Chapter Seven

Quietly stepping out of the car, Chichi closed the door and looked up at the house. She wondered if he was waiting inside…

Taking a deep breath, she walked up to the door and let herself in.

"Mom!" Goten exclaimed as he ran up to her. So relieved his mother was alright, he hugged her waist lovingly. Taken aback, but also warmed by her son's welcome, she put her arm around him.

"Where have you been?" he asked while quickly grabbing her hand and gently pulling her down the hallway.

"Oh, just out" she said, following Goten through the house. Suddenly feeling someone tap on her shoulder she instantly turned around to see who it was.

"Mom, I need to ask you something," Gohan said quietly. Suddenly stopping, Goten also turned around.

"Can I listen?" he asked innocently.

"No…this is between me and mom, sorry" Gohan looked down to Goten, hoping he would understand.

Slowly releasing his tight grip on Chichi's hand, Goten watched as she and Gohan went into another room.

"What is it?" she asked, curious as to what was concerning her eldest son. Gohan lowered his head, worried.

"When I got home today, Goten told me that he found you crying in the kitchen…"

Chichi bit her lip. She prayed that he didn't know.

"…he then went to get dad, but when they came back he said you were gone…then dad went out looking for you"

He looked up at her.

"Is there something that Goten and I should know?"

Chichi laughed nervously.

"No…it was just a…a little argument, that's all"

Gohan didn't look very convinced.

"Are you sure, I mean has dad done anything wrong?"

Chichi raised her eyebrows.

"No, no…well, nothing extreme" she laughed, hiding the truth. She hated herself for lying to him, but she just couldn't bring herself to tell him.

Gohan smiled, relieved.

"For a second there I thought it was something worse…" he stopped.

"Like what?" Chichi asked quietly. Gohan shook his head, smiling.

"Nah, it's nothing…I'm just glad it wasn't anything bad"

"No. Tell me. What did you think was going to happen?" she asked seriously.

"I thought you and dad were going to separate, because of something he might of done wrong" he answered reluctantly. If that ever did happen to this family, everybody would be torn apart.

Chichi looked down to the floor.

"Is he home?"

Gohan shook his head.

"Look mom, if you're still arguing with dad, and you need me at all…I'll be there"

Chichi smiled gratefully and placed a hand on the side of his face. She could see traces of Goku in him.

Like father, like son.

Slowly she turned around and looked out the window. It had begun to rain.

"I'm just going outside…" she said calmly.

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Walking alone towards his house, Goku looked up at the gray sky as it poured down on him. He closed his eyes and dreaded another argument that he knew would come sooner or later. For what seemed like an eternity for a day, he thought of her once again, and longed for her to be in his arms.

He wanted to make everything up to her, but he wasn't sure how. In the end he just wanted her to be happy. He wanted them to be happy, like they used to be.

Opening his eyes, he looked ahead of him and saw her standing there in the distance, the rain silhouetting her. The closer he stepped towards her, the more beautiful she became.

Finally standing only a few yards apart, he knew that he had to tell her how truly sorry he was, and that he desperately wanted her to forgive him.

Without even looking up, Chichi knew he was right by her. Both of them stood there, soaked in the rain, aware of each other's presence, lost in an awkward silence.

Opening his mouth to say something, Goku suddenly stopped as Chichi looked up at him and stated five simple yet very distinct words.

"Get out of my house"

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Author's Note: To me this chapter feels a bit like chapter 5; I'm not quite sure if it's a huge requirement for the storyline but it shows the relationship between characters other than Chichi and Goku. I guess it's also needed for the main resolution of this fic, which is just around the corner…

Anyway, hope you liked it. I now return to stressing over the damn ending! Ahhh! Oh well, I think I'll manage…it should be out later this week – Oh yeah, thank you so much for reviewing my fic so far ^_^

- Lola