Dragon Ball: Makafushigi Adventure

By Reid M. Haynes

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball and all characters within are the property of Akira Toriyama, TOEI ANIMATION, and various other companies. I am using them without permission, and I am making no money off of them.

Legend:
( ) Denotes thoughts.

Tale 8: It Gets Tough, Part 2

*****

Just like that, Bulma was gone.

Goku was left alone for the second time that day. But this hurt far worse than Trunks' unexpected departure. It felt like someone had taken his heart and smashed it between closed fingers. It felt cold, and that wasn't just the draft breaking in through the broken wall. It was an intrinsic chill, a quiet, deathly icicle that prodded his emotions and penetrated any peace that existed within.

"But..." Goku thought out-loud. "Trunks said...that she loved me too." A bittersweet taste was filling the emptiness in his soul. After all he had been through on this trip, Bulma had left again, maybe for the last time. The thrill of traveling with friends and learning new things was already establishing itself as a forgotten memory. Although now, it very well wouldn't matter if it happened at all.

A sound woke Goku from his reverie, jerking his conscious out of his head. He looked around himself in confusion. He had completely lost track of time during his morbid contemplation. And, by the feel of the life energy emanating from the figure before him, he had lost touch with the world around him.

Goku rubbed his eyes, and attempted to get a better look at his new visitor.

And then reality hit him like a slap to the face.

In front of him, perhaps no more than three feet away, was a young woman in a purple Chinese dress. Her black hair was wrapped into a small bun behind her head, and loose bangs shadowed her dark eyes.

(Those dark eyes. They're so sad.) For the first time, Goku read her expression. (Sad with regret, and burdened with knowledge.)

Yet still, she managed to keep a smile on her face, albeit a sad one. It was a loving smile, one with pride, and one with loneliness.

"Hi, Goku," Chichi said.

*****

Five minutes later, the couple was seated in the den, the long table acting as a divider between them. Separated by this wooden wall, husband and wife sat estranged and in silence. On the table were two cups of hot tea, still steaming vibrantly and filling the space between them with a light haze.

Goku sat quietly, staring at his wife with trepidation. Chichi was not looking at him, neither was she speaking with him. She just kept her eyes trained on her teacup, gazing at it like it was the only object she could possibly be concerned with. Periodically, she would bring the cup to her lips and take a long, quiet sip from the rim. When she did, a small wave of smoke would veil her features, clouding up his perception of her to the point where he could no longer make out her expression.

All the while, the absolute quiet kept growing, creating a sense of death in the broken-down building. The torn walls of Vegeta's ire stood testimony to the darkness that was slowly growing in Goku's soul. And, although the sun shone brilliantly through the clouds, it did nothing more than cast a shadow over their forms, setting gloomy, despondant tones to their features.

Yet Goku remained quiet, waiting until his wife was ready. Though he was rather tactless at times, he knew that he wouldn't be saying the first word. This would be her speech, and hers alone.

And, somehow, he knew that she knew. About everything.

A cold shiver ran though Goku's bones, though the room was warm enough. He still didn't touch his tea, but sat there lethargic, bearing the icy dread as best he could, though his eyebrow twitched compulsively.

He was getting desperate. He wanted Chichi to say something to him, to yell at him, to slap him, anything but this torture she was giving him. Just quietly drinking her tea, as if this was just a normal meeting between husband and wife. As if nothing was wrong, nothing whatsoever.

As if his entire world wasn't being torn before his very eyes.

After a little bit more of eternity, Chichi finally placed the empty cup on the coaster, making a small clicking sound upon impact. She moved her left hand slowly to her right, overlapping them on the tabletop. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her features relaxed, as if in prayer. Her manner was totally serene and peaceful, and leaked no hidden animosity towards anyone. Totally introverted, like a monk sacrificing himself in honorable suicide.

Finally, she pursed her lips, and let her words flow from her soul.

"I guess it's really my fault," she said quietly. "Throughout our time together, I've been so selfish. I was never really satisfied with the flaws you had, so I kept trying to change you, mold you into my own image of what Son Goku should be like. I held you down, and I'm sorry for that."

Goku said nothing to acknowledge her apology, and Chichi showed no acknowledgement of his confusion. Both of them stayed as they were, waiting for her to speak once more.

"When we were children," she started up again. "Your charm had captivated me right from the beginning. That smile of yours, and your can-do attitude that could accomplish anything. But..." she took a short breath to calm her nerves. "...as time went on, your image was mutilated by my own fanciful dreams of what romantic life should be like. I was so blinded by my own misperceptions that I began to make up your personality almost from scratch, guided by the very little I knew and loved about you."

"I treasured these mirages, building onto them over the years. My hopes kept growing, hopes that I would finally have the storybook romance I desperately wanted. So when we finally met again, I was determined to make you mine, and keep you forever." And finally she raised her head and opened her eyes, letting Goku see the tears stream from her face. "I never even stopped to consider that you didn't love me back."

Goku had no idea what to say to her, to deny it, or actually agree with her. So he said nothing, and let her continue.

"During the car trip over here, I had a lot of time to think, about the past, the present, and where our married life will take us. I was in search of truth and, for the first time, I took the blinds off my eyes, and let the world come to me as it truly was."

"But it wasn't until I heard you talk with Bulma, that I knew what to do." She looked down at the empty teacup, searching for any last morsel of broth left in the container. "But now I do."

Chichi's features hardened. A resolution grew on her face, the same resolution there when she first entered the Tenkaichi Budokai to win Goku's heart. A battle-ready hardness that could take as well as it could give, prepared for the hard knocks of combat.

Then she forced out the words.

"I release you."

"What?" Goku stared at her wide-eyed. "Chichi, what are you saying?" he asked her, disbelieving.

"I release you," she repeated, only this time her voice began to crack. "I realize now that I forced you into this marriage unwillingly. You never truly knew what you were getting into with me, but you agreed anyway out of your honor. So I'm protecting your honor...by letting you go."

Her mouth turned upwards into a smile, but Goku could tell it was false. "You're free to roam the world at your desire and free to pursue the heart that loves you." The mask of calmness started to shatter, and a single tear fell down her cheek. "And the heart you love as well."

Their was no question about who "the heart that loved him" was. Yet, there was no accusation in her voice. No anger, no denial, none of the reactions he expected out of Chichi. Just a sad acceptance of the unchanging truth. That Goku loved another.

(So this is it) Goku closed his eyes. (We go our separate ways.)

No anger, no denial.

Just goodbye.

"Chichi!" Goku leapt up over the table, knocking his teacup over the polished wood. In one quick stride he had reached the door, and caught Chichi's hand just as it was to grasp the knob. He quickly pulled her around to face him, and rested his own hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look him in the eye.

"Goku...?" Her eyes lit up with surprise, and her shoulders moved back against his weight, though they did not resist his hold.

"I'll change!" he suddenly screamed out, his eyes turning frantic. "I'll stop training so much, and I'll chew withmy mouth closed. I'll do things right this time! Please, Chichi!" -he clutched her shoulders harder, almost shaking her. "Just tell me what to do!"

Chichi's retained her bewildered gaze for a moment more, then, her eyes started to mist over. With her irises gleaming, she rose her hand from her side and lay it to rest on Goku's chest. She opened her mouth jut a bit, and tilted her head upwards to his. As her eyes started to closed, they released a few spare tears left over, which twinkled through the air before pelting the floor, just as her lips met his.

Goku was shocked by this contact, and also by the fierce electricity that saturated his own lips. Chichi's kisses were always unexpected, possibly because of how few they shared together. When she did land one on him, it made him feel uncomfortable, inclining him to bolt, or throw out some cheap excuse to get away.

But Goku didn't resist this one at all. Instead, he slid his hand up her neck and intertwined it within her ebony locks. His other hand swirled around her waist and crushed it to his body. He returned her kiss with all the love he ever felt for her, breathing it into her mouth with an almost manic fervor, trying to make up for all the wrong he had done her in the past, and trying to show her that they could have a future.

But whatever he was trying to prove with his kiss, it wasn't enough. And just as soon as it started, it was over.

Chichi stepped back from Goku and against the doorframe, this time a real smile melted onto her face. "Thank you, Goku," she said, sniffling in spite of herself. "Thank you for showing me I was right about you." With her hand, she wiped her eyes free of teardrops. "You are truly the fairytale prince of my dreams." She turned around, and opened up the doorway. "But I am not your princess."

Chichi walked out of the doorway, and the sunrays hit her form, illuminating it like a maiden's ghost. She traveled through the golden light at a normal pace, not too fast, not too slow, and reached the old family car.

Goku looked at the vehicle, and saw an open travel bag in the backseat Though the top, he could see a variety of mementos protruding from it. There were a couple of family photos, some miscellaneous trinkets, even that old boomerang hat she had used as a child.

All the items of any sentimental value, she had taken with her. It showed that, deep down inside, she had known that she wouldn't be returning with Goku.

Then, Goku's gaze turned to the front seat. A young boy of twelve sat there, with spiky black hair cut close to his head. He had dark eyes, and tough looking features, though they didn't detract from his good-natured disposition. Right now, his eyes were staring at his mother, who was opening up the car door. When the door shut, the boy turned his head, and moved his focus to the man waiting just beyond the Capsule House's doorframe.

Gohan locked eyes with his father for just a moment. In that moment, a thousand emotions flashed between the space separating them: disbelief, anger, confusion, vengeance...

But in the end, it resigned itself to only one: regret.

Goku's son looked at him for a moment more, then raised his hand in the typical Son family salute, a single drop rolling down his cheek.

"Goodbye," he mouthed through the glass.

The engine of the car started to rumble slowly, then sped up quicker and quicker. Slowly, the wheels of the vehicle started to rotate, moving it ever so slowly away from the Capsule House, towards the mountain road leading off into the rest of the world.

Goku caught the gaze of his wife and son one more time in the rear-view mirror. Their eyes were filled with silent messages, and he could tell that they were watching his eyes as well.

For one more moment, Goku stared at Chichi and Gohan.

Then, the car bolted off onto the dirt road, moving faster and faster by the second. It got smaller and smaller, until
Goku could no longer make out the passengers. Soon, it was nothing more than a pinprick on the landscape, and soon it melted into the crisp blue, horizon.

Then, it was gone.

*****

Fifteen minutes past, Goku was still staring at that mountaintop where his family had disappeared. He stood perfectly still, not moving an inch from where he stood watching them go. He squinted his eyes, trying to imagine the last image he had of his wife and son, but found that it was fading fast, like the faces of many people. Still he persisted, trying to keep their memory alive.

And when the image finally left him, the rush of emotions hit him all at once. An unbelievable pain hit him straight in the gut, maximizing the bruises Vegeta had dealt him only a half-hour ago. Bulma's departure jolted into his head, and he was forced to watch her leave again and again. Chichi's sad yet yielding eyes as she stepped aside. And Gohan's silent farewell, a million emotions all poured into one word.

"Goodbye."

The overwhelming tide surged within him. It sparked like live wire, electrocuting his arms, sending slow spasms through his muscles. It was uncontrollable, all dominating.

So Goku did the only thing he could. He let go.

"Damn it!" he yelled, and rammed his fist straight into a nearby boulder. The rock shattered into a million shards of graphite, crackling against his body harmlessly. Pulling the shaking hand away, he moved towards another other boulders, and smashed that one too. And the one sitting next to it. And the one behind that one.

"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMN IT!" With a livid rage, Goku continued his rampage, destroying any obstacle in sight. He ripped up a tree stump and crushed it between his palms. He took a bush and burnt it with a ki blast. Every act of destruction yielded another obscenity from him as let loose all the frustration that had built up within him.

Minutes passed, and Goku had demolished every large object in the plain. But he couldn't stop, he felt just the same. "Everything is gone..." he said, his voice fluctuating wildly. "Everything..." His hand pulled out Nyoibo, twisting it horizontally. With its customary red flash, the staff stretched one-meter left and right.

Goku grasped Nyoibo with two hands.

"Everything...is GONE!!!"

And with a cry, he brought the rod crashing toward his knee, snapping it in two. He swung his arm crazily and let go, sending one of the segments careening towards the ground. He then repeated the process with the other one, flinging it close by its brother.

"rrrRRRAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" The bloodcurdling scream was that of an animal, tearing its way out of his throat with an insane fervor. Goku's eyes were unfocused and lacked all lucidity, glazed over with mind numbing self-hatred. For that moment, he was truly nothing more than a beast.

After that moment, he crashed to the ground. His knees broke his fall by a fraction, and kept Goku's face from burying itself in the dirt. But it didn't matter anyway, for he lowered his head anyway. His breathing was ragged, and his throat was sore from the hollering. He coughed twice, staring at the grass.

Then he noticed something. The ground beneath his eyes was becoming muddy, with small pools of liquid forming on the dirt between the grass blades. He blinked, and then caught the image of a single drop of water falling onto the plain, embedding itself into the soft earth, where it would remain.

(Are those…my tears?)