Son May felt strangely uneasy in Kami's chamber, in the same complex as, but unattached to, the royal palace of the Lookout. The desk was covered in books, tomes, scrolls, and all the other usual clutter of Kami's chamber.

In her heart, she remained steadfast that she had to work to defeat Piccolo and any other evil force. Earth was built on tolerance. It was a vast network of cities, and even more species, each with a distinct perspective. The only element they shared was tolerance-tolerance of one another, enough that they all had one kind.

The creation of an army by Piccolo or him ripping open a rift back into the Makai like his father had might prove unsettling, even threatening, to so many of those cities and species.

An idle thought drew May's focus to the window, and she looked inside the complex courtyard to see Popo sauntering along, watering and manicuring all of the plants and trees as if he was in control of the entire situation.

There came a sharp knock on the table, and as she turned back towards the book she had been reading, Kami tossed her a scroll.

"I want you to finish that one too." Kami said, the being who had served as her personal mentor for the last three years

Tall, old, and green-skinned, he had a steely gaze and an elderly figure only accentuated by the sheer bagginess of his white jacket, blue cape, blue shoes, and white pants, and the mere sight of Kami's stern gaze filled May with discomfort.

He was old and too serious.

"Can I stop now? I want go to Kame House and smoke a fat one with Roshi." May complained.

Kami grunted. "You need to study these tomes."

"Come on...Don't tell me you just sit up here reading all the time." May prompted, nodding toward the window and Popo watering the plants.

"There will always be evil forces. You need to be concerned. I'm here to talk to you about the security of this world."

"That is supposed to be weeks away. I want to smoke a fat one, Kami." May looked out the window.

"The sooner we do it the more time it gives us to prepare. If you want to zone out that bad finish three tomes and you can spend the rest of the day relaxing."

May didn't look enthused.

"Don't you think you smoke too much?"

"No way. That's how we make our living besides farming. I have to make sure everything is perfect."

Kami finally grunted, a sign he was losing patience.

May knew better than to argue with the stubborn fool. Since she would likely be the one to replace him as Guardian of Earth when it came time, he had the right, if not the responsibility, to badger her and get involved in everything.

And in truth, his concern pleased her, although she'd never admit it to him.

Another problem.

There was always a problem, somewhere.

May had to wonder if that was just the nature of people and beings, to create chaos and shed blood when they should have been at peace. Given that unsettling thought, Chi Chi's words, her great news, and Nia's words came back to her, along with images of Nia's twins Ryoo and Mugen, and Chi Chi's eldest son Gohan.

How she loved those three energetic, carefree little spirits!

"May..." Kami said, drawing her out of her private contemplations.

"How can I concentrate when Popo won't turn down his stupid music? How many times is he going to say peanut butter jelly?"

Kami put his head out the widow. "Use your headphones and turn it down. We are busy in here."

Popo looked at him. "You expect me to have an MP3?"

Kami growled. "I expect you to be reasonable with your taste in music and the volume. How many times do I have to remind you that my hearing is very sensitive? If you are going to try and make songs go into the room you turned into a studio."

"Too much clearly."

Kami sighed, there was no reasoning with Popo. "May and I need to discuss the security procedures and read, if you don't mind Mr Popo..."

Popo shrugged, putting on some headphones.

"That's better. Now, back to it May."

It pained May to let go of the images of Ryoo and Mugen, and Gohan, but she nodded and forced herself back into her responsible mode.

Kami had said that they had to discuss security, and so May had to discuss security.

His mind absorbed the scene before him, so quiet and calm and...

Normal.

It was the life he always wanted, a gathering of family and friends-he knew that they were just that. This was the way it was supposed to be. The warmth and the love, the peace, the laughter, and the quiet times.

The warm, inviting smiles.

The pleasant conversation.

The gentle pats on shoulders.

The great spars and tournaments.

Most of all there was the smile of his beloved wife, so happy now. When she looked at him, he saw all of that and more, saw how proud she was of him, how joyful her life had become. She moved before him, her face beaming, her hand reaching out for him to gently stroke his face.

Her smile brightened, then widened some more.

Too much.

For a moment, he thought she was becoming obsessive like she had been when they were kids and teenagers, a product of love beyond normal bounds, but the smile continued to grow, his wife's face stretching and contorting weirdly.

She seemed to be moving in slow motion.

They all did, slowing as if their limbs had become heavy.

No, not heavy.

His warm feelings turned hot.

It was as if his friends and wife were becoming rigid and stiff, as if they were becoming something less than living and breathing humans. He stared back at that smile, the twisted face, and recognized the pain behind it.

Agony.

He tried to call out to her, to ask her what she needed him to do, ask her how he could help.

Her face twisted even more, blood running from her mouth.

Her skin crystallized, becoming almost translucent, almost like glass.

She was disintegrating!

The light glistened off her crystalline highlights, the energy ran fast over her smooth surface. And her expression, a look of love and acceptance, a look that said she had done her best and that he had done his best, drove a sharp point straight into his heart.

He tried to reach out for her, tried to save her.

Cracks began to appear in the glass.

Goku jumped to a sitting position in his bed, his eyes open wide, sweat flying from his forehead and his breath coming in gasps.

A dream.

It had been a dream?

He told himself that repeatedly as he tried to settle back down on the bed.

It was all a dream.

Was it?

"Goku!" Came a call from the front of the home, the familiar voice of his wife.

He knew that he had to shake the dream away, had to focus on the events at hand, the latest sparring session with his wife or one of his friends, and eating a good breakfast, but that was a lot easier said than done.

For he saw her again, her body going rigid, crystallizing, then exploding into a million shattered shards that dissipated into dust.

He looked up ahead, envisioning his wife's smile, wondering if he should tell her about this dream, wondering if she would be able to help him with this problem. Chi Chi would be able to help. Even if they were involved in other things, in training, and farming.

Goku wanted to get to Chi Chi, as soon as possible.

He needed that kind of love now.

He needed to speak with Kami again, to hear the Guardian's reassuring words. The ancient being had always taken a great interest in him over the last nearly ten years, making sure that he and the others always got a chance to speak with him.

Goku managed to take great comfort in that now, with the terrible dream so vivid in his thoughts.

"Goku! You better not be sleeping like a log! I'm starving down here and Gohan needs help with his math work!" Came the call again from the front.

"Just a minute Chi Chi!"

"I have great news."

I sure hope it isn't fractions again...Those always give me a headache and I hate stupid exams.

Goku perked up nonetheless, opening the door. "What is it?"

"I'm pregnant!"

Goku blinked, groaning softly. They hadn't discussed having children, they had Gohan a little over three years ago, and now they were having another child, but he wasn't going to complain.

He had bigger things to worry about.

"Are you sure?"

Chi Chi's voice pitched with a good bit of fury. "I am more than sure. His name is going to Einstein."

Goku scratched at his head. "That name made Gohan cry."

It was a scene of simplicity, of children playing and adults sitting quietly under the warm sun, or gossiping across neatly trimmed hedgerows. It was a scene of absolute normalcy for the average person on Earth, but it was nothing like Rai had ever witnessed.

In the village she had grown up the houses were singular, or they were clustered tightly, with its hustle and bustle and bright colors and brighter characters.

To Rai, it was a scene of simple beauty. She was wearing normal clothes, the gi and leotard discarded. Chi Chi and Tabby walked alongside her in simple blue dresses that only seemed to enhance their beauty.

Rai smiled as she recalled the outfits Bulma and Chi Chi had often worn. Huge gowns with intricate embroidery and studded with gemstones, tremendous headpieces of plumes and swirls and curves and twists.

"There's Nia house!" The child in Chi Chi's arms cried suddenly, startling Rai from her pleasant daydreams.

She followed his gaze to see a simple but tasteful structure, surrounded, like everything in the mountains, by flowers, trees, vines, and hedges. Chi Chi started off immediately for the door, but Rai and Tabby didn't follow right away.

They studied the house, every line, every detail, trying to see in it the environment.

"Why are you two just standing there?" Chi Chi asked them from some distance ahead, when she noticed that neither was following.

"Well, I, uh...I don't know..." Tabby trailed off, not sure what else to say.

"Don't tell me you're shy!"

"No, but I-" The distracted Rai started to answer, but she was interrupted by the squeals of a little girl and a little boy, running out from the yard toward them.

"Aunt Chi! Aunt Chi!"

Her smile widened as she rushed ahead, bending low to scoop the pair, who looked to be no more than a few years old, one a bit taller than the other, into her arms.

One had hair long and brown and curly, the other, the boy, and older of the two, had black bushy hair.

"Mugen! Ryoo! I'm so happy to see you both!" Chi Chi cried, hugging them and twirling them about.

She kissed them both and set them down, then took them by the hand and led them toward Gohan.

"This is my son Gohan. These two adults you see with me are Tabby and Rai, make sure to give them proper respect now. Gohan, this is Mugen and Ryoo. Gohan, this is Mugen and Ryoo!"

The blush on the young trio as they hid their faces and shyly said hello brought a burst of laughter from Tabby and a smile to Chi Chi's and Rai's faces, though the latter was equally ill at ease as the three children with the situation.

The shyness lasted only as long as it took for them to notice Gohan playing with his thumbs, clearly a sign of his nervousness.

"Mugen and Ryoo. What do you want to be when you guys grow up?"

"I want to be strong like dad and surf like mom! I want to be cool like Goku!" Mugen replied.

"I don't know. I like helping animals, sweet bean paste, and strawberries." Ryoo answered, a small grin on her face.

"Oh boy, you guys are so silly..." Chi Chi shook her head.

"Gohan, let's play!" Ryoo shouted in glee.

They rushed around, leaping upon him, hugging him cheek to dome.

Gohan seemed equally thrilled, laughing and giggling as happily as Chi Chi had ever heard.

They couldn't help but be touched by the scene, a view of innocence that they had never known in their own lifetimes.

Tabby turned back to Chi Chi, noting that she was no longer looking her way, but had turned toward the house, where another woman, tall and strong was approaching.

She was taller, a little heavier, and a little more...

Worn

Worn was the only word Tabby could think of.

But not in a bad way.

Yes, Tabby could see it now, watching as the woman and Chi Chi hugged tightly. Chi Chi was someone this woman could become more settled and more content around, perhaps. Considering the amazing resemblance, Tabby was hardly surprised when Chi Chi introduced the woman as her best friend and sister in arms.

She was wearing one of her gis that had marked her life for the last decade and more. She was not wearing one of her Capsule Corp swimsuits that marked her as one of the best surfers on Earth.

And in that plainness, Nia only appeared more beautiful and more shining.

Chi Chi, sitting beside them on the bench swing, so obviously a close friend, was a bit older, a bit more matronly, perhaps, clothes even more plain than Nia's and with her hair a bit more well kept in a tight fitting bun.

But she was no less beautiful, shining with an inner glow equally strong.

"Did you finish your meeting with Kami?" Chi Chi asked.

It was obvious from her tone that the meeting to which she had referred to was not high on her personal wish list.

Nia looked over at her, then looked back to the playhouse where her twins, Mugen and Ryoo, and Chi Chi's son, Gohan, were all in the midst of a wild race that soon turned into a game of tag.

"It was a short meeting for the most part." Rai remarked.

"Kami had some information to pass along that he wanted me to read from one of those books, and we talked about security." Nia finished.

"About fighting again." Chi Chi stated.

Nia didn't bother to confirm the obvious. The security of Earth was the most important piece of business in many years, one that held implications for all of them, even beyond those during the dark time when King Piccolo had first made his attack, and tried to conquer Earth.

"One of us will have to step up to the plate." Tabby said.

Nia turned to her, somewhat surprised by the level of sarcasm in the tone.

"That's what we do right? Save the world?" Chi Chi asked a little too innocently.

"It's what we try to do." Nia agreed.

"It's all we try to do."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Nia asked, her face twisting with puzzlement.

Chi Chi shook her head.

"I am a master of the Turtle Style. It's my duty."

"You've fought enough, all of us have...And we probably will have more battles ahead of us, we can never allow ourselves to relax." Chi Chi said.

Nia looked back and called for Mugen and Gohan to ease up.

Chi Chi called for Gohan to ease up as well.

"You speak as if it's a bad thing. We've saved the world how many times? It's a lot better than what those people we stopped intended to do." Rai commented.

Chi Chi looked at her earnestly. "I agree. Earth is beautiful and they only wanted to take the beauty away from this world. It's a great thing-what we do..."

Nia blinked, tilting her head to the side.

Chi Chi managed to shrug. "I think May has convinced herself she is expendable, and you and everyone else are not too far behind. That goes for you both as well, Rai and Tabby."

"Chi Chi, May is training to be Guardian one day. It's not the same thing as you are saying." Tabby looked torn between confusion and embarrassment.

"It's true. You, Goku, May, Krillin, all of us give and give and give and give. How much has May given? Don't you ever want to take, just a little?"

Nia's smile showed that her words hadn't caught her off guard. "Take what? I have two beautiful children and a strong, handsome husband who isn't intimidated by my height."

Chi Chi looked back to Mugen, Ryoo, and Gohan. "Look at those three rascals. I seen the sparkle in your eyes when you used to help children when we were younger. I seen how much love Rai and Tabby have to offer when we were younger. I see the love in your eyes when you watch your twins. I know how much you love them."

"Of course I do!" Nia said.

"Wouldn't you like May to have children of her own? What about you two?" Chi Chi asked.

Nia crossed one leg over the other, sighing softly. "You just like to fluster her. She won't do it right now, Chi Chi. She has been working very hard with Kami towards something that she deeply believes in. The role of Guardian isn't one to take lightly."

"I can't raise a kid. I have enough with just getting myself out of bed on time." Tabby remarked.

Chi Chi turned her direct gaze onto Rai.

"You keep forgetting that Tabby and I are Yokai. We are not the same as you earthlings. We don't have family ties like that, normally at least."

Chi Chi shook her head. "After the next threat, when the damages are far behind, you, May, Goku, or one of us will find something else to deeply believe in, some other villain or evil menace to extinguish because they are evil...Something else that's really important. Something that concerns the Earth and maybe even the whole universe or galaxy, more than it really concerns any single one of us."

"If there is such a threat, we have to take care of it." Rai said.

"I know. However, when will we just be able to do something for ourselves?"

Tabby shrugged easily. "I've always been a little more self indulgent than everyone else, and I can be completely selfish. Of course I like to live my life in peace and take naps, but everyone and everything deserves the same peace we want."

"You know what I mean."

Nia gave a little laugh and a shake of her head, and turned back to Mugen, Gohan, and Ryoo. "Are all women to be defined by their children? Are all women to be defined by the fact they have children?"

"Sounds like a big headache to me. I will never understand earthlings. I'm not cut out to be a housewife. The idea of chasing after a brat doesn't appeal to me." Rai shook her head, unable to see herself being so docile in her life.

"Of course not. We spend time worrying about the problems of other people, we could get sidetracked with this planet's dispute with that planet, or whether this one is acting fairly toward that one. All of our energy is being thrown out there to try to make the lives of everyone else better."

"What's wrong with that? As powerful Martial Artists and Warriors of the Turtle Style, it is our sworn duty to defend the weak from those who abuse their power." Nia replied.

"What about your life?" Chi Chi asked in all seriousness.

"What about you, Chi Chi? Have you even thought about what might name your second son or first daughter? Most women who have been pregnant as long as you would have spilled the beans by now. I know you get satisfaction in surprises being spoiled." Tabby retorted.

"Have you even wondered what it might be like for you to settle down and concern yourself with those things that will make your own life fuller?"

Nia watched her son and daughter flying about the backyard of the house with Gohan, now jumping all about a jungle gym. None of them were going to retort that their lives didn't need to be any fuller.

Somehow that seemed hollow in this particular moment.

For the first time in many days, Nia's thoughts roamed free of her responsibilities, free of the important meeting concerning security on earth in a month's time again.

None of it could filter through the whimsical song that Mugen, Gohan, and Ryoo were making up about the sky, a tortoise close by, and trees.

Chi Chi smiled softly, gently rubbing her stomach. "How did you know I'm pregnant. I only told Goku. Are you psychic or something?"

"You tend to get flustered and ask a lot of questions when you're excited at times. Remember what you told me when we were younger? You couldn't say 'I am in love with Goku' without stuttering or turning red? That was so cute, I can see Gohan is so bashful because of you."

"Tabby!"

"You're also talking about children again, when you usually just make sure Gohan is studying and not rough housing too much around the house with Goku or one of the guys." Rai reminded.

"Am I that obvious?"

Nia wasn't sure if obvious was the word-crazy, high strung-those were two words that described Chi Chi quite well.

"Have you thought of a name?" Nia pressed on, careful not to call her crazy.

Chi Chi blinked, looking towards the sky with a wide smile. A wide smile that made Nia a little uncomfortable, and remember that this was the same woman that tried to flirt with Yamcha when she had just been a little brat.

"You are scaring me with that smile, Chi Chi." Rai admitted, inching away from the woman.

Chi Chi's smile grew even more.

"That is just..." Tabby trailed off again, not sure what to say.

"If I have a boy, I was thinking of naming him Goten or Einstein. Maybe Apollo would be a better fit for him. There is also William. If I have a little girl, I was thinking of naming her Cleopatra. I've also thought of naming her Tama or maybe Keiko."

"Your son will cry if you name him Einstein just like Gohan did. William is lame, and Keiko is such a dorky name." Rai joked.

Chi Chi blew out a little. "It's a fitting name for my second intelligent little boy. We named our first Gohan, but I think this time it is going to be Einstein. He's going to be an amazing scholar when he grows up and break the boundaries."

"Awww, he's not going to take after Goku and fight? Gohan likes to study a lot." Tabby whined, resting her chin on her arm.

Chi Chi shook her head, she had long accepted Tabby's playful and energetic nature. "I don't want him spending his whole life fighting. Goku is as dense as a log. He thinks when I say I'm starving that I am talking about food. I want my little boy to be educated and refined."

"And, to know dirty puns." Tabby commented.

"Is that all you got from that?" Chi Chi blinked wide, before frowning.

"Lighten up a little Chi Chi."

"Goku isn't the only one as dense as a log. You were really going to name your daughter Keiko, shame on you Chi Chi." Rai shook her head.

"Get over it. Keiko is a great name."

"A great name for a wimpy girl."

"What would you suggest, Mrs eloquence?"

Rai rolled her eyes. "Well, there is Rin. Fuu is also a good name. Tama is also good, but Keiko is just a hell no."

"Fuu sounds like a troublemaker name."

"Exactly."

Nia called for Mugen, Ryoo, and Gohan to come by them. She only listened to the two partially as they bantered, with Rai calling Chi Chi a wimp eventually.

The trio of children ran forward without question, stopping once they were within arm's reach.

"Mom can we have snack?" Ryoo asked.

Nia smiled, shifting so that she could reach down and grab her bowl of fruit and basket of food. She set it on the bench, scooting over a few inches. Ryoo always enjoyed eating fruit and strawberries were her favorite. Mugen and Gohan took handfuls of blueberries and raspberries, enjoying the sweet but bitter taste of them. Chi Chi and Tabby both took an orange, peeling the skin off before dividing it.

Rai didn't indulge in the sweet fruit. She preferred meat, and since she did have very sharp teeth, it was only fitting that she should eat meat. Tabby was a little too carefree and willing to blend in with the humans too much, always had been.

"I know you prefer to eat meat." Nia looked apologetic, but still gave Rai a small basket of meat.

"I like fruit. I had to learn how to like it before." Tabby said, taking a rather large blue fruit from the basket.

"You're always good to me, Nia. Such a kind soul." Rai said lightly, accepting the gift basket.

Chi Chi realized watching and experiencing this, that regardless of the fact they were human and Yokai, no matter what happened they would always enjoy their peace, fight for it whenever it was threatened, and they would never take it for granted.

Someone would always step up, it was a matter of duty and fundamentals after all.

Earth wasn't a world full of cowards.