The Treasure of Power

Disclaimer:                     Dragonball's not mine.

A/N:                                 So, here's the second part of Surprise! I hope you'll like it! I've now corrected some mistakes!

Chapter 4: "Surprise - Part Two"

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With each step that brought Goku nearer to her room, he felt the growing urge to just turn around and run away. He wasn't ready to face her. Everything came too sudden. He had never expected to see her at the palace. And he had never expected that she had become a mother. All the pain from the day he found out that she was married and the memories of that night were still too fresh.

Six years earlier…

Goku and his friends had been back from their first real mission for about a week, when they got an invitation for a ball at the palace. That itself was nothing unusual, because everyone knew that Lord Briefs' wife really enjoyed having parties every couple of weeks. But Goku had the strange feeling that something was going on. He had heard a rumor that it was again one of these party, at which the Lord and his wife tried to find a suitable husband for their daughter and Goku didn't like how the servants at General Kaiou's mansion and the General self tried to make sure that he really looked good. They forced him to wear his best uniform and they were all unusually excited. That could just mean one thing!

When he, Krillin, Yamcha, Tenshinhan and Chao-Zu were sitting in the carriage and on their way to the palace, Yamcha spoke out what everyone was thinking. "Okay, guys… What do you think? Who will be the lucky one?" he asked jokingly.

Goku sighed. "I guess that would be me."

His friends stared at him. "Uhm, Goku," Krillin said hesitating. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, everyone was acting strange around me lately, especially today. And you know how the General always said that Bulma and I would fit perfectly together, since I know her since we were kids, even though she's a few years older. I'm Son Gohan's grandson. I got one of the best educations I could get, I am strong, I know how to fight, I am one of the General's best men and I have my own ship and crew with nineteen years. That's something no one has ever done before," Goku told them, while he was looking out of the window, watching the landscape passing by.

"And do you want that?" Tenshinhan now wanted to know.

Goku shook his head and looked at his friends. "Hell no! First of all, Bulma and I are just friends, not more. And secondly I don't think that I'm ready to make such a commitment. I'm still young and I want to enjoy my life as much as possible. I'm not planning to fall in love anytime soon."

At the palace the five friends were standing at the buffet, watching the other people dance. Lord Briefs and his wife were joining the other guests on the dance floor, but until now, none of them had spotted Bulma anywhere. The longer he was there, the more Goku got the feeling that his suspicions were right. Everyone was looking at him strangely, as if they knew something he didn't and Lord Briefs had already talked to him about what he had done in the last three years, since he'd last seen him. The Lord even told him how proud he was that Goku had so much success in his young years. 

Goku wondered if Bulma knew about this, but made a mental note to talk to her as soon as she arrived. And he didn't need to wait long. Just a few minutes later the music was stopped and everyone was looking at the entrance of the ballroom, when two young women entered. He recognized the first one as Bulma. She was still a beautiful woman and hadn't changed much since he last saw her.

But who was the other woman? She was gorgeous. She was wearing a deep purple dress and her long black hair was tied up with some flowers, letting just her bangs frame her beautiful face.

He felt his throat go dry, when her black eyes rested on him. He saw her nudging Bulma slightly and whispering something to her behind her gloved hand. The women laughed and then came walking towards them.

"Hey Goku," he heard Krillin say, "do you have any idea who this woman is?"

"No… I have no idea…"

"Hello Goku! Krillin!" Bulma greeted them. "It's been a long time!"

"Hello Bulma! How are you doing?" Krillin asked her.

"Well, I'm fine! And what about you guys? Goku, I've heard that you've got your own ship?"

"Yeah…" he said, momentarily being able to look away from ChiChi. "Her name's Kintoun. Oh, and this is my crew." Goku pointed to the other young men. "Those are Chao-Zu, Tenshinhan and Yamcha. Guys, this is Bulma and…"

The black haired woman began to scowl at him, when he looked at her questioning. "Don't tell me you don't remember me. I haven't hung around you guys often, but I thought that you would still know me. I'm ChiChi, Gyuu Mao's daughter."

"ChiChi?!" Goku and Krillin asked disbelieving.

"You're ChiChi? The little daughter of Gyuu Mao?" Goku asked and then smiled. "Wow, you've changed a lot."

ChiChi just wanted to say something, as Bulma's mother came up to them. "Oh, Goku! I see you've already met Bulma!" She took their hands and pulled them away from the buffet. "Why don't you two dance?" She winked at them and then waved to the orchestra. The music started again and the two friends didn't have another choice than to dance.

Bulma growled. "I really hate her sometimes…"

Goku looked at her startled. He had been thinking of ChiChi. "What?"

"I mean I knew that something was up again. Especially after mom didn't want to tell me the reason for this party. I had this strange feeling that she and dad wanted to try again and set me up with someone. I almost accepted that, but that they had to get you involved in this makes me want to kill them. I thought they knew that we are just friends!"

Goku smiled, trying to cheer her up. "You weren't the only one who thought that something was up. I already guessed that they wanted to try it with me this time. But hey! At least you don't have to dance with someone you barely know."

Bulma smiled. "Yeah right… By the way… Your friend Yamcha, is he still single?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You threw a look at Yamcha? Well, yeah, he is still single. And he's really okay, but I don't think that your father would approve of him. You must know, he was a bandit before he came on my ship."

Bulma laughed. "You're still the same Goku who left three years ago. Always willing to give other people a chance. Well, at least he isn't some evil pirate who breaks into the palace, steals something and then decides to kidnap me…"

As they continued dancing, Bulma noticed that Goku was really often looking at her friend, who was still standing at the buffet. "And I see that you're starting to fall for ChiChi," she teased him. Goku looked at her with a surprised look on his face. "It's so obvious Goku… Come on, go to her and ask her to dance. You don't have to dance with me just because my mom dragged us here."

"But the orchestra is still playing…" he said, taking a worried glance at the people around them.

"I don't care what the others are thinking of me. Since when do you? And now go!"

Goku had to admit, he had never been so nervous before. He felt his throat going dry again, as he approached the dark haired beauty. "Uhm, ChiChi?" he said, trying to get her attention. She looked up and he almost sighed with relief, as he saw her expecting eyes. "Would you like to dance with me?"

Smiling, she took his hand. "Of course."

They danced for what seemed like an eternity for them. None of them being able to take the eyes off the other. They first stopped, when the orchestra took a pause. Goku bowed to her and led her away from the dance floor.

"ChiChi? What do you think of going somewhere, so that we can do some catching up? And to be honest, I don't like being in the middle of so many people… They always make me a bit edgy."

"Okay. We could go the guestroom that was prepared for me. No one would disturb us there," ChiChi agreed shyly.

ChiChi led him to her room and they went to her balcony, to get some air. The night sky was starlit and the air was pleasantly fresh. For the next few minutes, they stood there next to each other in silence. "They are beautiful, aren't they?" ChiChi suddenly said.

Goku nodded. "Yes, they are… But they are even more beautiful when you look at them at sea. First then you realize how big everything around you is. There's just your ship, the endless sea and the endless sky. I could lie on deck and watch them for hours." He turned to her and looked into her eyes. "ChiChi, I'm really sorry that I didn't recognize you, but you've changed so much. You've become the most beautiful woman I have ever seen."

ChiChi blushed and wanted to turn away from him, but she was lost in his dark eyes. "Really?"

"Did I ever lie to you?" he asked her smiling. ChiChi blushed even more, as Goku lifted his right hand and began to stroke her cheek. "The guys will never believe me, when I tell them this," he whispered, as he leaned forward.

"Tell them what?" ChiChi asked breathlessly.

"That I've fallen in love," he told her and caught her lips in a soft and tender kiss.

"Let's go inside…" She took his hand and led him to her bed, lying down on it.

Goku crawled on top of her and placed butterfly kisses along her neck. "Are you sure you want this?"

As answer she pulled his head down and kissed him. This time with more passion. "More than you could imagine."

Present…

Goku had arrived at the door to her room. The only thing he had to do now was knocking at it. He raised his hand, but hesitated. Come on, Goku, he scolded himself, you're one of the strongest men in this city, maybe even in this country. He took a deep breath and knocked lightly at the door. Shortly after he heard a faint 'Come in' and opened the door. And there she was. Sitting at the table in the middle of the room. The door to the terraces was open and you had a perfect view over the garden of the palace. "Hello ChiChi…" he said uneasily.

"Goku…" She got up and motioned to the other chair at the table. "Please, sit down."

"No, thank you. I'd rather like to stand." ChiChi nodded and sat back down, while Goku walked over to the open door, looking outside. Far off he could see the boy, Gohan, playing, or was that training? For the next few minutes, none of them said anything. "He's good. He has a lot of talent…" Goku said, trying to break the tension, but still standing with his back to her.

ChiChi allowed a small smile to pass her lips. "He got it from his father…"

"So his father is a fighter," he stated. "Is he good?"

"Many people consider him as the best," ChiChi told him.

"Really? Is your husband at the palace? I really would like to meet him."

"My husband is dead," she said quietly. "He had caught a heart disease while I was pregnant and died shortly after Gohan's birth."

"What?" Goku asked confused, turning around to face her. "But didn't you just say that his father…"

ChiChi took a deep breath. That what she wanted to say now was really hard for her. "You're his father, Goku," she said, trying to keep a steady voice.

Goku just stared at her, slowly digesting the information he just got. What did she just say? He should be the father of the boy? The father of ChiChi's son? Now that he thought of it, there was some resemblance between him and Gohan.

ChiChi got up and walked up to Goku. "You've heard right. You're Gohan's father," she told him. "Shortly after you had to leave so sudden, I found out that I was pregnant. I didn't know what I should do then, so I talked to Bulma, but she also couldn't help me. I was devastated. Me, daughter of Gyuu Mao, had slept with a man before her marriage and got pregnant. And the father of the child was on sea not knowing anything. I knew that this would destroy the honor of my family and I would have killed the baby, before someone else found out, if my father hadn't presented me this man shortly after I found out about the pregnancy. He was young, rich and decent, so I did what probably every young woman would have done at my place – I agreed to marry him. Just two weeks after his proposal we got married. I was about one month along at that time. I waited for another month before I told him that I was pregnant, letting him think that he was the father. Everything went smooth, until he suddenly got ill. The doctor said that it was a heart disease, unable to cure. That was his death sentence. He became steadily weaker as the months of my pregnancy passed by and in my ninth month, he could just lie in his bed. The doctor gave him morphine against the pain and I think that just one thing kept him alive: He wanted to see the baby before he died. And just two days after Gohan was born, he passed away."

When ChiChi stopped talking, the room was again filled with silence for the following minutes. "Did you love him?" Goku suddenly wanted to know.

ChiChi shook her head sadly. "No, I've never loved him. He was a real gentleman and I could tell that he loved me. But my heart belonged and still belongs to you, Goku. You were the first love of my life and I couldn't stop loving you. I'm so sorry that I hurt you so much. I really wanted to wait for you. I wanted to start a family with you after your mission, but as I found out about Gohan, I just had no other choice. I still want to start a family with you, but just when you still feel something for me. I want Gohan to grow up with his father." She took a step closer to Goku. "Goku, I've never stopped loving you. But my question is: Do you still love me?"

Goku looked down at her. Down at the most beautiful woman on this world. The mother of his son. It was true, she had hurt him, but now he could understand her motives. She really had no other choice and she did what was best for Gohan. A smile crept on his face. "I still love you ChiChi, and I'd really like to start a family with you and Gohan."

A tear ran down ChiChi's cheek. "Is that true?"

"Did I ever lie to you?"

The tears became more and ChiChi collapsed crying against his chest. Goku gently put his arms around her and hugged her tightly, stroking her back all the time. As she had calmed down, he let go of her and lifted her chin. He carefully leaned forward and kissed her softly.

When they broke apart, a huge grin appeared on his face. "I still can't believe it. I'm a daddy…"

Suddenly they heard a scream coming from the garden. ChiChi looked outside and saw what was going on. "Gohan!"

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