04

Gohan's tail and the Dragon Ball he was wearing on his hat were the subjects of conversation for a few moments. Chi-Chi understood the latter, but she didn't know why his tail called so much attention if everyone knew Goku had one just like it when he was a kid. And yet, that seemed to make Bulma and the others a bit nervous.

About the Four-Star Dragon Ball, Goku had insisted on looking for it because of how important it was to him. He had spent time on it, but Chi-Chi understood. The only risk was that someone like the Red Ribbon Army or Piccolo Daimao would think of searching for them and finding their house, mainly since Goku had found two others in the process that they were also guarding. But whoever dared to invade Son Goku's house to take away the three balls would have a bad experience.

After spending some time looking at Bulma's inventions, Gohan was now riding the old turtle, who was walking the boy along the beach while he laughed happily. Chi-Chi watched him from a prudent distance, trying again not to be so protective.

He almost fell down a waterfall this morning; falling off a turtle's back would be nothing, she told herself.

She tried better to distract herself with something else and turned her gaze to Goku and Krillin. Master Roshi and Bulma had gone inside to make some tea to drink along with the muffins the latter had brought, but the two old training companions had positioned themselves on the beach, chatting as they picked up rocks from the ground and hurled them back to the sea as far as their extraordinary strength allowed them.

Chi-Chi cautiously approached them, stopping next to her husband to contemplate the horizon in the distance.

"You haven't been here for a long time, right?" She asked Goku with a curious voice, turning to see him with a little smile.

"Yeah, that's right," Goku replied, just before throwing another rock. It bounced off the nearly flat surface of the ocean and bounced away until it disappeared far, far away.

"It's a bit intimidating to look around and see nothing but the sea," Chi-Chi said reflectively. "Although it is also peaceful. So is this where you used to train with Master Roshi?"

"He actually took us to different places while we trained with him," Krillin pointed out. "But I think this particular one has always been like home to us. Don't you think so, Goku?"

Goku responded with a slight nod of his head.

"I get it," Chi-Chi whispered and instantly fixed her attention on her husband's face in profile, on his characteristic smile, and that look free of any kind of malice that looked straight ahead. With the sunlight bathing his face, he looked very handsome indeed.

Chi-Chi felt her heart flutter a little at the image of the man next to her, and instinctively she leaned closer to him, leaning her head against his broad, strong shoulder.

"I would have liked to accompany you in those days."

"Would you have liked to train with us, Chi-Chi?" Goku asked, somewhat surprised.

"Oh no," the woman laughed, amused. "I don't think I could have kept up with you. But maybe I could have cooked and cared for you, washed and sewn your suits, and welcomed you back with open arms after every practice like we were married."

"But you already do all that now, Chi-Chi," Goku pointed out with slight humor, placing a hand behind his head.

"Yeah, I know, but… I'm just saying it would have been nice to do it back then. Can't you imagine?"

Goku looked pensive at the sky, seemed to meditate on the question for only a few seconds, and then answered quite calmly:

"Well, honestly, I don't think those things would have mattered much to me. Maybe the food did, although Launch handled all that with no problem."

It wasn't nearly the kind of response Chi-Chi was expecting, and it certainly quickly took a toll on her good humor. But hey, what could she expect coming from him?

"Well," she murmured bitterly, lifting her head from his shoulder, "well, excuse me for—"

"What I would have liked is for you to train with us," Goku mentioned abruptly before she finished speaking. "Undoubtedly, you would have become very strong if you had undergone Master Roshi's training."

Chi-Chi started, obviously surprised by that comment, and turned to look at him again, her eyes wide open and startled.

"Me? Do you really believe that?" she asked doubtfully.

"Of course I do," Goku answered quickly, unlike her, without the slightest doubt accompanying his words. "After all, you are the strongest woman I know."

Chi-Chi could feel her cheeks flush when she heard him say that. Although to most of the girls, who surely wouldn't see it even close to a compliment, Chi-Chi knew that coming from who it came from, it was, and a very significant one.

"Thank you, Goku," she muttered slowly, slightly embarrassed, so much so that even she was forced to look down from her to the sand. "But being the strongest has never been in my interest. If I did practice martial arts when I was young, it was only so that I could defend myself and one day be able to be with you."

As she spoke, she brought her hands to her cheeks and allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment. A cheerful smile graced her face. It was amazing how he still managed to have that effect on her after five years, like she was still a naive teenager.

"But now that we are together, I know you will always be here to protect me and Gohan. Isn't that right, Goku?"

She paused, anxiously awaiting his confirmation. However, the seconds passed, and it did not arrive; the only response she got was silence.

"Goku?" Chi-Chi mumbled, confused, opening her eyes again and turning to look at him. She immediately noticed her husband staring at the sky with a severe and apprehensive expression. "Goku? Are you okay?" She asked, confused.

"What happening, Goku?" Krillin asked as well.

Goku didn't answer them immediately, and when he was finally able to, he only uttered:

"Someone comes."

"What?" Krillin and Chi-Chi exclaimed at the same time. What did he mean by that?

Bulma and Master Roshi left the house at that moment, the first carrying the tea tray. However, the dense air around the others became quite noticeable.

"What happens?" Bulma asked curiously, approaching with the tea.

"Someone is coming," Goku repeated with a serious voice, also loaded with anguish. "They are flying here."

"Flying?" Bulma uttered, looking up at the sky. "Could it be Yamcha? Or Tenshinhan…?"

"Wait, he's right," Krillin suddenly commented, looking up at the sky. I "I don't think it's any of them. It's... a tremendous power..."

That startled everyone.

"Is it Piccolo?" Master Roshi inquired.

"I… I don't know," Goku replied, shaking his head.

They all fell silent, looking at the sky and waiting for whatever had disturbed Goku so much to show up. Chi-Chi looked at her husband and the others, totally lost. She had rarely seen Goku with that worried expression; she didn't think anything could cause such a reaction in him.

She didn't understand what was happening, but her first reaction was quick to approach her son and take him in her arms, hugging him protectively against her body.

"Mom?" asked the little boy, confused.

"It's okay, Gohan. Everything is fine," replied Chi-Chi, trying to sound sincere but perhaps not quite succeeding.

Goku abruptly turned at that moment toward a specific direction.

"Here it comes!" he reported aloud. And as soon as they all turned to where he indicated, they could make out a point in the sky that was getting bigger and bigger quite quickly. It didn't take them long to realize this was a person...

And it wasn't Yamcha or Tenshinhan, much less Piccolo. The man who swiftly descended from the sky to stand firmly on the sand before them was a complete stranger. He was tall and well built, with thick black hair that fell free down his back to below his knees. He wore strange brown and black armor that exposed his wide arms and legs. His look and smile were sly. In front of his left eye, he had a strange device attached to his ear.

"But... who is that man?" Chi-Chi whispered slowly, holding Gohan closer to her.

Yes, he was a complete stranger... or maybe not so much. At least when Chi-Chi saw him, she was invaded by two feelings. The first was that that individual caused her great discomfort and suspicion by the mere presence of her. And the second... that his face and appearance were vaguely familiar.

"Finally, I found you," the stranger said in a gravelly voice, widening his haunting smile. His attention was fixed on Goku, to whom those words were apparently directed. "You've grown quite a bit, but I recognized you just by looking at you, Kakarot. You are the spitting image of your father."

"Kakarot?" Goku muttered, totally confused, and everyone else shared the feeling.

"Kakarot," the individual said again, now with a harsher voice, "explain to me what is happening on this planet. Your mission was to wipe out all its inhabitants, and I find everything intact. What have you been doing all these years?"

The more he spoke, the less sense what he was saying made. Who was Kakarot? And why was he looking at Goku while he was saying all that?

"Hey, I don't know who you are or what you're looking for, but you better get out of here," Krillin said suddenly, nonchalantly advancing towards the newcomer. This caused a palpable reaction of unease from Goku. The stranger fell silent, merely smiling and eyeing him slyly. "It is obvious that you are very confused. There is no one here with that name. You haven't gotten drunk so early, have you?"

"Krillin! Stay away!" Goku yelled suddenly, but it was too late because his old friend had already gotten close enough.

An instant before Krillin turned towards Goku, he felt something hit him with great intensity in the face, with the same power as a strong kick or even more. The next thing he knew, his entire body was breaking off the ground and shooting backward like a torpedo toward the house. Master Roshi and Chi-Chi reacted by moving to the side to avoid him, and the boy's body crashed squarely against the outer wall of the hut, making a hole in it.

"Krillin!" Goku exclaimed angrily and immediately turned back to the stranger. But when doing so, however, that anger was replaced by astonishment as soon as his eyes contemplated what that person had hit his friend because he had not been punched or kicked.

Once he recovered after dodging, and still with Gohan in his arms, Chi-Chi stood up and looked up. Like the rest, she noticed the same thing as Goku: a long tail of brown fur waved to the side of the stranger, clearly sticking out of his back.

"A tail…?" Chi-Chi pronounced slowly, astonished, and instinctively looked towards the back of her little son, who was sobbing against her, scared and confused.

A tail like Goku's…. And Gohan's...?