She worked quickly and methodically under the hot afternoon sun, her arms bare and muscular as she moved. She reached down and pulled another sheet from the basket on the ground, snapping it out in front of her before pinning it on the clothesline. She smoothed it out quickly to get rid of any stray wrinkles, loving the soft smooth feel of the white cotton beneath her fingers. This was the kind of work that ChiChi enjoyed. Good old-fashioned housework never failed to clear her mind of any kind of trouble. There was something soothing about working out in the sun, constantly moving from one task to another, never wasting any moments on thought. She was so deep into her work that she didn’t even notice her husband standing behind her. She backed into him and immediately scrambled away, nearly falling over in surprise.

As she whirled around, her shocked face dropped out of fear and turned into a mixture of annoyance and relief. “Gokuu! You just about scared me to death!”

He grinned at her, and placed on her loose hair, stroking gently. She knew he preferred it when she wore her hair down, so she had been trying to do it more often. It made her chores a bit more difficult, but it was worth it just to feel his hands moving through her hair. “Sorry, ChiChi. I just wanted to come back and let you know what was going on.”

“Well, why don’t we go inside, then?” She suggested. It was too hot to stay idle out here, and she had been thinking of going in anyway for a glass of water. Besides, she knew that Gokuu would probably want to talk with the others as well. As the two of them started for the house, ChiChi lost herself in thought, thinking of all the things that had managed to happen to them in just the course of a few hours. All of the concentration and aversions the housework had provided were suddenly lost, and her mind went over all of the events, nearly agonizing over them. She’d never tell anyone of course, but whenever there was a threat on the Earth, she nearly went sick with worry. She wasn’t concerned about herself --- that wasn’t it at all. She was concerned for her family. She was truly blessed and truly proud to the wife of the strongest man in the universe, but such strength had its downfall as well. Every time the planet was threatened, she had to worry about losing him again.

Lost in thought and not really conscious of what she was saying, ChiChi began to rattle out the circumstances of all the recent events, talking so fast that she could scarcely understand herself. “Kuririn arrived just a little while ago with Gohan and Videl. The poor man is just devastated, Gokuu. You should have seen the look on his face when he came to the door; I’ve never seen him look like that before. This whole thing really shook him up. I guess Juuhachi-gou left sometime during the night, saying that something was wrong with her and she needed to get away from him. He left this morning with the intention of bringing her back home….The only good news is that Marron is awake and perfectly fine --- just a few bruises and scratches, and a pulled muscle in one of her legs.”

“Does she know yet?”

“Hai.” ChiChi answered, thinking of Marron’s sad eyes, and how small and helpless she had looked when she was laying lifelessly in that bed. She really was a sweet girl and didn’t really deserve any of this. “She and Kuririn already had a talk. She’s being very brave about it, though I can only imagine how upset she must be.”

Gokuu opened the front door for her, looking down at her face as she walked into the house. She was comforted by the gentleness in his eyes and the smile on his face; Gokuu normally looked at everything optimistically, but it looked as though he truly had hope that things were going to work out perfectly this time. It wasn’t like the struggle she had seen in him right before the fight with Cell --- he looked confident now, and not just for her sake. When he placed a hand on the small of her back and guided her into the living room, she felt a sudden weight lifted off of her shoulders. Perhaps things really were going to work out.

As if reading her mind, Gokuu spoke up, and gave her a familiar, cheerful grin. “Well, it might be all over with now. We captured both of the jinzouningen and Mirai Bulma is working on them right now. Hopefully they’ll be back to normal soon.”

Gohan was just beginning to get stressed, when it felt as if a beam of sunlight had been let loose in the room. Almost instantly, his heart and mind relaxed and he nearly sighed in relief. He knew that this kind of feeling could only come from one person, the person that had always managed to lift his spirits. His father must have returned, must have come by to give them a report on what was happening. He was grateful for it. The news had stopped covering the events in Satan City, because the fight between Vejiita and Juuhachi-gou had created too much smoke and rubble. All they were left with was just the ability to feel ki, and that didn’t comfort him much. He wanted to know details. He sat up from the couch and angled his head toward the kitchen, still softly holding onto Videl’s hand. When he saw his father come around the corner and into the living room, his suspicion was confirmed. A grin appeared on his face, and he waved. “Otousan! I was wondering when you were going to show up.”

Upon seeing Gokuu, Pan let out a delighted squeal and took off towards her grandfather, running at full speed for his leg. “Ojiisan!”

Gokuu reached down and picked her up, setting her safely on his shoulders. Gohan smiled. Pan loved her grandfather so much, and Gokuu was so good with her. That didn’t really surprise him too much though; his father had always been so kind and patient with him. His father loved children. Gohan suspected this was partially because his father was basically a child himself. To further prove that point, Gokuu gave him a sloppy, boyish grin. “Where is Kuririn?”

Gohan had anticipated that question. His father and Kuririn were really close, and he knew that they would want to talk. As much as he wanted to hear the details of the battle that had gone on, he knew he would have to wait. Kuririn’s sanity and well-being was far more important than getting the news. He pointed towards the doorway with his head, giving his father a grim smile. “He headed out back, towards the stream. I think he just wanted some time to himself. It’s been a pretty hard day, especially for him and Marron. She’s upstairs sleeping right now, but she’s just fine. Okaasan took good care of her.”

“Well, I think I’ll go out and talk to him.” Gokuu decided, and then he turned towards Pan with a look of regret. He handed her off to Videl, careful to see that she wasn’t dropped, then gave the girl a wink. “Pan-chan, maybe we can spar when I get back, okay?”

Pan agreed of course, always eager to learn something from her grandfather. And Gokuu exited the room quietly, heading for the small stream that they used for fishing and swimming. Gohan watched him go, deciding that there was no one else on Earth who could possibly cheer up Kuririn at a time like this. It was impossible not to be happy when you were with his father. His smile alone was enough to bring out the child in anyone. Besides, judging by the closeness of their relationship, his father was probably the best person to talk to Kuririn anyway. Other than his family, Kuririn wasn’t that close to anyone but Gokuu.

Videl however, looked a bit apprehensive. She held onto Pan tightly, watching Gokuu disappear into the woods through the window. She looked back at Gohan, furrowing her brow. “Do you think it’s a good idea for him to go and talk to Kuririn right now? I thought he wanted to be alone.”

“No one knows Kuririn better than my father.” Gohan assured her gently. “He wouldn’t be going out there right now if he didn’t think Kuririn needed someone to talk to.”

Gokuu approached Kuririn quietly, trying to make his mind about what he would say. Something needed to be said, that was certain. But Gokuu had never been very good with words, especially during situations like this. Unlike Gokuu, Kuririn tended to be a bit more pessimistic, and it was hard to pull him out of that kind of mood when he dug himself in deep enough. And looking at his face, Gokuu could tell that Kuririn was already buried. His normally happy eyes were downcast, staring blindly at the long blades of grass between his fingers. He was sitting in a casual position, but Gokuu could see the tension in his muscles. His brow was drawn close together in thought, and his mouth was occasionally pulled down into a frown. Gokuu took note of the fishing pole at his friend’s side. It had been pushed into the ground for balance, and the line was dangling into the crystal clear water of the stream below them.

Gokuu smiled, and took a seat next to his friend in the grass. “Are you catching anything?”

As if he hadn’t noticed him there at all, Kuririn looked over at him in surprise, then recoiled back into depression. He gestured toward the fishing pole slightly and let out a nervous laugh. “I’m not really trying. I just brought it out here so that I would look like I was actually doing something. I thought I might want to fish once I actually got out here, but my heart just wasn’t in it. I didn’t even bait the line.”

“Fish sounds awfully good for dinner, though.” Gokuu observed, and rubbed a hand over his already hungry stomach. No matter how often he ate, it seemed as though his appetite never dimmed. He didn’t think there had ever been a time when he was truthfully full. And the big fish that swam in the stream were among his favorites for dinner. ChiChi was such an excellent cook, and it made it even more satisfying to know that he had supplied the meal. He liked that. Whenever he brought a fish home, it almost seemed as if he and ChiChi had made dinner together, as if it had been a joint effort.

“I’m not really hungry. But if you want fish for dinner, go ahead.” Kuririn gestured towards the fishing pole again, indicating that Gokuu could use it if he wanted.

Gokuu took him up on the offer and held the pole in his strong hands, baiting the line before he plopped it back out into the water. Kuririn seemed to be a little more upset than Gokuu originally thought he would be. It was understandable of course, but Gokuu didn’t think he’d ever seen his friend so depressed. It made him sad to see him this way, and to know that there was really nothing he could do about it. He tried to gather his thoughts together, tried to think of what he was supposed to say during a time like this. Fortunately, Kuririn spoke up first.

He brought his hands down, idly playing with the long blades of grass beneath his shoe. He didn’t bring his eyes up to meet Gokuu’s, just spoke in a soft, sad voice. “You know, I always thought I was so lucky.”

“Lucky?”

Kuririn shrugged, and began to fiddle with his shoelace. “I always kind of envied you; you had a wife that took care of you and would do anything for you. I was kind of scared of ChiChi, but at the same time, I always wished that I had someone to take care of me like that. And when I saw Juuhachi-gou, it felt like I might finally have a chance. When she actually returned my affection, I considered myself to be amazingly lucky. I don’t know if you’ve noticed this or not, but Juuhachi-gou is the most gorgeous woman on the face of the Earth. And she loved me, you know? She slept next to me every night, patted me on the head, smiled at me, laughed with me….”

Kuririn trailed off and his eyes began to shine with tears, tears that Gokuu had expected, but didn’t want. Gokuu wasn’t the kind of person who thought that tears were something to be ashamed of, but he wasn’t exactly sure how he was supposed to comfort his friend. Whenever ChiChi cried, he would just hold her and repeatedly kiss the top of her head until she was okay again. But the thought of doing that with Kuririn was almost laughable. He had a feeling that his friend wouldn’t be too happy about being kissed on the top of the head like that. He adjusted the fishing pole in his hands and looked over at Kuririn with a serious expression. He had a feeling that he had more to say.

“She was a good woman.” Kuririn continued, still looking down at the ground with extreme concentration. “She did her best to be a good wife, and did her best to raise Marron the right way and give her everything that she needed. She learned to be a normal human being, learned to live a normal life. And now, it’s like none of that ever even existed. It’s like she was never mine, like nothing changed since I first saw her step out of Gero’s laboratory. Everything we had together doesn’t even count anymore.”

Gokuu immediately shook his head, and furrowed his brow as he stared at his friend’s heartbreakingly sad face. “No, that’s not true at all. I don’t think she could ever forget her family. You and Marron gave her what no one else would give her: love. You supported her and encouraged her and gave her back the piece of her life that Dr. Gero took away. Whatever it is that’s happening to her now, it isn’t her fault. I’m sure that inside, she’s struggling with this just as much as you are. And when it’s all over with, she’ll come back to you. Family just isn’t something that you forget about.”

Kuririn looked up for a moment, tilted his head to look at the sky above their heads. “I hope so.”

Marron sat alone on the bed, not really sleeping but resting. ChiChi had insisted that she lay down again, saying that she was never going to get better if she over exerted herself on the first day. Everyone else had agreed, and she was banished back up to the same room that she had woken up in. At least ChiChi had given her something else to eat: a half eaten bowl of rice sat on the bedside table, and Marron was still drinking the soda that she had given her earlier, after she had woken up. She sighed softly, stretching out her sore leg in front of her and admiring the bruises and scrapes along her shin. She was glad to have made it out with just these scratches and bruises. She knew how powerful Juunana-gou was. Her mother had told her everything about their past, and she knew what they were both capable of. Juunana-gou could have easily killed her if it hadn’t been for Piccolo.

The thought of killing made her heart ache again, and she stared at the far wall, trying to concentrate on the small family photo that was hung there. She didn’t really want to think about her mother or the people that had been killed in Satan City. She was trying to keep calm and be strong for her father, but she simply couldn’t do that if she let her mind wander. If she started thinking about what her mother had done, she would lose it. She had to keep a clear head and look at things from a rational point of view. There was no sense in being childish about these things. It had happened, it was over, and there was nothing that she could do about it.

So many people.

Her eyes welled up with tears and she sank deeper into the pillows behind her. There was no use fooling herself. Her mother had just murdered an entire city full of innocent people. No one expected her to look at that in a positive light --- there wasn’t anything even remotely positive about it. It made her feel so small and helpless to know that there was nothing she could do. She couldn’t make her mother stop, and she certainly couldn’t take back all of the horror. It made her sick to think about all of the lives that had been lost today. It was simply too much, just too much for a young girl to handle.