A whole year. It didn't feel that way to anyone else, but that was how long he had been gone. It wasn't the first time Goku had spent a long time away from Earth. He was positive that it wouldn't be the last. He enjoyed it, he told himself. He liked the time away, the time that was spent just with his own strength, no feelings of urgency, just him and the work ahead of him. He didn't even mind the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, with its endless blankness and deafening silence.

But he could not deny the surge of joy that caused his heart to jump as he and Gohan returned to Earth's surface, popping into existence on the shores of Kame House.

He breathed in deep, the heavy wet-sand, sea-salted, warm air scent filling him up.

He didn't mind the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He didn't mind being away from Earth for a while. But he would always come back here. This was home. And he never wanted that to change.

Kame House looked the same as ever. It had been a year since he had stood outside it, but of course, only a day to everyone else. It had been completely untouched by the time he felt had passed. That was a comfort to Goku, though he would probably never say it aloud. He preferred the Chamber for that reason alone – if he stayed away from Earth on any other place, he would come back to find that the world had changed without him. He would never say it out loud...but he hated to see that change.

He smiled blandly as Yamcha, Roshi, Puar, and Oolong greeted them with astonishment and happiness. He fielded a few questions without really acknowledging them, yes, he was stronger, no, he still didn't think he was able to beat Cell, no, it's okay, I do have a plan, it's a secret for now...

"Actually," he said finally, trying to stem the flow of questions. "We're just here to pick up Chichi. Is she around?"

"I think she's upstairs..." Roshi said. "Oh, here she comes."

He heard her footsteps on the stairs – it sounded like she was taking them two at a time. She paused on the final step, one foot hovering over the floor, the other still on the last step.

One year for him. One day for her.

As always, he felt a strange feeling in his stomach as he met her dark eyes.

Their eyes held each other for a long moment, so long that Goku thought he was in the Chamber again, and that a minute had become a day.

She broke the glance first.

"Oh, Gohan," she said, shaking her head and half-smiling. "What on earth did you do to your hair?"

She took the last step from the stairs and walked to Gohan, giving him a tight hug before tugging gently on his hair and smiling.

"Did your dad let you dye it? What am I going to do with you two?"

"Mooom," Gohan said, blushing a bit. "It's not dyed..."

Chichi smiled and shook her head, and Goku knew she was only teasing.

Her eyes wandered back to his.

And they dropped away.

Home. Another constant.

Goku breathed in the pine-scented mountain air with relief. Even Kame House could not compare to the peace that he found here in this little nook far away from everything. He heard Chichi sigh beside him, and thought maybe she was thinking the same thing he was.

But she stepped away from him and started to fuss over Gohan without a word to him.

"All right, you, go and wash up," she said. "Maybe you can finish that book on your desk while I make dinner."

"Mom, I started reading it a year ago," Gohan muttered.

"It was yesterday for me," Chichi said, smiling and smoothing out the wrinkles on his shoulders. "Start over, then. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

"Okay."

Gohan trotted towards the house. Chichi and Goku stood alone. The sky was starting to darken, leaving the space under the mountains cool and dim. The shadows were long, and it was hard to see Chichi's eyes beneath her bangs. She hadn't moved. Neither had he.

Goku licked his lips, suddenly dry.

"Chichi...?"

Chichi snapped out of whatever reverie she had been in.

"Oh," she said. "I suppose I should start making dinner."

She shook her head and headed towards the house. Without even a glance at him. A soft breeze whispered down from the mountains.

"Chichi," he called softly.

Chichi didn't pause.

"Chichi," he said a little louder.

This time she hesitated. He closed the distance between them with just a few steps. She stood with her back to him. It was as though she didn't want to look at him.

He felt that odd feeling in his chest again. Like his heart was skipping a few beats. What was it about Chichi that made him feel like that? He couldn't describe it.

"Chichi..." he said. "Is...what's wrong?"

Chichi didn't turn around. She didn't move. She wouldn't look at him.

The breeze came again, whispering softly between them. No one spoke. The soft rush of the wind through pine needles sounded like the breathing of the waves on the shores of Kame House island. Goku reached out tentatively. His fingers brushed against Chichi's shoulder.

She was so small. His hand was almost big enough to cover her entire shoulder. She still wouldn't look at him. He carefully slid his hand onto her shoulder, careful to hold in his full strength. In this form...he could hurt her so easily. And he was afraid of that.

"Chichi," he said again. "What's wrong?"

He could feel her starting to shake slightly beneath him. She wouldn't look at him. Why wouldn't she look at him? Please. Please, just look at me.

He was never able to really understand the feelings in his chest and stomach. The way they jumped when she looked at him. He didn't have the words to comprehend them. But he knew that he wanted her to look at him. He wanted her to look right at him – he wanted it, more than anything else right now.

Slowly, her hand came up and rested on Goku's hand on her shoulder. Her fingers squeezed his, tightly, as though she thought he was going to vanish.

"Did you miss me?" she whispered.

Goku blinked. Her voice was no louder than the breeze, and he almost hadn't heard her.

"...Chichi?"

"You were gone...for a year in there..."

"...It was only a day for you."

Her fingers were shaking on his.

"...It felt like a year," she whispered.

Silence fell between them again. Slowly, Goku slid his hand down, and brought his other arm around so that he was hugging her gently around the waist from behind. Chichi's hands gripped at her waist.

"Goku...when you're gone, minutes feel like hours," she muttered. "And for you, they really were hours...days. Did you...do you ever...miss me?"

"Chichi, I..."

She turned around in his arms and stepped back slightly, so that she could look right into his eyes. Goku felt his breath catch in his throat.

Her dark eyes gleamed in the half-light of the setting sun. Goku could not describe the feelings that were there – he couldn't even describe his own feelings. That wasn't his strong point. She reached up and put a hand to his cheek. Her hand was cool against his skin. The breeze whispered again, causing her black bangs to rustle across her eyes.

"Of course I missed you," Goku said.

"Sometimes I don't know," she said.

Her hand dropped from his face.

"Sometimes I think...what if you decide you want to stay wherever it is that you are? Goku, you're always leaving...always leaving. How do I ever know that you'll...that you'll want to come back...?"

Now there were tears bubbling at the corners of her eyes, but she seemed to be trying so hard not to let them go. Goku felt a pang in his heart. He pulled her into him, holding her close. He could feel her shaking.

"Chichi," he said. "Listen. I...it's true that I'm...gone a lot. But there's...this is home."

He felt awkward. He wasn't good with words most of the time. He wondered if she understood what she was trying to say.

"I couldn't not come back," he said finally. "Not if I knew you were here waiting."

Chichi sobbed softly. Her face pressed into his chest, and he could feel her shoulders tremble.

He stood there and held her in the quiet, in the darkening pocket beneath the mountains, with the breeze and its murmurs and the scented pines, and he knew it was true. No matter what, he would always come back here. This was home. Some things shouldn't change. They should stay constant. This was home.

She was home.