Goten felt his whole world fall apart with just that one sentence. He stared at his father, disbelieving, in shock, in denial. The room seemed to quiet, with Bulma’s slow, understanding nod. They were turning around. They were leaving ChiChi.

“No.” He whispered. “Tousan, you can’t be serious.”

His eyes welled up with tears. He knew his parents had their problems; that was rather obvious. But somehow he believed all along that his father really did love her. And even though he wasn’t around much, he still believed that his father loved him, too. Gokuu was ignorant and stupid sometimes, but there would always be a special place in his heart for them. At least, that was what Goten always believed, no matter how long Gokuu was gone or what Trunks said to him about it. But now, staring at him, he couldn’t even believe that this man was his father, let alone that he loved them. No one would abandon their wife like that, disappoint their family like that. Anger started to spread through his viens, slowly building and building behind his dark eyes.

“Hai, I have to, Goten. If anything happened to Marron….” Gokuu explained, burying his head in his hands. “If there were any other way; if I could save her any other way….”

“Shut up, kisama!” Goten screamed, suddenly snapping. “You wouldn’t have saved her! You’ve never been there for us! And now you’re taking away the only family I have left!”

“Goten.” Gokuu’s expression was hurt. “Goten, you have to understand.”

Goten nodded, pure hate dark in his eyes. “Oh, I understand. I understand perfectly. You’re going to abandon Kaasan when she needs you the most. Of course. That’s just like you.”

“Goten….” Gokuu pleaded.

“Shut up. I don’t want to talk to you. Ever again.” Goten growled. He stood up quickly, startling everyone in the room. “When we get back to Earth, I’m going to go save my mom, and I don’t care if I have to do it by myself. If no one else is going to care about her --- I will.”

“Is Goten okay?” Yamucha asked, looking up from his food as Gohan entered the room. Almost everyone else had left, except for Tayhei who was busy at the stove, making cookies. Yamucha didn’t know if it was a good thing to talk about with the girl right there, but he was concerned. A part of him --- the most secret part --- had always considered Goten to be his own son. An attachment had grown during his time with ChiChi, during her pregnancy and beyond that, that he just couldn’t deny. Seeing Goten so torn up earlier had almost made Yamucha physically ill. He wanted nothing more than to reach out and wrap the boy up in a hug; to let him know that he had someone that cared.

Gohan paused for a second, looking over at Tayhei wearily. He plopped down into an empty chair at the table. “I think he will be. But right now he’s really anger --- and rightfully so. I understand why my father chose to turn around --- if it were Pan and not Marron, we’d be headed back so fast….But I just can’t believe he’d leave Kaasan like that.”

Yamucha raised his eyebrows. “He’s left her before.”

Gohan looked at him thoughtfully. “That’s true, but this is rather different. He’s leaving his own wife to save someone else. Or rather, two other people.” He looked at Tayhei. “I think everyone was so caught up with Marron that they didn’t realize Tayhei’s life was in danger as well.”

Tayhei spun around slowly, a grim look on her face. “I’m 19 years old. I’m an adult and I can make my own decisions.” She informed them. “Besides, I’m actually quite useful. As Bulma’s lab assistant, I know everything there is to know about this ship. I could even fly it if I wanted to.”

She paused for a moment, then bit her lip. “Are you sure Goten’s going to be okay? It was awful to see him so upset.”

“Don’t worry, Goten will be fine.” Gohan comforted, then he smiled warmly. “From what I hear, the two of you are pretty good friends. I'm sure he’d be glad to see you if you went in to visit him. Maybe you could take some of those cookies with you.”

Tayhei beamed. “I’ll do that.” She gathered up a plateful of fresh cookies and exited the room, humming softly under her breath.

“Yamucha, I’m really worried.” Gohan said after she had left. “I’ve never seen Goten act like this before. It’s scary. He won’t even talk to me, and it’s never been that way before. After Tousan left, I really tried to be there for Goten, and even though I had my own family, I always made time for him. We used to talk all the time. But lately….Lately I’m just not sure anymore. I really think he is having serious problems.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Yamucha asked, suddenly uncomfortable.

Gohan paused for a second, looking just as uncomfortable. “Look, Yamucha. I’m not completely ignorant. I know there was something….” He trailed off and spoke in a lower tone. “Something between you and Kaasan. Whatever it was, and however it ended, I know you still hold a special place in her heart.”

Yamucha let out the breath he had been holding in and felt tears threatening to come. “How did….How did you know?”

“Sometimes, I think it would be impossible not to see how much you loved her. It was so apparent back then, and even now sometimes too.” Gohan said softly. “And before, I hated you for it. I thought you were trying to replace my dad, to take away my family. But now, I realize that you helped us all more than anything. Especially Kaasan. For once, she felt wanted --- needed. And for Goten, he was able to feel that someone really truly cared for him, even way back then.”

He took a deep breath and continued. “You were really there for him, especially when he was younger, and that’s important to him. If he won’t talk to me, and he won’t talk to Tousan, maybe he’ll talk to you.”

Yamucha nodded slowly. “I’ll talk to him.”

Gohan didn’t reply, but simply dropped his head down on the kitchen table, looking as though he were about to cry. Yamucha stood up from the table and pushed his chair in slowly, not wanting to disturb the boy. His heart was aching. For Gohan, for Goten, especially for ChiChi. The happy Son family appeared as though it were being ripped apart, and Yamucha almost couldn’t stand it. If only, he thought. If only things had been different. If only ChiChi had let me into her heart….He walked to the doorway in a daze, remembering all of the moments he and ChiChi had shared together in years past. All of the laughter and the pain, the joy and wonder of having Goten, and the anguish that came after she told him that she could never love him back.

Just when he thought he might lose it, Gohan’s rough voice caught his ears. “Yamucha, if anyone could have taken his place, if anyone could have made her just as happy --- it was you.”

“I know.” Yamucha said softly, and continued walking. “I know.”

Videl found him in the kitchen; his forehead resting on the table top and his arms limp at his sides. Every once and awhile, he’d let out a frustrated sigh. She smiled, and brushed back a strand of her dark hair. He was so peculiar sometimes, but that was what she loved about him. She approached him quietly, knowing that no matter how silent she was, he’d still know she was there.

“Gohan sweetheart? Is something wrong?” She asked him, bending down so that she was level with his eyes. With soothing hands, she gently massaged his shoulders, giving him an encouraging smile.

He rose his head to stare into her light blue eyes, and his frown lost a little of it’s intensity. He took her hands in his hand squeezed. “I finally talked to Yamucha about….well, you know.”

“ChiChi.”

“Hai.” He closed his eyes. “God, that was hard. But Goten needed someone to talk to, and he wouldn’t talk to me….I thought he might talk to Yamucha at least. The two of them always seemed rather close. Besides, I had to get that off of my chest. I wonder if Tousan knows.”

“Well, if it had been me, and not your mother, would you want to know?” She pointed out. “I think some things are better left unsaid. And Gokuu has enough on his mind at the moment. I don’t think you should add to his troubles.”

“I can’t believe we’re going back. I can’t believe we’re leaving her.” Gohan said with a sigh.

Videl frowned. “I just keep thinking about Pan. I know that if it were Pan instead of Marron, I’d want to go home too. I’d just want her to be safe. I can really sympathize with Kuririn.”

Pan. Her heart began that familiar ahce. She missed her little girl feircely. She was trying desperately not to think about it, but every once in a while, she swore she could hear Pan’s giggle, or feel those tiny little hands tugging at her arm. Though she’d never admit it to anyone --- anyone --- she was secretly glad to be going back. She cared about ChiChi, of course, but she missed Pan so badly that it canceled out any of the love she had for her mother in law. And it really wasn’t fair. ChiChi had been more than loving to her, and had been so kind to her. She felt terribly guilty about all of it, but she couldn’t help but want to return to Earth.

“I can sympathize with Kuririn too, but I also think that Marron would have been safe. Tayhei too.” He added. “They both seem like they could take care of themselves, especially Tayhei. Besides, we’d have someone watching over them, right?”

“I suppose there is no use in arguing.” Videl answered back, feeling slightly angry. “The decision has already been made.”

Gohan looked thoughtful. “I know Bulma has other, smaller ships that we could take once we got back to Earth. We wouldn’t really have to wait months for her to recharge this one. Of course, that would really increase the danger because we wouldn’t have as much man-power.”

Videl narrowed her eyes. “You’re going to go rescue ChiChi by yourself?”

He met her eyes. “Well, someone has to do it. I’m not about to let Goten run off and do it by himself. He’ll only get himself hurt, especially if he’s as emotionally distrubed as he is now. Going into battle full of blind anger or hatred will only get yourself killed.”

“Why you?!” She demanded. “Why not someone else?”

“Videl….” He tried to explain, but she inturrupted.

“I thought you weren’t going to be a hero! Isn’t that what you promised me? ‘Don’t be a hero’. Isn’t that what I said? ‘I promise, Videl.’. Isn’t that what you said?” She cried, ripping her hands away from his.

He looked away. “Things change, Videl. Kaasan’s life is at stake. I can’t just ignore that. She needs help, and I can’t just abandon her.”

“So what? You’re just going to go around breaking promises? Because things change?” Videl put her hands on her hips. “That’s no way to live a life, Gohan.”

“It’s my mother, Videl!” He stressed. “I have to do something to make up for it all. I have to do something to thank her for all that she’s done for me. I feel so guilty sometimes….”

“Well, I think you’ve forgotten who you’re real family is.” Videl retorted. “I’m here for you, Pan’s here for you. You can’t go traipsing off to some other planet by yourself! What if something happened to you? I don’t want to live the rest of my life without a husband. I don’t want my daughter to have to grow up without her father. Don’t be a hero, Gohan! It’s that simple! You promised me!”

He bit his lip. “I’m sorry, Videl, I really am, but I’m going to have to break that promise.”

She stared at him for a moment, then shook her head, tears forming in her sky blue eyes. “Fine.” She slammed a palm down on the kitchen table, shaking it. “Fine!”

As she turned to walk away, the ship suddenly lurched to the left, and Videl stumbled slightly. A low rumbling noise began and the whole ship seemed to be shaking. A coffee cup on the kitchen counter top fell over the edge and shattered to the floor. Tayhei’s cookies fell off the plate and slid around the table, vibrating along the smooth surface. Videl looked back at Gohan in question, to startled to forget the fact that she was angry with him.

“What is that?” She asked.

A peircing alarm started going off, and the ship continued to shake, even more violently than before. Gohan stood up, and the two of them looked around the kitchen in concern. The intercom, a small black box in the corner of the kitchen suddenly sprang to life, admitting a bit of fuzz before Bulma’s voice was heard.

“Please, I need absolutely everyont to the control room immediately! This is urgent!” She cried, and they could hear several rumblings over the intercom. “We are under attack! I repeat, the ship is under attack!”

Chapter 33
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