Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty

Written by: Feraligreater328 and StevenBodner

Chapter 133: Season of Dragon Ramen, Part 1

On the Son Family Farm…

Raditz wiped a waterfall of sweat from his forehead as he took his reaping scythe to the wheat at his feet. A hot summer wind swept down and sent the latest crop whipping to the side. Raditz bound his handful and tossed it into his cart. Then he looked around at the various workers helping with this latest, bountiful haul. He groaned. "If only you could see me now, Dad. If only..."

Raditz's arm dropped, his eyes hitting the ground. "If only..."

Without finishing his thoughts, Raditz went back to harvesting wheat. Bundle after bundle fell onto his little hand truck until it was too full to carry anymore and Raditz was off, taking the wheat to the silo that had been constructed for it to await its shipment out. In the 3 years since Bardock had left off into space, the Son Family Farm had grown from a little business in the mountains to a cross-continental food supplier the likes that Earth had never seen.

Out of everything Raditz thought he would amount to in the universe, businessman had never even crossed his mind. "Business Saiyan. That's you, Raditz. Nothing but... a Business Saiyan... If only you could see me now, Dad..."

"WHOA! HOLY CRAP! HOLY FRIGGIN' CRAP!"

Raditz nearly spilled over the handle to his hand truck. Quickly gaining his balance, Raditz abandoned his load and ran over to the source of the noise, to that familiar voice, to his little brother. "KAKAROT! WHAT'S WRONG?!"

Goku was working on his section of the crops when he suddenly dropped on the ground. His hands were trembling so fiercely it was dragging ruts in the dirt. "It's..."

Raditz cried out. "What?!"

Goku gasped out. "I-It's..."

Raditz screamed. "WHAT?!"

Goku turned to Raditz, stars in his eyes. He swept his arm out to the section of wheat behind him and Raditz flinched back. "Red?! The wheat is red?!"

He reached out and grabbed a stalk of ruby red wheat, pulling it up and examining it closely. "Why is the wheat red?!"

Goku chuckled with good natured joy. "Tis the season, Raditz! The best season! The best season EVER!"

Goku picked up his harvesting sickle and slashed down eight bundles in one swing. He gathered them up and leapt into the air. "IT'S THE SEASON OF DRAGON RAMEN, RADITZ! I GET TO HAVE DRAGON RAMEN AGAIN!"

Goku flew off in a furious rush, leaving his depressive older brother confused in a sea of bizarrely red wheat.

At Goku and Chi-Chi's house…

Chi-Chi stood at the sink in her kitchen, absently drying glasses with a vacant expression on her face. A single strand fell from her perfectly-primmed hairdo and she was on it immediately, rebinding both buns tightly around her accursed solid, ivory horns and keeping them hidden from sight. Then she was back at it with the drying.

At the table behind her mother, Chika was enjoying a chocolate chip biscuit with a smile. "You're so good at doing hair, Mama~"

Chi-Chi flinched, and then turned to her daughter, spying the similarly done up buns bound around Chika's horns. She gave a nervous laugh. "I sure am, huh...?"

Chi-Chi groaned. She hadn't yet explained what those horns meant to her poor, baby girl yet. She wasn't sure how. As far as she was concerned, demon culture was something very, very far off in the future. Something that she might not even explain until her deathbed. Maybe even something she would take beyond that.

As far as Chi-Chi was concerned, her haunted heritage was something to be bound in a dusty old book and utterly forgotten. And then Goku's voice rang out as clearly and sharply as a crystal bell. "CHI-CHI! RED WHEAT HAS GROWN! IT'S DRAGON RAMEN SEASON!"

Chi-Chi dropped the glass into the sink and it shattered into tiny pieces. "Shit."

A few minutes later…

Gohan and 3-year-old little Goten walked into the kitchen to a humorous, if not quite bizarre sight. Goku was grinding stalk after stalk of red wheat into ruby red flour while Chika watched on with wonder sparkling in her eyes. In the background, Chi-Chi stood with her hand pressed over her eyes. Goku seemed positively ecstatic as red wheat flour poured from the other end of the tabletop mill. "I can't believe it~ Dragon Ramen Season again~"

Gohan cocked his head. "Dragon Ramen, Dad?"

Goku nodded. "Uh-huh! It's the best thing I've ever eaten! Delicious ramen in a fortified, mushroom broth with all of the bounty of the mountain and the stream used to top it! It's an incredible dish~!"

Practically skipping, Goku made his way over to the fridge and pulled out several stores of meat that he and the boys had fished and hunted up in the weeks prior: sweet river shrimp, mountain boar cutlets, pterodactyl eggs, Paozu serpent cutlets, and loads of fresh vegetables fresh from the farm.

Then he made his way over to the pantry, grabbing out the oil and a jug of water to make the noodles, a fresh hunk of mountain salt, bulbs of garlic, dried chili peppers, dried seaweed, and fortified oil flavored by dashi broth.

As Goku was digging, Gohan walked up to his mom and smiled. "Hey, Mom! Busy morning?"

Chi-Chi brushed her hair out of her face. Ever since Chika had started growing her horns, Chi-Chi had seemed more fragile. Still, she managed to function. But today, Gohan could tell, this was one of those days for his poor, poor mother. He frowned a little, and then wrapped his arms around her. In spite of herself, Chi-Chi smiled.

The poor housewife placed her hand on top of Gohan's head and watched her husband dig through the pantry. Any outside onlooker would assume that she was unhappy with him. That she was looking at him with such misery in her eyes because she was tired of her marriage or she had fallen out of love with that man.

Those people didn't know a damn thing.

Chi-Chi loved her husband so much and seeing him happy, this giddy, brought up those same butterflies in her stomach from when she had first met him. Her Goku had never fully grown-up in the conventional sense: he could be immature, reckless, and lazy just as any little kid could be. But he was a good man and he loved her with all his heart, always working to make her happy. He wasn't the most romantic man, needing much teaching in what marriage and sensual love was all about, but he still instinctively knew that it made Chi-Chi feel good when he gently grabbed her by the sides of her face and kissed her on the forehead.

In her eyes, Son Goku was perfect and SON Chi-Chi would hear no different from anyone.

No, Chi-Chi's sadness and antipathy didn't stem from her husband's excitement over The Season of Dragon Ramen. It stemmed from the season itself. It stemmed from the memories.

Goku hadn't known that Chi-Chi was a half-demon when he first met her. Because she had always had her helmet on. He didn't even know that she was a demon when they got married because she filed her horns down until the nubs bled smoothly against her head. Nor when they had consummated that marriage. He hadn't known and she hadn't even tried to tell him.

And that was dishonest. So, when the Season of Dragon Ramen magically came to Mt. Paozu, never having touched the mountain before Chi-Chi had taken residence...

"OH NO!"

Chi-Chi was snapped from her trance by Goku screaming out in abject horror. She quickly collected herself. "G-Goku! What's wrong?!"

Goku emerged from the pantry with a defeated look on his face. He plopped down onto his butt and held up an empty jar with a singular label taped onto it and marked with Chi-Chi's elegant penmanship: TATSUENOKI MUSHROOMS, DRIED.

Goku looked at his wife, devastated. "We're out of Tatsuenoki Mushrooms, Chi-Chi! We can't make the broth for Dragon Ramen without Tatsuenoki Mushrooms!"

Chi-Chi was taken aback. They were out of Tatsuenoki Mushrooms? Of course, they were. She herself had thrown them out that same year that Goku had died, between Raditz landing on the Earth and Vegeta landing on the Earth. But why had she done that?

Chi-Chi mumbled to herself. "Why did I do that...?"

Goku stood up. "What do we do, Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi thought hard. Why did she do that? She knew the answer. She felt powerless at that moment so long ago. Her husband was dead. Her son was kidnapped. And she, the eminent daughter of the Princess of Ox Demons, could only sit at home and wait. Chi-Chi felt so powerless at that moment that she didn't feel like a demon at all. Even when she tried to hide that part of herself, she still felt it. But, at that moment, she felt powerless... weak... empty.

A bystander in her own life. Able to do nothing but contemplate what she would do if the two loves of her life never came back. And not liking the dark thoughts that bubbled up when she considered that she was all alone. She didn't like thinking about what she'd do if they never came back.

And so, Chi-Chi had simply thrown them out, expecting this season to never bring that red wheat back into her life again. There was no demonic energy flowing off of her. Nothing to seed into the land. She thought it was gone.

And then Chika was born, and horns sprouted, and Goku had asked her to stop pointlessly hurting herself to hide it all, and-

Goku put a hand on her shoulder. "Chi-Chi, what do we do? We have to have that Dragon Ramen. It's been so long..."

Chi-Chi flinched back. And then, she spoke demurely. "Goku... what does it even matter? So, the wheat is red... so what?"

Goku frowned. "What do you mean?"

Chi-Chi looked him in the eyes, her face feeling heavy. "Why does it matter whether we have Dragon Ramen or not? I'll cook you anything you ask. I can-"

And then Goku spoke and Chi-Chi fell stone silent.

Long ago, before Gohan was born…

Goku smiled, greedily enjoying his bowl of Dragon Ramen. "So, you're a demon?"

Chi-Chi nodded, pressing her hand to the side of her head and lifting her hair, showing Goku the filed down nub where her right horn once was, now surrounded by a tender ring of pink, scabbed skin.

Goku frowned. "What happened?"

Chi-Chi looked at her husband and forced a smile. "W-Well... my dad was worried about my well-being, so he made me wear that silly helmet when I was little. I'm a big girl now so... I just figured this was the best solution, seeing as I can't wear that helmet anymore..."

Goku finished his bowl, setting it down. The two of them were sitting on the front step of their house, watching the stars. Chi-Chi had no idea that, at this moment, she was already 2 months pregnant.

To her shock, the red wheat had grown. Goku had brought it to her and it had grown. And all at once, she knew that it was time to tell him. Time to stress test this joyous union she had found herself in.

Chi-Chi had gone out and gotten all the ingredients. Scouring Mt. Paozu and even doing a pilgrimage to Dragon Rock for the Tatsuenoki Mushroom. And she had made the Dragon Ramen, a demon tradition that her mother had shown her, with her husband. And he enjoyed every bite. And she had finally told him what she was. And now here they were.

Here was Chi-Chi, bracing for impact and already plotting her trip down the mountain.

Because honestly, how could Goku love a wretched demon, even if only partly so? After what King Piccolo had done, after what she had seen done to her mother, how could she expect this pure-hearted young man she had fallen for to think she was anything but a monster.

And then Goku leaned down and kissed her for the first time.

She hadn't kissed him. He kissed her.

Goku pulled back and smiled that wonderful smile of his and he spoke. "That was the best meal I've ever had. I love ya, Chi-Chi~"

And the tears welled in Chi-Chi's eyes…

Back in the present…

... and they poured. "What?"

Goku smiled and repeated himself. "I want us to share that meal again. As a family. Cuz I want Mom and Raditz and the rest of the family to be able to taste my favorite meal that you make for me~"

It was so plain. Such a simple thought. And it made Chi-Chi's heart start beating like a piston. Her face turned bright red. Goku chuckled and scratched the back of his head. "I... I didn't mean to make ya cry. I just don't wanna miss this chance, ya know?"

Chi-Chi took a deep breath. She wiped her face and her nose and managed to swallow the massive lump in her throat, and then she spoke in the most even voice she could manage. "Th-Then... I guess I'll have to go get more Tatsuenoki Mushrooms, huh?"

In front of Goku and Chi-Chi's house…

Goku cocked his head, scratching roughly into his wild mane of hair. "Are you sure you don't want me to come along, Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi waved him off, adjusting her satchel on her back. "I'll only be gone 4 days. 2 for the walk there and 2 for the walk back..."

Goku nodded. "Okay. But... why not fly?"

Chi-Chi stammered. "B-Because, uh, it would spoil the mushroom and ruin the richness of the flavors if I were to fly at high speeds through the air?"

Husband and wife stared at each other for a long, hard minute. Chi-Chi blushed. Goku coughed into his fist. Neither of them believed a word of that. Chi-Chi shook her head. "It's just... tradition. Okay, Goku? It's just a tradition..."

Goku nodded and spun on his heel. "Ooooooookay!"

Chi-Chi gave her kids and husband each a kiss and Chi-Chi's loving family then walked back into the house. "You and the kids just make the noodles! Okay? I'll be back in no time!"

Goku shot a thumbs-up and Chi-Chi was left standing alone outside. She took a deep breath and turned away from her home and her entire body immediately screamed to go back. But at this point, she couldn't do that. She was too far and too deep into this. She had made her husband a promise and she couldn't break it now.

Chi-Chi took a deep breath and, with great effort, forced one foot in front of the other. And then she forced the other foot to move as well. Left and right. Left and right. Left and right. And then she was walking on. Soon enough, her home was a cozy speck behind her and, sooner still, Mt. Paozu was a shrinking monolith in the distance. Chi-Chi turned and looked again, still longing to turn around. But she kept walking. "Gotta do this..."

5 hours later…

For what it was worth, Chi-Chi was making great time. Dragon Rock was just shy of 300,000 meters of mountainous paths from her own front door. Nearly the same amount of distance as between Dragon Rock and Mt. Frying Pan. For any normal person, it would be a walk that would seem impossible. Who could make it that far in such a short time?

But Chi-Chi was just as superhuman as the rest of her family. There were stretches where she ran at top speed, Ki pumping into her legs to make them less flesh and blood and more like well-oiled pistons. And then there were stretches where she walked at a leisurely pace, whether it be to bask in the pleasantly hot sun or the sublime shade.

Her outfit was nothing too fancy. A simple qipao with sensible pants and hiking boots. Her backpack was slung onto her shoulders containing a bit of easily ingested food and a few thermoses of crystal-clear water. She had a scarf tied around her head, blocking her horns from sight and allowing her waterfall of stygian locks to hang behind her. Chi-Chi was never the type to let her hair just... hang. But this was different from normal life. This felt more right.

As she walked, Chi-Chi found herself lost in her own mind. Her brain skipped from thought to thought to thought at a breakneck pace. She remembered her first meeting with Goku and smiled warmly. She remembered the first time she took a file to her horns, and she shuddered in pain. She randomly thought of her first meeting with Yamcha, and she laughed out loud, speaking to no one that she owed him a punch for knocking her out like that. And then she remembered the warmth of her mother's arms and Chi-Chi fell silent again.

She swallowed a lump in her throat and sighed.

The bald-faced truth that neither Goku nor Chi-Chi addressed back in their yard was that Chi-Chi could have flown and gotten this silly errand done in less than an hour. Less than half an hour if she'd have simply allowed him to come along. But she couldn't do that, and she really didn't want to. Chi-Chi needed this walk. Chi-Chi needed time to think and to breathe and to just... exist. Just be. Not wrapped in worries or panic or home life. Chi-Chi just needed to... exist.

And in this need to exist, Chi-Chi found herself totally lost in thought. She grumbled in angry thought. "I'll get that Mr. Satan bastard. I swear..."

And as Chi-Chi continued her walk, she didn't realize that she was being followed.

Later that evening…

The first sparkles of the stars began to twinkle in the night and Chi-Chi came to a stop, looking at a stretch of forest next to her. She opened her backpack and pulled out a massive sheet. "Now... tent or hammock? What do I do?"

After about 10 minutes of intense deliberation, Chi-Chi decided that hammock would be more sensible. She could just lay down on this warm evening and drift away as the occasional hot breeze rolled through. Chi-Chi nodded and stepped up to the tree on her right, securing the sheet in place with two falconer's knots. Just to be safe, she secured the end of the sheet upon two different, strong branches. Then she walked to the other end of the sheet to do the same.

*FHWOOMP*

Chi-Chi turned around and was immediately pressed against the tree. A rope crashed across her chest, and she felt it continue to wind around and around until the two heavy metal bearings twisted around each other and securely bound her in place. Chi-Chi gave an easy-going tug to the bola and growled under her breath. "What does Bulma see in this sort of thing...?"

From the shadows, three wandering thieves stepped up and glowered down at Chi-Chi. One of them pulled a knife from his vest and licked the blade. The second had a mustache and a bazooka over one shoulder. The third was a massive tiger-man wearing an army helmet. Knife Boy cackled, staring lustfully at Chi-Chi's ample bosom as it was strained and on display from the bindings. "Hey, hot stuff. Those clothes looked awfully restricting. Need some help with them~?"

Chi-Chi spoke bluntly. "I'm happily married."

Bazooka guy laughed. "Well, where's hubby then? Scared of the dark, is he? Or are you guys on the outs?!"

All three laughed. Chi-Chi sneered. "A said happily. Are you dumb, deaf, or both?"

All three of them snarled. Knife Boy thrust the blade into Chi-Chi's face. "Looks like the little lady doesn't realize the situation she's in! We'll have to make her aware, nice and slow~"

Chi-Chi was unmoved. "You have 3 seconds to cut this rope, apologize, and get on your merry way before I start breaking bones. 1..."

They all laughed. Chi-Chi spoke calmly. "2..."

One guy got close, pulling back the knife to slash Chi-Chi's shoulder. "Say '3', bitch!"

Chi-Chi sighed through her nose. "3."

And then, she flexed her muscles and made the ropes all snap at once, along with the trunk of the tree she was anchored to. Knife Boy yelped. "What the-"

Chi-Chi smashed her fist into the side of his head hard enough to leave a knuckle-shaped dent. As he bounced, she sped at the tiger-man and kicked him hard enough in the gut that his ribs audibly splintered. He fell to the ground and gurgled. The bazooka guy cried in fear, watching from behind as Chi-Chi downed his larger companion in a single hit. In a panic, he levied his bazooka into firing position and aimed it at the back of Chi-Chi's head. She turned and glared at him and he pulled the trigger.

Chi-Chi was not scared in the slightest. She could handle a silly rocket. But then, from the bushes, another fighter leaped out and kicked the rocket high into the air where it exploded without incident. Bazooka guy's jaw dropped in horror as he stared at his new foe: a 3-year-old girl with a pissy look on her face.

He yelped. "What the hell?!"

She cried out. "You meanies leave my Mama alone!"

Son Chika launched forward and delivered the slap of all slaps to the thief's face, sending him flying over the treetops to land with a dull thud in the distance. Witnessing this terrifying display, Knife Boy and Tiger-Man limped away with a story that would haunt them for the rest of their miserable, scummy lives. Once they were gone, Chi-Chi and Chika turned and stared at one another. Chi-Chi stammered. "Ch-Chika... what are y-you... what are you...?"

Chika lunged into her mother's bosom. "MAMA!"

Chi-Chi easily caught her daughter, feeling the girl's little arms wrap a half-moon around her waist and her little hands each grabbed a handful of her dress. As Chi-Chi set her daughter down, Chika smiled warmly at her. "I've been following you since you left the house! I told Papa that I was going with you, and he smiled and gave me a thumbs-up~"

Chi-Chi bit her lower lip. "Goku..."

Chika looked up at her. "I'm sorry, Mama. Don't be mad at Papa, please..."

She buried her face in Chi-Chi's tummy. "I just didn't want you to be alone. I know that you cry sometimes, and you always hug me when I cry, so if Papa couldn't come with you, I just wanted to be there..."

She smiled up at Chi-Chi again. "Because I love you~"

Chi-Chi could feel the tears welling up, but she quickly suppressed them. "Oh, Chika..."

And so, mother and daughter quickly finished setting up their hammock, finding a new set of trees to properly anchor it onto. Chi-Chi made sure her little girl ate dinner, even if it wasn't much beyond cold rice and water, and then they laid down together. Chika pulled the hair bun coverings from her horns and then was asleep in less than 3 minutes. Her monkey-like tail wrapped gently and firmly around her mother's leg.

Chi-Chi stroked her daughter's hair and spoke in a gentle whisper. "She and Goten are half-Saiyan. When their Saiyan appetite comes in, the daily cooking is going to be insane."

Without thinking, Chi-Chi caressed her thumb over Chika's little stubs of horns and thought back to when her mother showed her how to care for her own horns. Chika's felt like bone, dry and slightly coarse. Chi-Chi couldn't think of a time when she was little when hers didn't feel as smooth as porcelain.

Chi-Chi laid her head back and looked up at the moon. For a moment, she entertained the thought of pulling off her headscarf and letting her own horns breathe, but that thought quickly died. As Chi-Chi's eyes slipped shut, she mumbled to herself. "How did horn care go again...?"

The next morning…

Chika woke up with an adorable, little yawn and hazily wiped the sleep out of her eyes. It took her a moment to realize that she was alone in the hammock. "Mama...?"

A heavenly smell rose up from down a nearby embankment and Chika followed it, hovering along until she landed on the ground and looked down to the river below where her mother, Chi-Chi, was busily tending to a fire over which four massive river fish hung on sticks and a small frying pan sizzled away with some freshly acquired eggs within. Chi-Chi looked up. "Breakfast is almost ready! Come on down!"

Chika obliged, stumbling down the steep embankment and plopping down on the ground next to her mother. Chi-Chi smiled. "Morning, angel~"

Chika smiled back. "Morning, Mama~"

It didn't take long for the food to finish cooking, and it took even less time for Chika to dig into what her mother had made, enjoying every crispy bite of fish, and chasing it with her share of the eggs. Chi-Chi mostly ate in silence, staring at the flowing stream that she only assumed eventually flowed into the greater Paozu River.

Once she and Chika finished, she tossed the bones of the fish into the water flow and the two of them said a little prayer. Then Chika got to her feet. "Where do we go today, Mama?"

Chi-Chi raised her hand. "Hold on. We have something to attend to before we go. Just give Mama a bit of patience, okay?"

Chika was smiling and agreeable. "Yes, ma'am!"

Chi-Chi stood and quickly ascended to the top of the embankment. While she waited, Chika decided to soak her feet. The water of the stream was pleasantly cool and Chika smiled in relief. A few moments later, a bigger pair of feet joined hers. Chika looked up to Chi-Chi and watched her mother's tight, somewhat tired face relax. For the first time in a while. Chi-Chi sat there with her horns out, gleaming in the sunshine. Chika smiled. She didn't want to say anything out loud that would fluster her mother, but she couldn't think of a single prettier person in the world.

Chi-Chi cracked her neck and cleared her throat. "Now then, for the reason I asked you to wait here..."

Chika was paying full attention. Mama sounded serious, but not angry. Chi-Chi reached into the water and began to dig through the miniature riverbed. Eventually, she pulled out a porous, but overall smooth stone. She turned to Chika. "Let's take a bath. I need to show you something."

Chika nodded. "Okay~"

And so, all alone in the wilderness, the two of them stripped all the way down and waded into the center of the water. The flowing stream was deceptively deep. In the very center, the current wasn't that much stronger. But it was a whole lot deeper: it submerged Chika all the way up to her neck while she was standing, all the way up to Chi-Chi's chest while she was sitting down. Chika turned to her mother. "But, Mama, we don't have any soap! How can we take a bath without that?"

Chi-Chi smiled. "We're not dirty. That's not what this bath is about, dear. I need to show you something important..."

Gently, Chi-Chi grabbed one of Chika's horns, rubbing her hand over the coarse surface of it. Chi-Chi spoke very softly. "Grab your other horn and feel it..."

Chika obeyed, gently feeling the horn on the left side of her head. She frowned. "Rough..."

Chi-Chi smiled, grabbed her daughter's wrist and guided her hand to her own horn. "Feel mine now."

Chika did as she was told, gasping loudly. Her eyes sparkled. "Smooth! So smooth! Oh my gosh!"

Chi-Chi nodded. "It takes a lot of work to take care of these, Chika. They're a hassle and a massive pain, but your father asked me to stop grinding mine down and I certainly won't put you through that pain. So, I must teach you how to care for them. Okay?"

Chika nodded. "Okay! Okay!"

Chi-Chi turned and lifted one of her knees, sitting her daughter on it and taking the porous stone from before. Taking a handful of stream water, she gently massaged Chika's little horns. "These are basically bones that are growing out of your head. If I had to compare them to something more normal, I would say they're akin to fingernails, but even that isn't fully correct."

Once Chika's horns had been well-moisturized with the crystal-clear water, Chi-Chi took the stone and gently slid it along the surface. Chika giggled. "That tickles~"

Chi-Chi smiled in good humor. "That's what I said back when my mother showed me how to do this~"

Chi-Chi continued to grind away at the surface of her little girl's horns, shedding away more and more thin layers of rough, neglected horn flesh and applying more water to them as she went along. Chi-Chi sighed. "You have such nice, little horns, With enough care..."

She caressed her own. "... they'll be as strong and lovely as mine one day."

Chika smiled. "That's great! Then I'll be just as pretty as Mama is~"

Chi-Chi blushed hard, glancing away. She had a small, indulgent smile on her face. She knew that she was very attractive, certainly having kept up her figure. When alone, men were still quite often hitting on her even after two pregnancies and approaching 40. Her husband, who ironically didn't put much value into looks, found her very pleasing to look at, and the other wives asked her for her secrets on skin care and other such nonsense with no real pretense or overperformance. And Chi-Chi felt pretty, most of the time at least. But all of that was a performance of its own kind.

Chi-Chi's smile faded. She had never shown her horns to her closet of friends. Bulma and Android 18 were bad enough, but Launch was basically her sister-in-law now and even her next-door neighbor. She had barely even shown them to Gine...

Chi-Chi sighed. "... And I probably wouldn't have done that if I didn't have to..."

Chika turned. "What'd ya say, Mama?"

Chi-Chi shook her head. "Nothing, baby. I was just thinking about your grandma..."

Chika smiled. "I love Grandma Gine~"

Chi-Chi nodded. "So do I. You're lucky to have such an attentive, loving grandma."

Chika frowned. "She cries sometimes too, ya know? She really misses Grandpa Bardock..."

Chi-Chi nodded again. "I do too."

Chika sighed as Chi-Chi grabbed a small handful of river mud to use as a makeshift polish. Chi-Chi gently rubbed it along the surface of her daughter's horns, hoping to catch any little abrasions. Chi-Chi spoke gently. "When we get home, we'll apply a nice moisturizer to them, maybe cocoa butter, and they'll get that real smoothness. Then we'll just need to find oil to give them sheen. After that, it'll just be about maintenance care... and learning how to sleep so that you aren't stabbing holes into the wall."

Chika giggled merrily. Chi-Chi giggled as well. Chika sighed. "Will I ever get to see Grandpa Bardock again?"

Chi-Chi immediately nodded. "Someday, yes. That man is loyal. He'll be back eventually."

The horn polishing finished, Chi-Chi stood and carried her daughter back to the embankment, drying the both of them off with the hammock tarp and then getting them both dressed. Chi-Chi fixed up her hair buns, expertly concealing both of her horns, and then helped Chika slot her hat carefully over her head.

Then, the morning ritual was done and the two of them were off for another day of walking. It wouldn't be that much farther to Dragon Rock.

Some ways down the road…

Chi-Chi and Chika were making it down the dirt road at a brisk pace. Instinctively, Chika had grabbed her mother's hand and Chi-Chi had taken Chika's without any hesitation. Occasionally, Chi-Chi would smile down at her daughter and swing her up off the ground, delighting in Chika's squeals of delight as she went soaring a full 360 degrees into the air.

Chi-Chi smiled. "With how much you enjoy that, it's almost easy to forget that you can fly. How do you get such a thrill out of me swinging you like an old handbag?"

Chika snickered. "It's just fun to spend time with you, Mama~"

Chi-Chi beamed at that. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a squirt bottle of water, taking a sip for herself and handing it down to Chika to drink from as well. If they ran out, it didn't really matter. The stream was right next to them and ran straight for as far as Chi-Chi could see. They could refill whenever they wished.

Chika handed the bottle back and looked at the sky. "Grandma Gine... and Grandpa Bardock... and Grandpa Ox..."

Chi-Chi nodded. "Yes. Those are your grandparents..."

Chika pursed her lips. "Papa's mama and papa. And Mama's papa..."

She looked up to Chi-Chi. "But what about your mama, Mama?"

Chi-Chi tensed a bit. "Wh-What about her?"

Chika sensed the sudden change in her mother's tone and flinched back. "N-Nevermind..."

Chi-Chi immediately realized what she had done. She shook her head, angry at herself. "Sorry, Chika. I can answer questions about your Grandma Chika. What do you want to know?"

Chika gasped. "Grandma CHIKA?! She has my name?!"

Chi-Chi cringed. How, in all these years, had she never told her own daughter the origins of her name? Sure, Chika was only 3... but surely Chi-Chi had mentioned it sometime before now. Hadn't she?

Chi-Chi's throat felt dry. She swallowed hard and felt it click. She spoke carefully and articulately. "Well, yes... you were named after my mother, Chika. I named you after her because... well, gosh, I'm not sure why. Honestly, I wasn't thinking of my mother at all when I named you. I just spoke the first name that came to mind after you came out. We were in a submarine and I was feeling... trapped, ya know? So, I just used the first name I could think of for a girl..."

Chika nodded. "Mama is always thinking about her mama, right?"

Chi-Chi nodded. "Yes."

A curt answer. And even a 3-year-old could pick up on just how curt it was. Chika squeezed her mother's hand. "Mama misses her mama?"

Chi-Chi nodded again, a voice a bit thicker. "Yes."

Chika watched as Chi-Chi, perhaps unconsciously, gripped her hand over the exact same spot where an arrow had pierced the Gyuhime's heart so many years ago. Chi-Chi whispered. "They didn't even give her the dignity of a fair fight. They snuck up on her like some kind of wild animal..."

Chi-Chi gripped her fist tight, making her knuckles pop. "God damn them... those bastard Cranes..."

Chika yelped. "M-Mama!"

Chi-Chi gasped, looking down. She was squeezing both fists unconsciously. Immediately, she let Chika's hand loose and knelt down, kissing it at least a dozen times. "Chika! I'm so sorry! I'm so, so sorry!"

Chika sniffled. "It's okay, Mama. I'm sorry I made you sad..."

Chi-Chi flinched back. "N-No! You didn't! I-"

In the blink of an eye, a shadow fell from the sky and clamped onto Chika, yanking her high into the air. It took Chi-Chi a moment to fully register what had just happened. "What... the...?"

Chi-Chi looked up and gasped. Chika was squirming away at the massive, taloned claws that were holding her still. One was wrapped around her legs, one was wrapped around her torso, and one was wrapped around her face, muffling her cries for help. The massive bird that had stolen Chi-Chi's daughter had three eyes and wings as black as night. It flapped its massive wingspan and sailed off into the distance, almost cackling as it cried out. Chi-Chi spoke two words. "Yatagarasu. Demons."

Without realizing it, Chi-Chi and Chika had stepped into demon country. And Chi-Chi had been too distracted or too negligent to notice.

Before she realized it, Chi-Chi's feet had left the ground and she was flying at top speed. Veins erupted from her forehead, and she snarled, roaring like a monster. "LET GO OF MY DAUGHTER RIGHT NOW!"

The Yatagarasu turned to smirk and gloat again but was shocked to see that Chi-Chi was right there. She punched it right in the beak, creating a spider-web crack with her fist. The bird was stunned, and Chi-Chi chopped it in the throat. "GIVE ME BACK MY DAUGHTER, YOU OVERGROWN TURKEY!"

The Yatagarasu sneered. This woman was strong enough to kill it in one blow. But she was holding back? Was she just too gentle to kill? The Yatagarasu looked into Chi-Chi's eyes and was washed over with a feeling of terror and dread. This woman was certainly no objector to killing her enemies. The only reason she would be holding back is to avoid injuring the child. The Yatagarasu cackled and tightened its claw, making Chika scream out in pain. Chi-Chi was distracted. "Chika!"

The demon sneered and then let loose an ear-piercing shriek. The treetops below rustled and dozens more Yatagarasu came shooting out from the leaves. Chi-Chi jerked her head toward her new foes and barely managed to block as one took a stab at her with its beak, the tip of the beak managed to pierce into her side. Chi-Chi clenched her teeth and fired a ki blast, blowing the bird's head off. The lead Yatagarasu flapped its wings and put some space between itself and Chi-Chi, leaving Chi-Chi to be mauled and slashed by its underlings.

Chi-Chi snarled in blind fury, taking slash after slash to her various bits of exposed flesh as she tried to blast her foes out of the air. She was a fighter, and she could go with the best of them, but this was quickly overwhelming her. The last time she fought this many foes at once was when Abo and Kado came to Earth.

One of the Yatagarasu dragged its talons across Chi-Chi's face, digging two grave slashes into the meat of her cheek. She wanted to shriek but bit her lip. She couldn't afford to sound panicked here. If she sounded panicked, then Chika would start panicking even more. She blasted her latest attacker in the gut and called out. "CHIKA! DON'T WORRY! I'M COMING!"

The lead Yatagarasu landed in its nest, sneering down as it lifted one of its three feet off of Chika, exposing her head. She cried out. "MAMA!"

The Yatagarasu cackled and drew its head back. It was going to pluck this brat's head off and then eat her as retribution for its cracked beak. It shot its beak down toward Chika, only just managing to jerk its head out of the way as the brat screamed and fired a Ki blast out of her mouth. The monster crow scoffed and ran one of its talons down the girl's throat. Tears welled in her eyes and it sneered, drawing its head back again to strike.

Chi-Chi fought with all of her strength, barely even noticing as a razor-sharp beak stabbed her between the shoulder blades. "CHIKA!"

The lead Yatagarasu shot its beak down again... only to suddenly stop as a powerful presence left the demon stiff with fear.

As it nervously and its fellow demons looked to the source, Chi-Chi, the desperate mother's entire appearance had changed. Encased in an aura of swirling red and white, Chi-Chi's horns grew longer, her muscles more defined, her hair longer and sterner. As she looked up at the enemies that dared to harm her daughter, Chi-Chi's irises became blood red. And then, in that moment, a strong hand to seize the lead demon by the throat. It gagged and looked at the gleaming, bald head of its attacker. "Picking on women and children isn't very nice..."

And then, a fist collided with its gut and sent it flying into the air. "VOLLEYBALL FIST!"

Chi-Chi flinched. She recognized that voice. And then, all of the lesser Yatagarasu were suddenly repelled by an unseen force. As Chi-Chi's sudden change dispersed and she returned to normal, another familiar voice called out. "Chi-Chi! Are you okay?!"

Chi-Chi looked over, one of her eyes gummed shut with blood, and wearily called out. "Chiaotzu...?"

Chiaotzu smiled, coming to Chi-Chi's defense and pointing his fingers. "I count twelve of these nasty, little monsters. I think you killed seven of them! Nice job!"

Chiaotzu's finger glowed and he smiled, firing a beam that pierced each crow consecutively. "DODON RAY!"

Chi-Chi sighed in relief, but immediately tensed back up. "What about Chika?!"

"SPIKE!"

The lead Yatagarasu shot down in front of Chi-Chi like a missile, crashing into the hard ground below and exploding into a cloud of evil and feathers. "You don't have to worry, Chi-Chi. You have one brave, little girl here!"

Chi-Chi looked up and saw, to her surprise, Tien was floating down towards her. In one of his arms, a somewhat injured Chika was curled up and whimpering softly. He smiled and tightened his grip around her just a bit. "You don't have to worry. The monster is gone. And you were really brave back there, trying to defend yourself like you did. You really are Goku and Chi-Chi's daughter."

Chika nodded, and then she leaned into Tien's gi and began to sob out of fear and relief. Tien looked from her to Chi-Chi. "You've both been roughed up. Chiaotzu and I have Senzus. What's say we find a place to use as shelter and take a bit of a rest break?"

Chi-Chi nodded, grateful that Chiaotzu was flying under her to provide support. She practically collapsed onto his back. "Right..."

As mother and daughter were spirited back down to the ground, safe from the crows thanks to two noble warriors, Chi-Chi was truly, immensely grateful. But there was also a small speck of loathing buried in all of that. She liked Tien and Chiaotzu well-enough as Goku's friends... but the very sight of them made her think back to the death of her mother, and that thought made her see their intrusion with an unhealthy amount of dread.

A few minutes later…

Chi-Chi sighed in relief as the painful gashes on her cheek sealed up. She reached over to her bag, pulling out a towel, and wiped the steadily drying blood from her face. Next to her, Chika had calmed down quite a bit from the previous vicious attack. She was giggling and playing a game with Chiaotzu in the dirt.

Tien leaned against a tree. "There have been more and more of them recently..."

Chi-Chi glanced up. "Huh?"

Tien looked toward her. "Demons. Vicious ones at that. Chiaotzu and I were making our way through this area, looking for pupils to join the New Crane School, and all we've found are destroyed villages begging for help. They said it's getting to be a certain type of season..."

Chi-Chi nodded. "Yeah. The Red Dragon Season. All the demons inhabiting the mortal realm are stirring for an eventual party on Dragon Rock."

Tien studied Chi-Chi's face carefully. She almost looked like she was hiding something, but was much too bashful to mention it out loud. For a moment Tien swore he could make out the shape of... something... beneath her headscarf. Why did Chi-Chi suddenly start wearing a scarf around her head anyway? Or change her hairstyle so drastically?

Chiaotzu cried out. "OH NO!"

Both the warrior and the wife turned in shock, only to see Chiaotzu taking a massive pratfall. Chika was laughing with such joy. "Yay! Mama, look, I beat Mr. Chiaotzu in tic-tac-toe!"

Chi-Chi breathed a sigh of relief. "That's... great dear. I'm happy for you..."

Tien smiled. Then he looked toward Chi-Chi again. "So, why are the two of you all the way out here anyway?"

Chi-Chi looked over at him. "With Red Dragon season comes the Season of Dragon Ramen. Goku really wants me to make it and that requires me to make my way to Dragon Rock to get a certain type of mushroom. This is just the first time that I've had someone accompany me."

Chi-Chi thought of the yatagarasu about to stab its beak through her daughter's back and shuddered. Tien nodded. "I see. I assumed as much, at least in regard to the attack you were fending off. That bird wouldn't have stood a chance against a focused you."

Chi-Chi adopted a modest smirk. "You really think so?"

Tien nodded. "No doubt. You're one of the strongest people living on this planet, Chi-Chi. I will never allow myself to forget that."

He chuckled. "I remember the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament fondly..."

Chi-Chi took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Me too. But as much as I'd love to hang around and reminisce, we have a schedule to keep."

She stood up, cracked her back, and motioned to Chika. "We need to be off if we're going to get that mushroom."

Chiaotzu spoke up. "We could go with you, ya know. We don't have much better to do with our time."

Chi-Chi felt every muscle in her body tighten. Tien nodded in agreement. "For sure. We wouldn't want you getting ambushed by yourselves again. Please, allow us the honor of escorting you on your voyage going forward."

Chi-Chi wanted to grind her teeth. Her hands shuddered so subtly that one wouldn't notice unless they were holding them. And Chika certainly did notice. "Mama? What's wrong...?"

Chi-Chi thought back to that moment so long ago. The arrow that went through her mother's chest. The look of dumb shock on her face as a dribble of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth. Chi-Chi's own clothes become wet and warm and sticky as crimson poured down and...

Chika nearly being stabbed through by a massive, three-eyed crow...

Chi-Chi swallowed the massive lump in her throat, swallowed her pride and her lament, and then turned toward these two loyal friends to her husband and their family. "I would very much appreciate that."

Farther down the road, later that day…

Chi-Chi kept her eyes forward as she, her daughter, and their two new bodyguards marched onward. In the distance, a massive sheer mountain rose up in a draconic display of stone and rock. The eponymous Dragon Rock was just as intimidating as it always had been.

Getting closer to it was having a serious effect on Chi-Chi. She felt her blood boiling beneath her skin. She felt the genes she had inherited from her mother writhe and roar their silent roar. Dragon Rock was a gateway, a split in reality. It was a place where the Mortal World was flayed open, festering and fuming, and where entrance to the world on the other side was possible.

Normally the split was so small that barely a yatagarasu could squeeze its way out. But now, during the Red Dragon Season, it was large enough that all sorts of foul creatures could make their way out and cause trouble for those immigrants of the Demon Realm that simply wanted a more peaceful existence.

Chi-Chi's eyes turned red again. She could feel them change color, oddly enough. She sniffled and shook her head, forcing her normal eye color to return. She couldn't allow that to happen here. Not in front of Tien and Chiaotzu. Certainly not in front of Chika. She refused to scare her little girl like that.

Chi-Chi's horns were throbbing. Aching almost. Her head felt heavier and heavier the closer they got.

Furtively, she glanced at the bit of her hair that she could see out of the corner of her eye to make sure that it wasn't changing color too. She wasn't entirely sure that she could stop that if it started.

This one moment of distraction was enough that Chi-Chi didn't notice the ax blade slicing through the air and right toward her face.

Tien moved rapidly, stepping between the blade and Chi-Chi and blocking the swing with his arm. The ax blade chipped and Tien came away with a small cut for his trouble. But he had successfully defended the unaware Chi-Chi. She stumbled and defensively scooped up Chika. "What the-"

Tien scowled as the demon beast in front of him bellowed. "Hyahahahaha! Does your arm hurt, human filth? Does it sting after its kiss from the blade of Byakko the White Tiger?!"

Tien took a defensive stance. Chiaotzu followed suit. Chi-Chi wedged Chika between her back and her backpack and took on a stance of her own. Byakko wasn't alone. The white tiger-man stood to their west. To their east was a hissing, blue snake-man with a chain sickle. To their north was a black turtle-man with a stone hammer. And to their south, a yellow bird-man with a katana.

Byakko cackled. "Cower in fear, humans! We are the Four Auspicious Beasts! Byakko, skilled in the ax!"

The dragon hissed. "Seiryuu, skilled in the chain and sickle!"

The turtle bellowed. "Genbu, skilled in the hammer!"

The bird squawked. "Suzaku, skilled in the blade!"

All four of them chanted. "AND WE ARE-"

"Severely outmatched."

Byakko turned. "Who the hell dares-"

And then a Special Beam Cannon smashed into his face and drilled a gory hole right through the back of his skull.

Suzaku squawked. "Byakko!"

Tien gave no quarter, rushing forth and smashing his elbow into Suzaku's chest. Chiaotzu fired a Dodon Ray through Seiryuu's heart and Chi-Chi shot forward, smashing a knee into Genbu's shell. The four demons' bodies fell to the ground, and they all burst into clouds of evil smoke.

Chika wormed her way out from beneath Chi-Chi's backpack and ran forward with a loving sparkle in her eyes. "MR. PICCOLO!"

Tien gripped his bleeding arm and smirked as he walked forward. "Hey, Piccolo. What's up?"

Chiaotzu floated forward. "Why are you here?"

The Namekian had already picked Chika up off the ground, holding her like a loving uncle on his shoulder and shrugging. "I felt Chika's Ki signature begin to weaken earlier, so I started rushing over here. Once I felt it go back to normal, I slowed down a bit. So what are all of you doing out here anyway?"

Chika smiled and happily started to explain the situation. As she did, Chi-Chi stayed back from the rest. In her heart, Piccolo showing up made her feel very happy and very grateful. Her precious children had nothing to fear so long as Piccolo, ever the loyal uncle, was there to rush to their aid. She had detested Piccolo for the longest time, but she could no more deny that he was a member of the family than she could deny that Tien and Chiaotzu were.

In some way, she loved him just as she did all of the others.

And yet...

The arrow piercing her mother's heart...

The hatred against demon-kind because of that monster King Piccolo...

Chi-Chi looked at these three loyal friends. All of them doting on her daughter and her daughter doting right back and she felt her skin crawl. She loved the three of them so much.

But she also hated the three of them quite a bit too.