Chapter Text
Chi-Chi sighed as she leaned against her shovel, wiping sweat from her face. The vegetable garden seemed impossibly large as she surveyed her days' work. It would not be long until harvest and she idly wondered if she would be in any state to actually harvest by the fall.
Hands running across her stomach she tried to remember how long it was before her pregnancy with Gohan began to slow her down. Though she was younger then, and had a husband around to help her. One of the few times in her marriage that she had her husband around. Sighing, Chi-Chi returned to the garden directing her anger at problems she could solve.
She had just told Gohan the day before that he was about to become an older brother. At four months she could no longer hide her condition. And a visit to the village doctor had confirmed this new baby was healthy and growing. Which had been a relief. As much as she dreaded going through a pregnancy without Goku, going through a miscarrige would have been much worse. There had been others between this new baby and Gohan, that didn't make it this far.
After confiding this in Bulma she had confirmed that humans and Saiyans could make babies, but had a much higher chance of complications in early pregnancy. Though maybe it was just herself and Goku, since that jerk Vegeta managed to have a son. Chi-Chi was crushed, she had always wanted a large family, and having been an only child desperately wanted a sibling for Gohan. Though at least she didn’t have to feed a large half-Saiyan family.
Sighing and stretching her back, she thought, she had wanted a lot of things. A stable income, a big family, a loving husband. Looking back at her empty house she felt the bitter feeling rise in her throat. Swallowing it she turned away from the garden and started back. Gohan would be back from his visit with Dende soon, and she had to get dinner started.
Gohan, her little boy turned, serious young man. Every battle he returned from he seemed farther and farther away from the carefree child he had been. This battle he had come back eyes hard as ice. She barely recognized him. Crying she fell down in front of him full of conflicting emotions. Happy her son was home, devastated her husband was not. And relieved that it was not the other way around.
Piccolo's hand on his shoulder. He told Goku would not be coming home.
Again.
They hugged each other and cried. And at some point Piccolo must have left. Because later when they walked hand in hand back into their home. It was just the two of them.
Again.
At the time she had kept it together as best as she could, at that point they thought, like his year in space it would be temporary. They could get along, just the two of them, until Goku was ready to be wished back.
When Goku didn't come back the both coped in their own ways. Chi-Chi poured herself into housework, cooking, gardening. Anything productive she could do to take her mind off how empty the house seemed now. As if playing the perfect wife could undo her husband's decision.
Gohan had thrown himself into his school work over the last few months. Leaving his room only to help her around the house and do errands in the town at the foot of the mountain. And while Chi-Chi was grateful for her son not going out and training she was worried that he no longer went out into the woods or played with his animal companions.
When he had asked to visit Dende today he hesitated. Backtracking and explaining that if she needed him to stay home and study or to help in the garden that it was perfectly fine and he didn't need to go. Chi-Chi, despite worrying about having her son so far from home for the first time in months, smiled and told him to go. Glad he was visiting someone his own age, even if that someone was technically God.
Chi-Chi turned away from the pot she was stirring as she heard the door open. "I'm in the kitchen sweetie she called, not wanting to leave the pots, covering all four burners unattended. She had not adjusted to cooking for only one half Saiyan, and realized mid cooking that she had made too much, again.
She smiled as Gohan walked in, which quickly turned into a frown as Piccolo followed him in, ducking to avoid hitting his head on the door frame.
"Mom I brought Mister Piccolo over," Gohan said quietly with a shy smile on his face.
"I can see that'' Chi-Chi stood, hands on her hips. She hadn't seen Piccolo since they had summoned Shenlong to bring back Goku.
To try, to bring back Goku. Her mind unhelpfully corrected.
"What brings you back to my house Piccolo?" she said, trying and failing to sound polite.
Piccolo seemed taken aback, blinked, and took a moment before starting. "Gohan has informed me, you will be having a child."
"Yes I will be, I don't see how that is any of your business, unless you're also planning on kidnapping this one." Chi-Chi snapped, "though it is nice you're giving me warning this time instead of just grabbing them and running away for a year leaving me a childless widow. Again."
"Mom!" Shouted Gohan, looking horrified at her outburst.
Piccolo seemed mostly unphased however. "It is not unfair of her to distrust me Gohan, and she is correct to judge my past actions."
Piccolo took a breath before continuing. He had learned enough of Chi-Chi's body language in the last few years of training with the Son's to know he was heading into potentially dangerous territory. And he had learned enough patience from his fusion with Kami to know not to resort to yelling,
"I ...." he started, "want to know how I can be of assistance."
Chi-Chi's eyes narrowed, craning her neck up to try to stare down Piccolo and failing. "I do not need any assistance. Gohan and I have everything full and completely under control." She said and spun back around to her cooking. Furiously stirring.
"From what I understand about human child bearing you will be needing extra assistance, and with Gohan needing to resume his training to control his new power, I can assist with physical tasks." Piccolo continued carefully watching Chi-Chi's back as her shoulders tensed when he mentioned training.
"I'm sorry, what training..." Chi-Chi hissed.
Piccolo's ears twitching as he heard the wooden spoon she was holding begin to splinter. He knew enough to know his words were not having the effect he had intended. He set his mouth in a line and tried to think of a way to diffuse the situation, though even with five hundred years of combined knowledge he wasn’t having much luck,
Gohan stepped towards his mother.
"Mom" Gohan said, not shouting this time but clearly shocked by the way this conversation was going. " Mister Piccolo, just wants to help! He... he can come stay with us, like he did before the androids and...."
"Help," Chi-Chi said, spinning on her heel, wooden spoon breaking in half in her fist and clattering to the floor.
"He can HELP, by staying away. Goku may have invited you into our home, to train for the androids, but he's not here anymore. You have no right to be here! You can help by staying away from my family. Gohan does not need your training. What has your training done except almost get him killed multiple times?"
Piccolo winced and Gohan opened his mouth to form a rebuttal. But Chi-Chi held up a hand to stop him. She could feel it, all the bitterness, all the anger she had swallowed the last few months vomiting up out of her. She knew she was going too far, she could feel it. But she also could not stop herself.
"Just because you hung around here freeloading for the last few years, does NOT mean you get to stay. Just because I let you train with Gohan and his father does not mean I will let you continue turning my babies into child soldiers. Just because you feel some kind of twisted affection toward my son does not make you his parent. You couldn't protect Gohan against Cell, or the Androids or Freiza. You couldn't protect Goku! What good are you? You can HELP us by leaving and never coming back."
She breathed heavily, in the complete silence that followed. Gohan stared at her, his large eyes filling with tears. Piccolo narrowed his eyes and looked down at the floor. Chchi could hear the pots behind her boiling over but was afraid to break the tension by turning toward them.
Piccolo was the first to move.
" I understand," he said calmly turning toward the door. And walking out.
Chi-Chi stood alone, all of the adrenaline rushing out of her. She had expected a fight, or a screaming match, or something other than Piccolo calmly exiting. She scrubbed her hands over her face. And turned back to her ruined dinner, all over the floor of her formerly pristine kitchen.
"Piccolo!" Gohan cried tears spilling down his cheeks as he ran after him onto the lawn.
They stood together on the lawn for a moment in the sunset. Awkwardly before Piccolo walked back up to Gohan. Casting his long shadow over him.
"It's alright Gohan," Piccolo said putting a hand on his head." Your mother has made herself clear. I will keep my distance."
"I'm sorry," Gohan whispered. It had been his idea to ask Piccolo to stay with them. He had thought, he had thought that, he had hoped that....
"I will be here when you need me," Piccolo said, removing his hand and flying into the fading light toward the Lookout.
Gohan stood on the lawn. Trying unsuccessfully to stop sobbing. Wiping his face on his sleeve he hiccupped air. Why had his mom acted like that? How could she say those terrible things?
She didn’t like Piccolo, he knew that, but he also thought she knew how much Piccolo meant to him! Was she trying to keep everyone he loved away from him?
Gohan clenched his fists and tried to keep his temper at bay, to stop the red hot anger that was beginning to throb in his chest and flash red behind his eyes. He hated this feeling. He hated how powerful it made him feel. He hated that it had become disturbingly familiar to him lately.
Back in the kitchen Chi-Chi took deep breaths. Trying to calm herself. It's not that she didn't think Piccolo deserved everything she had said, he did, at least some of it, probably . It was the way it had come out. And in front of Gohan no less. She began furiously scrubbing the oven trying to clean up the mess she had made.
It was a long time before she heard the front door open and close again. Chi-Chi had gotten everything under control as best as she could salvaging what was left of the food and it was sitting in bowls on the table.
"Gohan, dinner is ready when you want to ...." she trailed off as her son walked wordlessly past the kitchen and into his room, slamming the door behind him.
She started to object to the slamming but stopped. At least the door was still on its hinges she thought. Sighing to herself, she had slammed a few dors at Gohan's age. And over much less.
Chi-Chi began wrapping the food, and putting it in the fridge and cleaning the kitchen. By the time she was done the kitchen was spotless, but her son hadn't emerged from his room. She signed. ran her hands through her hair and turned to start tidying the living room. It was easier to focus on cleaning then it was to the regret she was beginning to feel for her outburst.
Standing on a chair to dust the bookshelf Chi-Chi ran her hands along the thick spines of the photo albums she had put together. She had taken great pride in them, a record of her family, frozen in time in their happiest moments. Her father loved bringing his camera to every gathering so she had lots of photos of her, Goku and Gohan at picnics, birthdays and holidays.
Her hand hovered over the most recent one, and she held her breath. She knew the last few photos in the book were of Goku and Gohan right before the Cell games. Smiling, with their absurd blonde hair. Catching fish and swimming in the lake near their home. She reached toward it and took it down.
Sitting on the couch she opened the book from the last photo. Exactly as she remembered it. And began to flip backwards through it. Photos of the last few days before the Cell games were first. Followed by a photo of the birthday party they threw Gohan after he came out of the Time Chamber.
A table piled high with presents and three different cakes, with Gohan in the middle, her and Goku on either side of him. She traced Goku's face with her finger, emotion welling up in her throat. It had been a great day, she remembered smiling.
She turned to the next photo, and bit her lip. It was of Piccolo blushing purple as Gohan opened the present he had gotten him. Gohan looked delighted and Piccolo looked terribly uncomfortable. She remembered him admitting he had never given a gift to anyone before. She had suggested a book, and Piccolo had given Gohan some ancient Namekian text from the Lookout.
She flipped through the next few pages and was shocked at the frequency Piccolo appeared. Piccolo and Goku, both smiling, showing off their drivers licenses. Piccolo's face looking horrified as Gohan showed him something in a human biology textbook. Gohan mirroring Piccolo's meditative pose on their lawn in his home made Namekian gi. Piccolo standing uncomfortable in Goku's clothes the time Chi-Chi had insisted she wash his cape. Piccolo growling as Goku tried to convince him for the millionth time to try eating solid food.
When had all of this happened? In her mind the last three years had been a constant annoyance, having Piccolo show up and take her son and husband to train all day every day. In her mind Piccolo was still a threat to her family. But looking at these, it was almost like...
"He's part of the family," Gohan said quietly behind her.
"Gohan '' Chi-Chi said, shutting the book quickly. "Gohan sweetie I..." she started and stopped. Wondering how long her son had been watching her.
Gohan came around quietly and sat next to her on the couch. "I know you don't think, he has feelings,” Gohan said, voice thick with emotion. "But he was excited, about the baby, and worried about us, and worried about me, I think, he wanted to help….he doesn't have anyone."
Chi-Chi put the photo album on the table. And wrapped her arms around her son as he continued,
"He didn't have anyone other than me and dad, he doesn't have anyone to be sad with, like we do, he misses him too." Gohan cried into her shoulder. "And I miss dad, I really miss dad, but I also miss Piccolo, I miss seeing him like before."
Chi-Chi hugged tighter as her son burrowed into her, face burning with shame. She was so ready to blame someone for potentially hurting her son. She ended up hurting him.
"I'm sorry Gohan, sometimes I…..I get so sad, that I get mad. I get so mad I can't stop myself from saying and doing things, even when I know it will hurt people, especially when I know it can hurt people. And I get mad at the wrong person. I wasn't fair to you, or to Piccolo."
"I get mad like that too sometimes," Gohan said in a quiet, almost inaudible whisper. " Mr Piccolo wants to help me train to be able to control it better."
"I think I could use some of that training too," Chi-Chi sighed, kissing Gohan on the top of his head. " I think tomorrow after we go into town, I think I owe Piccolo an apology."
"Really," Gohan said looking up at her.
"Really," Chi-Chi said, thankful her son had been willing to come to talk with her after her outburst. And had confided in her.
"Now I can heat up what's left of dinner if you'd like..."
"That would be great mom" Gohan said, springing up and heading towards the kitchen.
“Well he may get his appetite from his father , ” Chi-Chi thought as she took her time getting up, and following her son toward the kitchen. “But he gets his temper from me”
They ate quietly together trying and failing not to notice that one chair was still empty at the table.