Chi-Chi sighed, snuggling deeper into her blankets. She was so warm. So cozy. It reminded her of being in her papa's arms but not quite as stifling although admittedly she did feel quite a great deal warmer…She nuzzled in further, seeking the warmth, and felt a squeeze in response. She sighed, enjoying the feeling. It was so nice. So co…
Wait, squeezed?
What was squeezing her?
She cracked an eye open only to see nothing but white fabric…white fabric with just the slightest hint of skin peeking just above her line of sight…
"AAAAH!"
Chi-Chi shoved a startled Goku hard against the far wall, scrambling to put distance between them.
"OW!" Goku whined, "Whaddya do that for?"
"GOKU!"
How could she have forgotten about Goku?! Goku, who was currently pouting at her even as his eyes struggled to remain open. She glanced out the window, noting that there was still more darkness than light. It must be in the early hours still.
"Chi-Chi," Goku grumbled, yawning widely before shuffling back to his sleeping spot. "I was comfy. Can't we sleep a little longer?" He nuzzled into his pillow. "C'mon Chi. S'too early."
Right. Goku…and her…she had agreed to this. Sharing a bed. How could she have forgotten all that? She slapped a hand against her forehead. He'd probably just cuddled her in his sleep. It was probably hard not to, considering how much room he took up.
Chi-Chi yawned, realizing Goku was right, it was too early. And before her overreaction, she had been enjoying the best sleep of her life. Goku was cozier than her warmest space heater.
She nibbled her bottom lip, debating what to do, but a second yawn decided for her and she slipped back under the covers, keeping a small distance between her and Goku but not as large as she might have done just last night. Goku was already snoring away but somehow the fact that he didn't seem surprised to find Chi-Chi beside him—aside from the fact that she'd thrown him into a wall—eased her concerns and allowed her to take comfort in being so close to the boy she had such conflicting feelings for.
Besides, it had been rather nice in his arms.
oOo
Goku woke the next morning feeling more refreshed than he had in a long time. The futon was warm and comfy and Chi-Chi's warm scent always put him at ease. He remembered falling asleep by a lake when they were children and feeling so content. Part of him wanted to snuggle closer to her, to better take in her scent, but after the earlier incident he opted to stay put. He didn't want to risk startling her, or whatever had happened, again. So instead he stretched his limbs and sat up, scratching his belly, not surprised in the slightest when it gurgled in hunger.
But what to do about breakfast? Chi-Chi had bought a bunch of stuff yesterday but he didn't know where any of it was. Plus he kind of felt like maybe he should do something for her, since he'd just decided to tag along on her journey and she'd bought him all those clothes. Speaking of, where had she put them?
The futon pretty much took up the entire space, so their things must be stored in capsule form somewhere but nowhere that he could easily spot. He glanced down at Chi-Chi, noting how peaceful she looked with her hair splayed out all around her. She looked…softer…somehow.
He scratched his cheek awkwardly and turned away. He'd have to wait for her to show him where everything was but that was okay. He didn't need clothes for fishing anyways.
Goku slipped out the door and headed east. Yesterday he'd spotted a river in that direction, shortly before he'd found Chi-Chi. A quick dash through the woods brought him to it and he was able to strip and quickly catch several fish, enough that even he would be stuffed after. They weren't as large as the ones back on Mt. Paozu but there sure were a lot of them.
He shook himself off, threw on his underwear, and then stacked his prize in his arms before jogging back to where he'd left Chi-Chi.
Goku had just finished starting the fire and skewing the fish when Chi-Chi finally joined him outside.
"Mmm, morning Goku," she yawned, joining him by the fire. "Why aren't you dressed?"
"Mornin' Chi!" Goku grinned, "I wasn't sure where ya put my things but that's okay. I didn't need 'em to catch breakfast," he waved towards the fish to indicate what he meant.
"You could have woke me."
"You looked comfy." He shrugged, "Hungry? It shouldn't take too much longer."
"I didn't know you could cook," Chi-Chi said, taking a seat beside him. She had daydreamed about cooking for him a thousand times but never once had she thought about him cooking for her.
"It's just grillin'."
"It's still something," she argued. "You'd be surprised how many people don't know how to take care of themselves."
"Yeah?" Goku pictured his friends and figured maybe she had a point. Even someone smart like Bulma had been pretty clueless without her capsule stuff so maybe it was more impressive than he thought? His lips quirked up into a small smile.
"I've been learning how to cook for years," Chi-Chi informed him as she examined the fish. "It's the duty of a good wife to keep her family fed."
"Oh?" His ears perked up at the word wife.
She would be his wife if they married, right? Did that mean Chi-Chi had been learning all this time with him in mind? Goku felt his cheeks heat up at the thought. But what about now? Would she refuse to cook for him now that she'd said she wouldn't marry him? That didn't seem fair. He was still willing. Or was there something he needed to do in return to earn her cooking? He supposed that was only fair but then what was he supposed to do? There was no one around he could ask. His friends were easy to track down but then they'd probably just tease him about not knowing anything. Chi-Chi would know…and Chi-Chi had been kind when explaining things to him yesterday…but Chi-Chi was also the one he was trying to convince to marry him.
Then again…wouldn't knowing what she wanted be the fastest way to convince her?
"Chi-Chi…" he mumbled, still unsure if he should be asking her. "What do I do?"
"Hmm?"
"You said wives feed the family. What do men do?"
"Oh!" Chi-Chi said turning pink, "Well traditionally husbands work to provide money for their families."
"Money?" Goku blinked, "What for?"
"To pay for necessities, like food and shelter."
"Really? Why can't they just hunt?"
Chi-Chi frowned, "Well I'm sure they could but there are still things you need to get from a store to keep a healthy diet. And there are other things like clothes and medicine that you can't just find in the wilderness."
"Medicine? That's the stuff people take when they're sick right?" He remembered Krillin, Launch and Master Roshi needing something like that when they got food poisoning. Grandpa had gotten sick a couple of times but he insisted some tea and a lot of rest would handle it.
"Have you never taken medicine before?" Chi-Chi asked, staring at him curiously.
"I've never been sick."
"Really? Well that's lucky, most people can't say the same." Her mother certainly couldn't.
"Chi-Chi? What's wrong?" Goku asked, noticing the sudden downturn of her lips.
"It's nothing, Goku," she said, waving him off. Goku didn't think it was nothing, but was distracted by her next question. "Why are you asking about husbands anyway?"
"Well…we're marriage trainin' aren't we?" he said hesitantly, rubbing his neck. It was a joking gesture he often did to make light of things but when Chi-Chi didn't respond he felt a real sense of nervousness shoot through him.
"Chi-C—"
"Just a sec."
She stood abruptly and ran into the capsule home, making Goku jump back in surprise, before returning with a pen and a pad of paper. She opened to a fresh page and pressed the pen to her lips, tapping them slightly.
"You keep callin' it that but logistically speaking, I'm not sure how this'll work." She drew a line down the middle and then scribbled a few things on the left hand side. "Married people typically stay in one place, so if you want to try to earn money, it'll be difficult while we're traveling but it's not a bad idea. Maybe we can find temp work on a farm or something. I'd hate to use too much of my father's funds but we can hunt for food like you said so that should help." Chi-Chi made a note on the right. "The problem is on my end, I can't train if I'm cooking all day but you have a big stomach." She shot him a knowing look and for the first time in his life Goku felt embarrassed at how large his appetite was.
"Heh heh…"
"Hmm, I could make breakfast the night before and then just reheat it on the stove in the morning," she mused. "As long as you can catch us enough to grill for lunch while we train and then use later for dinner, it shouldn't be impossible."
"I can do that," Goku grinned, happy that he wouldn't be too much of a burden and that he was going to get a chance to try her cooking.
Chi-Chi tapped her lips as she studied the paper.
"Our home is small, so it's not like we'll need to clean a lot…and clothes can be washed on a rest day…so as long as we work together on cleaning the dishes this should work. We can train in the morning and travel after lunch. And we can both find work when we get to a town, so neither of us has to take too much time off training. What do you think?"
What did he think? Goku blinked, not sure how to answer.
Basically as far back as he could remember he'd followed someone else's training schedule. Even in that period after his Grandpa died before Bulma found him, he just stuck to the schedule that Grandpa had made, the only exception being when his stomach demanded food. He was more impressed how Chi-Chi managed to work their marriage training in with regular training and he didn't mind chores too much. Aside from that time after the 22nd Tournament when he went off on his own, he'd always had to do some chores.
He rotated the fish.
"Sounds great Chi, but is it okay if we're doin' each other's jobs?
"Well…it's not traditional," Chi-Chi admitted reluctantly, which honestly went against everything she'd ever wanted. Her life had been so far from normal with mountains going up in flames and a rampaging evil father that something nice and traditional had always sounded ideal. A dream she'd clung to in her darkest times.
How was it then that the boy she'd fallen for was anything but? Most boys didn't travel the world beating up whole armies and taking down evil demons. Yet it's why she'd been so head over heels for him in the first place.
Of course most girls weren't martial artists either.
And it wasn't Goku who had decided to undertake the journey. That had been all her. So…so maybe a traditional marriage wasn't as necessary for her happiness as she'd once believed? She'd have to think more on that later.
"Actually Goku…this entire situation isn't exactly traditional and while that's fine, more than fine," she added quickly, noting his small frown, "there's one other thing that I think we should discuss."
Goku raised a brow, noting her serious tone, and nodded to indicate he was listening. Chi-Chi acknowledged him with a nod in return and licked her lips as she thought over how to say this.
"You remember how I refused to let you strip in front of me last night?"
"Yeah."
"Well married people are allowed to be naked around each other and kiss each other and touch each other intimately in private places but only with each other."
Goku's brows shot up. "Private?"
She pointed to the areas on their bodies that she meant.
"Oh! Ya mean like how I did 'pat pat' on you when we were kids?" He blinked. "Oh! That's why it's so bad but I only did it 'cause I couldn't tell boys and girls apart. I'm much better at it now though!" He assured her, noticing her cringe.
Unfortunately his innocent statement was just cementing how much of an idiot she'd been and why this conversation was absolutely necessary. She put up a hand to silence him.
"I understand, Goku, and that's fine but ya have to understand that even if we're 'marriage training' we can't do that with each other—I mean we are allowed to kiss but I'd rather wait on that—but more importantly you can't do those things with anyone else. Those are things only married people do with each other. If," And here Chi-Chi swallowed, holding back the tears that threatened to spring to her eyes at the thought of what she was about to say. "If ya find that you want to do that with s-someone else, ya can tell me and we can put a stop to this training and go our separate ways, okay?"
Goku frowned as he watched her, worried that she was about to start crying. He wasn't sure why anyone would want to touch another person's bare privates but he could understand that this was a serious subject. He was more concerned with her wanting to go separate ways. It felt like she was trying to give a permanent goodbye, again, but at least this time it looked like the thought troubled her as much as him.
Well, it's not like he wanted to touch anyone anyways but there was just one problem…
"I understand Chi-Chi, I won't do that with anyone else but…what's a kiss?"
"Oh!" Chi-Chi blushed, wiping away a single tear. "A kiss is a sign of affection, it's when you press your lips against something. Typically when people talk about kissing, they mean two people pressing their lips against each other but you can also kiss someone's hand or cheek or forehead or…" she felt her blush deepen as she thought about the other places a couple could kiss.
"W-Well ya get the idea."
'So that was a kiss,' Goku realized, thinking back on when Chi-Chi had kissed him at the tournament. But now he was confused.
"If only married people are supposed to kiss, why'd you kiss me?"
Chi-Chi wished the ground would just swallow her up already. Why did he have to remember that of all things?
"You can kiss on the lips before marriage," she amended, "but typically the people who do are in committed relationships, kinda like a practice marriage." She looked at her hands, fiddling with her fingers. "Kissin' on the cheek is less strict and can be done between friends, but I kissed you to show my appreciation that you were willing to keep your promise to me even if it was a mistake."
"Oh."
Goku did his best to process all this. It was a lot to take in. All he could really remember from her kiss was feeling shocked but people normally did it as a sign of affection? He looked at Chi-Chi, who was busying herself by checking over the fish. Would he have liked the kiss better if she had done it for affection rather than thanks?
Now he kind of wanted to try it, just so he could understand. But Chi-Chi wanted to wait. Wait for what? Goku wasn't sure but he was starting to feel uncomfortable. Like his heart was being squeezed and his stomach had eaten something bad.
He supposed he would just have to trust Chi-Chi to tell him when it was okay. He knew she would. So far she had answered all his questions without treating him like he was dumb for not knowing. And she could ride Nimbus so he knew she was a good person.
"So…uh," Goku muttered, scratching his cheek. "Where we goin' on this journey anyways? I've been alotta places, maybe I've heard of it?"
Chi-Chi turned to him and smiled, relieved he was changing the subject. "Well, when I was little, Mama always used to tell me a story called 'The Path of Zhēnxīn'."
"Path of Shenshen?"
"No silly," Chi-Chi giggled, "The Path of the Zhēnxīn, the pure hearted. It was said only those pure of heart would survive the journey to the gods' earthly domains."
"Earthly domains? Ya mean like their homes? That'll help ya get stronger?" Goku asked, wondering if he should just take her to Kami's. It had certainly helped him.
She shrugged. "Maybe. The stories Mama told me were always about bad people tryin' to steal the gods' powers but I think half of their strength comes from just gettin' there, don't you? Besides, it's somethin' I've wanted to do since I was a little girl." Chi-Chi smiled a bit wistfully. "In a way…it feels like I'll be honoring my mother by doing this."
She turned towards Goku, her smile widening, and added, "So even if we fail, I won't regret it!"
Goku couldn't help but grin back. He liked that she was willing to try and he could definitely respect her desire to honor her mom. Even now he still held on to his Grandpa's four star ball.
"That's the spirit Chi!" he said, giving her shoulder a quick squeeze. "And I can help train ya as well! So where's the path?"
"Mama always started the story by going north, and that in the shadow of the tallest mountain will be a hidden village called Kaishi. Supposedly Xuan Wu's shrine is close by."
"North it is." Goku sniffed at one of the skewers and, deeming it acceptable, handed it to her. "C'mon, let's eat and then we can get to trainin'. There's a good spot nearby we can go to start."
oOo
The first thing Goku wanted to do was assess her abilities. He knew she moved well and was stronger and faster than the average opponent, but by how much? He pointed to a large boulder, roughly the size he and Krillin had moved when they were kids and told her to move it.
"Really?" Chi-Chi frowned, staring at the solid rock. She didn't know what he was thinking but if he thought she could do it, then she would try. She spread her hands against the surface, readied herself, and then pushed.
Nothing happened.
She tried again with the same result.
"Huh," Goku frowned, "that's odd. I was sure you'd move it. Krillin and I could manage that much when we were just kids!"
'Kids?!' Chi-Chi glared. Now she was being out done by children?! No way! She'd been able to knock Goku around when they were kids, there was no way she'd let his and Krillin's feats as children outdo her as an adult!
'Whoa!' Goku's eyes went wide as a surge of power rushed through Chi-Chi. She pressed her hands against the rock again, digging her fingers into it like dough, and shoved. It moved ten feet.
"I did it!" Chi-Chi cheered, turning to him with a wide smile. She expected him to be smiling as well but was startled to find him frowning instead, his arms crossed as he stared at her.
"How'd you do that Chi? Weren't ya tryin' the first time?"
"Of course I was!"
Her ki flared as she said this, catching Goku's attention. Her ki had flared before she moved the boulder too.
"Chi-Chi, try flarin' your ki."
"My what?"
Goku blinked. "Your ki. Your energy. Don't ya know what ki is Chi?" He asked upon seeing her blank look.
Her silence was answer enough.
How in the world could she flare her ki like that if she didn't even know what it was? Did she just have some natural ability she wasn't aware of?
"Punch me."
"W-What?"
"Punch me."
Chi-Chi eyed him curiously but readied herself and swung. Goku knocked it aside.
"You can do better than that Chi."
She frowned but swung again, this time a little harder but still nothing like how she fought in the tournament. He tilted his head, missing the blow and blocked her follow up attempt, shoving her back. Oh she still displayed the strength and skill she'd used to qualify for the finals, but this was nothing when he compared it to the fight they'd shared.
"Chi-Chi." He chided. "Quit playin' around. Punch me."
Her ki flared again at his words.
"I ain't playin'!" she growled, taking another swing at him. This time he could feel her real strength. He dodged the punch but quickly had to jump back to dodge the next several she threw at him, a repeat of their previous fight.
"STAY STILL!"
Goku did. Instead he yanked her arm and crushed her against his chest, knocking her off balance. She struggled to get free but before she could try to knee or kick him anywhere that might loosen his grip, he lifted her to his eye level putting their faces inches apart.
Her anger instantly receded as shock overcame her.
W-What was he doing? Why was he staring at her so intensely? She had imagined scenarios like this, one where they'd spar and Goku would be so impressed with her and then he'd crush her to his chest and kiss her with all the building passion their fight had inspired! Except Goku didn't look impressed. Instead he looked like he was trying to figure out a puzzle.
Which he was.
He just didn't understand why her ki kept flaring in such a way or how every time it did she was over twice as strong! And there was another thing, it wasn't flaring in any way that he could relate to. When he or his friends did so, it was like flexing a muscle. The ki was always there but in a relaxed state until pressed. When Chi-Chi did it, it almost felt like there were two sources, one of which—now that he thought about it—seemed unreasonably low while the other always appeared out of nowhere!
Goku leaned in closer, searching for the mysterious source of ki that had once again vanished. Was it because her anger had lessened? He thought so. Her cheeks still looked flushed but her eyes were wide…and distracting. He shut his tight as he tried to sense the source of her strength…
There!
"Goku what are you doing!" She shoved hard against his chest and sent him flying into a nearby tree. "I told you we weren't doing that!"
"Huh?" Goku groaned, pressing a hand to his head. "Whatcha' do that for Chi-Chi?"
Oh! Chi-Chi turned away with a blush, realizing she'd let her emotions get the best of her yet again. Her and her stupid overactive imagination.
"Well ya did say to punch you." She shrugged, trying to play it off. "Ya shouldn't have let your guard down."
Goku was pouting as he flipped to his feet, but a small smirk quickly sprung to his lips.
"Betcha can't do that again."
"Oh yeah?" Chi-Chi huffed, suddenly wanting to wipe the floor with that smug grin. "We'll see about that!"
She shot forward, adrenaline pushing her to go faster than she was used to but Goku just dodged by jumping to the side. She sent out a kick behind her but only hit air once again.
"You'll hafta move faster than that Chi!" Goku laughed, causing Chi-Chi to growl and double her efforts. The sound sent a shiver of excitement running through him. He dodged several more strikes and then avoided a swift kick by flipping over her and swinging back around to block the incoming attack.
Except at the last second Chi-Chi switched her punch into a grab, latching onto his arm and yanking him forward into her incoming fist.
Goku stumbled back stunned, tasting iron in his mouth. He touched his lip gingerly, wincing slightly, before turning mischievous eyes her way.
"Heh."
She wouldn't get away with that again.
"My turn!" Goku grinned, causing Chi-Chi's eyes to widen in alarm. What did he mean, his turn?
Chi-Chi launched herself backwards, the ghostly feel of Goku's fingers trailing against her skin, and made a mad dash in the opposite direction. She ducked behind a tree and jumped up, only to stumble as his fingers caught her ankle. Luckily there was a branch just at arm's level that she was able to grab on to and sling herself over, breaking his grasp. She landed in another tree and quickly dropped down, ducking and dodging this way and that, moving haphazardly whenever she sensed him closing in.
She wasn't sure how long she could keep it up. Both were fully aware that he was just toying with her, that this was nothing more than a game of cat and mouse, but as they laughingly ran around in circles, Chi-Chi's movements getting ever so slower, both were having so much fun they couldn't think of anything else.
That is until a tired Chi-Chi tripped and Goku took the opportunity to tackle her to the ground.
"Gotcha!" He laughed, taking the brunt of the impact before rolling on top of her and tickling her sides.
"No! Don't! Don't!" Chi-Chi shrieked, unable to contain her laughter. She kicked and shoved but Goku didn't budge.
"Say I win!"
"No! No! Okay!" Chi-Chi cried. "Okay!" Goku paused but didn't pull his fingers away until he heard "You win!"
She tried to glare up at him but her face was flushed and her lips kept pulling up into a smile to match Goku's grin. "That was dirty," she huffed, pressing a hand against his chest.
"Nah." Goku winked, finally allowing himself to be pushed back. He rolled into a squat and then hopped to his feet, holding a hand out to help Chi-Chi up as he tapped his lip where she'd got him. "Just gettin even."
Chi-Chi eyed the small wound and tried to bite back a smile but Goku could tell she was feeling proud. He couldn't let that go unchallenged. He reached out a hand and rubbed the top of her head furiously, laughing when he finally pulled away to see her hair sticking up every which way.
"GOKU!"
She swung at him and Goku jumped backwards, ready for another round.