Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Author Notes:

This "What if…?" came to my mind while rewatching Dragon Ball Z on TV a few months ago. As the description indicates, it will mainly star Chi-Chi and show a scenario of what would have happened if her role, motivations, and characterization at the beginning of the series had been different. But what inspires me the most to do this is to give some justice to this character, who I'm sure could have been so much more than she was if given the chance.

                As explanatory notes before beginning, I must say that it is clearly an "Alternate Universe." And although it will base a lot on what is shown and explained in the Anime, I will take the freedom of slightly twisting some events or concepts to tell the best possible story. This applies, for example, to the issue of the scale of power, as you will see. But because of this, you will likely find details that make you say, "But that doesn't work like that," or "That character obviously couldn't have done that at that moment," or similar things. In that sense, I invite you not to take these things too seriously and just let the story flow and show you what it offers. And hopefully, the result will be worth it.

                Without further ado, I thank you for entering and giving this story a chance. I hope you like it.

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01

Chi-Chi made lunch early that day, as her husband and son were going on a trip, and she didn't want them to go without eating anything. Bulma had written to invite them to spend the afternoon at Kame House, the residence of the venerable Master Roshi. The invitation was extended to both, of course, but Chi-Chi had no plans to attend. The most likely thing was that this meeting would last until the night, and they would have to return the following day. And she didn't have that privilege with everything she had to do around the house right now.

                In fact, there were so many chores that doing without her husband's help wasn't exactly an idea that appealed to her. She always found it helpful to have the strongest man in the world on hand to help her with the most tiring and complicated tasks. However, although Goku didn't show it so openly, Chi-Chi could perceive a certain emotion in him at the idea of seeing his old friends. After all, it had been at least five years (five years!) since he last saw them.

                On top of that, Goku also seemed very interested in them finally meeting Gohan. And their little son could barely interact with other people there on that mountain, not to mention other children. So he also seemed very interested in going to this totally new place, fueled by his innate curiosity as a researcher, Chi-Chi would like to think.

                With all that, who was she to deny them that little joy? Spending a day alone at home was not such a high price, and perhaps her father could come to keep her a little company and help her a little.

                She served all the dishes quite diligently on the table, all and each one. The portions that Goku used to eat were indeed coarse, but Chi-Chi had managed to find a way to satisfy him without spending her life cooking. It was all part of the work of a good wife.

                Once everything was served, she went to the door of her little boy's room. She had told Gohan to go over his lessons before they left, or she wouldn't let him go anywhere. It wasn't true (at all), but sometimes it was good to motivate him with what she could.

                "Gohan, the food is served," Chi-Chi pronounced loudly, knocking on the wooden door with her knuckles. She waited to hear some response from the other end or sense some movement, but all remained quiet. "Gohan?" she uttered again, and when the boy still didn't answer, she opened the door and peered inside.

                Her son's books and notebooks rested on the desk, but no trace of him was found. The window was also open, and a slight breeze stirred the curtains.

                "Where is he?" Chi-Chi muttered with a slight mixture of anger and concern.

                She went to the front door and out of the house, greeted by the bright rays of the summer sun and the crisp mountain air.

                "Gohan!" she exclaimed loudly so she could be heard clearly. "Gohan! It's time to eat!"

                She kept screaming as she moved around the house, hoping to see some trace of her son or that he would appear to respond to her call; neither of these things happened.

                Gohan sometimes leaving without permission was not precisely usual, but it happened. Earlier, Goku had said that he was going to train a bit in the forest, and Gohan had wanted to go with him, but Chi-Chi had sent him to go over his lessons. The little boy obeyed as always, but apparently, he had decided on his own that once he finished his review, he could give himself permission to catch up with Goku in the forest.

                "Those two are just right for each other," Chi-Chi thought, letting out a heavy sigh of frustration.

                A loud dragging sound suddenly caught her attention from the front of the house, so she immediately headed there. As she got closer, she could see the shape of a huge round tree trunk slowly approaching her. Although, of course, it didn't come alone because as soon as it went up the hill enough, she saw Goku's figure below it, carrying the trunk on his head like a feather pillow.

                "Goku?" Chi-Chi pronounced slowly, although her attention was fixed on the huge trunk. "What's that?"

                The tall, dark-haired man stepped forward until he was in front of the house, then allowed himself to let the trunk fall to one side, creating a small rumble.

                "You said we were already running out of firewood, right?" Goku replied normally, rubbing his hands.

                "I said so, but... such a big log...?"

                "Don't worry," Goku laughed nonchalantly, feeling the trunk with his hand. "I'll cut it into small pieces later."

                Well, that was logical, thought Chi-Chi, preferring to keep the comment to herself.

                "Have you seen Gohan?" She asked after a few seconds. Goku, however, had turned up his nose at the smell of food escaping through the dining room window, and his attention had been diverted almost entirely to it.

                "Smells good. I'm starving!"

                "Goku, I asked if you have seen Gohan," Chi-Chi repeated, slightly exasperated.

                "Gohan? The last time I saw him was in the morning. Isn't he here?"

                So they hadn't met in the woods. If Chi-Chi had managed to keep her concern at bay until now, it threatened to run riot soon.

                "Where did that child go?" she muttered, annoyed, taking a few steps toward the forest where Goku came from. "Gohan! Come now! If you don't eat quickly, you'll be late to go to Master Roshi's house," she indicated, turning to her husband. "Could you go look for him? I'm sure he couldn't have gone very far."

                "Okay," Goku agreed, outlining a wide smile. "Don't worry!"

                Without further ado, he quickly skipped away toward the forest.

                "I trust it to you!" she yelled at him loudly in farewell before the lithe figure of her husband disappeared from her sight. And once alone, she murmured more concisely to herself: "That child is just like his father."

                And that wasn't entirely a bad thing, actually. It was not for nothing that Goku was by far one of the kindest, gentlest, strongest, and most noble men she knew. Gohan would be very lucky to be like him... although not in everything. Of course, some qualities of her husband were not so favorable when viewed from another perspective, and it was her mission to take care that her son took only the good things from him.

                Before heading back inside the house, her attention was drawn to the huge log in front of the house, and at that second glance, it seemed even bigger than it had been a moment ago.

                Now, what do I do with this? She thought to herself with a bit of anguish. If I leave it here, it will get in the way when I do laundry.

                She tried to push it herself and roll it to the side, unable to move it an inch, not even applying her entire body.

                After trying for a while, Chi-Chi took a second to rest, slump on her seat on the grass, and think about her options. The most sensible would be to leave it there and wait for Goku to cut it into smaller pieces as he had promised.

                Smaller pieces, she mused as she gazed up at the sky. Goku wouldn't do such a thing with an axe. He didn't need it; his hands were stronger than any axe. That huge log would become small, manageable trunks with a few swipes.

                That was just the kind of task for which it was convenient to have his help... although...

                Chi-Chi stood up and looked thoughtfully at the trunk. She began to walk beside it, running her fingers over the bark. When she trained with her father when she was younger, she also had to chop logs with her own hands. Although, of course, not one as big or thick as that one, and she hadn't done it for a long time. But to do that, her father told her it was more about technique than strength. It must be true because even she had managed to do it without being as big and strong as him.

                Maybe I can try to break it myself, she thought reflectively. And after only a few seconds, she decided to do it.

                She backed up a little, making distance with the trunk, and got into position, pulling her right fist back and focusing her gaze on the target. She breathed in slowly, relaxed her legs, and when she felt ready, she lunged forward, pulling her fist against the trunk with all her strength. Her blow tore through the bark, cracking it, and it continued past at least the first few layers of wood… but no further. Her fist was embedded in a large crater on the log's surface, but something insignificant if she compared it to its enormous size.

                Chi-Chi withdrew her fist, and the heat flooded his hand as soon as she did. She groaned in pain and held onto her hand firmly. Glancing at it, she could see how red her knuckles and fingers were, and she had made a few small cuts on her skin. The good news was that at least it didn't look like anything was broken.

                "Apparently, it wasn't such a good idea," she muttered, still in pain with barely a tiny voice. "Goku better handle it when he gets back."

                Resigned, she returned to the house to heal that hand immediately.

Chapter Text

02

"Chi-Chi! We're back!" She heard Goku's voice pronounced aloud from the hall, startling her a little.

                "I'm coming!" Chi-Chi answered from the room, where she was finishing bandaging her injured hand. She had also placed a paste made with medicinal herbs that served as an antiseptic and pain reliever at the same time, which Goku used to use when he hurt himself training. It smelled very strong, but the bandage hid it well.

                Out of mere reflex, she tried to hide her hand behind the long sleeve of her shirt as she left the room and headed for the dining room. She didn't want Goku to notice the bandage and have to explain what she had tried to do; she was embarrassed just thinking about it.

                Goku and Gohan were already sitting at the table when she entered the dining room. She was not surprised to see her husband happily gulping down each plate, but her child, sitting in his respective chair with his head bowed, barely took small bites.

                "Gohan?" Pronounced Chi-Chi with fervent concern and quickly approached the little boy, kneeling beside him. She immediately noticed that his clothes were damp and a little dirty. She then gently took the boy's face and turned it towards her. His eyes were red; it was clear that he had been crying. "What happened to you, my little love?" She pronounced anxiously, covering the boy with her arms.

                "It looks like he was playing with some forest animals," Goku said, still half a bite not swallowed, "and he almost fell down a waterfall."

                "A waterfall?" Chi-Chi exclaimed in alarm. "Gohan, how many times have I told you not to stray too far from the house?" She added right after with that firm and hard tone that made both father and son tremble with fear.

                "I'm sorry, mommy…" the four-year-old boy pronounced with a small voice, lowering his eyes in embarrassment. "Forgive me, please…"

                Chi-Chi sighed, letting out much of her anger on it. It was hard for her to stay mad at Gohan as soon as he made that sad puppy face, in addition to the fact that Chi-Chi knew he did not do it with bad intentions or the desire to disobey. He just wanted to accompany his dad in his training.

                "Well, the important thing is that you're okay," she said slowly, taking the little boy in her arms to sit in the chair and place him on her lap. He pressed her face against her chest as if he wanted to hide it. "But you're very nervous," Chi-Chi pointed out, running her fingers sweetly through his dark hair. "Maybe it's better if you stay here with me today."

                Pronouncing that suggestion, she looked toward Goku, waiting for his opinion. It took him a while to notice that she was looking at him, and when he did, the warrior hurried a little to finish swallowing before speaking.

                "Okay, if you think that's for the best," he replied as another rice bowl approached. "Although it's a pity, I hoped to introduce Gohan to Master Roshi and the others."

                Chi-Chi understood that. It was almost absurd that Gohan was already four years old and Goku's friends didn't know him yet. Was it partly her fault? Had she been too overprotective of her son during his early years, not letting him leave her side for a moment, afraid that anything would happen to him? Well, if she considered that when she turned her back on him, he had gone into the woods and almost fallen down a waterfall... maybe she was a little overprotective, but it didn't hurt.

                "I… I'm fine, mom," Gohan uttered between small sobs, pulling his face away from her so he could look at her. "Really. I want to go…" he added right after, running his little hands over his eyes to wipe away any trace of tears.

                "Oh, my little Gohan," Chi-Chi pronounced slowly with a small smile, once again running her hand through her hair.

                "What happened?" She heard Goku pronounce it suddenly. "Did you cut yourself cooking?"

                Chi-Chi turned to him and noticed that he was looking right at the hand she had placed on Gohan's head, her bandaged hand.

                Out of mere reflex, she pushed it away, hiding it behind her back.

                "Oh, yeah," she lied with a nervous smile, then quickly changed the subject. "What do you think if I better go with you?"

                As soon as Gohan heard that, his eyes shone joyfully. Chi-Chi wondered if it was because he was glad that she was going with them or simply because it meant that he could go on the trip he had been promised.

                "Fine by me," Goku replied between bites. "But didn't you say you had many things to do today?"

                "Well, I guess I could do them when we get back," Chi-Chi replied calmly, shrugging. "If you both help me a little, of course..."

                "Sure, as you want," Goku agreed, and a second later, he left the last of the dishes on the table and stood up quickly. "So, shall we go at once?"

                "Yeah!" Chi-Chi and Gohan pronounced in unison, raising a fist in the air in encouragement.

                And a few minutes later, the whole family was already mounted on the Flying Nimbus, Goku sitting in front and Chi-Chi behind him with Gohan on her lap, starting the trip at full speed toward the Kame House. The sun was shining brightly, but the weather was actually quite nice.

                After spending so much time in the mountains, seeing new places was something inhospitable for Gohan, and he looked everywhere with his little face full of curiosity while his mother held him firmly so he wouldn't get too close to the edge of the cloud. Chi-Chi took the time to explain and point out everything they saw, especially when they left the mainland behind, and only the blue sea could be seen below them. They had the good fortune to even pass close to a pod of whales that raised part of their bodies to the surface, spouting water into the air. Some of those drops even touched the faces of Chi-Chi and Gohan, and they both laughed with joy.

                "It had been a long time since the three of us walked together on the Flying Nimbus," Chi-Chi mentioned between laughs, leaning her body forward to rest her forehead against her husband's back. "But maybe we should think about acquiring another means of transportation soon, don't you think, Goku?"

                "Another transportation?" Goku asked, confused, turning to look at her over his shoulder. "Don't you like the Flying Nimbus?"

                "The Flying Nimbus is fine. But we must think about the future when the family gets bigger," Chi-Chi mentioned, outlining a little nervous laugh. Her cheeks also took on a notorious rosy color.

                Goku didn't seem to fully understand her comment.

                "You mean when Gohan grows up?" He pointed out, looking distractedly up at the sky.

                "No… or well, yes. But I am talking more about when we could have more members. You understand me, right?"

                "I'm not sure," Goku laughed, apparently somewhat amused. "But if it's what you want, we can find something. Perhaps Master Korin can give us a bigger cloud.

                "Oh, Goku. You're so witty," Chi-Chi pronounced between laughs, patting him on the back. The warrior, however, evidently still did not understand.

Chapter Text

03

Master Roshi's island was much smaller than Chi-Chi remembered. If she wasn't mistaken, she had gone there once when she was a child and another time a few years ago. On both occasions, however, it was likely that the moment's rush had not allowed her to pay much attention to the details. In addition to its size, it was a bit impressive to see that there were no other islands nearby, just miles and miles of sea to wherever she saw. It was impressive that Goku could locate that little dot on the map with his simple orientation.

                Once they arrived, the Flying Nimbus stopped right over the house. Chi-Chi spotted a flying ship parked to the side that must have belonged to Bulma.

                Goku took his wife in his arms, and she took her son, and the three of them jumped from the cloud towards the mainland accompanied by a small cry of fear, although clearly also of emotion. Goku, of course, easily achieved that they reached the ground safely.

                "Guys, we're here!" the warrior pronounced loudly to be noticed. The house's occupants didn't take long to show up: Krillin, Bulma, Master Roshi, and the old turtle that was the teacher's pet (or something like that).

                "Goku!" Krillin exclaimed, filled with joy and a broad smile on his face.

                "Oh, and Chi-Chi came too," Master Roshi pointed out, coming out behind him.

                "Hello everyone, long time no see you," Chi-Chi greeted with a respectful nod. She was still holding Gohan, which prevented her from bowing more deeply.

                They approached Goku without hesitation, and the looks and words of admiration when contemplating their old friend were notorious, as was the overflowing joy that enveloped them. Chi-Chi couldn't help but smile when he saw that. It was remarkable how great an effect Goku had on those who appreciated him.

                After a few seconds of greetings and laughter, the child's presence in his mother's arms did not go unnoticed any longer.

                "Hey, what about that kid?" Bulma asked, pointing towards the little boy.

                "Huh?" Chi-Chi exclaimed, somewhat confused. "Goku, haven't you told them about Gohan?" She questioned next, looking at her husband with an expression of clear reprimand. He looked back at her with a term of genuine confusion that clearly said: should I have?

                "Well, that's why I was going to introduce him to them today," Goku stated, placing a hand behind his head. "Guys, this is our son, Gohan."

                "Eh?!" They all exclaimed in unison, full of astonishment. Although, looking more closely at the little one, it was quite obvious; he was pretty much the spitting image of Goku when he was a kid.

                Feeling all those gazes on him, Gohan seemed to feel self-conscious and instinctively averted his gaze to hide his face against his mother's neck.

                "Come on, don't be shy," Chi-Chi mumbled sweetly, running a hand over the boy's back. "Say hello, come on."

                At his mother's instruction, Gohan slowly turned to those unknown people, took a deep breath, and uttered in a high-pitched voice:

                "Hi, nice to meet you…"

                In truth, he was too adorable a child; in that, he definitely did not look like Goku.

                "So now you're a father, Goku," Master Roshi commented with a laughing voice. "And you named him Gohan after your deceased grandfather. It gives me great pleasure."

                Chi-Chi lowered the child to the ground, and he stood on his little feet as best he could. He was evidently still quite embarrassed, and he kept his head down, and his fingers played restlessly with each other.

                Bulma then approached, squatting before him, and smiled sweetly at him. The boy looked up from her just enough to see the young lady looking at him so closely.

                "Nice to meet you, Gohan," she said slowly, extending her hand toward him. "My name is Bulma."

                Gohan eyed the hand shyly and reflexively snuggled a little against his mother's leg.

                "Don't be so embarrassed," Bulma laughed. "I know I am a very pretty woman, but I don't bite."

                Chi-Chi placed a hand on her son's back and pushed him forward a bit so that he took two steps toward Bulma. At last, he seemed to gather enough courage to extend one of her little hands, which Bulma held between her fingers for a delicate handshake.

                "How old are you, Gohan?"

                "I have four," answered the boy in a low voice, extending four fingers of his other hand.

                "Ah, very good," Bulma agreed. "Even though he is Goku's son, he seems to know how to count very well."

                "What are you talking about?" Goku pronounced, somewhat confused. The others chuckled quietly, none seeming quite willing to explain it to him.

                "Gohan is a very smart kid," Chi-Chi stated, crouching beside her son and placing her hands on his shoulders. "Every day, we study hard so that he can be a great researcher when he grows up."

                "A great researcher, huh?" Bulma pronounced, curious. "Do you like to discover and learn things, Gohan?"

                "Yes," answered the little boy energetically, nodding.

                "And what about the robots? Do you like robots?"

                "Yes, I like them a lot," he answered now with more enthusiasm than before.

                "Great. Well, it turns out that I am an expert in that kind of thing. Would you like me to show you some of the items I've created?"

                The boy's eyes widened at that question, and a singular sparkle of emotion overflowed from them.

                "Yeah!" He exclaimed aloud without thinking, though he immediately contracted again. "But…"

                He glanced sideways at his mother, waiting for her to instruct him on whether or not to do it. Chi-Chi smiled, happy to see her son so excited to learn something new.

                You'll really be a great researcher, she thought proudly.

                "Go ahead," she instructed, touching his back. "But behave well."

                Gohan gave a vigorous nod and then walked over to Bulma. She stood up again and took him carefully by his little hand to guide him towards her ship.

                "Come, I have a tablet here with many diagrams and plans you will surely like."

                Chi-Chi watched in silence as they both walked away, only a few meters towards the ship parked at the side of the house. Although she was smiling and, of course, the joy was real, the truth was that her chest was also a little oppressed by the mere image of seeing her little boy move away from her, even a few steps, and also with another person. It was a totally illogical feeling, and she knew it. And so she tried to contain it as much as possible.

                "This is excellent," she commented suddenly, turning to Goku. He had started talking with Krillin and Master Roshi, but he turned to look at her as soon as he heard her speaking to him. "Bulma is a very, very intelligent woman. There's a lot Gohan can learn from her."

                Goku looked over to where his son and his friend had gone. They were both sitting in the ship's seat. Bulma was teaching the little boy something on her tablet. And while she explained to him, he looked at the screen, amazed.

                "Now that you mention it, Bulma is something like a… researcher, isn't she?" He commented thoughtfully, taking his chin with one hand.

                "Something like that," Chi-Chi replied. "From what I understand, her area is more towards engineering, but I think she can still help Gohan develop skills that can be useful to him."

                The reality was that Chi-Chi was not exactly very clear about what could and could not be valuable and interesting to her son. After all, she had never studied beyond the bare minimum, and sometimes she couldn't understand half of the things she went over with Gohan. But she tried to cover a little of everything. The more tools she could give him, it would be better.

                "I don't quite understand, but if you think it's a good thing, then it must be so," Goku pointed out nonchalantly.

                "Oh, Goku," Chi-Chi sighed, laughing a little at her husband's words.

                If she didn't understand many of the things that Gohan studied, Goku much less. But she was fine; having his support and his confidence was enough.

                "Hey, Goku," Krillin said, standing next to them to also look at where Bulma and Gohan were. "And your son is just as strong as you?"

                That sudden question caused a fright in Chi-Chi. It certainly wasn't an unexpected question, considering who her father was, but it was a bit awkward. At least for her, but definitely not for Goku.

                "Well, I think he does have some power, but…" the fighter began to explain, and Chi-Chi hastened to complement him.

                "But we've decided to focus on strengthening other areas, like studying," Chi-Chi pointed out proudly. "After all, in a time of peace and without threats that endanger it, it is people with knowledge and studies who can bring well-being to people. Do you disagree?"

                She turned at that moment with her gaze fixed on Krillin and Master Roshi, and clearly they tensed a little at this.

                "I guess so," Krillin replied with a nervous smile. "Although there can always be some threat out there. After all, Piccolo Daimao is still alive somewhere."

                "I know," agreed Chi-Chi, raising her thoughtful gaze to the bright blue sky above them. "But if Piccolo or anyone else comes looking for trouble, I know Goku will take it upon himself to defeat them and protect us all. Is it not like this?"

                She turned to look at her husband at that moment, offering him a candid smile of joy. He returned it to her.

                "Yeah, of course, I do," Goku stated quite confidently.

                Chi-Chi nodded again and went back to Krillin and Master Roshi.

                "And it's because of that faith that I have in Goku that I can rest assured that my Gohan can concentrate on being the best person he can be. I know that one day, just as his father saved the world with his techniques and his strength, Gohan will do the same, making the world a better place with his discoveries, inventions, or teaching others. That will be his fight, and his studies will be his training."

                "That's a very nice thought, child," Master Roshi commented, running a hand through his long white beard. "Certainly, today's times are very different from when I was young. Now the children can live a quieter life and focus on other interests."

                "If you say so, master," Krillin said slowly, clearly still unconvinced. "But it never hurts to train a little and be prepared for what might happen, right? Besides, if he is Goku's son, I'm sure he could be a great warrior..."

                The boy's words had to be cut short when his attention turned back to Chi-Chi, and he could appreciate how she looked at him. Although on the surface she seemed calm, even stoic, Krillin could feel a trace of slight aggression piercing his forehead like daggers.

                "I'm just saying…" he pronounced nervously, waving a pair of hands in front of him. Apparently, Goku's wife could be frightening if she put her mind to it.

                Chi-Chi shifted her gaze to the side, and she tucked a lock behind her ear with her fingers.

                "I suppose a little exercise makes the mind good, too," she said suddenly, her voice calmer. "I just don't want him to focus too much on that and give up his studies."

                She raised her gaze forward. In addition to the tablet, Bulma now seemed to be showing Gohan one of her gadgets. And, of course, the boy watched him and listened with absolute attention.

                "I have a lot of faith and hope in what he will be able to do in the future…"

Chapter Text

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...?

Chapter Text

05

"By the way, Kakarot," the individual who had introduced himself as Raditz suddenly mentioned. Chi-Chi noticed with horror how his gaze fixed right on her... and on little Gohan in her arms. "That kid over there… Don't think I didn't notice the resemblance and his Saiyan tail. He's not your son, or is he?"

                All the muscles in Chi-Chi's body suddenly tensed, and by reflex, she clung even more to her son's tiny body and turned to the side, trying to hide him as much as possible from that person's view.

                "Don't you dare refer to my son!" Chi-Chi snapped with fury overflowing from her voice and gaze.

                "Your son?" the stranger muttered, letting out a wry laugh right after. "Kakarot, not only did you have the nerve to befriend these creatures, but you also dared to mate with one of their women?"

                That man's attention returned to focus on Chi-Chi, and she felt a wave of disgust when she noticed how his gaze traveled all over her body in a way that was too shameless.

                "Though I admit she's not ugly," Raditz pointed out in a sly voice.

                "How dare you…?!" Chi-Chi blurted out, unable to avoid the thick lump that had formed in her throat.

                Everything that happened in the last few minutes was incomprehensible to the young mother and wife. It had all happened so fast, and she felt simply overwhelmed by the situation, causing her the fervent desire to just run out of that place with everything and her child; if it weren't for the fact that the only thing around her was the sea.

                The strange conversation that Goku and that individual was having brought up a lot of things that Chi-Chi had no idea about and many that made no sense at all: a blow that Goku had apparently given himself to the head when he was very young, a strange story told by Master Roshi about how Gohan, Goku's grandfather, had found him in a capsule that had fallen from the sky; and a wild claim that Goku was actually an alien, belonging to a race of warriors called Saiyans who were dedicated to conquering planets. And if that wasn't enough, that man also claimed to be neither more nor less than Goku's older brother.

                This can't be true... it can't be happening, thought Chi-Chi, feeling dizzy, confused, lost... almost as if she was about to faint.

                And, of course, her feelings of apprehension and skepticism were shared by everyone else, even Goku himself. However, if she stopped to think about it for a moment with a cool head, to a certain extent, it all made... sense.

                That feeling of familiarity that the stranger had transmitted to her as soon as she saw him, now Chi-Chi could realize what it was due to: he was very similar to Goku, especially in his features and the color of his eyes and hair. And his tail, the same as the one Goku had as a child and Gohan's; she had never seen anyone other than an anthropomorphic animal have a tail like that. And what about the incredible strength that Goku had always shown compared to most of his enemies? Hadn't some claimed he could not be a human being?

                What if it's true? Chi-Chi thought with doubt, but of course, also with fear. What if Goku has really been an alien all this time? What does this mean? What does this mean for Gohan? So he is…?

                Chi-Chi tried to push all those thoughts aside before they got the better of her, but it was very, very difficult. And it was even more so when that Raditz guy said that Goku was on Earth because he had to kill all its inhabitants and conquer the planet for them and their boss. He had to fulfill his mission and then go with him to meet with his other companions. Goku, of course, absolutely denied everything that man told him and demanded that he leave. But he did not, and that horrible sense of danger that came for him only increased, much more so now that his attention was focused on Gohan...

                "If you don't want to listen to me, maybe your son will be more cooperative," Radtiz commented suddenly, taking everyone by surprise. "After all, as I told you, few members of the Saiyan race are alive. Maybe Uncle Raditz can teach your son how to be a true warrior."

                And with an almost unreal calm, he began to walk slowly towards Chi-Chi and Gohan, his eyes fixed like daggers on them. Chi-Chi felt a wave of terror run through her body, and she could not move beyond taking a step back. Her legs trembled slightly as she watched the imposing individual approaching her, but her arms clung tightly to her kid.

                "Stay away!" Goku warned him, his voice rumbling like thunder. That man, however, continued walking, ignoring him completely. "If you take one more step, I'll eliminate you!" Raditz moved forward without hesitation.

                When he was at the correct distance, and it was more than clear that he would not listen to his warning, Goku reacted with his maximum speed, launching himself with his fist straight into the face of his supposed brother. However, despite his outstanding speed, his fist ended up only hitting the air, as the image of that individual disappeared from in front of him in a mere blink.

                Goku was taken aback by this, and before he could react or even visualize where Raditz had moved, the next thing he felt was the tremendous blow he received right in the pit of his stomach when Raditz's knee sank into him. His body was thrown violently into the air, and then he fell to the side several meters away from Chi-Chi and the others.

                "Goku!" Exclaimed Chi-Chi, turning to see her husband fall backward into the sand and immobilized there by the pain. The others also watched these, stunned. Goku had just been knocked down with a single blow... How could that be possible?

                "Scoundrel!" Krillin yelled furiously, lunging out of sheer instinct toward their attacker. Still, Raditz repelled him and threw him aside with a simple wave of his hand as if he were simply shooing away a fly, and the young fighter's body ended up face down against the sand.

                Master Roshi also tried, kicking straight at his face, but Raditz stopped him in midair and then casually tossed him to the side, making him fall directly into Krillin's body on the floor before he could even try to get up.

                "What pathetic creatures are these Earthlings you've become fond of, Kakarot," Raditz scoffed scathingly. "And now…"

                He turned back towards his original target: Gohan and Chi-Chi. And now, there was absolutely no one between them and the Saiyan.

                The terror that filled Chi-Chi became even more intense. Before her, Raditz's tall, imposing figure loomed large as if he were a huge, imposing bear, and she was just a tiny, harmless bunny. She had fought enemies before, even enormous dinosaurs, and even seen Piccolo Daimao himself up close. And she had never, on any of those occasions, felt so defenseless, so vulnerable... or as weak as she was at that moment.

                The Saiyan took one more step toward her, and only then did Chi-Chi manage to overcome herself sufficiently fueled by a single fervent desire: to protect Gohan; nothing else mattered.

                "Don't touch my son!" she yelled with all her might, and pushing aside her fear, she spun around, delivering a quick, strong roundhouse kick straight into the face of that smoldering threat.

                Her foot sliced through the air with great speed, smacking straight into the left side of Raditz's head. She had used all the forces in her body; every fiber of her being had been focused solely on that kick. And, even so, that individual did not move an inch. Actually, he didn't even flinch from receiving such an impact.

                It can't be... Chi-Chi thought, stunned.

                "How absurd," Raditz whispered flatly. And the next instant, he raised his right hand in the air, and in less than a second, he directed the back of his hand straight into Chi-Chi's face without her even seeing it coming towards her. His hand slammed straight and unimpeded into her right cheek, turning her entire head to the side, and her body followed.

                The woman's mind went completely blank as she was propelled to the side. She barely caught the hard, rough feeling of the sand falling against her but could not react for the next few seconds. She just lay there lying on her side, awake from her, her eyes wide open, staring at nothing but unable to think of anything other than the intense pain that was beginning to eat away at the side of her face.

                "Mom! Mommy!" She barely managed to hear her son's voice, crying hard. She was listening to him as if he were far, far away, but the little boy was on his knees right next to her; he had slipped out of his arms as she fell. "Mom, get up, Mom!" The little boy let out loud howls while he desperately shook her with his little hands. Only until that moment did Chi-Chi manage to react a little.

                "Gohan?" she thought, still dazed, lifting her head as she could to look at her son's reddened, tear-soaked face right in front of her. His hair and clothes had become covered in sand. She only looked at him for a second, perhaps less, before the Saiyan's hand abruptly took Gohan from his clothing and lifted him quickly into the air, pulling him away.

                That was enough to snap her out of her reverie.

                "Gohan!" Chi-Chi managed to pronounce it out loud, trying to quickly get up, but without success due to the pain and dizziness that the blow had caused her.

                Raditz turned at that moment towards Goku, who was still on the ground, equally unable to get up like everyone else.

                "I'll take your son with me, Kakarot," Raditz said, holding the little boy up. "If you want me to return him to you safely, you have to start behaving properly and obeying your big brother's orders. You will have to fulfill your mission to conquer this planet and then come with me to meet with Prince Vegeta. He might let you join us if you can prove yourself to him. But for that, I will first need you to prove that your loyalty is with us and not with these lesser beings. In twenty-four hours, I will return to this place, and you will have to show me the corpse of a hundred earthlings that you have exterminated with your own hands. It shouldn't be difficult for you to do this."

                "That... no..." Goku mumbled between moans, trying to overcome the pain. "There is no way for me to do such a thing!"

                "You won't have any choice," Raditz replied mockingly. "If you do, I'll give your son back to you, and maybe even the three of us can take it upon ourselves to finish the job on this planet and leave together. If not, I'll kill him instantly, and I won't care that he's my nephew. Is what I'm telling you clearly, Kakarot?"

                That last threat reached Chi-Chi's ears as a deafening sound that did not allow her to hear anything else. I'll kill him instantly, he had said without further ado, referring to her Gohan!

                The little boy's cries resounded in the air like a shrill howl that reverberated inside Chi-Chi like an earthquake and made her put aside any pain or fear.

                Pushed by that internal fire, Chi-Chi used a large part of her body's strength to stand up and the rest of it to throw herself against that man, encircling the thick arm with which he held her son with hers, staying practically hanging off this one. Raditz barely glanced at her sideways.

                "Leave... my son!" Mumbled Chi-Chi weakly, concentrating all her strength on trying to move his arm down, resulting as immovable for her as that trunk in front of her house. "Let him go…! Leave him alone…!"

                "What a nuisance! Get away from me, woman!" Raditz yelled in rage. And without the slightest restraint, he yanked his fist free, pinning it straight into Chi-Chi's stomach with force greater than if a horse had kicked her directly. All the air left her body at once.

                "Chi-Chi...!" She heard someone speak, but she couldn't identify who it was. Goku? Bulma? It did not matter…

                She felt her mind cloud over again. Her body rose from the ground a few meters after the blow and fell backward. She rolled onto her side, clutching her hands to her stomach, coughing loudly, and even throwing up a little on the sand. Her mind vacillated between conscious and unconscious, leaning more towards the latter as her wide-eyed eyes stared blankly at the endless sea before her, her cheek pressed against the hard, hot sand.

                She couldn't get up again. As much as she wanted it, her body just wouldn't let her.

                "Have you understood, Kakarot?" that man's voice (no, that monster) pronounced in the distance. "No matter what you do, the only alternative is to obey me. Don't dare to betray me."

                Chi-Chi turned his face just a little, a few centimeters, but enough to see how the Saiyan's body rose into the air, holding the little boy under his arm who was writhing and crying.

                "Go... han... no..." she muttered slowly in a raspy voice, raising a hand weakly into the air as if naively reaching for them. "Gohan…!"

                Her eyes filled with tears and completely clouded her vision while the figure of that person sped away with everything and her son.

Chapter Text

06

"Chi-Chi, do you hear me?" Bulma Pronounced with anguish while she took the fragile body of the woman in her arms, trying to lift her up. "You can sit?"

   Chi-Chi didn't answer, but with Bulma's help, she tried to get up. As soon as her torso was raised at a specific angle, an intense shock of pain ran through her entire body from her right side, coming out of her as a loud scream into the air. Her hands gripped just at that point. Pressing it hurt her.

   "Careful, I don't know if you have something broken," Bulma mentioned. "I think we should get you to a hospital."

   That meant nothing to Chi-Chi. The pain that oppressed her, the weakness of her body, the dizziness, or the feeling that she would faint at any moment if she did not focus all her efforts on avoiding it... Everything was secondary. The only thought that really meant anything in her mind was her little one, her Gohan, and how that man had just taken him away; without any of them being able to do absolutely anything to avoid it.

   "Goku, are you okay?" Master Roshi pronounced, and Chi-Chi reflexively raised her gaze to the front. The master and Krillin were trying at that moment to help Goku get up.

   Suddenly, Chi-Chi pulled herself together enough to stand up, completely ignoring the intense pain that, in other circumstances, would have been totally paralyzing.

   "Wait, Chi-Chi," Bulma exclaimed with concern. "Don't force yourself..."

   She ignored her and immediately began to move towards where her husband lay, limping and with her hands pressing on her aching side.

   "Goku!" She exclaimed forcefully, drawing the warrior's attention, who immediately turned to look at her. Master Roshi and Krillin had made him sit up but little else.

   "Chi-Chi..." Goku pronounced weakly. His wife continued advancing toward him, but when she was close enough to him, her forces could not take it anymore, and she collapsed. Goku reacted immediately, trapping her in his arms and placing the woman's face against his chest. "Chi-Chi! Are you okay…?!"

   "Of course, I'm not okay!" Chi-Chi yelled furiously, taking everyone by surprise, especially due to the strength of her voice despite her condition. "Goku..." she pronounced with a harsh voice, and then she raised her face to face him, her eyes brimming with anger, accompanied by intense tears that began to run down her face. "How could you let that man take Gohan away?!" She exclaimed forcefully, lightly hitting her husband's chest with one of her hands.

   "But, Chi-Chi…" Goku pronounced, looking at her in amazement.

   "You have to get him back!" Demanded the woman, slapping her chest more desperately. "You have to save our son! You said you would always be there to protect us; have you forgotten? You can't let that man hurt my baby! You can't allow it...!"

   Her voice broke, and the only thing that could come out of her mouth immediately was intense and heartbreaking cries while she pressed her face against Goku's clothes, hiding her face and wetting the cloth with her tears.

   "Chi-Chi, that's very unfair," Krillin exclaimed reproachfully. "Of course, Goku didn't allow that man to take your son. He tried to protect them and…"

   "Shut up, Krillin," Bulma uttered at that moment, sounding clearly like a scold. "I know it's the pain that's talking, Chi-Chi," she added with a much sweeter tone. "None of us could understand the suffering of a mother like you..."

   Yes, it was true; the pain made her pronounce those words. Chi-Chi knew that if she stopped at least for a moment to think about it, saying all that was unworthy and unfair to her husband. But she couldn't do it. She was so frustrated and angry that she couldn't help but take it out on her. It was sadly the only thing she could do...

   "You're right, Chi-Chi," Goku pronounced seriously. "I should have protected you… I promised it!"

   There was determination and fire in his words, and Chi-Chi caught them. She then felt Goku's hands take her gently from her arms and gently pull her away from him, but only enough to lift himself up.

   "Flying Nimbus!" Goku yelled loudly once he was on his feet, and instantly the golden flash of his cloud was directed from the sky toward him, positioning itself right in front of him. He then began to move toward the cloud, even though his walk was erratic and leisurely; it was evident that he was not completely recovered.

   "Please don't be too hasty," Master Roshi insisted, grabbing him hard to try and stop him. "It is obvious that you will not be able to defeat him alone."

   "Master Roshi is right, Goku," Krillin added, still trying to stop his friend from advancing further. "Just look at what happened a moment ago: he defeated you with just one hit!"

   Goku's fists and jaw clenched, signifying his tremendous frustration. He knew without problem that their words were true.

   Bulma approached Chi-Chi at that moment, trying again to help her up by placing her arm around her neck. For those moments, Chi-Chi had no strength or desire to move, so she let her do what she wanted as if she were a mere rag doll without will.

   "There has to be something we can do," Bulma uttered uneasily, but from everyone's stares, this seemed impossible. Suddenly, an idea seemed to cross Goku's mind.

   "His tail," he said aloud. "When I was a kid, my tail was my weak spot. When someone held it firmly, I lost all my strength."

   "It's true," Master Roshi exclaimed solemnly. "It may be the same for him."

   "But Goku," Krillin said, stepping towards his friend, "the problem with that plan is that you'd have to get too close to him to grab his tail. Can you do it with him being so strong and fast?"

   Goku lowered his gaze to the ground. Again his fists clenched tightly.

   "I'm ashamed to say it, but I don't think I can do it. At least not by myself."

   Saying that last, he instinctively looked up at Master Roshi and Krillin, and the latter, in particular, seemed horrified by the silent implication of that.

   "I understand," Master Roshi said quickly. "Krillin and I will do everything we can to help you, Goku."

   "What? Me?" Krillin exclaimed with his voice almost trembling.

   "Of course, you will," his teacher replied sternly. "Neither Tenshinhan nor Yamcha is here, and the situation is critical as we take the time to look for them. Only we can do something."

   "It's... true..." Krillin whispered with more resignation than conviction. "If the three of us fight together, we can do something... I guess."

   The truth was that all this was a desperate measure but necessary. Complying with that individual's orders was not an option, and the longer they waited, the more risk they put Gohan. So there was no choice but to go, the three of them, and do the best they could... even if that ended in the inevitable death of one of them...

   "You guys won't be able to do anything, you useless duo," a voice boomed out, deep and powerful as thunder, right from the top of their heads.

   Instantly everyone looked up, even Chi-Chi in her weakness, and everyone could clearly see the silhouette of the turban and long white cape that levitated several meters above them, which none of them had noticed until that moment. And even at that distance, everyone managed to recognize him.

   "It's Piccolo!" Bulma pronounced horrified, taking a step back with everything and Chi-Chi, who she was still holding on to keep her standing.

   It's Piccolo Daimao, Chi-Chi thought, at that point so stunned that she could only feel surprised, more than scared.

   That green-skinned individual quickly descended towards them, stopping right in front of Goku and the others, who, by mere reflex, adopted a defensive posture. For her part, Bulma pushed her and Chi-Chi back further along with the old turtle.

   "But you… what are you doing here?" Goku questioned firmly.

   "I was following that guy," Piccolo replied with amazing calm, taking them by surprise.

   "Did you already know him?"

   "He took me by surprise with his incredible powers," the green-skinned being muttered, quickly noticing the rage that accompanied it. "It's humiliating, but that man called Raditz far exceeds my powers. And also yours. Even if you were to fight with those two as support, they wouldn't be able to do anything to him; they would just be a nuisance."

   The comment clearly did not please Krillin and Master Roshi, but neither said anything to deny it.

   "If you want to have a chance, you'll need a lot more help," the newcomer said fiercely.

   "What are you proposing, Piccolo?" Goku inquired, instantly adopting a slightly more relaxed stance.

   "I'll go with you," he exclaimed without hesitation. "We will fight together against that man, and we will defeat him."

   "What?!" Krillin, Master Roshi, and Bulma exclaimed in unison. Goku remained silent, and Chi-Chi, apparently having heard, was unable to react either.

   "Fight together?" Goku repeated, incredulous. "But… Why do you want to help us?"

   "Make no mistake," Piccolo snapped harshly as if spitting out the words. "I don't want to help you, and I'm much less interested in your son's life. My only goal is still to kill you and conquer this world... But, as long as there is an individual as strong as him, that will be impossible. It is evident that neither of us could stand up separately, him or his other two companions he spoke of, if they were equally strong as him. But by joining our forces, we may have a chance, especially if we take advantage of his weak spot. If you think about it, it's the smartest strategy."

   As he spoke, he slowly inched towards Goku. Her other friends recoiled apprehensively at his closeness, but Goku held firm to his position, holding the gaze of, until then, his sworn enemy.

   "So you and I will team up to take him down," Piccolo said, "and the other two. And once that happens, you and I will settle accounts once and for all. Is it clear?"

   Goku was silent for a few moments. If he was considering whether this was a good or bad idea, his serious and firm expression did not make his position very clear. Chi-Chi, for his part, looked at both men, and the idea floating in the air caused her concern like all the others but also a certain amount of conflict.

   She knew very well that in terms of strength, the only other warrior on Earth that could rival Goku was Piccolo Daimao; she had seen them fight in the last Martial Arts Tournament. If anyone could support her husband in saving their son, it had to be him. But… would it be worth the risk? Was she willing to risk losing not only Gohan but Goku as well by putting their lives in the hands of that monster...?

   How come they had come to such a desperate situation?

   "Okay," Goku answered suddenly, startling everyone else a bit. "It seems I have no other choice. I must save Gohan by any means, even if it means fighting by your side, Piccolo."

   "Goku..." Chi-Chi uttered in a low voice, slightly stunned. Would he really…?

   Piccolo smirked.

   "Who would have thought you would become a loving father? Let's go then…"

   Piccolo's body slowly rose into the sky, and without waiting, Goku jumped into the Flying Nimbus before anyone could tell him or do anything to stop him. Before leaving, however, the warrior quickly turned to Chi-Chi; his eyes radiated conviction and confidence, the same one that she so much needed to perceive in those moments.

   "Chi-Chi, I promise I'll bring Gohan back," Goku declared with firmness in his voice. "Wait for me here, please."

   "Yes," Chi-Chi agreed weakly. "Thank you, Goku. Thank you…"

   The Flying Nimbus rose into the air until it was at the same height as Piccolo, and a second later, they both shot off, disappearing into the horizon.

Chapter Text

07

Bulma took Chi-Chi to the room inside the house to try to treat her injuries as best as possible with the help of the first-aid kit that Master Roshi had on hand. The one on her face didn't look that bad, but a notorious bruise had already formed where that barbarian had hit her. For this, they applied an ointment that, in theory, would help reduce swelling and relieve pain and a bandage over the area.

                The most worrying thing was the blow she had received to the torso. Chi-Chi removed the top of her purple outfit so Bulma could see it. A large bruise had also begun to form, especially on her left side. Bulma wasn't a doctor, but it certainly didn't look good. She had no choice but to apply the same special ointment for blows to the entire bruised area and then surround her torso with bandages.

                As a final touch, Bulma gave her a couple of strong pain relievers that would hopefully help her feel better and maybe even make her sleep a little.

                "How do you feel?" Bulma asked once they were done as she put everything back in the medicine cabinet.

                "Better," replied Chi-Chi in a muffled voice as she put her shirt back on as fast as her pain would allow.

                "I still think we should take you to a hospital to get checked out."

                "I'm not going anywhere until I know Gohan is safe," Chi-Chi declared with unshakeable firmness.

                Bulma only had to sigh in resignation. It seemed that stubbornness was a common trait in the Son family, which made her worry about what would become of poor Gohan in the future.

                At that moment, there was a knock on the door. Chi-Chi had already put her clothes back on.

                "Come in," Bulma instructed, and instantly the door swung open. Krillin and Master Roshi cautiously entered.

                "Bulma, if we want to catch up with Goku, we'd better get going," Krillin said as soon as he was inside, taking Chi-Chi by surprise.

                "Yeah, let's go," Bulma agreed, getting up from the bed.

                "Will you go with Goku?" Chi-Chi questioned, somewhat confused. If they had mentioned it before, she likely hadn't heard them due to her daze.

                "The truth is, we all know we can't trust Piccolo," Krillin said seriously. "Maybe we can't do much, but if we leave Goku alone with him, he would be very capable of betraying him or even allying himself with that other guy to finish him off between them."

                Chi-Chi's face suddenly filled with fear at the moment of hearing that possibility, which had not crossed her mind until that moment, but now it was terrifyingly possible.

                "Can't you be a little more sensitive for once?!" Bulma exclaimed suddenly with a scolding tone, surely after perceiving the strong effect that his words had had on Chi-Chi.

                "Okay, but for that very reason, we should go and try to serve as a backup for Goku if needed," Krillin mumbled nervously, somewhat intimidated by his friend's reprimand.

                "Krillin is right," Master Roshi intervened. "Also, how many times can we get the chance to directly see the two most powerful warriors in this world fight side by side? Goku and Piccolo are a fantastic combination we can't ignore."

                "Master Roshi, I'm quite concerned about your priorities," Bulma stated sternly, watching him through narrowed eyes. "But the truth is that if Goku ends up badly hurt after fighting with that other guy, Piccolo can take advantage of it to hurt him. We'd better go get him."

                "I'll go with you," Chi-Chi said suddenly, slowly getting to her feet.

                "Don't talk nonsense, child," Master Roshi replied harshly. "You are very hurt. What you have to do is stay and rest."

                "Master Roshi is right," Krillin seconded. "Also, Goku said to wait for him here."

                "How do you want me to stay here so calm after everything you just said?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed loudly, shocked and annoyed, making all three of them take a step back on reflex.

                Shouting like that apparently caused her to wince a little in pain, causing her to cringe a bit and put both hands to her wounded side. She took a deep breath, trying to get over the pain but also trying to calm her nerves. Once she felt ready, she spoke again.

                "Also... while Goku distracts that man, maybe we can take Gohan away from there to a safe place. So Goku can fight without worries."

                "That's a good idea," Master Roshi agreed. "But, do you seriously think you can undertake the trip in your condition?"

                Chi-Chi nodded.

                "The painkillers are already taking effect. So let's go now. The longer we wait, the longer Gohan is exposed to danger."

                Without waiting for confirmation from them, she began to walk towards the room's door, already apparently with a little more security in her steps.

                "Hey, are you just worried about Gohan?" Krillin questioned with a harsh voice. "What about Goku? Why don't you care about him?"

                Chi-Chi stopped suddenly in the doorway upon hearing such questioning.

                "Krillin!" Bulma exclaimed loudly, again sounding like a rebuke. But Chi-Chi responded before she could say anything else, still turning her back on everyone.

                "I am not worried about Goku. I know he will kill that alien and also Piccolo Daimao. He will take down any threat, no matter how strong he is. Goku doesn't need me to keep him safe." She turned at that moment to see them over her shoulder. Her eyes radiated decision, but they were also moist. "But Gohan is just a little boy and is my son. My duty as a mother is to protect him and keep him safe."

                They were silent, sensing the weight those words placed on them, but especially on the person who spoke them.

                "I understand how you feel, Chi-Chi," Bulma stated, moving towards her and carefully placing a hand on her shoulder. She stared at her and smiled gently. "Let's go get your son, okay?"

                "Thank you, Bulma," Chi-Chi agreed, genuinely grateful for the woman's kindness.

                There seemed to be nothing more to say.

                Already on board Bulma's ship and heading towards the indicated place, Chi-Chi began to feel more vividly the effects of the painkillers. And not only because the pain had lessened a lot (but not completely gone), but because she began to feel little by little drowsier. At first, she was just tired, but then her head tilted slightly to the side until her forehead rested against the window glass. And despite the seemingly uncomfortable position, her eyes threatened to close.

                "Are you okay, Chi-Chi?" She heard Krillin ask next to her. And even if she had wanted to answer him, her body would not have managed to react enough to do so.

                "Let her rest," Master Roshi's voice said right after.

                Krillin seemed to obey his teacher's instructions since he didn't ask again. But Chi-Chi did not want to rest, did not want to fall asleep. She wanted to be aware and alert, ready for whatever she had to do to get Gohan out of that battlefield. She had always wanted her son to never get involved in this whole situation. He had to have a quiet life, dedicated to study, research, and creation; no to fights, to enemies that come down from the sky, destroy cities and kill people at their whim. This was not the life she wanted for him. So she had to get him away from all that madness as soon as possible...

                Despite her reluctance, Chi-Chi's eyes ended up closing, and they didn't open for a while. Her mind quickly sank into a deep sleep, and her entire body managed to relax for the first time since all this began. Maybe just a few minutes, just enough to regain her strength.

                She did not know how long she was asleep. A few minutes? An hour? But while her eyes closed, images came to her mind, all involving her husband, her son, and her in some way. Some made no sense, others she could easily recognize as memories.

                One of those memories, the most vivid of all, she quickly recognized as one of the first nights she and Goku had spent in their new home, sometime before finding out she was pregnant. They both lay on their bed, their naked bodies wrapped in the sheets; she snuggled against his side, her head resting on his shoulder. Chi-Chi's fingers subtly ran over the muscles of the formidable warrior's broad chest while he delicately wrapped one of his arms around her, pulling her towards him. No one who knew him could even imagine that side of Goku: the tender side of him, delicate, passionate, loving... A side of him that only she and no one else knew.

                "I feel so good every time I'm in your arms, Goku," Chi-Chi whispered slowly, her lips lightly brushing the skin of her husband's shoulder. "So safe, so warm... Do you feel the same?"

                "I feel really good right now," Goku replied calmly. He's always been a person of few words, but for Chi-Chi, he makes up for it with big acts.

                "After so long, we are finally here, you and me, together. We are married, we have our home, the Earth is at peace, and a whole future awaits us. I couldn't ask for anything more right now to be happy. And you?"

                "Well," the warrior muttered thoughtfully. "I'm actually a little hungry."

                "Oh, Goku," Chi-Chi laughed, amused by his habitual quips. She rose at that moment a little, placing herself on top of him. She crossed her arms over his chest and rested her chin against them so that she could see him directly into his face. He looked back at her. "Promise me you will never leave my side, my dear Goku. Promise you'll always be here with me."

                "Never leave?" he muttered, obviously confused. "And where would I go?"

                "Nowhere," Chi-Chi laughed, the mere sound of her voice overflowing with joy like the strong fall of water from a waterfall. She then rested her face entirely against his chest, managing to perceive the constant beating of his heart against her ear. "Just tell me that we'll be together forever, please. I don't know what would be of me without you..."

                Chi-Chi felt at that moment how one of his hands was delicately placed on her head, and he slowly ran his fingers through her long dark hair.

                "If that's what you want, that's fine," he murmured slowly as he continued to caress her. "I promise that I will always be here with you. So don't worry, okay?"

                "Thank you, Goku," Chi-Chi mumbled, almost entranced. "I love you so much, my Goku..."

                And at that moment, an intense golden glow enveloped her, as if she were at the epicenter of a tremendous explosion. She woke up the next instant abruptly and violently, almost as if she had been shaken or pushed out of bed. She jerked her face away from the window, and her eyes went wide, looking around her in confusion and fear. Her breathing was rough, and she even felt a strange cold sweat on her forehead.

                "Chi-Chi, are you okay?" Krillin asked next to her. Only when she turned to see him and recognized his face did she realize where she was. "Did you have a nightmare?"

                "No," Chi-Chi answered quickly. "Haven't we arrived yet?"

                "We're close now," Bulma informed ahead at the controls.

                Chi-Chi leaned back against her seat and tried with all his might to regulate her breathing. Without her being fully conscious, her hand had clamped tightly on her chest, and a deep, stabbing pain had begun to invade her right at that point. But it wasn't pain from her injuries, and that was clear to her. It was something else… something worse.

                The horrible, tangible, suffocating feeling that something terrible had just happened right at that moment.

                "Goku…"

Chapter Text

08

That terrible premonition gradually became tangible when the ship arrived at the marked place. From the heights, the newcomers could distinguish a huge crater on the ground, and next to it, at least three figures lying on the ground, motionless, and a single standing individual. And this last person was actually quite recognizable to them, especially when, from his position, he looked up at the ship hovering over them.

                "It's Piccolo," Krillin said, flustered. "But what about Goku...?"

                Chi-Chi's heart clenched as her attention fell on one of the fallen. He had pretty much lost the upper part of his outfit entirely, but the distinctive orange of his pants made that quite clear.

                No, no, no... Please, Kamisama, don't...

                The other individual thrown away was the Saiyan, that Raditz guy; they recognized him by his armor and his long dark hair. That must mean that the fight was over, or at least the enemy was neutralized for the moment, so Bulma quickly descended to the ground. As soon as the ship parked and the top hatch lifted, Chi-Chi jumped out, instantly resenting the effort from the stinging pain coursing through her body but recovering quickly to run to where Goku lay.

                "Chi-Chi, wait!" someone yelled at her behind her, but she couldn't clearly identify who, nor did she care. She just kept moving as fast as her injuries and the effects of the painkillers allowed.

                The woman's attention was so fixed on her fallen husband that she didn't realize she had to walk right in front of Piccolo to get to him. He didn't get in her way, did nothing to stop her, and barely glanced at her, so Chi-Chi went on without hindrance.

                "Goku!" she exclaimed in anguish and crouched beside him. However, as soon as her eyes landed and she got a better look at him… she had to immediately bring her hands to her mouth to keep from screaming in horror at what she saw.

                Goku lay on his back on the ground, with his torso exposed and a grotesque hole in the very center of it the size of a fist, which seemed to pierce him from front to back. The grass behind him was soaked with his blood, and Chi-Chi didn't realize it until she dropped to her knees in that wet puddle. Goku's face was resting to the side, his eyes wide, but his vision seemed cloudy and lost in nothingness. He was breathing... although that was more like painful and oppressive moans.

                "Go... ku... Goku!" Chi-Chi sobbed and quickly rushed to take his hand. "Goku, do you hear me? I'm here, my love. Please answer me, Goku..."

                Big tears began to escape from her eyes, wetting her husband's hand and his chest. Whether it was her voice, her touch, or the cold sensation of her tears on his skin, something made Goku even slightly aware of her presence, so he slowly turned his neck with much effort. His eyes rested on her, but it didn't seem like he was actually seeing her.

                "Chi…Chi-Chi…" he whispered softly, his voice sounding as if every sound he uttered caused him great pain. "I… I'm sorry… I couldn't…"

                He had to cut off his words to cough up some blood to the side.

                "Don't talk, please. Don't force yourself," Chi-Chi begged, pressing his hand against her face, drenching it even more with her tears.

                This is not happening, this is not happening... It's just another dream... Wake up, wake up for once. Wake up, dammit!

                "But what happened?" she heard Master Roshi snap in exasperation. Chi-Chi realized that moment that everyone was standing next to her, and they were also contemplating the same scene with astonishment and horror as she was.

                "We finished off the Saiyan; that's what happened," Piccolo's deep voice answered dryly, staying a few meters from them. Looking at him, Chi-Chi noticed that he didn't have his left arm, but he couldn't give the slightest importance to that fact. "I killed him with my technique, and Goku, too, by the way."

                "What are you saying?" Master Roshi exclaimed aggressively. "You did this to Goku?!"

                "I didn't do anything he didn't want," Piccolo replied with overwhelming calm. "He grabbed that guy while I threw my technique at him. He knew what would happen, and I did quite gladly."

                Pronouncing that, Chi-Chi looked horrified as a mocking half smile appeared on his lips.

                "You…! Damned!" Chi-Chi yelled at him, utterly full of anger. "How could you do this?! He trusted you! We all trust you! You are a monster!"

                Piccolo hissed in annoyance.

                "Say what you want, you useless bunch. But what I did was save this planet. You should thank me instead of crying."

                "You damn bastard…!" Chi-Chi snapped, and she, blinded by fury, made the gesture of wanting to stand up, and only she knew what she was going to do, but Krillin rushed to stop her before she could go too far.

                "Go... Gohan..." they suddenly heard Goku pronounce, sounding almost like a throat clearing. The mention of that name was enough for Chi-Chi to forget about Piccolo for a moment. "Gohan... is..."

                "Gohan?" Chi-Chi murmured with a lump in her throat. "Where is Gohan? What happened to him?"

                "He is here!" Bulma spoke out loud, getting their attention. The blue-haired woman crouched a few meters away and carefully lifted the boy's body. Gohan had his eyes closed, but he looked very calm, almost as if he was just sleeping. "I think he's fine," Bulma pointed out. "He's just unconscious."

                "What a… relief…" Goku uttered slowly. "Chi-Chi… I'm sorry…" he added right after, and Chi-Chi could feel his fingers tightening just a little tighter around hers. "I don't think I'll be able to… come home with you… to help you with…the chores like I promised…"

                He let out a small giggle right after, which had to be interrupted by another coughing fit, and more blood spurted out of his mouth.

                "No, Goku… don't say that," Chi-Chi sobbed, her voice breaking increasingly with each word. "Of course, you will come with me. And you won't have to do anything. I will take care of you and cook you all your favorite dishes. I will not separate from you for a second, Goku. So please… please…"

                Crying took over almost entirely from her voice.

                "Please don't go… don't leave me… You said you'd never leave me… you promised!"

                "It's true…" Goku whispered, laughing again. "But I don't think I'll be able to keep that promise either. Please don't be angry…"

                His voice trailed off little by little as the light that remained in his eyes was extinguished. His eyelids drooped, closing completely. His head fell unopposed to the side, and Chi-Chi could feel the hand he was holding losing all strength. But on his lips, even so, that last smile remained frozen.

                Chi-Chi felt her breath leave her, and her whole body stiffened. Every fiber of her being had stopped perceiving the presence of her husband.

                "No, no, no! Goku! NO!!" She yelled desperately, and without thinking, she lunged forward, pressing her face against his chest and wrapping his arms around him. Her face and clothes were covered in Goku's blood, but she didn't even notice. "It can't be happening! It just can't be! Goku!"

                She began to let out loud, shrill squawks into the air, unable to contain herself. Her Goku, the man who would always be by her side to protect her, was gone.

                "Chi-Chi, calm down, please," Krillin begged, taking her by the shoulders and trying to separate her from his friend's lifeless body.

                "Don't touch me!" yelled Chi-Chi angrily, trying to push him away from her. "Don't touch me! Don't take me away from him! Goku!"

                "Chi-Chi, it is not lost!" Krillin insisted. His voice was trying to sound firm and sure, but the truth was that he stated just as uneasy. "I promise we'll revive him as soon as we collect the Dragon Balls. Goku will be back, Chi-Chi!"

                "The Dragon Balls?" The woman whispered slowly, turning to look at him slowly over her shoulder. With one hand, she began to carve her face to clean it of the traces of tears and blood. "That's true? Can he come back to life with the Dragon Balls?"

                She ran her gaze over Krillin, Master Roshi, and Bulma, who was currently carrying Gohan in her arms. They all agreed and seconded Krillin's words.

                "Of course!" Bulma murmured decisively, although it was clear she resisted so as not to burst into tears. "Goku has saved us many times. I promise you we won't abandon him now."

                That meant a small ray of hope for Chi-Chi, although not enough to completely remove the sadness and pain that pierced her chest.

                She turned once more to see her husband. His face looked so calm and peaceful; he even kept smiling. If there was a chance of him coming back, she couldn't let herself be trounced.

                Suddenly, while she was totally absorbed in his face, to her surprise and everyone's, Goku's body vanished.

                "What?!" Chi-Chi blurted out, completely stunned. One second, Goku was there; the next, he was gone, leaving only the bloodstain on the grass in his place. "But what…?"

                "It has disappeared!" Master Roshi exclaimed in astonishment, clarifying that Chi-Chi didn't imagine things.

                "But what happened?" Krillin asked, just as confused as everyone.

                "That must be Kamisama's work," Piccolo's voice suddenly pronounced, drawing everyone's attention.

                The green-skinned man had kept a few steps away from them all this time, and now he had his back to them as he calmly replaced his cloak and turban. They had almost forgotten about his presence, but as soon as they became aware of it again, they all tensed up and alerted, especially Krillin and Master Roshi, who quickly positioned themselves in front of Chi-Chi and Bulma.

                "Kamisama, you say?" Master Roshi questioned seriously. "What are you talking about, Piccolo? What do you know?"

                "I have no idea what he's up to," Piccolo muttered slowly, looking up at the sky. "He will have seen what happened, and indeed he came up with some nonsense. That old scoundrel is always with his tricks."

                Chi-Chi didn't understand it, but the truth was that she didn't think she could understand anything at that moment. Kamisama had taken Goku's body? What for? To what end? And most importantly, by what right?

                A pain-like scream made all four of them jerk. That scream came from Piccolo. His body had bent slightly forward, and in his face, they could see that he was making a great effort. His first thought was that he was about to attack them, which clearly made them even more nervous. However, to his surprise, what happened was that abruptly, a new arm emerged like the one he had lost from the stump of his severed arm.

                That surprised them but also scared them a little. Although, if they did something from memory, he had done something similar during his fight with Goku in the tournament five years ago.

                Piccolo raised his new arm, wiggled it, and examined it, ensuring everything was okay. Once done with that, he turned fully towards them, fixing his intense gaze.

                "If you want to be of use, take it upon yourself to gather the Dragon Balls and revive Goku as soon as possible, since no matter what Kamisama is up to, he doesn't have the power to revive the dead. And while I would be happy if that idiot stayed right where he is, sadly, I'll need him here in a year."

                "In a year?" Krillin asked, confused. "What… will happen in a year…?"

                Piccolo was silent for a few moments, and his gaze slowly drifted toward the direction in which Raditz's lifeless body lay.

                "The two companions of that guy will come to Earth," he replied as a grim warning. "And apparently, both are much more powerful than him."

                That left everyone speechless, and they could feel how a cold and dense air enveloped them.

                It seemed that nightmare was far from over.

Chapter Text

09

"More powerful?" Krillin whispered in disbelief. "That can't be true; there can't be beings like that! He was surely lying!"

                "Even if it were a lie, we have to assume that those two would be at least as powerful as him," Piccolo stated thoughtfully, looking toward Raditz's corpse. "And we could barely end him, and at great cost. So we can't take any risk."

                Those words had no meaning to Chi-Chi, almost as if they had been pronounced in another language. The mere idea that there could be individuals stronger than Goku was practically impossible for her to digest.

                But there's no reason to be afraid, she thought, trying to keep calm, at least in her head. Goku will revive and defeat them; I know it.

                She was trying to convince herself of it, almost desperately. However, although she was reluctant to accept it, the truth was that she was no longer as sure of that statement as she might have been that very morning.

                "You guys take care of reviving Goku," Piccolo repeated firmly, sounding clearly like an order. "Meanwhile, I'll stay with his son."

                "What?!" They all exclaimed in astonishment, especially Chi-Chi herself, who had to force herself out of her reverie.

                "What have you said?!" Chi-Chi snapped, getting up quickly. She looked directly at Piccolo, though instantly she too looked over her shoulder to the back, where Bulma was still carrying Gohan, unconscious.

                Piccolo remained unfazed by her questions.

                "That child has an unusual hidden power," he pointed out calmly. "During the fight with the Sayajin, I verified it. It was actually thanks to the fact that he was able to hurt him that we managed to finish him off."

                "But what nonsense are you saying?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed furiously, and out of mere instinct, she moved forward, pushing her way between Master Roshi and Krillin. "What hidden power?! He's just a little boy!"

                "And yet he has power that surely far exceeds what his father had at his age," Piccolo pointed out. "The enemies that will arrive in a year will be the most fearsome this world has ever known. We will need all the resources that can give us the advantage, and that child could be the key if he learns how to use his powers. And the one best suited to teach him is obviously me."

                "What? Do you want to… train him?" Krillin questioned, quite surprised by such a sudden statement. "Are you serious?"

                "If what you say is true, then I'll take care of training him," Master Roshi pointed out in a firm voice. "It's what Goku would have preferred."

                "There's no time to waste on your absurd kid training," Piccolo muttered bitterly. "We need that child to bring out his full potential in less than a year, and he will only do it with toughness and a firm hand. Besides, none of you are level enough to deal with what we're discussing."

                "No way!" Chi-Chi snapped, throwing her arms out to the sides protectively. "I won't let you get even an inch near my son!"

                "I'm not asking your permission, Goku's wife," Piccolo cleared his throat irritably. "I'll take him by hook or crook, so step aside."

                Without further ado, he began to slowly move towards them, and each step he took caused a spasm of fear in everyone, especially Bulma, who had the child in her arms and on whom that demon had his attention.

                But the only one who didn't waver or move an inch from her position was Chi-Chi. Gohan's mother stood her ground in her place, her stern expression on Piccolo's. She had watched helplessly as that Saiyan took her son helplessly; she wouldn't let it happen again.

                "I said no!" Chi-Chi exclaimed with even more force and conviction than before. "I am her mother, and I won't let you lay a finger on him! You'll have to kill me first!"

                "Chi-Chi! Don't say that...!" Bulma murmured in a shaky voice, knowing full well that monster could do what she asked of.

                "Don't waste my time," Piccolo said harshly.

                Suddenly, from one blink to another, Piccolo went from being in his original position a few meters ahead to practically materializing right in front of Chi-Chi, so close that her face was almost stuck against his clothes. Chi-Chi started in surprise, but before she could react in any way, she felt Piccolo's huge and strong hand rest on the side of her head and forcefully push her to one side. The woman's body was thrown several meters in that direction, falling sideways to the ground and even rolling on it due to the same impulse.

                It had meant nothing to him; he had made it as easy as throwing a rock out of his way to the side.

                Chi-Chi got over it as fast as she could and immediately turned back in the direction she had been. She watched as Krillin and Master Roshi stood between Piccolo and Bulma as firmly as possible, which wasn't much. Piccolo didn't need to go through them because suddenly, with just a raised hand, Gohan's body rose from Bulma's arms, towering high above her head. The blue-haired woman, by mere reflex, jumped, trying to catch him in the air, but the boy's body was very high. Gohan then stepped over the others, descending into Piccolo's arms, who just held him.

                That horrifying image of her little boy in the arms of that demon, once again awakened an internal fire inside Chi-Chi that banished any pain, weakness, or hesitation from her body. And without waiting a moment longer, she launched herself at full speed against Piccolo.

                "Leave my son! Give him back to me!" she yelled at the top of her lungs as she approached him.

                Being close enough, she rose up and turned her entire body, launching a quick kick into the air toward Piccolo's back. However, that man's figure disappeared from one moment to the next, causing her foot to hit nothing. And in the next instant, before Chi-Chi's feet had even touched the ground, Piccolo materialized again, but this time right behind her, barely visible at the edge of her range of vision.

                Carrying Gohan under one arm, Piccolo directed his free hand straight at the nape of Chi-Chi's neck, hitting it hard and accurately with its side. The woman let out a muffled shriek into the air and slowly slumped forward.

                "Chi-Chi!" Bulma and the others yelled in dismay, and she was barely able to hear them before everything went black, and her body fell face-first to the ground, totally unconscious…

— — — —

                When Chi-Chi opened her eyes again, her senses first perceived an intense headache that made her unable to react for a few seconds. She forced herself to close her eyes again and breathed slowly, trying to calm down. When she felt ready, she fixed her gaze again, now noticing the ceiling above her and the bed she was on. She looked carefully around her, taking a moment to recognize that space. It was the room on the top floor of Kame House, the same one where Bulma had been healing her earlier.

                Chi-Chi turned her gaze to the open window through which the sea breeze filtered. The sky was darkening, and it seemed that at any moment, the sunset would begin.

                That made her react enough to sit up quickly on the bed.

                "Gohan! How long have I passed out?! No, no, my Gohan!"

                She got up in a hurry from the bed, feeling a strong dizziness as soon as she tried and having to sit down again for a few moments. Added to the pain in her side and head was a burning sensation in her nape. The blurry images of what had happened gradually filled her mind with more clarity. Piccolo had her child; she had tried to stop him… and he had attacked her from behind.

                That... bastard... Kamisama, please, may my son be well. Don't let that demon hurt him, please, please!

                Being a little more careful when getting up and walking, she left the room, practically holding on to the walls so as not to fall again. A scent of freshly prepared food reached her nose; it came from the ground floor. She then headed for the stairs, slowly descending them. Voices of the other house inhabitants took little time to be noticed.

                "Are you sure you can repair that thing, Bulma?" She heard Krillin pronounce.

                "If you stop interrupting me, I will," Bulma's voice responded sternly. "This must work like this... or maybe like this... What a complex mechanism..."

                "I propose that you better leave that for a moment so we can eat something," Master Roshi proposed next. "Come on, beauty, the food is ready."

                Chi-Chi descended the last step, and her presence was immediately noted in the room. Bulma was sitting at the center table with a screwdriver in her hand. And on the table, she had scattered various parts of a device, which apparently was what Goku's supposed brother used, if she was correct. Master Roshi was sitting near her, although his attention was more focused on the television, while Krillin, with a pink and flowery apron, apparently served the plates of food at the dining room table.

                The three stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to her.

                "Chi-Chi, you're awake," Bulma pointed out, standing up quickly. "Are you okay? You must not force yourself."

                "How long was I unconscious?" Chi-Chi demanded suddenly, ignoring her comment.

                "How long? Well, a few hours, I think," Master Roshi replied. "It's almost dark. You'd better…"

                "And Gohan?" Chi-Chi questioned desperately, not caring about anything else they thought to tell her. "Where is Gohan? Where…?"

                Chi-Chi looked around, still clinging to the hope that her little one was there somewhere, or even outside, playing in the water or sand or sleeping in one of the other rooms. Whatever it was that told her that what she feared hadn't happened.

                "I'm sorry, Chi-Chi," Krillin murmured, embarrassed, taking a few steps towards her. "Piccolo took Gohan with him. We couldn't do anything to stop it."

                "No... no... Gohan..." Chi-Chi sobbed with a broken voice. Her legs gave out at that moment, and she fell to her knees without further ado. She immediately raised her hands to her face, clearly beginning to cry with sadness, anger, and frustration.

                "Chi-Chi, don't… don't lose your composure," Bulma said worriedly, moving closer. At one point, all three stood around her. "I know it's hard with everything you've been through in just one day, but you must stay strong. If you don't, you'll get sick, and it's the last thing you want right now."

                Chi-Chi's cries were calming down, although not completely. After a few moments, she withdrew her hands from her face and began to rub it with some desperation to wipe away the tears as well as possible.

                "It's true," she muttered slowly. "I can't let myself down now. Not when my son needs me."

                "What are you saying?" Krillin asked, a bit confused by that comment.

                While still kneeling on the ground, Chi-Chi raised her pleading gaze at them. Her eyes were still bright from crying, but there was intense determination in them.

                "Please, I beg you... help me rescue Gohan from the clutches of that monster! Help me save my son, please!"

Chapter Text

10

Bulma, Krillin, and Master Roshi remained silent, looking at each other as if waiting for someone to react or respond to Chi-Chi first, something that, evidently, no one dared to do. In the end, it was Krillin who steeled himself.

                "Save your son, Chi-Chi?" he murmured shakily. "You mean…saving him from Piccolo, right?"

                "Of course!" Chi-Chi exclaimed firmly, standing up carefully so as not to fall again. "We can't leave my little boy in the clutches of that monster. We have to search and rescue him, please..."

                "I understand how you feel, child," Master Roshi muttered in a voice much more confident than Krillin's. "And I would love to help you, really. But without Goku with us, there's not much Krillin, or I can do against Piccolo. If we were to face him now, we would only risk our lives and your son's as well."

                "Besides, Master Roshi and Krillin have already been revived once with the Dragon Balls," Bulma pointed out. "It wouldn't be right for them to risk their lives like this lightly."

                "Lightly?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed in an irritated voice. "He's my son you're talking about! The son of Goku, who saved this world on more than one occasion...!"

                Chi-Chi fell silent and began to breathe slowly, trying to calm her spirits before completely losing her composure, which was difficult given the situation.

                "Okay, what if we look for Yamcha and Tenshinhan?" she proposed as soon as she was able to think more clearly. "Maybe all together, we could do something, right?"

                "Well, maybe," Krillin whispered doubtfully, placing a hand behind his head. "But I don't know if taking that risk is necessary."

                "What?!" Chi-Chi muttered dryly. "What do you mean you don't know if it is necessary? My son is with Piccolo Daimao! The most despicable and evil being that has existed in this world! How do you say it's not necessary to rescue him?!"

                "I mean, maybe Piccolo won't really hurt him," Krillin tried to clarify, raising his hands as a sign of peace as if he feared the woman would attack him. "He said that what he wanted was to train him, and we would need him to be able to fight the Saiyans in a year. If that is the case, he must keep him safe and alive, right?"

                Chi-Chi looked at him, totally stunned to hear those words. Was he really suggesting what she was hearing? Shouldn't she worry and leave her son's life, the only thing she had left in that world, in the hands of Piccolo Daimao? It had to be a joke, one in terrible taste.

                "How can you say a barbaric thing like that?!" she yelled loudly, almost causing the entire house to shake. It seems that her emotions on the surface of her skin made her overcome whatever weakness was oppressing her a moment ago. "Leave my son to train with Piccolo Daimao?! I won't…!" Her breathing became noticeably agitated, and she struggled to speak clearly. "Gohan shouldn't even be involved in anything like this! He is a good, calm, and studious boy who works daily to become a great researcher. Gohan isn't a fighter and doesn't have to be at all! And much less under the tutelage of that demon than who knows what horrible things he could teach him!"

                "But, did you hear what Piccolo said?" Krillin pointed out. "Your son has a great hidden power, and if he learns to use it..."

                "I don't care about that!" Chi-Chi cut him off abruptly. "I don't want… I don't want my son to become a fighter and risk his life! I don't want him… to die in such a horrible way… like Goku…"

                Her voice cracked a little, and her eyes filled with tears again.

                "What mother would want her son exposed like that?" she muttered slowly, lowering her gaze. "Just imagining what he could be going through right now... He is so sensible…"

                She felt like she would burst into tears again, but she used all her willpower to keep from breaking down like now.

                "I understand you, Chi-Chi," Bulma whispered in a comforting voice. "But given the circumstances, I think we should focus on gathering the Dragon Balls, so we can revive Goku as soon as possible. So he can take charge of rescuing Gohan from Piccolo or decide what is best."

                "Gathering the balls will take a long time! I can't wait that long!" Chi-Chi stressed sternly, looking back at them.

                She took a moment to catch her breath again and ran the back of her hand and arm across her eyes, carving them. They were quite red and irritated for those moments.

                "Okay," she snapped out harshly. "If you are afraid or don't want to help me, then I will do it myself…"

                And before either could fully understand what she was saying, Chi-Chi hurried forward, pushing her way between Bulma and Master Roshi, and strode toward the exit of the house.

                "What are you saying?!" Master Roshi exclaimed, confused. "You're not thinking of going against Piccolo Daimao yourself, are you?"

                "Don't talk nonsense, Chi-Chi!" Krillin yelled at her hysterically, dashing after her." The only thing you will achieve is that Piccolo kills you!"

                "I don't care!" Chi-Chi emphasized without stopping, being already in the portico, and a few steps later, her feet touched the sand. "I'd rather die than sit around knowing my son is out there, suffering and crying for his mother."

                "Chi-Chi, you're not thinking straight," Bulma snapped, walking out of the house with the others. "You're letting pain rule your judgment. Please calm down and meditate on things better. Dying won't help your son at all."

                They were right, and Chi-Chi knew it very well. If none of them could stand up to Piccolo, she much less could do anything. And yes, most likely, that was a suicide, something stupid, something a sane person simply wouldn't even consider. The most reasonable thing to do was to do as they told her, gather the Dragon Balls, wait for Goku to come back, and leave him to take care of everything.

                However, it seemed that at that time, she was neither a sane nor a reasonable person. Perhaps all the pain she had felt that day, like no other before, had driven her completely insane. It was the only explanation that even though she knew all that, she still preferred to do it than stay a single second longer in that place.

                Then she stood firmly on the sand, the seawater lightly brushing her feet. She breathed deeply through her nose, looked up to the sky, and shouted with all her might:

                "Flying Nimbus…!!"

                Her cry resounded in the distance like a distant echo dissipated with the sea's waves. For a few seconds, everything was still, and it seemed that nothing would happen. It was the first time she tried it, and she wasn't sure if it would work. However, after a few moments of waiting, a golden glow crossed the sky and quickly descended in her direction.

                Chi-Chi watched that, relieved but also surprised. The golden cloud lowered until it was directly in front of her, inches above the ground.

                "You came," she whispered slowly, outlining a small smile. "Goku always told me you would come to me if I needed you…"

                But mere reflection approached the cloud, surrounding it with her arms and pressing her cheek against it as if she were trying to hug it, although that was not entirely possible due to its size.

                "Thank you, my friend…"

                As her condition allowed, she jumped towards the cloud, riding on it.

                "Wait, please, Chi-Chi!" Krillin exclaimed in anguish, running towards her. "Please don't go. I couldn't look Goku in the face to tell him that I allowed his wife to die at the hands of Piccolo Daimao."

                "So you'll come to help me?" she asked sternly, turning to see him from above the cloud. Krillin was silent, and that was enough for her to know what his answer was. "I thought so... I'll do this, even if I have to do it alone... let's go, Flying Nimbus!"

                The cloud rose into the sky, and soon after, it shot towards the horizon, taking its sole occupant with it. They moved away through the firmament until they disappeared, leaving behind Kame House and the worried looks of its inhabitants.

Chapter Text

11

Despite her strong determination, the truth was that Chi-Chi wasn't sure how exactly she would find Piccolo and Gohan. So her first instinct was to return to the battlefield where she had last seen them. When she arrived at that place, it was already night, and only the light of the moon and the stars illuminated the field.

                She flew aboard the Flying Nimbus, hoping to spot something in the shadows that would give her some clue, although she knew that was highly unlikely. Raditz's body was still there on the ground, right where they had left it earlier, with everything and that big hole through his torso caused by the same technique that had ended Goku's life.

                Chi-Chi wondered what would happen to him. Would his body serve as food for the beasts of the field? It seemed like a fitting end to someone who, in just a few minutes of meeting him, had caused her so much pain. But on the other hand, he was Goku's brother, or so he had claimed. What would Goku have done if he were there?

                Probably, despite everything, he would have wanted to bury or cremate him, she concluded with certainty. That was the kind of person Goku was.

                There wasn't much she could do to do the latter, but perhaps she could do something about the former, considering there was already a large hole in the ground only a couple of meters from them. So, although somewhat reluctant, Chi-Chi took the time to carry that heavy body on her back and take it toward the crater

                "I'm doing this for Goku, not for you," Chi-Chi uttered to herself, though the words were directed at the dead man on her back.

                Carrying it was not an easy task, but in the end, she reached the edge of the crater and threw the body inside. It rolled down the side until it reached the bottom. Chi-Chi also descended, ready to put some dirt on the body, but nothing more. Already at the bottom, she noticed the remains of metal and circuitry scattered all over and what appeared to be a larger part of a round structure.

                His ship? Chi-Chi wondered curiously. Had it been destroyed during battle? It was likely.

                She did not give much importance to it and concentrated again on covering the body with soil to leave it completely buried. It was a tiring task, especially considering that she wasn't at her best after all that had happened that day, but she managed to complete it.

                Once done, she stood dirty, sweaty, and tired next to the lump on the ground, taking even a minute to say a few words.

                "I wish you had been a good man like your brother was. And of having met in other circumstances, we could have been brother and sister or even friends. But I suppose that how you were is not entirely your fault but the result of how you were raised and taught. Perhaps you lacked in your life the love of a true mother, the guidance of a father, or someone to teach you the things that are truly important. For that reason, I feel very sorry for you. But I promise with all my might that I won't let Gohan turn into anyone even remotely like you. Whether he has Saiyan blood or not, he is my son…"

                Finished with her makeshift funeral, Chi-Chi climbed out of the hole and remounted the Flying Nimbus. She looked around, just contemplating the night and the stars. She didn't know where to go now; she didn't even know which way Piccolo had gone with her son. How would she find them?

                If only I could feel his ki like Goku did, Chi-Chi thought with frustration. Although thinking back, she could try it.

                Goku once tried to teach her to do just that a few years back, before Gohan was born. It had been long since she last thought about that, but she forced himself to remember. She sat on the Flying Nimbus with her legs crossed, her eyes closed, and began to breathe slowly, trying to calm her spirit.

                That day years ago, both were in Mount Paozu, where they had made their home not long ago. They both stood in a forest clearing, and Goku told her to close her eyes and clear her mind. To focus solely on feeling what was around them. Chi-Chi did precisely what he was told, but deep down, it was a bit absurd to her, and the only thing she managed to feel was a little cold.

                "We've already tried this several times, and I still don't feel anything out of the ordinary, Goku," she commented with some frustration, slightly opening one of her eyes. "Why is it so important that I do this?"

                "For safety, I suppose," her husband commented. "So if an enemy approaches, you will be able to sense their presence in time, and they won't take you by surprise. In addition, better control and knowledge of ki will help you learn new techniques, such as flying."

                "Flying sounds good, but I don't know if I can do everything you do."

                "I'm sure you can," Goku replied optimistically. "You have good skills; they just need polishing."

                "You speak like a master."

                "You think?" Goku laughed, apparently amused by the comment.

                Chi-Chi closed her eyes again and took a deep breath. She really didn't think she'd be able to do what he told her, or she wasn't even sure she was interested in that. Now that she was married and knew she was having a baby, her interest in martial arts had waned. Now, Chi-Chi was more worried about things like learning to cook better, having the house tidy and prepared for the arrival of her baby, and everything that this entailed.

                However, that issue seemed to be something important to Goku (or something like that), so it didn't hurt to try to please him a bit.

                Chi-Chi tried to clear her mind and focus on her surroundings. In the feel of the wind against her skin, the sounds of animals or swaying leaves, the smell of the river that ran not far from her position. She felt all that clearly, but nothing like how Goku described to her that someone's presence should be felt... until something suddenly came up.

                It was like a little tickle at the back of her neck, but that wasn't quite the right word to describe it. Feeling that she couldn't help but open her eyes and turn around quickly.

                "Did you feel anything?" Goku asked curiously.

                "I'm not sure," Chi-Chi whispered, a bit shaken.

                She tried to focus her senses in the exact direction in which she thought she had perceived that, isolating any other stimulus. The feeling returned, more clearly, accompanied by the distant sound of footsteps.

                "It's a dinosaur," Goku informed from behind her.

                "Really?" Chi-Chi asked, surprised. Goku nodded.

                "Very well, you noticed its presence before its footsteps became noticeable."

                "Are you sure it wasn't just a coincidence?"

                "We can try something else to verify it. Stay here, count to ten, and I'll hide in the trees. You will then try to find me feeling only my ki. What do you think?"

                Chi-Chi laughed in amusement at the sudden suggestion.

                "Are you asking me to play hide and seek?"

                "What is hide and seek?" Goku asked, blinking in confusion.

                "Nothing, forget it. Let's do that then, but don't make it easy for me."

                Chi-Chi covered her eyes with her hands and slowly counted to ten. She barely heard Goku moving, the sound of branches waving, and then nothing. By the time she reached ten, there was indeed no trace of her husband anywhere, as if he had never really been there in the first place.

                "Okay, here we go."

                She began to walk cautiously, going into the trees. She looked around, hoping to make out Goku's flashy orange suit in some direction, but she had no luck. Apparently, he had indeed hidden himself very well.

                "Okay," she murmured slowly to herself. "Let's try it..."

                Like a moment before, she stood firm, closed her eyes, and began to breathe. Similar to a while ago, the sensations, sounds, and smells were present, but nothing out of the ordinary, at least at the start. After a few moments, the same tickling returned from a few moments ago, but in the same direction as before, so she assumed it was the dinosaur. Chi-Chi tried to isolate that along with everything else.

                To her surprise, the more she concentrated, the more little tickles appeared, like little fireflies fluttering in a completely dark space, and lightly touched her skin like little sparks. They were smaller sensations than the dinosaur's; other animals, perhaps? Birds? Fish? Insects...? She didn't know if beings like that could also have a ki that could be perceived that way.

                And suddenly, a bigger one became present among all those small sensations, standing out as much as the sun among the fireflies. Chi-Chi widened her eyes in surprise. That great feeling had come...

                "Above!" she exclaimed aloud, looking up over her head. And right there, several meters up, standing on a branch, she could make out the silhouette of Goku, who was looking down at her with a wide smile.

                "You did it, congratulations," Goku exclaimed enthusiastically.

                "Did I really make it?" Chi-Chi whispered, still surprised. "But how did I do it if I had so many problems at the beginning…?"

                "When you manage to do it once, it becomes almost instinctive," Goku replied, instantly dropping down and landing next to her. "Over time, your body will do it on its own without you focusing too much."

                "I get it," Chi-Chi whispered slowly, outlining a small smile. "Thank you for teaching me, Goku. But I don't think I'll ever have to use this again, though..."

                Apparently, she was wrong with that statement. Well, now, being there on the Flying Nimbus, she did exactly the same thing at that moment: closed her eyes, breathed slowly, and tried to expand her consciousness around, but much further away.

                Goku was right when he said it would be easier the following times because even though she hadn't done it in a long time, she could adjust her senses to perceive all the multiple sensations surrounding her. It took her a while to be able to clear her mind sufficiently, but after several attempts, the same fireflies that she had perceived that time reappeared. And the more she tried to expand her senses, the more they became present; some larger than others, but most were barely noticeable shimmers.

                None of those were Piccolo. He would be more extensive and shinier than anything, just like Goku had been. But surely his ki would also convey an unpleasant and suffocating sensation; that presence that made her feel that way would have to be him.

                Chi-Chi was there for several hours without realizing what she was looking for. She was frustrated, and on more than one occasion, she was inclined to leave that for good and go home. She was tired, sleepy, and hungry, and the night in that place felt colder than at home. However, imagining her son hurt or suffering motivated her to keep trying. He had to be somewhere; she had to be able to find him. If she couldn't even do something like that, how would she rescue her little boy…?

                After a long time, something came up. It was very brief, just a tiny flash that was noticeable by her consciousness in a very small fraction of a second, but that did not go unnoticed by her because, as had happened with Goku, it stood out quite a bit among the other presences.

                Chi-Chi turned quickly in the direction where she had felt it and tried to focus only in that direction without any success. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't feel the same again.

                But it went in that direction, I'm sure of that, she told herself.

                She didn't know if what she had felt was Piccolo or even if she had actually felt something. But it was the only clue she had. If she was heading in that direction, perhaps she would start to sense it better as she got closer. It was risky, and if she wasn't right, she would end up going around the world looking for a needle in a vast haystack.

                But she was more than determined to do it.

                "Let's Go, Flying Nimbus!" she ordered seriously, and her transport began to move precisely in the marked direction, moving away into the night from that place.

Chapter Text

12

Chi-Chi spent three days following the trail, using as a guide the few flashes of ki that she managed to capture, which helped her chart a possible course. Although, at the beginning, it seemed that she was going practically blind, there was a moment when the presence began to become more tangible, and she could perceive it for a longer time.

                I'm getting close, she concluded confidently, motivating her to keep moving forward.

                On her way, she passed through a couple of towns, where she took the opportunity to eat and rest. That helped her recover a little from her injuries and regain strength. She also asked people if they had seen a green-skinned man and a little boy with black hair around, but no one could give her any information. That was expected. Piccolo Daimao had gone five years without being seen by anyone, so he must have stayed away from cities and towns. But if that was the case, where did Gohan get food from? Or was that monster even feeding him?

                With each day that passed, the anguish for her son increased more and more.

                On the morning of the third day, after a fitful night's sleep under the stars, Chi-Chi set out early on her journey. Trying to focus on re-feeling the presence she had been following up to that moment, she was surprised to perceive it much more clearly than before. It still felt far away, but it was there and didn't fade after a while.

                Is he! It is very close!

                Motivated by that thought, she began the journey on the Flying Nimbus at full speed in the direction that that presence marked her. She did not stop all day; she just kept going straight and without a detour. Halfway down the path, the presence came and went, but it didn't matter. The course was already clearly marked in her head like a map.

                When she was close, Chi-Chi began to consider the possibility that what she had been following all those days was not Piccolo. On the one hand, she was quite a presence, as much as Goku's, and no other warrior on Earth could match him in that way. Master Roshi had mentioned it the other day; both were the strongest warriors in the world.

                However, already having her presence so constant in front of her, she could tell that she did not feel fear or unease as she expected would feel when sensing an evil ki. She remembered Goku mentioning that term on occasion: "evil ki." But if such a thing existed, she wasn't sure what she felt fit that description.

                If it wasn't for Piccolo, she would have been following the wrong lead all this time, and the worst part was that she would have no idea where to go next. But it was better that she no longer thought about it. She would soon find out if it was him or not.

                Just when the evening of the third day began, Chi-Chi and the Flying Nimbus arrived at the exact point where she had perceived that presence the last time. It seemed to be a semi-desert valley, with high cliffs around it, but overall, it seemed to be a great flat land, with only sporadic displays of green. The place also seemed lonely; from the heights, she did not see a single person at all, not even an animal.

                And what bothered her the most was that the presence she had been following up there had strangely abruptly disappeared from her senses a couple of minutes before she arrived, as if a light bulb had suddenly been turned off and left her in the dark.

                Her first thought was that it had moved to another site, but she thought that it must not have gone very far. She then began to focus again, inspecting the environment around her in search of that presence... but found nothing. All that space seemed overwhelmingly empty.

                "Where was he?" Chi-Chi questioned with frustration and anger. It couldn't be that she had utterly lost him like that. He had to be there; she had to...

                "So it's you, Goku's Wife," she heard someone say behind her back, taking her by surprise.

                Chi-Chi was startled and quickly turned around with everything and the Flying Nimbus, immediately seeing to her amazement the silhouette of just the person she was looking for, levitating in the air less than a meter from her, with his turban and cape, the latter being slightly agitated by the air. That green-skinned being was staring at her with a bored expression as if he would see a simple vermin on the ground.

                Chi-Chi thought she was more than ready to face him, but as soon as she saw him in front of her… she felt her whole body paralyzed.

                "I felt some insignificant power approaching, albeit swiftly," Piccolo pointed out seriously. "I figured it was one of Goku's stupid friends coming to give me trouble. But I didn't think it was you."

                "Did you feel me approaching?" Chi-Chi thought in surprise, though she instantly chided herself silently. Of course, he had felt her approaching; he could also feel ki like Goku, so it was logical that he would sense her when she got close. How had she been so careless?

                "Why did you come?" Piccolo demanded brusquely, crossing his arms. "I don't have time to waste on trash like you. Shouldn't you be searching the Dragon Balls?"

                Chi-Chi swallowed, took a deep breath, and forced herself to regain her composure as much as possible. She stood firm on the Flying Nimbus and tried to keep her gaze fixed on that green demon.

                "I am here… for my son!" She yelled loudly, trying to sound firm, but her voice trembled slightly. "Tell me where Gohan is. I came to take him home with me!"

                Piccolo gave a sly little laugh.

                "Don't make me laugh. Wasn't it clear what I told you the other day? I will train him to make him a much stronger fighter, even than his worthless father. So don't bother me with that anymore. You will see your son in a year after we finish off the Saiyans."

                "My son will not fight with those individuals!" exclaimed Chi-Chi flatly. "And especially, he won't train with a monster like you. I won't allow it!"

                "You won't allow it?" Piccolo muttered derisively. "And how exactly will you do that?"

                Chi-Chi was silent for a few moments. She felt a drop of sweat run down her forehead and slide down the side of her head. Then, she raised her arms, adopting a defensive position, and fixed her gaze directly on him. Piccolo seemed a bit puzzled to see this but rather seemed incredulous that she was actually doing what she seemed to be doing.

                "Come on, Flying Nimbus!" Chi-Chi yelled loudly, and the cloud surged forward straight at Piccolo. She hoped that her speed could take him by surprise and she could attack him. Of course, that plan didn't work.

                Not only did Piccolo manage to dodge her with great ease, but he also managed to reach his arm towards her and grab firmly by her clothes. So as the Flying Nimbus moved on, its occupant stayed behind, Piccolo holding her firmly aloft with one hand and Chi-Chi's feet dangling in the air with nothing but air between her and the ground below.

                Chi-Chi exclaimed in fright upon noticing this, and by mere instinct, she clung to Piccolo's arm with both hands, this being her only support to keep from falling.

                "I don't know what's got into you, Goku's Wife," Piccolo muttered slightly angrily. "But like I said, I don't have time to waste on your nonsense. Return to where you came from, and don't bother me again. Was I clear?"

                "I won't do that!" Chi-Chi exclaimed loudly, and still in that position, she managed to raise her leg high enough to kick Piccolo direct in the face. The demon's head jerked back slightly, holding the sole of Chi-Chi's shoe against his face. "There's no way I'm leaving my son with you," Chi-Chi added firmly. "I'd rather die than know he's alone with you!"

                "As you like!" Piccolo snapped, fixing his annoyed eyes on her.

                Before Chi-Chi could react, Piccolo began rapidly descending, still holding onto her shirt firmly. In a matter of seconds, they had already fallen to the ground, with which Piccolo did not hesitate to crash her hard. Chi-Chi felt a long wave of pain running through her body as she felt how she crashed against the hard floor of Earth and rock. And once Piccolo released her, she lay on her back for a few seconds, sore and dazed.

                Piccolo stood firm by her side.

                "Have you had enough with that?" he asked dryly. "Now, don't bother me anymore."

                Chi-Chi forced her body to overcome the pain and slowly began to rise up. At Piccolo's somewhat incredulous look, the woman stood up again and quickly assumed her defensive stance.

                "I said I won't leave my son with you," Chi-Chi whispered slowly between sighs. "If I have to die to protect him from you, so be it!

                Without further ado, she launched herself fully against him, beginning to throw him without the slightest hesitation, quick and accurate kicks and punches, doing everything her training allowed her to do. However, it was overwhelmingly insufficient. Piccolo managed to dodge and cover each of her attacks with great ease without her face changing one bit.

                "But how stubborn you are, Goku's Wife," he muttered with annoyance, and after giving her a few seconds to continue attacking at her leisure, he caught her fist with one hand, squeezing it with just enough force to cause her pain.

                Chi-Chi yelled out loud as she felt how the bones of her fist creaked slightly under the pressure of those powerful fingers. She fell to her knees and unsuccessfully tried to jerk her arm out of the deadly grip.

                "I was able to clearly see your skills at the tournament five years ago," Piccolo pointed out nonchalantly, "and I wasn't impressed at all. Your level is too low to face someone like me. You're just pathetic."

                He released her fist in that instant, but before Chi-Chi could feel even a little relief from this, Piccolo drove his right foot straight at her, kicking her on the chin. Chi-Chi was pushed back, falling backward to the ground. That blow had knocked her almost unconscious, but she was still awake enough.

                "Let that serve as a lesson to you," Piccolo declared sternly. "Now go back to your house, and don't try something stupid like this again."

                He turned around at that moment and began to rise into the air. His feet had barely lifted a few inches off the ground when he felt a slight downward pull that stopped him. When he turned around, to his surprise, he could see Chi-Chi's hand, with her fingers tightly clinging to his cape. The woman, kneeling on the floor, was looking at him with half-closed and slightly dull eyes.

                "I won't… I won't!" Chi-Chi yelled at him with all the strength she had. "Even if I have to chase you day and night for the rest of my life, I will... until I save my son. You will never get rid of me! I swear!"

                "You are so stupid!" Piccolo snapped, by now clearly fed up with all of this.

                He then turned quickly, pulling his cloak out of Chi-Chi's fingers, and with the same twist, he stretched his leg towards her to kick her again. Chi-Chi managed to get back enough to avoid that first kick but not enough for the second one that hit her square in the side of the head. This time, her entire body rolled sideways across the ground for several meters.

                Chi-Chi's clothes and hair were covered in dust, and some of it even entered her nose and mouth, making her cough desperately.

                "If you're going to insist on bothering me so much, I'd better get rid of you once and for all," Piccolo mentioned, raising his right hand, palm wide open, in her direction. Chi-Chi weakly raised her gaze to him and could see how a sphere of energy with a golden and purple glow formed in Piccolo's palm, as bright as the sun itself. "So that you don't upset me anymore, and your friends could revive you along with Goku. So goodbye, Goku's Wife..."

                And without further ado, the energy sphere shot out of Piccolo's hand and headed straight for Chi-Chi. She remained motionless, seeing how that embracing glow got closer and closer, so much so that she managed to perceive its heat and feel surrounded by its light.

                Knowing it would be impossible for her to dodge, she just closed her eyes and waited. A tear slipped from her eye, running down her cheek.

                "Gohan... Goku..."

Chapter Text

13

Just an instant before that sphere of energy hit her, a third party's quick and agile figure on the scene lunged at Chi-Chi, tackling her out of range of that deadly attack. Their bodies lurched to the side, and Piccolo's sphere went on, hitting the ground right where Chi-Chi had been a second ago, destroying it and leaving a large smoking hole in its place.

                Chi-Chi quickly opened her eyes, confused and dazed. She was alive, that was clear... But what had happened?

                As she could, Chi-Chi looked up to try to understand what had happened. She was sitting on the ground, but someone held her with an arm behind her. And upon resting her gaze on that person's chest, the first thing her senses could notice was the reddish keikogi, with the symbol of the turtle on one side of the chest.

                That made Chi-Chi's heart skip a beat in her chest.

                Goku! She thought in astonishment and quickly looked up to see that person's face. However, this was obviously not the person she believed.

                "Krillin," she whispered slowly as she recognized the distinctive face of her savior.

                The bald-headed youth was not looking at her but instead had his nervous expression directed at Piccolo. The demon, in turn, did not take long to realize what had happened, and he fixed his piercing dark eyes on them.

                "And what are you doing here, Krillin?" Piccolo questioned sternly. "Have you also come to annoy me?"

                "No, wait a bit, Piccolo. Please," Krillin exclaimed quickly, holding up a calming hand towards him. "I ask you to have a little compassion... Chi-Chi was just dying of worry for her son..."

                "Compassion?" Piccolo pronounced sarcastically, cutting off the young man's words. "You two have not understood how serious the situation is. If you did, you wouldn't be here wasting your time and mine."

                "We get it, Piccolo," Krillin replied, trying to sound as confident as possible. "I swear, we do. But understand, Gohan is just a kid. He needs his mother. Please… return him to us, and I promise we will train him so that he can fight in a year with the Saiyans."

                "I won't leave something so important in the hands of useless people like you. And if you persist in being a nuisance, I'll eliminate you, too."

                Somehow repeating the same threat he had made to Chi-Chi, Piccolo raised his hand again, now in the direction of Krillin and Chi-Chi alike, immediately shaping another sphere of energy... only even bigger than the last.

                Krillin stepped back a bit and swallowed nervously. The three of them remained silent for several seconds, almost waiting for the other to make a move or afraid that the wrong one would end up harming them. In the end, Krillin breathed slowly and, as calmly as possible, finally said:

                "Okay, Piccolo; you win... We'll leave right now, and we won't bother you anymore. I promise you."

                Piccolo watched them in silence without changing his face, still with the ball of energy dancing in his palm, waiting to be launched against his targets. It was impossible from his expression to try to guess what was going through his head or if Krillin's plea made any sense regarding the terrible demon he was. Perhaps the best option would be to take Chi-Chi and fly out of that place as fast as possible before he decided not to allow them.

                Suddenly, to the astonishment of both, the sphere in Piccolo's hand vanished, and the green-skinned man lowered his arm the next moment.

                "This time, I will spare your lives," Piccolo pronounced loudly, sounding more like a fervent threat. "But I warn you that if I cross paths with you again, or with any other of Goku's stupid friends, before the Saiyans arrive, I will annihilate you all without hesitation. And I won't care who may or may not be revived by the Dragon Balls. Is it clear?"

                He did not wait for someone to answer because he immediately rose into the air. And by the time Krillin and Chi-Chi managed to look up in his direction, they only managed to see how his body was covered with energy, and then he shot off at full speed to immediately get away from there.

                "No! Don't let him go!" Chi-Chi exclaimed suddenly, trying to stand up. "Flying Nimbus!"

                The golden cloud immediately responded to her call, coming down from the sky and parking in front of her. However, when she tried to climb on it, Krillin rushed to hold and stop her.

                "No, Chi-Chi!"

                "Let me go!" the woman yelled furiously, trying to move toward her transport but unable to break free of the warrior's firm grip, especially weak as she was. "I have to follow him before he strays too far! I need to force him to tell me where Gohan is! I must save him!"

                "It's enough! You heard what he said. If you keep provoking him, you'll only get him to kill you now!"

                "I don't care!" she yelled into the air with all her might, her eyes brimming with tears. "I don't mind dying! I have to save my son!"

                "React at once, damn it!"

                Suddenly, Krillin raised his right fist and unceremoniously launched a direct blow to Chi-Chi's face. She received the impact on her right cheek, and her entire body fell to the ground, falling on her side. That sudden blow took her entirely by surprise, feeling it almost like a jolt in her whole being.

                "I'm sorry, Chi-Chi," Krillin pronounced severely, although he also regretted what he had just done. "But you have to understand and accept that there is nothing you can do. This is far beyond your capabilities, even ours. The only thing you can do is go back home and wait for Goku to come back. As soon as we revive him with the Dragon Balls, with his help, we can rescue your son. Goku and Gohan need you alive! So don't risk your life in such an inconsiderate way!"

                Chi-Chi got up enough to be sitting on the floor and raised her gaze full of fury in Krillin's direction. He felt for a moment that she would jump on him, yell at him, or try some unpredictable, crazy thing, and he prepared to react accordingly. However, Chi-Chi did none of those things. Instead, she lowered her downcast face, and her long hair fell around it, covering her almost entirely like a dark curtain. Even so, the thick tears that began to fall from her face and soak the ground beneath her did not go unnoticed.

                "Damn it," she whispered slowly, just a tiny voice, but that abruptly changed into a desperate, angry cry. "Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!!"

                As she screamed, she raised her fists in the air and brought them down again and again against the ground, clearly consumed by the overwhelming frustration that flooded her chest. Her words instantly became loud, shrill bellows that echoed through the silence of the plain, tearing the air with them.

                For his part, Krillin had to limit himself to just staying by her side in silence, giving her all the time she needed.

                When Chi-Chi finally managed to calm down, or at least enough, Krillin took Bulma's ship out of its capsule, and they both got on it. The woman sat in her seat, with her head resting against the cabin's glass, her gaze wholly lost and her body without any strength. There was no life on her face; it was as if she had really died, and that was how she felt, too.

                The way back to Kame House was particularly quiet and even somewhat uncomfortable. Krillin's only attempt at conversation was to ensure that everything would be fine when they reunited the Dragon Balls, but Chi-Chi didn't respond to his words at all, so Krillin didn't try to speak again.

                Only Chi-Chi herself would know what was going through her mind at that moment.

                The trip lasted almost all night, and at some point, Chi-Chi fell utterly asleep, prey to exhaustion. They were already crossing the sea from Kame House when the sun began peering over the horizon. Krillin used the ship's built-in radio to signal their approach, so everyone was out when they reached the small island.

                Chi-Chi woke up a few minutes before they landed. Looking down through the window on her side, she saw Master Roshi standing on the beach, Bulma, the old turtle... but she also made out the huge dark-bearded, horned-helmeted figure of his father, Ox-King. The latter's red hovercar was also parked at the side of the house.

                When the ship landed, and the hatch opened, Ox-King was the first to approach, looking desperate.

                "Chi-Chi!" the big man exclaimed, peering into the ship's interior. "My little girl, are you okay?"

                Okay, it was far from describing how Chi-Chi was feeling. Her body, in general, was dirty, and her clothes worn and torn. Her hair was loose, matted, and out of order. His face, arms, and hands were covered in scratches and blows. But the most alarming thing was her totally absent look.

                Chi-Chi didn't respond to his father's words or even look at him once as she slowly got off the ship and headed almost automatically toward the hovercar. Before everyone's worried looks, she advanced directly without looking or speaking to anyone else. She practically dropped into the back seat of the hovercar, lying there, curled up.

                Ox-King sighed, filled with dismay but at least relieved to see that his daughter was alive.

                "Thank you very much for everything, Master Roshi, Krillin, Bulma," Ox-King pronounced solemnly, offering a deep and respectful bow to each one. "Now, I will take Chi-Chi home and care for her until she's better."

                "You don't have to thank us," Master Roshi muttered. "Unfortunately, we couldn't do much to help her on this occasion. I still hope she can recover as soon as possible."

                "Thank you very much, master," Ox-King added, accompanied by another bow. "Please, we entrust you with the mission of reviving Goku. Only he can find a solution to all this madness."

                After a few more goodbyes, Ox-King climbed behind the wheel of the hovercar, and they began the journey back to Mount Paozu.

                Chi-Chi was completely silent for much of the journey, so Ox-King thought she had fallen asleep. However, after driving for half an hour, Chi-Chi suddenly blurted out, still leaning on the back seat:

                "Goku is dead, Dad... And Piccolo Daimao took Gohan..."

                "I know, Master Roshi told me everything that happened," Ox-King expressed regretfully. "But don't worry. Everything will be fine as soon as Goku comes back to life."

                "You don't understand, Dad," Chi-Chi mumbled bitterly. "That Saiyan and that demon took my son right under my nose, and I couldn't do anything to stop them; anything! I'm his mother, supposed to protect him… and I couldn't. I just couldn't..."

                Ox-King didn't know what to answer her, and Chi-Chi didn't insist either. She knew well that he could say nothing to make her feel better. Not him, not anyone.

                Arriving at Mount Paozu, Ox-King parked his vehicle in front of the house and hastened to take his daughter in his arms to get out of the vehicle. He was about to lead her inside the same way, but Chi-Chi stopped him.

                "I can walk. Please put me down."

                Ox-King did what she told, carefully placing her on the ground. Chi-Chi walked on her own with a leisurely step towards the house's main door, with her eyes bent and lost, her arms hanging limply at her sides, and her back somewhat curved. However, she stopped before reaching the house, seeing something next to her that caught her attention. Something quite large, which was strange not to have seen it from the very moment they arrived.

                The huge log that Goku carried there the other morning was still lying there right where he had left it then...

                Goku better handle it when he gets back, she had said on that occasion. However, the trunk was still there... because Goku didn't return. And he wouldn't be back until who knows when, if one day he really came back.

                "Chi-Chi?" Ox-King asked, worried when he saw his daughter stop, but she barely caught the sound of that question.

                Without saying anything, she approached the huge piece of wood and stood to one side of it. The mark of the punch she had attempted to throw on that occasion was still visible on the surface of the bark; insignificant, useless... like herself.

                The rage began to rise through her entire body like effervescence until it flooded her head only with it and with no other feelings. Her jaw tensed, her fists clenched, and she launched another hard punch against the trunk out of nowhere, obtaining the same result as last time. However, now the pain in her fist didn't stop her from throwing another blow with the other, and another with the first, and a series of consecutive punches and kicks against the trunk while screaming with all her might into the air. Her blows scraped the bark but also wreaked havoc on their respective skin.

                "Chi-Chi, stop!" Ox-King yelled at her in exasperation and quickly grabbed her with his arms to stop her. "Please stop! You will hurt yourself!"

                "What more can I hurt myself?!" Chi-Chi snapped like a loud wail to the air. "How much more damage can I take, Dad?! I have lost everything, and there is nothing I can do about it; nothing!"

                Her body wholly lost strength, barely being held by the strong hands of Ox-King. He lowered her carefully, and Chi-Chi's body fell to the ground.

                Just as it had happened on that plain with Krillin, she began to unceremoniously let out howls of pain, anger, sadness, and anguish into the air. Her hands and legs were bleeding from all the cuts and scrapes she had just given herself. And even so, the trunk continued without moving from its place.

Chapter Text

14

The following days, Chi-Chi barely got out of bed. She spent much of the time lying down but didn't sleep. She just stayed there still, with her head against a pillow, her gaze fixed on the wall, and her pajamas to sleep as the only change.

Even though she had insisted that her father go away and leave her alone, Ox-King refused and stayed all that time there to take care of her. There wasn't much the old king could do for her other than fix her a meal and try to get her up; in the latter, he had not been so lucky. Chi-Chi only got up to eat, but not when his father served her food, but practically until the trembling of her insides caused by hunger became unbearable. And yet, she would only eat a few bites in silence, and then she would throw herself back on the bed.

Ox-King felt devastated to see his daughter in that state. He understood the suffering she was going through, but he knew well that this routine would not be healthy for her in the long run.

What should he do? Force her to get up and move on? Or give her time and wait for her to recover her verve on her own? He had no idea, which made him feel almost like a failure as a father. Maybe if he was stronger, he would have been able to do something to save his grandson and spare his daughter all that suffering. But the reality was that this whole situation was beyond them both.

They only had to wait for Goku...

One morning, as in the previous ones, Ox-King prepared breakfast early: eggs, sausages, rice, meat... The entire house was permeated with the delicious aroma of food, which somehow kept bad energy away, at least a little.

"Chi-Chi, breakfast is ready," he said forcefully as he knocked on Chi-Chi's door with his big knuckles. He didn't get any response from the other side, but that certainly didn't surprise him.

Ox-King sighed in resignation and headed himself to the table to eat. However, he had just sat down and taken the first bite of his plate when he heard the bedroom door open. Reflexively, he rose to his feet, somewhat alarmed, but he felt a small flash of joy as he noticed the silhouette of his daughter leaning into the dining room.

Chi-Chi had her hair totally loose and misaligned, and two marked dark circles decorated her eyes. Her pajamas were out of place, with the top part falling slightly to the side, exposing part of her shoulder; it didn't even seem to be appropriately buttoned. She looked awful, but at least she was up. And that she had done it just when he called her must have been a good sign.

"Chi-Chi," Ox-King pronounced excitedly. "Come, sit down to eat, please."

She inched forward, her gaze distracted toward her chair.

"Thank you, Dad," she said slowly as she sat down. She then began to serve the different dishes but felt almost as if her hands were doing it automatically, and in reality, her mind was elsewhere.

Once everything was served on her plate right before her, she took both chopsticks and prepared to eat. However, she stopped at the last moment and raised her wary gaze to the two empty chairs at the table: the chair where Goku usually sat and the other that belonged to Gohan.

She could almost see for an instant the silhouette of both of them sitting there, eating cheerfully, smiling, and praising what a good cook she was. She could still hear their laughter and even smell their scents mingling with the food.

She felt once more that the tears threatened to take over her eyes, but it was the mere sensation because they remained dry. She had already cried so much that she had no more tears to shed. So she forced herself to just eat in silence. Her father tried to get some small talk out of her, as always, but she limited herself to only responding with slight nods or grunts barely recognizable as words.

When Chi-Chi was about to finish, everything indicated that she would repeat the same thing from the previous times: get up, go to her room, and not leave it until several hours later, if not until night. Fortunately, something happened before that that changed that plan a bit.

The sound of an engine and propeller approaching in the distance caught their attention, and they both looked out the window at the same time. Ox-King got up and leaned out to see outside. In the sky, he managed to see the shape of a ship that was heading rapidly towards them.

"Oh, looks like someone's coming," Ox-King said. "Maybe it's one of Goku's friends."

That seemed to ignite something inside Chi-Chi and shake her out of her lethargy. Did they come to inform her of something? About Goku? About Gohan, maybe? That thought forced her to pull herself together, get up quickly, and head for the door. Little did she care that she was dressed in pajamas and with bare feet. Ox-King hurried to catch up with her.

The yellow ship with the Capsule Corporation logo on one side didn't take long to reach the vicinity of the house and slowly descend from the sky until it parked in front of it. Chi-Chi and Ox-King observed as it went down. When it was near enough, they could see through the cockpit glass that the vehicle was being piloted by Bulma.

"Hello, how are you?" the blue-haired girl greeted aloud as she descended the ship's ladder.

"Bulma, good morning," Ox-King greeted her enthusiastically. "What a joy to see you. Are you coming to visit Chi-Chi?"

"Something like that," Bulma whispered slowly, hinting that there was another reason behind her presence. Cautiously moving toward the mistress of the house, she stood before her, regarding her with a sympathy that seemed almost offensive to its recipient. "How have you been, Chi-Chi?"

Chi-Chi was silent and turned her gaze elsewhere. Seeing her appearance, it should be more than logical that she was not well at all.

"Something happened?" she asked with slight exaltation, omitting to answer Bulma's question.

"No, everything is fine," Bulma hurried to clarify, outlining a smile that tried to appear nonchalant. "I only came because… well…"

Bulma then put her hand in her coat pocket, taking out the dragon's radar from it.

"That day, when we were in Kame House… Well, Goku mentioned that he had found and kept two other balls besides the Four-Star one. We have already decided to start looking for these as we had arranged, so I wanted to see if you could give me the two you have. So everything will be easier..."

"You mean you're just beginning to collect them?" Chi-Chi questioned suddenly, her face and voice reflecting evident anger. "But what have you been doing?! You said you would gather them to revive Goku immediately!"

"Chi-Chi, calm down," Ox-King whispered slowly, placing a hand on her shoulder. Chi-Chi looked at him and then at Bulma. The worried expressions on both of them made it clear that, perhaps, she had inadvertently over-exploited.

She breathed slowly, trying to calm down, and lowered her dejected gaze.

"I'm sorry, Bulma," she whispered slowly.

"Don't worry," agreed the young scientist. "I know it took us a while to start gathering the Dragon Balls, but what happened is that we had to take some time to find Yamcha, Tenshinhan, and Chaoz and inform them of what happened to Goku, as well as what will happen in a year. We had to prioritize that, as it was also necessary to tell them of Kamisama's plans."

"Kamisama?" Chi-Chi asked, confused, looking up again. "What plans?"

"Oh, that's right," Bulma whispered. "When Krillin took you to Kame House, you left quickly, and we couldn't tell you anymore. It turns out that Kamisama himself has agreed to train the boys in the Lookout, the same place where Goku trained eight years ago."

"Really?" Ox-King exclaimed in astonishment. And although Chi-Chi did not utter a word, her face was still astonished by what she heard.

"Yeah, really," Bulma pronounced enthusiastically, nodding quickly. "Apparently, Kamisama learned of the great danger approaching Earth and wants his best warriors to be ready to defend it. So, everyone is heading to Korin Tower right now to go up there. Isn't it great? Now, everyone will become much stronger. And with the help of Goku when he revives, they will surely be able to finish off those Saiyans quickly. And we must remember that even Piccolo will fight with them this time..."

Bulma fell silent as she realized she had just mentioned Piccolo's name, and out of mere reflex. She brought both hands quickly to her mouth, covering it. Looking at Chi-Chi, the severe expression on her face made it clear that she didn't like it one bit.

"I-I'm sorry," Bulma whispered nervously. "I was just saying that..."

"It doesn't matter," Chi-Chi mumbled slowly, lowering her gaze. "The Dragon Balls should be in the warehouse," she indicated next, pointing with one hand toward the small building adjacent to the house. Seeing it, Bulma recognized it immediately; it was the hut that Goku had lived in the first time they met. "Can you help her look for them, Dad?"

Without waiting for an answer, she turned around and walked into the house.

"Sure," Ox-King whispered, heading to the store along with Bulma. "I hope you can quickly gather the other balls to bring Goku back. His presence is what we need."

"Well, with the Four-Star Ball and these two, we'll already have three, so we'll only need to find the other four. The problem is that I know from experience that these worldwide searches are never easy or fast. And now, on top of that, neither Yamcha nor Krillin can accompany me because they are training. But Master Roshi, Puar, and Woolong agreed to help me, and I think Launch will go too if Tenshinhan can convince her. So we'll be fine. The good news is that there is no rush since we have a whole year until it is necessary to revive Goku…"

"What?!" They both heard a loud scream behind them, stopping them halfway to the warehouse. When they turned, both saw how Chi-Chi shot out of the house's interior and ran frantically until she stood firm in front of Bulma with a clearly threatening posture. "A whole year?! What do you mean by that?!" She demanded aggressively.

"Oh, right... You didn't know that either, right?" Bulma murmured, smiling slightly, nervously. "What happened was that Uranai Baba informed us that Goku would take advantage of this whole year to train in the other world, so he asked us to wait to revive him until the Saiyans arrived."

"He will stay in the other world to train?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed in exasperation. "If he died. How is he going to train?"

"I don't quite understand what happened, but apparently, Kamisama gave him his body or something, and he's going to train with a man named Kaioh..."

"But does he know about Gohan?!" Chi-Chi snapped, interrupting her. "How can he stay for a whole year, leaving his son in the hands of Piccolo Daimao?! Did no one explain the gravity of the situation?! You were supposed to revive him as soon as possible so he could rescue Gohan. Now, are you telling me he will stay in the other world for a year?! What will happen to Gohan?! What will happen to me…?"

"Chi-Chi, calm down, please," Ox-King intervened again, taking her arms to pull her away from Bulma.

"I really don't know what to tell you, Chi-Chi," the blue-haired woman replied, trying to remain calm despite such an adverse reaction. "I don't know if Goku knows about what happened with Gohan, but... I understand that the person with whom he will train is someone very important from the other world. So, the most likely thing is that when he revives, he will be much stronger than ever. That will be essential to finish off the Saiyans..."

"What do I care about the Saiyans when my son is in danger right now?!" Chi-Chi yelled furiously. Her fists clenched, her teeth ground, and her twitching gaze was fixed like daggers on the ground. "You… Goku… How can you…? How can you leave me...? Ugh!"

She let out a loud yell of frustration into the air and strode back into the house, slamming the door behind her. Bulma and Ox-King watched her in silence.

"Excuse her, Bulma," the big bearded man commented, embarrassed. "This... hasn't been easy for her."

"Don't worry, Ox-King," the young woman responded in turn, shaking her head. "I'd better take the balls and leave before I continue to disturb her more than I should."

Or that she ends up punching me, Bulma thought to herself.

With the help of the radar, it didn't take long to find the two Dragon Balls stored in the hut. Just as Goku had commented, they were the three and six-star. Along with the four that Gohan was wearing on his hat the day they visited Kame House, they would have three by now.

"I'd better get going and join the others," Bulma stated as they left the hold and headed for their ship.

"Thank you for all your effort, Bulma," Ox-King stated optimistically. "Goku is very lucky to have friends like you who will do anything to revive him."

"It's the least we owe him after everything he's done for us..."

Before Bulma could finish her sentence, they both looked in surprise and confusion as the house door opened, and Chi-Chi quickly left through it. However, now she looked totally different. She had changed her clothes; she didn't have those yellow pajamas anymore but had put on her blue and red combat outfit, which Bulma remembered seeing her wear at the tournament five years ago. And now she was holding her hair in a ponytail with a red ribbon and staring resolutely and hard to the front. That gaunt, almost sick look on her face was gone completely.

Chi-Chi seemed almost like a different person than they had seen just a few minutes ago.

"Chi-Chi?" Ox-King asked. "What are you doing?"

"Dad, please lock the house when you leave," the woman said surprisingly calmly. "I don't know when I'll be back, but it will surely be in a long time."

"What are you saying? But where…?"

"Flying Nimbus!" Chi-Chi shouted loudly into the air, and it didn't take long for the golden cloud to come to her call like the previous times.

"Wait! Where are you going, daughter?!" Ox-King exclaimed, rushing to catch up with her, but not before Chi-Chi mounted on the cloud.

"I'm going to Korin Tower," Chi-Chi answered seriously, staring at the horizon. "I will go to Kamisama's Temple to train with Him like the others."

"What?!" Ox-King and Bulma blurted into the air simultaneously, full of astonishment.

"But… what do you say, Chi-Chi?" Bulma muttered. "Do you also plan to fight with the Saiyans?"

"Nothing of that," Chi-Chi hastened to clarify. "All I want is to save my son. And if Goku really plans to stay a whole year in the other world, then I'll ask Kamisama to train me so I can defeat Piccolo Daimao!"

That answer did not help dampen her listeners' confusion but instead increased it. But before anyone could tell her anything else, a more than determined Chi-Chi set off.

"Come on, Flying Nimbus! To the Holy Land of Korin!"

The cloud ripped off, heading without further ado toward the sky.

"Wait, Chi-Chi!" Ox-King yelled after her, but it was no use. Chi-Chi and the Flying Nimbus were quickly lost in the sky.

Ox-King would have given anything to get his daughter up and out of bed. However, he was not convinced that was the correct reason…

Chapter Text

15

Goku had never been very inclined to tell Chi-Chi many details about his childhood adventures unless she asked him directly about some specific fact. Some might think it could be due to a lack of interest in the subject or even a certain distrust of his own wife. However, the truth was that most could not understand how the mind of the most powerful warrior in the world worked; Chi-Chi herself kept finding out. Goku wasn't a person who lived in the past or even in the future. He was someone whose mind was kept mainly in the present, on the person, enemy, training, or dish of food right before him. It was something that could be maddening at times but also beneficial in a way.

People who are often haunted by past mistakes or defeats rarely manage to find true happiness. The same happens with those worried about the future, a group in which, for better or worse, Chi-Chi knew well that she was fully included, especially from the moment she became a mother.

Goku hadn't really told her much of his training with Korin Tower or Kamisama's Lookout, just little details that together didn't create a clear enough picture for Chi-Chi to get an idea of what to expect. But that didn't matter to her. Whatever test or challenge Kamisama threw at her, she would overcome it, convinced that her determination to save her son would overcome whatever shortcomings her last few years without training might bring her.

And with that fixed thought in her mind, she headed towards that place.

The first thing she noticed in the distance as she approached the Sacred Land of Korin aboard the Flying Nimbus was the majestic tower that bore that name, rising on the horizon like a great mast and getting lost among the clouds. And the closer she got, the more it became apparent to her that its actual height far exceeded what she could have imagined after hearing Goku's stories.

Did he really climb all that when he was just a kid? She thought, truly surprised. However, when it came to Goku, no story about his exploits was impossible enough to believe.

Being close enough to the tower and hovering over the land below it, the sensation of a nearby ki (which, as Goku had told her, little by little, her body seemed to be getting used to it) indicated to her the presence of several individuals. By lowering her gaze, Chi-Chi managed to see below a group of people at the foot of the tower who seemed to be looking in her direction. And sharpening her eyes a little, she seemed to recognize some of them.

"It's Krillin and the others," she murmured slowly to herself. "Great, I caught up with them."

He instantly commanded the Flying Nimbus to descend to the ground. The group quickly moved to the side to make way for their landing.

"But it's you, Chi-Chi," Krillin murmured in front of the others, looking at her, clearly surprised.

"Hello, everyone," the young woman said with curt enthusiasm, leaping off the cloud and landing on her feet in front of them.

Her gaze swept quickly around the group. She immediately managed to recognize Krillin and Yamcha, and soon after, she did the same with Tenshinhan and Chaoz, whom she remembered meeting during the tournament five years ago. They all seemed equally confused to see her there, although not as much as Krillin himself, who also looked somewhat uncomfortable.

"Good to see you all," Chi-Chi pronounced respectfully, bowing slightly to greet them. Looking up, she noticed someone else behind them: a short boy with a stocky body, long black hair, and carrying a sword tied to his belt. Unlike the others, he didn't look familiar. "Sorry, I don't think I know you."

The boy's face blurred into an expression of annoyance. He then crossed his arms and turned away as if that comment had offended him somehow.

"My name is Yajirobe, so don't forget it," he answered in a harsh tone, which Chi-Chi didn't think was appropriate.

"He's also Goku's friend," Krillin hurried to clarify. "He was a great help to him when he defeated Piccolo Daimao... or so I understand."

"Well, I don't remember him mentioning him to me on any occasion," Chi-Chi whispered with disdain, which did not please the young man with the sword.

"Chi-Chi, how nice to see you after so many years," Yamcha chimed in with a more optimistic tone, advancing towards the young woman, though his attention was more on the golden cloud floating behind her. "Although I must admit that when I saw the Flying Nimbus cross the sky above us, for a moment, I thought that Goku had returned."

Although the comment was pronounced with some joy, a dense air of melancholy enveloped Chi-Chi right after she heard it. The others noticed this immediately as the woman shifted her gaze to the side, and her fists clenched tightly.

"I guess everyone knows what happened by now," Chi-Chi whispered softly in a rough voice.

"Yeah," Yamcha agreed, embarrassed. "Krillin and Bulma told us what happened to Goku. But they also warned us that he will be training in the other world with someone powerful, and he will come back much more…"

"I know about that," Chi-Chi snapped, cutting off his words and turning to them. Her eyes reflected a marked hardness. "What Goku has decided to do instead of returning to life with his family doesn't interest me."

That answer clearly stunned everyone. For her part, Chi-Chi obviously had no desire to clarify further what she meant. Instead, she advanced towards the tower, stopping just below it. She raised her gaze as much as she could, contemplating how that majestic stone monument with beautiful reliefs rose above her until it disappeared without being able to appreciate any end.

How tall would that actually be?

"Chi-Chi," she heard Krillin say behind her, but she stared at the tower without reacting. "Hey, what exactly did you come here for? Something happened?"

"Bulma told me you're coming here because Kamisama will train you," the woman explained normally. She then turned to look at them again. "And I have also come to accompany you to the Lookout to train."

"What?!" Krillin and Yamcha exclaimed at the same time, although their reaction was clearly shared by everyone else.

"Did I hear right?" Chaoz asked, stunned. "Do you also want to train with Kamisama? Do you have plans to fight with the Saiyans that will come to Earth?"

"I'm asking you not to joke, please," Tenshinhan stated seriously, sounding almost like a scold. "According to what they told us, we are talking about two ruthless warriors who far exceed Goku's strength. The situation is serious enough to be taken lightly."

"I'm not taking anything lightly!" Chi-Chi replied sternly, raising her voice enough to make everyone shudder a little. She took a deep breath and then tried to respond more calmly. "But not; I have no intention of fighting those Saiyans. My only goal is to defeat Piccolo Daimao and rescue my son."

"Your son?" Tenshinhan asked, confused.

"Wait, Chi-Chi," Yamcha hurried, taking a step forward. "Krillin told me that Piccolo had taken Goku's son to train him."

"What he did was kidnap him!" She answered, raising her voice again. "He practically ripped him out of my arms, just like that miserable Saiyan did. And when I tried to get it back, that monster almost killed me. Didn't Krillin tell you those parts?"

Chi-Chi's almost murderous eyes fixed on the bald-headed boy, who jumped in fright at feeling himself being looked at like that.

"Well, something like that," Krillin murmured, laughing a little. "But wait, are you saying you're still considering facing him again? You heard what he said last time; if you bother him again, he sure as hell will kill you this time!"

"I won't make the same mistake twice," Chi-Chi pronounced decisively, looking up at the tower again. "If nobody wants to help me, I myself will become stronger, strong enough to save my son."

"Chi-Chi, listen," Yamcha commented, his voice soothing. "I understand your son's difficult situation. But, right now, Piccolo is willing to fight on our side. That could be the determining factor in saving Earth. In times as difficult as this, we must all make sacrifices."

"Sacrifices?" the woman pronounced out loud as if that had been a direct insult to her. "Did you just call my son a sacrifice?"

"No, I…" Yamcha whispered nervously. "I didn't mean to say it like that..."

"Because my son is not a sacrifice!" Chi-Chi snapped out loud. "He doesn't have to suffer for any of this. And I will do everything in my power, everything, to keep him safe. No matter who opposes it."

A deep and uncomfortable silence fell over them. That had been thrown into the air as a clear warning, not only indirectly towards Piccolo but also towards the five that were present before her. She would walk over anyone, including them. And, of course, they had no problem understanding it that way.

The silence was suddenly cut by a small moan of annoyance from Yajirobe.

"But what a scandalous woman," the boy with the sword exclaimed dismissively, surprising Chi-Chi and, of course, also increasing her anger. "Let her do what she wants," he stated nonchalantly, giving them sidelong glances. "However, if you really want to go to Kamisama's Lookout, you'll first have to climb to the top of the tower to get Master Korin's approval. No one can see Kamisama without doing that; that old cat was very clear about it."

That explanation completely caught Chi-Chi's attention and made her put aside her annoyance for a moment.

"Climb to the top of the tower?" She pronounced slowly with a neutral voice as if trying to find the meaning of those words.

"That's right," Yajirobe emphasized, pointing to the sky and where, in theory, the mentioned top would be: far, far above them. "And it's not worth using the Flying Nimbus or flying on your own. If you want Master Korin's approval, you'll have to do it yourself like everyone else. And just in case you don't know, it's not easy to do, especially the first time. I highly doubt someone like you will make it, so you better not try."

That was, of course, a clear provocation to make her angry, and partly clear that it had an effect. However, Chi-Chi was again more interested in the explanation. If what that boy said was true, what she should do was climb Korin Tower, just like Goku had told he did when he was a kid. And upon reaching the top, that person, Master Korin, would give her his approval to see Kamisama.

She did not doubt that it would be a difficult, perhaps almost impossible, task. But if it was what she had to do to fulfill her mission...

"I will," Chi-Chi stated firmly. "I will do whatever it takes to be strong enough."

"Wait, Chi-Chi," Krillin tried to intervene. "It's really not as easy as you think if you don't have…"

"Very good," Tenshinhan mentioned suddenly, interrupting Krillin. The three-eyed fighter was staring at Chi-Chi with a stern expression. "If you want to try, there is nobody to stop you. But if you fail to climb to the top like all of us, what you should do is go back home and wait for Goku. This training is extremely important to all of us, and I won't have you getting in our way, am I clear?"

Those severe words took everyone by surprise, especially Chi-Chi. But nothing in Tenshinhan's tone or expression left one in doubt that he was earnest.

"I won't fail," Chi-Chi replied with absolute conviction. And in truth, she was sure that she could keep her word.

Chapter Text

16

The group decided to spend that night on land and begin climbing the tower the next day after they rested more. Chi-Chi did not know if this had been their plan from the beginning or if it was some courtesy towards her, specifically considering that it would be her first time doing the tortuous journey. If it was the latter, she doubted that the initiative had come from Tenshinhan or that boy, Yajirobe, considering the reception they had given her.

                At least it seemed that Yamcha and Krillin were more open to her presence in that place and were especially kinder to her; perhaps too much. Chi-Chi felt a little uncomfortable about this attention, especially coming from Krillin. But this was not because of him, but rather because of herself and all the inconvenience she had previously caused Goku's friend until she had almost forced him to go and save her from dying in Piccolo Daimao's clutches.

                Although, of course, Chi-Chi did not forget that he had awfully hit her at that moment to calm her down, which was not precisely a pleasant memory. Perhaps that was what caused the young warrior to feel somewhat sorry for her. Or maybe, with Goku not there, Krillin unjustifiably thought that he had some responsibility to take care of her in his place.

                In addition to Krillin and the others, Chi-Chi was surprised to see that a very kind woman named Launch was also there. She remembered seeing her at the tournament five years ago, accompanying Master Roshi, although... Chi-Chi could have sworn she remembered her as blonde. She wasn't sure why Launch was there, although it certainly wasn't to try to climb the tower with them. Whatever the case, she was very friendly with everyone, especially Chi-Chi, and took care of preparing the dinner herself.

                At night, everyone sat down to eat around a pleasant fire right at the foot of the tower and in the company of their two hosts: Bora and Upa, two local residents of the Sacred Land of Korin, who, to Chi-Chi's surprise, knew Goku very well.

                "It's a real honor to meet you," Upa said enthusiastically, a tall, burly young man with dark skin and dark hair sitting next to her while they both ate from their respective plates. The boy seemed particularly excited when Krillin informed him that Chi-Chi was Goku's wife. "Goku is by far the most amazing person I have ever met. He is perhaps the best friend I have ever had in my entire life. And hearing that he got married and now even has a son fills me with enormous joy."

                "Thank you," Chi-Chi agreed, smiling gently at him. "I'm glad to hear more people have such good feelings for Goku. Unfortunately, he…"

                She didn't finish her sentence, but Upa had no problem knowing what she was talking about.

                "Yeah, Krillin told us what happened," Upa said seriously. "But there is no need to worry because he also told us that Goku will be revived with the Dragon Balls very soon. So, there's no reason to be sad. When I was a child, the evil Tao Pai Pai came here and murdered my father in cold blood without Goku or me being able to do anything."

                As he said that, he turned to the large, well-built man sitting next to him, who was silently contemplating the dancing fire of the campfire.

                "That's true?" Chi-Chi whispered, surprised by that statement.

Upa nodded.

                "But Goku did everything to gather all the Dragon Balls to revive him. He even faced the entire Red Ribbon Army alone to achieve it. He didn't have to; he didn't even know my father or me. But he still did it. He promised me he would revive him, and he kept it."

                The boy's eyes shone with excitement as he remembered all that. And inevitably, Chi-Chi felt that the feeling was replicated in herself.

                "Yes, Goku was that kind of person," she whispered slowly, her gaze thoughtfully on the fire.

                Her husband was definitely someone exceptional who left his mark on everyone he crossed paths with. How many others he would have met throughout his adventures around the world would still remember him with the same joy?

                "We owe too much to Goku," Bora said in a deep voice. "If I could, I would gather the Balls myself to revive him, just as he did with me. However, I have an obligation to my people and this land."

                "You don't have to worry about that, Bora," Yamcha said solemnly. "Bulma and our other friends will take care of that task."

                The dark-skinned man nodded and then added:

                "The important thing now will be for all of you to prepare to face the approaching threat. I must confess that I am envious that all of you have been invited to train with Kamisama himself. It is an honor that very few mortals have been blessed with."

                "I wish I were strong enough to go, too," Upa said with slight frustration as he focused on the tower above them. "But I still have a long way to go to reach a sufficient level to even be able to climb the tower to the top."

                That comment caught Chi-Chi's attention. What Tenshinhan and the others had told her earlier about how it was not easy to climb the tower still resonated in her mind.

                "How tall is it?" she asked suddenly, looking up. In the darkness of the night and the starry sky, she could barely make out the long, straight shape lost in the sky. "How long does it take to get to the top?"

                "We climbed it about six years ago, before the last tournament," Krillin commented. "Back then, it took us… a whole day to get to the end."

                "What?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, astonished. "A whole day? Non-stop?"

                "Maybe a little more," Yamcha agreed, nodding.

                "That's why I told you that the first time is too difficult, especially if you're not strong enough," Yajirobe said from the other end of the campfire. "So, you should change your mind while you can."

                "I already said I will do it," Chi-Chi answered firmly... although not as firmly as before.

                The mere idea of climbing that all day without rest made her body tremble a little. But she couldn't believe the tower was really that tall. Surely, they were just exaggerating or wanted to scare her.

                "And you all have to climb it again with your own hands even if you have already climbed it before?" Chi-Chi asked curiously.

                "According to Yajirobe, that's what Master Korin said," Krillin commented calmly. "I guess it's his way of making us train from now on and verify that we haven't lost skill over the years."

                Chi-Chi nodded. She was silent momentarily while taking small bites from her plate and looking at the fire. Just as they had said earlier, all of this was a test to gain Master Korin's approval, and without it, they would not be able to train with Kamisama. It sounded logical. As Bora had said, not just any mortal had had the privilege of seeing the Sacred Temple with their own eyes and training with Kamisama in person. And, of course, Goku had been one of those chosen few.

                "What is Master Korin like?" Chi-Chi asked curiously. She had heard Goku mention him a couple of times, as had everyone there. But although Chi-Chi had even the opportunity to meet Kamisama during Goku and Piccolo fight in the last tournament, the famous Master Korin remained a mystery.

                Chi-Chi knew that he had been one of the many teachers Goku had as a child, that his home was at the top of the tower that bore his name, that he was the one who grew those Senzu Beans that helped recover energy, and Goku ate sometimes. And that he was also the person who had given Goku the Flying Nimbus after the previous one had been destroyed.

                But that was basically all she knew. She didn't know everything else: what he was like physically, his personality, or how strong he was. And knowing that he was the one who would give them permission to go up to Kamisama's Lookout made her very curious to know what he was like.

                "Well, he is..." Krillin said thoughtfully, looking at the sky. "He's…" He suddenly let out an amused giggle. "Well, you'll know."

                "If she manages to reach the top," Yajirobe commented, his mouth full of food as he spoke.

                Chi-Chi glanced at him angrily. That individual certainly seemed like a nuisance and a very unpleasant person to her. If he had been able to climb the tower, then so would she. She had a very significant motivation that pushed her to do it.

- - - -

                Although the idea was that they would use that night to rest, Chi-Chi did not have an easy time falling asleep. The truth was that since what happened with Goku, Raditz, and especially his confrontation with Piccolo, she had had serious problems sleeping. And the tension she felt regarding the journey that awaited her the next day did not help her to relax.

                Late at night, she sat in her futon and stayed still for a moment, contemplating the shadows. At that moment, everyone was lying around the campfire already in their fathoms, on sheets and blankets that Upa and Bora had lent them. In the darkness of the night, Chi-Chi could not distinguish them all, but their strident snoring made it clear that they did not share her insomnia.

                But of course, those kinds of things were the bread and butter for all of them.

                Chi-Chi got up quietly and decided to take a walk. She didn't want to go too far because she didn't know if she could find her way back in the dark. She just walked around the clearing of the tower, admiring the stars but especially thinking.

                Am I doing the right thing? She questioned herself. I am not a warrior, not like Goku and the others. My failed attempt to defeat Piccolo should have made that clear to me. I told myself I would leave all of this to focus solely on being a wife and mother, and now…

                She stopped for a few moments at a point near the surrounding trees. She ran her fingers slowly over the knuckles of her right hand. Beneath the bandage, her wounds still hurt.

                But what alternative do I have? I can't leave Gohan with that monster. I blindly trusted that Goku would always be with us to protect us, and maybe that was my mistake. Goku…

                She raised her gaze thoughtfully to the sky above her, getting lost among the thousands of bright dots.

                "I miss you so much, Goku..." she whispered slowly to herself, but seriously hoping that her words would somehow reach that person.

                "As soon as we get up, you have to return to Kame House," she suddenly heard someone say somewhere near her, making her slightly shudder and become alert.

                Chi-Chi quickly looked around, trying to detect where that had come from.

                "I don't know how long it will take us to get down," the same voice continued, severe and profound. "There's no point in you staying here and waiting for us. You will be safer with Master Roshi. I'll look for you as soon as this is over."

                Chi-Chi managed to locate that the voice came from among the trees to her right. Her feet instinctively approached that direction, subtly peeking out from behind a log. When the moon shone enough, she managed to vaguely distinguish between the trees, a few steps away from her, the silhouettes of two people.

                "Are... Tenshinhan and Launch?" She thought, surprised when she recognized the tall, burly man with a shaved head and the small, thin woman with blue hair. They were both standing opposite each other, somewhat away from the camp so that perhaps no one would hear their conversation. And, of course, unaware that someone was actually listening to them at that very moment.

                "I will do everything you tell me, Tenshinhan," Launch said softly, with a gentle smile. "And I will wait for you as long as necessary. But…" the woman lowered her gaze, looking embarrassed. "I can't promise I will when... well, you know... when I change..."

                "I know," Tenshinhan whispered firmly. "That's why I want you to let me talk to your other self."

Launch quickly raised her surprised gaze towards him.

                "You're sure?" Tenshinhan nodded in response. "Alright…"

                Not very convinced, Launch took a lock of her hair and brought it to her nose, brushing it several times until the inevitable sneeze came, loud and very strident. The moment she sneezed, Launch's hair suddenly changed from blue to blonde. Not only that but as soon as she raised her face and looked at Tenshinhan, her entire expression seemed different. It was the same face, but much more severe, harsh, and angry…

                "I'm not going anywhere!" Launch exclaimed loudly in a tone of complaint, facing Tenshinhan. "Don't even think you'll hide from me. If you insist on climbing that tower, I will chase you to the top, you hear me?"

                "Don't be stubborn," Tenshinhan responded, unmoved by her words. "We already talked about this. The threat approaching this world is greater than anything we have ever faced, more than even Piccolo Daimao. We need to focus only on that."

                "I don't care about the world!" Launch shouted with conviction, waving a hand to the side. "And I know you don't either. You said it yourself: you are not a good guy who cares about others. You just want to be the strongest, don't you?"

                Tenshinhan was silent for a moment and lowered his gaze to the ground.

                "It's true," he said quietly. "What interests me most is surpassing Goku. But these enemies are even more powerful than him or Piccolo. So, I must perform the same training Goku did with Kamisama. It's the only way to get over it once and for all."

                "Stop that nonsense already!" Launch yelled at him, clearly furious. However, something besides anger was evident in her voice: frustration, sadness... and fear. "If those guys could even kill Goku, who was the strongest man in the world... I don't even want to imagine what could happen to you if you ever confront them. So please, let's go away together, just the two of us. Let Goku take care of this when he revives, please. We can have a quiet and peaceful life, just the two of us, with all the money I have saved. I will treat you like a king, and you will never have to train or fight again. Just say yes, and I will give you everything you want. Please, Ten..."

                Launch's voice broke as she reached the end of her speech until she was on the verge of crying. Chi-Chi immediately recognized the genuine feeling that came over her. She was truly worried about Tenshinhan's safety, the safety of the man she loved.

                Tenshinhan watched her silently. Indeed, a thousand things were going through his head at those moments. When he finally managed to react, he approached her and placed his hands on the girl's shoulders with a delicacy that Chi-Chi would never have guessed that such a rough man could demonstrate.

                "If those guys invade Earth, there will be nowhere we can hide," Tenshinhan whispered slowly. "And even if it weren't like that, I can't just walk away from fights and have a peaceful life. That's not for me."

                "Why not?!" Launch exclaimed, looking up at him pleadingly. "Why are you so hard-headed...?"

                Those tears that until that moment had only threatened to come out now began to appear.

                "You're wrong about something," Tenshihan said suddenly. "It's not entirely true that I don't care about others. It's true that until recently, I had lived only concerned about myself and becoming stronger. But you, Chaoz, Master Roshi, Goku… you have all become very important to me."

                "Me too?" Launch whispered, sounding somewhere between surprised and excited by that.

                Tenshinhan nodded.

                "I promise you that I won't die in any way. I'll defeat those Saiyans with my bare hands. After that, we'll go wherever you want. But for now, you must go with Master Roshi. Help him gather the Dragon Balls; they will need all the help they can get to get them within a year."

                "You know? With those Balls, we could have great wealth, a huge castle, and not worry about anything," Launch proposed with a mischievous smile.

                "I know you're joking," Tenshinhan said, smiling too. "I know that just as I changed, you have also begun to care about others."

                "Shut up, you don't know anything," Launch said embarrassedly, turning to the side. "But it's okay. I'll do what you tell me... But I swear that if you die, or if you don't come find me when you finish off those Saiya idiots, whatever they are, I won't forgive you in a million years! And I'll chase you to hell to make you pay, you hear?"

                "I understand," Tenshinhan replied, still with an amused smile on his lips. "I promise you it won't happen. Just wait a little."

                The blonde girl's entire face glowed excitedly as she stared at the formidable warrior before her. Without saying anything, she slowly closed her eyes and raised her face a little more towards him. Without needing to say a word, her invitation became evident, and Tenshinhan apparently understood it very well. Without removing his hands from her shoulders, he leaned towards her, bringing her face closer until their lips met in a small, delicate kiss under the starlight.

                Chi-Chi was startled and quickly hid behind the log, taking her eyes off that scene. She felt her own face burning a little, and her heart pounded in his chest.

                I think this is something I shouldn't have seen, she thought, completely embarrassed. I better go before they discover me.

                She then began to carefully advance back to the camp, making as little noise as possible.

Chapter Text

17

The next day, very early, the entire group began to climb Korin Tower, with the looks and shouts of encouragement from Launch and Upa below them. They went up one after the other, Yajirobe going first in the lead, followed by Yamcha, Tenshinhan, Chaoz, and Krillin. At the end of the vertical row was Chi-Chi.

                Everyone had warned her enough about how complicated that journey would be, directly and indirectly telling her that it was best not to try it. But Chi-Chi's resolution was absolute, and she was unwilling to give in to any difficulty. However, although during the first few hours it was somewhat easy for her to keep up with the others, as time passed and the top of the tower was still not visible at all in the distance, her body began to feel not only the exhaustion of such a heavy task, but on top of that the pain of her wounds that have not yet fully healed.

                She forced herself to overcome the pain and exhaustion so as not to be left behind. Or, even worse, falling to the ground because, from the height at which she was already, she would most likely not survive.

                Chi-Chi didn't dare look down, but she was pretty straightforward. The only thing that gave her some security was knowing that if anything happened, she could always count on calling the Flying Nimbus so as not to end up being a plaster on earth. Although, of course, as long as she didn't fall unconscious before she could do it.

                Time passed, and the group kept climbing, with no sign that the end was near. They had even reached the clouds, a sight that Chi-Chi would have found wonderful if it weren't for how tired she felt.

                It can't be. Who the hell built this? She thought, surprised and perhaps a little horrified. And yet Kamisama's Lookout was supposed to be even higher than that.

                It was hopelessly impossible for her to keep up with the boys, and little by little, she fell behind. It was unheard of to her that Tenshinhan and the others seemed to still have enough energy. They had not stopped for a moment or reduced their ascent rate. It was incredible that they seriously had so much strength and endurance, and yet they were all supposed to be less strong than Goku. Chi-Chi always knew that there was a considerable margin between her husband and her, but knowing that she was not even on par with her other partners made her feel that the margin was even bigger than she thought.

                What am I doing here? Chi-Chi questioned herself with regret, already finding it difficult to think due to exhaustion. I'm not a warrior, not like them, not like Goku... Why did I think I could do it? I should have listened to them. I should have stayed home, recovering from my injuries. I'm a fool; I should go back right now before I can't...

                While all those thoughts were flooding her mind, one of her feet was misplaced on one of the ledges of the tower, slipping and falling downwards. Chi-Chi's body staggered, lurched downward, and came close to falling to the ground, just as she had feared. Luckily, that shock was enough to wake her up, enough to extend both hands and hold firmly on one of the edges, with her fingers tense and sore. Their entire body was left hanging, even slightly swayed by the cold wind blowing at that height.

                "Are you okay, Chi-Chi?" Krillin's voice pronounced loudly above her. She looked up as best she could and saw how the young shaven-headed warrior quickly descended towards her. He stopped a little above her and extended a hand, offering it to her to take. "Let me help…"

                "Krillin," Tenshinhan's voice pronounced loudly in the heights, like thunder. Everyone had stopped higher up and was looking down. Disapproval was immediately evident in the three-eyed warrior's voice. "If she's really so determined to do this, she has to do it alone," he said harshly. "If not, she'd better come back at once."

                Those harsh words seemed to upset the others a little, but no one said anything to contradict him, not even Krillin himself. Chi-Chi looked at Tenshinhan with annoyance from her difficult position, of course not agreeing with what he said. However, deep down, she knew he was right; he, more than anyone, had warned her from the beginning. And now that they had gotten this far and she saw more clearly the great difference between them and her, she couldn't help but accept it.

                But despite her thoughts and fears from just now, Chi-Chi still refused to back down. She might not be as strong as them, but she had a much greater motivation. Fueled by it, she would climb that wicked tower until she genuinely couldn't take it anymore. It was the least she could do for her son...

                Chi-Chi quickly bent her legs and placed the tips of her feet on another ledge, taking weight off her toes. She took a moment, standing there, and surprisingly, despite how uncomfortable the position was, stopping just a little was at least a little relaxing for her tired limbs.

                "Don't worry, Krillin," she said in a severe voice. "Keep going, don't be late for me."

                Krillin hesitated for a moment but then nodded slightly.

                "Please, don't force yourself too much. If you really can't anymore, call the Flying Nimbus and come down safely to earth. Do you promise me?"

                "Yes, don't worry," Chi-Chi replied with feigned confidence. "I'll be fine."

                Krillin then hurried up to catch up with the others with a speed and agility that made Chi-Chi envious. For her part, she stayed there, resting for just a moment, while she watched the others continue climbing. It didn't take long for them to disappear from sight.

                When she felt ready again (or as close to it as possible), she took a deep breath and resumed her climb, taking her time but not retreating a step.

- - - -

                The hours that followed were… strange for Chi-Chi. Time passed, and she continued to advance at her own pace, step by step, inch by inch. Whenever she felt like she couldn't take it anymore, she would stop for a few moments, catch her breath, and continue. She felt a little more confident when she realized that the times between one rest and another were becoming shorter. However, she couldn't say if it was because she was beginning to get used to it because her exhaustion and the wear and tear on her limbs were such that she no longer cared for it, or it was impossible to feel pain anymore. But as long as she could keep moving, she didn't care.

                She was a little scared when she noticed that the light around her was getting dimmer, and it was even more so when she looked to the side and saw that the sun was beginning to set in the distance. The night was about to fall, and she was still climbing there. Had she really been climbing all day? Only when that idea crossed her mind did she realize how hungry and thirsty she was; she literally hadn't eaten or drunk anything all day.

                At that point, Chi-Chi was not surprised to see that the end of the tower was still not visible. When it became night, almost absolute darkness enveloped it, only overshadowed by the small stars, so the tower became no more of a black silhouette that she could feel with her hands and feet but little else.

                It was perhaps at that moment that she most considered retiring. She didn't feel like continuing climbing practically blind without even knowing how much was left. How long could she last in her current state?

                But she didn't, neither on that occasion nor on any of the following, when the thought of giving up was present. She had already come quite far. And if this was a test to be able to train with Kamisama, how could she back out? How could she hope to save her son if she couldn't even do something like that?

                In fact, advancing in the dark turned out even better in the end. Seeing nothing, Chi-Chi could imagine that the end was only a few meters away from her, so she could motivate herself to keep moving forward with that image in her head. It wasn't as easy to fumble around for something to hold on to or where to place each tip of the foot, but by that point, after so much repetition, she had learned to measure the distances between molding and molding, so her body was practically moving by mere instinct.

                The night was long, lonely, cold, and especially hard. However, when the sun began peering over the horizon in a beautiful and hopeful dawn, all their efforts and waiting were rewarded. As the sky became clearer and the structure of the tower became visible to her tired eyes... she managed to spot something different, something large and round that was perched just above her.

                Chi-Chi had to rub her eyes several times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating somehow.

                "Is that really the top?" she questioned herself incredulously. She wasn't sure if what she saw in the distance was really what she believed, but the mere possibility was enough to convince her to give just one last push.

                Chi-Chi kept going and going. Her legs and arms burned like she had never felt before, her fingers were bleeding, and her head hurt from lack of sleep, hunger, and thirst. But the further she went, the more and more that structure became, and the more he became convinced that it must be the end.

                It can't be; I did it, she repeated in her head with joy. Goku, Gohan, I did it... I did it...

                The goal was already within reach. The top was enormous, the size of a house, and she ended up wholly hidden under its shadow at some point. At the bottom, where the tower joined that oval structure, a series of holes gave the naked eye access to the interior. There was no way to reach them other than to attempt a jump.

                "Just one more step," she told herself, staring at the circular hole closest to her. She took a deep breath, flexed her legs, and then lunged forward, separating herself from the tower and extending her hands toward the edge of the hole.

                Her fingers missed the edge by just a few millimeters.

                The next moment, she could feel her body begin to descend, and inevitably, she would start to fall straight towards the ground.

                No, no, it can't be! She screamed inside her head, although no words came out of her mouth. Instinctively, her hands waved in the air, trying to grab onto anything but finding nothing. She would fall and couldn't avoid it.

                She had to call out to the Flying Nimbus, but she was so exhausted that she was convinced that when she opened her mouth, no sound would come out of her, much less the scream she needed.

                I'm going to die, she thought, horrified, and she had no doubt that it was true.

                However, just before her body plummeted downwards, a strong arm reached out from inside the structure through the hole she tried to reach, reaching out towards her as far as it could, barely grasping the tip of her fingers.

                Chi-Chi felt great pain when she felt her hand imprisoned with that force, but also because of the pull she felt on her entire arm when her body tried to go downwards, but found that opposition upwards. The young woman was left hanging, her feet dangling several meters (or rather kilometers) above the ground. She raised her gaze as best she could to see what had stopped her. She looked at the hand that held her, the strong arm that accompanied it, and the strong three-eyed face and bald head of her savior, who was also hanging from the edge of the hole with his other hand.

                Tenshinhan? She thought surprised when she recognized him. She was shocked to see that, of all of them, it was precisely him who helped her.

                The warrior applied great strength to get up and return to the inside of the peak, pulling Chi-Chi with him. She couldn't do much to help him, except let him take her with him. After a few seconds, both Tenshinhan and Chi-Chi were already inside the oval structure. The young woman could do nothing but let herself fall on her chest to the hard floor, which at that moment felt like the most beautiful and soft thing she had ever felt in her life.

                Chi-Chi was breathing heavily, unable to normalize the agitation rumbling in her chest on her own. As best she could, she turned so she was on her back. She turned her head to the side and saw Tenshinhan standing, rubbing the wrist of the hand he had used to hold her.

                "Thank you, Tenshinhan," Chi-Chi whispered with barely a thread of voice. The three-eyed warrior just looked at her and simply nodded in response.

                The woman took a moment to look up. Not only was she lying on solid ground, but there was a roof and circular walls above her. It was really a house built on heights; it was incredible.

                "Chi-Chi," she heard Krillin's voice say, so she quickly forced herself to turn her gaze in that direction. The shaven-headed warrior, along with Yamcha, was approaching her with a broad smile on his face. "You did it, congratulations!" he said with genuine joy in his voice.

                "And you did it on your first try," Yamcha noted next with the same sentiment. "That is incredible."

                Chi-Chi noticed that Yamcha and Krillin were not the only ones, because Chaoz and Yajirobe also came behind them. Everyone had gone to receive her.

                "Thanks, guys," she replied, giving them a slight, small smile and not being entirely sure if her words could be heard. "My whole body... it hurts," she complained between deep, painful breaths.

                She made the gesture of trying to get up from the ground, but she couldn't do it even a centimeter. Krillin and Yamcha approached each side of her, and between them they lifted her, letting her lean entirely on them.

                "Don't worry," Krillin indicated while he and Yamcha helped her walk, although they were practically dragging her since she was almost unable to take a step on her own. "Master Korin can give you a Senzu Bean to regain strength."

                "Master Korin?" Chi-Chi repeated slowly, as if those words were somehow unknown to her. It took a while for her lethargic mind to clear up and understand what they were referring to. She's heard that name before, right?

                "So you are Goku's wife," she heard a squeaky voice uttered in front of her, echoing above any other sound.

                Chi-Chi slowly raised her gaze forward and saw how Tenshinhan and Yajirobe stepped aside, making way for... someone? Chi-Chi had to look down a little because that person turned out to be shorter than Chaoz.

                At first glance, Chi-Chi would not have recognized it as a person in itself since it was a small, round being with its body completely covered in white hair, a large head, and pointed ears. His eyes seemed closed, lost in the fur of his face, and he held in his right hand a long wooden cane, taller than him, almost twice as tall.

                That being advanced towards her, stopping right in front, and raised his gaze to observe her... or so it seemed to since it was difficult to determine where his eyes were looking exactly.

                "Yes, master, she is Chi-Chi," Krillin went ahead to respond. "Chi-Chi, he is Master Korin, the guardian of this tower."

                Is it Master Korin? Thought Chi-Chi, quite surprised on the inside, but on the outside, her face could not openly show that or any other feeling. But... It's a cat...

                "It's a pleasure to meet you," that being suddenly commented, and to Chi-Chi's surprise, that same squeaky voice from a moment ago emerged from his tiny mouth. "I've heard a lot about you, young lady."

                Chi-Chi tried her best to overcome that shock and offered him a respectful bow as best she could while Krillin and Yamcha held her.

                "The pleasure is mine, master."

                Korin nodded in response to his bow.

                "It is remarkable that you were able to climb up here alone. You should feel proud of it."

                "Yes," Chi-Chi said with a half-smile. "Thank you so much."

                "Here," Master Korin suddenly exclaimed, quickly throwing something small at her. Chi-Chi's reflexes managed to react despite the pain in her joints, catching the object in the air: a small green bean.

                "This is the Senzu Bean?

                "Eat it and you'll feel better," Korin indicated in a kind voice.

                That seed seemed familiar to Chi-Chi. Hadn't Goku eaten one at the end of the tournament five years ago? He even gave one to Piccolo if she remembered correctly. And it was true that both seemed to have regained their energy as soon as they ate them. Could it really be that magical?

                Chi-Chi didn't question it much and decided to eat it. What did she have to lose after all? She was pretty hungry anyway, so that tiny seed would be better than nothing.

                The seed crunched as it was ground by her teeth, and then she swallowed it whole. It didn't really have any flavor, and at first, it didn't even feel like I'd actually eaten anything. However, just a few seconds later, the effect became completely tangible in every fiber of her being. Not only was the hunger she felt extinguished in the blink of an eye, but the pain and fatigue diminished significantly until it became practically a distant memory.

                It's incredible! She thought, stunned, unable to fully process the sudden change. But when Yamcha and Krillin released her, and she had no problem standing on her own feet, she was able to verify that her body had indeed recovered, as fresh and ready as it had been the morning they began their climb, or even more so.

                Chi-Chi looked at Master Korin, her gaze filled with amazement. She thought she noticed how his feline lips outlined a small sly smile.

                "Very well, there is no more time to waste," the old hermit said aloud, turning to the rest of the group. Everyone immediately turned to listen to him attentively. "Kamisama awaits you at the Temple to begin your training. Now, I'll give one of these to each of you."

                At that moment, Master Korin raised his right claw high so that everyone could see what he held in it: a small golden bell tied to a reddish string. Everyone seemed a little confused at first. The hermit approached Krillin, handing him to him first. Already in his hands, the young fighter verified that it was what it initially seemed.

                "A sleigh bell?" he whispered, intrigued.

                "It is proof that I have approved you to go up to the Lookout," explained Korin as he went one by one, giving them an identical bell. After Krillin, he went to Chaoz, then to Tenshinhan. "Present it to Mr. Popo, the guardian of the Temple, and he will allow you to see Kamisama."

                "Is it some kind of magic sleigh bell?" Yamcha asked curiously as soon as the master gave him his.

                "No, it's just a normal sleigh bell," Korin responded, accompanied by what seemed to be a few mocking laughs. That confused the others even more, thinking for a moment that it was some kind of joke, although that didn't seem to be the case.

                After Yamcha, he continued to give his bell to Yajirobe, who reluctantly took it from him. Then, the master walked a little further to the side and stood right before Chi-Chi. She solemnly extended her hand towards him and waited. The white-furred cat stared at her (or so she felt he did) for several seconds in absolute silence, without even moving. That silence and that wait disconcerted Chi-Chi. And when she was about to ask him what was happening, the old master turned entirely towards the others.

                "Well, that's all," he stated in a calm voice. "Now you can leave and start your training. Remember that the fate of this world will rest in your hands, so good luck."

                Chi-Chi jumped, totally confused. Her empty hand was still extended forward, waiting.

                "Hey, wait a moment, Master Korin," Chi-Chi exclaimed out loud. "You didn't give me my sleigh bell."

                "Your sleigh bell?" The old hermit mumbled, sounding clearly confused. He then turned back to her, looking up at her from his low position. "I don't know what you're talking about, young lady. I don't have any sleigh bells to give you."

                "What?" Chi-Chi exclaimed, more eager than before. "What do you mean by that? Don't be joking, please."

                "I don't see why you think it's a joke," Korin responded with overwhelming calm. "I won't give you any bell because you will not go to Kamisama's Lookout. You don't have my authorization to train with Kamisama," he stated with overwhelming normality, taking both Chi-Chi and all the other listeners off guard.

Chapter Text

18

"I don't…?" Chi-Chi mumbled slowly, her voice brimming with disbelief. However, that feeling quickly turned into anger, which soon appeared all over her face. "Why not?!" she exclaimed out loud. "I climbed the tower on my own, without help, just like everyone else."

                "That's one thing, and this is another thing," Master Korin responded simply, only succeeding in irritating Chi-Chi even more.

                "Master Korin," Krillin intervened in a cautious voice. "Couldn't you...?"

                "You guys should leave now," Korin cut him off abruptly, turning quickly to Krillin and the others. "Don't keep Kamisama waiting any longer. Remember that we have less than a year, so come on." He pointed hastily with his cane toward a door that led outside. "Don't just stand there. Kamisama's Lookout is located just above this tower. For this occasion, you will be allowed to reach it by flying, so do it straight from the tip, and you will surely find it without fail."

                They all looked at each other for a few seconds, somewhat hesitant about what to do. As expected, Tenshinhan and Chaoz were the first to move, exiting the door and rising into the air towards the top of the tower. Krillin and Yamcha were the ones who waited the longest, perhaps wondering if they could say anything in favor of Chi-Chi, but Master Korin's decision seemed firm. So once he hurried them away again, both had no choice but to follow their two companions.

                "Hey, have you forgotten I don't know how to fly?" Yajirobe exclaimed with annoyance, crossing his arms.

                Korin snorted in annoyance in response to his comment.

                "Always so useless, Yajirobe. Krillin, would you mind taking this fat guy with you?"

                "Oh yes... of course," Krillin answered doubtfully, although his attention again turned to Chi-Chi momentarily. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye for a moment and then turned away angrily. It wasn't clear if she was angry with them or not, but Krillin hoped it was clear that there wasn't much they could do.

                "Come on, Krillin," Yamcha told him, urging him on, so the young warrior hurried to catch up with the others.

                As Master Korin had requested, Yajirobe climbed onto Krillin's back, and Krillin rose, carrying him. Given their differences in size, it seemed difficult to believe that Krillin could lift him so easily, but certainly, in his arduous training, he had had to carry much heavier things on his back.

                "Don't even think about letting me fall!" Yajirobe shouted at him, clinging to him tighter with his thick arms.

                "Don't squeeze me so much!" Krillin exclaimed with annoyance.

A second later, Chi-Chi saw how Krillin, Yamcha, and Yajirobe also disappeared from her sight, floating toward where they had been indicated.

                Once it was just her, Chi-Chi took a deep breath through her nose, trying to calm herself as much as possible before speaking again. There had to be some kind of misunderstanding in all of that. Chi-Chi was aware that she had joined the group at the last minute without exactly being invited, and perhaps that had come across as a little rude. But if Master Korin was as wise a hermit as everyone said, she was confident that he would understand her situation if she spoke to him in a civilized manner.

                "Master..." she began to speak in a calmer voice, but she didn't manage to say much more before that catman interrupted her.

                "Still here?" Korin commented with some surprise, turning back to her. "You'd better go home once and for all, don't you think? You have nothing else to do here."

                With that, he walked calmly towards the stairs that led to the top.

                "Wait!" Chi-Chi pronounced in a hurry, walking quickly behind him. "You don't understand, I seriously need to train with Kamisama and get stronger as soon as possible. My son, Gohan, he…"

                "I know what happened to your son," Korin said calmly as they walked up the stairs. "I know everything."

                Chi-Chi was entirely off guard, leaving her speechless for a few moments.

                "You know? How do you…?"

                They both finished climbing to the top of the tower, which was almost like an extensive circular terrace without walls, just the columns that supported the roof and a low railing. From there, all Chi-Chi could see was the blue sky and clouds, and a cold, strong breeze was blowing, almost shaking Chi-Chi as soon as she set foot there. Unlike the lower chamber, which had more things such as vessels, cabinets, and even a bathtub, there was almost nothing in that space, except for a ceremonial column in the center on which was a curious small statue of some elephants raising their trunks.

                "From up here, I have my methods to see what happens down there," Korin suddenly commented, drawing Chi-Chi's attention again. The cat had positioned itself in front of the railing, leaning forward a little to look up at the clouds. "I know you don't want to become stronger to fight the invaders that are coming but to save your son, who was kidnapped by Piccolo. It is not like that?"

                "Yes, that's right," Chi-Chi replied solemnly. "That's why I need you to allow me to go up and train with Kamisama like the others."

                "That will be impossible, impossible," Korin stated forcefully.

                "But why?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed out loud, breaking a little the serenity she had forced herself to maintain until that moment.

                "I thought it would be more than obvious," the old hermit murmured.

He slowly moved away from the railing and turned toward his guest. And despite his seemingly closed eyes, Chi-Chi vividly felt his intense gaze on her. This caused her a feeling of unease that she could only relate to what her father caused when he scolded her when she was very young."

                "Only the most capable and strongest warriors have the privilege of seeing Kamisama, and you are not one," Korin explained harshly. "Your current level is too low. In fact, it is far, far below Krillin and the others. If I allow you to go up with them, you would only be a nuisance."

                "A… nuisance?" Chi-Chi whispered, clearly impressed to hear that. However, after thinking about it for a few seconds, it seemed pretty logical.

                If Krillin and the others had been summoned to the Sacred Temple to train with Kamisama, it was because, although they were not as strong as Goku, they were all capable warriors who had already fought in several life or death combats, even against Piccolo Daimao. If she compared herself to them, it was clear that there was a big gap of difference. Just seeing how they managed to climb the tower so easily compared to her should be proof enough.

                And that log… that damned log that was still lying outside her house and that she had not even been able to move from its place yet. Surely, any of them could have cared for it with great ease. Surely, no one would have allowed Piccolo Daimao to take their son as she had done...

                Korin continued speaking with the same solemn tone while Chi-Chi reflected on all this.

                "And in the pressing situation we find ourselves in, with the dangerous enemy approaching, there is no way we can take that risk. So, like I said, you better come home."

                Chi-Chi lowered her head and remained silent for a while longer. A thousand things were going through her mind, including especially those harsh words that fell on her shoulders. But despite all this, the same conviction that had motivated her to climb the tower until she reached that place, the same one that prevented her from turning back and surrendering, the same one that prevented her from leaving as the old hermit insisted.

                She had let her little one be snatched from her arms twice. Leaving that moment after getting there would be like doing it a third time.

                "There's no way I'm going back to my house!" she shouted with conviction, raising her face again towards him. Her fists clenched, and her jaw tensed. "Not when my son is in danger. If you think I'm going to sit back and do nothing like you insist, you are all very wrong!"

                Korin remained unmoved by that outburst. At most, he let out a slight guttural sound, which Chi-Chi couldn't identify if it was some kind of mocking laugh. And after a few seconds of reflective silence, he murmured slowly:

                "If I assure you that your son will be fine and that he is not in any danger with Piccolo, would you still insist on going ahead with this desire to train with Kamisama?"

                Chi-Chi stared, quite confused, thinking for a moment that perhaps she had heard wrong.

                "My Gohan... isn't in danger with Piccolo?" she whispered slowly, hoping that saying it aloud would give some meaning to that sentence. It did not. "What crazy thing are you saying?! Piccolo is a demon, a monster that just a few days ago was about to kill me…."

                "But he didn't," Korin interrupted abruptly.

                "What?"

                "I mean, Piccolo had many opportunities to kill you like you say, but he didn't," Korin clarified without breaking her perpetual calm.

                Did that mean that in addition to knowing that Piccolo had taken her son, he also knew about the meeting between him and her a few days ago? How did he know so much? Could he really see what was happening down there from there?

                Whatever it was, it didn't matter. If he had really seen what happened that day, then he must have known well that what he said was not that way.

                "He didn't do it just because Krillin intervened to save me," Chi-Chi stated firmly. "The truth is that if it hadn't been for him, I would be dead right now."

                And instead of thanking him, I yelled at him and reprimanded him, she thought sadly right after. Now, looking back, she could accept that her actions had not been correct, and she was ashamed of them. If she saw him again soon, as she still hoped she might, she would apologize to him.

                "That's true," Korin mentioned, nodding. "But I meant before that," he suddenly clarified, taking Chi-Chi off guard. "When you first met him that day, Piccolo could have killed you from the first moment, but he didn't. Do you remember he gave you several opportunities to leave him alone?"

                Chi-Chi remained silent, and in her mind, she tried to review what had happened that day, or at least how she remembered it. Had he really refrained from killing her in the first place? She supposed that was one way of interpreting it, although she didn't entirely agree that that was her intention.

                Korin continued speaking.

                "Or even when he took your son, if he were the terrible monster you think he is, he could have killed you right there when you tried to stop him. Have you ever wondered why he didn't do it?"

                "I have no idea," Chi-Chi replied gruffly. "What are you trying to tell me? Maybe Piccolo Daimao isn't really that bad? Do you really expect me to believe that?"

                Korin let a slight sound of reflection escape his throat and lowered his gaze. Although he had been firm and convinced of everything he said until that moment, even for Chi-Chi, his doubt was palpable at that instant.

                "Piccolo's actions have us a little baffled," the hermit cat said in a reserved voice. "We don't fully understand his intentions and if he truly wants to fulfill his father's ambitions as he preaches. Still, it seems to me that he is sincere in his desire to protect this planet from the invaders and in the importance that your son will play in it. So, he will most likely protect and train him just as he claimed. And, as I said, the situation we face is the most difficult the Earth has ever experienced, so the help of a warrior with as much potential as your son could be vital..."

                "Enough!" Chi-Chi snapped sharply.

                Korin was a little startled by this. As he raised his gaze again to the young woman in front of him, he was a little surprised to perceive on her face a very vivid feeling of frustration, anger, and rage. But even more so was the feeling that welled up in her heart. It wasn't precisely anger that she felt overwhelming her chest, but rather pain.

                "Don't say anymore," Chi-Chi demanded in a sharp voice. Small tears were beginning to appear from the lower margin of her eyelids. "I'm tired of continuing to hear the same thing. That my son has great potential, that my son can be a great warrior, that my son could defeat those Saiyans... He's just a four-year-old boy! Four!" She shouted loudly, and even though there were no walls in that place, her voice reverberated like a great echo. "What's wrong with all of you? Gohan is a good and gentle child, studious and intelligent, sensitive and with a beautiful and pure heart, who should be playing and studying, not being exposed to any of this. But you all don't seem to care about that. You only see how strong he could be because of who his father is, without thinking about how much this could hurt him. None of you care about Gohan in the slightest. But I am his mother, and he is the most important thing in the world to me. And if I have to go against you, against Piccolo Daimao or whoever it is to protect him, I'm going to do it!"

                That oath resounded powerfully like thunder, resounding from the depths of her being. Korin remained silent, apparently unmoved by the woman's words, but this was not entirely the case deep down. Chi-Chi's gaze reflected absolute conviction, and her posture was firm and confident. But the most important thing was once again what her heart was transmitting to him. There were no lies; every word she spoke was sincere, and her inner conviction was as firm as her words.

                What a pure and honest heart, Korin thought, fascinated. I had rarely met someone like that in the past.

                After a while, Chi-Chi took a deep breath through her nose and slowly let her body and mind relax. She had said what she had to say, and she didn't regret it at all.

                "If you are not going to allow me to go up to see the Kamisama, then I will find a way to make myself stronger," she declared calmly. She then walked firmly towards the railing step. She stood in front of it and looked at the sky, more than ready to call the Flying Nimbus and get out of there.

                "There may be a way," Korin spoke out loud first, drawing the young woman's attention back to him. "I mean a way to allow you to go up and train with Kamisama as you wish."

                "Really?" Chi-Chi asked excitedly, turning back to him. "Which way?"

                "As I told you, your current level is very low," the old hermit explained. "However, perhaps that can change... if you drink the Sacred Water."

                As he said that, he raised his cane and pointed it towards the central column of that terrace. Chi-Chi looked in the same direction and contemplated the column and the statue of the elephants in greater detail. But mainly, she realized for the first time that there was something else on top of the latter: a vase of blue and gold colors, or at least that it seemed.

                Chi-Chi blinked a few times, somewhat lost.

                "If I drink… what?"

Chapter Text

19

"Have you not heard about the Sacred Water before?" Korin asked curiously, to which Chi-Chi responded by slowly shaking her head. "When Goku and Roshi came up here for the first time, it was precisely to look for this water since it is well known that if you manage to drink it, your abilities will increase considerably."

                "Really?" Chi-Chi exclaimed, surprised. She then turned to look again at the vessel on the column. Its surface shone with the light of the morning sun that touched it. "Is it some kind of magical water?"

                Chi-Chi continued contemplating the vessel in silence, initially overcome by a marked feeling of skepticism. Indeed, the idea of magical water that made you stronger sounded a little unrealistic to her. However, she could not forget that she lived in a world in which there were balls that, by gathering them, could make any wish come true, including reviving the dead. A world where she could fly on a cloud, travel to the very shore that separated this world and the other, or fully recover her strength and heal from all her wounds after eating only a small seed. And, especially, a world where a man like her husband could perform feats far surpass those of any other human being.

                If Chi-Chi had thought about it objectively, everything would have sounded, to some extent, possible in comparison.

                "And Goku and Master Roshi drank from it?" Chi-Chi then asked with marked interest, looking again towards Master Korin.

                The old hermit nodded solemnly.

                "They both drank the water. And by the time they did, they had become astonishingly stronger. Thanks to that, Goku managed to defeat Tao Pai Pai when he was just a child."

                Chi-Chi knew that story. Upa had talked about it the night before they began climbing the tower. Furthermore, if she remembered correctly, Tao Pai Pai was one of the participants in the tournament five years ago, seeking revenge against Goku. So, Goku was able to defeat him thanks to the water.

                "That means that if I drink from it... can I become stronger? Enough to be able to train with the others?"

                "It's likely," Korin answered calmly. "Definitely, if you manage to drink it, you will have become much stronger than you are now. And so I could give you a sleigh bell to go up to the Lookout. What are you saying? Are you interested?"

                Chi-Chi's first reflex was to answer that question affirmatively, without even thinking about it too much. However, although her mouth opened to speak her response, she backed away at the last moment and remained silent a little longer.

                Something seemed a little strange to her about all that. Would just drinking that water allow her to go up to see Kamisama when, a moment ago, Korin flatly refused to do so? Would it really make her that powerful? Why didn't he offer it to her from the beginning instead of telling her all that stuff about her going home?

                She didn't want to think badly or get too paranoid, but something was definitely making her distrustful.

                "Are there any side effects?" Chi-Chi asked suddenly. "From drinking the water, I mean."

                "Not at all," Korin responded normally. "No negative effects different from drinking normal water."

                "There's no trick, then?" Chi-Chi murmured, narrowing her eyes.

                "No trick," Korin replied in a smiling voice. "If you drink the water, I will give you a bell. You have my word."

                He then raised his right hand (or claw?) in a sign of oath.

                Chi-Chi did not perceive any malice or lies in his words. He seemed really sincere.

                The young woman's lips smacked with a happy smile but also one of gratitude. Maybe everything she had told him had moved Master Korin somehow, and he wanted to give her a chance. Deep down, he was indeed the wise hermit everyone had told her to be.

                "Thank you very much, master," Chi-Chi pronounced solemnly, bowing her body respectfully towards him. She stood up straight again and looked over her shoulder at the pot. "So, I can take it, right?"

                "Forward."

                Chi-Chi nodded and quickly turned towards the pedestal. She began to advance with a hasty and determined step towards it. She was excited by the idea of obtaining all the promised power, enough to train with Kamisama, perhaps even to face Piccolo directly. All the effort of climbing the tower would have been entirely worth it after all.

                And while she had her attention fully focused on the vessel, a few steps away from being more than ready to pick it up and drink from it, she suddenly felt something hit her feet mid-step. It was a quick and direct blow, from front to back, that dragged her feet and caused her entire body to rush straight forward and her face to collide head-on against the pillar on which the vessel was supported.

                "Ah!" Chi-Chi screamed in pain after that strong blow. Her body continued to fall until she was chest-first on the ground. Once on the floor, she turned on her back and grabbed her face, which had been reddened by the blow, with both hands.

                What had happened? What had she tripped over?

                Chi-Chi removed her hands carefully and tried to look around for some explanation. The first thing she saw was Korin, who, from one moment to the next, had positioned himself standing next to her just a few steps away. He licked one of his paws, wetting it, and then ran it all over his head; like a regular cat would do. However, as soon as Chi-Chi's eyes fell on that long cane he was carrying, it didn't take her long to guess that that was exactly what had caused her to fall.

                "Why did you do that?!" Chi-Chi snapped furiously, sitting down.

                "Why did I do what?" Korin responded indifferently.

                "What? You threw me to the ground!"

                "I don't know what you're talking about," the catman whispered laughingly. "But come on, don't waste your time," he added, pointing his cane towards the pot. "You don't want to keep Kamisama waiting, do you?"

                Chi-Chi looked at him with marked distrust. What had that been? Some kind of trick? An accident, perhaps? It was hard to say. Anyway, she decided to focus on what was important, so she stood up quickly, overcoming the pain on her face. She turned towards the vessel and extended her hands towards it. But before she could take it, she felt something hit her with tremendous force on her buttocks, like a strong whip.

                "Ah!" she shouted even louder than before. The pain that coursed through her body was so great that she fell suddenly to the floor again, this time in a sitting position, which did not help mitigate the stinging pain in her butt.

                She leaned on her knees and one of her elbows against the ground while, with her other hand, she rubbed the bruised area. Chi-Chi quickly turned to see Master Korin, still standing in the same place, quite calm. But she noticed his long tail waving behind him, and knew that it was precisely this that had hit her in such a forceful way.

                "Hey!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, now more than furious.

                "Why are you still on the floor?" Korin commented normally, ignoring her tone. "I thought you wanted to drink the Sacred Water."

                "I'm doing that!" Chi-Chi pronounced out loud.

                She didn't understand what that was all about but wasn't willing to fall for his provocations. The important thing was to drink the water at once. So she quickly rushed forward and extended her hands towards the pot to grab it. However, when she was just millimeters away from reaching it, the vessel simply disappeared, and her fingers ended up touching only empty air.

                "What?" She muttered, completely confused, even waving her hands at the exact point where the pot was until a few moments ago as if she still hoped to somehow find it there.

                "Are you looking for this?" She heard Korin's shrill voice say behind her.

                Chi-Chi turned quickly. A few meters away, she noticed the old master standing. But now, attached to the upper tip of his staff with one of its handles, was the blue and gold vessel.

                "What are you doing?!" Chi-Chi questioned with annoyance, but also a lot of confusion.

                "Nothing special, and you?" Korin answered her with sarcasm.

                "You told me I could drink the water!"

                "And you can do it. Come on, take it."

                At that moment, Korin extended his staff in front of her, with all and the pot, so that it was a few centimeters from Chi-Chi's face. She reacted immediately, extending her hands to take it. But, similar to a moment ago, the pot simply disappeared from her sight as the master quickly moved it to the side so fast that she wasn't even able to see it.

                The little patience Chi-Chi had left ended up running out. She began to quickly throw herself against the vessel, trying in every way to reach it, desperately slapping the air. But the same story was repeating itself. Korin managed to get it away from her, even beginning to move around the entire space of that terrace with quite impressive agility, especially for his short and stocky appearance.

                "You're very slow, young lady," Korin laughed as he jumped back, avoiding Chi-Chi's quick hands. "Are you sure you really want the water?"

                Chi-Chi stopped for a moment to try to catch her breath.

                "Are you playing with me?!" she rebuked him aggressively.

                "No play," Korin denied and handed her the water again. "Here."

                Chi-Chi let out an angry growl and extended her hands towards the pot again, even knowing that exactly the same thing would happen.

                After only a few minutes of failed attempts, Chi-Chi felt tired again. It became difficult for her to breathe, and she had to stop abruptly. She leaned on her knees and lowered her face. She breathed heavily while a few drops of sweat ran down her face.

                "What's happening? Did you get tired so quickly?" Korin asked her in a mocking tone.

                "What do you propose?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, raising her furious gaze towards him. "You told me there was no trick!"

                "And there's no trick," Korin stressed calmly. "I promised you that if you managed to drink the water, I would give you a bell. And I am a cat of my word. But to drink from this vessel, you must take it from me."

                As he said that, he shook his cane a little in the air, and Chi-Chi could clearly hear how the liquid inside it also shook to one side and the other.

                "What is this?" Chi-Chi asked suspiciously. "Some kind of test?"

                "You don't think I can allow anyone to drink the Sacred Water, do you?" Korin pointed out, accompanied by a couple of giggles, or at least sounds that seemed to sound similar to that. "Obviously, you must prove that you are worthy of it."

                "Well, then you forgot to mention that little point."

                "More like you didn't ask," Korin said ironically, laughing again in the same way as before.

                Chi-Chi's fists clenched tightly, and her jaw tensed. At that moment, more than taking the pot away, she wanted more to hit that crafty and deceitful cat.

                "But if you think it's too much for you, you can go home as I suggested at the beginning," Korin indicated apathetically.

                "No way," Chi-Chi answered without hesitation, standing up again and preparing to continue what she had started.

                She didn't know if this was a test or a simple, practical joke. But he had promised that if she drank the water and became stronger because of it, he would give her a bell and let her train with Kamisama. That was the only thing she cared about and the only thing she would focus on.

                Without further ado, Chi-Chi launched herself at Korin again, trying, by all means, to snatch that damned pot away from him.

Drawing commissioned to @arts_dragonb

Chapter Text

20

The hours passed one after another without Chi-Chi being utterly aware of this. She focused so much on trying to catch that pot, which Korin was moving around that space playing "cat and mouse" with it, that she didn't notice how late it was getting until the sun began to set. It was also at that moment that the fatigue in her body became more tangible and unsustainable, and her legs ended up giving out, and her entire body collapsed onto the floor.

                Chi-Chi stayed there for a long time, breathing heavily and with her heart thundering violently under her chest.

                "What's happening?" Korin's shrill voice asked, standing a few meters away from her. "Are you tired so soon?"

                "So soon?" Chi-Chi exclaimed irritably. She then turned to look at the sky, which was beginning to turn an orange tone with the imminent sunset. "It can't really be getting dark already."

                I was on this all day, she thought, as a small recrimination to herself.

The strange thing was that she hadn't been hungry all that time and still didn't feel it. Was it some effect of the seed he had given her earlier?

                In any case, Chi-Chi did not stop to overthink it because what overwhelmed her most was the frustration of not having achieved anything. She wasn't even a bit closer to obtaining the damned Sacred Water, or whatever it was.

                "Well, I think it was a good first day," Korin exclaimed optimistically, then headed towards the stairs leading to the lower level. "If you want, let's rest and continue tomorrow."

                "Tomorrow?" Chi-Chi snapped, exalted. And overcoming her fatigue, she stood up and followed him. "Wait a minute, how long do you plan to keep this up?"

                "As long as you want," Korin responded with astonishing normality. "I'm not in any hurry."

                "But I do!"

                Chi-Chi followed the old hermit to the lower level of the tower. He still carried his staff with him and the pot hanging from it. She was tempted to try to take it from him now that his back was turned and he was (apparently) distracted. However, after a whole day of chasing him, she felt that the same thing would happen anyway.

                "There's no need to put pressure on yourself," Korin commented. "After all, it took Goku three days to drink the water."

                "Three days?" Chi-Chi exclaimed, surprised, stopping at her place. "Did he have to do the same…?"

                She had begun to think that this was some kind of joke that he was playing only on her. But did Goku still have to do that same thing when he first came up? If that was the case, she would have liked Goku to tell her about it; perhaps then she would have been better prepared for what she found. But she supposed it was one of those things her late husband didn't usually think about if no one asked him directly.

                "That's right," Korin agreed, then turned to face her. "Although, of course, it took Roshi about… three years."

                That, for Chi-Chi, was like a bucket of cold water falling directly on her head, disappearing in a snap any trace of exhaustion that remained on her.

                "Three years?!" she exclaimed aloud, sounding almost like a roar. "Are you telling me that Master Roshi was here for three years until he was able to take that pot away from you?!"

                "More or less," Korin answered with absolute calm.

                "That… is a lie; it can't be true!"

                "I never lie," Korin declared firmly. "Not usually, at least."

                He accompanied his comment with another of those mocking laughs.

                Chi-Chi's legs gave out again, and she fell to the ground again. Her head spun, and she suddenly felt an intense tightness in her stomach.

                It would have been impossible for her to believe what he was saying if it hadn't been for her own experience that day, in which no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get any closer to that vessel. He was too fast, and it was as if he managed to completely predict her every move, while also managing to move so unpredictably that it caught her completely off guard. And to that, she had to add how difficult it was for her to breathe in that place, most likely due to the height.

                Goku took three days, and Master Roshi took three years... And both were warriors far above her. How long would it take her to achieve the same…?

                "No…" she whispered slowly, and she quickly stood up with greater conviction. "I can't waste all that time here! My son needs me right now! And those aliens will arrive in less than a year!"

                "You don't have to stay here if you don't want to," Korin pointed out simply. "You can go home as I proposed from the beginning."

                "Why don't you just give me the water, and that's it?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, annoyed. "You said drinking it would make me strong enough to train with the others. Why go through all this? It's stupid!"

                They were silent for a few seconds, looking at each other (or at least it seemed to Chi-Chi that he was actually looking at her). While Korin's feline expression was totally indecipherable, Chi-Chi's face reflected fierce conviction and hardness.

                After those moments of silence, Korin finally spoke again, with a calm, almost monotonous voice.

                "When your child tells you a lesson is too difficult or too long... Do you allow him to skip it? Or do you let him use some shortcut?"

                Chi-Chi started, somewhat taken aback by the sudden comment that, at first glance, had no relation to what they were talking about. However, it didn't take much thinking about it to understand what he was trying to tell her.

                "No, of course not," she answered quietly.

                "Why?"

                "Because trying hard until the last moment is also part of the lesson," she stated firmly, without raising it too much.

                Korin nodded, pleased with the answer.

                "Well, this is the same. There are no shortcuts to this. It has to be done the way it has to be done. If you don't want to do it that way, then don't do it."

                "But this is an extraordinary situation, life or death," Chi-Chi declared, although with a greater temper than before on this occasion. "Can't you see the difference?"

                "I already told you that your son's life is not in any danger."

                "And I already told you there is no way I would believe that!"

                "Well, well, you're obviously a little irritable. Let's rest and keep trying tomorrow, okay?"

                With that, he turned around, with the apparent intention of leaving just as he said. Chi-Chi, however, was not willing to leave things just like that. So, as soon as Korin turned his back on her, she rushed towards him without hesitation, extending her hands towards the pot. She thought she might take him by surprise, but it was obvious that wouldn't be the case the moment both the cat and the pot disappeared in a blink of an eye in front of her, and the woman ended up crashing face-first into the ground.

                "Ah!" she exclaimed in pain, turning so that she was on her back and taking her reddened face with both hands.

                "Good night," she heard Korin's voice say. And by the time she managed to turn around and look at him, the old teacher had simply disappeared.

                "What?" Chi-Chi exclaimed in embarrassment. She sat down quickly and inspected the entire place with her gaze but saw no sign of the hermit cat. "Master Korin? Where are you?! Hey!"

                She did not receive any response. She quickly stood up and walked up the stairs to the top, expecting to find him there, but it wasn't. Wherever he was hiding, it was clear that he didn't want her to find him. And the worst thing was that he had left with everything and the Sacred Water.

                "It can't be," she cursed angrily, stamping her foot on the ground. "Enough, I'm out of here."

                She walked furiously towards the railing surrounding that terrace, stared at the horizon, and took a deep breath to scream loudly.

                "Flying Ni…!" she began to say but stopped at the last moment.

                The words that Korin had spoken a while ago echoed in his head:

                When your child tells you a lesson is too difficult or too long... Do you allow him to skip it? Or do you let him use some shortcut?

                As that idea took shape, her furious face slowly softened, as did her shoulders and fists, as the anger ebbed.

                What would she do if she left now? Face Piccolo again? Exactly the same thing would happen as the first time, and very possibly now, he would kill her without Krillin or anyone else being able to intervene to save her. That was the only way to become strong enough to save her son. And, as Master Korin had rightly said, there were no shortcuts to achieve it. It was either do that or go home and wait for Goku to revive, dying of anguish over not knowing what would happen to her beloved son. At least by doing that, she could feel like she was doing something… barely.

                Chi-Chi sighed heavily and somewhat tiredly. She then leaned against the railing and fixed her gaze forward, contemplating what little was left of the sunset.

                Gohan, my little Gohan... please, take care of yourself. Resist, please. I promise your mom will save you as soon as she can.

                She then raised her gaze towards the sky, which at that moment was already beginning to look thick with stars. And among all those bright points that illuminated the sky, she thought for a moment that she visualized the peaceful face of her husband, observing her from above.

                Goku, can you see me from where you are? I want to think so. Are you trying hard to get back to us and save us from this threat? Please, don't take so long... I really need you, my love...

                Her family meant everything to her. Without them, the overwhelming loneliness that oppressed her was more suffocating than the lack of air in that place.

                Chi-Chi crossed her arms over the railing and rested her head on them, resting it on its side. Despite the uncomfortable position, and perhaps because of how exhausting that day had been, it didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Chapter Text

21

Chi-Chi's fifth day at Korin Tower started with the hermit cat abruptly waking her up mid-morning with a loud scream just inches from her ear. The young warrior screamed, shuddered, and stood up in alarm from her makeshift bedspreads. She stepped forward unintentionally, still in the grip of her sudden awakening, and her feet became entangled in her blanket. Her body fell to the ground, landing face-first on it.

                "You should be more alert," Korin commented in a laughing voice, while the young woman writhed on the ground, clutching her face, which was red and sore from the blow.

                "More alert?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed angrily, turning to him. "I was sleeping!"

                "In your moments of greatest weakness, your enemy will try to appease you. Did you not know that?"

                "If that's the case, then I should try to take the vessel away from you while you're sleeping," Chi-Chi threatened in a harsh voice, to which Korin mainly responded with another of her mocking giggles.

                "Get your clothes up and get on so we can get started. There's no time to waste, is there?"

                Before receiving an answer, Korin headed for the stairs leading to the top of the temple. Behind him, Chi-Chi reluctantly began folding up the blanket and futon the old master had given her to sleep on.

                Five days had passed in the blink of an eye, and each day her routine had been exactly the same: wake up, spend the whole day trying to snatch the vessel with the Sacred Water from Master Korin without obtaining any kind of result until then, and at the end of the day simply go to sleep. The only exception had been on the third day, where the master had allowed her to take a bath in his tub, and little else.

                She was so fed up with everything that she missed cooking or cleaning her house. But thanks to the effect of the seed she had eaten the first day, she hadn't even needed to eat until that moment. And that small space, with so few things, barely got dirty.

                Doing anything else would be better than this, she thought bitterly as she climbed the stairs. At the top, Korin was already waiting for her, the vessel held securely on the tip of his staff.

                "Are you ready to start?" he asked moderately.

                "Do I have another choice?" Chi-Chi replied with annoyance.

                "You've had the option to go home from the start," Korin said harshly, which only irritated the young mother even more. This didn't go unnoticed by the old hermit, although Chi-Chi had realized that it was nearly impossible to hide anything from him by this point. "You seem more irritated than usual today."

                "And you don't think I have any reason to be?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed loudly, her voice booming, even though there shouldn't be much echo in that open space. "I've been here wasting my time for five days, while Gohan has been in Piccolo's clutches all this time. I can't stop thinking about everything he must be going through and everything he must be suffering. And here I am, playing this stupid game with you!"

                Korin remained silent, apparently unfazed by the woman's screams.

                "Do you really think you've been wasting your time all these days?" the hermit asked her with astonishing calm.

                "Of course I do!"

                "Then I'm afraid you'll be even more unable to obtain the Sacred Water."

                Chi-Chi was startled, surprised by such an ecliptic statement.

                "What do you mean by that?"

                "Nothing," Korin said, shaking his head. As if the whole conversation hadn't happened, he extended his staff towards her, vessel and all, and said, "Shall we begin then?"

                Driven more by irritation than anything else, Chi-Chi launched herself at him like a wild beast, extending her hands towards the vessel, but letting it escape by just a few centimeters.

                Everything was a non-stop repetition of the previous days for the next hour. Chi-Chi tried to reach the pot, but Korin moved swiftly to get it away. Both moved in a dance without synchrony or rhythm, and Chi-Chi was the only one who ended badly in each movement.

                Suddenly, the young warrior stopped, and she dropped to her knees on the ground without saying anything. She leaned her torso forward and placed her hands on the ground. Her long black locks fell in front of her face, almost completely hiding it.

                "What's wrong?" Korin asked curiously. "Did you get tired so quickly?"

                "I can't do it…" Chi-Chi whispered softly, but in the next instant, she raised her angry gaze to the hermit cat. Tears of frustration were running down her cheeks. "I can't do it! It's just impossible!"

                "If you think something is impossible, then it is," Korin sighed slowly.

                "Don't come out with your smart words now," Chi-Chi replied dryly. "I don't need them."

                She backed away, letting herself fall onto the ground. Her annoyed gaze fixed on the domed roof that crowned the tower.

                Korin sighed and then allowed himself to take a few steps closer until he was right in front of Chi-Chi. She remained lying there without even looking at him. The master looked at her fixedly, and with a much calmer and clearer tone than he had used until that moment, he said:

                "You will never succeed if, instead of focusing on what is in front of you, you have your mind and heart elsewhere."

                "What?" Chi-Chi exclaimed, confused. She raised her body a little, just enough to look at him again. "What are you talking about?"

                "You have what it takes to get this water," Korin said. "I felt it from the first time I saw you. But you're not focused on achieving it."

                "Of course I am!" Chi-Chi snapped, almost offended. She quickly stood up at that moment. "I've been focused on that from the beginning!"

                "That's not true," Korin answered sharply, taking her by surprise. "From the beginning, you've focused only on your son and husband. You've been thinking only about Goku's death and that you must rescue your son. And with each passing day, instead of letting go of those thoughts, you're allowing them to take over you more and more."

                "But… of course I am! How could I not be thinking about that?! It's the reason I'm here in the first place, and my only motivation."

                "Motivations are not bad, except when they distract from your true goal."

                "Distraction …?"

                Korin walked forward, passing by her and then past her, until he turned his back. His attention was fixed on the sky, which was cloudy that day and warm air blew, touching their faces.

                "You have focused all your attention and all your spirit on what you must do in the future," Korin said in a thoughtful voice, "or on what you want to achieve by obtaining the power you desire instead of focusing on what is important at this moment: taking this vessel from me." He then waved her staff, causing the vessel to rock, and the sound of the liquid inside to become noticeable. "Nothing else matters right now. In order to match my speed and predict my movements, you have to put all those worries aside. Clear your mind, and leave your heart without any feelings that cloud it. Only when you achieve this, will you be able to obtain the Sacred Water and move forward."

                Chi-Chi's brow furrowed, undecided on how to take the old hermit's words.

                "Do you mean that in order to take the vessel from you… Do I need to forget about Gohan and Goku? Is that what you're asking me?" she questioned, almost aggressively. "How can you ask me something like that?"

                "Of course, you don't have to forget about them completely," Korin said, more relaxed. He then turned back to her, facing her. "You just have to manage to put aside those feelings that weigh you down enough so that they don't hinder you. Focus only on this, and nothing else."

                He extended his staff towards her again, raising the vessel high in front of her face, even rocking it back and forth, as if he were trying to tempt her with it. And perhaps that was part of it: he was inviting her to resume her attempts, but now applying what he had just told her.

                Chi-Chi quickly understood, and although somewhat skeptical at first, she tried to listen to him. She did exactly the same thing she had done days ago to try to perceive the presence of Piccolo or Gohan. She closed her eyes briefly and breathed slowly, inhaling through her nose and exhaling through her mouth. She tried to relax her body as much as possible and clear her mind and heart of any worries and distractions. Obtaining the vessel with the Sacred Water was her only goal at that moment. Nothing else mattered, and nothing else should she think about.

                For a moment, she thought she would succeed. She felt relaxed and calm. Her senses, like hearing, smell, and touch, vividly perceived the movement of the air around her, the presence of Master Korin just in front of her a few steps away, and the sound of the water moving inside the container. She could perceive everything, even the presence not so far from that tower, both above and below it. Could it be the boys training in Kamisama's Temple? Could it be Lunch, Upa, and Bora…?

                She shook his head, trying to disperse those thoughts. She couldn't be distracted by that either. Only the pot and the water mattered, nothing else…

                However, as soon as she tried to clear her mind like a moment ago, it was suddenly bombarded by a series of images, one after the other: Raditz defeating Goku on Master Roshi's island and taking Gohan with him; Goku in his last moments, taking his last breath before her eyes in a pool of his own blood; Piccolo threatening to take Gohan with him, and she being unable to stop him; and that sphere of energy coming from the demon's palm, heading towards her threatening to finish her off in a simple blink.

                She felt a great oppression in her chest at that moment, so strong that it made her kneel on the floor. She clutched her hands to her chest as if it hurt, although, in reality, it was not exactly a physical pain.

                "I can't… I can't do it," she muttered desperately, shaking her head. Tears began to flow down her cheeks again. "I can't just let go of what I feel like that! That's just impossible!"

                Korin let out a heavy sigh of disappointment, and perhaps even a little tiredness.

                "There's no help for it," he said wearily, then began walking calmly towards the stairs. "This way, it will be totally impossible for you to achieve it whether you stay here for three, five, or ten years. You'd better go back home as I told you."

                Chi-Chi's entire body tensed upon hearing such an instruction, perhaps more like a warning. Her fists clenched against her chest, beginning to tremble from all the force she was applying to them. At that moment, she glared at Korin, who was slowly moving away from her. The desperation and frustration that flooded her were suddenly accompanied, and even overshadowed, by a much more powerful emotion: anger.

                "I won't accept this!" she snapped, her scream causing Korin to stop and turn back to her. "All you've done since I've been here is make fun of me! I'm fed up!"

                Chi-Chi leaped to her feet and launched herself at Korin. At first, it looked much like all her previous attempts to snatch the vase from him. However, when she was close enough, instead of reaching her hands towards the object, the woman turned her body completely, launching a deadly roundhouse kick straight at the hermit cat's body.

                This surprised Korin, making it difficult for him to react for a few moments, but he eventually managed to dodge the kick thanks to his sharp reflexes and speed. Chi-Chi's foot cut through the air just a few inches from his face, making it abundantly clear that she had actually intended to hit him.

                But that was not just a kick, as it immediately followed up with another kick from her other leg and then a series of quick, powerful blows, which the hermit quickly dodged. All of these attacks were erratic, clearly influenced only by rage.

                "Hey, you need to calm down," Korin murmured worriedly as they moved quickly around the tower, attacking and dodging respectively. "You're not thinking clearly. Your mind has become more clouded than ever."

                "I don't care what you say!" Chi-Chi shouted loudly, her legs and fists continuing to punch the air just a few centimeters away from old Korin's small white-furred body. "I don't want to hear any more of your nonsense! I just want to be strong enough to save my son and avenge my husband. Nothing else matters to me! So I want that damn water, and I want it now!"

                They continued at this for several minutes, and Chi-Chi showed no sign of wanting to ease up her attacks even a little. She only managed to stop for a few moments when, after Korin dodged one of her blows, the woman's body fell forward, and crashed headlong into one of the columns surrounding the space. The blow was so strong that it pushed her backward, making her fall on her back.

                It was only for an instant. As soon as she managed to recover from the pain, she turned back to Korin with her angry gaze and a blow in her forehead that she didn't seem to be aware of, even though she had started bleeding from it.

                "Give me that water, you stupid cat!" she exclaimed angrily, standing up again, ready to continue her attacks.

                "You can't let those feelings of frustration get the better of you," Korin told her, extending a reassuring hand toward her. "You have to calm down! Listen to me!"

                "If you won't give it to me nicely... I will have to take it from you the hard way!"

                And he then resumed her attacks without any hesitation.

                She wouldn't listen to any reason, and her movements became even more erratic and desperate. She was totally out of control…

                I was afraid this could happen, Korin thought, dismayed. Frustration, anger, desire for revenge… All of this is roiling his heart. At this rate…

                The inevitable finally happened. By attacking and moving in such a careless and furious manner, Chi-Chi was unaware of the danger or her limits, nor did she give Korin enough room to maneuver and ensure nothing bad happened to her. Once again, she almost had Korin cornered against the railing surrounding the terrace, and without thinking twice, she launched herself at him with a forceful flying kick. Korin had no choice but to react and quickly move to the side, dodging Chi-Chi's attack. However, simultaneously, the woman's entire body continued to move forward, propelled by the same force of her attack.

                When Chi-Chi managed to react and become aware of what was happening, her body had passed entirely over the railing and was now suspended in the air outside the tower's confines.

                Chi-Chi looked down in disbelief, facing the sea of clouds completely covering her view of the ground. An instant later, once she lost her momentum, her body began to descend precipitously.

                "No!" she heard Korin say behind her in fear. Chi-Chi turned towards him out of sheer reflex, but she barely managed to make out the hermit cat's face briefly before she began to leave the top of the tower far behind as her body began to fall and pass through the clouds.

                "No, no, no!" she said forcefully repeatedly, gripped by the panic that had taken hold of her, temporarily driving away her anger.

                Chi-Chi turned back down. She felt the air rushing over her face and body as she free-falls towards the ground. The ground was not yet clearly visible due to the clouds and the distance, but it would be soon. Her hair and the fabric of her clothes whipped around violently, producing an almost deafening sound.

                She had to calm down and think quickly. She reminded herself that the tower was very, very high; it had taken her more than a day to climb it, after all. So she had to not succumb to fear and take the most logical course of action for that moment, if not perhaps the only one she had.

                "Flying Nimbus!" she shouted with all her might once she recovered enough.

                The magic cloud soon appeared in the sky, speeding towards her, until it was just a few meters below. As it headed toward her, Chi-Chi began feeling more secure and relieved. She imagined herself falling peacefully onto its soft, comforting surface and completely safe again.

                That thought vanished a few seconds later, the instant her body touched that of the Flying Nimbus and passed through it entirely… like an actual cloud.

                "What?!" she blurted out in disbelief. She turned up, focusing on the golden cloud suspended in the air, rapidly moving away from it.

                Or rather, Chi-Chi was moving away from the cloud as she continued to fall toward the ground without any opposition.

                No… it can't be…

Chapter Text

22  

"You mean, I can actually ride on this thing without falling?" Chi-Chi asked, curious.

                "Well, sure," her beloved Goku answered. "But you do have to have a pure heart."

                "Then there should be no problem!" the pretty young lady added excitedly. "My heart is as pure and clean as the water from the springs we use for drinking."

                And her statement was true. She was able to ride the Flying Nimbus on that occasion without any problem, and she did the same on all subsequent occasions, thanks to having been able to maintain the purity of her heart.

                Until that moment, she was now falling at full speed and without any brakes from Korin Tower, heading straight for the ground. Her body had passed through the Flying Nimbus as if it were just gas and vapor. And that could only mean one thing…

                It can't be! It can't be! Chi-Chi repeated this several times in her head, unable to believe it was actually happening.

                She twisted her body in the air as best she could to look down. The ground was still nowhere to be seen, but she was hurtling down too fast. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before she crashed and would inevitably end up as a paste of flesh, blood, and bones smeared at the foot of the tower. And the only thing that could save her had abandoned her.

                Tears welled up in her eyes and flew through the air as she fell.

She was going to die, she was really going to die, and in a horrible way, and without having accomplished anything. She hadn't saved her son, been unable to avenge her husband, or even get that water… And now, with the horrible things she had just done, she might not even deserve to go to heaven after her death. It had all been for nothing…

                "No!" she shouted with all her might, like a mighty roar. "Not yet! Not yet!"

                Chi-Chi couldn't let herself be overcome by despair. If she had little time, she had to use it to think of something, to do something. With the wind hitting her face, she turned towards the tower, moving to its side, and uselessly extended her hands in its direction, desperately trying to grab onto it. However, it was too far away.

                In her desperation, she waved her hands and feet as if she wanted to swim through the air to get closer, but her body didn't move one bit except downwards. She was so close; if only she could stretch her fingers a few more inches, fly like the others, or propel herself forward just a little bit…

                And then something suddenly crossed her mind. An idea, and a memory.

                The reality was that while studying his lessons with Gohan, she was rarely able to fully understand several of those texts that were so advanced for her. But something stuck in her mind: a lesson on physics that said: "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction." That was called the "Law of action and reaction." The book explains it with several examples. Among them is that of a man pushing hard, another of similar weight and size in such a way that not only the man being pushed moves backward, but also the one pushing feels his body move in the opposite direction due to the impulse of the same push. Or, when in a pool, you push yourself with your feet against the wall to give yourself momentum. Or how an aircraft was propelled forward by the action of the turbine, which released its energy pushing in the opposite direction…

                "Ah, like when you attack with ki, right?" Goku suddenly said from the other side of the dining table halfway through his dinner. Chi-Chi and Gohan, who were reviewing the lesson side by side at the table while the latter finished eating, simultaneously raised their gazes from the book to him.

                "What?" Chi-Chi asked, a little flustered. She wasn't sure if that comment had been directed at them since Goku didn't usually pay much attention to Gohan's lessons.

                The warrior quickly finished his plate, placed it on the table, and wiped his lips with his napkin to wipe away the traces of rice and sauce.

                "It's like when I throw a Kame Hame Ha," he added excitedly as he stood up. He then walked to a clearer area of the room. At the same time, Chi-Chi and Gohan followed him with their eyes. "Launching an attack like the Kame Hame Ha, it's the same as throwing a punch: the energy is launched forward," he explained with unusual seriousness while adopting the distinctive pose of his technique, separating his legs, joining his hands at his sides, and then extending them together towards the front. Although, of course, for the purposes of the demonstration, he had only made the movements and not invoked his energy. "However, I always feel like a similar force is pushing me back. That's why, in addition to executing the technique with precision, you must also make an effort to keep your body firm in its position. Otherwise, it ends up being launched backward, and that's not always what you want. However, sometimes, it's useful if you want to propel yourself using that same force. But I didn't know it was something scientific," he added with a laughing tone, placing a hand behind his head.

                "Yes, Goku," Chi-chi muttered with slight annoyance. "It's all… scientific. But please don't confuse Gohan with…"

                "I get it!" the little boy suddenly exclaimed out loud, smiling widely. "It makes perfect sense. For one force to push in one direction, another pushes in the opposite direction."

                "Something like that," Goku pointed out, although hesitantly. "Or so I think… What do you think, Chi-Chi?"

                The woman looked at them both with a confused expression. After a while, she sighed and smiled in agreement. If Goku's example helped Gohan understand, who was she to complain?

                "Yes, that's right," she nodded. "It's like throwing a Kame Hame Ha…"

                And that was precisely what she needed: a force that could push her where she wanted to go. She just had to use her ki and shoot some energy to the side, and the momentum would bring her closer to the tower.

                There was just one problem: she had never done such a thing. It was one of the lessons Goku had tried to teach her at the time, and the best she could do was generate a small light of energy, barely the size of a firefly, before giving up and deciding it was a waste of time.

                But now everything was different. She had managed to sense the presence of people by concentrating hard enough; perhaps now she could do a little more. If she didn't, the only thing that awaited her was certain death.

                Chi-Chi turned quickly in the air, staying upside down as best she could, with her back to the tower. She stretched out both hands in front of her and concentrated more than she had ever concentrated in her life, but nothing happened; not even the little golden firefly from that time was present.

                "Just a little… I need… just a little push. Just a little, please!"

                She wanted to focus on gathering her energy in her fingers, just like Goku had taught her, but this was not easy. The sound of the wind, the fluttering of her clothes and hair, the terror that filled her at the thought that every second she delayed was bringing her closer and closer to the ground…

                I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die...

                Her head pierced her relentlessly, and the tears ran down her eyes until they rose and disappeared into the air. She couldn't do it, she couldn't even give her mind clarity, much less do something she had never done before.

                She squeezed her eyes shut in frustration. There was nothing left to do. Her insolence, her weakness, and her impatience had brought her to this point. Now she would have to pay…

                "You will never succeed if, instead of focusing on what is in front of you, you have your mind and heart elsewhere," Master Korin's voice resonated in her head at that moment, forcing her to open her eyes. Those were the words that he had just told her a while ago, before her outburst of anger, and that she did not want to hear. "You have focused all your attention and all your spirit on what you must do in the future or what you want to achieve by obtaining the power you desire instead of focusing on what is important at this moment: taking this vessel from me. Nothing else matters right now. In order to match my speed and predict my movements, you have to put all those worries aside. Clear your mind, and leave your heart without any feelings that cloud it. Only when you achieve this will you be able to obtain the Sacred Water and move forward."

                Focus on what was important at that moment and nothing else. Her slip earlier, the impending fall, the state of her son and husband. None of that mattered at that moment; only summoning her ki to save herself. Everything else had to be let go…

                Chi-Chi took a deep breath, inhaling through her nose, exhaling through her mouth, and closed her eyes again. But this time, not in despair or frustration, but to try to enter a state of absolute calm. To make her mind clear, to let her thoughts and worries fly away like butterflies. And to get rid of everything that was clouding her heart.

                The sound of the air around her was no longer deafening but had even become a slight murmur. And her body felt so light, as if she were floating. It was a state of mind she didn't think she had ever been in before, much less in a situation like this.

                When she felt ready, she focused her energy on her fingers again. This time, without even opening her eyes, she could feel an electric tingle coming from the tips of her fingers, and a warm, pleasant sensation forming in the palm of her hands, like the same feeling of having the small body of her baby Gohan against her.

                She slowly opened her eyes and marveled at the whitish sphere that had formed between her palms, the size of a small ball, dancing and illuminating her like a flame. It was energy, her energy.

                She could have remained lost in her thoughts but couldn't afford to. Her reality quickly became tangible again, and she forced herself to react.

                Please let this work…

                She stretched her hands forward, then released that energy, letting it go. The sphere shot forward with force, and just as she expected, her body was propelled backward with the same acceleration. Her back hit the tower hard, causing her great pain that she let out in the form of a scream. However, she did not let it dominate her. She turned quickly, extended a hand, and her fingers firmly grasped the first ledge of the tower that she could grab onto.

                Her arm extended, and she felt a long pull on her shoulder as she had to abruptly slow the acceleration of her entire body, so much so that she thought for a moment that it would dislocate.

                She let out another cry of pain, even louder than the last. Her fingers trembled and threatened to give way, but she forced them to hold on. As soon as she could get her body to react, she groped with her feet for another surface to support herself, and once she did, she was able to raise her other hand to steady herself. And only then did her mind become clear enough to understand that she had stopped falling.

                "I did it…" she whispered softly, completely stunned. Little by little, a broad smile of happiness took hold of her lips. "I did it!" she shouted with all her might to the sky, like the most spectacular cry of victory.

                A laugh of relief and tears of joy soon followed. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and her body was shaking. But she was alive…

                And as the emotions calmed down, her breath returned, and she felt her body again, her smile faded as well. As the initial shock disappeared, the revelation and clarity of what she had just done bombarded her.

                "I did it…" she repeated quietly, no longer joy or excitement in her words, but rather a marked skepticism.

                Had she really done such a thing? How was that possible? How was she not dead at that moment…?

                Chi-Chi looked down discreetly. The land and mountains were now clearly visible, although she was still relatively high. She looked up and was not surprised to see that she had fallen so far that the top of the tower was no longer visible.

                Undoubtedly, she was much closer to the ground at that moment than to the peak. And now she didn't have the Flying Nimbus to help her. In that scenario, and after her more than apparent failure, the most sensible thing would be to go back down to solid ground and go home as Master Korin had told her. And a few days ago, she would most likely have done that without overthinking it.

                But instead, Chi-Chi looked resolutely toward the top, stood firm on the ledges, tensed her hands, and began to climb. Step by step, inch by inch, she rose back up into the sky with her own hands and feet.

Chapter Text

23

Chi-Chi reached the top of the tower a few hours later when the sun was already beginning to set on the horizon. She felt exhausted, of course… but much less so than the first time she had done it. And she knew immediately that she couldn't blame it solely on not having started from the bottom.

                She quickened her pace as soon as her eyes fell on her goal, forcing her arms to overcome the pain and fatigue so that she could reach the top more quickly.

                Once she had reached the lower part of the summit again and could touch solid ground once more, only then did she let exhaustion overcome her, and she threw herself down on her back. She was breathing heavily and felt her arms and legs ache. But again, it was much less than her first experience a few days ago.

                She lay there for a while until she felt ready to stand up again and headed for the stairs leading to the top. Dusk had just begun, and the sky was tinted orange. The clouds had cleared, and a warm breeze was blowing, caressing the aching muscles in her arms. She found Master Korin standing right in the center of the wide terrace, his back to her, although he turned in her direction as soon as Chi-Chi set foot on that level. He still carried his wooden staff with him and the blue and gold vase hanging from it.

                "I see you're back," Korin said, his tone almost indifferent. "Take it."

                The hermit cat quickly threw something at her, and Chi-Chi reacted by catching it out of the air with one hand. She knew what it was before she opened her palm and looked at it: a tiny Senzu bean.

                "Thank you," Chi-Chi murmured, giving him a slight nod of her head as a sign of respect and gratitude. She quickly ate the seed, and instantly, the pain and fatigue disappeared from her body by magic.

                "How are you feeling?" Korin asked, still feeling a bit cold in his words.

                "Better… But…"

                Chi-Chi was silent for a moment, then lowered her head in shame.

                "I could have died," she blurted out suddenly, with deep regret in her voice. "The Flying Nimbus… rejected me…"

                "But you managed to survive."

                That didn't sound like a question, but Chi-Chi thought so; a reasonable question about how exactly she had managed to get out of such a terrible situation unscathed, which even surprised her.

                "I used my ki. I managed to expel ki from my hands like Goku does. But I had never done it before; I didn't know if it would work."

                "And you managed to climb the tower again, too," Master Korin said thoughtfully. "How did it go this time?"

                "Much easier. I felt lighter doing it, faster…"

                Korin nodded, pleased with the answer.

                "And why do you think you were able to do all that?"

                Chi-Chi didn't answer right away. She looked down again, but this time, she was looking at her hands, which she was slowly opening and closing, almost as if she was getting used to the movement of her own fingers. There was something different, and she could feel it vividly. She was different now…

                "Because… I've become a little stronger," she said after a while and raised her gaze again to Korin, who nodded immediately, and Chi-Chi thought she could even see his smile. "All this time, you haven't been making fun of me or wasting my time. You've been training me…"

                Korin didn't respond to that comment, but Chi-Chi didn't need to. She knew full well that it was true.

                "But then, the Sacred Water…?"

                "The Sacred Water is just normal water, like the kind you've always drank," Korin quickly clarified, causing Chi-Chi to jump in surprise. "This was never about drinking the water itself, but about you achieving the speed, strength, and most importantly, the mental clarity necessary to be able to take the vessel from me."

                "Why didn't you tell me that from the beginning?" Chi-Chi exclaimed reproachfully.

                "I told you, did you forget? I clearly told you that if you managed to drink this water," he indicated, shaking his stick lightly, making the vessel rock, "you would have become much stronger than you are now."

                "But to drink it, I would have to be able to take it away. Which would mean…"

                Chi-Chi frowned slightly, her discontent clearly visible in her expression.

                "That's very misleading, don't you think?"

                Korin let out one of his usual strange mocking laughs, which had quickly driven Chi-Chi to despair, but it was the least of her worries at that moment.

                "And yet you managed to realize it yourself," Korin pointed out, still somewhat cheerful as he did so. "Would it surprise you to know that neither Goku nor Roshi realized this until after they drank the water?"

                Chi-Chi started in surprise, which helped her put aside some of her anger.

                "The truth is that it doesn't surprise me that much coming from Goku. But are you telling me that Master Roshi spent three years trying to take the vessel from you without realizing your true intentions?"

                Korin laughed again as before, although he quickly adopted a more serious attitude again.

                "To be fair, it's quite possible that he had already guessed it before, of course. What I can tell you is that everyone who has managed to get here in search of the power of the Sacred Water has done so for different purposes. To be the strongest, defeat an invincible enemy, save a loved one… And as I told you, motivations are not bad; they give us the strength to move forward. But it is very easy for them to blind us and not allow us to see what is right in front of us. Only when you manage to get rid of everything that distracts you, is when you manage to find enough clarity and balance to do what is needed. But you already experienced that yourself, didn't you?"

                "Yeah," Chi-Chi whispered out of pure reflex. "When I was falling, I only managed to calm down and do what I had to do when I let go of everything else."

                "It was quite an eye-opener, wasn't it?" Korin commented, nodding slowly. "I figured such an experience might do you good. That's why I ordered the Flying Nimbus to drop you."

                Chi-Chi was so lost in her thoughts, and the discovery of everything that had happened meant that it took her mind longer than expected to process those last words fully. But after a few seconds, astonishment and confusion took over her face.

                "What did you say?!" the woman exclaimed loudly, incredulous.

                "That's right," Korin nodded, seemingly unfazed by the reaction his words had provoked in his guest. "You surely know that I gave that cloud to Goku, don't you? I have the ability to command it to change states if I require it. That's how you passed through it."

                "Have you lost your mind?!" Chi-Chi snapped, advancing towards him with a clearly furious attitude. "You could have killed me!"

                "True," Korin replied matter-of-factly. "But as I said, I thought an experience like that might be useful to you in understanding what we're doing here."

                Chi-Chi stopped less than a meter away from Korin, looking down at him in annoyance, her fists clenched tightly at her sides, and her lips pursed in a grimace that almost looked like pain. However, even though she might seem upset from all accounts, the old master could clearly sense that it was actually about something else; anger was almost always just a mask for something else. And this was most noticeably externalized when the woman lowered her gaze again, and small traces of tears threatened to escape from her eyes.

                "How could you?" she reproached him, her voice radiating more pain than anger. "I thought for a moment… I thought that…"

                She wasn't able to finish her sentence, but Korin knew immediately what she was trying to say and what was causing her so much pain. It hadn't been the deception or even the possibility of dying. What hurt her at that moment was something else...

                "You thought your heart had lost its purity, didn't you?" the hermit cat said solemnly. Chi-Chi remained silent, looking at the ground with her dark hair covering her face. "It isn't, but I'm afraid it was pretty close. Your pure heart is your greatest strength right now, my child, even if it doesn't seem that way. If you let the feelings of hate and anger, and especially the desire for revenge, continue to dominate you as before, you will lose yourself in them. And that would be a pitiful loss. So let go of all those emotions that corrupt you. Let go of suffering; let go of hate; let go of guilt…"

                "Guilt?" Chi-Chi exclaimed in dismay, quickly raising her face again. Her eyes and cheeks were wet.

                "You can't hide it, not from me. More than all the other emotions, the one that dominates you the most right now is guilt. Isn't that true?"

                Chi-Chi didn't respond, which was enough of an answer.

                "Why?" Korin asked shrewdly, prompting her to speak. It seemed as if Chi-Chi wouldn't give any answer for a moment, as she just stood there unsteadily, her body trembling slightly.

                "Because… because…" she stammered in a small voice, hugging herself as she tried to calm a cold that didn't exist. "Because I'm weak," she finally said, feeling as if those words were scraping her throat as they came out. "Because I'm stupid… Because I'm a coward… Because I couldn't protect my family… I hate Piccolo for taking my son. I hate Goku for leaving me alone with all this. I hate these Saiyans for destroying my family. I hate Krillin and the others for leaving me behind. But…”

                Her voice broke off, and a series of sharp sobs took the place of her words. Her body shook even more, her arms clung tighter to her body, and heavy, dense tears began to flow from her without restraint.

                "I hate myself even more for not being able to do anything about it!" she exclaimed loudly into the air.

                As if all the strength in her body were escaping with her, she collapsed to her knees on the ground. She then leaned her body forward until her forehead almost touched the ground. And there she stayed for a long time, just crying and moaning, allowing herself to feel all that stabbing pain that pierced her chest.

                It was painful but liberating to be able to say it out loud. She had felt so lost and alone on that whole trip, carrying on her shoulders a heavy rock that she actually felt unable to hold. It was much easier to blame Goku, Piccolo, Krillin, and even Master Korin for all her ills than to accept her inability to protect her son and husband and the life she had built with them and loved so much.

                She felt so frustrated, so helpless, so useless… Letting herself fall and crashing to the ground would have been the easiest thing to do, and perhaps even the best thing for everyone. But she still hadn't done it; she had clung to life until the very last moment.

                As time passed, Chi-Chi seemed to calm down. Her crying lessened, as did the trembling in her body. All this time, Korin remained standing in his place, silent, just waiting. When it seemed that his guest was feeling better, he dared to approach her cautiously and placed one of his claws on her back in a comforting manner.

                "The moment you can let go of all that, you will become the great warrior you can be," he told her in a firm but comforting voice. "But now, tell me. What is it that you want to do?"

                Chi-Chi slowly stood up and rubbed her face with her hands, wiping away any traces of tears. Her eyes and cheeks were red. Korin had taken his distance from her again and extended the staff with the vessel in her direction.

                "You know that the content of this vessel is only water," the hermit said. "With that in mind, what will you do now?"

                Chi-Chi stared at the vessel in silence for a while. She finished wiping her face, then stood up, adopting the firmest posture possible given the situation.

                "You told me you would let me go up to see Kamisama if I took the vase from you. That was true?" she asked in a harsh voice.

                "I gave you my word, and I intend to keep it," Korin replied, nodding.

The young warrior nodded as well; that was all she needed to hear.

                "Then let's continue."

                Without further ado, Chi-Chi quickly adopted a combat stance. Korin smiled with satisfaction and got into position as well. The sun was already setting on the horizon, when Chi-Chi launched herself towards the old master again, extending her hands towards the longed-for vessel of water.

Author's Notes:

I'm just stopping by to comment that, regarding Korin's ability to order the Flying Nimbus to release someone, I based it on what he does in an episode of Dragon Ball with the Dark Nimbus carrying Tao Pai Pai. I understand that this only happens in the anime, but well… Let's suppose that a similar principle could be applied to the Golden Flying Nimbus we know if it were necessary to do so.

Chapter Text

24

Chi-Chi drank the Sacred Water a little over three weeks after that day. During that time, her routine was more or less the same: wake up early, spend a couple of hours warming up and physical training on her own, and then do some cleaning. The latter wasn't necessary, but after living there for a while, she felt the need to at least do that. The rest of the day, she focused on chasing Master Korin around the tower, trying each day to use a little of the things she had been learning, and feeling a little closer each time (although not as much as she would like).

                Every three or four days, partly for training and partly to change up her routine, Chi-Chi chose to climb down the tower on her own, at least to a certain point, and then climb back up with her hands and feet. And each time she did it, she was surprised at how easy it was, at least compared to the time before. She had gotten the hang of it quicker than she had expected.

                The last time she came down the tower, a couple of days before the big moment, she made it all the way to the ground. Upa and Bora excitedly greeted her, wanting her to tell them everything that had happened. Neither of them said it, but Chi-Chi assumed that they thought she had returned because she couldn't handle Kamisama's training; she would probably have thought the same thing in their place. But she was quick to tell them the truth while having dinner with them that night, about how Master Korin hadn't allowed her to go up to the Kamisama's Temple until she was able to drink the Sacred Water.

                She hadn't shared with them, however, the details of what exactly it meant to drink that water, because although at first Master Korin's deception had bothered her, over time, she understood that it was his way of encouraging those who managed to reach the top to improve, without realizing it. And if Upa ever dared to do it himself, as he said, who was she to reveal the secret to him? It was better for him to discover it on his own, just as she had done.

                Chi-Chi didn't see Launch anywhere, so she assumed she had followed Tenshinhan's advice and gone with Master Roshi to gather the Dragon Balls. She seriously hoped that they would succeed.

                She spent the night on land on that occasion, and the next morning, she climbed the tower again with her energy fully recovered in considerably less time than the first time. As she climbed, she told herself that it would be the last time: she would get that water soon, no matter what. And that resolution bore fruit days later.

                It all started out relatively normal, like any of the previous days. After finishing her exercises and cleaning up the downstairs a bit, Chi-Chi put on her training suit (already somewhat worn out by this point) and climbed up to the top, where the hermit cat was waiting patiently. The vase hung as always from its wooden stick, waiting for her.

                "Are you ready?" Master Korin asked, impassive.

                Chi-Chi nodded, and quickly got into position.

                "I am…"

                Chi-Chi launched herself at him without hesitation, and as always, Korin managed to dodge her with apparent ease. But just like the previous days, Chi-Chi didn't let that discourage her and kept trying again and again for much of the day, without stopping for more than a few minutes to catch her breath a little and then continue.

                Korin moved nimbly through the space, and Chi-Chi ran behind him, trying to match his speed as much as possible. A game of cat and mouse that both had already repeated too many times that, by this point, should already be perceived as repetitive…

                But today was different. By this point, the warrior's movements were much more precise, and she no longer had to strain herself to match Master Korin's speed. They both knew that it was a world of difference from the first day.

                After so many attempts, and so much time focused on that task, Chi-Chi was beginning to manage to concentrate her thoughts and spirit better and better. And, as Korin had told her, she also managed to put aside any other worries or problems, such as Gohan, Piccolo, Goku, and any other concern that did not help her achieve what she needed. It had been difficult, perhaps the most difficult thing in her life. However, Korin had been right from the beginning: it was only when she understood that the only thing she needed was to reach that vessel, and nothing else, that she managed to be in the right position to achieve her goal.

                "Very well," Korin suddenly commented, the moment they both separated, and Chi-Chi took a moment to lean on her knees and catch her breath. "You've finally managed to clear your mind. You're able to predict my movements more accurately now, aren't you?"

                "I think so," Chi-Chi replied between gasps. "But I still can't catch you. Something's missing, isn't it? I need to be faster, or precise…"

                "None of that," Korin cut her off calmly. "You already have the speed, reflexes, and mental clarity needed. All you need at this point is to find a good opportunity."

                "Opportunity?" Chi-Chi whispered in confusion, looking up at him.

                "Most people won't accept it so easily, but the truth is that physical skills and strategy are crucial, but they are not everything. Many times, the difference between winning and losing a fight does not lie in strength or speed but in knowing how to identify the best opportunity and take advantage of it. Without going any further, just in this last round, you had at least five perfect opportunities in which you had everything in your hands to take the vase from me, but you did not know how to take advantage of them."

                "Five?" Chi-Chi muttered in disbelief. "Are you serious, or are you just playing with me?"

                "When in all this time have I ever played with you, girl?"

                Chi-Chi didn't answer him. The line between playing and not playing was undoubtedly a bit blurred when it came from him.

                "Now, try it one more time," Korin said with some severity. "And this time, as soon as you see an opportunity, don't let it pass by for anything in the world. Go for it with everything you've got."

                Chi-Chi nodded and got into position again. She took a deep breath, relaxed her body and mind, and returned to the state she had already accustomed to. It was like diving into a lake of completely black water, surrounded by an almost total emptiness where only she, Master Korin, and that vessel existed…

                "Here I go then," exclaimed the hermit, but Chi-Chi heard him from a distance, as all his senses were focused on his objective.

                Korin then began to move rapidly back and forth around Chi-Chi, so fast that it almost seemed as if he simply disappeared in one spot and appeared in another. But that was not the case, and Chi-Chi had learned to notice it. At that moment, she could perceive her movements, not only with her eyes, but in the movement of the air brushing her skin, in his scent moving from one position to another, in the sound of her paws against the cobblestones, and even in the movement of his ki that she had begun to notice as lines of light drawing themselves in the air.

                Having her senses so alert to her surroundings gave her a strange sensation, similar to seeing the light after spending days with her eyes covered. It was as if everything around her was brighter and clearer for the first time.

                Was this how Goku saw the world all the time?

                Once she had a clear idea of the master's movements, Chi-Chi launched herself towards him, trying to predict where he would appear next and getting it right with acceptable accuracy, but not enough, at least not the first attempts. After some trial and error, Chi-Chi launched to the side, extending her hands in that direction, and missed catching the cat by just a few centimeters, and only because the latter managed to stop at the last moment before she reached him.

                But it was at that moment that Chi-Chi noticed it: her chance, the one the master had talked so much about a moment ago. She could see in that scant fraction of a second how her quick and precise movement had caught the hermit off guard, and that last sudden stop had been more of a desperate move than a planned one. And that moment of hesitation was just what Chi-Chi needed.

                Before Korin could fully recover, the warrior quickly turned her body entirely and launched a swift roundhouse kick at him. However, Korin managed to dodge the attack by leaning his body back, and Chi-Chi's leg passed just millimeters away from his face. But that didn't make her hesitate, because although he managed to dodge the first kick, it wouldn't be the same with the second one; or rather, his staff wouldn't dodge it.

                After failing the first attempt, Chi-Chi followed the same movement of the kick to turn her entire body again and launch another kick with the other leg. This time, her foot hit the wooden staff directly, which escaped due to the impact of Master Korin's hands and the vase that hung from it.

                Both of them looked at the vase in the air, spinning above their heads in amazement. Chi-Chi quickly jumped towards it once she regained her balance after the second kick, but Master Korin got ahead of her, even daring to put a paw on the warrior's face to propel himself upwards. The master's right claw was very close to claiming the vase, but Chi-Chi managed to grab him by his tail and pulled him down hard. The cat man growled loudly as soon as he felt his tail trapped and then again when his body slammed into the ground.

                And then, still with the red mark of Master Korin's foot on her face, Chi-Chi had the free way to throw herself with all her strength towards the vase, which was currently falling to the ground.

                Chi-Chi caught the trophy mid-air, holding it tightly to her chest with both arms. Her body continued forward due to the jump's momentum, and she fell to the ground, rolling along it for several meters with the vessel against her chest until she crashed against the railing, which stopped her advance.

                "Uh!" she exclaimed in pain as her back hit the railing. Once she stopped moving forward, she stood still on her back, hugging the vessel against her body, while she breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath.

                Chi-Chi remained like that for a long moment before her body finally managed to react. She sat up slowly and placed the pot on the floor between her legs. She stared at it, almost unable to believe that it was the same pot she had spent so many days trying to get. She ran her fingers over the surface, trying to make sure it was real; yes, it was…

                "I did it…" she said softly, and only then did the reality of what had happened seem to hit her. She stood up quickly and raised the pot in the air with both hands. "I did it! I did it!" she exclaimed with glee, and a big smile barely fit on her face.

                "Indeed, you did," Korin added with a laugh.

                Chi-Chi lowered the pot and glanced at the old master. He was already standing and observing her from his position. She couldn't see his eyes, but she sensed that he was looking at her with pride, or at least that's what she wanted to think.

                "So it really only contains regular water?" she asked curiously, shaking the vessel back and forth a little.

                "That's right, just water," Korin nodded. "But go ahead and drink it. You've earned it."

                She didn't need to be told twice. Chi-Chi quickly removed the cap and pressed the nozzle against her mouth, taking a long gulp of cold water that ran down her throat. She focused on that for a few seconds until she was satisfied and took the container away from her lips.

                "So how's it going?" Korin asked curiously.

                Chi-Chi turned to look at him and smiled with satisfaction.

                "It's the most delicious water I've ever drunk in my life.

                Korin burst out laughing at that moment, and Chi-Chi was quick to join in.

— — — —

                Chi-Chi took a couple of hours to rest and bathe. The last thing she wanted was to see Kamisama sweaty and dirty. Unfortunately, there wasn't much she could do about her clothes.

                In her mind, she was still going over what had happened that day and all those weeks. She still couldn't believe everything she had accomplished. She felt like a very different person from the wounded and broken woman who had left her home and arrived in those lands with only one thing on her mind. That time in Korin Tower had served her well; not only to train but also to calm the great storm that overwhelmed her heart and mind.

                But she couldn't let herself get carried away by the satisfaction this gave her. She knew very well that this was only the first step.

                "Will it be okay to see Kamisama dressed like this?" she asked in dismay as she climbed the stairs to the top, where Korin was waiting for her. "This outfit was already a bit old, and I think I finished it off a few days ago."

                "Don't worry," Korin replied calmly. "I'm sure Kami will be happy to give you a new outfit."

                "Oh, yeah? Well, that makes me feel better."

                Korin approached with a slow pace and stopped right in front of her.

                "As I promised, here you go," he said seriously, then extending his hand towards her. He held a small bell in it, just like the one he had given the others before they left.

                Chi-Chi looked at it with a knot of emotions in her chest. She took it delicately in her hand and held it in front of her face, looking at it in wonder. It was a simple bell, nothing special. And yet, at that moment, it was like the most precious of treasures to her.

                She fastened the bell to her belt, preparing to finally take the next step. But not before taking a moment to turn to Master Korin, clasp his hands in front of him, and bow to him with marked respect.

                "Thank you very much for everything, master. I will never forget what you have taught me. And I apologize for being a bother to you all this time."

                "Not at all," Korin replied with complete confidence. "The truth is that you have been the most promising of all those who have managed to climb up here and drink the Sacred Water over these centuries."

                "I appreciate your words," Chi-Chi murmured in a laughing voice, straightening up again. "Although I don't know if I believe you about being the most promising, perhaps I could have been most adorable, right?"

                Korin laughed amused at her comment, but didn't say anything to agree or disagree.

                Chi-Chi then walked to the railing, stood in front of it, and shouted loudly into the air:

                "Flying Nimbus!"

                At her call, the golden cloud appeared in the sky, and headed straight for the tower, hovering just to the side of it, in front of Chi-Chi. Chi-Chi stared at it, a little hesitantly.

                "Do you still doubt you'll be able to ride it?" Korin asked from behind her.

                It took Chi-Chi a while to be able to answer him.

                "I know you told me that you made me fall at that time and that my heart has not lost its purity, but… still…"

                "You need to trust your own heart more," Korin said somewhat harshly. "Remember what I told you: that heart will be your greatest weapon. If you doubt yourself, then you won't be able to achieve anything. Trust and jump."

                Chi-Chi sighed heavily. Despite what he said, a huge part of her did indeed doubt. But if there was one thing she had learned from her training there, it was that she couldn't let doubts and fears paralyze her.

                She jumped onto the railing and took a smaller leap towards the cloud. She closed her eyes, internally preparing for the worst, but it wasn't necessary. Her body fell into the soft structure of the cloud, and by the time she opened her eyes again, she was sitting on it completely safe.

                She sighed again, but this time it was filled with relief, and pressed one hand against her chest.

                "I'm still worthy. Thank you very much, Flying Nimbus…"

                "See? Everything is fine," Master Korin said, approaching the railing. "Before you go, however, I need to tell you something important."

                Chi-Chi turned with the cloud towards him, observing him carefully.

                "In the time you've been here, you've not only grown much stronger, but you've developed a new skill that will be very useful in the battles to come. I wasn't lying when I said you're the most promising of the warriors I've had the honor of training."

                He paused at that point and bowed his head.

                "However, I'm afraid to say that despite the great strength of your heart and spirit, your physical abilities are still far behind those of Piccolo, or even Krillin, Ten, and the others. All of them have spent many years sharpening their combat skills, so it will take you much more than a few weeks to even be able to match their level. And the strength of the enemies that are on their way to Earth right now is even farther. Do you understand what I mean?"

                Chi-Chi remained serious, listening to all that deadly warning that Master Korin was giving her. However, it didn't really have as drastic an effect on her as she might have expected, because it was something she had already realized herself.

                "I understand," Chi-Chi whispered softly, turning thoughtfully to the side. "Your training has made me realize my own limitations as well, so I wouldn't aspire to fight at the same level as Goku and the others right now, and even less so with so little time available before those Saiyans arrive. But that's not something I want to do either. My only goal remains to protect my son from Piccolo Daimao and the horrible danger approaching from space. I know I have no power or control over anything else, but protecting my son will always be my mission as a mother."

                Korin nodded, seemingly satisfied with his answer.

                "Then I hope that training with Kamisama will give you what you need. However, if even after that you still feel that you are not ready, there is one last thing you can ask Kamisama to allow you to do in order to improve your abilities quickly. Knowing him, he most likely won't agree, but it doesn't hurt to ask. After all, I've found that you can be very persuasive when you put your mind to it."

                Chi-Chi turned to look at him, gravely confused by such an enigmatic proposition.

                "What thing? What do you mean?"

                Korin's lips spread into what appeared to be something close to a sly feline smile.

                "What would you say if I told you that in Kamisama's Temple, there is a place where you could train for an entire year in just one day?"

                "What?!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, stunned. "What are you talking about? I don't understand…"

                "It's one of the secrets that Kamisama keeps up there. I'm referring to the Time Chamber."

                Chi-Chi continued to look at him without understanding, but that would not last long.

Chapter Text

25

The following months passed relatively quickly. Once she managed to obtain the Sacred Water, Chi-Chi immediately joined the others at the Lookout to be part of their training, with Master Korin's blessing included. The news was met with a mixture of surprise and joy, especially from Krillin and Yamcha, and with silent reluctance from Tenshinhan. But in the end, Earth's God himself allowed her to join them, and everyone else had to accept it.

                Of course, that wasn't so simple, as the vast difference between her and the others was evident from the start. But Chi-Chi didn't let this discourage her in the slightest. If anything, she began to work twice as hard to catch up. For their part, her companions took their time teaching her a little about how to better use her ki, in contrast to how difficult it had been for her to use it during her fall from the tower. And somewhat related to that, they also taught her the flying technique so that a situation like that wouldn't catch her off guard again.

                Of course, neither Krillin nor any of the others could dedicate much time to teaching her such basics, as they had to focus on their respective training. Chi-Chi understood this and was grateful that they at least explained the basics to her; the rest was up to her to practice and perfect on her own, even if she had to do it at night, while the others rested and slept.

                Her dedication and perseverance were the key to her rapid progress. In less than two weeks, she had already mastered the flying technique, although she still had a long way to go to maintain proper balance in the air, and especially to gain significant speed; the Flying Nimbus was still a better option if she wanted to go fast.

                After the first month, she had perfectly understood how to make energy spheres, throw, and control them. And two weeks after that, thanks to Krillin and Yamcha, she had learned how the Kame Hame Ha worked, the signature technique of his beloved Goku. But of course, these were also new abilities that she still had a long way to go to master to be on the same level as the others, let alone Goku himself.

                During the remaining time after that, she was able to participate more actively in the training of the others, participating in some test fights against Krillin, Yamcha, or Yajirobe; Tenshinhan openly expressed that he would not waste his time with her, and Chaoz undoubtedly seconded him out of solidarity.

                Chi-Chi also had to make use of her respective training clothes. As Master Korin had promised, Kamisama gave her a new outfit, this time orange and black, similar to Goku's, but also accompanied by its respective shirt, wristbands, and boots with additional weight. Moving freely with those things was a challenge at first, as well as trying to fight on par with her training opponents. More than once, she was aware of Krillin and Yamcha holding back so as not to hurt her more, which frustrated her a little, but she couldn't blame them.

                As time passed, the training continued. While Chi-Chi could see herself becoming stronger, more agile, and more resilient, the others were also making leaps and bounds. With that, the vast gap between them became even more evident.

                However, despite everything, there was at least one skill that Chi-Chi seemed to excel at: clearing her mind, concentrating, sensing the ki and hearts of her opponents, and predicting their movements based on that; blanking her mind, as Mr. Popo described it, and which Master Korin had put so much effort into teaching her. It was something that others apparently struggled to achieve, just as it had happened to her at the beginning. But for better or worse, Master Korin's training and advice had helped her understand and execute it with greater precision, which impressed even Tenshinhan himself. Although from time to time her worries about Gohan and Goku used to come back to harass her and hinder her reflexes, it was becoming less and less.

                But being able to read and sense an opponent's movements alone would do her little good if she couldn't get her body to move with the right speed or attack with enough force.

                Things continued the same for the remaining months, until one morning, Kamisama terminated the warriors' stay at the Lookout.

                It happened one afternoon, right after a training session, where they were fighting in pairs; Tenshinhan was fighting Yamcha, Chaoz was fighting Yajirobe, and Chi-Chi was fighting Krillin. By then, Chi-Chi was happy to keep up with her opponent better, taking advantage of her blank mind so Krillin wouldn't take her by surprise. Even so, that same vision allowed her to see that Krillin was still holding back a little, and that in a real fight, on more than one occasion, he could have dealt her a strong blow that might have knocked her out.

                Surely Tenshinhan wouldn't have been so kind, but up until that point, he still wasn't willing to train with her. Outside of that, the three-eyed warrior never made any disparaging comments about her, nor did he indicate that he wasn't happy with her being there, or that Chi-Chi’s performance was poor. But of course, that didn't mean he didn't think about it; if anything, it was just that he was more focused on his own training, and much less on worrying about her.

                "Enough," the six suddenly heard Kamisama say aloud, causing everyone to instantly stop their practice combat, practically freezing in their attack positions.

                Kamisama and Mr. Popo were standing in front of the facade of the main temple building, from where they had been silently watching their fight all this time.

                "You did very well," Kamisama muttered in his deep voice. "Come closer, please."

                The six warriors moved again and made their way to stand before the Earth God. They stood at attention, their feet planted on the ground and their arms behind their backs, in a perfect martial stance. Kamisama slowly scanned his stoic eyes over each of them. Chi-Chi had the impression that he had focused more on her, but that could have just been her imagination.

                After a moment of thoughtful silence, Kamisama turned his attention back to them all in general and finally spoke.

                "I'm pleased to say that at this point, I can only congratulate you all. Mr. Pop and I are very pleased with the extraordinary progress you've made in this short time. In terms of combat skills, you have all surpassed your limits and reached a new level, beyond what any human warrior could aspire to. There's nothing more we can teach you. In the time remaining before the enemy arrives, the only thing left is for you to return to Earth and perfect your techniques on your own."

                Although no one said anything, it was evident on their faces how warmly those words were received and how enthusiastic they were. Everyone, except Chi-Chi…

                "The entire world's future is in your hands," Kamisama added firmly. "May you fight with honor."

                "Right!" they (almost) all answered out loud.

                "Hey, Kami, can I take these weighted clothes off now?" Yajirobe replied, taking hold of the black fabric of the heavy shirt he'd been forced to wear under his clothes for months.

                "You may do as you please," Kamisama replied contemptuously. Yajirobe didn't need anything else to start taking it all off.

                "So what are we going to do now?" Krillin asked curiously.

                "Find a place to continue training as Kamisama suggested, of course," Yamcha indicated for sure.

                "Yeah, I guess so," Krillin nodded. "How about we all go on a trip together to perfect our skills like we did years ago?"

                "No offense, but for the time we have left, it would be best if everyone went their own way and at their own pace," Tenshinhan said, not harshly or angrily, but simply with the coldness of making an obvious point.

                "I should have expected that coming from Tenshinhan," Yamcha muttered in resignation.

                While they were talking about all this, Chi-Chi had taken a few steps to the side, reflecting, head downcast, to herself. They were all confident they'd achieved what they'd come here to achieve, and were ready to return, satisfied, and ready to continue on their own. But Chi-Chi didn't share their sentiments. And it wasn't because she'd started her training late, or because she'd had to spend more time practicing the basics. She was very clear about it, without a shadow of a doubt: she still had a long way to go.

                "Chi-Chi, what are you planning to do now?" she heard Krillin speaking to her, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Are you really going to face Piccolo Daimao?"

                "I have no choice," she replied with a half-smile. That would be her ultimate end, and everyone knew it. But she still wasn't sure if she would do it at that very moment.

                The dismay that statement caused became clear on Krillin's face. Perhaps deep down, he had hoped she would tell him she wouldn't do it after all.

                "If you're really going to do it, I... could accompany you as support," Krillin proposed, with as much conviction as he could muster (which wasn't much).

                Chi-Chi's eyes widened, genuinely surprised to hear that.

                "Yeah, I think I could go with you too," Yamcha added, taking a step forward. "Between the three of us, maybe we can do something against Piccolo … Or can we?"

                "Would you really do that?" Chi-Chi asked softly. From their postures and expressions, Chi-Chi could tell they were very serious. And even though the idea didn't appeal to them personally, they were willing to lend a hand.

                Chi-Chi smiled happily at their support. A few months ago, she would have accepted their help without question. However, at that moment, she had to turn them down.

                "I appreciate it, guys, but protecting Gohan is my responsibility. You guys have to protect the world."

                "Are you sure, Chi-Chi?" Krillin asked, surprised.

                Chi-Chi nodded.

                "Don't worry. I'll manage."

                Yamcha and Krillin glanced at each other, probably silently wondering if it was a good idea to leave her alone with that. And again, Chi-Chi couldn't blame them for thinking that; she wasn't a proud person (not in that sense, at least), and in those months she'd learned better than anyone what her limitations were.

                "And then what will you do?" Everyone heard Tenshinhan suddenly intervene, drawing the other warriors' attention. "When the Saiyans arrive, do you plan to participate in the fight?"

                That sudden question caught Chi-Chi off guard. Not only because of the question itself, but also because it came directly from Tenshinhan. And again, her stance on the matter from a few months ago was slightly different. Before, she would have responded immediately and without hesitation that she would of course not participate in such a thing. However, after a few seconds of silence, the answer that emerged from her lips was different:

                "I haven't decided yet..."

                It was clear that this wasn't what the others had expected to hear. Despite having trained with them all this time, they had all known from the start that her goal was to rescue Gohan; she had made that very clear to them all along. So the question of whether or not she planned to fight the Saiyans had never really been on the table. Or at least, that's what they thought.

                "You've grown very strong, I'll admit it," Tenshinhan declared, crossing his arms. "But if you're unwilling to fight with everything you've got against the approaching enemy, don't show up on the battlefield. Your presence would only hinder things."

                "Tenshinhan," Yamcha said aloud, almost as a call for attention.

                The comment did not please Chi-Chi one bit, and she showed it in the hard and aggressive expression that her gaze adopted at that very moment. She knew he was right, or at least partly so. But that didn't stop her from being bothered by the condescending way in which he spoke to her. But she didn't reply; she let her silence speak for itself.

                After a while, Tenshinhan forgot about her and started walking towards the edge of the temple.

                "Let's go, Chaoz," he said seriously to his faithful friend. "We must continue our training."

                "Yes," Chaoz replied, quickly following behind him. First, he turned to the others and said aloud, "Good luck, everyone."

                Tenshinhan and Chaoz rose into the air. An instant later, their bodies were covered in a whitish energy, and they shot forward, disappearing from their sight in a matter of seconds.

                "I see he still doesn't like me," Chi-Chi said apathetically.

                "Don't take it personally," Yamcha commented, sounding casual. "He's like that, almost always."

                Chi-Chi wasn't entirely sure about that. She didn't know Ten very well; the past few months had been the longest time she'd spent in his presence, and in that time they hadn't exchanged many words. But she didn't have much choice but to accept Yamcha's words. It wasn't like she cared much whether he, or any of them, liked her or not.

                "Please take care of yourselves," she said, bowing to Krillin and Yamcha. "Goku will need you by his side."

                "You too, Chi-Chi," Krillin replied optimistically.

                It didn't take long for them to retreat as well, just as Ten and Chaoz had done, although Krillin also had to take Yajirobe with him. Once the others left and only Chi-Chi remained, she took a deep breath and turned to Kamisama and Mr. Popo, who seemed to be preparing to enter the temple at that moment.

                "Kamisama," Chi-Chi called out loud to get his attention, and hurried to catch up. The Earth God stopped when he heard her, turning around less than a meter from the threshold in her direction.

                "What's wrong? I thought it was clear that training was over. You can go home, young lady."

                "I have to ask you something," Chi-Chi declared firmly. She stood before him, her back straight, her gaze determined. "When you said that everyone had reached a level that surpassed any warrior... Did you mean me too?"

                Kamisama didn't respond immediately. He remained silent, watching the woman before him intently, most likely pondering the best response.

                "I won't lie to you, especially since it's obvious you're quite aware of it yourself. Your potential is admirable, and in this time, you've progressed quite rapidly. However, your skills are still maturing and are far from reaching their full potential. And most importantly, you haven't yet found your unique fighting style. Because of that, staying up here any longer won't make much difference. The best thing you can do now is find your own way to improve your skills. You already have the foundation; use it to continue on your own.

                "How long would it take me to do it that way?" Chi-Chi asked sharply. "The Saiyans will arrive in just a couple of months, and every day that passes is another day that my Gohan is in Piccolo's clutches. You more than anyone should understand my anguish at the idea of leaving my son with… that demon."

                "I'm afraid there are no shortcuts to obtaining the power you desire, young lady," Kamisama stated harshly.

                "Maybe not," Chi-Chi muttered ruefully. "But I know there's another way to get it a little faster. Master Korin told me about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."

                Kamisama's expression hardened gravely at that sudden mention, and Chi-Chi feared for a moment that she had overstepped her bounds. Right or wrong, that individual was still the God of the Earth, and she didn't want to make enemies of him.

                After a moment of silence, Kamisama let out a long sigh of exhaustion.

                "That old cat, he loves to do things however he wants," he said disdainfully. "He shouldn't have told you about that room."

                "So it's true?" Chi-Chi asked, amazed. "Is there a place here where you can train for a year in just one day?"

                Neither Kamisama nor Mr. Popo responded to that question, but Chi-Chi knew this was true. This took her by surprise. She had thought for a moment that Master Korin had been playing with her when he told her about that.

                "And why didn't you tell us before?" Chi-Chi asked, confused. "Why didn't you allow the others and me to train there?"

                "Because it's not as simple as you imagine," Kamisama replied flatly. "Time inside the room passes differently than in the outside world, but it still runs normally for the person who enters. And during that time, they are completely isolated, surrounded only by emptiness and silence. The conditions are extreme, and not everyone can endure them. Strong and capable minds have lost themselves there, descending into madness, tormented by their own demons. No one has managed to spend a year in complete solitude inside the room. In his youth, even Goku could only spend a month before needing to leave."

                "Not even Goku could?" Chi-Chi whispered, surprised.

                "It's an arduous experience that doesn't always yield the results one might hope for. The risk of going through all that isn't usually worth it."

                Chi-Chi bowed her head, pondering everything Kamisama had told her. Master Korin had already warned her about some of these things, but Kamisama had been more forceful; painfully forceful, actually.

                "I don't fully understand what you're talking about. But despite the dangers you describe, I want to take the risk. Please, Kamisama, allow me to use the Time Chamber for a full year."

                The Earth God slowly shook his head.

                "Even if I allow it, the end result may not be what you expect."

                "I understand, but I still want to do it."

                "At least listen to my recommendation, and start using it for just two months; three at the most."

                "No, I need it to be a whole year," Chi-Chi insisted emphatically. "I need to make the most of this opportunity, to try to get everything I'm capable of at once. Or none of this will have been worth it."

                Kamisama let out another sigh, this time more out of resignation than anything else.

                "It's obvious that you're Goku's wife," he blurted out, though it wasn't clear if he meant it as a compliment. "Very well. But I won't be responsible for what happens to you there."

                "Thank you, Kamisama," Chi-Chi murmured, bowing her body forward in a deep bow.

                "Mr. Popo, get everything ready," the Earth God instructed his loyal assistant, as he prepared to continue advancing into the temple as he had originally intended.

                "Yes, Kamisasamas," the guardian replied with his thick accent. Then he turned to Chi-Chi. "Come, child. It's this way."

                Mr. Popo began walking calmly down a side corridor, his hands behind his back. Chi-Chi followed closely behind him. They didn't advance far, nor did they go too far into the temple, before coming to a wooden door. It was actually quite ordinary-looking and unremarkable at first glance, as if it were the door to any other room.

                "Is this it?" Chi-Chi asked, a little skeptically. Mr. Popo nodded.

                "When you cross these doors, you'll find the Time Chamber. When the doors close, they won't open for another year, just as you requested. There'll be no way out, no way to communicate with anyone. If any trouble arises, no one will be able to help you. Even so, are you willing to walk that path?"

                Chi-Chi was slightly startled by those conditions, especially the one that said she couldn't contact anyone for help if she needed it. That made things a little more worrying, but she didn't allow such thoughts to shake her conviction, not after how much she'd insisted.

                "I'm ready," she declared decisively, nodding.

                Without further ado, Mr. Popo walked over to the door and opened it. On the other side, what Chi-Chi saw was an intense whitish glow, which blinded her for a moment, but nothing more.

                "Go ahead," Mr. Popo said in his usual neutral voice.

                Having to move toward that light stirred a certain distrust and fear within Chi-Chi, making her hesitate momentarily before taking the first step. But as soon as she could, she moved forward slowly, gradually entering that light as she crossed the mysterious threshold.

                No matter what's in this place, my love for my son will give me strength, she thought with conviction. Everything around her became covered in that light, and she was unable to see or perceive anything for a few seconds.

                The sound of the door closing behind her brought her back to reality. The light that had enveloped her vanished in a second. The first thing Chi-Chi's senses registered was the loud ticking of a clock above her head, encompassing the entire ceiling, its enormous dark hands almost frozen.

                Leaving the enormous clock aside, Chi-Chi could finally take a look at the space she found herself in. At first glance, it looked like a small house, maintaining a very similar architecture to the rest of the Lookout. There were a pair of beds on one side, a small table and chairs on the other, and a pair of doors on the sides that led to other areas.

                "Is this the Time Chamber? It looks pretty normal," she said to herself, a little puzzled.

                However, as the seconds passed, and especially as she tried to take a step forward, she realized the place wasn't quite as normal as she'd thought. Her body felt heavy; she was still wearing her weighted workout clothes, but they pulled her down further than expected.

                The temperature was also somewhat higher than outside, and breathing was even more difficult than it had been due to the height of Korin Tower and the Lookout. If it weren't for her time in those places, which she eventually grew accustomed to, she probably would have suffocated.

                Chi-Chi took a moment to sit in one of the chairs in the small living room and try to recover from the shock. She ran an arm over her forehead, which had begun to sweat rapidly. So that's what they meant by the extreme conditions, but it didn't seem to be anything she couldn't tolerate right now; however, spending a few minutes wasn't the same as spending a whole year.

                But there was something that worried her a little. That space was somewhat small; how would she train there? There was nothing but the beds, that room, some jars of food, one of those doors had to be a bathroom, and…

                Something unusual caught Chi-Chi's attention. As soon as she entered, she thought the wall in the background was just a blank white wall, but… upon closer inspection, she realized there wasn't a wall. It was a portal leading to… where?

                She stood up from her chair, swaying slightly, and strolled toward the threshold. She left the small room, heading outside, or what she thought would be like that. But what met her eyes as soon as she stepped outside left her completely frozen, petrified like a statue by the unreality surrounding her.

                "What the...?! What is this?" she exclaimed aloud, so stunned that her legs gave way and she fell to her knees.

                Before her lay a vast, clear, empty space—literally empty. There were no other buildings, trees, colors, or even a sky. It was all one vast, pure white space that stretched to the horizon. That small house she'd entered through was the only thing that seemed to exist in that endless sea of white.

                "Time inside the room passes differently than in the outside world, but it still runs normally for the person who enters. And during that time, they are completely isolated, surrounded only by emptiness and silence."

                "This is what he meant... There's really nothing here..." Chi-Chi mused, surprised and, by this point, a little scared.

                Her eyes continued scanning the entire space, vaguely hoping to discern something, anything, but without any result.

                It didn't surprise her to hear that many had lost their minds there. Chi-Chi hadn't been there for more than a few minutes and was already beginning to doubt her own eyes.

                A year, a whole year surrounded by this emptiness. Can I really endure it...?

                She let those doubts engulf her, but only for a few moments. There was no time for doubts, no time for fear. She had one year and would have to make the most of every second of it.

                With great effort, she forced her body to rise again and stand firmly before that terrifying immensity.

                She had to train.

Chapter Text

26

How long has it been? Chi-Chi wondered, every inch of her body aching just from trying to inhale a breath of air into her lungs; hot, dry air that burned her throat and chest.

                By then, she thought she'd spent six months trapped in that hellish place... or two weeks... or maybe more than a year had passed and she hadn't realized it? It had been over three days; that was all her mind could agree on.

                Nothing Master Korin or Kamisama had warned her about training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber had been enough to make her grasp what she would experience. The heat, the cold, the stifling air, and the heavy gravity were the least of it, though they didn't help make her stay any more pleasant. The time, the loneliness, and the silence were the worst…

                When she'd first arrived, Chi-Chi had tried to somehow keep track of the path of time. Being in the room with the door had made it easier, as the giant clock on the ceiling marked the passing of minutes, hours, and days, giving her some clues. However, it didn't take long for her to realize that the more time she spent there, the more confusing such things became, especially when she spent a lot of time in the white, empty space of that strange dimension.

                Once, she was surprised to return to that room, see the clock on the ceiling, and realize she'd been gone for at least three days. How could that have happened? How could she have stayed out there for so long without noticing?

                In another, exhaustion overcame her, and she didn't make it to the bed, collapsing exhausted on the floor at the foot of the tightly closed room door. When she woke up, she felt as if she had slept for hours, when it seemed only seconds had passed.

                But then things got worse. At one point, when she looked at the clock, it started to make no sense to her. The numbers looked like scribbles, the hands were crooked, it was unclear where they were pointing, and they seemed to change position drastically from one blink to the next.

                "Calm down, Chi-Chi. It's your mind playing tricks on you," she told herself that first time, trying to calm herself down. And although she managed to do so, things only got worse.

                At one point, she began to hear voices calling her in the distance in the endless silence. And although she knew it was impossible, she instinctively turned around, searching for where it had come from. At night (or rather, during the time she spent sleeping, since it never really got dark there), she thought she heard screams from outside, and more of those voices inviting her to come out.

                And if that wasn't enough, she then began to see things; blurry figures moving through that white space, as if they were surrounding her and preparing to attack her, only to disappear at the last moment.

                By that point, her desperation had become so great that she had started banging on the exit door and shouting for someone to open it right now on at least three occasions.

                "I want out of here! Get me out of here! I want to go out right now!"

                No one answered, and no one opened the door. Just as Mr. Popo had warned her, that door wouldn't open until a full year had passed.

                That was hell, so much so that she began to wonder if she had died without realizing it, and had fallen into that place as a kind of punishment.

                If only she had someone else with her, someone who knew what was real and could help her keep track of time, or break the silence with their voice, maybe all of this would be much more tolerable.

                Imagining her beloved Goku, just a child, there alone like she was, broke her heart. She knew her husband well, and she knew he didn't mind loneliness as such. He had lived alone in the mountains for many years and could spend entire days training in the forest. But at least there were trees, the flowing river, the sky, the animals... he was never totally alone and isolated...

                Not like there.

                And had she really expected to spend a year there when Goku only spent a month? Had she been that naive and arrogant? At this rate, she wouldn't be able to save her son as she so desperately wanted. She would perish there, alone and completely insane.

                And lying there on that white, unreal, hot floor, her entire body exhausted and aching from training, the prospect of simply dying and being done with it all seemed tempting. But fortunately, there was still a tiny shred of consciousness coherent enough to prevent her from choosing that option. So she summoned every ounce of energy she had left to plant her hands on the floor and begin to stand up; very, very slowly, and it took at least three failed attempts before she made any real progress.

                Despite that place's exhausting and stressful nature, at least Chi-Chi felt her training was paying off. With all that time and absolutely nothing else to do, she had reviewed and perfected all the basics that Krillin and the others had taught her. She spent a large part of the day (or what she thought of as a day) on an exercise routine to improve her physical strength and speed. Her flying technique was already quite decent, managing to stay stable in the air, and now also gaining more speed and stopping without the acceleration pushing her forward. Her ki management was also better; now, she manages to generate energy attacks more quickly and accurately without thinking much about it. And even though there was no one to rate her, she was also confident that her Kame Hame Ha was now much better.

                However, she had no way of knowing if her progress was satisfactory or if she was doing the right things. Kamisama had warned her that even if she spent that year there, she might not get the results she hoped for, and she was beginning to understand what he meant—or at least to understand as best as her more than confused mind would allow.

                She probably couldn't check on her progress until she was out of that horrible place.

                "That's enough for today," she told herself, once she could finally stand. Her hands were braced against her thighs, her head bowed as she breathed raggedly. Thick dots of sweat trickled down her face and fell to the white floor beneath her feet, vanishing upon contact.

                She'd spent a long day practicing aerial combat, forcing herself to stay in the air while throwing punches, kicks, and energy attacks at her imaginary enemy, who more often had Piccolo's face, of course. The first few times she tried it, the heavy gravity would end up pulling her down to the ground, and the effort of avoiding it would be exhausting. But now she felt much more comfortable, and managed to stay flying for... a certain amount of time that seemed to her to be enough. The problem began when this imaginary enemy she was fighting started to feel quite real, so much so that she could have sworn she vividly felt that green fist hit her face, causing her to fall to the ground like a stone.

                That was just her imagination, right? It had to be; Piccolo wasn't there. But if that was the case, why did her face hurt so much right where she felt him hit her?

                "I'd better get some rest before I lose my mind any further," she concluded to herself, and she almost thought she heard her own voice agreeing.

                Once she had caught her breath, she stood up, turned towards the small temple at the door and…

                She saw nothing.

                Before her stretched only infinite whiteness, as far as the horizon reached.

                She turned 180 degrees in the opposite direction and saw exactly the same thing. She turned back in the first direction, hoping something had changed, but she still saw nothing. Whichever way she looked, it was the same: white, white, white…

                "Impossible," she muttered in a low, nervous voice. "I can't have gotten that far away... or could I?"

                She tried to remember her steps after leaving, what she had done, or which direction she had come from. But without a point of reference, not even a trail of breadcrumbs to guide her, it was impossible.

                A piercing laugh echoed in her ears for a moment, mocking her situation and the despair slowly beginning to surface in her chest.

                "Calm down, Chi-Chi; calm down. It must be around here… I can't have gotten lost… it must be around here…"

                She repeated this several times while beginning to move timidly in a random direction, unsure whether she was moving closer to or further away from the place she wanted to go. At first, her steps were slow and careful, but as dismay took over, she began to run, then rose into the air and began to fly at the maximum speed she had managed to develop.

                She flew and flew for miles, finding no sign of anything other than absolute nothingness. And when her strength failed her again, she tried to stay in the air for a little longer, just a little longer. Finally, her entire body gave out, and she plummeted unopposed to the white ground, crashing hard against it, injuring her right arm as she landed on it in an attempt to twist and break her fall.

                "¡¡Aaaaaah!!" she screamed loudly in pain, and her voice echoed in that void, then faded away like everything else.

                She lay on the floor, sobbing as she clutched her injured arm, warm tears beginning to trickle down her cheeks.

                And Piccolo Daimao's laughter mocked her disdainfully again, yelling in her ear that she was useless and weak. That, yes, just as she'd predicted, she would die there, all alone; far from her husband, far from her father, far from her son… And everyone out there would die too, including her little Gohan, as soon as the Saiyans arrived. And there was nothing a pathetic woman like her could do to stop it…

                "SHUT UP!!" she shouted at the top of her lungs, like the roar of a wild animal.

                Fueled solely by uncontrollable rage, she stood on her two feet and fired a beam of energy from her good arm, in no apparent direction as if she expected Piccolo, or whoever spoke to her, to be standing there. Her attack only sliced through the air and dissipated into the distance.

                She began doing the same thing repeatedly, firing to her right, left, behind her, in front of her, even above. In every direction she could, at hundreds of imaginary enemies who surrounded her and continued to laugh raucously at her. She fired and fired, turning rapidly from one side to the other, until one of her sudden movements twisted her ankle. And with another cry of pain, she collapsed back onto the ground, this time on her back. She hit the back of her head hard, and suddenly she no longer saw white: only black.

                She lay there, drifting in and out of consciousness. Every now and then, she vaguely caught a glimpse of the white sky above her, only for it to disappear again the next moment. Time passed, or whatever passed in that place, and she stayed there.

                What does it matter? He's right, she thought disconsolately, allowing herself to close her eyes, ready for sleep to consume her so that (perhaps) she would never wake up again. Everyone was right, after all. I'm no good at this. I shouldn't have come in here... I should have come home when Master Korin told me to... I should have given up on climbing the Tower... I should have stayed home... I shouldn't have gone to Kame House that day… Everything would be better if she hadn't done any of this…

                Accepting that reality brought her a little peace, though it was barely a drop in the sea of anguish that surrounded her. But she could live with that drop; or rather, die with it… Because the tiny shred of consciousness that convinced her to continue living seemed to have also drifted far, far away, to a place she couldn't reach.

                She heard and felt something again that definitely wasn't there. Someone's footsteps echoed across the white floor, making it vibrate so much that her body could feel it. And she was approaching her from the side. She deduced it was Piccolo, coming to mock her again, so she ignored him.

                Dying wouldn't be so bad after all. Maybe once she left that world, she'd have a chance to see him before she was revived. She could tell him that at least she'd tried; she could tell him that…

                "What are you doing lying there, Chi-Chi?" came the voice of someone standing right next to her.

                That voice... the warrior thought, stunned. It wasn't Piccolo's; the one speaking to her was...

                She forced herself to open her heavy eyelids again and try to focus. A silhouette loomed over her, framed by the white sky. Even his silhouette was entirely recognizable to her; that hairstyle was unmistakable. But as her vision cleared, her suspicions became reality, as that smiling, carefree face materialized before her, along with his dark eyes, staring at her with the tenderness that only he could convey.

                “Goku...?" Chi-Chi whispered weakly.

                That image before her raised its right hand, offering it so she could rise.

                "Come on, there's still a lot to do, isn't there?" he said with a broad, encouraging smile.

Author's Notes:

Okay, I know some might feel like I'm "exaggerating" the effects that spending so much time in the Time Chamber could cause, mainly because in the series, except for some strange Trunks' visions they showed (which could have been filler, although I don't know for sure), the characters were never seen going through anything similar. I admit I've put in a bit of my own opinion here, inspired a bit by that vision of Trunks I mentioned, but also imagining the psychological toll that spending an entire year alone in a space like that, and completely isolated, could cause on someone, especially a less experienced warrior like Chi-Chi. I hope this interpretation I'm putting forward convinces you.

I also think it's worth mentioning that I read somewhere that in Super, they added a bit more about how the Time Chamber worked, or why it couldn't be used as often (although I haven't verified this), so perhaps things I say here no longer match up. I should have clarified this in the Initial Notes, but the truth is that for this story I'm basing it almost entirely on Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z, in addition to things of course from my own imagination, so I'll be taking nearly no information from Super, at least not to the extent I consider it necessary. So, for now, we'll continue along this line, unless something changes.

Finally, I want to thank those who continue to read this story, despite its uneven publication. We're getting closer and closer to the key point, so I think things will start to flow a little more smoothly once Chi-Chi finishes her training. Stay tuned for more.

Chapter Text

27

Chi-Chi stared raptly at the hand he extended to her, but above all, at those sincere and candid eyes that looked at her expectantly. Goku, her Goku, appeared before her as if answering her plea. Or had she truly died at last, and her beloved husband was coming in person to take her with him to the other world? That thought didn't provoke fear or sadness in her, but in fact, a great peace and joy.

                Her eyes slowly filled with tears that threatened to spill over like waterfalls. Out of pure reflex, she raised a hand to extend it and accept the one he offered. She stretched her fingers toward him but stopped abruptly as a stab of pain that started in her shoulder shot through her entire body. This also caused her gaze to shift from her beloved's face to her own hand. The marks of bruises, burns, and scrapes from her own training were still there, along with the uncomfortable tingling that accompanied them.

                She wasn't dead; if she could feel all of this so clearly, it was because her body was very alive. And if that weren't enough, just looking beyond Goku's face, she saw once again the absolute whiteness of the sky above her, a sure sign that she was still in the Time Chamber, trapped and lost...

                Chi-Chi lowered her hand, moving it away from Goku's. She turned onto her side so she could support herself on her hands and feet as she tried to push herself up. For now, her best effort was to sit on the ground, and that was as far as she went.

                "You're not real," Chi-Chi muttered bitterly. And though her words were directed at Goku, or whatever that vision before her was, her eyes were fixed on the white ground beneath her.

                "You think so?" Goku's voice mumbled a combination of innocence and confusion. "Well, if you say so, it must be so. You were always smarter than me at that sort of thing."

                Chi-Chi couldn't help but smile a little at that comment so typical of her beloved husband, but it was all she allowed herself. She didn't reply, and pretending Goku wasn't there (which he wasn't), she resumed her attempt to stand up on her own. It was difficult, but she finally managed. She stood on her two feet as best she could and clutched her free hand against her injured arm. And so she began to move forward in no particular direction, with a slow, almost shuffling step.

                "Are you sure it's that way?" Goku asked, starting to walk behind her much more easily.

                "It doesn't matter..." Chi-Chi muttered under her breath. "Any direction is better than staying here and dying of hunger or thirst."

                "I guess so. But if you wander aimlessly, you'll end up getting even more lost."

                "And what do I do then?!" she exclaimed and then stopped dead in her tracks. "This whole place is exactly the same. It's completely empty everywhere I look. There's nothing at all, nothing to give me any indication of where I am or where to go."

                "It would seem so," Goku noted, looking around thoughtfully. "But it's not completely empty. Remember, there is something in here."

                Chi-Chi snorted, ironic.

                "Yeah, the damn door. That's exactly what I'm looking for, but I don't know where it is. I've wandered so far away I can't see it anymore, isn't that obvious?"

                There was silence for a long moment after that comment, so much so that Chi-Chi thought for a moment that perhaps her hallucination had disappeared. But when she turned around and looked over her shoulder, Goku was still standing there, his eyes wide open on her, as if waiting for her to do or say something else.

                Chi-Chi let out a snap of annoyance and started forward again, limping as before. She didn't get far before Goku's voice echoed again:

                "Just because you can't see something doesn't mean you can't feel it."

                The warrior stopped again. She stood still for a moment while her mind processed this, then slowly turned to look again at that false image of her husband.

                "What?"

                Goku put his hands on her waist and turned his face into the distance as if he could see something she couldn't.

                "It's very quiet here, isn't it? That's what drove me the most crazy when I was here. But I also discovered that even here, that silence couldn't be total."

                "What are you talking about?" Chi-Chi muttered, confused. But she immediately added, "Why am I talking to you? You're not real!"

                She shook her head vigorously and prepared to turn back to face the front, resuming her stride and finally ignoring the hallucination. However, it seemed to have another plan. Before Chi-Chi could fully turn around, her entire body went on alert as she sensed danger nearby: a fist coming right at her from behind.

                Despite the pain and exhaustion, her muscles reacted, managing to move quickly at just the right moment to dodge the blow and even deflect it to the side with her hands. It was painful, but less painful than taking the blow head-on… or was it?

                She looked up, her hands still raised after deflecting the attack. She found herself staring into Goku's face, his expression much more serious, his arm extended toward her after he had missed the blow.

                Had her hallucination just attacked her…?

                A small, friendlier smile appeared on fake Goku's lips.

                "Very well. You've improved a lot, congratulations. But you need to focus more; remember what Master Korin taught you."

                "I don't understand. This is cra…"

                Before she could finish her sentence, Goku pulled his arm back and threw another swift and accurate punch with his other fist. Chi-Chi couldn't react quickly enough and ended up taking a direct hit to her face. The impact knocked her backward, sending her tumbling back onto the ground.

                Her face hurt; it really hurt. And that puzzled her even more. How was that possible? Had that blow been real…?

                "Come on!" Goku exclaimed Goku, energized. "You've learned all too well how to predict and dodge attacks like that. You must focus!"

                The hallucination, or whatever the hell it was, leaped forward, raising its right leg to kick her while she was still on the ground. Now Chi-Chi managed to move, quickly rolling to the side and letting Goku's foot hit the ground.

                Once at a safer distance, she twisted her body on the ground, leaped up, and quickly got into a defensive position. The adrenaline and intense emotions of the moment seemed to be overcoming the pain and exhaustion, forcing her to move and react.

                "How is this possible?" she muttered nervously. "You're not real... this is all happening in my head."

                "Maybe," Goku replied without a single hint of malice or sarcasm. "But that doesn't take away from what I'm trying to say: if you don't focus, you won't get out of here. Now!"

                Goku launched himself at her again in the blink of an eye, launching a rapid-fire series of punches and kicks. Chi-Chi quickly backed away, once again trying to use everything she'd learned in that short time to repel these attacks, which certainly felt very, very real.

                And even more real was the kick to the pit of her stomach that sent her backward, her feet dragging on the ground, and then knocking her to her knees, one hand clutching her abdomen, the other resting on the ground to keep from falling completely.

                "By now, you should be able to read your opponent's heart and predict their movements," Goku emphasized with slight sternness. "Avoiding attacks like that shouldn't be a problem for you."

                "Read my opponent's heart? You're not even here!" Chi-Chi snapped angrily, raising her angry gaze toward him.

                "Maybe," Goku repeated, just as he had before. "But if this is in your mind, shouldn't you be able to predict my moves even more?"

                "Huh...?" Chi-Chi muttered, visibly confused by this reasoning... which actually had a bit of logic to it; if anything in this whole strange experience could be considered logical.

                Goku gave her barely half a second to think about it before launching another attack. Once again, Chi-Chi forced herself to react, dodging and covering the various blows he threw at her. At first, it was tough, especially given her weak body and injuries. However, this time, she didn't let herself fall, and as the exchange continued, the pain subsided, and it became easier to keep up.

                Goku's movements became clear in her head before they materialized before her. At one point, she managed to dodge a punch, and her body practically reacted on its own, quickly spinning around and bringing her fist down on the hallucination's chest through its defense. The blow connected and Fake Goku's body was thrown back several meters away from Chi-Chi.

                The woman warrior stood there, her fist still raised in the direction of the blow, breathing heavily, thick beads of sweat running down her face. Her attention remained fixed on the image of Goku, who was pressing his hand against the spot where Chi-Chi had hit him. He then raised his gaze to her and smiled again.

                "Well done!" he exclaimed with genuine joy. "You've clearly improved a lot. I'm very proud of you."

                "I don't need a hallucination to tell me that," Chi-Chi replied between painful gasps. She dropped her raised arm and reached out with her other hand, holding onto it tightly. She had forgotten that it was the one that was hurt.

                "I'm sure the Goku who isn't a hallucination would be too," the fake Goku said with a broad, carefree smile, so typical of the real Goku.

                Chi-Chi looked away, almost as if she suddenly felt embarrassed.

                "That's not why I'm doing this," she whispered softly. "I just want to save my son..."

                "You're doing it again," Goku suddenly reprimanded, taking her by surprise. "Don't you remember what Master Korin told you? You need to focus on the immediate goal before you and to do that, you must let go of everything else. Otherwise, you won't be able to focus enough."

                "Focus on what?" Chi-Chi exclaimed, exasperated.

                "On get out of here, isn't it obvious?" Goku replied, shrugged. "To save Gohan, you first need to survive this place. And you won't be able to do that while your worries blind you. You already know how to do this."

                Chi-Chi snorted in annoyance. Just what she needed: a simple hallucination to be scolding her.

                "You could at least give me a hint, you know?"

                "But I already did that," Goku said with a surprised expression, but he was no more surprised than Chi-Chi. "You already have everything you need. I know you can do it."

                "I already have everything I need?" Chi-Chi repeated in a low voice, very, very puzzled.

                Goku stared at her and smiled again in that carefree, calm way that always made her feel somehow like everything would be okay. And even though it was just a hallucination created in her head, she began to feel exactly the same at that moment.

                She let go of her injured arm and stood up straight. Without taking her eyes off the sight, she began to breathe slowly, trying to calm her body, but especially her spirit. And do exactly what Master Korin had told her to do: let go of everything else that didn't matter at the moment and focus only on the problem in front of her.

                When she felt calmer and the feeling of imminent danger behind her, she allowed herself to close her eyes. The absolute whiteness that surrounded her now melted into darkness, and that actually brought her more peace. She continued to breathe slowly, let her body relax, and banished the pain and fatigue to a distant corner for the time being.

                She didn't know how long she'd been there; as always, the passage of time felt strange there. At one point, she wondered if the fake Goku had already left, but for some reason, she was almost sure he hadn't. Even with her eyes closed, and even knowing he wasn't real, she knew he was standing there in front of her, waiting. She could feel him, his warmth, his smell, even the sound of his breathing.

                But it must have been her head messing with her again. Goku wasn't there, nor was anything, nor was anyone else. There was nothing that smelled or sounded; nothing to feel, nothing to…

                What was that? She thought suddenly, as she thought she sensed something else, a tiny sliver of presence trying to push through to get her attention. But it was almost like a stifled scream, to which only an ounce of it reached her.

                Maybe it was nothing; perhaps it was just her mind again sensing things that weren't there. But something told her that whatever it was, she couldn't ignore it. So she kept breathing, focusing, and letting go of whatever was holding her back. And in a moment, she had to let go of the fake Goku too... She hadn't been aware until then that she was the one holding him back and also that she could let him go when the time was right. And that moment had come.

                "Well done," Goku's voice murmured, but by now, it sounded more like a low murmur. "I knew you'd make it…"

                And as those words died in the air, Goku's presence vanished as well. Even though Chi-Chi didn't open her eyes, she didn't need to be sure he was no longer there. That caused her a slight feeling of unease, and she even felt a tear threaten to fall, but she managed to hold it back. She couldn't lose focus.

                Without the presence of the fake Goku or anything else detracting from her, and even silencing her own heart and breathing, that was when she was finally able to realize what it was that she had perceived.

                Tick Tock

                Tick Tock

                Tick Tock

                It was sound, a sound breaking through the total silence of that room.

                "No," Chi-Chi murmured softly. "Even here, the silence can't be total." She slowly repeated the words the fake Goku had told her; his clue.

                Tick Tock

                Tick Tock

                Tick Tock …

                Chi-Chi opened her eyes wide with a start.

                "The clock on the door!" she exclaimed aloud, startled. Goku was no longer standing there with her, but for the moment, she didn't care. Instead, she quickly turned to the side, in the direction she was absolutely sure the sound was coming from. "It's there. It has to be there!"

                Without a second's thought, she took to the air, literally ready to fly off. But before she left, she waited for a moment and turned around to look at the exact spot where the fake Goku had been standing just a moment ago.

                She had no idea what that had been or what it meant. But somehow, Goku had come to her aid in her most desperate moment… just like he always did.

                A small smile of joy appeared on her lips.

                "Thank you..." she whispered softly.

                After that, she immediately took flight, guided entirely by the faint sound of the ticking sound, which grew ever so slightly louder as she moved forward. She had no idea where this new energy that had come to her was coming from, but she felt it wouldn't last long. It wasn't long before she felt weak and sore again, and her vision began to blur. Her body even threatened to plummet to the ground on more than one occasion, but she forced herself to stay in the air.

                She had to continue no matter what. If she let herself faint in that nothingness, she might never wake up again. So she flew, flew, and flew... until, in the distance, something stood out from all the whiteness.

                "There it is!" Chi-Chi exclaimed aloud as he saw the small shape of the door in the distance.

                That was the final push of motivation. She accelerated, literally giving it her all in that last stretch. Her body surged with ki, and she shot through the air as fast as she could. It felt like her body was being ripped apart with every meter she traveled, but she still didn't stop.

                When she had fully glimpsed the shape of the gate, could make out its columns, and the sound of the clock became completely unmistakable, only then did she allow herself to give up. The forces that had driven her this far quickly faded, and in the end, she basically let her body continue onward with the same momentum it had been carrying without even attempting to slow down.

                Chi-Chi's body began to plummet rapidly toward the ground, crashing without the slightest resistance. She rolled and rolled across the white floor with the same speed she had been traveling, reaching the small temple at the gate through sheer inertia. She rolled inward, knocking over the table and a vase of water in the process, and ended up lying face down at the foot of the door. The water from the vase she had knocked over began to trickle down onto the floor, soaking her as well.

                By that time, however, Chi-Chi was more unconscious than conscious.

                I did it... I did it... she thought with the few strands of reasons he had left. I did it, Goku... could you see me...?

                Her eyes closed again, and she felt her whole body relax. She was more than ready to finally let herself be overcome by exhaustion and sink into that sleep that tempted her so much. And after that, whatever had to happen would happen.

                But before Chi-Chi completely lost consciousness, as she so desperately hoped, she thought she heard something through the fog. Above her head, it seemed to her that the clock began to chime louder as if announcing the arrival of a specific hour and moment. She didn't remember that happening before.

                Shortly after, she heard another sound, like the distinctive creaking… of a door opening.

                As best she could, she opened her eyes just a little and turned them forward, just in time to see how the door in front of her slowly opened, and from the other side, a white and intense light filtered in.

                Even if she had wanted to stop and contemplate that light and understand its true nature, it was utterly impossible for her at that moment. Her eyes closed again, and now she truly allowed herself to fall into the deep, absolute darkness.

Chapter Text

28

Chi-Chi woke with a start, jerking violently on the futon she was resting on, until she was able to open her eyes with a single jerk. Once she managed to fully snap out of her reverie, she lay still, absorbed in the vaulted ceiling above her. And so she remained for long seconds without further reaction, until her mind was clear enough to form a thought in her head: And the clock?

                The large clock with its large hands that stood on the ceiling of the Time Chamber door had disappeared.

                She sat up slowly, some exhaustion still weighing on her muscles, and looked around. She found herself in a circular room with high ceilings and small windows that barely let in the light from outside. There were white stone columns, which, along with the domed ceiling, closely resembled the architecture of the room she'd been living in all this time…

                But it wasn't the same.

                The space was smaller. And besides the futon she was lying on, there was nothing else there. There were two entrances, one opposite the other, without any doors or dividers, each leading to a hallway, even brighter than where she was now.

                Chi-Chi carefully stood up and headed toward one of the two exits. She was a little surprised to realize that her body didn't actually feel as stiff or sore as she remembered. In fact, if her movements were clumsy and slow, it seemed more a result of the deep sleep she'd just emerged from. Still, she didn't feel entirely confident, so she moved forward with one hand resting against the wall beside her, as if afraid she'd fall to the ground if she didn't use that support.

                The further she advanced, the more she discerned the whitish glow from outside. And her suspicions about where she really was were confirmed. These suspicions abruptly became certain when she stepped outside the building, and her eyes were directly struck by that incandescent glow, causing her to close her eyes for a moment, then use her hand as a visor to better protect them.

                She slowly raised her gaze, and then marveled at what loomed above her: the blue sky, not white. And that brightness was the sun itself.

The air felt light, and the temperature, although a little warm, was actually quite pleasant.

                She was outside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. She was, in fact, right back at Kamisama's Lookout.

                Am I really outside? Chi-Chi wondered silently, skeptical.

                That revelation should have practically made her jump for joy. Still, the truth is, she wasn't even fully able to process whether what she was seeing was real or just another hallucination brought on by the Chamber. And as she pondered both options, her body swayed sideways, until her shoulder pressed against the column on her right. She let herself slide down it until she was sitting on the floor, all the while never taking her eyes off the sky above her.

                "You're awake," she heard a voice behind her, though it didn't startle her as much as it should have. While part of her was absorbed in the sky, another part was acutely aware of someone else's presence quite close.

                She finally tore her eyes from the sky and turned to look carefully in the direction of the Temple. Through its main door, she saw two figures casually approaching her. She knew who they were even before the sun illuminated their faces.

                "Kamisama, Mr. Popo," she whispered softly, still sitting on the ground against the column. "Did you get me out?"

                The Earth God and his loyal attendant stopped a meter away and looked at her carefully. Kamisama's green, aged face remained stoic as usual.

                "The door opened after the agreed-upon time," he explained in a calm voice. "But when you didn't get out on your own, Mr. Popo had to come in and get you out. You were in terrible shape, both physically and mentally, but you were still alive... barely."

                Chi-Chi nodded. She didn't need any further explanation to understand; she knew better than anyone the state she was in.

                "So I was really in there for a year?" she muttered silently, turning back to the sky above her. "And only one day passed here outside...?"

                "A few more, actually," Mr. Popo noted calmly. "After leaving the Time Chamber, you were unconscious longer than expected."

                That didn't surprise Chi-Chi at all either. It would have been strange if she had gotten up immediately as if all that hadn't happened.

                "How long?" she asked in an absent voice.

                "Approximately two weeks," Kamisama answered without hesitation.

                "Two weeks..." she repeated softly, and only then did she fully grasp the meaning of those two words. "Two weeks?!" she exclaimed, now truly astonished, turning back to them with her eyes wide open.

                How could she have been unconscious for two weeks? Wasn't that practically a coma? Although that explained why she was starting to feel hungry and thirsty at that moment.

                "As I said, you were in terrible condition," Kamisama emphasized. "Senzu Beans might have helped you recover more quickly. However, the ideal was to see if you were able to recover on your own from the intense stress your body suffered."

                Chi-Chi couldn't say she fully understood that logic. However, who was she to contradict the God of Earth?

                After a moment of silence in which it was clear that Chi-Chi was speechless, Kamisama allowed himself to take a few steps closer to her, until he stood beside her.

                "Tell me, was it as bad as we warned you?" the Earth God asked somewhat sternly.

                Chi-Chi didn't respond immediately. She looked to the side and then lowered her gaze, suddenly looking quite dejected.

                "It was even worse," she admitted wearily. "I felt like my mind and body were breaking down every day I was inside. At one point, I started hearing and seeing things that weren't there; I even thought I saw Goku... I believed on more than one occasion that I would die there, or that I would get lost and never find my way out. It was horrible..."

                Kamisama nodded in understanding, but not in astonishment. It was precisely what he expected someone at her level to experience; the mere fact that she'd made it out alive was a miracle in itself. He was about to tell her that...

                "But..." Chi-Chi suddenly said, interrupting Kamisama's attempt to speak. The warrior slowly raised her gaze again, focusing it ahead, on the distant horizon. "I think it still worked."

                This visibly disconcerted Kamisama, causing him to lose his usual serenity.

                "What are you saying?" he asked, confused.

                "I think… I can feel it," she added in a whisper, but it didn't seem to be entirely in response to him.

                Chi-Chi stood up at that moment, her movements considerably more relaxed by that time. She moved slowly, taking a few steps away from the Temple until she stood under the sky, in the center of the wide esplanade. She closed her eyes and raised her face, feeling the warmth of the sun's rays on her face, and the sensation of the wind caressing her cheeks. She inhaled deeply, perceiving the fresh, damp scent of some distant rain, and she listened to the Temple's palm trees swaying in the wind.

                Being isolated in that empty space for so long now made her perceive each of those small sensations with greater pleasure, confirming that she was indeed out there; and, most importantly, alive.

                But that was just the surface, as she immediately realized she could perceive much more than just that. The Earth beneath her at that moment teemed with life, sounds, sensations, and tastes. And for a moment, she thought she could perceive it all at once. It was a strange experience that might have been overwhelming under other circumstances, but in that moment, it was anything but.

                Something had changed inside her; something big. She felt it deep in her chest. Something significant and powerful, screaming to get out. And that was precisely what she wanted to do…

                She clenched her fists tightly, planted her feet firmly on the ground beneath her, and opened her eyes, which blazed with determination and power. Her mouth opened, and a loud, thunderous scream escaped her, as if she were letting out all the trapped emotions inside her. Her body began to fill with energy, slowly at first, until it exploded in the form of an intense aura of ki.

Image commissioned to arts_dragonb

                Kamisama and Mr. Popo watched all this from a distance, stunned, as they felt the entire Temple shake slightly from that burst of energy.

                "Incredible..." the Earth God muttered under his breath, and it was the only thing he was able to utter at that moment.

                That was nothing compared to the power that little girl had when she entered the Time Chamber. It was almost as if they were seeing a completely different person. And it wasn't just her power: something else had changed, something more profound.

                After a few seconds of maintaining that aura of energy around her, Chi-Chi began to calm down again, forcing herself to regain her composure. She breathed slowly, and the energy gradually diminished until it disappeared. Her muscles relaxed, as did her senses. She raised her hands and observed them with a strange fascination, as if it were the first time she'd seen them. She thought she must be feeling tired, but in reality, she felt good; quite good…

                Had that gruesome training really achieved all of that?

                "Not only did you manage to survive a year in there, but your power has actually increased significantly," she heard Kamisama comment behind her. Chi-Chi turned around and noticed that the Earth God and his assistant had approached until they were standing a few feet away from her. "I must admit I underestimated you greatly, young lady. You are truly a warrior with great potential, just as Master Korin thought."

                "Thank you, Kamisama," Chi-Chi replied with a half-smile. "But I'll be honest: if I could have fully understood what entering that place would mean, I wouldn't have done it in a million years. But I'm grateful you allowed me to."

                The God nodded once in affirmation.

                "Now that you've advanced your skills to this point, what's next for you is the same as what I told the others. You must go back down there, train, and mold your skills and techniques into your own style, before the enemy arrives."

                Chi-Chi nodded, though her face darkened noticeably. She then turned fully toward him and offered him a solemn and respectful bow.

                "Thank you for the advice, Kamisama, and I will take it into account. However, I'm afraid I can no longer postpone my duty as a mother. It's time for me to face Piccolo Daimaoh and use everything I've learned to rescue my son."

                Kamisama let out a small grunt, though it wasn't entirely clear whether it was in approval or disapproval.

                "Are you sure you want to go through with it?" he asked her seriously.

                "I've never had the slightest doubt," Chi-Chi emphasized, sitting up again to look him in the eye. "All this journey I've come, it's been for just that. I've already left my son in the clutches of that demon for too long. I have to go and save him once and for all."

                "If that's your decision, I won't try to persuade you," Kamisama pointed out. "I hope you find what you're looking for at the end of this path."

                Chi-Chi nodded and smiled gratefully.

                "But Chi-Chi must remember that Piccolo and Kamisama are one," Mr. Popo commented at that moment, drawing the warrior's attention. "If one dies, the other will die too. And without Kamisama, there would be no Dragon Balls."

                "Mr. Popo," Kamisama exclaimed sternly, as a small reprimand to his assistant.

                Chi-Chi, for her part, smiled, strangely amused by that warning. That was something she already knew well. She remembered perfectly that that had been the reason Goku had spared Piccolo's life years ago at the end of the tournament. Still, that wasn't something Chi-Chi was overly concerned about, and definitely not because she cared less about Kamisama's life or the existence of the Dragon Balls.

                "I appreciate the vote of confidence, Mr. Popo," Chi-Chi stated calmly. "But although I can feel I've improved, I don't aspire to anything as high as being able to kill Piccolo myself. I'm glad simply to rescue my son. That's all I wish for."

                The answer seemed to satisfy Mr. Popo, who smiled with pleasure upon hearing it.

                "Good luck, then."

                "Thank you very much, both of you," Chi-Chi replied, bowing again, even deeper now.

                Now it was time to do exactly what she had said she would do: go face Piccolo.

                Chi-Chi advanced cautiously until she was close to the shore.

                "Flying Nimbus!" she shouted loudly into the air, and the loyal golden cloud emerged from the distance, coming at her call until it was right in front of her.

                Although her flying skills had improved significantly, she still didn't feel completely confident in traveling a long distance on her own. She also needed to conserve energy as much as possible for combat.

                Before mounting the cloud, she turned back to Kamisama and Mr. Popo. And in a more casual tone than before, she simply said goodbye with:

                "We'll see each other another time."

                "I hope so," Kamisama replied.

                Chi-Chi jumped without further delay onto the golden cloud, sitting on its soft surface.

                "Before we go, there's somewhere I want to go," she whispered softly to her vehicle. And as if it could read her intentions, the cloud began to descend rapidly in a straight line, from the Lookout to the building just below it.

                The Flying Nimbus went down and down, landing right next to the top of Korin Tower, just a distance away so that Chi-Chi could easily jump off it, and finally landed on the upper terrace where she had spent so much time trying to catch that damned water jar. In fact, it was back in its place on the central podium, and the sight of it even made her feel a little nostalgic. Maybe it hadn't been that long since she'd been there, but for her, it had been more than a year.

                "Master Korin?" she called out, calling him. She went down the stairs to the lower level and soon found the old master standing over the water jars in the corner. He was, in fact, leaning over one of them, peering inside. "Master Korin, I've returned," Chi-Chi murmured more softly to make her presence known.

                The cat man climbed down from the vessel, planting his paws on the ground, and turned to her with a nonchalant attitude.

                "Oh, I didn't expect to see you here so soon."

                Chi-Chi smiled at this. She had almost missed hearing his peculiar voice scolding her.

                "I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye correctly and thanking you for everything you did for me."

                "You have nothing to thank me for," Korin stated matter-of-factly. He leaned his cane on his shoulder and walked over to stand in front of her. Although she couldn't see his eyes, Chi-Chi felt that he was watching her very, very closely. "You managed to enter the Time Chamber, didn't you?" he asked abruptly, and Chi-Chi responded with a slight nod. "Yes, I can see that the training has paid off greatly. You've become extraordinarily strong. Congratulations."

                "Thank you, Master," Chi-Chi replied, followed by a respectful bow. "But... tell me one thing..."

                She sat up again and looked at the master with a much more severe and firm expression.

                "This strength I have right now… will it be enough to defeat Piccolo? Daimaoh?"

                Master Korin remained silent for a few moments, continuing to watch her thoughtfully. Chi-Chi waited patiently for his response.

                "Do you want me to tell you the truth?" he blurted out.

                "Of course."

                "In that case, I'm not sure. Piccolo has been training all this time, too, and he seems to have gotten quite a bit stronger as well." Saying that, he turned to glance sideways at the basin of water he had been staring at just a moment ago. "It would be impossible for me to predict whether you're at his level or not. But if I had to choose... I'm afraid the odds wouldn't be in your favor."

                "I see," Chi-Chi replied rather coldly. The answer didn't surprise her.

                "You still plan to confront him, don't you?"

                "Even if I lose my life doing it."

                "Then you'll need this," Master Korin indicated, abruptly tossing something to her, which Chi-Chi quickly caught in midair with her sharp reflexes. "To keep you in top condition. It's one of the last Senzu Beans of this season, so I appreciate that I am sharing it with you."

                "Thank you very much, Master," Chi-Chi said solemnly, looking at the small green bean in her palm. Without hesitation, she popped it into her mouth and began chewing. It would certainly do her good, as she was pretty hungry.

                "But remember what I taught you," the old master pointed out. "Your best weapon isn't your strength or speed."

                "It's my heart, I know."

                "And your innate ability to perceive the hearts of others, including your opponents. Trust what your heart and the heart of the person in front of you tell you. I can assure you it will almost always be the correct answer."

                A few months ago (or more than a year for her), that would have been one of his comments that would have infuriated her and made her demand a more direct answer about what he meant. But she wasn't that person anymore; not wholly, at least. Now she knew she had the tools to figure it out on her own.

                The two climbed back to the upper terrace together. Chi-Chi climbed back onto the Flying Nimbus and focused her attention on the distance. She took a deep breath, cleared her mind as she had learned to do, and rekindled her senses. Her being was bombarded by all those sensations, but especially by the many presences that inhabited the Earth; millions of points of light clamoring for her attention. But for now, she tried to push them all aside, or at least most of them, as she was looking for only one in particular.

                She let her mind and spirit stretch as far as possible, searching through the sea of lights for the one she needed. It had to be the largest and most deadly of all. The same one she had felt back then, when she spent days tracking him until she found him and was able to confront him. The same presence that had nearly killed her in her attempt to fight him.

                But this time would be different; she could feel that very well.

                "There he is," she said suddenly, staring at a specific point on the horizon. "Piccolo is that way."

                "Can you feel your son's presence with him?" Korin asked curiously.

                Chi-Chi hesitated.

                "I'm not sure," she whispered slowly. She was a little embarrassed to realize that she was currently more familiar with that demon's presence than with her own son's. She had spent four years closely attached to him, but she still didn't know what his ki felt like. "But it must be there, I know it."

                She stood firmly in her vehicle, clenched her fists, and prepared to leave at once. She had no more time to waste.

                "Let's go, Flying Nimbus!" Chi-Chi shouted at the top of her lungs, and instantly the cloud obeyed her command and shot forward at full speed.

                Korin watched from the railing of his tower as the golden beam receded from him, and with it the warrior she had helped form. A sly little smile spread across her cat-like lips as she thought that, indeed, this encounter with Piccolo would not be like the previous one Chi-Chi had had. Although he was convinced it wouldn't be the way the woman had expected.

Chapter Text

29

This time, it took Chi-Chi considerably less time to reach her destination compared to the previous time she had tracked Piccolo down. With her ki sensing ability much more developed, and greater steadiness and conviction while riding the Flying Nimbus, she was able to move more quickly toward that prominent point on the horizon, which she was convinced was Piccolo Daimao.

                On their way, Chi-Chi and the Flying Nimbus crossed seas, cities, and forests. After several hours, they ended up in a wasteland far from any human settlements, inhabited by dinosaurs and other wild animals. The terrain was rocky, and the climate was desert-like. It seemed a more than suitable place to encounter that demon.

                Just as she was about to reach the place her senses were pulling her towards, a sudden resolution crossed her mind.

                "Stop, Flying Nimbus!" she ordered, and her transport came to an abrupt halt. Chi-Chi's body was thrown forward by the sudden braking, but luckily, she managed to stay in the air using the flying technique.

                Chi-Chi rose a little higher, staring in the direction she was headed. The presence she had identified as Piccolo was still ahead. And the closer she got, the more certain she was that it was him. It was as if their last encounter had left a mark on her, one she was now unable to ignore.

                But there was one small detail she had overlooked—and one she had also clumsily ignored during their previous encounter.

                "If I can feel him so clearly, chances are he can feel me too," she said softly, as if she were saying it to the Flying Nimbus, although in reality it was simply a reflection to herself.

                Piccolo must have been able to sense her presence just as well as Goku could. And even more so now that her power was surely greater. The only advantage Chi-Chi might have was that, because of that very change, Piccolo was unlikely to think it was her; he'd almost certainly think it was Krillin or one of the others. Though that hardly mattered, because whoever he thought it was would be waiting for them.

                In fact, Chi-Chi would dare to say that this was why he had not moved or hidden his presence.

                Chi-Chi bit her lower lip in frustration. However, she knew there was no point in complaining about it at this point. She was already there, and she wasn't going to back down. If that demon was waiting for her, she wouldn't keep him waiting long.

                "I'll continue alone from here, Flying Nimbus," she murmured slowly, turning back to her trusty transport with a candid smile on her face. "Thank you for the ride, but you must go now."

                The cloud remained in place, as if hesitant to obey such an instruction.

                "Don't worry," Chi-Chi muttered, reflecting a confidence she didn't fully feel. "I'll be fine. If I need you, I'll call you right away. I swear."

                The cloud seemed reluctant for a while, but finally flew away into the sky, disappearing from sight in a final flash.

                Chi-Chi sighed heavily, then breathed slowly, trying to calm her spirit. Kamisama and the others had taught her to lower her ki until it was almost imperceptible, so she tried it now. Perhaps it was too late, but she tried anyway. She then flew carefully, closing the distance separating her from the point marked on her mental map.

                Her journey finally led her to a wilderness filled with rocky mountains and a vast, arid plain. There seemed to be nothing around; very few animals, and barely any vegetation. And no visible sign of who she was looking for. But he was there; she felt his presence overwhelming the entire place, as if it were enveloping her.

                Chi-Chi then quickly descended until her feet rested at the top of one of those rock formations. And there she stood, her posture firm, looking out over the desolate landscape. Despite the tense situation, the place felt relatively peaceful. But for someone who had spent a year in a space where there was nothing but absolute silence, for Chi-Chi the small details that made that landscape feel anything but empty and especially lonely were more than evident.

                A warm wind blew, stirring her hair and clothes, and also kicking up a bit of dust. Her keen ears heard the fluttering of her gi, but also the long cape swishing behind her…

                "Ah, it's you again," she heard that damned voice say behind her, like a recollection of their last encounter. "I didn't recognize you this time. I could have sworn it was another one of Goku's useless friends. Tell me, what have you come for this time?"

                Chi-Chi inhaled deeply, then exhaled. She had felt scared and nervous before, but she wasn't the same woman she had been back then. Slowly, she began to turn around completely, finally facing the being she had so long imagined confronting. Piccolo Daimao himself stood before her, his arms crossed, his posture firm and confident, wearing his white turban and cape. The expression on his face was one of absolute indifference, only a subtle hint of annoyance appearing in his eyes.

                "I warned you not to bother me again," the green-skinned demon exclaimed coarsely. "I told you that if I ever saw either of your faces again, I wouldn't take responsibility."

                Chi-Chi's expression hardened. Her firm stance didn't waver in the slightest under the demon's threat, and he seemed to pick up on it, as a hint of confusion appeared in his eyes.

                "I came for my son," Chi-Chi declared with absolute and iron conviction. "Where is he?!"

                "Are you still stuck with an absurd idea?" Piccolo muttered impatiently. "How am I supposed to make you understand? The child will be in my care until..."

                "I'm not here to discuss with you, Piccolo Daimao," Chi-Chi interrupted shrewdly, immediately spreading her feet and raising her arms, adopting a fighting stance in less than a second. "I'm taking my son with me. You can hand him over to me willingly, or I'll force you to."

                There was a marked confidence in her voice that surprised even Chi-Chi herself. Piccolo, for his part, seemed a little disconcerted at first, but almost instantly a confident, mocking smile appeared on his lips.

                "Are you going to force me?" he muttered, followed by a wry chuckle. He then uncrossed his arms, letting them relax at his sides. "Yes, I admit it's obvious you've trained a bit; with that idiot Kami, I guess. But that doesn't matter. It's absurd for someone like you to think that with just a few months of training, you could be at a level good enough to defeat me."

                "I don't need to defeat you," Chi-Chi said. "I just need to be strong enough to force you to tell me where my son is. I've come to risk everything or nothing to save my Gohan. And if I have to die trying, so be it."

                She clenched her fists tighter and planted her feet more firmly on the ground. She meant it; there was no hint of mockery or fear in her words.

Piccolo, however, let out a not-so-discreet, piercing chuckle.

                "If that's what you want, I'll grant your wish," he whispered softly, and with absolute calm began to walk toward her. Chi-Chi immediately tensed, but maintained her posture the whole time. "If you happen to see Goku in the other world, don't forget to tell him that it was your own stubbornness that led you there. And if you happen to be revived with him, don't even think about standing in front of me again, did you hear me right?"

                That demon approached her slowly, his posture as casual as if he were any ordinary person walking down the street. However, at the same time, he radiated an aura of menace so great it was impossible to ignore.

                Chi-Chi swallowed nervously, but she didn't falter. Her legs didn't shake, her breathing remained calm and steady. She was there with a single goal in mind, and she wouldn't back down once she was there.

                Chi-Chi was the first to react. When Piccolo was at the proper distance, she launched herself forward with great speed, leaping into the air to launch a tremendous roundhouse kick at the height of Piccolo's head. He, however, was quick to raise his arm and block the direct blow with his forearm, without the slightest apparent difficulty.

                "That's all?" he muttered mockingly. "Don't make me..."

                He wasn't able to finish his sentence because Chi-Chi wouldn't let him. While still in the air, she completely twisted her body to use the momentum to launch a second kick with her other leg. The sudden and swift movement on this occasion did catch Piccolo off guard, and his immediate reaction was to step back to dodge it.

                Chi-Chi's feet touched the ground again after that first attack, but in the next instant, she used them to propel herself forward, launching a rapid and accurate series of blows with her fists, one after the other. Piccolo began to quickly retreat, lifting his feet off the ground, moving from side to side to dodge those blows and cover some more. And although he managed to do so successfully, his face didn't hide his marked confusion, as the warrior woman's movements were quite different from their previous encounter.

                "Enough!" Piccolo exclaimed after a moment of letting her attack him. After dodging one of her blows, he firmly grabbed Chi-Chi by the wrist and yanked her to the side, throwing her through the air as if she were a simple doll. Chi-Chi's body was thrown in that direction, but she didn't get too far, as she managed to stop in midair by resisting.

                The next instant, Chi-Chi launched herself, now flying, at Piccolo at high speed, her face iron-faced and determined, her fist raised to strike him. Piccolo soared high into the air, dodging that first attack, and Chi-Chi soon followed him.

                Both warriors began to move through the air over that arid space. Chi-Chi launched attacks as quickly and accurately as she could, while Piccolo simply dodged her, an annoyingly confident smirk on his lips. A little frustration began to rise in Chi-Chi's chest.

Image commissioned to arts_dragonb

                "I'll admit you're a little better than I expected," Piccolo commented smugly as he dodged her in midair. "But the way you were speaking so confidently, I thought you'd surprise me with something else. This is still pathetic!"

                After that scream, Piccolo raised his right fist in the air and delivered a decisive blow to the woman's left side of her face. Chi-Chi's body plummeted downward, propelled by the force of the blow, plummeting from above toward the ground. The shock of the blow so disconcerted Chi-Chi that it took her a while to react and bring her body to a stop, just inches from crashing to the ground, though she then dropped to it, sinking into a crouching position.

                She brought a hand closer to the blow on her face; the feel of it against her skin made the pain seem even more real. Although the pain didn't affect her as much as it had before, it was still a weak consolation. Only a few seconds had passed in that fight, and it was clear who had the advantage.

                What's going on? I should be able to do more than this. Why can't I touch him?! She thought in frustration, her fists clenching tightly.

                "Are you finally giving up?" Piccolo's voice exclaimed from above her, forcing her to look up at him. Piccolo was floating several feet away, his arms crossed and his cape billowing in the air. "I don't know what you were trying to prove by coming here, but it's obvious this fight is just a waste of time. Go home and don't bother me anymore."

                Chi-Chi's jaw tightened, and her fists clenched even more as she heard him say all that. Hearing him speak to her like that filled her with such intense rage and frustration that...

                And then she understood: she was angry. She had been since she arrived, no matter how calm she had tried to be. She was making the same mistake again. Anger could be a catalyst for strength for Goku and the others, but in her case, it was nothing more than a distraction; Master Korin and her time in the Time Chamber had shown her that.

                But how could she not be angry at this man who had caused her so much misfortune? She had practically spent all those months thinking only about confronting him; that was her mission. Asking her to put her emotions aside at that moment seemed foolish…

                But she had to. She couldn't fight like Goku, Krillin, or Piccolo Daimao himself; fighting at their level, she'd never be a match. But fighting her own way, she might have a chance...

                "What's wrong? Are you so scared you can't speak?" Piccolo questioned her again, arrogantly, from on high. "Make up your mind once and for all: you'll leave willingly, or you'll stay and die as you've so longed to."

                That provocation stirred Chi-Chi's emotions again, but only slightly. She allowed herself to close her eyes for a moment and breathe deeply, calming the tempest in her chest. Slowly, she stood up again, her back straight, her arms relaxed. She let her senses heighten, and her heartbeat calm.

                "So what's she doing now?" Piccolo muttered, confused.

                Chi-Chi didn't hear him. She sensed the air against her skin, the sound of her clothes rustling, the smell of the grass around her. She absorbed every little sensation around, including, most importantly, Piccolo Daimao's presence and the emotions emanating from his heart.

                She opened her eyes again and fixed them once more on Piccolo's. They showed firmness and determination, but there was no longer any trace of fury. This surprised Piccolo, but not as much as what followed. An aura of white energy covered Chi-Chi's body, and she rose into the air in an instant, suddenly ending at the same height as him.

                Already in the air before her opponent, Chi-Chi quickly spun her body around, once again launching a spinning kick at Piccolo. He once again covered it with his forearm, but was surprised to see that this time the attack was more effective. It wasn't a stronger kick, of that much Piccolo was certain, but it struck with a more precise strike that, even after he had stopped it, caused Piccolo to be thrown to the side, although he managed to stop just a few meters away.

                In a repeat of their earlier exchange, Chi-Chi lunged at him again, rapidly attacking with her fists and alternating with swift kicks. Piccolo dodged and covered them again, but something was different this time. He couldn't tell at a glance what it was; it wasn't that they were excessively stronger or faster, but rather that they seemed to be aimed and launched at just the right spots to make it harder for him to avoid them, or right in the position he'd be in after performing a dodge.

                But the strangest thing was the absolute calm with which Chi-Chi seemed to attack him. There was no hatred or desire for combat in them, but rather a cold, unerring precision, as if Piccolo were fighting a machine.

                It was strange and confusing, but that's all it was. Piccolo wouldn't let that distract him. After all, she was still just a clumsy human with little training. She was no match for him.

                Piccolo then went straight to the offensive, giving her no room to attack. He no longer dodged or covered, but instead began to launch rapid blows of tremendous force. All it took was one well-executed blow, and his opponent's body would succumb, or at least be rendered unconscious; an efficient way to end this absurd fight.

                However, it proved more difficult than Piccolo had imagined. To his tremendous surprise, Chi-Chi once again displayed those uncanny reflexes that allowed her to completely dodge each of his blows, moving gracefully as if performing some kind of dance in the air. Piccolo felt as if his fists were trying to hit the smoke that seeped through his fingers.

                What the hell is wrong with this woman? How could she change her fighting style so quickly? Piccolo thought, now being the one who felt frustrated.

                "It wasn't easy," Chi-Chi suddenly replied, taking Piccolo by surprise. Had she just answered his thought? "And I know I still have a lot to learn..."

                That slight lapse, caused by the strong impression it made on him, was taken advantage of by Chi-Chi. From one second to the next, she disappeared entirely from Piccolo's range of vision. The warrior had spun her body in the air, passing over Piccolo's head.

                "But like I said, I don't need to be stronger than you!" she snapped, spinning around to deliver a tremendous kick to the demon's back. Piccolo's body was propelled forward by that blow, flying in a straight line directly into one of the rock formations surrounding them. His body slammed hard into the top of it, cracking the rock.

                Chi-Chi approached and descended until she hovered in front of the rock formation, waiting. She was momentarily distracted by a sensation of pain and numbness in her right leg, the same one she had used to kick Piccolo. She placed a hand on her shin, squeezing it slightly, trying to soothe the burning sensation. She had kicked with all the strength she could, and it seemed her leg had suffered it.

                I still need to gain a lot more strength, she thought to herself, allowing herself only a hint of worry. It wasn't as if she could do anything about that right now, and, as Master Korin had taught her, she should focus on what was right in front of her and what she could fix immediately.

                Her senses sharpened again. Even before Piccolo's warlike scream or his attack, what made her body vibrate was the feeling of aggression that surged from the demon toward her, allowing Chi-Chu to quickly become alert.

                From all the dust raised by the impact of his body against the rock, the figure of Piccolo quickly emerged, rising again in the air, accompanied by a furious scream.

                "You insolent brat!" Piccolo shouted loudly, stretching out his hand towards her, and in the blink of an eye, a sphere of bright golden energy formed from it, which then shot out towards Chi-Chi in the form of a dangerous shot.

                That brought a flashback to Chi-Chi, having also been standing before a very similar energy sphere, launched by the same person, which had nearly ended her life. Krillin had intervened to save her back then, but this time he wasn't around to repeat it.

                And she didn't need it either...

                Chi-Chi remained calm as the attack approached. She raised both hands firmly in front of her, let out a mighty shout, and a white energy blast burst from her hands, cutting through the air directly into Piccolo's energy sphere. The two attacks collided, creating a powerful explosion of light that lit up the entire sky.

                Piccolo quickly covered his eyes with an arm.

                "It can't be," he muttered incredulously. Once the energy dissipated, he lowered his arm and stared straight ahead. "Did she repel my attack? But how?"

                Through the smoke and light, he managed to make out Chi-Chi's silhouette retaking shape, floating firmly and confidently a few meters away from him, though she was breathing heavily. She was staring at him, once again with a firm and determined gaze, and without a trace of perturbation.

                "I'll ask one more time," Chi-Chi whispered, striking her battle pose right there in the air. "Where's my son?!"

                That resonated like a powerful command, leaving no room for negotiation. Indeed, she had come for Gohan, and she wouldn't leave without him.

                Piccolo gazed at her silently, analyzing every inch of the woman, as if he were truly seeing her for the first time. And then, something changed on his serious face, as his lips formed a smile; a pleased smile.