Love In Strange Places 2
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball Z does not belong to me, and I make no money from this series at all.
Chi-Chi
raced as fast as her legs would take her, but it wasn't enough to outrun
herself.
Maybe I can finally fly.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Looking
over the cliff gave things a surreal appearance. The moon was half full, bright
enough to give a diffuse light over the landscape, making the waters below inky
black, with diamond ripples, and the tops of the trees reached towards heaven.
Air
seared her lungs, as she panted, her heart pounded in her aching chest. It had
been a long time since she had run like that.
She
laughed, a little hysterically, at the thought. It didn't really matter how
much her chest hurt. In a few minutes, she wouldn't care how much her chest
her, wouldn't matter how much she had let her early training slide. In fact,
nothing much would matter, at all!
The
thought of release from this life was so powerful that she giggled as she
walked to the very edge of the sheer slope, and stepped off, without preamble,
or warning.
"NO!"
shouted a familiar voice, one right above her, one that she didn't want to
remember- All she had time to think about was the heady rush of air, how for a
second, she had hung there, like she had almost started to fly-
Then
a hand was grabbing the back of her dress, almost choking her in its grip, and
she screamed in rage, that her end had been denied.
She
was pulled into a crushing embrace, against a rock hard body, one that was
larger, felt and smelled different from that of her Goku.
Solid
ground was beneath her feet, and she stiffened her legs automatically, her
pride not allowing her to collapse and sob.
"WHAT
THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING?" they shouted at each other, one in
fear, and the other in unthinking anger.
Then
Chi-Chi saw who had caught her.
"Piccolo,
what are you doing here? Can't you leave me to die in peace? Or are you going
to torment me further?" she yelled, seeing red. She had been so close…
"What?
You tried to kill yourself! You should be thanking me for saving you!"
screamed back the green man, his hands going to her shoulders to shake her.
"Who
asked you?" she roared back, unafraid. "I wanted to die! I wanted out! I can't
take this anymore! Gohan has you; he doesn't need me anymore. Goku doesn't need
me. He must never have loved me, or he would have come back!"
Piccolo
blinked, stepping back from the small woman's ire. It occurred to him that in
the midst off all the pain left in the wake of Goku's death, no one had thought
about how Chi-Chi was taking it.
He
tried to tell himself that he didn't care, but Chi-Chi's death would devastate
Gohan, so did mean something to him.
Still,
Chi-Chi wasn't the type to just go off like this without reason.
He
extended his senses, taking in her ki sense, and smiled grimly, and opened his
eyes.
"Your
son needs you," he told her, and the angry, crying woman shook her head in
denial.
"He
has you. Gohan will get over it."
"I
wasn't talking about Gohan. I was talking about the child beneath your heart."
Piccolo
said this just in time, because she was about to take another long step off the
edge, and he put his hand on her shoulder to restrain her.
She
gasped, and whirled to face him, her eyes wide and shining with shock.
"You're
just telling me that to keep me from jumping!"
"Woman,
if I had wanted to keep you from jumping, I would just have grabbed you and
taken you home. You said you had no one who needed you, and I told you that you
did. Your new child needs you to be born. Okay?"
She
turned back around, but Piccolo didn't think she would jump. Chi-Chi was just
staring blankly.
"Why
did he have to go, Piccolo? Didn't he love me?"
Piccolo
didn't answer. He had no idea what to say. Love was something that he had no
understanding of; it was as foreign to him as eating.
Just
as suddenly as she had gotten mad, she broke down crying, and buried her face
in his chest. Piccolo froze, stiff as a log.
Comforting
crazed females was not something he had ever been trained to do, so he just
stood there, as she wailed, and remembered something that he had done that
seemed to help Gohan-
Awkwardly,
he patted her on the head.
Chi-Chi
pulled away to stare at him incredulously, and then started to giggle at the
pole-axed expression on his face. The giggles increased to full throated
chuckles, and then to double over-sides hurting-get hiccups later- laughter.
Piccolo
didn't know what was so funny, but decided it was a good time to get her back
to her house, because she had just passed out.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"MR.
PICCOLO!" shouted Gohan, as the green giant flew back towards the house. Gohan
had been doing his own searching, and had had no luck. He had the Hiyaa Dragon
with him, and they both looked frantic with worry.
"What
is it? What happened to Mom, is she all right? Why is she passed out? Why
couldn't I sense her? What-"
"Kid,
stop with all the questions, already!" Piccolo barked, still rattled by what
had happened.
Then
he saw the hurt expression on Gohan's face, and sighed.
"She
tried to jump off a cliff…" he mumbled, looking away. They were almost at the
Son house, and from the state of it, Piccolo figured out that she must have
really blown a fuse. There were broken dishes inside, and ripped and worn out
laundry outside.
"MOM
TRIED TO KILL HERSELF?" Gohan screamed, and followed the Namek into the house.
When he had put Chi-Chi down, Gohan glomped the woman around the waist, and
started to cry.
Chi-Chi
woke with a soft moan.
"Momma,
Momma, I'm sorry, whatever I did, I didn't mean it, please don't kill
yourself!" Gohan wailed, his face in her chest. Instinctively her arms went
around her son.
"Gohan?"
she asked.
"Mom,
I love you, don't leave me like Dad," he whispered from his place in her lap,
like had done with he was four. Chi-Chi felt a shock go through her heart. He
still needed her after all…
"I
love you, Gohan," she told him gently, "Its just that your father, his leaving
like that- after seeing him die once before, hurt so much, I didn't think I
could take it anymore…" her bottom lip trembled, and Gohan suddenly saw his
mother in a whole other light. As a human being, not the institution of
motherhood she tried to be.
"But
what about me? I would miss you."
She
stroked her fingers through his short, coarse hair. So much like his father's.
"I
didn't think you needed me anymore… You've grown up so much…"
"I'll
always need you!" Gohan put his arms around her neck tightly, and squeezed.
"Huh,"
said Piccolo, in the background, feeling desperately out of place. Reminded of
his presence, Chi-Chi looked up at him.
"Is
what you were saying true? Am I going to have another child?" she asked him
softly, and Gohan looked up at his mentor, his eyes questioning.
Piccolo
nodded gravely.
"You
must have ah- I don't know how humans reproduce, but- done whatever it was,
before the Cell games…" Piccolo said feeling more than awkward. Damn it, why
did she have this effect on him?
Chi-Chi
looked at him and giggled, while Gohan, despite saving the world, and being all
of eleven, snuggled in her lap.
Quite
suddenly she stood up, her hand over her mouth, knocking Gohan off, and running
towards the bathroom.
The
sound of loud vomiting was heard, and Gohan looked confused.
"I
thought Mom being pregnant was good news."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Gohan
sighed, and checked on his mother yet again that night. She was sleeping soundly,
after having fixed him a quick meal as an apology.
He
felt like he should be the one apologizing.
He
looked at the dirty house, the dishes, and realized he should help.
"Mr.
Piccolo?" Gohan asked, looking at his mentor who was meditating in the middle
of the room.
"Hmm?"
"Will
you help me cook for Mom tomorrow?" he asked quietly, hoping that Piccolo would
at least consider it.
He
looked at Gohan like he had lost his mind. Maybe he was right.
"There
is a saying: if you save someone's life, you are responsible for them," Gohan
said, brightening when he didn't receive a cuff on the head.
"So,"
rumbled his mentor's deep voice. "I am responsible for your mother?"
Gohan
nodded repeatedly.
Piccolo
sighed. There was some truth to that saying, which was why he was stuck with
Gohan as well. It was rather sad.
"All
right. I'll help you."
Gohan
sighed with relief.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Chi-Chi
woke to the unexpected smell of cooking eggs, toast, and coffee. This was not
what she usually fixed herself for breakfast, an absent part of her noted, and
she cringed. Goku-saa would be starving now, she thought. What was she doing
lying in bed?
Then
the memory of what happened the night before came crashing down. She shuddered,
the thought of killing Goku's second child terrified her, and she put her hand
on her middle.
"Forgive
me, little one. I didn't know," she whispered to her belly. It was then that
her nose informed her that the smells she thought were coming from the kitchen
were not some strange hysteria induced dream. Someone was really was cooking
breakfast; an American style one.
"Mom?"
asked Gohan, just inside the door. He was carrying a large tray, filled with
food. Behind her, she caught a flash of green, and guessed that for whatever
reason, Piccolo was there.
"What
is it, Gohan-chan?" she asked softly, trying to keep in her laughter. She had
never seen her son cook; he was splattered with unknown substances from head to
food, his hair had flour in it, although she had no idea why, and smoke drifted
off his clothing. Chi-Chi was afraid to look at the mess her kitchen was in.
Still, it was the thought that mattered.
"We
made you breakfast, and started working on the chores… You take today off," he
told her, in a voice used to talk to a wild beast. Gohan looked like he thought
he was walking on eggshells. Considering what she had nearly done yesterday,
she couldn't blame him…
"But
what will I do then?"
"Uh-
read a book?" Gohan said lamely, and Chi-Chi smiled.
"Why
don't you help me, and I'll make us a picnic lunch for later?"
"Really?"
Gohan answered, his eyes lighting up. He looked thrilled.
She
nodded, and Gohan turned to Piccolo.
"Mom-
uh-"
"Piccolo
can come too," she said, and sighed deeply. Whooping with joy, Gohan ran out of
the room, nearly spilling the tray.
"You
didn't have to invite me," said the large Namek, softly.
Chi-Chi
shrugged. "You saved my life. I owe you something, even though you don't eat."
Getting
up, she wrapped a robe around herself, and started to eat. It was the best way
she remembered to stop morning sickness. However, she took only a few bites,
before standing, and walking over Piccolo. Getting on her tiptoes, she kissed
his cheek.
Rocking
back on her heels, she smiled, faintly. "That wasn't as bad as I thought. You
do whatever it is that you do, and I'm going to do the chores. I hope you come
with us on the picnic. Gohan would be very disappointed if you didn't."
She
walked out to the room, to bathe.
Piccolo
just stood there, with his palm covering his face, where she had brushed it
with her lips.
To be continued.