Chapter 24

With the new reality hitting him so bad, Goku dropped to his knees on the grass staring off into the direction where his ex-girlfriend and Eighter disappeared off into, and crashed his fists on the cold hard ground. It was then that he finally released a loud gut-wrenching cry, his tears of anguish dripping down his cheeks and onto the grass. His fingers dug into the grass and deep into the soil, as he continued to sob loudly over the great loss he just suffered. His body started to shake so badly as he looked up at the sky and released a strangled scream that was capable of waking anybody up from their slumber. He couldn't salvage this relationship. How pathetic of him. His heart was broken, and so was his spirit.

Everyone watched the broken Saiyan expel his sadness for what seemed like a long while. They all felt bad that things had reached this point, especially Gohan and Goten. He had finally found someone who truly loved him and who he loved in return, and it was all ripped away from him in an instant all because of ONE mistake he made. Eventually, he was cautiously approached by Bulma, Krillin and Gohan. Bulma knelt down beside him and ran her hands through his shivering back, speaking with sympathy, "Hey Goku… I'm sure Suno still loves you deep down. Just give her some space and then maybe you can try talking to her."

"Bulma's right, dad. You only need some space to clear up everything!" Gohan encouraged.

"That's right buddy! All couples have problems like this! Everything will be fine!" Krillin chimed in, patting his best friend's back.

Goku kept on staring at the ground, without saying a single word to any of his friends or his two sons. Until he finally rises up from the floor, his tearstained face puffy and swollen with grief. He walks a few steps ahead of his friends… gazes up at the sky… and takes flight, leaving everyone behind with their astonished looks. As he was disappearing, daylight was beginning to appear in the sky, a clear indication that dawn was approaching.

"Goku, please come back!"

"Dad! Where're you going?"

"Goku! Hey!"

But the pleas from Bulma, Krillin and Gohan were useless. Goku had already flown away from sight. As for where he was heading… no one had a single clue.

"Gohan… will Daddy be okay?"

The teenage boy looked down from the sky to see a heartbroken Goten behind him. He let out a sad sigh, "I don't really know Goten… but I do know this: He's suffering really bad right now."

"With Goku like this… what do we do now?" Yamcha asked worriedly.

"Well…" Bulma closed her eyes to think about their current options. "we have no other choice but to give him space… again. Just like the last time, it will be useless if we try to contact him. In the meantime, you two…" she somberly glances over at the Saiyan brothers. "just stay with Videl and Mr. Satan. And if anyone feels Goku's ki again, we'll all meet on Kami's Lookout."

"Sounds good…"

"Poor Goku… he must be in so much pain right now…" Videl said with a strained voice.

Tien said with a grim voice, "Yeah. He really loved Suno…"

"He STILL loves her." Chiaotzu firmly corrected.

"She's the only woman he loves." Yamcha commented with downheartedness.

"That's right. He's just ashamed of the way he reacted, that's all!" Bulma chimes back in.

"I've never seen him in so much pain…" Krillin comments.

Gohan sighed, "But it's like Bulma just said. We can't do anything but give him space."

Videl looked between the two boys, making her way towards her father's van. "Alright, you guys, we should head home! It's really late!"

"Yeah… poor daddy… I hope he's okay…"

"I'm sure he'll be. So cheer up, okay?" Videl reached down and grabbed Goten's small hand, directing him to where the van was parked.

He replied in a quiet voice, "I hope you're right…"

Erasa and Sharpener just stood there totally stunned. They could have never imagined to find out that their classmate and best friend was part of some strange alien race, and for the both of them, some of the stuff they heard during the confrontation was quite a lot to take in especially hearing about his dad running off to fight non-human threats.

"Gohan? You're really half-human?"

Gohan froze on the spot, suddenly realizing that up until the ugly confrontation, Erasa and Sharpener knew absolutely nothing about his Saiyan origins but now… it was out in the open. He had no idea how to explain this to them. They had seen him turn into the 'golden fighter', but they didn't have a single clue that it was linked to his heritage. Would this change their view of him? Goten, Buu, Mr. Satan and Videl stopped in their tracks once the question was brought up, also awaiting the reaction of the two blondes.

"Yeah… I'm part-Saiyan and part-human…" Gohan gazed down at the grass, avoiding eye contact with them.

Erasa walked up to him, and placed an assuring hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's totally alright with us if you're part of some alien race. The only thing that matters to us is that you have a great heart!"

"She's right brains!" Sharpener said with genuine honesty. "We'll stick by you no matter what!"

"But I have to wonder… why didn't you say anything before?" Erasa wondered softly.

"Because I know it'd be tough for you to understand it. And… I didn't know how to express it back then. I'm sorry for not saying anything before…"

Erasa shrugged it off like it was nothing. "Hey, it's alright with us. We're not upset with you or anything!"

Gohan looked up at them, surprised by their reaction. "You're not? I thought for sure you two wouldn't want anything to do with me after this."

"Not a chance!" Erasa said vehemently, arm looped around her best friend. "As I just said, what really matters to us is that you're a super great person!"

"Whoa… thanks Erasa. I'm really glad to hear that from you."

"I feel the same way, you know already that we'll always stick by your side no matter what! We're friends!" Sharpener clapped the back of his teenage friend.

"Thanks a lot, Sharpener."

From there, the three of them hurried off into Mr. Satan's van, sliding inside sitting together in the same spot. After Mr. Satan drove away from Capsule Corp, the rest of the z warriors decided to head back home and get some rest and as such, they all flew into the skies after being reminded of the plan while Vegeta, Trunks and the rest of the Briefs family headed back inside the Capsule Corp home with faith that everything would be okay. Though the mood was definitely sorrowful, a sharp contrast to far earlier, when they were partying without a care in the world.

Suno and Eighter finally arrive back in Jingle Village, right behind their front doorstep after the unfortunate scene that took place in Capsule Corporation. Suno had been crying bitterly the entire time during their return back home while the android himself had been trying to reason with her, but it was useless.

"How could he do this Eighter?! I thought I knew him better than this…" She leaned her back against the cold wall as her sorrowful tears fell continuously like a steady rain.

"Suno please, you have to understand…" Eighter tried once more as he walked over to his inconsolable friend and stood next to her on the freezing porch. He opened his coat, pulling her closer and doing his best to shield her from the cold weather.

She turned her head to him with a swollen and red face stained with tears, "What is there to understand? He should have been in control of his actions! But nooo, he just had to let Chichi provoke him and he turns into a… a…" It was then that she began to wail even harder, not even being able to finish that.

"I think that-"

Without even bothering to knock, Suno violently yanks the front door wide open and marches straight for her bedroom, not even acknowledging either of her elderly parents. Neither of them had been able to sleep. Kaiyo had been in the kitchen, while Hiroshi was doing the usual act of sitting on the couch and reading the newspaper. Both were totally surprised by the sudden presence of the duo, and the fact that they didn't knock like they normally would. And also, there was no sign of Goku anywhere.

Eighter slowly stepped inside the house and immediately after, he winced as he heard the deafening sound of his friend slamming her bedroom door shut.

"Suno…"

After hearing Suno slam her door so loudly, the two elderly parents turned to Eighter for answers, completely alarmed.

"What happened to her?" Hiroshi asked, stunned.

"Why is she so upset?" Kaiyo followed up as she was just taken aback.

Eighter let out a sigh, "Well, you see… Suno broke up with Goku… so we came back by ourselves."

"WHAT?!" They both shouted at the same time, thunderstruck by this.

"They broke up?!" Kaiyo was just dumbfounded by this.

"But why? What happened between them?"

None of this made any sense to the two. Earlier, they had just given Goku their blessing to continue dating their daughter only for her to break up with him and for Suno to come back in tears? What happened? Did Goku do something which upset her? This was a mystery to the two, Goku seemed like the perfect fit for their daughter and they couldn't imagine that he would possibly have done something to hurt Suno. They then hear the muffled sounds of Suno crying hysterically in her bedroom.

"Oh no… Hiroshi, let's go check up on her!" Kaiyo was overcome by worry for her only daughter.

"Yeah, let's do that!" The old man agreed, wanting to get to the bottom of this.

The two parents are about to rush for their daughter's bedroom when Eighter stops them, having a different idea in mind.

"I think that you both should wait for a bit before talking to her. She needs to be alone for a while." Eighter calmly explained.

Kaiyo began to protest, "But we can't just sit back and watch as our daughter is suffering!"

The android explained further, "I know but if you go now, she won't listen to what you have to say."

They both look at each other, and then they finally agree as there was some sense to Eighter's words.

"Alright, we'll wait for her to calm down a little." Hiroshi finally relented with a worried sigh.

"Yeah, it'll be for the best. I do want to help her also, but she wouldn't listen to me on our way back here."

"And where is Goku now?" Kaiyo began to wonder about the Saiyan's absence.

"I don't know. We left before knowing what happened to him." Eighter explained, eyes downcast. He could still remember just how regretful Goku seemed to be before they left.

Kaiyo took a deep breath, trying to be rational about this whole thing. "Okay, why don't we take a seat in the living room while we wait for Suno to calm down?"

Hiroshi nodded, agreeing with his wife. "It seems like the best option for now."

The trio made their way to the small living room, where they all took their seats. As time passed by agonizingly, the sounds of Suno wailing became more and more difficult to hear, and as tempting as it was to just go up to her room, they all knew it was important for her to calm down before making any attempts to help her. Neither of them wanted to do something which would upset her even further.

Two questions had been floating in the minds of the worried parents: Just what exactly happened? What did Goku do to their daughter?

Meanwhile Suno was lying on her bed flat on her stomach, hugging her pillow tightly, sobbing continuously and staring hard at the wall, with her makeup smeared all over her face as a result of the constant tears. The man who she always loved… turned into a dangerous person right in front of her.

Several light knocks sounded on her door, and it was both her elderly parents, who now wanted to speak with her as both were still concerned about her behavior. They had given their daughter more than enough time to calm down, and they figured that now was a good time to talk to her about the unfortunate event and help her work through this.

"Suno? Dear, what happened?"

"Honey, please open up!"

"I don't want to talk right now!" She cried back, now burying her face in the fluffy pillow.

The soft, tender voice of her lovely mother could be heard. "Honey please, tell us what happened. We want to help you."

Suno doesn't answer but continues to cry loudly in despair.

"Darling please, let us come in. We want you to tell us what happened. Please."

"F-Fine…"

She slowly rises up from the bed and opens the door, with her face still puffed up and still very upset. Kaiyo, Hiroshi and Eighter walk into the bedroom and take a seat on the bed. Suno is the last to get back on her bed, and she doesn't even look at her parents or her android friend.

"Okay honey, now take a deep breath… and tell us what happened." Kaiyo spoke with a calm voice, grasping both her daughter's arms.

Suno took a deep breath as instructed and wiped at her tears before replying, "It's Goku… he's… he's not the man I thought he was…"

Both parents couldn't believe what they just heard, as they stared at their only daughter wide-eyed in shock.

"WHAT?!"

"No… No way… Goku? Not the same man?" Kaiyo stumbled.

"What do you mean he's not the man you thought he was?" Hiroshi questioned in astonishment.

She released a few hiccups as she just stared at her pillow, "His wife… she showed up after the party…"

They both winced at that. "Oh… an unexpected guest, I suppose…" Kaiyo commented.

"She said horrible things to Goku… like how she only married him for money and how she never loved him or the boys…"

Kaiyo's hand flew to her mouth in shock, "Oh my God…"

"No way…" Hiroshi muttered in disbelief.

"S-She only saw them as a source of money…" Suno continued on tearfully.

Hiroshi carefully asked, "And… what did Goku do after that?"

Suno started to cry even louder, as she thought back to what happened earlier.

"Hey, if you want, I can tell the rest of the story. Remember that I was there also," Eighter offered.

She shook her head, stumbling on her words. "It's… It's okay Eighter… I can talk…"

Hiroshi nodded, rubbing her shoulder. "Alright, we're all ears dear."

"He… turned into a Super Saiyan… and he… he was about to kill her…" She said with such a broken voice.

Kaiyo started to have this strange feeling that something was wrong. Fishy, to be exact. She proceeded to cautiously ask, "He turned into a Super Saiyan because of the things his wife was telling him?"

Suno silently nods, sniffles escaping her.

A shocking realization came to the elderly man. "Wait a minute… Suno… don't you think that his wife said all these things to Goku… because that's what she wanted?"

She turns to her father, eyes still wet with tears. "W-What?"

"Maybe… Maybe Goku's wife showed up in front of everybody to provoke him just so he would look horrible in front of you." Kaiyo explained to her teary daughter.

"And in that way, she would be able to separate him from you." Hiroshi concluded.

Suno started to tremble, "N-No… that can't be possible…"

"Well… I agree with your parents… she wanted to show the worst in Goku… so you would be mad at him… and both of you… would end up separating…" Eighter voiced his thoughts.

"I can't believe this…" Her head was once again buried deep in her pillow. Just why?

Kaiyo wrapped an arm around her daughter, talking to her soothingly, "Honey, this is not Goku's fault at all. It was that of his wife…"

"What… What have I done?" She raises her head from the pillow and faces her parents and Eighter, complete regret filling her features.

"Suno… you did nothing… it was all because of that bad woman…" Eighter reassured, patting his friend's back in comfort.

"But I said terrible things to him… I should have been by his side but I… I backstabbed him… I'm… I'm such a horrible girlfriend…" Her lips quivered and then hot tears rolled down her cheeks once more.

Hiroshi moves over to hug his crying daughter. "No honey… you're not horrible at all. The only horrible person is that crazy woman who showed up to provoke Goku."

"Exactly." Kaiyo joins her husband in embracing their daughter with love and support. "You didn't know about her intentions. You cannot blame yourself for this…"

"It was all her fault." Eighter added in assurance.

She wiped away her river of tears as she tried to gather herself, "I just wish I was with Goku right now… I hurt him so bad…" Staring out the window, she saw that early morning was approaching and then she looked back at the three in desperation. "I have to find him right now!"

"We understand that, Suno." Kaiyo said tenderly, releasing her daughter from the hug and rubbing her shoulder. "But before you go and look for him, maybe you should talk with his friends in the first place."

Suno became terrified at the mention of Goku's friends. She tightened her grip on the pillow, "They must all be angry with me after what I said to him… same with the boys… I hurt their father…"

"Maybe they'll be upset," said Hiroshi softly. "But they have to know the truth. Perhaps they're not aware of Goku's wife's real intentions, just like you."

"They were all so accepting of my relationship with Goku and then this had to happen… I feel so bad…" Her shoulders slumped, just wondering if this could even be fixed.

"Suno, if they accepted your relationship with Goku, and they're his lifetime friends and they care about him as much as you do, then they'll accept your apologies." Kaiyo responded, trying to speak from a place of reassurance.

She responded with a tearful nod, "Y-You're right mom…"

"So honey, why don't you just go to sleep now? You can clean yourself up first, rest and then afterwards you can go back with Eighter to West City and meet Goku's friends to apologize to them." Hiroshi suggested, seeing how stressed out his daughter was and he knew it wouldn't be good for her.

"I guess you're right too dad…"

Eighter reached out for her arm, offering her a small smile. "You're not alone in this. I'll go with you later on, don't worry."

"Okay…"

Kaiyo gave her daughter an assuring smile, "Try to rest honey. Things will be all better before you know it."

"Sweet dreams."

Suno watched as her parents and Eighter finally rose from her bed. Despite the endless tears she shed, she managed to return the smile, "See you later, mom and dad…"

Kaiyo, Hiroshi and Eighter finally depart from Suno's bedroom, gently closing the door behind them without a creak. Suno looked up at the ceiling for a long while. Many images were coming to her head: the day she met Goku again, their first kiss, the day they watched the sunset together and picked out fruits, the day they went to Papaya Island, the day they both visited Korin's Sacred Land. She couldn't stop thinking about him… and also about the way she treated him after falling into his wife's trap. She had to win him back because she already knew… that she couldn't live without him.

She wasn't going to throw away all the memories she built with him just because they both fell into a trap. She was going to stand by his side through one of the most difficult moments of his life and continue loving him the way she always did.