"Uh… Chi-Chi, maybe you should calm down." Meijin Roshi suggested, slapping a hand on the riled up woman’s ass.
The old man’s nose exploded with blood after being hammered by Chi-Chi’s angry fist, causing blood to squirt out at a quite impressive distance. Krillin managed to crack a smile at the display, but he soon was reminded of the situation when the raven-haired woman began yelling again, this time with tears in her eyes.
"I just don’t understand… What happened to make you act this way!?" she cried, collapsing into an empty chair.
"That’s enough." Vejita hissed angrily, standing near Kakarotto with Bulma beside him.
"What happened?" Bulma asked, resting a hand on her friend’s shoulder. Number Eighteen, Marron, and Ox King joined the group to find out what exactly was the cause for all the fuss.
Gohan watched, knowing that his father was unhappy. There was no way in Hell he could be happy… Not with Vejita. It just seemed all too crazy. Love? How could Vejita love anyone? It had to be true though, judging from the way the prince was reacting to the commotion. His poor mother. He hated seeing her go through this, and she didn’t even know the truth. It was about time she did.
"You have something to do with this don’t you, Vejita?" Chi-Chi questioned, lifting her eyes to the cold prince’s, "What the Hell did you do to him?"
A low growl caught everyone off guard, and they all seemed to inch back when they realized it was coming from the wrathful prince.
"Just accept it, and drop it." Vejita muttered.
"Hey! What’s the deal? I think you should back off Vejita. This is between Goku and Chi-Chi." Yamcha protested, voicing his unwanted opinion.
Just before the prince had a chance to attack the unsuspecting fool, Goku stood, "Let’s go."
Cooling down at the sight of his mate’s inner turmoil, Vejita nodded.
"I guess we’ll see you guys later." Goku said, half smiling to the others before following Vejita to the gate. Once they’d reached the edge of the Brief’s yard they both floated swiftly into the air before blasting off at top speed.
"Wow. That was more than a little strange." Tien said, stating the obvious.
"I guess we better go. Maybe we should wait a while before having another one of these things. It seems Goku has some stuff to work out." Krillin said, standing and looking up at his beautiful wife.
"Yeah, I agree. I think Vejita’s actually helping out. He told me that him and Goku are living together and are close friends." Bulma said, trying her best to lighten the mood.
"Well…" Krillin said, patting Roshi on the back, "Ready to go, Meijin?"
Bulma waved as the large aircraft carrying Krillin, Meijin Roshi, Oolong, Number Eighteen, and little Marron lifted into the air, causing a bit of dust to fill the air. Tien and Chiaotzu left next followed by Yamcha and Puar, who left in a sporty new hover car. Yamcha was somewhat disappointed that he hadn’t had the chance to show off his new expensive toy, but smiled anyway when he waved goodbye to Bulma and Mrs. Briefs.
"I guess I had better get to cleaning this all up." Bulma’s mother said as she began piling trays together, lifting them with a skilled grace as she balanced several in her arms, carrying them inside.
"Hey… Dad never came out did he." Bulma thought, realizing that it really didn’t matter since it was just a disaster. She’d simply have to plan another reunion. Krillin was right though, she was going to have to wait some time. Hopefully by then, everything would be worked out between Goku and Chi-Chi.
Chi-Chi sat back in the white metal yard chair, slouching somewhat as she pondered what had just happened. The anger that had overtaken her was strange. She was just so mad at him, but she knew well that she still loved him. Why couldn’t he come back to her? What exactly was he going through? And what did Vejita have to do with it?
Gohan could see the confusion playing out on his mother’s features and looked up at Piccolo, "I think we should tell her."
Piccolo nodded. He wasn’t sure if this was a wise decision, but it was Gohan’s call. Unfortunately, he was probably elected to be the one to have to tell them. How did he get in this mess!?!
"Chi-Chi, you okay honey?" Ox King asked, patting his daughter on the shoulder as he took a seat beside her.
"Of course not." Chi-Chi muttered.
"Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure things will work out." Bulma said in an encouraging tone as she returned from seeing their friends off, taking a seat at the table across from Chi-Chi.
"Mom, I think I know what’s wrong with Dad." Gohan said as he and Piccolo took a seat at the same table, watching as Mrs. Briefs passed by, going to another table. She was piling more plates, trays, and glasses up in her arms.
"Oh, Mom, you don’t have to worry about that now. Let me help you with it later." Bulma said after following the other’s gaze to her busy mother.
"Don’t worry. It’s no trouble." The peppy blonde replied, trotting off back inside.
"What are you talking about?" Chi-Chi questioned, sitting up to look at her son curiously.
"Well," Piccolo began in his gruff voice, gaining their attention, "A while back Vejita came to Kami’s temple to train in the chamber of spirit and time. Dende had to search his heart to find out if his intentions were pure…"
"What does this have to do with anything?" Chi-Chi interrupted.
"Mom, please." Gohan said, quieting his irritated mother.
Sighing deeply with annoyance, Piccolo continued, "Anyway, in doing so Dende discovered that Vejita has feelings of love for Goku."
In the silence, the clattering of dishes could be heard coming from inside. Piccolo assumed it was the ditzy older woman cleaning up and just glanced around at all the blank stares he was getting.
Finally, someone spoke up, "What kind of feelings?" Bulma asked, narrowing her eyes.
"Love. I’m guessing that’s why they’ve been acting so strangely, but it’s obvious that this ‘relationship’ is different from Ningen… From normal relationships, especially since they’re both male." Piccolo said, watching as eyes grew wide.
"Goku’s gay?" Ox King said, asking no one in particular.
"That’s nuts!" Chi-Chi exclaimed, breaking the silence.
"No… It makes since… Vejita has always been obsessed with Goku in one way or another, and remember his behavior at the last reunion? He said that strange thing… What was it?" Bulma said, staring into space as her brain worked.
"Oh, that thing about the stuff going away when they’re together and remembering…" Ox King said.
"Just the way Goku tastes." Chi-Chi interrupted, speaking in a soft tone, realization filling her soul, as if the floodgates had just been opened. Why hadn’t she seen this before?
"Yeah… And then Vejita’s behavior after the battle. It all makes sense now." Bulma said in the same tone. "Maybe this is why he left me." She thought, tears peaking around at the corners of her eyes.
"I can’t believe this. It’s disgusting." Chi-Chi whispered, dropping her gaze to the tabletop.
"I guess we’re just going to have to learn to live with it." Gohan said.
This was all Piccolo could handle. It was hard to watch as their puny minds finally understood things that should have been obvious to them. Slowly, he stood.
"I’m going back to Kami’s temple." He said simply, waiting for a nod from Gohan before he blasted off.
"I just… I just can’t believe it. It’s so disgusting." Chi-Chi repeated, adding a little bit more feeling to it this time.
Some time passed before the silence was broken by an uproar of giggling.
Goten and Trunks crawled out from under one of the other tables, giggling and carrying on.
"Oh, Goten… How long have you been under there?" Chi-Chi asked, motioning for her son to sit in her lap.
Goten shrugged, watching as his best friend crawled up into an empty chair.
"Did you hear what we were saying?" Bulma questioned, looking to her son.
"Yeah, but we already knew. You can tell by the way they smell." Goten said, leaning forward and resting his elbows on the tabletop.
"Maybe…" Gohan said, "Maybe Vejita’s done something to Dad. A while back when Piccolo came over to train, Vejita was telling Dad what to do, and Dad was doing it."
"I don’t know. Goku’s always been the type to follow his own heart." Bulma said, remembering back when she was just a teenager. Goku was just a child then, tagging along with her on an adventure to find the dragon balls. He was always doing what he thought was right, helping others, and saving the world.
"I don’t know. I guess there really isn’t anything we can do about it," Chi-Chi said through a sigh, "Well, Goten, you ready to go?"
Bulma smiled serenely, watching as Chi-Chi, Gohan, Goten, and Ox King sped away in a large red hover car. Pushing all the crazy thoughts from her mind, she joined her mother, helping clean up.
