Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

Untimely Family Quarrels

"Everybody!" Goku burst through the door. The Saiyan extended his hand, grasping a sash as he rushed in. "I've got the Senzu from the Korin Tower!"

Chi-Chi and Ox-King ran up to Goku. Ox-King picked up the sash from the Saiyan's hands while Chi-Chi leaned over Goku, pressing her hand on to her husband's back as Goku leaned over and panted. His entire forehead had been drenched with sweat. Chi-Chi didn't want to say that out loud, but she didn't expect her husband to be this slow, either. Especially given the signs of extreme physical exertion that Goku went under to get the magical beans here in time.

"Are you feeling okay, Goku-sa?" Chi-Chi wondered, feeling her husband's back and his tense, pulsing back muscles.

"Yeah... Just ran out of breath a bit, that's all..." the Saiyan panted, slowly making his way to the couch and flopping onto it. Seeing her husband with his eyes closed, panting heavily with his head looking up to the ceiling and his limbs sprawled out, like a plant trying to gather sunlight, distressed Chi-Chi a great deal. She hoped that the Senzu would do their thing and then, maybe, they could all take one just as a precaution so that Gine's symptoms didn't spread around.

"I'll make dinner..." Chi-Chi wiped remnants of tears off her eyes. At this time, this was all that she could do for her family. It felt disgusting, bitter even. She was a martial artist too, so she understood how Goku and Gohan must have felt, faced with a threat, that they had no options to fight directly. Yet she was more than just a fighter. She was also a wife and a mother and had other ways to lift her spirits and feel useful. Given how she was about to burst into tears and go into a full mental breakdown, it would have been better if Chi-Chi diverted that attention elsewhere.

"That'd be great...!" Goku exclaimed, trying to sound like his old, cheerful self, but his voice still lingered in the air and lagged behind while the Saiyan struggled to take in enough oxygen. "Nothing to get your strength back like a good dinner."

Chi-Chi hoped her husband was right. Though, looking at Goku and his complete exhaustion after dashing across the world, a trip he should have been able to make in a blink with his eyes closed, Chi-Chi wondered if even Goku believed that deep down.

"It... It didn't work..." Ox-King stumbled out from the room alongside Dende. He didn't need to say that much as Gine's moans and shouts echoed throughout the house and didn't even ease up the slightest after she took the magical healing beans. "The Senzu... It does nothing against this sickness."

"This makes no sense!" Gohan clenched his tiny fists with tears forming in the corners of his eyes. "I've never even heard about such a disease. Even if descriptions of it existed before today, the Senzu should have worked!"

"Settle down, Gohan..." Goku leaned off his resting position, placing his hand over Gohan's head, trying to look strong for his son. "There's nothing we can do now. We've tried everything, so it's got to be all left to mom to beat this thing."

"I feel so... Useless..." Dende wiped his eyes with his sleeves.

"Nonsense, you tried your best, and it appeared to work for a short time." Ox-King shook his massive head adorned with a decorative horned helmet.

"I can't just sit here and wait for grandma to die!" Gohan's face shriveled up as he desperately fought off despair. "We need to find out what that virus is. I'll go to Bulma's house and find out as much as I can. She has the biggest library I know, and it's not like the Capsule Corps will close for the night."

"You should go there in the morning. Your mother's making dinner and neither you nor your father ate anything the whole day." Ox-King objected.

"Grandma might not have that time! She might not make it through the night!" Gohan snapped back at his grandfather with ferocity, very much unlike his usually gentle soul.