Chapter 8: Closer

Summary: The Son Family makes a very startling discovery very early one morning and Chichi doesn't cope well. It's bad news when a Saiyan wont eat!

The Next Morning

Something jolted me out of a deep sleep and I sat bolt upright, my heart pounding out of my chest.

Chichi yelped as she sat up. "Goku! What's going on?"

Groggy and confused, I was vaguely aware of a thump down the hall immediately followed by quick footsteps toward our room.

I rubbed my eyes. "I… don't really know. Something startled me pretty badly. It was probably just a–"

A presence barged into my head. Goku!

My head snapped up at the sound of that familiar voice at the same time as Gohan charged into our room – his eyes teal-green and on the verge of going Super Saiyan.

King Kai…? What's going on?

WAKE UP! Use your senses and find out!

Wincing at his volume, I did what he ordered.

You sense that, don't you?

I was suddenly very much wide-awake, my heart still pounding away. Yes. The traitor's close.

You're down to a day or two. Tops! Not a week. Her ship kicked in a huge burst of speed a couple of hours ago.

I took a deep breath, turned on the lamp on my nightstand, and stared up at the ceiling. Okay. Well, we are ready.

Glad to hear it. Good luck.

That was the last I heard from him.

"Mom…? Are you okay?"

No answer.

I looked at Chichi. Her face was pale, her eyes very wide and staring into space, her knees tucked under her chin and her arms wrapped around her legs.

Apparently she – and Gohan – both heard my conversation with King Kai.

I moved in front of her on the bed, lifted her face at her chin so her eyes met mine, and stroked her cheek with my thumb. "Chichi…? Honey…?"

She twitched and finally her wide eyes met mine. "I can sense her so much clearer than before! She's so… close! Goku…"

"I know, I know. We will beat her. It's all of us versus her. She may have that army, but the others will handle them. Everyone will be fine."

"But she–"

I put a finger on her lips. "No buts."

Gohan moved up to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Yeah, Mom! We'll win!"

Finally, her eyes crinkled slightly as she gave us a small smile, but her color still didn't return all the way. "Well, it's four o'clock, and I don't think anyone of us can go back to sleep. How about an early breakfast?"

Chichi slipped on her robe over her pajamas as Gohan and I grinned. "Great!"

With that, she got up and left the room, but there were an unusual drag in her feet and a slight slump in her shoulders. I got the feeling it wasn't from tiredness. I resolved to keep an extra close eye on her.

Gohan glanced at me with a concerned expression and we exchanged looks as we followed her out the bedroom.

In the kitchen, her cooking went on like normal… well, the new normal. She wielded her chopping knife with fluid, practiced grace like she always did as dishes floated in the air about her, being cooked by the heat of her ki.

She put the dishes on the table as they finished and sat down. She gave us the okay to dig in and we did. Well, only Gohan and I did. Chichi poked at her food, taking a small bite once in a while, with a faraway look in her eyes. Her eyes weren't just distant. There was a kind of tightness to them – a tightness of the same sort she carried in the last couple of days before the Cell Games.

As the day progressed, her smiles stopped reaching her eyes. She cleaned and like normal, but there was a certain jerky stiffness in her normally graceful movements, almost like a robot.

She barely said anything to anyone. She didn't even hum anymore. She wouldn't even make eye contact at all.

Nothing I did or said worked.

We had just finished eating an earlier than normal lunch, and once again, Chichi stabbed at her food, eating only a couple of bites while Gohan and I ate.

She got up and gathered the dishes, a worrying amount of food left untouched.

With a hopeful expression, he said, "Thanks, Mom! That was great!"

He was the only one who could get any sort of response out of her and he knew that. She cracked a painfully forced smile at Gohan's sincere one and his lips immediately drooped the moment her back was turned. Gohan and I exchanged a look.

Dad! We've gotta snap mom out of this! Any ideas?

Not yet, but I'll come up with something.

I can't stand seeing her like this!

I sighed. Me neither, Gohan. Me neither.

After watching her a minute longer, Gohan excused himself and headed outside to play with Icarus, leaving Chichi and me alone in the kitchen.

I got up to help her clean the dishes. She didn't seem like she noticed me much at all. I kept my mouth shut for the time being, until I could come up with something to say or do that would snap her out of it.

Once I put away the last dish, I put my hand on her back and she turned to face me, her face devoid of any emotion – for all of about three seconds – then she collapsed into me as she broke down and I supported her and rubbed her back.

She started talking but her speech was muffled since her face was buried in my chest. I didn't have the heart to push her away right then so I skimmed over the top of her mind.

A wild, chaotic combination of sadness, terror, protectiveness, and even anger overpowered me as it flowed across the link I made with her. The very worst one to feel from her was a strong sense of doubt.

Deepening the link, I waded through that overwhelming surge of pure emotion, and finally reached her coherent thought. I sent her as much reassurance and confidence as I could along with a massive rush of love as her shoulders heaved against my chest.

Is it enough? Shouldn't we train more? So much hinges on this battle!

We trained as much as we could, Chichi. We are so strong now. Everything will work out. All four of us will be fine!

The next thought I heard from her shocked me a little bit.

Is this really what it feels like to be you? To have the world on your shoulders?

I held her a little tighter. It's not always easy, but knowing I have you and Gohan – and soon a new baby – waiting means I can do anything. All these years, you – and Gohan – kept me strong, Chichi. You're not alone, Babe! We're going to face this threat together.

I had no idea she had been carrying that around with her. The weight of the world wasn't always a weight I felt that often, but sometimes, when the battle took a turn for the worse and it looked like I might actually lose, it was in those moments when – for just a little while – I felt that almost crushing weight. In the end, I always won because it was thoughts of her and our son that gave me the extra power boost I needed in battles past. In a very real way, the people of the world owed her and our children their lives.

Her shoulders finally stilled.

Besides, this is what I do, Chichi! I'm… kinda used to it.

Her shoulders twitched at the same time as a giggle reached me mentally, but what came out of her mouth sounded more like a slightly strangled sob than a giggle.

I pulled her away from me to look her in the eye and put on the most reassuring smile I could possibly wear as I brushed her tears away. There's no doubt in my mind we will win, Babe.

She dropped her gaze, but there was a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. I tipped her chin up and lowered my lips to hers for a light, quick kiss.

Hormones and stress were very much not a good mix. I resolved to make whatever time there was left before that traitor showed up as easy on Chichi as I possibly could. If she wanted to train, then we'd train. If she wanted to rest and relax, then we'd relax. We would do what she wanted. I was determined to keep her as relaxed and happy as possible.

A massive roar that could put a dinosaur's to shame echoed around the house – probably around the mountain.

She pulled away from me and stared down at her slightly swollen stomach.

I put a hand on her shoulder. "You barely touched your food today. You need to eat."

"But… we just did the dishes!"

I leveled a no-nonsense look with an eyebrow raised and crossed my arms.

Thankfully, she didn't need anymore convincing than that. Saiyans can only ignore their appetite for so long. She blew out a breath and turned around to dig through the fridge. She emerged with an armful of containers full of the day's leftovers – leftovers that were only there because she didn't eat.

Watching her reheat the food was very entertaining. As she worked, her stomach growled almost continuously and she kept a napkin handy to wipe away the ever-present tendril of drool dribbling down her chin.

When everything was ready, I gently pushed her to the table and ignored her protests, and – for once – I dished her up. I kept her well supplied, refilling her plates as fast as she emptied them, which was alarmingly fast – even by my standards. She was eating so I was happy. She completely cleaned every one of her plates.

Afterwards, her stomach was actually a little bit bigger. A happy sigh slipped out of her lips as she leaned back in her seat and rubbed her slightly more swollen stomach.

I couldn't stop the chuckle that slipped out of my mouth seeing her pretty face covered with an impressive amount of food smears and gave her a napkin. "Better?"

She nodded and wiped her face.

As she was busy digesting enough food for two whole meals, Gohan burst through the front door and charged straight into the kitchen, laughing.

"Jeez, Dad! I heard your stomach from all the way on the other side of the mountain!"

I smirked when I saw the deep blush coloring Chichi's cheeks and nodded in her direction and the giant pile of empty plates on the table in front of her.

Gohan followed my gaze and his laughter abruptly stopped. He gasped, ran to her, and threw his arms around her. "Mom! Are you okay? You seemed so scared since early this morning that you wouldn't even eat! We were so worried about you!"

She hugged him back. "I'm fine, Gohan."

His mouth split into a relieved smile and then after a moment, said, "Wait… That was your stomach!?"

She shook her head slightly exasperatedly and sighed. "Yes, Gohan. What you heard was my stomach and not your father's."

"You scared Icarus, Mom! He fell right out of the sky and looked around frantically, completely terrified something was after him! It took me forever to convince him everything was fine!"

Gohan burst out laughing again and doubled over. Gohan's laughter was contagious and before long, I joined in, the image of Icarus so scared only making me laugh harder. Chichi's lips started twitching and when she lost her fight with her smile, a giggle slipped through her lips followed by a much bigger guffaw, eventually laughing every bit as hard as Gohan. The sound was music to my ears and made my heart dance.

The second time within an hour, Chichi and I worked through the dishes, her movements much more graceful and relaxed.

I glanced at Gohan, who was helping to wipe down the counters.

Gohan?

Yeah, Dad?

Don't mention training in front of your mother. I want her to stay relaxed before the battle, got it buddy?

Okay. I won't mention training, but what if she does?

Then I guess we'll train – but only if she's the one to bring it up.

Can you and me still spar?

Oh!

There was that little matter. Saiyans couldn't go too long without at least a light sparring match. The only question was… how were we going to slip a sparring match by Chichi unnoticed?

Of course, buddy!

Yay!

"Mom?"

"Hmm?"

"Can Dad and I go fishing later?"

"Fish for dinner sounds great! Absolutely!"

Very smooth, Son.

He tossed me a grin over his shoulder and I stifled my chuckle.

Once the dishes and kitchen were clean, Chichi excused herself take a nap. She had eaten so much she managed to knock herself out!

Once Chichi was out of ear shot, Gohan walked up to me – his expression morphing into one of worry. "Why are you so calm, Dad? You were just like this before the Cell Games! And then you… Do we really have a chance? Or did you accept that… maybe we don't?"

I got down on my knees so I was almost eyelevel with him and put my hands on his shoulders. "I'm not calm because I've accepted anything. I'm calm because I know we will win and all of us will come home when it's over! There's no doubt in my mind, Kiddo!"

I ruffled his hair and his contagious grin returned.

"Your mother's napping. Why don't we go fishing–" I winked at him and he chuckled "–now?"

We did fish, but not before a good, tiring sparring match far enough from the house we wouldn't wake up Chichi.

When we returned home with our giant fish, she was awake and surprised me by asking to go out to train after her nap, so we did. One last session couldn't hurt. She trained hard in that last session. We all did. I was amazed by her strength of will, amazed by the amount of determination I sensed from her. No fear. Not even so much as a slight bit of the butterflies. She was utterly calm and relaxed, even happy. Like usual, we ended the session with a refreshing swim, laughing, and playing tricks on each other and then went home to eat dinner. She really was calm.

That night, Gohan and Chichi fell asleep against me on the couch before the action packed movie we watched ended and I carried them up to bed, neither of them stirring. I slid into the blankets next to Chichi, and tossed and turned for a while before eventually drifting off with my hand covering her stomach and my face buried in her hair. I needed the comforting contact as much as she did.