The sun rays crept through Gohan's curtains as he opened his eyes. It was morning time! He quickly got out of bed to finish his studies. He had put them aside to finish this morning and he didn't want his mother to find out or she'd burst! 'Mother!' thought Gohan. He remembered about last night when he caught his mother crying on the couch. Why though? Why was she crying? It was time to do some investigating. Suddenly, Gohan's stomach let out a growl. 'Guess the investigating will have to wait!' Gohan made his way to the kitchen and glanced towards the living room. His mother was no longer there but the pillow was. Maybe she was in the bathroom! Gohan walked to the bathroom and saw the door closed. Phew! His mother was in there. But his hopes disappeared when he opened the door, finding nobody inside. He walked to his parents' room. 'Mom must be in there. She wouldn't disappear out of the nowhere, right? Besides, it is morning and she always prepares us a nice breakfast!' thought the cheerful boy. He knocked softly on the door and entered the room? "Mom? Dad? It's morning and I'm a bit hungry", he spoke softly. His dad sat up and rubbed his eyes while yawning.
"Yeah, me too Chi. Let's eat!" He looked to his side and saw nothing but bed sheets. "Chi?" Gohan let out a gasp when he didn't see his mother. She wasn't there! Goku looked at his son and frowned. "What's wrong Gohan?" Gohan immediately looked away from the bed and looked to the side.
"Nothing!" Goku eyed his son suspiciously. Gohan was obviously hiding something.
"Do you know something that I don't?"
"Uh... No!"
"Liar! You're terrible at lying Gohan!" Gohan laughed sheepishly when he realized he was stuck. His dad didn't have to find out about what he saw. He had to change the subject.
"Gosh I'm really hungry! Let's eat!" Goku looked down at his tummy and rubbed it.
"Yeah, me too! I'm starving!" Success! Gohan mentally pumped his fist and smiled as he began to walk out of the room. "Let's wait until your mother comes."
Dammit! Gohan froze in place. 'In that case, we'd have to wait for hours.' Gohan began to think of where his mother could be. She wasn't in the living room. She wasn't in the bathroom. She wasn't in ...
"Gohan! Are you listening to me?!" Whoops! His dad was talking all that time? Gohan looked over at his father, nervously. "Gohan, do you know something about your mother that I don't? You seem to get jumpy when I mention her." Gohan looked down. "Wait... Is she pregnant?! Ohhh! I hope so! It really would be nice to have another son or daughter!" (cough foreshadowing cough) 'I wish Dad. I wish.' Gohan let out a sigh, He had to say it. "I saw Mom crying yesterday night." He peered over to where his dad was. He looked confused.
"Crying? Are you sure?" Gohan nodded in response.
"She was sobbing on the couch but I didn't dare to ask her. I thought that perhaps you knew something about it. Actually, I thought that you had something to do with it..." Gohan's voice became low as he finished his sentence.
"Gohan, maybe you're over thinking this. Maybe she had a bad dream or something."
"But wouldn't you have heard her?"
"Yes I... Well, maybe... I was tired yesterday", Goku admitted. "But your mother isn't missing. She's probably in the bathroom or kitchen."
"I checked both of those places and she wasn't there."
"It's not like her to leave without saying something. Besides, I doubt she'd step foot out of the house with her pajamas on."
Chi-Chi sneezed as she walked through the forest. Maybe she was coming down with something. She rubbed her arms as the wind blew, goose bumps appearing on her skin, for she was still wearing her pajamas. She had left the house early in the morning and didn't change, only placing her hair in a bun, since she didn't want to step foot in her room. There were some things on mind that she needed to shake off, like last night's event. Chi-Chi frowned as she recalled last night and shook her head. 'I can't believe he fell asleep. So much for keeping his word!'
It happened one night, when Chi-Chi had a nightmare. It was about Piccolo wanting to kill Gohan so he had stolen him from her. Chi-Chi had woken up, her face all sweaty. Goku had woken up as well when he sensed that something was wrong. "You okay Chi?" Chi-Chi cried in his arms as she told him about the nightmare. Goku calmed her down and told her it was only a bad dream. Piccolo wouldn't do that to Gohan, he was a friend. Chi-Chi snuggled into his arms as he held her tightly. "If you ever need someone to talk to, you can always count on me. Always."
So much for "always". Chi-Chi sat on a rock near a lake and looked at the water. She wondered if Raiden meant it when he called her beautiful. She didn't see a beautiful woman when she saw her reflection. All she saw was Chi-Chi, the nagging housewife who always yelled at her husband and son. She let out a sigh as she accepted the truth. She wasn't pretty at all. Chi-Chi peered over at the water again. She undid her bun and let her hair loose, closely inspecting her reflection once more.
Just then, a shadow moved in the water. Perhaps a fish. Perhaps a giant fish, since the shadow was large. SPLASH! Something sprang out of the water. Chi- Chi sprang to her feet and got into a fighting stance. It was... Raiden?! What was he doing out here? He smiled at Chi-Chi and she sighed in relief. Good thing it was him and not another villain. She waved and greeted him. "Hello Raiden. Nice to see you again." Mistake. It wasn't great to see him. She felt a little nervous as she faced this man again. Who knows what he'll pull this time.
He looked at her. Her eyes were a little puffy. Had she been crying? "Chi-Chi? Are you okay?" Chi-Chi looked up at him. He wore a concerned expression. She needed to talk to somebody but she wasn't sure if she could trust him. She soon found herself blabbing away and crying. Dammit, she gave in. Raiden moved closer to her as she began her outburst. She was talking too fast for him to understand but she was obviously very upset about what she was talking about. Little by little, he found himself right next to Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi hadn't noticed since she was to busy pouring her heart out and to her surprise, she felt a pair of strong arms around her. Was it Goku? She looked up to find Raiden hugging her. Wow, he was very strong, almost as strong as Gokui! But how could that be?
This guy would had to be an alien to get away with his strength. But he was so caring, well, towards her anyways. It was as if he understood her. She sniffled and smiled at him.
"Thank you"
"For what?" questioned Raiden.
"For listening and understanding me. It really made me feel better." She saw him rub the back of his head.
"I didn't really understand you. You were talking too fast for me to understand."
"What?!"
"But I knew you were upset and that you needed somebody to talk to." He had a point. He didn't leave when she started to cry and she was very grateful.
"That's true. And for that, you're a good friend."
"Friend? I'm your friend now?"
"Yes!" Victory! He was a step closer to making her his woman. "I'll make it up to you. Why don't you stop by my house and have lunch. I'd really appreciate it!"
He was invited to her house too? Next thing you know, she'd be inviting him to her... "Raiden?"
He quickly returned to the real world . "Thank you very much Chi-Chi! I'm looking forward to lunch! I bet you are an amazing cook!" She laughed,
"Alright then. See you at noon. You know where my house is, right?"
"Yes, I will never forget! You can always count on me. See you at our date!" and with that, Raiden took off. Chi-Chi just stood there as the words processed in her head. Date? Our date? Had he said something about counting on him. 'You can always count on me'. The words reminded her of Goku. Goku. Gohan. Gohan! She needed to her back home to cook for her little Gohan. She quickly ran to where her house was. Or at least to where she thought where her house was. She looked around the forest. Everything looked the same! Trees here, trees there. How was she going to get home? Chi-Chi sighed as she began to walk in a new direction. Why were these things happening to her?
Gohan's stomach continued to rumble. He stood up and walked out of his parents' room. "I can't take this anymore! I'm looking for Mom." Goku agreed with his son and followed him. He couldn't stand the emptiness in his stomach. They walked out of the house and looked around. Goku closed his eyes and began to sense for Chi-Chi's ki, trying to feel how far she was. He opened his eyes and began to fly through the forest, in the direction the ki was coming from. He looked down below and he saw Chi-Chi running.
'Was she running away from somebody? Did somebody try to hurt her?!' thought Goku. When Gohan saw his mother, he rejoiced.
"Mom!" Chi-Chi looked around as she heard her son's voice. She accidentally tripped over a rock and lost her balance. Gohan quickly swooped down to hold her, making sure she wouldn't get hurt. She hugged her son tightly, as if she hadn't seen him for months.
"Gohan!"
'Yep, something happened to her', thought Gohan. "Mom what's wrong?"
"Huh? Nothing is wrong! Sill Gohan, don't scare me with such questions." Goku approached them and smiled at his wife.
"Chi-Chi! We found you!" Chi-Chi halfheartedly smiled at him and looked away.
"Yes you did. Now come on Gohan! You need to eat breakfast so that you could have enough energy for your homework." Gohan sighed but smiled,
"Yes Mom." Goku looked at his wife as she walked on, towards their house. She didn't seem too happy with him. Had he done something wrong? Or did something bad happen to her? He walked up to her and wrapped his arms around her. She began to push his arms away.
"Aww, come on Chi!"
"No! I'm not happy with you right now."
"What did I do?"
"You figure that out on your own." Goku looked at his wife and she looked away from him with an angry expression. He looked down at Gohan and his son simply shook his head. His dad was a bit too naive to understand what troubles he caused his mother. Goku walked slowly behind them both, trying to figure out what he had done.
A/N: Ohh! Goku's going to get it this time. He'll sure be in for a surprise for lunchtime, lol! This was a quick chapter post. Sorry I haven't updated in a while. All
the homework and practices keep me busy. Hope you liked it. Sorry for my many mistakes in every field. Tried my best. Stay tuned for the next chapter.