I Wish
Part 1

By: Sarah Slutz

Thanks TryniaMerin for betaing!

"I wish..." she mused.

"You wish what?" he wondered.

Goku looked at Chi-chi with a questioning expression in his eyes. She gazed at his handsome and innocent face and silently considered what she had just said aloud without meaning to. They were the only ones in the house since Gohan was out training with that awful green man. Goku and Gohan probably thought she didn't know, but she could tell these things. Goku was just finishing his meal. Plates and bowls lay scared all over the table and Chi-chi sighed when she saw all the tableware that she would have to wash.

She glanced over at her husband and Goku, surprisingly, was still looking at her. Normally, his attention span was much shorter. In so many ways, he was just like a child, and she sometimes felt she had not one, but two sons.

"I wish you would grow up," she repeated more loudly this time.

There, she had said what she had been reflecting upon about all day. She really meant it. And the world hadn't ended either just because she had expressed it.

"Nani? I am thirty two years old." Goku laughed with his most charming smile and then grinned widely.

Oh boy Chi-chi thought, There's NO way his smile is going to charm me today.

"You know what I mean," she stated, but then shook her head, knowing how clueless he could be. "Well, maybe you don't."

"What do you mean?" he asked, his expression confused.

Chi-chi wanted to give up at that moment. It was an almost hopeless cause. He wouldn't understand.

Trying one more time, she explained, "I mean that you act just like a child most of the time. Because you don't worry about your son's education or safety and you almost never help me with my chores unless I ask. You act extremely irresponsible all the time, just flying off to fights whenever you darn well please, setting a terrible example for our son. And the way you are always in trouble, always trying to get even stronger..."

"Hmmm," Goku hummed.

Strangely enough, Goku appeared thoughtful. Chi-chi was hopeful for the first time in ages. She smiled at him and awaited a response. Maybe at last Goku had understood.

"You mean you want me to be weaker?" he nodded.

Typical.

Chi-chi was exasperated. She gritted, "NO, Goku, that's not what I meant. Strength has nothing to do with it. I know many strong people who act like responsible adults. I just want you to act like an adult for one day. Is that to much to ask for?" That was the last straw. Chi-chi leapt up and stormed off the kitchen, trying not to feel guilty when she saw his hurt-puppy face she had left in her wake.

Goku sat there feeling really sad. He didn't know what he had done to make Chi-chi mad at him this time. He always did things that seemed totally normal and soon she was yelling at him. When he asked why she was mad, she got even madder, especially if he didn't understand when she explained. Sometimes, he felt very stupid, but most of the time he simply didn't understand what was wrong with what he did or said. He was now mulling over about what she had said... "I wish you would act like an adult for one day."

All he wanted to please Chi-chi.

At that moment, Goku made a decision. He loved Chi-chi and wanted to make her happy and she had wished for something. He could make that happen. And what was the best way to make wishes true? The Dragonballs!

First Goku would ask Bulma for the Dragonball Radar. Then he would look for the spheres and ask for a wish. He would make Chi-chi happy, for one day, just as she had said.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At Capsule Corporation Bulma was getting ready to go to bed. Trunks was still crying with surprising strength after three hours of doing so non-stop. She had fed him, changed him, rocked him, but nothing seemed to work. At 14 months old, he was doing a lot better in the not-letting-her-sleep department, but he could still be a difficult baby. She winced and took him in her arms. Immediately, he quieted down. The heiress sighed, realizing it would be a long night if he kept on like this, not wanting to sleep in his crib and only caring for being cradled. As usual, Vegita was off somewhere training. He could be back tomorrow, or he could be back next week. He would do that once a in a while and she was still trying to get used to his weird schedule in the four months he had been back in their lives. In any case, having a Vegita who would be home at least two weeks out of the month was better than not having him at all, she mused.

Suddenly, she heard a tap on the window of her bedroom. For a couple of seconds, she thought that it was surely Vegita, but she found it strange that heof all people would bother knocking at all.

Bulma drew away the curtains and saw Goku peering at her through the window. Bulma sighed. Goku showing up in the middle of the night rapping on her window was never a good sign. Still, she was impressed Goku had even bothered tapped. Some years ago, he would have simply barged in with a cheerful smile on his youthful face. Bulma stared at him, feeling a little annoyed at him for paying her such late visit, but she opened the window anyway. Curiosity could make you do all kinds of things and Bulma was quite a curious girl.

Goku jumped into the room and gazed at baby Trunks who was cradled in her arms. He asked, "May I hold him?"

Bulma smiled at him and then replied, "Sure, go ahead." She handed him the drowsing boy. Trunks whimpered a little and Goku rocked him. Then he continued napping.

"He is a very cute baby, Bulma. How old is he now?" he asked her.

Bulma grinned at being asked about one of her favorite subjects of late: her beautiful son. "He is a year and two months old." Goku glanced at him and then at Bulma, who only wore a short and revealing robe on. If he had been any other man, she would have asked him what he was looking at. Yet since it was Goku... He was the most naïve person she had ever met in her life, and she had met quite a few of people in her crazy youth.

Goku looked thoughtful, something quite odd for him. Even stranger, he was also in a serious mood. Not being able to hold her inquisitiveness much longer, she finally asked him, "What did you come for in the middle of the night?"

Goku told her, "I want the Dragonball radar."

"What for?" There wasn't any urgent danger she knew of. Puzzled, she tilted her head as she stared questioningly at one of her oldest friends.

"I'm going to make a wish, Bulma"

Bulma rolled her eyes, grumbling, "I know you are going to make a wish. That's obvious." Some things never changed. One of them was Goku's ingenuity.

"Then why do you ask?" Goku asked, with a bewildered expression in his eyes.

Bulma sighed and prayed for patience. "What wish are you going to make?"

"I am going to ask to act like an adult for one day," he announced cheerfully.

Bulma wouldn't have been more shocked if Goku had said he wanted to resurrect all of the dead Saiya-jins so he could have more opponents to spar with. Act like an adult? Sorry, but maturity and Goku, didn't mesh very well. She stared at him and finally reacted.

"NANI??!!" she blinked, feeling like she wanted to fall over.

"Chi-chi told me she wished that," he said, shrugging.

Bulma regarded at his childish expression and couldn't imagine him acting like a thirty-two-year-old adult. She relented, "Ok, I'll give it to you, but wait a sec while I look for it." She began walking out the room to the lab and Goku followed her through the maze of long and wide halls that comprised Capsule Corp.

Bulma entered the crammed lab and began sorting through all categories of machine parts, capsules, pieces of metal and junk. Finally, she found the radar and handed it to Goku. He smiled and Bulma was instantly charmed. His smile had always been so bright and open... so happy.

"Thank you Bulma," he voiced happily.

"You are more than welcome. Anything to please the world's savior," she told him, teasingly poking him.

"Well..." Goku enthused, grinning and placed his right hand on the back of his head and smiled goofily. Then, he turned and made his way to the open window of the lab, ready to fly off. When he was standing on the windowsill Bulma told him, "Don't forget to get some sleep!"

"Sleep?" Goku stood still and blinked twice. "Sleep? Ah, don't worry about it," he beamed before he shot out the lab's open window.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the Son home, Chi-chi sat on her bed, a bit worried. She was brushing her hair, a frown wrinkling her pretty features. Goku hadn't come to bed yet, and she was worried that she had hurt her husband's feelings. She was sorry for it, and would tell him as soon as he came home. She always flew off the handle and reacted before she could think. All their friends thought she was like that all the time, but it wasn't true. She just got angry easily.

Maybe it was time for her to just accept him for who he was. She was always so upset at him and what did that accomplish? Nothing, really. After a while, she decided she felt too guilty to sleep. Slipping on a robe she walked to the kitchen, expecting to see Goku eating, but he was not there.

Chi-chi went to every room of the house, then the bathroom, the porch and he wasn't anywhere to be found. Just as she began to worry she then calmed herself. Well, he knows how to care for himself. I suppose he went to sleep elsewhere. Dejectedly, she returned to bed and tried to sleep.

She spent most of the night tossing around on her bed, not being able to even rest at all.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goku was a little sleepy and the radar had almost slipped out of his fingers twice. He had found two Dragon balls in six hours. Sighing, he decided to take a little nap. He noticed at a big tree nearby and found a perfect to lie down on the soft grass shaded by its leaves and branches.

Very soon, he fell fast asleep. Two hours later, he woke up thanks to a bird's loud chirping. He stood up with a jump and looked for the radar and was relieved when he found it at his side where he had last placed it. He should be more careful about his things so that they wouldn't get lost, just like Chi-chi was always reminding him.

His stomach announced to him that he was extremely hungry, so he ate fifty apples from the tree he had slept under. After he satisfied his appetite, he blasted of to the sky to find the rest of the remaining Dragon balls.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chi-chi woke up after her restless night feeling very groggy along with a dull headache. She dragged herself to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for Gohan, Goku and herself. Because she thought she would see Goku in the kitchen saying, "I'm hungry!" and demanding his breakfast, so she was shocked to find the kitchen completely empty. Running to the phone, she called Bulma.

She dialed the blue-haired genious' number and waited for her to pick up.

"Mushi Mushi," Bulma responded.

Chi-chi decided she was desperate enough to skip the formalities, so she went right to the point, "Bulma, do you know where Goku is?"

She heard Bulma pause uncomfortably, then the blue-haired woman replied, "Well, Ohayoo to you too."

Chi-chi decided not to play this game with her. She knew she was being slightly rude, but she pressed on without replying to her comment. "Do you know where he is then?"

Bulma sighed and slowly replied, "Hai."

"TELL ME!! " she practically screamed out. Sometimes Bulma could be so frustrating, Chi-chi realized. Didn't she care how worried Chi-chi was about her husband not being back?

If Bulma really knew, she had better tell her, or Chi-chi would totally freak out. Bulma winced. Chi-chi was not going to like this, so she soothed, "Please, calm down. He's all right. He came by last night and asked me for the Dragonball radar. He told me something about you telling him you wished he acted like an adult."

"NANI?! " was Chi-chi's predictable answer. "I can't believe it!!!!??! He didn't come home to sleep last night!"

Sighing, Bulma thought that she was expecting exactly that sort of reaction from Chi-chi. The woman was always so high strung. Sure, putting up with Goku must be hard sometimes, but dear Kami, the woman was always in hysterics.

Also, she felt Chi-chi was over-reacting. Goku was the strongest being in the galaxy, and probably in the whole universe. He could very well take care of himself, and just because he had been missing for one night, there was no reason to react like that! Vegita didn't come to bed last night either, and I'm not freaking out. If I did, he would probably be out the door so quick it would hit me on my nice ass, Bulma thought resentfully. Shaking herself out of her reverie, she concentrated in Chi-chi's problem.

"I'm sure he's safe Chi-chi, there is no danger right now, all he is doing is looking for the Dragonballs," Bulma informed her friend again. Really, what else can I tell her?

Why? Why me? Chi-chi complained to herself. Why can't I have a normal life, a normal husband?

"Ja ne," Chi-chi said, and hung up on Bulma.

Chi-chi didn't know what to think, or what to do. At least her husband was all right ... she hoped. Mechanically, she reached for the pans and spoons and began to make breakfast for Gohan and herself. Today Goku would not eat with them.

It was so weird. Whenever he was home and not going around fighting evil beings, he always ate at home because he adored her cooking. When Gohan came to eat breakfast, he asked where his dad was.

"He went off training early. He'll be back soon." Chi-chi told him, as if reciting lines from a well rehearsed play.

"Okay," Gohan said, his mouth full.

"Don't speak with your mouth full dear," she automatically admonished, as she barely touched her own food.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Goku had managed to find five Dragonballs by now. He pinpointed the location of the remaining two and flew towards the south, still feeling hungry. He thought of going home to eat, but then decided not to... He wanted to do this before he saw Chi-chi again.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After finishing breakfast, Chi-chi did her daily aerobics to burn away the eaten calories. Normally, her exercises calmed her down. When she finished she didn't feel any better. She felt even more worried than before.

When will he come back? she thought desperately. Sure, he was always running off, but this time he had hurt his feelings, and she was feeling guilty.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Finally, after almost fourteen hours, Goku placed all seven Dragon balls on the ground.

Hands outstretched he chanted, "Arise Shenron!"

Then he waited for Shenron to appear. Goku felt the wind stir his hair and saw the sky darken, even if it was early in the morning. The sun had just risen. After a couple of seconds, the great dragon appeared in a fountain of lightening. Although Goku had seen Shenron many times, but he couldn't help the little shiver that ran down his spine. The magical dragon was HUGE!!!

"Tell me your wish, anything you want and I will try to grant it," his voice boomed out.

"Make me act like an adult for one day." Goku shouted in a loud clear voice.

The dragon seemed to pause for a while, as if this task was too difficult even for him. Goku stared at him until his deep vibrant voice boomed out, "It is DONE! Your wish has been granted."

The dragon disappeared along with the balls that levitated then shot off in seven different directions. Goku didn't feel any different. Shrugging, he simply began flying home, feeling extremely famished...

To be continued...