Goten watched his two friends quizzically. He didn’t think he would never be able to understand their very confusing and tumultuous relationship. Watching them fight and argue with each other was enough to remind him of the day when he had unintentionally stumbled into one of Bulma and Vejiita’s many furious verbal brawls. It had been almost frightening to see that much anger in Bulma’s eyes, and to watch her hurl household items at the Saiya-jin no Ouji, aiming to kill. Vejiita, calm and cool as ever, had merely taunted her as she ranted, a smirk on his face the entire time. He knew that if he waited long enough, she would eventually calm down and leave him alone --- that was why he won most of their arguments. She was a furiously strong debater, and had an iron will, but unfortunately, Vejiita had more stamina.

That was just about the way that Trunks and Tayhei worked, except for the minor problem of the role reversal. It always seemed to be Tayhei that remained poised and emotionless, while Trunks practically had a heart attack yelling at her. He smiled, knowing that Trunks had inherited more from his mother than he would like to admit. His friend would like to think that he was more like his father. He may get annoyed with him sometimes and not understand him, but Goten knew that Trunks looked up to his father more than anyone else on the planet. He had definitely picked up a few traits from him, such as the vein that Tayhei pointed out, and that terrible scowl. And sometimes in rare moments of supreme arrogance and pride, Trunks even displayed ‘the smirk’.

He knew that Tayhei was a very sweet girl; she had been kind to him from the very first day that he met her. But she did not seem to treat Trunks with that same friendly attitude. Normally it was fine with Goten --- more often than not it was pretty entertaining, but at the moment, he felt bad for his friend. Trunks needed a lot of support right now. He just lost his mother, and possibly his father, and had to put his own life on hold in order to take care of his little sister. Goten was afraid that if his friend had to take on anymore stress, he just might snap. And as his best friend, it was his duty to make sure that nothing like that ever happened.

He would simply have to talk with Tayhei. He looked over at the girl thoughtfully. She was standing on at the edge of the stream, looking down at the crystal clear water with calm green eyes. Her hands were behind her back, holding onto the hat the she had been wearing earlier. Her long legs poked out from under her tiny white dress, looking impossibly smooth and soft. There was no questioning the fact that she was a beautiful girl. Actually, he didn’t know why Trunks complained so often about living with her. It would be nice just to have something that visually appealing walking around the house every day. She did not know Trunks as well as he did, and probably wasn’t aware of the fact that he was carrying much more stress than he could handle right now. She was a kind, rational girl, and he knew that if he asked her to take a break from bashing the lavender haired warrior, she would.

As Trunks and Bra packed up the blanket and the dishes and placed them into the picnic basket, he smiled. Bra was quick to forgive and forget; a luxury that often came with young age. She giggled as they tried to fit everything into the basket, her curly ponytail bouncing behind her, the ribbon askew. Trunks was a good older brother, especially as of late. He was trying hard; anyone could see that. And he knew that even if Vejiita really did abandon them, the two of them would probably be okay in the end. But he hoped that it would never have to go that far. He truly believed that their father would be back eventually. No man could stay away from his family for too long.

Except for my own father….He thought to himself. But that was an old issue, and one that had been forgiven long ago. It was sometimes difficult to understand his father’s logic; his mind was so pure and simple that it sometimes became more of a puzzle than a mind more complex. His father had done what he did to protect them --- protecting them was always the first and most important thing to him. And perhaps that was the way that Vejiita felt as well. Grief worked in funny ways, and it was obvious that the Saiya-jin no Ouji was feeling a great deal of it at the moment. Maybe he was simply protecting his family from himself. Until he was healed up and ready to be a parent again, he was going to simply stay away from them.

Fighting off the heat of the summer afternoon, ChiChi and her husband sat inside the Son House. All of the windows had been opened to allow the fresh breeze to come in, and it had filled the house with the scent of the forest that surrounded them. It was cool inside the shelter of their home, and she had furthered that feeling by fixing them both a tall glass of ice-cold lemonade. Her glass was still at her side, only half consumed, but Gokuu was already on his fifth glass. She smiled, imagining what dinner was going to be like. With a houseful of hungry Saiya-jins, she very nearly cleaned out the grocery store every time that she went shopping. It took her at least two hours just to cook the meals, and barely had time to eat herself. Not that she minded. She fully enjoyed cooking for her husband and their family. And as of late, all of them had been taking turns doing the dishes. Even Koronu had attempted to wash the plates and glass, succeeding only in breaking most of them. She shook her head with a smile, wondering how they would ever survive without her.

Turning her attention back to Gokuu, she smiled as she watched her husband work. They were sitting cross-legged on the floor, digging through a small mound of boxes that had just been brought out of storage. She was going to need some bigger clothes soon, and she had long since packed them away, thinking that she would never need them again. Gokuu, who was being perhaps too concerned about her condition, insisted that he bring the boxes down himself and help her.

Some of the clothes were very old; clothes that she had gotten when she was pregnant with Gohan. They were out of style and rather odd looking, but would do just fine when she needed them. They were good and sturdy, made of strong, soft fabrics. The larger portion of clothes were newer ones, and some she had never even worn. They were much more attractive than her older clothes; the kind of clothes that managed to make even pregnant women look cute. Most of them had been gifts from Bulma, who had made it her mission for a few months to try and cheer her up. She had dragged her to the local shopping center and made her try on clothes for literally hours before she was satisfied. As annoying as it was at the time, ChiChi looked back on it fondly now. Her friend had been extremely kind to do such a thing for her, and to make an effort to lighten her spirits.

She watched as her husband pulled a very familiar dress out of the box. She stiffened slightly, grief falling over her like a thick blanket as she recognized it. It was a light lavender color with darker stitching and exquisite detail. She knew without even touching it that it was soft, could practically feel the silk on her skin again. She stared, not sure what to think as her husband turned the dress over in his hands.

“This one’s really nice.” He said, nodding at her.

She looked down. “Yamucha bought that for me. He helped me out a lot back then. He was always around to keep me company.”

It was a supreme understatement, and it hurt her to have to put it in so simple of terms. What he had done for her while she was pregnant with Goten was perhaps one of the kindest things that anyone had ever done for her. He had kept her company, as she said, but he had also been a very, very good friend to her. Perhaps too good of a friend, for it ultimately led him to think that there was a possibility for romance. She had turned him down, and it had hurt her badly to do so. He withdrew from her quickly and resentfully, and she was left with no one at all. She couldn’t even count the number of times back then that she hated herself for what she had done. She had hurt him, hurt him terribly. It was years ago of course, so many years that one might begin to forget, but every moment had been burned into her memory. Especially now that Yamucha was gone, it made it hard for her to think about those times.

“You were lonely?” Gokuu asked, and it startled her out of her thoughts.

She sighed, and fished another dress out of the box in front of her, folding it skillfully in her lap. “Of course I was lonely, Gokuu. I was alone and pregnant.”

He nodded, his handsome face thoughtful. “Yamucha sure was kind to keep you company, then.”

She wasn’t quite sure how he would feel if he ever knew what had happened between her and Yamucha. It had been mostly innocent of course. He had been there to comfort her, and she had accepted that comfort, even encouraged it, because she was lonely and depressed. She did not realize what was going on --- what Yamucha felt for her, until it was too late to turn back. And she had ended it. Theirs had never been a romance; it never could have been a romance. Still though, she had doubts that her husband would be happy if he ever found out. Gokuu had never shown a single sign of jealousy in all of their lives together, but then, he never had a reason to be jealous before.

“Yes, I suppose he was very kind.” She answered, distracted.

“You know, the last thing that he said to me was that I didn’t deserve to have you. He said that you deserved to be treated better, and if I didn’t do it, someone else would. I keep thinking about it. The last thing that he said to me was in anger.”

His words brought her attention back to him immediately, and she tilted her head to stare at him. His normally cheerful face was drawn into an unrecognizable frown. She knew how important his friends were to him, and Yamucha was one of his best and oldest. When he came back to life to fight Buu, he most likely expected to pick the friendship back up right where he left it. There was no way for him to know what went on during his seven year absence. To him, Yamucha had just all of the sudden started acting strangely, and it probably confused him. For someone as kind and well meaning as Gokuu, his was probably something pretty devastating to him. She felt bad that she was the reason why their last words to each other had not been friendly. That was never something that she would have wished for. Now though, she could at least soothe Gokuu a little, by giving him a bit of insight into Yamucha’s life.

“Gokuu….He didn’t mean it that way.” She told him, and she reached a gentle hand out to touch his shoulder. With her touch, he seemingly relaxed, and she looked into his dark eyes. “It wasn’t you. Gokuu, you could never hurt anyone. Yamucha was just jealous.”

His brow furrowed in confusion. “Jealous of what?”

“Of….you.” She said quietly. “Of you and me.”

“What do you mean?”

She paused, trying to think of the best way to approach this. She didn’t want to upset him by making him believe that there had been more to her and Yamucha’s friendship than it seemed. They were in a good place right now, and the last thing she wanted to do was complicate it by bringing up more dramatic issues. It was all in the past, and most of those memories with him were things that she needed to forget. It would not be wise to tell him everything. But still, he had a right to know why his friend had been so upset with him before he died.

“You may not have known this, Gokuu, but Yamucha was a very lonely man. Very lonely, and very sad. I think he just wanted what you had: someone to take care of and love. Towards the end of his life, I really think that’s all he wanted: to be with someone. He wanted it so badly sometimes that I think it all but consumed him.” She took a deep breath. “I think that he saw me as something that might be able to ease his pain. But he was looking for comfort in the wrong place. You were gone for seven years, Gokuu. That’s a long time for someone to be alone. But I never gave up on you.”

She could see in his eyes that he understood, and that she had placed her words carefully enough so that he was not upset. He looked sad though, more sad than he had originally appeared. She couldn’t begin to imagine what was going on inside of his head, but his eyes were troubled. She assumed that he was thinking about Yamucha replacing him, or what might have happened if he had never come back to them.

“It might have been nice for Goten to have a father.” He said carefully, sadly.

She smiled at him, tears forming in her eyes at his kind and simple words. No one except for her husband could have said such a thing at such a moment. She reached for his hands, and took the lavender silk dress out of his hands and placed it on the floor beside her. Her hands remained on his, and she looked steadily into his eyes, trying desperately to keep herself from crying.

“Goten did have a father.” She told him. “He had the best father in the world! I told him stories about you every single night; I told him what a great man you were, how kind and pure you were. He loved to hear about you; wanted to be just like you. You should have seen the way his eyes would light up every time Gohan or I mentioned you. You have no idea what it meant to him when you came back. I thought his little heart was going to burst from excitement; when I told him that he was going to finally meet the man he had heard so much about, I have never seen a little boy so excited. No one, absolutely no one could have taken your place as his father.”

He looked down, and it seemed to her as if he had stopped breathing all together. “Could anyone have taken my place as your husband?”

She shook her head slowly, and this time the tears did indeed come, sparkling down her cheeks instantaneously. “I always had a secret hope that you would one day come back. I never gave up on that hope. I clung to it for seven years, and I swear that it was the only thing that kept me alive at some days. No. No, I don’t think that anyone could ever have taken your place. As far as I was concerned, you had never left.

He was quiet for a moment, then stroked her hand softly and asked a question that seemed to be very painful for him. “Not even Yamucha?”

No, not Yamucha, not anyone. Staring into his eyes now, she knew that she could never bring herself to love anyone except for her husband. He really honestly meant everything to her, and she had never loved another human being so much before. Even if she had agreed to be with Yamucha, even if they had a picture perfect life together, she would never stop loving her husband. She would have been a good wife, like she had always been. She would have cleaned and cooked and performed all of her duties as a wife and mother to the best of her ability. She would have been kind and thoughtful towards him, and she would have based her entire life around his. But she would never stop loving Son Gokuu. Even though she knew Yamucha would have treated her and Goten, and Gohan very well, she would have never been truly happy. Because her heart belonged to only one man, and no matter how many times he left her, she would always, always love him.

“No,” She said softly, and ignoring her tears, she reached up and kissed him gently. “Not even Yamucha. Not anyone. Not ever.”

Her eyes closed and her body completely relaxed and still, Koronu sat on the lawn in front of the Son House. Even her tail, which often had a mind of its own, was unmoving and obedient, wrapped around her waist. Her legs were tucked around her in a position that she had first felt uncomfortable in, but had since grown used to. The idea of meditating had come from Piccolo, of course, because he always seemed so at ease with himself and so peaceful. After years of being so tormented and abused, Koronu felt as though she could use a little bit of that inner peace. Of course, it was hard not to find the idea of meditating funny. Years ago, if someone had told her that she would one day be seated in the grass meditating in the style of a Namek, she would have laughed in her face. But she did not mind it now. It was helpful, even pleasant at times.

Life on the planet was all about change, and she knew that she had to adjust in order to survive. She was happy here; she adored her family and enjoyed sparring with her son, her grandsons, and occasionally the Namek himself. She was happier in this place than she had been in a very long time, and for once she could live without fear. Things on Earth were different than they had been on Sukuashi --- different than planet Vejiita as well. The main difference was that there was no fear. It was not the cutthroat society that she was used to living in. She had nothing to worry about here on this planet. She felt safe, and she felt cared for. Humans were a weak race, and the only inhabitants of this planet that would even be worthy adversaries were no threat to her at all. Most of them, she thought with a smile, were members of her own family.

However, as she began to float up off of the green grass and into the air, her mind began to pick up on small signs of danger. It was very subtle, and very dim, but she knew that she could sense something out there. She had been feeling this for awhile lately, though she did not know what it was. Her mind searched, desperate to find some sign or clue of what it was that was filling her heart with dread. However, as she concentrated, her dark brows furrowing and sweat dripping down her temple, she could find nothing. She could see nothing in her mind except for the color red, which she took as a sign of danger.

She opened her eyes again, and gently floated back down into the soft grass. It was frustrating, knowing that there was something out there but being unable to see it. Uncurling her legs and her tail, she looked back towards the Son House. ChiChi would be starting dinner soon --- the poor woman had to cook for three full grown Saiya-jins. She did not wish to miss the meal, but knew that she needed to talk to someone about whatever it was that she had just felt.