Chapter 7 : Sons Helping a Son

'Ah …'

The mountains were so beautiful and peaceful. At least, it usually was.

"My baby! Where is he?! AAAHHH!" Chi-chi screamed, causing the animals to scramble.

"Calm down, Chi! He and Trunks are tough. They're okay," Goku said, trying to reassure his wife.

"Okay, OKAY! Our – MY - baby is gone and all you can say is, 'he's okay!'?" Chi-Chi pulled out her frying pan and began to chase him.

"Um, mom! Dad! Goten's right there," Gohan pointed out, looking up from his book.

"HUH?" They said simultaneously. Chi-Chi ran to Goten and began to squeeze his arms to his side in a choke. She examined him from head to toe.

WHACK!

The animals scrambled once more.

Goten rubbed the sore spot on his head while Chi-Chi put away her frying pan.

"Hey, Goten," Goku greeted his brother, smiling. "Where were you? We were worried sick about you, little guy."

Goten explained it all, even down to the final details.

"Crane …he's always up to something. Come on, let's go to Capsule Corp," Goku said before continuing, "Let's use instant transmission though. It's way faster."

*At Capsule Corp…*

Shalay fell back from the refrigerator door, knocking most, if there was any left, of its items to the tiled floor. Trunks dropped a bucket of ice cream, decorating the floor tiles with even more food.

The whole Son family popped into the kitchen with no warning at all.

"This is Shalay," Goten introduced, scratching the back of his neck. He didn't mean to scare them.

"You're right, Goten, she is very pretty," Chi-Chi remarked, making Goten blush.

"Goten, is that a sunburn or are you blushing?" Goku taunted his son. From the corner of the room came a voice that surprised no one.

"Well, if we are done making brat couples, let's go get that Crane," Vegeta spat, very annoyed with the fact he was helping and that he had to work with that idiot, Kakarot.

"Sure thing,bud-die," Goku spoke in a sing-song voice, making Vegeta scowl, somehow deeper than the one he fashioned before. "I'm looking forward to seeing how old he is now. HAHA!"

"Yeah, I've heard stories about that guy. He sounds crazy," Gohan admitted, making a face and a circle around his ear with his forefinger.

"Well, son, he might be crazy, but for power. He's made it personal. He took my son, his best friend and future girlfriend!"

Naive to the reason why Trunks, Goten and Shalay fell down anime-style, he shrugged it off. While everyone else, save for Vegeta, laughed.

"I don't think we should just barge in, looking for Crane. We should go free the kids under his control," Shalay suggested while getting up from the tile.

"I like her!" Goku admitted, rubbing Shalay on the head.

Shalay simply smiled. It had been a long time since she met anyone who was nice just to be nice. He reminded her of Goten – even looked like him too. Maybe she could stick around and hang with Goten for a while? She did like him. Shalay still thought Goten was very handsome. Trunks too, but Goten… he was sweet too.

'I like you guys too.'