I like this chapter, only it makes me feel sad every time I
read it… Chichi can be annoying sometimes, but if Goku-san loves her, then she's
still important. Plz r&r, peeps! Luv alwayz, ~Vivi-sama
Chapter six
As the wind gently lifted his hair upwards,
Gokou stood, still as a rock, staring at the dead body laying in the coffin
halfway buried into the ground. The sun kept it's calm glare on the grieving
saiya-jin, but still a dark shadow remained casted over his eyes. After hours
of staring in nothing but silence, the thoughts whirling around his head like a
storm were finally clearing up. "Oi, ChiChi-chan...I miss you so much."
He knelt downwards, falling to his knees as
if admitting defeat to a great warrior. The wind continued to ruffle his hair,
as if it were the only part of him that remained touchable. Everything else was
too hard, too...hollow. "I never..." A lone tear trickled down his cheek, and
Gokou left it there to continue it's descent. "Never...got to say goodbye..."
His mind flooded once again, this time not
with thoughts of despair, but memories of the past.
Gokou shrugged, looking around the
Tenkaichi Boduokai arena. A hand tapped his shoulder, and he turned around to
see a young, pretty girl. "Ah, Gokou," she said.
"Who are you?" asked Gokou.
Her eyes shot up in surprise, and she
growled at him. "Chikusho!" She turned around abruptly, huffing madly.
"Wha...what's her problem?" Gokou asked his
friends.
"Go - Gokou! Who's that?" Yamucha said in
return.
Kuririn watched as she walked away in
anger. "She's hot!"
"I don't know." Gokou shrugged innocently. "Never
seen her."
"Did we already meet?"
"YES!" she cried in return, continuing her
attack on the still puzzled Gokou.
"Really? When?"
"You forgot! That's why I'm mad!"
Stubbornly, she continued to attack, Gokou dodging each kick and punch with
ease. "You don't understand the heart of a young girl! I waited for you for a
long time!"
"Son Gokou, you promised to take me as your
bride!"
Kuririn gasped behind the battle arena.
Gokou looked at him, curiosity innocence scattered across his face. "Kuririn!
Tell me...what does 'bride' mean?"
"Baka! It means you have to marry her!"
"Really?" Puzzled, the young man scratched
his head in deep thought. "I always thought it was some kind of food!"
"To get married is to spend the rest of
your life with someone!" cried Yamucha.
"Live together? Us?!" squeaked Gokou in
disbelief. "I really promised you that? Demo...who are you? What's you name?"
A smirk, and a wide smile. "Ha! If you beat
me, I'll tell you!"
"Really?" Gokou gave a sigh of relief. "I
was worried I might have to spend the rest of my life with someone who's name I
don't even know!"
"Hey! You think you've already won? I'm not
as weak as you think!" She took a battle stance and her eyes grew serious.
"Hai!" Gokou sped towards her, and she was
blown out of the ring in an instant.
She smashed against the wall, but recovered
and stood up. "I...I didn't know you were so strong! I did well to choose you
as my husband."
"Ano..."
"You still don't remember?" The girl glared
at him, intent glowing in her eyes. "I am ChiChi, the daughter of GyuuMao!"
"CHI-CHI?!"
"We need to give him a name," GyuuMao said
carefully, looking down at the floor. Gokou shrugged, but ChiChi stood up
happily.
"I've already thought of one!" ChiChi said
proudly. "Einstein! It's the name of a famous scholar."
At that, the little boy in the crib burst
out in tears. ChiChi leaned over and picked him up, rocking him gently in her
arms.
"I don't think he likes that name," her
father said.
"What ideas do you have tousan?" ChiChi
asked.
"Eh? Well, I do have a few names in mind,"
he noted, then walked over to the other end of the room and picked up a scroll.
He opened it, and the end slid along the floor, lengthy and filled from the
very top. ChiChi and Gokou looked on in wonder as he began to read out the long
list. "Gyuu Mao Taro, Gyuu Mao Suke, Gyuu Mao Noxking, Gyuu Mao Shin, Gyuu Mao
-"
"Wah!" wailed the little boy in ChiChi's
arms. Tears flew out of his eyes as he clung on to ChiChi's shirt.
ChiChi looked up from the boy to her
father, a grin across her face. "He doesn't like your names either, Tousan."
"No?" he looked down with a sigh. They each
sat down, and stayed silent in thought as the clock patiently ticked by. Gokou joined them, resting his chin on a
chair and looking straight forward. The little baby boy amused himself by
waving his chubby arms in the air and making funny noises.
Finally, both father and daughter stood up
and stared at Gokou. ChiChi looked at him straight in the eye, daring him to
cower downwards. "Gokou, have you thought about it?"
"There must be at least one name!" GyuuMao
added.
Gokou's gazing look turned serious, and he
stood up, his eyebrows locked in a respectful manner. "Hai."
Both ChiChi and GyuuMao nodded
encouragingly.
"Ano..." Sheepishly, Gokou stuck his hands
behind his head. "You know, I'm really hungry!"
Eyes opening widely, both people promptly
fell over on their faces. "Gokou!" said an angry ChiChi. What kind of nonsense
is that?! You just had breakfast!"
A kawaii giggle came from the crib and
ChiChi kept on shouting. "You're not a kid anymore! You can wait until
lunchtime!"
"Ano...gomen, ChiChi-san," Gokou
apologized, a feeling of dread creeping up against him as he watched her stern
face.
More laughs erupted from the crib, and
GyuuMao leaned over to see the little boy's happy face, smiling and giggling
happily. "ChiChi! Come here!" shouted GyuuMao.
"Nanda?!"
"Listen!" He looked intently at the small
kid. "Breakfast...ano, asagohan!"
"Heehee!" giggled the boy, waving his arms
in the air with glee, then paused in his laughter and watched his ojiisan
continue talking.
"Lunchtime...hirugohan!"
He belted out once again, innocent and
kawaii as ever. ChiChi and Gokou leaned in together as one, watching their son
go into hysterics over this one word. "Gohan!" GyuuMao cried again.
Gokou turned slowly to look at the four
star dragonball laying on top of a pillow beside the ticking clock. "Oi...just
like Ojiisan..." He picked up the little boy, and he laughed cheerfully. "Gohan...you'll
be Son Gohan...eh, and you're happy too, ne?" He held him up high and
entertained Gohan with funny noises as Gohan giggled in reply.
"Ah, Gokou-san..." ChiChi said in happy
wonder as she watched her husband and son in such a memorable moment.
The three walked quietly through the woods,
ChiChi and Gokou exchanging peaceful glances at one another while Gohan reached
out of the stroller at flowers and butterflies that flew through the air. Gokou
gently pushed the stroller with one hand, and ChiChi gasped in delight at the
sight before them. "Look, Gohan-chan! Birds!" She smiled in awe. "A family of
three of them, just like ours!"
"Hai," Gokou agreed, lifting his hand to
shade the sun from his view.
"A...ah..." Gohan's stroller steadily moved
down the path, carrying the confused boy with it.
"You see that, Gohan-chan?" ChiChi turned
to look at him. "Gohan-chan?!" she cried, as both she and Gokou turned to find
him almost twenty meters away from them, running at an incredible speed. Gohan's
cries rippled through the air as the frightened boy was carried away quickly.
Both parents rushed after him in despair, and Gokou took to the air in a quick
frenzy. Soon the boy reached a tree, his stroller crashing into it first, then
in a spark of power, came Gohan. Gokou caught him just in time, as ChiChi
rushed to the scene. "Gohan-chan! You're alright!" Gohan giggled happily in
return. "Tousan saved you."
"I didn't save him," said Gokou.
"Of course you saved him," ChiChi said,
sighing with relief before she look up with angry eyes. "But you shouldn't have
let go of your hand! You have to be more careful next time!" She looked down at
the cheerful Gohan in her arms. "You tousan is pretty outrageous, ne? Let's
leave him alone."
"ChiChi, wait!" Gokou cried as she turned
and left. "Ano...gomen..."
She was always doing that. ChiChi would be
so concerned about Gohan, and leave him out in the cold. Of course, it was
always Gokou's fault, but he couldn't help being clumsy sometimes. Gokou
sighed. But sometimes it was her strictness that made him love her, the power
she always held before him that made him respect her.
"You're
probably the only one in the world who doesn't have a license!" ChiChi
screamed.
Gokou looked behind him. "Piccolo doesn't
have one either."
"What would I do with one?!" Piccolo took
his arms out it's crossed position in protest.
"You are BOTH going to town tomorrow to the
driving school to get a license!" ChiChi shouted again, in strong demand. Fact
decided, she crossed her arms in relief. "It'd be a good chance for you to
learn a new skill."
"Na - nani?" Piccolo's face looked
terrified, his green features held up in shock.
Trying to reason, Gokou replied, "But I can't
just stop training like that!"
"I am not going to listen to your
arguments! You are both going to take a break from training and learn how to
drive!" ChiChi turned in defiance, then looked back at the two gawking
warriors. "And if you don't, I won't cook for either one of you!"
Both warriors nodded meekly, and another
battle against the great ChiChi had been lost.
Gokou sighed again. Sometimes ChiChi was
too demanding, and he never got time to do what he wanted most. But other
times...other times he should have listened to her and not go off to
train...then maybe she wouldn't be where she was right now.
"This
is so relaxing," said ChiChi, finally smiling. "I'm glad we came here."
"Hai, it's a nice place, ne?" Gokou commented, resting his elbows on
the side of the rocks. Their bodies rested in steaming hot water, and the mist
enveloped them in their own world. Gokou leaned over and removed the band
around ChiChi's bun, and she closed her eyes in relaxation.
Dipping her head backwards into the water,
ChiChi pulled up her silky, clean hair. She let her arms float on the water's
surface, savoring each moment in ecstasy. "Arigatou, Gokou-san."
"Eh? For what?"
"For bringing me here." Another smile, and
she moved up beside the muscular saiya-jin.
"Ah. Dou itashimashite, ChiChi-san!" Gokou
slipped deeper into the hot spring, hoping that Gohan was alright.
ChiChi stroked her fingers through her long
hair, closing her eyes once again. Softly, she said, "Is something disturbing
you Gokou?"
Surprised, Gokou's eyebrows hot up in
instinct. ChiChi wasn't always observant of his feelings, and she must have
been extremely relaxed to be so calm and compassionate. "Ano...I was just
hoping that Gohan was doing okay by himself."
"Gohan-chan's a good boy, I'm sure he's
doing great," ChiChi replied composedly. "I'm so happy that he decided to be a
scholar and not risk his life fighting."
Gokou smiled at his wife's serene state. It
felt to him like this was the first time since the battle with Majin Buu that they
were finally happy together. The tense wall that bordered between them was
finally broken down, and it reminded him of the time they had just gotten
married. Due to his ever-lasting saiya-jin blood, his excitement made him want
to fight rather than just relax with his wife in the nice hot spring. Which was
perfect, because he felt a familiar ki flying towards him.
"Kakarotto!" Vegeta's voice rang out. "Spar
with me."
"Great timing!" Gokou said happily, jumping
out of the spring. He bowed his head respectfully at the saiya-jin prince. "Hai,
Ouji-sama, let's go!"
"Gokou!" ChiChi screamed as he slipped on
his gi, drying himself in a second by flaring his ki. "Where are you going?!"
"Oi ChiChi, I'm going off the spar! Have
fun!" He made a quick escape with Vegeta, leaving a fuming ChiChi screaming
behind him.
"GOKOU-KUN! You just can't leave me here!
How am I going to get home?"
Vegeta looked behind his shoulder in
disgust, then at Gokou. "Can't you shut that woman up?!"
Gokou shrugged. "If you leave her alone for
a while, she quiets down. Oi, ChiChi! I'll come back to get you, so stay there!"
"Baka," Vegeta spat. "She can't hear you."
"Well, she'd have enough sense to stay
there and wait for me."
Vegeta sneered. "I don't think so. Looks
like I know her better than you do, Kakarotto."
"Eh? Gokou looked at him, puzzled. "What do
you mean?"
"Oi,
ChiChi..." Gokou's tears fell freely on to the ground, and he wept like a
broken child, something he had never done before in his life. Blindly, he
gathered up the courage to finish burying her. Each handful of soil felt like a
ton, which should have been easy, demo...it wasn't. It wasn't at all.
Small steps tiptoed behind him, and a soft
voice spoke. "Gokou-ojiisan? Are you okay?"
He wiped his tears carefully on an orange
sleeve, and looked into the distance. "Hai, Pan-chan," he replied softly. "I'm
fine."
The young girl knelt down beside him, and
looked into his vague eyes. "What were you doing ojiisan?"
"Eh? Oh...just thinking," Gokou answered
with a small smile. "Just remembering."
"Remembering obaasan?"
"Hai, remembering ChiChi-chan."
Pan looked up to the sky. "Do you think
they're watching us? Kaasan and Obaasan?"
"Ano..." Gokou began, "maybe...they'll
always be out there, somewhere..." He hugged Pan gently, and she leaned in at
the warmth of his body. "And as long as we're happy, I'm sure they will be too."
Pan nodded. "You're right. I just hope that
the satsujinsha is gone for good." She hugged Gokou tighter. "I don't want you
to leave me."
"Iie, I don't have any plans of leaving
soon either," replied Gokou.
"Good." Pan followed Gokou's outward gaze. "Sayonara,
Obaasan."
"Sayonara, ChiChi-chan," Gokou repeated
after her, finally letting go of the guilt that shielded his heart ever since
he learned his ChiChi was gone. "Sayonara....watashi wa dai anata, ChiChi-chan.
I love you."
