirred at dad's light touch to her cheek, took a breath, and opened her eyes.
She blinked and glanced around the room at the others all staring at mom with wide yet teary eyes. "That was… odd. All I remember is falling asleep."
Even her voice sounded young, just like she did in the prime of her life.
Her brow crinkled and then she looked up, pressing the back of her head into her pillows. "Oh." Dad chuckled as she glanced at her hand in his. Mom gasped and then pulled her hands out of his and Gohan's. She stared at her healthy, arthritis-free hands and then touched her newly young face next. She stared at dad, her lively dark eyes questioning.
Dad's soft smile broadened but as with Gohan, he remained tight lipped. Dad had his secrets sometimes.
"King Yemma is expecting her and you best not keep him waiting," said the short, squat Fortuneteller Baba from a corner of the room.
Fortuneteller Baba had a habit of that, slipping in and out without anyone sensing her arrival.
"Yeah, I know," said Dad without so much of a glance toward Baba. "We'll be up in a few minutes."
Perhaps it was that old fortuneteller who orchestrated dad's visit like last time.
I glanced at Gohan and his lips twitched up, perhaps having the same thought as me. Dad had explained the dead being allowed to visit the realm of the living was a very rare privilege granted only to heroes. If anyone deserved that privilege, dad did.
Dad stood and offered mom his hand. "Let's say goodbye to everyone while we still can." He glanced over his shoulder, toward Pan's family and at my daughters, too. "I have new grandkids to meet!"
Mom nodded, pulled the blanket off herself, and accepted his hand. Her ankle-length light purple nightgown had been replaced with a sleeveless light blue qipao with white pants and darker blue house shoes, the same style she wore my whole life. A lock of her long black-brown hair fell in front of her face. Mom grabbed it and lifted an eyebrow at dad. Her eyes narrowed. Uh oh.
Pink blossomed across dad's cheeks as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Heh, what? You know I like your hair long."
Mom giggled and stood from the bed like it was nothing, like she didn't need assistance with that simple task for most of the last couple of years. The ease with which she moved seemed to surprise her, too. She glanced down at her feet and bent double to touch her toes.
"Gosh, I haven't been able to do that in a long while," she said as she straightened.
"You're back in your prime now, babe." More softly, dad said, "You'll be like this for forever."
Mom led dad first to my girls. My daughters held each other even while being hugged by their mother. After murmured introductions, small smiles spread across their faces and they both stepped out of their embrace to wrap their arms around dad. Dad wrapped his arms around them, too. Despite both being almost as tall as Marron now, Dad hugged them so tight, he drew them right off their feet. Akina and Keiko laughed as dad set them on the floor. His hands lingered on their shoulders for a few extra moments.
"Ya know, you girls have your mother's eyes but your dad's smile. You got that from me," said dad with a laugh.
Akina and Keiko laughed despite the tears still rolling down their cheeks.
"So we've been told," replied Keiko with a sniffle.
"I can tell you two are super strong, too. Keep your dad on his toes for me, okay?" Dad beamed with pride. He always said he knew Marron and me would get married someday. I knew he'd love them, too. Dad and them would have made a great team. I chuckled to myself for the first time all day.
Akina nodded, wiping her nose. "Kay… thanks Grandpa!" She said and hugged him again, until Marron had to break them apart.
Mom stepped forward to hug my girls, too. That was one hug neither wanted to break, complete with lots of sniffles and tears all around. Keiko and Akina were so close to mom. The twins grew up on Mt. Paozu like Gohan and I did and Mt. Paozu just wouldn't feel the same without their grandmother. It wasn't going to be the same for Gohan or me, either.
Pan approached with her three young children in tow and Uub just behind them.
Dad pulled Pan in for a big hug, too while the kids lingered back. Dad put his hands on Pan's shoulders and grinned. "Just look at ya, Pan. You're Chichi's spittin' image!"
Pan let out a noise somewhere between a giggle and a sob. I chuckled, too.
"They really do look almost identical," said Gohan as he approached dad, mom, and Pan. "Especially now."
Dad laughed. I missed that sound. The wild spikes of dad's hair bobbed as he looked down at the three small kids hiding behind Pan's legs.
"Well, hi there!" said Dad. Though his back was to me, it wasn't hard to picture his bright smile, the same one he gave me when I first met him.
Just like Mom had when I first met Dad, Pan stepped aside and urged her kids to go meet their great-grandfather. The youngest was hardly more than a toddler and quickly darted behind his mother's leg again. Pan's only daughter ran to her great-grandfather first and dad scooped her up. "I'm Pumpa and I'm eight years old!"
The middle child pulled his baby brother out from behind Pan by the hand and led him to meet their great grandpa together. "I'm Jin! And this is Goku!"
"Goku, well, little Goku, definitely has your hair," said mom through a giggle.
Dad chuckled, too, and scooped the two little boys up with their sister. He wrapped his arms around them all, squeezing them to his chest.
"Can you stay with us?" asked Jin.
Dad shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't but maybe someday, great-grandma and I can come visit you. Would you like that?"
Jin nodded. "Yeah!"
Mom and dad hugged Marron and Uub and then came the part I was dreading the most: it was my turn to say goodbye to my parents. Mom and Dad wrapped their arms around me and I was delightfully sandwiched between them. Even with the hope of another earthside visit during my lifetime, goodbyes were hard. A large, painful lump formed in my throat. Tears stung my eyes. Mom wiped her thumb across my cheek and then reached for Gohan when he came to stand with us, too.
"Oh, my sweet boys," murmured mom.
Tears gathered in her eyes as she and dad hugged Gohan between them like they did me. Gohan's eyes grew glassy, too. I swore dad's were, too. They watched us and we watched them as her and dad vanished in little bubbles of light, almost like the fireflies that appeared on Mt. Paozu every summer. Even those little bubbles disappeared, too. I couldn't feel either of them anymore at all.
I smiled through the tears sliding down my cheeks. "They're finally together again. Forever."
Gohan's voice cracked as he said, "Yeah. And no one deserves it more."