Chichi's Torment
Part 1
_Where did it all go wrong, Goku? Why didn't I see the signs, pay more attention?_
She sat quietly in the kitchen, hands in lap. Her mood was dark.
_Right now, I hate you. I never thought I'd be capable of it. If I had powers I'd blast you to oblivion and laugh. Tears would come later._
Her face was wet as she slowly put her coffee cup down.
_And why, why HIM?? Of all the people in the universe..._
A deep breath.
_Have I failed? Did I push you away? _
She stood carefully, containing her anger, staring at nothing.
_It's an insult to my womanhood. A man! What insanity is that?! And not just _any_ man. Vegita!!_
"Vegita!!" she spat his name like a curse. "Kusottare. His enemy?!"
She turned over the kitchen table in rage. Dishes crashed in a cacophony of sound.
_Your children weren't enough?? I wasn't enough?! What does he have that I don't!!_
A small fist slammed on the countertop.
_Alien liar!! Father warned me, but...GAY?? What in hell ...did he marry me out of pity?_
She snorted in disgust, remembering....
It was a quiet summer evening. Honeysuckle everywhere were in full bloom, giving the air a heady scent. Insects buzzed in the background. The woods were wilder than usual from heavy rainfall. Chi Chi decided to stretch her legs a bit and take a walk. Goku would be late from his sparring, and she wanted to take advantage of the full moon.
As she walked, sounds assaulted her ears. But they weren't sounds of animals in the forest.
They were sounds of passion.
She blushed, giggling. _Some couple having fun, no doubt. I'll turn down this other path so I don't disturb them._
Her petite form glided across the meadow.
_Strange?? It's louder this way?_
As she stepped between bushes, her breath caught.
_Kami, NO!!!_
Heart slamming her chest she stopped, speechless at the scene in the meadow.
_Nighmare..._
Goku and Vegita, moaning and writhing in passion, wet slicked bodies glistening under the moonlight. Furred tails coiled and teased as they groaned, grass sticking to damp skin. Arms and legs tangled impossibly as they pounded in ecstacy.
Chi Chi stared at the shocking scene, her hands covering a scream. The two Saiyans rolled in the grass as their coupling reached its heights, shattering the woods with animalistic roars.
She stumbled blindly through the forest, eyes glazed with tears.
****
Gohan raced downstairs at the noise. "Nande-koto-wa?!!" _What happened here?!_
He stared at the mess in the kitchen. "Kaa-san! Where are you?"
_Something bad's going down. I can sense it._
Bursting into SS mode, he flew out the door, searching for her ki.
****
Gohan worriedly flew above the forests, his golden hair streaming behind him.
_I've got to find her. Wait!!_
Extending his senses, he felt her ki. But it was erratic. Descending into a deep patch of wood, he dropped his power level. Keen eyes surveyed the dark.
"Mama? Are you here? It's me, Gohan!"
Stunned, he stared across the meadow. Chi Chi lay prone in the grass near a stream.
"KAA-SAN!!" he sped over to her. Kneeling, he touched her face and lifted her gently.
_She's just unconscious, thank goodness. But what's she doing out here-_
Brown eyes fluttered opened in a face stained with tears. "Go-Gohan?"
He kissed and hugged her. "Yeah, it's me. What's going on?! You gave me a fright. When I heard all that noise in the kitchen-"
Chi Chi gulped for air. "I...I'm going to need your strength now, Gohan" her voice was strange.
Gohan was openly worried. "Mama...what are you talking about? Is it...has something happened?" a thought struck him. _"Dad!!_ he isn't-"
Her eyes hardened in rage as her slim form shook. "No, he's alive, the _son of a bitch!!"_
"Mom!" Gohan chided her. "Are you crazy? What-"
Suddenly she was weary again. "Just...take me home."
Gohan gathered her up. "Fine. But when we get back we talk about this."
****
Gohan cleaned up the mess and made some tea. He watched his mother with concern as she sat stiffly on the living room sofa.
_Something is seriously wrong, and I'm almost afraid to find out_ "have some tea, mom."
"Yes" Chi Chi said dully, taking the cup.
He watched her. "I'm calling Goten."
"No! No...he musn't find out. Not yet."
"Find out what? Did you and dad have a fight?"
She cried again. "I almost wish...it were as simple as that. Have you ever seen your world crumble away?"
He sat quietly, taking her hands. "Years ago when I watched Tou-San die from the battle with Cell. I wanted to die with him."
Chi Chi leaned heavily against her son. "Perhaps Cell _should_ have blown up the earth."
He shook her. "Don't _talk_ like that!"
****
Gohan made up his mind to call Goten.
"Ossu, what's up bro?"
"Goten, maybe you can get through to mom. We've got trouble, and I mean big time."
"What's going on?"
"She and dad-"
"Onegai. They're always fighting. They make up all the time, too."
"This is different. I'll explain when you get here."
"Oniisan, they had us after their worst fights!!"
"Will you knock it off, baka!!"
"Sumimasen. I'm on my way."
****
Two supremely powerful warriors twined under the moonlight.
Goku shivered. "Vegita...I feel so strange, wild" he murmured softly, lips brushing against a silken neck.
A furred tail coiled around his arm. "Shh, my beautiful _bishounen._ Your prince commands it. Sleep now."
Black eyelashes fluttered. "Hai."
****
Chi Chi was grateful for her two sons. Strong, handsome and proud.
_Like that no good bastard..._
"Mom?"
Exhaustion replaced tears. Wearily Chi Chi looked at her younger son. "I told your brother not to call you."
Goten shook his head. "No way. If this is a family crisis, I have to be involved."
"You don't have to look after me. After all, it's late."
Goten glared at his mother. Sometimes her stubborn pride was ridiculous.
"You still haven't told us what the problem is. Gohan found you unconscious in the woods? What was that all about!"
"I..." Chi Chi swallowed. "I witnessed something. A living nightmare."
"Could you be a little more specific, mother?" Gohan joined them in the living room on the sofa.
"It...your father."
Goten threw his hands up. "Gohan..."
Goku's oldest son sighed in exasperation. "She's gone round like this since I brought her back."
Chi Chi was quiet. "I want you both to go home. I'll deal with your father when he gets here."
"No way" Goten disagreed. "Maybe we don't know what happened between you and dad, but we _aren't_ leaving you alone in this state."
She touched his face. "Sometimes you look too much like him, Goten."
"I can't help that. I'm his son."
Chi Chi hugged him fiercely.
"We'll wait if it takes all night" Gohan stated.
****
Goku flew home. As he approached the house he sensed two powerful ki.
_What? Goten and Gohan? Why are they visiting so late?_
"Strange."
The tall Saiyan went inside. He stopped as his family stared. "What's going on here. Chi Chi?"
Her expression was murderous. Goten and Gohan sat next to her in confusion.
"Hello, Tou-san" they echoed.
Goku nodded. "Ne, my itai. What's wrong Chi Chi?"
"Bastard."
The men stared at her in shock. Goku felt anger roil his gut.
"Mom!" Gohan shouted.
"What...did you call me?" Goku demanded.
"You heard me. Tell them. Tell your sons."
He stepped forward, dark eyes intense. "Tell them what? Woman, are you-"
"Tell them what a _freak_ you are!!" she hissed, rising.
"That's enough!!" Goten shouted.
"No, it's not _nearly_ enough" Chi Chi shook, rising. "You have a beautiful family. Isn't it enough? Wasn't _I_ enough??"
Goku clenched fists to his sides. "I suggest you calm down and explain" his tone was terse.
"Papa, what is she talking about?!" Gohan wanted to know. "Nande kuso?!"
Goku moved towards her, anger in his stride. "We're going upstairs!" a nimbus of power sizzled from his hair.
"Wait a minute!!" Gohan stepped between them.
Goku glared. "Get out of my way, Gohan. This is between your mother and me."
"Dog!!" Chi Chi spat. "Saiyan trash!!"
A powerful arm reached around Gohan to grab her. Goten leaped into the fray, pushing his mother back.
"No! You're too angry, dad. Stand back!"
Goku snorted in disbelief. "My own sons interfere?"
"It's a good thing we decided to stay" Gohan was resolute. "I had a bad feeling about this."
Chi Chi stared, eyes cold as ice. "Truth or dare, dear husband."
Goten stared in open disbelief. "Is everyone crazy?!"
"Enough of this!!" Goku began to power up, moving forward once again.
Gohan and Goten braced for the unthinkable. But then...
"Pervert. _Saiyan animal!!_ I saw you with Vegita tonight!!" Chi Chi shrieked, control gone now.
Goku froze in his tracks. His face went deathly white as he powered down.
"Chi- Chi...h-how?"
He reached for her again. She backed into Goten.
"Don't touch me!"
"Masaka!!" Goten shouted. "What goes here. Vegita?!"
Gohan felt his face flush with confusion and anger. "Wait, Goten. I'm not sure what mama is saying" dark eyes fixed on Goku.
"What _is_ she saying, dad?"
Goku swallowed, looked down. The deep eyes pinched shut. _Not like this. Anything but this..._
Chi Chi collapsed on the sofa again, emotionally wrung. "Well, Goku? Shall I tell the gruesome details?"
"Chi Chi..."
"How you and Vegita rutted in the grass like animals..."
"Stop..."
"...and howled under the moon?!"
_"THAT'S ENOUGH!!_"
Goten and Gohan stood in shock, demanding that he deny something. _Anything._
"No....I can't believe this" Goten shook his head.
"I...whatever you want, Chi Chi..." the Saiyan's voice was a husky whisper.
Gohan stood in front of his father. "You had an affair" his voice was low, barely controlled.
Goku held his head even, grim. He was Saiyan, after all. "Yes."
Goten glared with boiling anger. "With...that scumbag _Vegita?!_ You couldn't even pick _a woman??_"
Goku responded evenly. "I have no excuses, and I don't expect you to understand."
"I should pound you into the ground, father" Gohan hissed. "You'd deserve it!!"
Goten was shouting now. "And you're damned right we don't understand! How long did you intend for this...this _abomination_ to continue?"
Goku wanted to melt into the floor.
Chi Chi smiled bitterly. "It's enough to see your humiliation complete, Goku. Do you know how my heart was ripped out seeing that...that..." she couldn't continue.
Tears ran from the dark eyes. "Chikusho!! _Damn_ Saiyan blood!! I'm sorry, Chi Chi. I would've..._should've_ spared you this pain. But I was too much of a coward!"
Goten and Gohan sat beside their mother again. "I think you should leave now" Goten was very quiet.
Goku ignored him. "Chi Chi?"
Spent, she looked at him. "Go, Goku. It's been a long night. The longest of my life" she fell against Gohan.
Goku opened his mouth to say something, but no words came.
"No matter what I still love you, Chi Chi" he managed.
She turned away. "Tell it to Vegita. You disgust me."
Sadly, he looked at his sons, two fine grown men.
"Forgive me, if you can" he slipped out, silent as shadow.
****
Gohan and Goten sat up in the kitchen all night. Chi Chi finally collapsed into an exhausted sleep upstairs.
The two brothers discussed the situation.
"Gohan, what are you thinking?"
"How I want to break Vegita's neck."
Goten snorted. "I'd join you in _that_ endeavor. But...Gohan. How _could_ he?"
His brother shook his head. "I'd never been angry at dad before tonight. I mean _really_ angry, like a rage. But mostly I'm disappointed. I...had no idea he was gay."
Goten sighed. "I'm a little disillusioned myself. Why would he betray mom like that, and be lovers with Vegita? It makes no sense!"
Gohan sipped his coffee, grim. "Clearly their relationship changed. But I saw no clues."
Goten's brow furrowed. "No? Think. Remember when we asked about his tail when it grew back a few weeks ago?"
"Yeah. He claimed that it reappeared before and that it wasn't a big deal. I believed him at the time. As far as _why_ it grew back...I don't even want to go there."
Silence a moment. "Something else. Do you recall those strange conversations we had sometimes?"
"About the Saiyan heritage? Yeah."
"I remember one night we were talking about love. I'm not sure how we got on the subject, but something he said.."
"What?"
"He asked me if my blood ever burned. I told him I wasn't sure what he was talking about."
Gohan's eyes grew wide. "He...he asked me the same thing!"
"When I asked him to describe it, well...it was pretty intense. He said something about the body and soul having a craving, a need for joining. Like a fire that can't be put out."
Gohan gulped his coffee again. "He mentioned something similar to me. I told him I'd been in love, but I wasn't consumed. Not _that_ way. But everyone looks for a soulmate eventually."
"Filthy rutting? That isn't love! If that's the Saiyan way-"
"Goten...dad lived on earth with no memory of his true heritage. It proved deadly for his grandfather."
"I know. He and Vegita started spending more time together. Vegita told him about the ways of the Saiyan race."
"Including their bizarre practice of biting their mates to mark them. Not to mention drinking their blood. Ugh."
Gohan chuckled. "Sounds kinda sexy in a way, but I can't get into that."
Goten stared at his cup. "How is it we can joke about it yet dad was so serious."
"I don't know."
"Our blood doesn't burn, and _we're_ Saiyan."
"Half Saiyan, Goten. Trunks doesn't burn either. I suspect that's the difference. Dad and Vegita are full blooded. Maybe..."
"What are you saying? He and mom shared a bond! They loved each other, they're married! How could he throw it all away for that... _Bakayarou!_"
"Goten..." Gohan was very quiet. Realization sunk in at a possibility.
"No roll in the hay is worth destroying a relationship like the one they had!" Goten insisted.
"That's just it...what if they never were _bonded?_ I don't just mean the legal document of marriage..."
"I...this is getting too personal in their buisness, bro. Maybe dad was trying to tell us something."
"Like what?"
"Like maybe _his_ blood burned. Maybe he was seeking someone out...damn, it still pisses me off, though!!"
"He may have been concerned that it was happening to us and affecting any relationships we might have."
"Like his with mom...blown to hell for that rat's ass of a Saiyan prince!"
Gohan rubbed his eyes in exhaustion. "We need some sleep. And tomorrow, I'm going to pay someone a little visit."
Goten's eyes narrowed. "Who?"
"Vegita. I'll pound the truth out of him if necessary."
****
The next day Chi Chi sat on her bed, wedding pictures scattered everywhere.
_A sham. I thought we were so happy._
Voices downstairs.
_The boys must have stayed overnight. Who else is down there?_
Taking a deep breath for composure, she went to join them.
****
"Bulma! And...Trunks?! What a pleasant surprise" Chi Chi pasted on a smile. Her sons watched worriedly.
"Chi Chi...it won't work" Bulma gave a sad grin.
Chi Chi observed her face. Bulma had dark circles under her eyes.
Sigh. "You look as bad as I feel."
Trunks hugged her. "I'm so sorry."
Brown eyes were bright. "So you know, too?"
"Yeah. It stinks. But I feel as though it's partly my fault."
That statement shocked everyone. "Trunks? What could you have done?" Gohan stammered.
Trunks made a fist in anger. "I knew that father wanted Goku-san. He had a plan to seduce him."
Chi Chi stared. "You mean...this was _premeditated?!"_
Trunks stared at the floor. "Somewhat...father...was falling in love with him."
Bulma turned away.
"Bullshit! Vegita wouldn't know a decent feeling if it bit him in the butt!" Goten declared.
Trunks looked at him pointedly.
"Sorry, dude. But you know how your father is."
"Do _you?_"
"Yeah" Gohan snapped. "The royal freak has the hots for _our_ father!"
"Be careful what you say" Trunks glared. He powered up.
"Why? Are you going to defend his honor? What a joke!"
"Stop it!" Bulma warned.
Gohan and Goten powered up.
"And Goku-san is innocent now?!" Trunks demanded, taking a fighting stance.
"No. But as usual, Vegita is at the root of a problem!" Goten mirrored Trunks' stance.
"Don't do this-" Chi Chi implored.
"What's your game, Trunks? It's not as if Vegita wants anything to do with you!" Gohan challenged.
"That's it. You've popped off for the last time!!" Trunks moved to attack.
"I SAID STOP IT!!!" Chi Chi wielded a cast iron pot.
"The first fool that trashes anything gets one HELL of a headache!"
The young men stopped, mortified.
"Kami, what are we doing?" Gohan was subdued. "Now we're at each other's throats!"
They all powered down. "Crazy" Goten said shortly.
Bulma was weary. "This is getting us nowhere. I've...already given up on Vegita."
"Don't say that!" Trunks implored. "Despite appearances, I know he feels for you."
"Oh? Years of serving as his 'brood mare'?"
Trunks was crestfallen. "Is that what you think of me, mother? And Bra?"
Bulma teared up, hugging him tightly. "No, Saki. Never, _ever_ think that. If it weren't for you two I would go mad. But I need a husband, a _real_ husband. And I knew your father desired another for his true mate. One of his own kind."
_"My_ husband" Chi Chi said bitterly. She sat at the table. A thought occurred to her.
"Bulma, did you ever suspect?"
Bulma sat next to her. "I wasn't sure. He stays so distant all the time, how would I know if he were cheating? But there were times...he would come home positively _glowing._ And then he would smile, as if he had a great secret. Whenever I asked about the change he gave me the usual 'none of your buisness' tone. I got fed up fighting about it."
Gohan was thoughtful. "Mama, Bulma-san...I think we need to talk to Vegita."
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