Chapter Text
Day Six: ChiChi
Safe and Sound
So much to do. So much to do.
ChiChi opened the oven door. She ignored the heat as she pulled out two rectangular sized glass dishes on her two mitten covered hands. She placed them on the counter to cool, grabbed two more food laden glass dishes and placed them in the oven. She removed one mitten and set the timer for thirty minutes.
Next, ChiChi checked the saucepans cooking on all four units of the stove top. Two were ready to be removed, one had ten minutes of cooking and the other had five. ChiChi removed the two and replaced them with two other saucepans of prepared food waiting to cook.
Goku’s home was a fighting arena. For ChiChi, it was her kitchen.
ChiChi eyed the remaining saucepans and dishes waiting to cook on the stove and in the oven. Her eyes went to the clock. She smiled. She was ahead of schedule.
Humming happily ChiChi went about emptying the dishes in the saucepans into the food containers. She placed the containers into a large yellow picnic box on the kitchen table. Next to that box were three other yellow picnic boxes packed with food. ChiChi smiled wistfully as her fingers glossed over one of them. She had these boxes for almost twenty years. It held happy and bittersweet memories. She used these on the last picnic Goku had with his family before the Cell Games. Funny, if it wasn’t for Goku, she wouldn’t have gotten it at all.
ChiChi pushed her shopping cart as she and Goku navigated through the store. They were spending money they made at the market selling the fishes Goku caught and the lumber from the trees Goku knocked down and chopped with his hands. So far, it was the easiest way for them to make money and add on to what Goku won at the tournament.
Goku followed, looking around in awe at this place called a supermarket. He never knew there were places where a variety of foods could be stored in one area for people to buy. He’d seen people sell food in marketplaces but each person had their own booths. This place it seem one person owned this building with the large quantities of food and sold to the people.
It wasn’t just food this place sold Goku realized when ChiChi moved into another area of the store. This area sold items that you cook food in, too. The wonders of this world never ceased for him.
ChiChi looked over her shopping list, pleased everything was marked off. “I think that’s everything, Goku. Let’s get in line. I need to start dinner as soon as we get home.”
Usually when ChiChi announced dinner, there would be a response from Goku. She turned and saw her husband wasn’t beside her. It wasn’t the first time he wondered off. Places like this, while common to her, were new to him. Luckily, Goku wasn’t too far away. She turned her cart around and pushed it to where Goku stood.
Goku stared at a display of large yellow boxes. ChiChi wasn’t sure what was it about this display that got his attention. Maybe it was the color. Maybe it was the fancy display. No, ChiChi realized. Food was written on the banner over the display. Anything that said food always got Goku’s attention.
“We have to go, Goku. I got everything we need.”
Goku pointed at the display. “What are these, ChiChi?”
“They are storage boxes, Goku.” ChiChi opened a sample box on display to show him. Looking inside, ChiChi noticed small compartments on the side where one could put drinking glasses, napkins or utensils. The back of the box top had holders where one could store plates. “Oh, actually these are the new picnic boxes I’ve seen. Normally it’s used for large families or large groups.”
“What’s a picnic?”
Since marrying Goku, ChiChi knew Goku didn’t receive an education or a normal upbringing so he wouldn’t know things people his age would know. That’s why she used patience when Goku asked questions. On some level ChiChi knew it bothered Goku at times when people assumed he was stupid when he’s scolded on not knowing certain things. ChiChi tried to refrain from responding like that but when Goku asked her ‘What’s a picnic?’ she couldn’t help herself.
“You don’t know what a picnic is?” Goku shook his head, embarrassed. ChiChi cringed catching herself too late. “Sorry, Goku, but since you love food, I thought you would know. A picnic is when you take prepared meals outdoors to a scenic area like the park, a forest or lakeside and eat.” Goku opened his mouth. “It’s not usually in your backyard, Goku.”
“Oh, I never did that. If I was hungry, I would eat the food where I am. I never took my food to specific area to eat.”
“We should get these,” ChiChi suggested. “Tomorrow we can have a picnic. We can go to the lake where you get your fish. “We can sit on the blanket, eat the yummy meals I will prepare.” She leaned on him and wrapped her arms around his. “We can do other stuff since no one ever comes to that part of the forest.”
“Other stuff?”
She blushed. Goku could be so clueless at times. It was so sweet to her. “We went there the day after our wedding. Remember you caught a big fish,” she drew circles on his chest, “we did other stuff while we waited for the fish to cook.”
Realization dawned on Goku. “OH!!! Yeah, I remember now!” He frowned, whining, “But do we have to have the picnic tomorrow? Let’s do it today.”
“Tomorrow, Goku.”
“No,” Goku whined. “I wanna do it today.”
ChiChi pulled away and narrowed her eyes at Goku. “Tomorrow, Goku, or no picnic.”
Goku pouted and crossed his arms like an upset child. “Oh, all right.”
All six picnic boxes were filled to the top. Each one was labeled so it’ll be easier for ChiChi when she unload them at the picnic site. The kitchen was clean; dishes were put away. ChiChi smiled pleased with herself. She got into a habit years ago to cook and clean dishes at the same time. That way there wasn’t a mountain full of dishes waiting for her when she was done cooking.
ChiChi had meant to leave the kitchen to find Gohan and ask him to load the food in the car but laughter from outside drew her to the window. Goku and Goten were having a late morning spar. In the four months since Goku returned the Earth, she noticed Goku and Goten have gotten closer. She was concerned for a while when she noticed Goten secretly (at least he thought) looking at Goku. There were times where her youngest child would ask her or Gohan questions about Goku that Goten could’ve easily asked his father himself. She wasn’t sure when it happened but sometime in these months Goten warmed up to his father.
As she watch Goku and Goten spar, she found herself thinking back to when she watched Goku, Gohan and Piccolo from this window. Then, they were preparing for a battle where in an alternate timeline none of them survived.
All ChiChi wanted for her family besides happiness is for them to be safe and sound. It was a simple request that every loving wife and mother wanted for her family. It was a nearly an impossible request of a loving wife and mother to have when married to a Saiyan.
To her, safe and sound meant no fighting. But it wasn’t always that way for her. After all, she was the daughter of Gyu-Mao, the Ox King, who was trained by legendary martial artist Master Roshi. Fighting was in the family’s blood. Before she married Goku, ChiChi actually pictured him and their children sparring together. She imagined herself getting in on the fun, too.
All that changed when ChiChi saw Goku’s fight with Piccolo. That fight left a permanent scar on her. She came so close to losing Goku before they married. She never thought fighting could be so dangerous.
It was an ironic thing for her to think given her father was once a violent man terrorizing their village. She didn’t link that to martial arts. No, that violence came through her father’s decisions.
When King Piccolo rain his terror on the world, killing martial artists as it was hunting season, ChiChi still didn’t link that to martial arts being violent. No, this was the terror of a demon, a monster who killed martial artists because he saw them as a threat to his quest for world domination.
No, ChiChi linked martial arts to being dangerous when Goku fought Piccolo. The physical beating Goku took; his screams when Piccolo pressed his foot on the hole in his chest chilled her to her bones. She never wanted to see Goku or their children go through anything like that.
And so she went extreme in her quest in not letting Gohan fight. Even as she forbid Goku from training Gohan, she thought her actions were just and knew the consequences in making decisions that sacrificed her family’s happiness such as the judgment and isolation from Goku’s friends. They wouldn’t tell her Goku died and Gohan was kidnapped by Piccolo the day it happened. No, they let her, she who was already worked up on her husband and child not coming home, confront them the next day. They even tried to hide the events on Namek from her.
ChiChi shook her head, clearing away the bitter thoughts. That was the past. They were all on better terms now. The consequences with Goku’s friends she could handle. No, what troubled her were the consequences she had to deal with in regards of her oldest son and husband. What really hurt her was forbidding Goku from sharing something he loved with their son. She felt at the time she had to stand her ground. She thought being loud and overbearing for the safety of her family was the only way.
Ironic how despite all of that, Gohan learned how to fight and Goku got to train him. Now Goku was outside teaching his youngest son with her full support. Goku was happy to finally train Gohan when he returned from Yardrat but ChiChi regretted how it came about. They only sparred and trained in preparation for a fight. Never did they spar for fun like Goku and Goten now.
“Hey, Mom…” Gohan entered the kitchen. He stopped noticing his mother looking out the window. He joined her to see what had her attention. “They’re really into it. Ooh, Goten almost got Dad there.” He laughed, “If Goten really focus, he can be real competition for Dad when he grows up.”
“Gohan, do you ever regret not having this?”
Gohan looked at his mother puzzled. “Not having what?”
ChiChi turned away from the fighting. She looked at her son. She remembered how he would crawl around the kitchen floor following her as she moved about the kitchen; how he sometimes clutched her skirts or Goku’s pants when they were around a lot of people he didn’t know. He was so shy. Now he was a tall young man, getting the highest marks in school and on his way to a career that didn’t involve fighting. How the years have flown. “Whenever you sparred with your Dad, it was for a fight where you both could’ve died. You never sparred for fun.” She walked to the kitchen table and placed her hands on the back of a chair. “I remember when you were three, four years old you would sit here looking at your Dad outside instead of focusing on your lessons. I knew you wanted to be out there with him and I wouldn’t allow it.”
Gohan wasn’t sure where his mother was leading him with this. “Yeah, it was always for a fight but it was fun, too. I loved it and so did Dad. For me, I just wanted to be around Dad.”
“I robbed your Dad of being your first teacher.” Gohan heard the regret in his mother’s voice. With her watching his Dad and brother, he understand where this was going. “I know you like Piccolo and I like him now, too, but your father should’ve been your first teacher.”
Gohan went to his mother and placed a hand on her shoulder. Gently, he told her. “In a way, he kind of was.”
ChiChi rolled her eyes. Her son’s attempt to make her feel better wasn’t working. She didn’t appreciate being lied to. “Gohan, I know your father did things for you when I said no like giving you snacks and staying up later, but when it came to training, I know he didn’t train you.”
“You know I had to live out in the wilderness alone for six months. Piccolo wouldn’t have trained me if I wasn’t strong.”
ChiChi knew that and when she learned about it was horrified for Gohan and angry with Piccolo. If Piccolo was standing next to her when she learned this, she was certain she would’ve strangled him to death. “I know about that, Gohan.”
Gohan grinned. His mother didn’t get it. “Like you said, I would sit here and watch Dad. I saw every throw, every kick. I learned a lot just by watching him. I never caught a fish when I was with Dad but when I was in the woods alone, I knew what I had to do. I survived those six months because I watched Dad since I could remember.”
ChiChi let Gohan’s words sink in. She looked at Gohan with wide eyes. Wow. Every time, Gohan sat here looking at his Dad out the window, every time father and son went in the woods together. Every time, Gohan was watching and learning.
ChiChi shook her head smiling. Her boy was a smart one indeed. “I never knew.” She laughed at her own blindness. “All this time.” She looked at her son who was laughing himself. “See? This is why I think you can do more with your life than fight.”
Gohan nodded. His mother knew a lot more than all of them did in terms of his future. Gohan never considered his mother regretted her actions. Even when he learned she trained Goten, he never thought she regretted how things went for him in terms of training. “You did what you thought was right, Mom. I don’t hold any grudges and you shouldn’t have any regrets. When I was a kid, I didn’t understand all your actions. I was frustrated at you when you didn’t want me to go into space but I get it. When Goten was born, I think that’s when I finally understood. You only wanted Dad, me and now Goten to just be safe. That’s why you yelled, you forbid Dad from training me, why you got me into books; you only wanted us safe.”
“Oh, Gohan,” ChiChi whispered and hugged her son.
Gohan wrapped his arms around his mother and held her as she softly cried. He had seen his mother cry too many times. It was the worst when Dad died by Cell. They both went through a dark period then. This talk, Gohan realized, was something that should’ve happened sooner, but late as it was, he was glad everything was finally said.
ChiChi gently stepped out of Gohan’s hug. She wiped her tears. “I should stop. I don’t want your Dad and Goten to see me like this.”
“Yeah,” Gohan agreed. “I know Dad hates seeing you cry.”
ChiChi laughed. “Yeah, I know. I cried enough for a lifetime.” She tenderly caressed Gohan’s face. “Thank you. I guess I really needed to hear that.”
The sound of the front door open. “Is everything ready, ChiChi? Goten and I are starving and we can smell your cooking from the front yard.” Goku entered his home with Goten sitting on his shoulders.
“Yeah, Mom. I’m gonna pass out if I don’t eat soon.”
ChiChi laughed, “Then you better load everything in the car. We’re to meet Grandpa in an hour.”
Gohan grabbed the car keys lying on the counter and two of the picnic boxes. “We better get going.”
Goku placed Goten on the floor. While he gathered two boxes and followed Gohan out, Goten went to his mother and held his arms up. “I wanna carry a box.”
“No. Leave that for your Dad and brother.” Knowing her son wanted to help, she gave him the large but light bag that held the picnic blanket, sanitary wipes, sunscreen, sunglasses and the family camera. “You can carry this.” ChiChi placed the bag in Goten’s hands, stifling a laugh as the bag blinded Goten’s view.
“I can’t see,” Goten whined.
“Then use Ki to follow your brother’s energy.”
“Oh, yeah,” Goten forgot about that. “Thanks, Mom.” Goten turned and waddled towards the door carefully.
Goku stepped aside letting Goten walk past him. He looked at his son curiously before stepping back in the house. “These are the last two?” He asked grabbing the remaining picnic boxes.
“Yes.” She grabbed his arm, getting Goku’s attention. She kissed Goku’s cheek and giggled seeing Goku’s eyebrows raise curiously. It was the same look he gave her after she kissed him at the tournament when they were teenagers.
“What was that for?”
ChiChi shrugged. “For coming back. For making this day possible. I dreamt and fantasized for years that all of us: my Dad, you, Gohan and Goten would one day have a picnic near that lake you, Gohan and I had the week before the Cell Games.”
“Oh….” Goku said slowly. That was nice and it explained the kiss but… “But you really should thank Majin Boo. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here.”
“Oh, Goku,” ChiChi shook her head at her husband. “You know how to ruin a moment.”
“It’s the truth.”
Laughing, ChiChi gently pushed him to the door. “Let’s just go.” Same old Goku, ChiChi thought. Closing the door, she smiled watching Goku load the last two picnic boxes in the car. Goten and Gohan were chatting in the backseat ready to go.
Her family. They were how she wanted them. Safe and Sound.