Chapter Text
Chapter 3: Things Change
Over the busy streets of Hercule City, the granddaughter of the city"s namesake pointed a shaky finger at the boy in front of her. "Y-y-y-you"re Grandpa Goku?!"
"Yup! I"m surprised you couldn"t tell!" Goku laughs. "But man…! You"ve gotten taller since the last time I saw you!"
"YOU"VE GOTTEN SHORTER!" Pan screamed. This HAD to be some sort of fever dream! Maybe that Snake Devil did hit her with some of its poison and it"s making her delirious!
"Hm? Oh yeah! That"s probably why you couldn"t recognize me at first." Goku said.
"A-are you sure you"re Grandpa Goku and not some look alike?"
"Last time I checked I"m Son Goku." He replied nonchalantly. "But man, wouldn"t it be funny if there were a bunch of guys who looked like me? It would be really confusing."
How could he be talking so…so…casually? She was currently freaking the hell out about this whole situation, and he was treating it like it was just another Friday! Pan reached into her pocket, pulling out her phone. "I-I have to call Mama and Papa about this! This is just-"
Goku quickly snatched her phone away. "Nah, there"s no need to call them. I wanna surprise them myself."
"B-but-"
"It"s fine, Pan. Don"t you trust your dear old Grandpa?" He asked as he gave her back her phone.
To be honest…not really. The guy abandoned them five years ago at the drop of a hat and randomly pops back up in the body of a child. And suddenly, that line of thought made Pan realize something horrifying. "Oh man…how is Grandma gonna react to this?"
"Hm? Makima?" Goku tilts his head. "Eh, I"m sure she"s going to take it just fine. This isn"t the first strange thing to happen to us."
"Wait… Grandpa, are you saying that you haven"t seen Grandma yet?" Pan asked carefully.
"No. I just finished training Uub when all of this happened. I was about to head home when I sensed that Devil attacking, so I decided to stop him." He looks around the city. "It"s crazy to see just how much this place has changed in just five years." Goku explained, not noticing the sour look on her face.
Pan groans into her hands. She knew just how much her Grandfather"s departure had hurt her Grandmother, and his new appearance was likely to make matters worse. "Okay, so, I think it would be best for you to go see Grandma. I"ll come with you to help explain things. I just have to…tell Grandpa H that I won"t be able to teach today."
"Teach?" Goku asked.
"Uh, yeah, Grandpa H invited me to teach at his dojo today since I"m the new champion-"
"EEHHHH?! You"re the champion, Pan?!" Goku exclaimed.
"W-why does he sound so shocked?! Did he think I was too weak to win?!" Pan questioned internally.
"That"s crazy! To think Hercule would actually give up his title is a surprise." Goku chuckled. "And being champion at the age of 10 is also pretty crazy. You"re way younger than I was when I won the 23rd Tournament."
Pan huffed with the need to flex her superiority. "Guess I"m just better than you are then. I won two tournaments!"
"Wow! That"s awesome!" Goku"s response weirded her out. Why did he sound so happy to hear that a child was better than him? "Hey, let me come watch you teach."
"Come watch me? But shouldn"t we head to Grandma to tell her about…this?" Pan motions to his new form.
Goku waves it off. "It"ll be fine. This shouldn"t take too long. I want to see just what the champion can do."
He wants to see how strong she is? In that case…! "Fine! I"ll let you watch me teach my perfect skills to the newbies!" Pan pockets her phone and blasts off towards the dojo. Goku just chuckles and effortlessly follows after her.
Bulla leaped forward with a striking kick that bounced off her father"s arm. She attempted another kick, but was grabbed before it could properly connect. The heiress received a punch to her stomach that sent her spiraling through the gravity chamber. She flipped around to stabilize herself, then lunged back in. When her father moved to intercept her attack, Bulla released a burst of KI to push herself into his side. She grins at the opening created to finally land a punch in the spar, but suddenly he vanishes before her eyes.
Bulla was only given seconds to adjust her senses to track him. Her head snaps upwards to where she thought he would appear. Only for his signature to explode behind her, along with a burst of pain in her back. Bulla smashes against the walls of the chamber, crumpling to the floor.
Vegeta lets out a breath through his nostrils. "That"s enough for today. I"m turning off the gravity." The Prince of all Saiyans hadn"t gone through many changes in the last five years other than cutting his hair shorter and growing a mustache.
"N-no…! Papa!" Bulla struggles to push herself up. "I-I can"t keep going."
"And hurt yourself in the process? Not a chance. I knew it was too early to push you to level 30." Vegeta said as he walked over to the control panel. He presses a few keys, shutting off the artificial gravity. While he feels no difference in the gravity shift, his daughter suddenly flung herself up into the ceiling. She bounces off the white metal and roughly back into the light red tiled floor.
"...ugh…" She groans.
Shaking his head, Vegeta grabs two towels off the rack. He throws one over his shoulder while lightly tossing one onto his daughter"s face. "Dry yourself off, shower, and change into some clean clothes. Your Mother wants us all looking clean for a dinner party tonight."
Bulla works up the strength to pick the towel up. "...You actually agreed to one of those, Papa?"
"I"m just there to make sure Trunks doesn"t try to run again. You"re going to be there for the cute angle to win some of those suit wearers over, apparently." Vegeta explains.
If there was at least something that could brighten her mood after this humiliating failure, it was using her cute looks to manipulate snobby businesspeople. Bulla sits up, looking over to see her father walking out of the chamber. "Papa!"
"What?" Vegeta turns back.
"...Can we spar again later tonight? After the dinner party? I-I know I can get this level of gravity down!" Bulla pleads.
He doesn"t respond immediately. Vegeta turns away from her. "No. You"re not ready for it yet and-"
"If it was Trunks, you would have agreed!" Bulla cuts him off. She manages to stomp to her feet to glare at her father. "If Trunks was the one asking to train harder, you would have agreed, wouldn"t you?!"
Vegeta doesn"t respond.
"You always go easy on me! But whenever you get him to train, you put in so much more effort! Why?! Is it because he went Super Saiyan at a younger age than me or is it because he"s a boy-"
"SILENCE!" Vegeta"s roar hushed her complaints. He marched over to his daughter and snatched her up by the collar of her t-shirt. "I don"t play favorites, Bulla! Never assume so again!" The prince drops his startled daughter on her ass. "You are not ready, I am not going to let you hurt yourself, because you want to buff some foolish ego! So no, we"re not going to be training tonight nor are we doing so for the next few days."
"What?! You can"t-"
"I can"t what?" Vegeta"s challenge forced her to silence. He released a breath, shaking his head as he saw her hurt body language. Knowing he"d get an earful from Bulma later if he didn"t apologize, he tried to think of something. "Look. I"ll think about your proposal of upping the gravity level."
"Really-"
"BUT!" He raised a finger, stopping her. "If I or Bulma catch wind of you and your little friends causing any problems again this weekend, then we won"t be doing any training for a week, understood?"
"Y-yes, Papa!" Bulla relented.
"Good. Now hurry up and get showered." Vegeta turns away to leave.
Bulla stood in the chamber, looking down at her feet with furrowed brows. Was it really that bad that she wanted to prove that she was better than her brother? Proving herself better than Pan, who always likes to brag about her champion status, and the rest of the plebeians who don"t take her seriously?
Kicking her feet a bit, Bulla marched out of the gravity room to hit the showers.
Goku and Pan arrived at the dojo of Hercule Satan. The grandiose building was big and fancy enough to match the guy"s huge ego. Two golden statues of him in his younger years were erected on both sides of the entrance. Even though they weren"t real, it almost felt like you could hear the guy"s obnoxious laughter coming from them.
"Hehe! Looks like Hercule hasn"t changed at all!" Goku chuckles.
"Well, I wouldn"t be so sure about that one." Pan mutters too quietly for him to hear. "C"mon, Grandpa." She beckons him to follow her inside of the dojo, to which he complies with no issue.
Grandfather and granddaughter walked past the plethora of men and women who were training on the various equipment. Goku notices how none of them are actually doing martial arts training, but just using exercise equipment like weights, treadmills, leg press machines, and all the more.
"Doesn"t seem like much of a martial arts dojo. Looks like any old gym that you see around cities." Goku comments.
"All of gramps" dojos function as both. There are rooms here that are made for those who want to learn martial arts. You can either come here to work out, train in martial arts, or both." Pan explained.
Goku bobs his head to the side, gathering his thoughts. "Still, it doesn"t feel like a place for learning martial arts." This wasn"t him trying to be mean, of course. As someone who dedicated his entire life to martial arts, he"s grown a sixth sense to feel out potential fighters. He was slightly disappointed to not feel that kind of spirit from anyone here. "When I was training with Uub, I had him go through a lot of the stuff that Master Roshi put me and Krillin through when we first trained with him. You"d be surprised how well milk runs and fighting off sharks can help you learn how to fight."
"You"re right, it sounds dumb." Pan scoffs at his words.
"Don"t knock it till you try it." Goku responded, not taking any offense to her rude behavior. "Hey, how about we train together like the old times after this? I can show you the Turtle School training. I would have done it when you were younger, but your Mom didn"t like the idea of throwing you into a pit of sharks! Uub"s parents weren"t as ecstatic about it, but he never got hurt during it. His body was way too tough for-guh!" Goku stops talking when Pan suddenly stops. "Hm? What"s wrong, Pan?"
"This is the way to the changing rooms. I have to change out of my uniform before I can get started." Pan explains, voice suddenly a bit colder. She then points to the other end of the hall. "Over there is the way to the training rooms. The first one on the right is the one I"ll be teaching in, so just wait there for me, okay Grandpa?"
"Sure!" Goku shrugged. "But are you okay, Pan?"
Her hand tightened around the strap of her bag. She gives him a tight smile that reminded him a lot of when Makima was close to losing her temper with his antics. "Yes, Grandpa! I"m just peachy!"
Hina waved goodbye to her aunt as she stepped through the front door of her home. A nice two-story home that had enough room to house a family of five people-
CRASH!
"POWER!"
"IT WASN"T MY FAULT!"
…Sometimes.
Kicking off her dress shoes and shutting the door behind her, Hina stepped into the hall to peer into the kitchen. Her Uncle Aki and Aunt Power were in the kitchen, apparently trying to cook…something? It confused her, because why was he letting her anywhere near the kitchen?
Now in his mid 30s, Aki Hayakawa aged decently enough for some in his line of work. Most hunters don"t even make it to their mid 20s but having a family as strong as theirs would allow for such to happen. Which is why he decided to retire from being a Devil Hunter, best not to test his luck anymore, magic wish granting balls or not. He still retained his pineapple hairstyle. He had tried to change it in the past, but two certain loudmouths complained that the pineapple was too iconic to get rid of.
For Power, she didn"t look any different than she did fifteen-years-ago. The only real difference was that she stylized her hair into huge curls to try and look more sophisticated than she actually was.
"I told you not to stir the batter too hard! Now look at the mess you made!" Aki pointed at the spilled bowls of cake batter all over the floor.
"It"s not my fault the stupid liquid is all slippery and soft! Give me a task more befitting of my greatness!" Power demanded.
"You want something befitting? Okay, then, go clean your room."
"Pah! That has nothing to do with cooking!"
"I know. That"s why I"m telling you to clean up that mess. You"re just getting in the way."
Crossing her arms, Power huffed with her nose up. "What would a human like you know about cooking?"
"Considering I"ve been cooking food for you the last decade or so, I think I know a lot." Aki countered. His eyes picked up something moving in the background. Aki looked past his adoptive sister to see his niece retract her head back. "Hina! I saw you!"
"Hina"s back from school?!" Power dashed out of the kitchen, sliding across the wooden floor to see her niece. "Found you!" She picked up the young girl to bring her into a tight hug.
"A-Auntie…!" Hina grunted at the applied strength of the hug.
"C"mon, Hina, let"s go continue our epic quest!" Power declared, bolting for the door.
"But I just got home!" Hina kicked against Power"s hold, struggling to break free. She did not feel like helping her aunt continue her crusade in collecting every stray cat across the city. The only reason was due to her original pet, Meowy, passing away two-years-ago.
"Not so fast." Aki grabbed the back of Power"s hoodie, yanking the Blood Fiend off her feet. Power crashed into the floor while Hina was caught in the hunter"s arm. "Hina has homework to finish, Power. You can do that hobby of yours later."
"Homework?! Pssh! That"s for losers!" Power scoffed.
"Do you want to say that to Asa when she gets home?" Aki"s question made the Blood Fiend go as pale as a ghost. Power quickly shook her head no, not wishing to suffer Asa"s wrath again for disrupting Hina"s studies. "Good. Then go clean your room, while I clean up the mess in the kitchen."
Thankfully for his sanity, Power complied and rushed up the stairs to her bedroom. Aki lowered his niece back to the floor. Hina brushed off her uniform and smiled at him. "Thanks, Uncle."
"Don"t mention it. Just be sure to actually do your homework this time or next time I might not save you."
"I always do my homework."
He gave her a look.
"I get it turned in on time!" Hina defends her actions. There was nothing wrong with waiting till the very last minute to finish her assignments. The pressure was when she produced her best work, after all.
"Just be sure to get it done before your parents get home." Aki sighed.
"Speaking of…where are they?" Hina asked.
"A new job was called in an hour before you got here. Your Mom and Dad hurried off together to handle it." Aki answered.
Her parents are free-lancing Devil Hunters, and sometimes they get calls that would require both of them to handle it. Which also meant there would be days that neither of them would be home and that"s the bigger reason why Aki and Power still live with them.
Someone had to be home when her parents couldn"t be.
Welp, it wasn"t like she wasn"t used to it already. Her parents were busy and high-profile Devil Hunters, so it made sense that they would be out and about a lot. It wasn"t like she never saw them.
"I see…well, I"ll head up to my room then." Hina turned to the stairs.
"We"ll be having a new cake recipe for dinner tonight!" Aki announced to her.
"Sounds delicious!" Hina shouted, her back vanishing from sight.
Aki stared at the staircase for a few minutes longer before shaking his head. He was thinking it was about time that he had a talk with her parents about their responsibilities.
As Hina trekked to her room, she found her eyes lingering to the door of her parents" bedroom. She knows she"s not supposed to play around in there. But it wasn"t like they were home to tell her off for it. Hina quietly opened the door to not catch the attention of her aunt and uncle, carefully stepping on the dark carpeted floor.
The young hybrid stood in front of the nightstand next to the bed, where a picture of their little family a few years ago lay. Picking it up, Hina frowned at the images of her parents, who were holding up a younger version of her to smile wide for the picture.
Hina didn"t hate her parents for not always being around. She understood that they were busy trying to make a living for them all. She just wishes she could be some sort of help to them…to fight by their side. Hina had suggested that once, but…
I"m sorry, Hina, but… I don"t want you getting involved in this kind of stuff. Even though you inherited your Father"s abilities, facing off against Devils is very dangerous. Your Father and I agreed that it"s best that you just focus on having fun! You"re a kid, so enjoy being one for as long as you can.
She placed the picture back where it was before. Hina pulled on her collar, looking down to stare at the ignition cord protruding from her chest. What was the point of having these abilities if she couldn"t use them to help the people she cares about?
"Why can"t Mom and Dad just trust me?"
Pan slammed her head against one of the lockers, slightly denting it from the force. She hissed through her teeth, cursing her behavior towards her miniature grandfather. "Why did I act like that?! Frickin…BAH!" She punched the locker this time, her fist tore through the metal as if it were paper. The champion brushed it off, knowing that her gramps could afford to get it fixed.
As hotheaded and abrasive she could be at times, Pan liked to think she was good at keeping her cool. But just the sight of her Grandpa Goku and his words just…triggered her for some reason.
Hey, how about we train together like the old times after this?
She should be happy, right? To train with her Grandpa Goku again just like when she was little. Those times when she was really, really happy.
When I was training with Uub, I had him go through a lot of the stuff that Master Roshi put me and Krillin through when we first trained with him.
Uub"s parents weren"t as ecstatic about it, but he never got hurt during it. His body was way too tough for-
But then she remembers why he left in the first place, who he chose over them. Pan didn"t want to play 2nd fiddle just because he was done playing around with his first choice.
She was better than that.
She deserved better than that.
And she was the goddamn champion! She didn"t need to be treated like some kid who didn"t know what they were doing!
"Argh! Thinking about it like this isn"t going to help me!" Pan was growing tired of the irritated thoughts in her head. She decided to just finish getting changed, so that she wouldn"t keep her class and grandfathers waiting any longer.
Pan stepped out of the changing rooms in a dark red GI with a black belt tied around her waist, and her black fingerless gloves kept firmly on her hands. Pan double-checked to make sure her black flats were tight enough one last time before making her way to the training room.
As she got closer to the room, Pan could hear loud excitable voices coming from it. She raised a brow, confused to hear such vibrant noises. That shouldn"t make too much sense, like sure her gramps would be in the room, but they were used to seeing him around at this point. Nobody should be getting warmed up or training until she gets into the room. Opening the door, Pan was greeted to a befuddling sight.
Leading the young youths of the class was her Grandpa Goku. He was instructing the little tykes through a series of kata; ones she had no recognition of. As someone who grew up with martial arts, Pan made sure to study plenty of forms whether it was hand-to-hand, kendo, bōjutsu, or the many others. But whatever her Grandpa Goku was doing was completely unrecognizable, like a style that had been lost to time. His form, smaller than she remembered, was seamless like a flowing stream, a calm blue in an endless noisy environment.
The students were enamored by his movements, doing their best to follow him as perfectly as they could. To see such a rambunctious group of kids like these actually watching intently like the older groups stunned her. She"s seen a bunch of instructors give up on this class in particular, because they struggled to get these kids to listen, but her grandpa did it effortlessly apparently. Not only that, but the kids seemed to be having so much fun copying his movements too.
"Pan! Pan!" The young hybrid turned to her balding gramps running over to her. Unlike the vast majority of their group, Hercule was a plain old human, thus he aged like the rest. His afro was still mostly gone, and his body had thinned a bit, but he was still as energetic as always. "Can you believe it?! Those kids are actually learning for once!"
"Y-yeah, Gramps… I can really see it." Pan"s left eye twitched.
"I just got here and was blown away to see these loud little tykes actually behaving for once. Who is this kid anyway? I didn"t know you were bringing a friend along." Hercule clearly didn"t recognize his brother-in-law.
"Uh… Gramps?"
"Yeah?"
"That"s Grandpa Goku."
…
…
…
"EHHHHHH?!" Hercule"s eyes bugged out of his skull. The retired champion"s shout caught the attention of Goku and the kids. The little grandpa turned around with a tilted head.
"Hm? Oh! Hey, Hercule!" Goku waved.
"GOKU! GOKU IS THAT ACTUALLY YOU?!" Hercule runs up to the boy, grabbing him by the arms.
"Yup! It"s me, alright!" Goku responds as if it was no big deal. "I"m surprised you didn"t recognize me!"
"I"m old! You know my eyes don"t work like they used to!"
Considering that she also didn"t recognize him at first, Pan didn"t know if she should be insulted by that or not.
"What happened to you?!" Hercule asked.
"Ah, you know, just things." Goku laughs, not wanting to disclose the actual reason right now.
"Things, huh? Ha ha! That"s just like you! C"mon, let"s catch up!" Hercule draped an arm over his shoulder, then turned to the kids. "Class is dismissed early today; you kids can head out!"
Pan balked. "W-what?! Gramps, you can"t end class just yet! I haven"t even begun teaching yet!"
"Oh right." Hercule didn"t see the way his granddaughter growled at his forgetfulness. "You are supposed to teach this class today." He turned back to the kids. "Well, if you kids are still up to learning from the champion, then-g-gah!" Hercule fell to his knee suddenly, surprising everyone.
"Hey, Hercule?!"
"Gramps!"
Forgoing how her chance at teaching was basically ruined, Pan rushed to her grandfather"s side to check on him. Goku looked equally as concerned to see the retired champ clutching his chest tightly. Pan looked over to the kids who seemed spooked by the sudden incident. "You kids can go home! Class is canceled!"
There was some awkward air, but the kids complied with her order. "Goodbye, Goku-sensei!" They chord, managing to deplete Pan"s mood even further. Not only has she been completely undermined on what was supposed to be her best day ever, but now her gramps" heart was acting up again.
"Hercule, are you okay?!" Goku asked.
"I-I"m fine…nothing too big…" Hercule managed to answer.
"Did you forget to take your pills today, Gramps?" Pan asked next.
Her concerns were brushed off by him. "I don"t need any pills. Mr. Satan can handle whatever little cold comes his way!"
"But it"s not a cold, Gramps. Your heart needs that medicine." Pan argued.
"His heart? I know that feeling…" Goku instinctively touched his chest. He remembered the unbearable pain he was in when he was getting attacked by the Heart Virus. He almost died to it, and did die to it in a different timeline. "I didn"t know you were sick, Hercule."
"Of course you wouldn"t know, you weren"t here." Pan"s cold response did sting a bit. "It started popping up almost two years ago. The doctors" said that a lot of stress and poor health maintenance in his younger years built up a lot of pressure in his heart. His medicine is supposed to help remedy it to make his heart stronger again."
Goku frowned, surprised to hear about Hercule"s poor condition. "But, can"t you have Buu help with it? I"m sure his magic can-"
"I don"t need to worry Buu with any of this." Hercule denied, climbing back to his feet. "Mr. Satan is the strongest man in the world. A little heart pain isn"t going to stop him from living his life or seeing his granddaughter grow up. I"ll be just fine; I just need to rest a bit."
"I"ll help you get home, Gramps." Pan suggested. She knew she said she"d accompany her Grandpa Goku back home, but her Grandpa H needed help right now. Also, she was still peeved at him stealing her moment of glory, intentional or not. "It"s best if you head back to Grandma, Grandpa Goku, I"m sure you want to see her again."
"Yeah, you"re right." Goku agreed. He watched Pan and Hercule leave the training room with uncharacteristic silence. The Earthly Saiyan stood there for a few moments longer. For some reason there was a sense of uneasiness building up in his chest.
Returning home should feel exciting, especially when you would get to see family and friends again, yet Goku didn"t feel as happy as he should. The vibrant and abundant life that always surrounded Mt. Paozu was no longer present. He could feel the various life signatures of the wildlife, but the atmosphere itself felt dead.
The house that he and Makima had built together looked muted, its various colors were dulled out. He would have assumed nobody lived in the place if he was unable to sense the KI of Fami and Makima. Goku pushes the door open to see that the interior was just like the exterior, literally void of life.
"Welcome home." Goku turned to see Fami sitting on the living room couch, munching on a bucket of popcorn. She gave him a quick glance before going back to her show. "You look shorter."
"I am shorter. Some stuff happened, so yeah." Goku said as he made his way over. "I see you"re still the same as ever, Fami."
"I guess so." She said between bites. The Famine Devil didn"t continue the conversation, succeeding in making the Saiyan feel awkward.
"Man…why are people acting so cold to me lately?" Goku scratched the back of head with the thought. Hercule was the only person who gave him a warm welcome back, but that was ruined by his health condition. Goku never minded the way Fami speaks, but this time it just seemed like she didn"t want to speak to him. "Is Makima upstairs?"
"She already knows you"re here. Just go talk to her." Fami responded.
"Right! Thanks!" Goku waved and bolted towards the stairs.
"Good luck." Fami mumbled with popcorn stuck in her teeth. She tried to claw it out with her fingers, realized it was too much of a pain, and settled for ripping out her teeth to grow a new set.
Goku opened the door to their shared bedroom to greet his wife. He smiled like he usually did, his eyes landing on the rocking chair she resided on. Goku didn"t pay much mind to her physical appearance, since Makima looks great to him no matter what. Though, he did pay attention to the miserable look on her face. Deciding that cheering her up would be the best way to break tension, Goku kept his smile. "Hey, Makima! Long time no see, huh?"
She stared at him.
"I ran into Pan and Hercule earlier." He hops onto the bed, crossing his legs. "Did you know she won the tournament twice? Pretty cool to see our granddaughter do that, huh? I only managed to win one of them."
She still didn"t say a word.
"I"m not surprised to see that Goten and Nayuta moved out. They seemed pretty ready to leave before I left. Though, I"m shocked to see you didn"t turn their rooms into some doggy playpens. Speaking of…where are all the dogs at? Are they with Gohan and the others?"
She still didn"t utter a single sound.
Goku seemed to notice that she wasn"t speaking. "Oh, you"re probably wondering why I"m a kid again, huh?" He chuckled lightly. "You see, after I finished training Uub, Pilaf and his friends used these Black-Star Dragon Balls to turn me back into a kid. Now they"ve spread out across the universe, and we only have a year to find them before the Earth explodes. Funny, huh?"
The silence from her was actually getting uncomfortable now, even for him. Goku couldn"t remember a single time where Makima was this unresponsive to him. He leaned over to her, stretching his hand to her face. "Hey, Makima? Are you asleep-"
Makima grabbed his tiny arm, holding him up in the air. "Leave."
"Eh?"
"Just go, darling."
"But, I just-"
"You said the Earth was going to explode, right?"
"Yeah."
"Then go handle it." She flung him away. Using her abilities, she pushed Goku out of the room and shut the door. The Control Devil didn"t spare the door another glance and focused on her cartoons. A single, silent tear rolled down her cheek with a shaky breath.
Goku blankly stared at the closed door, baffled by the reaction of his wife"s actions. Makima has never reacted to him like that before. Before she would always greet him with loving smiles, warm hugs, kisses, food, and more. What was different now? He didn"t really know.
Of course you wouldn"t know, you weren"t here.
Pan"s words echoed in his head, aching his heart a bit. Goku stood up and brushed the dust off of his clothes. He wanted to go back into the room to see what was wrong with her, but something told him that wouldn"t be a good idea. Makima clearly wasn"t in the mood and making her feel worse wouldn"t help matters. Right now, he needed to focus on the bigger picture at hand which was saving the world and getting his body back to normal.
As he turned away to head back downstairs, Goku gave one last look to the door, promising to fix things with Makima when he gets back.
Unfortunately for Goku, the next time he would see his wife would be under circumstances far worse and heartbreaking than he could have ever imagined.
Chapter End