Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z or the characters contained (ALL except for Thrake ^_^). Somehow, I wish I was that creative. -_-;

Warning: There is cussing in this fanfic. . .plus some mushyness and violence. Mmm. . .and this is my first fan fic EVER!!!

Yeah, I know, I don't have much of an excuse for not updating in so long. -_- I'm actually quite ashamed of myself. I got a severe case of writers block for some reason and *ploop* there went all of my good ideas. But I'm back now and should be right on track! ^_^ I know there are going to be some of you out there that don't like this chapter cause you're such fans of other characters than Chi Chi and Goku, but I dun care...it's my fic...*blows kisses*

Thanks to: Princess Hikaru, Lady Nightshade, Tonibelle, Nofretete, Chi- Chi, and chello for reviewing! It's finally up guys!

Copyright 2002 Elizabeth Abbott

The Heart Made of Stone

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chapter 9 -- Family Sticks Together, Right?!

Screaming. Blood curdling, horrible screaming. Her tears stained the ground as she felt Goku's hand tighten on her shoulder. His power levels were rising steadily, but her son's well, that was disappearing. She looked up fearfully, screaming at what she now saw. Her son's body, crumbling to the ground, lifeless.

"Goku" she heard Kuririn's voice tremble "What do we do now?"

Chi Chi clinged to the side of Goku instinctively as he held his arm out in front of them. They took their cue and grabbed his arm. She felt Trunks grab onto her hand and she looked down at him. Goku took his free hand and put two fingers on his forehead. The suddenly were standing in front of their house. No Gohan, no Thrake. They had run away.

She detached herself from him and slowly walked towards the house. She felt the eyes of four men and one child stare at her, dumbfounded.

"Why didn't you fight him Goku?" she said quietly, her back to him.

"Ch...Chi Chi..." Goku said quietly.

She walked inside and shut the door. She stood there in the kitchen, unable to cry, unable to laugh ironically at the situation. Her hands were trembling, in fact her entire body was. 'I'm not this weak, I'm not!' she thought. She didn't understand why she was so scared. She had been through hell and back with Goku, seen horrible things, and had been eaten by a big pink monster. Suddenly, she felt two strong arms around her. She leaned back into them.

"You aren't ready yet honey." The soft voice came to her.

The tears came readily now. He turned her around and wiped the tears from her face. Grabbing her hand he opened it, placing the now small heart into it.

Goku leaned in and whispered into her ear. "No matter what happens, I will always love you."

She looked up at him, and before she could object, he stepped away, placed two fingers to his forehead, and was gone. She lunched forward. "Goku!" she screamed, bringing the others inside while reaching for a figure of her husband that was no longer there. Chi Chi fell to her knees, clutching the heart to her chest and crying.

She looked up at the ceiling. "I'm not going to let you do this alone Goku..." she started, with a bit of anger in her voice, surprising the others. "I'm going to fight too."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Thrake kicked the cage at his feet. "Wake up boy...I feel your daddy. Time to give him a show"

Goten stirred a little, obviously injured and not feeling well at all. Thrake had given him something, but he wasn't sure what it was. He felt all weird inside, he felt...angry...

Thrake opened the cage and let him out. Goten instantly turned super saiyan. 'It's like I can't control my own body! Mom...Dad...help me...' he thought, letting out a small cry. Thrake smirked, manipulation was so easy after making them drink niviquim from his home planet. Goten suddenly flew out of the space ship and landed in front of it, shocked to see his father.

"Goten!" Goku yelled out, obviously surprised to see him alive.

"I don't know you anymore..." Goten replied unwillingly, holding his hand out.

Goku blinked. Was this really his son talking? "Goten, what are you talking about?"

Suddenly Goku felt a sharp pain going through his body. He looked up and there was his son, firing ki blasts after ki blasts right into him. Goku, more shocked than anything, flew over to him, deflecting the ki blasts and directing them back at him. He looked up and there was Thrake, standing in the doorway of the spaceship.

"YOU!" Goku cried out.

Thrake smiled. "Return to me boy" he said with a smirk. With that Goten flew back to him. He placed a piece of Extorite into Goten's mouth, forcing him to chew and swallow it. Right before Goku's eyes, Goten grew in strength, strength unattainable by him before. Goku's eyes grew wide. 'That's...that's the stone! The stone I made Chi Chi's heart out of!' he thought

"Now..." Thrake said matter-of-factly "You die."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Chi Chi flew as fast as she could towards the spaceship, the others in tow. She knew she had to help Goku...she just had to! 'How selfish of him to try and fight that monster by himself.' she thought. She knew she was being ridiculous just thinking that but she was so angry. Why couldn't she fight? She was strong, she was able, she could do it! The spaceship came into view. She stopped suddenly, her eyes not believing what they saw.

"Chi Chi what is it?" Trunks asked coming up behind her.

"Goku...my...Goku...and my...Goten...are fighting..." she stumbled. "What...in the world...is going on??"