GoChi Week, Day 2 – Secrets

A/N: So. Might've stretched canon a bit here bc I don't remember exactly how much Chi-Chi learns about the incident with Raditz. Again, posted on tumblr and ao3, same username for both sites.

What You Know

"So, when were you going to tell me?"

Goku's head jerked up, startled from his lightly dozing state by his wife's voice. She sat next to the hospital bed, eyes focused on the sweater she was knitting – one that was larger than the one she had just finished. He smiled, silently hoping that the sweater was for him before her question finally registered to his tired mind. Puzzled, he tilted his head to the side and asked, "Tell you what?"

Chi-Chi's hands stilled and she sent him an irritated glance. "That you're an alien."

Goku's breath hitched, his eyes widened, and his heart began to pound so loudly in his chest it almost drowned out all other noise in the room. Chi-Chi did not notice his panic, having already turned her attention back towards her knitting. He would've been grateful for her distraction if it weren't so out of character for her – she was usually so attuned to Gohan and him that she could tell if something was wrong even if they weren't in the same room. He had thought she had moved past ignoring him in her anger, but...

He gulped. "They told you?" He supposed it would've only been fair that is friends did fill her in on that. It just seemed that they had kept contact with Chi-Chi to a minimum during the year he had been dead, so he had figured... Well, he had hoped that that small detail was never brought up.

"Not outright, no," she answered without looking towards him, although he noticed that her hands began to subtly tremble. "But it wasn't hard to figure it out with what Krillin told me. That man claimed to be your brother, and he was an alien, the same species as the ones who put you in here."

A long stretch of silence followed her words, as Goku was unsure what to say. His stomach churned as he struggled to get his mind to cooperate. Although there was no point in hiding it, she already figured it out, so... He nodded, an odd numbness washing over him. "Yeah, I'm an alien. A saiy–" he cringed, not at all willing to finish the statement. This caught Chi-Chi's attention, for she finally stopped knitting and turned to face him fully. He gave her a weak smile. "I'm a saiyan. Like them."

She shook her head, her cold mask finally melting away as she reached over and cupped his cheek. "Not like them. No matter what happens, you're still Goku." His shoulders sagged a bit with relief. "I'm just concerned about why you haven't brought it up yet. This isn't something you can just keep a secret."

Goku turned away, although not enough to loose contact with her hand. "I didn't want to think about it." It was a flimsy excuse, one he knew she wouldn't accept in the long run. But it was true nonetheless; finding out he was an alien had been surprising, yes, but easy enough to accept. He had always felt out of place and even considered the possibility that he might not be human a few times in the past. But to learn the awful customs that surrounded his heritage on top of all the devastation they caused to his friends and his home – for Earth was his home, no matter what anyone else might claim – it all left a sour taste in his mouth.

He could accept that he wasn't human. He couldn't accept that he was a saiyan.

He had expected Chi-Chi to demand more of an explanation, to press and ask why something so crucial was kept from her, his wife. But she surprised him by simply leaning forward and pulling him into a gentle hug. "Well, this at least explains your appetite," she began with a small laugh before she pulled away, barely giving him any time to return the hug. "This conversation isn't over, but we'll talk about this more later. After you're healed and out of here."

Goku grinned brightly as the last of the nervous numbness finally faded away. "Thanks, Chi." He watched as she returned to her original position, hands already back to working furiously on the sweater.

"Just... in the future? Try not to keep me in the dark about any other life changing news, ok?"

He nodded, although he doubted Chi-Chi saw as her eyes were glued onto her project. With any luck, there won't be any other life changing news to share.