ChiChi woke up after a long and deep sleep. She had a dream last night. Somebody came to see her in the dream. He looked like Goku, but he wasn't Goku. He called her mother, but he wasn't Gohan. He talked to her, but she couldn't hear him. But she was happy to see him all the same. It had been a long time since anybody visited her. She could vaguely remember the days when Bulma and Trunks would come to visit. It seemed like ages ago. Over time, their visits became less frequent. They were busy people, she knew. So she didn't ask when the visits finally stopped. She had actually stopped talking very much after Gohan died. There was nothing to talk about because there was nothing to care about anymore. But with the stranger's appearance, ChiChi began to wonder. Perhaps Trunks was finally able to defeat the cyborgs. Perhaps this was what the stranger was saying to her. She tried hard to hear what he was saying but she just couldn't hear, as if she had forgotten how to listen to another human's voice. He had smiled, but he looked so sad too. He continued talking to her while he cleaned the house and cooked for her. Finally, he tucked her to bed and kissed her goodnight. She fell asleep.

When she woke up that morning, he was gone. Was it all just a dream, but was it real? For the first time in so many years ChiChi became fully aware of herself and her surroundings. The house was clean and tidy even though she had stopped doing the housework a long time ago. The Capsule Corp. domestic robot was there, but she knew it wasn't the one who did all the housework. She decapsulated the robot and put the capsule in a box. It was time she did the work around here. But first, she must visit her only friends in the world, Bulma and Trunks. She owed them so much for taking care of her all this while. She took the capsule box, intending to return the domestic robot to Bulma. Perhaps it was Trunks who came last night, ChiChi thought, and she had imagined it to be Goku or Gohan. But it had seemed too real to be just a dream.

ChiChi took her car capsule out of the capsule box. She decapsulated it and let the engine run for a while while she collected her things and prepared to leave.

A few minutes later, ChiChi was driving slowly along the pothole and blast damage-riddled roads. As she drove she could see people going about their daily lives. For them, life must go on, as it should for her. She's grieved long enough.

Finally she reached Capsule Corp. At first, everything seemed normal. But a gloomy atmosphere seemed to loom over the building and its surroundings. She tried the door, but it was locked. There was no robot to welcome her in either, which was unusual. "Bulma? Trunks?!" she called out, but only silence answered her. The general feeling of gloominess suddenly turned to a feeling of tragedy as she glanced uneasily around her. Where are Bulma and Trunks? Had something happened to them? She stood staring at the dark and closed building, surrounded by untended plants in the yard. Then she made up her mind. She headed back to her car, to go to the only place where she might get answers. As her little car zoomed away, she didn't notice one the lights of Capsule Corp.'s windows going off.

***

A short while later, ChiChi was in the Western Capitol Police Station, face to face with a fit-looking policeman. He had straight blond hair tied back in a ponytail and introduced himself as Officer Shapener. He was kind to her, breaking the news as gently as he could.

"I'm afraid that Ms.Bulma and her son Trunks are dead, Mdm. ChiChi," he watched in concern as ChiChi paled.

"How...," ChiChi managed to ask as she slumped in her chair. She felt as is she was about to faint. Somehow she had felt that something bad had happened when she was at Capsule Corporation, but she never expected this. Quickly, she tried to overcome the dizziness. She had to know what happened.

"They were murdered," Shapener watched carefully as ChiChi's expression turned from shock to incredulity. How could Trunks have been murdered? "It happened over a year ago," Shapener explained in answer to her unasked question. "They were found in Ms. Bulma's lab by a pair of petty thieves who broke in the Capsule Corp. building. Ms. Bulma was wounded heavily and died in hospital. Mr.Trunks was already dead at the scene. There were indications of a battle in her lab but there were not trace of the attacker. We have no reason to think the thieves had anything to do with the murders. Unfortunately, we still haven't found who did it."

ChiChi was silent, as she bowed down in sadness. "I'm sorry, Mdm. ChiChi," Shapener said softly. "I understand they were your closest friends." ChiChi was still silent. Now even Bulma and Trunks had left her. Why was she always last one to know? Why did she had that dream of the stranger who was both Goku and Gohan? Was it to awaken her to face this? She felt as if she couldn't bear it.

"Mdm. ChiChi?" Shapener asked in concern. "I know it's a shock to you. You better take a rest. I'll drive you home."

ChiChi finally looked up. "No, thank you." She tried to smile. I must be strong, she told herself. She's allowed herself to wallow in self-pity all these years, and now she did not even get the chance to thank Bulma and Trunks for all they did for her in all that time. She got up, rather unsteadily, and headed for the door. She stopped at the door and turned around to Shapener. "W.. Who took care of their bodies?"

Shapener opened one of the files on the desk. "A Mr. Oolong and a Mr. Puar. They claimed the bodies. They claimed to be friends of the family. You know them?"

ChiChi nodded silently. "I believe they were buried in the Capitol City Public Cemetery," Shapener added. ChiChi was still silent. Finally she spoke. "Thank you, officer. I.. I'll go back now," she said shakily.

Shapener was still not convinced. "Are you sure? It's OK if you want to rest here first. You can go back later, any time you want."

ChiChi shook her head. "No, really, I'm fine. I must go now," she said, forcing a smile to show the officer that she was indeed as fine as she claimed. She turned and walked out. Shapener did not stop her.

However, just as she outside the office door and about to close it behind her, he suddenly spoke. "By the way, have you heard of someone or something called Cell?"

ChiChi, in the middle of the doorway, turned to face him. "Cell? No, I don't think so. Why?"

"Ms. Bulma mentioned that word before she died," Shapener replied. "We still don't know what it means - whether it's a person or some code about her experiments. But as far as we know, her work was not on cellular research, that's why we think it might be a name, possibly the name of the murderer."

ChiChi frowned, wracking her memory for anything resembling the name 'Cell'. But she had been out of it for so long she couldn't remember anything much. "I'm sure I've never heard Bulma or Trunks mention that name," she finally said. "If I remember anything I'll let you know," she added.

Shapener nodded. "OK. Thank you, Mdm. ChiChi. Drive safely," he said. ChiChi just nodded and walked out the door.

After ChiChi left, Shapener tidied up the files on the desk. He frowned when he saw the title on the Briefs family murder case file. It was stamped "CASE CLOSED". He hadn't noticed it when he took it out after ChiChi came enquiring about her friends. He opened the file and leafed through it. There seemed to be some additional reports he hadn't seen before. They must have been inserted recently. He read through.

***

ChiChi drove her car away from the police station. But she didn't head home. She must pay her respects to her friends, not just Bulma and Trunks, but to all her friends who had sacrificed their lives so that she and others could go on living. She headed for the Western Capitol Public Cemetery.

At the cemetery, ChiChi first visited Goku and Gohan's graves. She spent a long time just sitting there, thinking about her beloved husband and son. Invariably her thoughts turned to the stranger in her dream. She wondered again whether it was just a dream. But she was glad all the same; for the stranger's appearance, whether real or not, had helped to ease the pain of missing her dead husband and son all these years. She wiped a tear from her eye. Next, she visited the graves of all her friends who had died during the first attack by the cyborgs - Yamucha, Tenshinhan, Chiaozu, Kuririn, Piccolo and Vegeta. She put flowers on all their graves. Finally she went to the graves of Bulma and Trunks. Here she freely cried all the tears she had held back at the police station.

It was quite dark when ChiChi remembered the time. She was alone in the cemetery, or so she thought. As she prepared to leave, she saw some movement in the nearby bushes. In the declining light of the dusk, together with the whistling evening breeze, shadows have a strange way of playing with one's imagination. ChiChi nearly jumped with fright. Then, trying to calm herself, she called out tentatively, "Who-- Who's there?"

No answer. ChiChi stood still for a while, then decided to go away as fast as possible. It was getting dark very quickly and she was already having goosebumps. She turned and walked away briskly, looking left and right. Unfortunately, in doing so, she failed to notice what was in front of her.

She nearly stepped on the hand. It was gripping hard on the earth next to her feet. And before she knew it she was staring into the face of an ugly apparition. It was all covered with mud and was visible up to the torso, looking like it was trying to climb out of its grave.

ChiChi fainted before she could hear the it say "Wait! Help me, I'm not a ghost!!"

***

When ChiChi came to, the first thing she saw was the mud-covered head staring at her, with its' hands extended and clawing hard on the ground. Seeing that she was about to faint again, it quickly spoke, "I'm not a ghost! I'm a human and I fell into this empty grave. Help me up, please!"

Luckily for him, this time ChiChi did not faint. She collected herself and peered at the poor fellow who had fallen in the empty grave. It was indeed a man and not a ghost or a monster. "Help me up, please," he begged. "I've been trapped here for hours."

"O.. OK." ChiChi took a deep breath and rolled her sleeves. Then she gripped the man's wrists and pulled hard. He was quite heavy, and ChiChi hadn't done any physical activity in so many years. However, it wasn't for nothing that she was the wife and mother of two Super Saiyajins, and finally she was able to pull him out, though she was sure she had strained more than a few muscles by then.

The man rolled over and pulled himself by his arms to get closer to ChiChi who was sitting down on the ground. He did not stand up. He sat next to her and shook her hands. "Thank you so much," he said gratefully. "I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't helped. My name is Satan," he introduced himself.

"ChiChi." She introduced herself. She looked at him. He was covered from head to toe in dirt from the grave. He was middle-aged, like her, but a few years older, she judged. Then she noticed his legs. Mr.Satan saw that she had noticed. "My legs are paralysed," he said, looking down. "That's why I couldn't climb up."

"Oh..." ChiChi couldn't find anything to say. Suddenly they both shivered. It was very late by now and the night air was chilly. "Where do you live, ChiChi?" Mr. Satan asked, pulling out a capsule box from his pocket. He took out a capsule and decapsulated it. It turned into a flying car. "Let me take you home. It's the least I can do to show my appreciation."

"The East District," ChiChi replied. "That's quite far from here," Mr. Satan said. "Why don't you spend the night at my house and I'll send you home in the morning. I live in the city. It's not far from here," he offered.

"I... I don't want to trouble you," ChiChi said. "It's no trouble at all," Mr. Satan said. "I live with my daughter, but she's been busy working the past few days. I don't think she's coming home tonight."

ChiChi looked up at the sky. It was dark and looked like it might rain. Maybe spending the night with Satan would be a good idea. He did seem like a kind man, although he was ugly. "OK," she accepted the offer.

"Great," Mr.Satan smiled. "Hop in," he climbed in the car and opened the passenger seat door for ChiChi. She climbed in and Mr.Satan drove his flying car (operated by hand only - feet not required) to his home in the Western Capitol City, where they spent the night talking until morning.

Chapter 35
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