(One Year Later)
Months past and the Z-fighters continued to enjoy a long period of peace and prosperity on the earth. Not only was work plentiful for all those who were asking for it, but the many days to follow saw some of the most noticeable shifts in the Son family's life.
Goten was growing fast under the loving care of his mother, older brother and his friends. His vocabulary was increasing exponentially and his basic motor skills were also starting to reach their peak. Thanks to his Saiyan genetics, his instincts not only developed at a much faster rate compared to normal humans, but so did his physical strengths, which Gohan, Zangya and Videl couldn't help but notice every day they spent with him.
The rest of the family also underwent many changes. Thanks to a little bit of convincing from Gohan, the demi-Saiyan was able to encourage his Hera neighbor to move into the house with him so that she didn't have to spend her nights out in the cold anymore. Though Chi-Chi was initially hesitant about letting Zangya into her domain, after seeing how well the woman looked after her sons and did chores around the front yard, she eventually found a room for her just down the hall from her older boy's chambers.
It was a small space and a tight fit, but the orange haired alien was more than happy with the accommodations. At least now she had a place to store her clothing from work.
What's more, Zangya had also taken a much more active role in Gohan and Videl's training. Not only assisting the raven haired girl in her exercises and sessions every time she came over to visit the Son household, she also spent her mornings and afternoons driving her own fighting skills into the ground. Well aware that the demi-Saiyan and his companions were getting more powerful with every day that passed, the Hera female was determined to keep in step with them and, driven by pride and desire to better herself, Zangya started aiming for heights she never thought of reaching before.
About half way through the second year following the Cell Games, the blue-skinned fighter became Gohan's most frequent sparring partner. Her strength enabling her to go toe to toe with the youngster in his first Super Saiyan form, the woman started pushing herself even further to improve her techniques and increase her strength. Much like Piccolo, she even started to wear weighted clothing during her sessions and, wanting to augment her power and fighting mentality, began to meditate and Image Train with the two Z-fighters even more.
Though her initial regimens had all been in an effort to keep her skills polished and her senses sharp, after seeing Gohan set himself a new goal after every month, she quickly became determined to do the same.
Heck, if she kept at it, she might even be able to reach a transformation phase herself.
Soon enough, after a year of vigorous sparring and training with Gohan and Piccolo out on the meadows and in their home's new Gravity Dome, she became strong enough to literally go head to head with him in Super Saiyan.
Concurrently, Gohan's strength also continued to climb. Thanks to the GR he managed to get from Bulma, not only was he able to diversify his training schedule, he also gave his friends a secondary place to train in the many months to follow.
Opening the chamber at a low enough setting enabled him to host some of Videl's sessions inside and get his friend accustomed to various changes in environment. He also spent many hours with Zangya sparring with her in a condition of over two hundred times earth's normal gravity, which gave them both an extreme workout.
After one particular session, the Saiyan and Hera had worked themselves so hard that when the artificial gravity eventually shut down after a couple long hours of training, both of them passed out right there on the tiles. It was perhaps one of the most peculiar sights Chi-Chi had ever walked in on when she came around to give the pair refreshments and found them lying opposite one another on their back and front respectively.
Aside from the usual stuff, everything was going swimmingly for the Son family.
And they weren't the only ones reveling in the peace.
Up in Otherworld, out on the vast plains making up most of the Grand Kai's planet, a certain spiky haired Saiyan was in the midst of an intense meditation session. Sitting cross-armed and cross-legged on a flat patch of field, with the familiar form of King Kai shadowing him from behind, the old hero of earth, Son Goku, could be seen locked in a severe Image Training session.
With his halo hovering overhead, the adult Saiyan allowed a bead of sweat to run down the side of his head as he focused all of his efforts on defeating the opponent he'd conjured up in his mind. He was really getting into the routine too…
That was until his hour was suddenly interrupted by the appearance of several familiar ki signatures on his radar, which had his eyes fly open and glance over his shoulder. As soon as he did, he saw a group of five figures teleport into view in the form of a golden flash of light, which faded moments later to reveal Gohan, Chi-Chi, Zangya, Videl, and a three year old Goten standing in front of them.
The sight of his family appearing on the Grand Kai's soil had Goku's expression brighten.
Immediately spotting his father, Gohan grinned, "Hey dad! Guess who."
"Gohan. Chi-Chi. Hey!" the father exclaimed, springing to his feet and spinning around, "I'm glad you all made it." It was at that very moment he saw the youngest member of their family spot him as well, which immediately put a smile on Goten's face. It was an expression Goku quickly acknowledged, crouching down quickly and holding his arms out. "Hey there, little guy. It's great to see you again."
"Daddy!" the youngster in the green and yellow outfit called out as he dashed up to the man that he recognized as his father. With a giggle and a shout, the child threw himself into the man's hug, who laughed when he felt the boy clamp his arms around his neck. "I missed you daddy."
The full-blooded Saiyan chuckled as he stood up, carrying the boy with him, "I missed you too, Goten. Wow, you've gotten strong. What's Chi-Chi been feedin' yah?" His grip was monstrous, especially for a three year old.
After getting his fill of hugging the man, the child leaned away in his father's grip and looked at the martial artist curiously, "Are you still dead?"
Goku shrugged, throwing the boy a sheepish smile, "Yes. I'm still dead, Goten." He then reached up and tapped the halo hovering over his head. "See."
Blinking a couple of times, the young hybrid smiled, "Okay."
Finding the boy's innocence intoxicating, the spiky haired fighter then had the wind knocked out of him when Gohan jogged over and gave him a hug as well, which quickly earned one in kind. Upon greeting his sons as he always did, Goku then leaned away and looked down at his eldest child, who he could see was adorned in his colors of orange and blue.
"You're getting taller, son," Goku chuckled, measuring the boy's height against his chest and realizing that he was just a head shorter than him. "Man. It's only been a couple of weeks and you're already up to my neck." He then grinned when he saw the half-Saiyan step away, "If I'm not careful you're going to shoot right past me in the next few days."
Gohan chuckled, "I'll do my best. But I'll try not to grow too much for you, okay dad?"
"That's the spirit." Looking the youngster over, the dead Saiyan then noticed something new about his boy's appearance and acknowledged it with an exclamation of surprise, "Hey. You got a new haircut." Reaching up, he ran a hand through the teen's hair, pulling his palm away seconds later to see his son's spikes stand back on end, "Nice. It really suits you."
"Yeah," Gohan chuckled, reaching up and pushing the two strands that dangled in front of his forehead out of the way at the same time, "It's was all Lime's idea. I have to thank her properly next time I pop around to visit her."
Both father and son sharing a grin, with the young Goten reaching up to yank on his father's locks as well, the group was then interrupted by Chi-Chi walking right up to them. When her eldest stepped aside to make room for her, everyone then watched the woman step up to her husband, stand on her toes, and give him a tender kiss on the lips, which earned a gagging look from their youngest and an exclamation of protest.
Too bad the two parents ignored the child's plight and continued on with their show of affection.
Stepping away, the mother smiled, "Hello, sweetheart."
"Chi-Chi," Goku whispered, smiling lovingly at his wife as he held her by the waist, "Are you alright?" When he saw the woman nod her head affirmatively, the man felt a heart-like flutter in his chest. "Is everything okay down below? How's everyone?"
The woman nodded, "Everyone's doing great, Goku."
This brought a look of relief to the Saiyan's face. "That's good," Goku said, before then looking up to see the other two they'd brought with them wandering about the field. While Zangya was checking out the fighters training nearby with her arms folded, Videl was gazing across at the family with an expression of wonder, which put a grin on the former hero's face. "Let's go grab a bite to eat together. I'm sure all of you have plenty of stories to tell me. I want to hear about everything." He then turned to look over at his trainer, who was standing nearby with his hands behind his back, "King Kai?"
The blue man in the shades and training garb smiled and nodded, "No problems here, Goku. You go have fun with your family." After all, there weren't any rules in the script saying that his student couldn't receive visits from his relatives, especially if they were more than capable of traveling to the Otherworld. As far as he was concerned, Gohan and his family were more than welcomed to this planet, especially after all the good deeds they'd performed for their part of the universe.
All of the Z-fighters had earned their keep as heroes long ago, even if Vegeta and Zangya were a bit of a stretch.
Elated, Goku then led Chi-Chi, Gohan and Goten across the training fields towards the palace during which time the man's oldest son stopped and waited for Videl to catch up. When she did, he went on to walk the rest of the way to the Grand Kai's building with her and Zangya alongside him.
It was there, amidst the glimmering cosmos and the sacred space that was the world beyond their own, the family would spend the entire day together, having lunch, exploring the meadows, and catching up on days past.
For one shining moment, everything was perfect…
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