Life With You

Part 10: The Announcement

"Faster! Your strikes are good but you gotta move faster. Left! Right! Left! Right!" Goku dodged each punch and kick from ChiChi. She was fast but not as swift as stronger opponents like Tien and Piccolo. It was a good warmup for him, but it was a good workout for ChiChi. ChiChi wanted to get stronger and faster. So, Goku suggest she wear weights. ChiChi didn't wear a heavy shirt like him but she did wear heavy boots weighing ten pounds each. It was a good starting point before she achieve the goal of wearing fifty pound boots like Goku.

It was funny. When Mr. Popo gave him the weighted shirt and boots to wear, he complained. He thought he had enough of that training under Master Roshi and his turtle shell. ChiChi accepted it without question.

ChiChi broke in the boots a week before they started this journey of retracing Grandpa's map. The first few days were difficult for ChiChi to walk, but seeing how smoothly ChiChi move during her sparring sessions with Goku, it was clear she was getting the hang of it and it made Goku proud. Working out with ChiChi this morning reminded Goku of himself when he fought Grandpa Gohan in this area many years ago. Then he was the student and Gohan was the teacher. Now the roles were reversed and Goku couldn't be prouder of his student.

ChiChi was up for every lesson. She didn't quit or complain, and as a result, her speed and strength gradually increased. Oh, she got frustrated when she felt Goku was being too soft on her but Goku couldn't help himself. He cared for ChiChi and didn't want to hurt her.

Goku could see ChiChi's improvement and her improvising as they sparred this morning. Instead of throwing another punch, ChiChi flipped and landed behind Goku, who barely got his leg up in time to block her strike. It was a good attack except when she landed. "Go back and do that again," Goku instructed. "You wobbled when you landed. It cost you a couple seconds when you threw your punch at me. If you landed correctly, you would've gotten me."

ChiChi lowered her stance. A smile rose on her pretty face. "Really? I almost hit you?"

"Yeah," Goku grinned. "You got me by surprise."

ChiChi's smile fell. "But if I do it again, it won't be a surprise. You'll be expecting me."

Goku placed his hand on her shoulders. "It's only practice, ChiChi. Right now, we're focusing on your speed. Once you get that up, you'll be landing blows on me in no time."

A half smile returned. "You're just saying that." She kissed him. "But I appreciate that." She stepped back, getting into position. "Okay. So I wobbled when I landed?"

"Yeah." He pointed. "Your left leg. You can't leave yourself open for any attack."

"Gotcha." ChiChi exhaled, taking in Goku's advice. She was ready to try this again.

"If you come down like that again," he gently warned. "I'll show you what an opponent will do."

ChiChi nodded. "All right. Ready?"

"Go!"

ChiChi charged again, throwing kicks and punches where Goku easily blocked or dodged. This is how their sparring matches always went with ChiChi on the attack and Goku defending himself. With her obvious improvement, Goku decided to mix things up by throwing a punch. It wasn't strong enough to hurt her but since he never did it before, Goku wanted to see how ChiChi responded. He expected ChiChi to dodge but she grabbed his arm and tossed him. Goku landed on his back and he only had a second to roll out of the way before ChiChi's booted foot came down on what would've been his chest.

Goku hopped back on his feet impressed with ChiChi. "No wobble."

"You're a good teacher," she winked before running to him to strike again.