O, Brother, Where Art Thou?
By Rob Morris
Chi-Chi readied the small pile of hand-woven baby blankets made as her gift to second-time parents Bulma and Vegeta. Goku, bless him, had gone out of his way to fetch the specific fibers she had requested, inspired he said by how much Vegeta was invested in his new daughter.
"I guess even those two delinquents can change. Hmmm…change."
Chi-Chi recalled an odd angle of their lives, something Bra's birth brought into focus.
"Hey, Dad?"
The Ox-King, dressed in slightly better garb than normal for meeting the new baby, responded.
"Yeah, honey?"
"Did you know that Bulma has a sister, named Tights?"
The older man thought it over.
"I think I heard that somewhere. Ummm—Tights?"
Chi-Chi nodded and completed her train of thought.
"So, Tights for Bulma, though most of us didn't know this. Trunks now has a sister. My boys have each other. That cat-god has a twin. Though he wasn't much of a sibling, Goku had Raditz. Vegeta had a long-lost brother. Dad – do I have a long-lost sibling?"
Before Ox-King could respond, Chi-Chi began to bawl her eyes out.
"I'm feeling left out!"
*Well, at least she's not trying to smash the TV!*
"Chi-Chi! Think! If you had a full sibling, that would mean your mother and I turned away our child or allowed them to be unavenged if they were gone. If you had a half-sibling, that would mean your mother or I cheated – and I will take you over my knee if you allege anything like that – especially of your mother!"
Chi-Chi was formidable, despite being decades away from her fighting best – being around Saiyans just demanded that. But given the anger in his voice, she knew better than to even jokingly challenge her father's statement in this instance. She smiled.
"I don't know where I get these irrational moments. Thanks for setting me straight, Daddy. Now let's get to Capsule!"
On their way to the auto-driving transport Bulma had sent, Ox-King paused and was briefly lost in thought.
"Hey, Dad!"
"Sorry, honey – senior moment. Heh."
Well after they were over the horizon, a figure in a horned helmet walked up to the small home of Earth's mightiest defenders. Knocks and calls for attention went unanswered, and the figure shrugged.
"Great. Now I'll have to build up the courage all over again. Well, another day – maybe."
Silently, the figure darted over the hills at a remarkable – though hardly for that world astounding - speed.
Perhaps they would return another day.