After couple of minutes, Piccolo was lying motionless on the couch, aching and groaning. Chichi had covered him with blankets and placed a wet cloth on his forehead. No one knew exactly what they were dealing with. He hadn't spoken a word since they came here. He scarcely moved a muscle. Goku and Elata along with Chichi kept their eyes on him all night long. Besides speculating on Piccolo's condition, Goku gazed upon Elata's facial expressions, studying them. Her restless eyes were exhausted, because she didn't sleep. Her face told a story of a woman who stayed all night long taking care of her sick child. He smiled at the thought of that, when she noticed him looking at her joyfully,
"What?" she questioned grumpily,
"You could have ignored him and walked away. It's a good thing you did there," he commented while keeping his smile on,
"Umm…I…umm," she said, her tongue was tied as her cheeks were a fifty shade of red. She couldn't find the right words to say. She couldn't explain her decision either,
"I knew you were good!" Goku said cheerfully and loudly, causing Elata to jump,
"I-I don't know what I was thinking. I couldn't just leave him there," she elucidated sheepishly, "could I?" she thought.
"If only Vegeta was here to see you," Goku said,
"What's the use, Goku?" she said depressingly as she stood up looking outside the window, staring at the bright, joyous morning. Goku glanced at a sleeping Chichi in the corner of the room. He smiled softly as he got up,
"I'm sure he'll change his mind soon," he told her with a tap on her shoulder, then he walked towards his wife, holding her up like a child and heading upstairs, lying her on her bed and covering her.
After a while, Elata took a look at Piccolo as he finally opened his eyes. He muttered something, but his words were barely audible. She got closer,
"Come again?" she asked. But she didn't hear anything, so she got closer, "What?"
"Thank you!" he finally burst out yelling. And she was stunned. Elata's senses blocked any outer stimuli. She was curled within herself. Elata felt relaxed and pleasant. A feeling that she thought was long ago lost in the gloominess of her life. She felt fulfilled, like a hole within her comfort being filled with these two simple words. She was so caught up in the moment that she forgot how to speak.
Chichi came down yawning. And she glanced at them both,
"Glad to see you're awake Piccolo," she said, "I don't believe we have met officially, I'm Chichi, Goku's wife," she then said to Elata,
"Oh! I'm Elata. I came to earth yesterday," she explained, feeling comfortable when she smiled at her,
"One more question," she said, "What happened to your clothes?" she added giggling at her burnt and shredded outfit. Elata looked down at her clothes and shrugged in reply. "Come with me," Chichi commanded heading back upstairs. Elata followed.
Chichi led her straight into the bathroom. She handed her a towel with a new outfit from her closet. Elata was amazed by her kindness; she couldn't doubt the fact that she was Goku's wife. She thanked her with a smile and went in there and took a nice hot bath. The journey to earth took a lot of time without a stop to freshen up. It was nice to feel her sour muscles relax for once. After she was finished, she reached out to see her new outfit with sheer enthusiasm but she recoiled in horror upon revealing it.
"What the…?" It wasn't her style; it looked more like a dress. She dropped them back on the ground in disgust, "I'm definitely not wearing that," she assured herself. She stood there naked and thinking: "I can't wear that but I can't stay here forever, maybe if there was a mini-fridge in here, yes I would stay but...Hmm…" Elata did decide for a moment to live inside this bathroom, naked and alone, but she got bored after a while and thought of squeezing into the dress and look for something different.