Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z or its characters.  They belong to Akira Toriyama.

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Goten and Chi-Chi leafed through the old photos for hours.  Only until the room was dim did they turn on a lamp and return to searching through the memories.

"It's getting kind of late, why don't you go to bed?" said Chi-Chi.  "You might school tomorrow."

"Trying real hard to act like a mom, huh?  Don't worry, it's the weekend."

Chi-Chi blushed out of embarrassment.  "Since you have a lot of free time, can we meet everyone that I'm supposed to know?"

Goten yawned.  "Sure thing, mom."  He got up and began to walk the hall to his room.

"Goten," Chi-Chi called out.  He stopped to look at her.  "You know, I like it when you call me mom."

Goten smiled.  "You're supposed to.  Good night."

Goten entered his room, exhausted.  There was one more thing he had to do.  He picked up the phone.

"Hello?" came a sleepy voice.

"Hey Pan!  It's me Goten.  What are you doing up do late?  Nevermind, can I talk to your dad?"

"Uh... huh," was the only reply.  A slight pause.

"Hello Goten," Gohan said.  "What are you doing calling me so late?"

"I just wanted to warn that tomorrow mom and I will pay you a visit."

"What's so bad about that?"

"You see.. mom lost her memory.  She has amnesia."

"WHAT?!"

"Hold on.  I'll explain everything..."  Goten told his brother the whole story.  "So if you want to blame anyone, blame me."

He heard a deep breath being taken.  "I'm not going to blame you.  I'm going to help you.  I'll call up Bulma and tell her to round up the everyone, so you two meet us all at Capsule Corp.  Okay?"

"Is it okay if we bring a few photo albums?"

"Heck, we'll all bring photos and stories.  How about that?"

"Thanks."

"Where are we going, Goten?" Chi-Chi asked as they hopped in the air car.

"We're going to the Capsule Corp. building.  The home of your best friend Bulma," Goten told her.  "That's where we're going to meet some of the people you knew.  Okay?"

"Great!  To be honest, I hate learning everything again."

"I'm sure that everything will come to you.  Give it a few days."

They soon approached the large building that was Bulma's home.  They could make out a small crowd awaiting at the gate.

"... And when you woke up, you nearly tried to kill me!  But then, I said that I was a secret admirer of yours."

"Chi-Chi, remember when we met?  It was right after Master Roshi extinguished the fire..."

"... You really didn't like my pet dragon, but dad and I kept away in some cave..."

"There was that one prank that Goten and I pulled..."

People were crowding around Chi-Chi, ready with their stories and photos.  Some stories were just plain hilarious, and others were just as serious.

Chi-Chi smiled at all the friends she had, and tried to remember those memories.  But at one point or another, they always mentioned "Goku".  He was her husband.  She saw his face in the pictures, but couldn't see him in the crowd.

"Kakarrot!  Why don't you quit hanging around the food and go over to your mate!" Vegeta yelled at Goku.

Goku sighed.  "I'm not really hungry."

"Then go to her then."

"What if she doesn't remember me?"

"That's the point.  You go over there to help her remember."

Goku gave Vegeta a solemn look.  "You know, how am I going to help her remember?  Sure, she'd remember some happy moments, but also the sadness I caused.  Maybe it would be better if we started over, or if she didn't remember me at all."

"Quit talking like that!  She'll have to remember you.  There is the bond, and with it, she'll always feel you."

"Does time apart weaken the bond?"

"If anything, it makes it stronger, Kakarrot."

"If she doesn't regain her memory, we can start over again.  This time, everything will be like she wanted it to be."

"Dad," Goten interrupted, "Mom told me that she hates learning everything again.  If her memory doesn't come back, she'll be miserable because she doesn't know what happened before.  If it does come back, she'll remember the past pain.  Which one would you want?"

"I don't know.  I just want her to be happy."

"You must be Goku," said an unsure, yet familiar, voice.  Goku turned around to see Chi-Chi standing before him.  "I'm really glad that I can finally meet my husband."

To be continued...

Additional Author's Notes: Sorry about that whole bond thing, I don't really know much about it, so I'm just trying to string altogether.  The ending for this story will be coming.  But it will take a while, since I have decided to write other fanfics at once.  More fun!