#happy piccolo and goku day y’all

[chaoartwork]

“I hate peace!”

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Happy birthday to this slug alien demon. Just a cute bundle of chaotic evil he was.

[youseethingsandyouknow]

Hi y’all! Thanks for clicking this post I hope you enjoy. Comment, like etc below!

3 Years

1 month

“Goku, Gohan!” Chi-Chi called out the kitchen window hoping to get their attention that dinner was ready. The sun was setting quickly over the mountains and she knew they’d be hungry after a long day of training. Feeling like her husband and son needed a treat for all their hard work, Chi-Chi made extras of their favorite foods and their favorite dessert. Chi-Chi didn’t do this all the time, and she couldn’t contain her excitement at the anticipation of showing Gohan and Goku these surprises.

They have been working day and night preparing for the upcoming danger. Initially, she was very wary of this new change, especially with Piccolo being here constantly, but as the last month progressed, Chi-Chi got use to this new routine. Honestly, it has been nice to have her little family under one roof again, something that hasn’t happened since Gohan was younger. The biggest challenge though was getting adjusted to Goku living at home again.

A lot has happened to the both of them since they lived in the same house together. The first week or so that he was home, they were so out of sync and walking on egg shells. They both had sensed a change in each other but they did not know how to confront or talk about it. It also didn’t help that Chi-Chi was still healing from being hit through the wall of the house. But things seemed to be getting better. At least she thought so.

Noticing that dinner was growing cold and that Goku and Gohan were not at the table yet, Chi-Chi grew frustrated. Huffing, she walked outside to look around for them. Noticing the sounds of sparring above her, she marched over to the fighters.

“Hellooo!” She said but was still being ignored. Her frustration grew, and finally she screamed, “GOKU, GOHAN!”

The sparring immediately stopped and all three fighters froze as they looked down at Chi-Chi.

“Do you know how long I cooked dinner tonight? I put in all this effort and this is the thanks I get, ignored by my husband and son!? Fine, eat a cold meal for all I care. You can serve it yourself and clean up too. The nerve!” She spins on her heel and stomps away towards the house.

Annoyed and frustrated, Chi-Chi slams the front door and goes to the kitchen to clean up. As she does so, Gohan and Goku sheepishly walk through the door. She keeps her back turned towards them as she washes some dishes.

“Chi-Chi , we must have not heard you the first time and lost track of time. We’re really sorr-.”

“Dinner is on the stove and there is bread in the oven. Eat it or don’t eat it, starve for all I care, Goku.” Chi-Chi rips off her apron and throws it on the counter before storming off to their bedroom.

Trying to calm herself down at the sheer rudeness of Goku and Gohan, Chi-Chi gets ready for bed. She changes into her nightgown and goes to the bathroom for her nightly routine. Chi-Chi begins to wash her face and as she’s coming up to finish drying, she looks up to see Goku standing behind her through the mirror.

“I’m really sorry, Chi-Chi.”

Ignoring him, Chi-Chi pats her cheeks and sets down the towel. She brushes past Goku’s shoulder, her shoulder hitting him hard as she walks into their bedroom.

“Really, you’re just going to ignore me? I don’t know what else you want me to say, Chi-Chi.”

Still staying silent, Chi-Chi walks to her side of the bed, which is across from where her husband is standing. She glares at him and then shoves the comforter across the bed. Chi-Chi then climbs into bed, lays down and turns her back to Goku with a hmph.

A moment passes as they stay in their spots and neither speaks. Finally, Goku sighs and rolls his eyes before quietly leaving their bedroom.

Chi-Chi knows she’s being immature but her feelings are hurt. She spent the vast majority of her afternoon preparing the perfect dinner, something that she had hoped Gohan and Goku would have appreciated and enjoyed. Instead, they were too focused on training to even answer. Chi-Chi could care less about warming up food but it was their lack of respect and appreciation for her efforts that she can’t stand.

Closing her eyes and relaxing against the bed, she falls asleep and does not feel Goku come to bed. It’s not until the middle of the night that a jolt and a sharp gasp from her husband alerts her that he is on the other side. The bed vibrates with his body and she can hear him panting. A bright flash of light makes her open her eyes, but then the light is gone and the room is engulfed in darkness once more. Goku is still trying to calm down besides her and she hears him take a deep, shaky breath.

Unmoving from her position, Chi-Chi whispers, “Are you okay?”

Silence passes between them and Chi-Chi frowns before rolling over. In front of her, Goku’s shoulders are rising and falling as he is trying to control his breathing. His head is in his hands and his eyes are closed.

Concerned, Chi-Chi sits up and gently reaches to touch his shoulder. He flinches from her touch and his eyes flash open.

“Oh, it’s you Chi-Chi. Sorry I woke you up.” He says as he looks at her briefly before putting his head back into his hands.

“Goku, what’s wrong?”

“Just a bad dream. I’m okay, go back to bed Chi-Chi.” Goku says into his hands and Chi-Chi is not convinced that he’s fine.

“What happened?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Goku, you rarely have nightmares. At least you didn’t before.” Chi-Chi states.

Goku sighs and finally turns to face her. “I use to get these dreams while I was on Yardrat. They are usually about Frieza and they either end up with him blowing up Earth, killing Krillin or Gohan or sometimes it ends with me going Super Saiyan and not being able to control myself. I haven’t had one since I came back so it’s just odd. I’m sorry about waking you up.”

I scoot closer to him and say, “I know you’ve told me about Yardrat and how you had to get control of your transformation but, did you change into a Super Saiyan a moment ago?” Chi-Chi asks and Goku grimaces.

“You noticed that, huh?”

“Kind of hard not to in the dead of the night.”

Defeated, Goku responds, “I have a lot better control of it, but sometimes I slip up, especially when my emotions get the better of me. Tonight’s dream was too real.”

Chi-Chi looks into his eyes and she can tell that they are tired and stressed. Maybe this android challenge is starting to take its toll on him. Maybe he’s just been so wrapped up in it that he didn’t mean to hurt her feelings about dinner today. Maybe they are still off with each other because Chi-Chi would have noticed all of this before, but she’s just seeing this now. If that’s the case, Chi-Chi feels even worse about her actions.

“I think maybe you and Gohan should take a break from training for a bit. You’ve been working too hard. Maybe this dream is a sign to ease up.”

Goku shakes his head, “No, if anything, it showed me that I can’t give up. I don’t need a break, I just need to get some rest.”

“Goku, I really think-.” Chi-Chi answers and Goku interrupts and smiles back at her.

“Hey, I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

She sighs and looks at him before laying back down. Goku lays back down in the bed too, and then they are staring at each other.

“I’m really sorry about today, Chi-Chi. I didn’t mean to make you upset or anything. I love your cooking and I know you work hard to make sure Gohan and I are taken care of. We just honestly lost track of time, it had nothing to do with you.”

“I’m sorry for overreacting too. I just think that we are all under a lot of stress and maybe we just have to do a better job at helping each other out.”

“Right. I’m going to try my best.”

“So will I. We’ve been through harder times than this, I just think we are still getting use to each other and relearning how to communicate. I know that I can do better with that.” Chi-Chi says and snuggles up against Goku’s chest. He wraps his arms tightly around her and kisses her head.

“I know. But, hey,” He gently pulls Chi-Chi back and stares down at her before he continues, “We are going to get through this though, Chi. You and I, okay?”

Chi-Chi nods lays her head back against his chest and he squeezes her tighter, trying to close whatever distance there is between them. He knows he’s not the easiest to live with, and that this has been hard for Chi-Chi. But, she’s the only person he’d go through this life with. They have been through so much together, and he knows that they just need some time to get back on the same page. Chi-Chi understands him better than anyone, and he’d do anything to make her happy. Goku feels Chi-Chi drift off against his chest and he leans down to kiss her hair again, smiling against her head.

He smiles knowing that even though she can be hot-tempered and irrational sometimes, she’s also the most supportive and caring person he knows. Chi-Chi doesn’t know this and maybe one of these days he’ll tell her, but it’s always been her. There’s never been anyone else, and there will never be anyone else that he loves more than her.

[dragon-ball-meta]

Ohhh boy... -cracks knuckles- Let’s do this, shall we?

30. HIS DESTRUCTO DISC WAS THE STRONGEST KI ATTACK IN THE SERIES How does that not make sense? You’re starting your list off by not even framing your complaints correctly, as your beef isn’t the attack’s power, but that it’s underused. But even that’s explained. In short, the Kienzan takes up a LOT of energy. To form, to get it spinning fast enough, to throw, takes a bit out of the user. It’s also got several drawbacks, including, but not limited to, being quite loud. People can hear it coming and adjust accordingly. One can make a slightly weaker version they can steer, but that reduces its effectiveness.  Really, the Kienzan is only feasible in certain scenarios, at least until Krillin managed to gain the ability to control it without sacrificing power. 29. HE THOUGHT ANDROID 18 WAS DATING HER TWIN BROTHER Uh... ok? I mean I’m not sure how that ‘makes no sense’ but yeah, he made a mistake. Whoops? 28. HIS BODY MEASUREMENTS Bear in mind a few things here. Namely, that while Toriyama does depict these characters as “muscular”, it’s also lean. So the idea he should be ridiculously jacked is also a bit off. I believe the weight estimate also originally came back when the “Z” arcs started, so there’s that. Otherwise, this is probably one of the only legitimate points on this list. 27. THE REASON WHY HE SHAVES HIS HEAD ...again, how does this make no sense? He shaves his head as a sign of dedication to his practice of the martial arts and because he was taught it aided in the flow of ki in one’s body. That’s explained full well. Just because he ASSUMED Roshi shaved his head doesn’t make this not make sense. 26. HIS ABILITY TO BREAK THE FOURTH WALL It’s a comedy manga at heart. There’s jokes like this throughout. In Goku’s rematch with Yamcha, Goku hits him so hard that he actually breaks one of the borders between the panels and bounces off of it. It’s a thing in the series. Also, Idk why you’re referencing movies when they’re clearly not part of Toriyama’s continuity, but I’m reasonably certain that “lasted a season” was meant in terms of time passed, not “seasons” of a show. Especially as DB never had “seasons”. 25. HE NEVER TRAINED WITH WITH KING KAI Now this is what annoys me about this article. Y’all will take the anime and even movies into account when making this list... and yet with this complaint, you even have a screenshot of where he trained with King Kai in the anime. Yet you say he didn’t do it. Also, “with all the time he spends in the afterlife”? lol really?  24. HIS HEAD DOTS You... you literally explain this in full. How is this something that makes no sense? Literally how? 23. HIS REDUCED FIGHTING PRESENCE IN THE CELL AND BUU SAGAS Again, you explain this in the first paragraph of this entry. Yet you also talk about his activities in both arcs. So... how does this not make sense other than the fact that complaining about it makes no sense? I mean he still has a role, it’s just primarily non-combat. He carried the meat of the story in the Cell arc. 22. HIS BIZARRE CHILDHOOD "A lot of the pasts and families of Dragon Ball’s characters have been shown before (including Frieza's), but Krillin’s remains a mystery.“ Actually, no. They’re not. By and large, we learn very little about the pasts of any of these characters. We have only the vaguest details about anyone not Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, or Bulma, discounting the people we actually see born during the series. Kami’s past, even his name, is a complete mystery. Tien? No one knows his background outside being taken in by the Crane Hermit and training alongside Chiaotzu. This is not uncommon. But we actually do know a bit more about Krillin’s past in that he was raised at Orin, and he was abused. Daily. Frequently. It left him with a complex that lasted well into his adult life. He ran away one day in tears, determined he was gonna prove he wasn’t weak or worthless someday. That’s a good sight more than we’d gotten about most characters til recently. 21. HE NEARLY BECAME AN ANDROID You guys are reaching into arcade path endings from video games. Why am I not surprised? 20. HOW HE DEFEATED GOHAN DURING TOURNAMENT OF POWER PREP This is easily one of the worst offenders on this entire list if only because this is very, very easily explained. Hell, it was the point of them doing it. Gohan was operating with the wrong perspective, that Krillin going one on one vs a powerful opponent would, by necessity, be outclassed and overpowered and thus couldn’t be an asset. He was also under the assumption Krillin had gotten much weaker, unaware he was stronger than ever. Couple these things with both the fact that Gohan himself wasn’t near as strong as he used to be, and Krillin simply out-planning Gohan and beating him by using the rules of the arena against him vs trying to actually overpower him, and Gohan losing there makes perfect sense. Krillin simply overwhelmed all his senses, dropped out of sight and detection, and then simply knocked Gohan off-balance and shoved him out of bounds. Simple. Literally nothing hard to understand about that. 19. HE’S THE FIRST PERSON FROM UNIVERSE 7 TO LOSE IN THE TOURNAMENT OF POWER He’s the first one out because he actually ditched the safety of the group strategy and rushes out to rescue his wife, who was nearly eliminated first herself. He then teamed up with her for a bit and even took out a particularly skilled enemy himself by using his head. Then he was tripped out of bounds because he was distracted by (sadly) rare praise. It happens and it’s not indicative of “strength” or “power” at all. 18. HIS BATTLE STRATEGY AGAINST FRIEZA'S SECOND FORM Lord, here we go. Imma say this again: The Kienzan takes a LOT of energy to form and use. Krillin had just thrown like, twenty of them in a row and then had to run at top speed. The odds of him being able to produce a Kienzan in time are slim to none This is why, upon blinding Freeza, he was yelling for Vegeta (who was still FRESH, mind you) to attack Freeza now. But Vegeta was too paralyzed with shock and fear to act. I’d also like to point out that blinding Freeza wouldn’t have been super effective with an attack that Freeza could easily HEAR coming. He heard it at the last minute even over Gohan’s screams of agony, pretty sure he’d have heard it off to the side where it was just them too. 17. HE LEAVES HIS DAUGHTER IN THE CARE OF KIDS Yes. Apprehensively. At the insistence of his wife, who assured him she’d be ok and could take care of herself. Y’all really tried to use this to imply he’s a bad dad, wow. 16. HIS REGRESSIVE PTSD IN THE FOREST OF TERROR I’m not sure if I’m happy someone finally admitted it’s PTSD (#DragonBallAintDeepBro) or pissed off someone called this “regressive”. Wait no, I know exactly what I am, and frankly... WTF is wrong with you? How on God’s green earth is that Regressive? Are you, by the body of this entry, implying PTSD is a thing that exclusively happens to people who aren’t strong or “strong enough”? Either way, you missed the entire point of the episode, which you simultaneously admit was good character development. A development arc hinted at since the Buu arc really, but really kickstarted back in the BoG arc. The Forest of Terror was never about just strength or ability. Truly, the enemies seen there were only as strong or weak as Krillin empowered them to be by his fear and the ki he poured into them as a result. The point is they were a personification of Krillin’s own fears. His self-doubt and self-loathing. The condition was slowly killing him, his confidence was next to nothing, and it was affecting his life. His job. His family. It’s why 18 gave him the kick in the butt to start training again, to try to regain some of his confidence. It’s why Roshi sent them there; he saw the lack of confidence in the man. He saw his student in anguish, hating himself for not being more than what he was, but also fully believing he never could be. That he just wasn’t good enough. It’s why, even when facing enemies that his rational mind KNEW were weaker than himself, to say nothing of dead, he still panicked. His PTSD was triggered, vivid memories of what they’d done to him, the pain he suffered, came rushing back. And removing it was what finally allowed him to reach into his truest potential, and become even stronger than he’d ever been before. I also love the realistic way the series handled the condition, in that even as he tries to improve himself, he still has moments where it starts to kick in and he has to fight it off, will himself not to lose it. His wife knows it too and takes extra care (for the most part) to not let him slip back into it. But he refuses to allow it to control him anymore. How the hell that’s somehow a negative, let alone something that “doesn’t make sense”, is a mystery to me. 15. HIS "FULL POTENTIAL" THAT THE GRAND ELDER NAMEKIAN GURU UNLOCKED How is this really confusing? It simply allows him to tap into potential, power, that was blocked off. There are many factors that can contribute to it, be it limitations on time, plateaus, mental blocks, etc. The Grand Elder removed those and awaken that potential. It’s why Gohan and Krillin started to make the gains that they did at the rate they did, going from only about as strong as Goku had been on Earth to strong enough to help Vegeta overpower and potentially kill Freeza in his first form. 14. HIS YOUNGER CHARACTER TRAITS Y-you do realize you’re literally complaining about character development... right? Krillin grew up in an abusive environment where he felt he could trust no one, everyone was out for themselves, and that he had to do whatever it took to get ahead and be accepted as one of Roshi’s pupils so he had a chance to be... anybody, really. And yes, over time, between the influences of his friends and general maturing and growing up, he became a very kind, compassionate, and caring individual and a true friend. THAT’S. CHARACTER. DEVELOPMENT. And to present these traits as a “mistake” is to somehow suggest they came later. They were his original traits. 13. HIS BULLET INJURIES DURING HIS POLICE JOB Literally explained in Resurrection F, both the arc and the movie. Emptying one’s body of ki leaves it vulnerable. It should be his instinct to do so right away, but he doesn’t. He’s becoming careless and distracted. It’s part of his PTSD. Hell, Goku’s clearly not getting “that weak” and yet he also  got lightly bruised by a bullet because he didn’t keep his energy up, a sign he was falling out of practice due to his inability to find a training partner, or to leave to a place that would really push him in his training due to work. Also, if one being vulnerable to gunfire means they shouldn’t be a police officer, or any like job where there might be danger... well...  That’s dumb, my friend. 12. HE CAN PERFORM THE SPIRIT BOMB AND KAIO-KEN ATTACK Stop using video games to pad your list! SERIOUSLY! And how does “performing the Spirit Bomb” make no sense? Goku and King Kai both instructed him how to do it, and Krillin’s always been especially gifted at both energy manipulation and learning on the fly. Besides, it’s not as if he knows how to summon said energy himself, just wield and form it. 11. HIS ROMANTIC NATURE NEARLY DESTROYED THE EARTH Hot Take Time: Krillin’s decision not to kill 18 stemmed from general compassion, not just the fact that she kissed him, and his decision would have had NO impact on Cell had Vegeta followed through, done what he was supposed to, and killed Cell. Even if Vegeta, by some bizarre chance, failed? Trunks was there, and just as powerful. There were two people there capable of killing Cell. No, what nearly destroyed the Earth was Vegeta’s VERY conscious decision to actually HELP Cell reach his Perfect Form, something Krillin never imagined Vegeta would be stupid and selfish enough to do. And even then, Krillin told her to get lost and hide, and even offered to help her move 16 so she could. 10. HIS EARLY DISMISSAL IN FORTUNETELLER BABA'S TOURNAMENT ...IT’S A COMEDY AND HE GOT HIS WHOLE HEAD BIT INTO BY A VAMPIRE, WHAT’S HARD TO UNDERSTAND? FFS He’s still weaker than even Yamcha at that point. His quick thinking is also all that saved Yamcha’s ass from getting whupped into submission. 9. HE PASSES AWAY THE MOST... EVEN THOUGH HE’S EARTH’S STRONGEST HUMAN Oh lord here we go... a. He wasn’t at the time of his first death. b. That kinda doesn’t mean much when you have to fight an alien lizard or ancient demon who could dust you with their pinky. This only makes no sense if you utterly ignore any and all context. Vegeta, for example, has actually died just as many times as Krillin now (Freeza, Buu, Freeza again)... and he’s the second strongest in the roster. Goku has also technically “died” just as many times now too (Piccolo, Cell, Hit), as well as Piccolo (Nappa, Buu, Freeza).  Mr. Satan and Bulma have died the least of anyone. Hardly an indicator of power. 8. HE LIVED WITH HIS FAMILY AND MASTER ROSHI IN THE KAME HOUSE It’s housed Roshi, Oolong, Krillin, Goku, Yamcha, Umigame AND Launch in the past. Housing Krillin, 18, a baby/toddler, and Roshi is hardly filled to capacity. That said... they move. They move as soon as they can afford their own home, which is shortly after 18 gets her fall money from Mr. Satan. 7. HIS FUSION WITH PICCOLO I’d just like to state for the record that this is literally complaining about a fun drawing Toriyama did of what Krillin and Piccolo would look like Fused. That is all. 6. HE CAN ABSORB SPIRIT BOMBS AND USE THEIR ENERGY Aaand we’re back to video games. 5. HE’S THE STRONGEST HUMAN ON EARTH Ok now this one? This one is utter BS. Krillin outpacing Tien makes perfect sense since it’s been happening since Tien first appeared. When everyone came back for the 23rd Budokai? The gap between those two shrunk. A lot. Krillin had not only taught HIMSELF how to fly, how to steer energy after firing it, and more, but he’d improved to the point of Piccolo not only using his true power to beat him, but he managed to survive a blow Piccolo assumed HAD to have killed him... and made Piccolo question whether or not he was even strong enough to conquer this world even if he DID beat Goku. When the Saiyans came? Even smaller gap with the exact same time to train. And Tien even had the benefit of having Chiaotzu as a partner, Krillin was off finishing his training solo. And the Grand Elder awakening his dormant potential, as well as the combat experience on Namek, finally sealed the deal. After all, Yamcha was still intently training at that time too, and Krillin surpassed him. Why then is it so hard to believe he could surpass Tien? It also doesn’t help that Tien doesn’t actually train nonstop, despite what anime filler would have you believe. He runs a dojo and a farm to boot. Tien is also demonstrably still weaker than Krillin in Super and lasts longer in the Tournament because he and Roshi are taking cover and surprising targets to knock them out while they’re off-guard. So there’s that. 4. HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE THE EXCITING FOIL TO BORING GOKU He was created as a rival character to play off Goku and give Goku something to measure himself against. That doesn’t exactly mean he’s meant to be “more exciting”, but to bring an element of entertainment to the series that had been missing, as well as give Goku someone his own age to grow with. Nice dig at the character at the end though. Top notch. 3. HE NAMES HIS DAUGHTER AFTER HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND For the last time: Maron. Is. A. Filler. Character. Toriyama did not create her. Toriyama did not name her. Toriyama named Krillin’s daughter “Marron” because it’s French for “Chestnut”, which is a play on the fact that the first syllable in Krillin’s Japanese name, “Kuri”, also means chestnut. It’s not at ALL indicative of “lingering feelings” for a character that Toriyama didn’t even make, let alone doesn’t appear in his manga or continuity at all. 2. HE NEARLY ALLOWS VEGETA TO GAIN IMMORTALITY Well, it was more or less that or let the kid he’d sworn he’d keep safe die. I don’t really blame him for at least entertaining the idea at that point. An ultimately bad idea? Yeah. But one born of desperation. Hardly the first for characters in this series. And finally... 1. HIS MISSING NOSE ...wow. It’s... it’s a physical deformity. I’m not sure what about that doesn’t make sense? This list was even more of a dumpster fire than usual.

[krillin-fanfic]

So Cool

“Krillin's starting a new career, and his wife isn't terribly thrilled with it. At least, until she hears the reason why.”

Wrote this for K18 Day 2015 (9/18). I really do need to write more, even if it’s short, hence the creation of this blog. Stuff I don’t think warrants a post on FF.net or AO3′s gonna get posted here. Anyways, hope y’all enjoy.

"A police officer?" Eighteen gazed skeptically across the kitchen table at her small husband, his new uniform in hand.

The silence was deafening, and certainly not the reaction he'd expected. Somewhere, he swore he hear a lone cricket chirp and cleared his throat."W-well yeah," Krillin chuckled nervously. "I mean we have this new apartment to pay for since moving out from Master Roshi's, and the money you managed to get out of Mr. Satan isn't gonna last us long on its own, to say nothing of paying for Marron's schooling..."

Eighteen smirked slightly at the recollection. She was eternally proud of that achievement. Her eyes fell on the almost comically large gold star badge atop the dress shirt. "So you're doing this for money then? Seems there are other jobs that pay better with significantly less..." she wrinkled her nose a bit. "...unpleasantness."

Krillin sighed. "Look babe, I know you and the police have a bit of, well, history. And I know you're not super fond of them. But that was a long time ago." He put on his best smile. "Besides, best way to change the system is from within and all that, right? Heh..." Her expression never changed. He sighed. "You... really don't like this much, do you?"

"Well I would have appreciated being asked first, at least." She lightly drummed her fingers on the table. "But hey, you already said yes, not a whole lot I can do now, is there?"

Krillin's shoulders slumped. "Aww c'mon Eighteen, don't be like that. I thought you'd be happy to see I have steady work now..."

"Ecstatic."

He opened his mouth to protest when a faint, tiny voice echoed down the hall. "Can I have a glass of water?" He sighed and headed toward the bathroom, not noticing as the badge fell to the floor with a small clank. "I'll get it. Need to put this thing away anyways..."

Eighteen placed her forehead in her hand and sighed. 'There I go again,' she thought to herself. Nearly seven years of marriage, even longer in a relationship, and she still couldn't help but be harsh with him over some small offense.

It wasn't as if she hadn't tried, and she'd gotten far better at it than when she'd first agreed to stay with him. Back then something as minor as socks laying around or a forgotten grocery item would irk her to no end. But even now, sometimes that same attitude could come creeping back.

She stood and picked up the fallen badge, examining her reflection in it. 'He does mean well,’ she thought to herself. 'And I was the one pressuring him to find work last week...’ She sighed, and started down the hall after him.

'I'll talk to him, straighten this ou-' she suddenly stopped, hearing her daughter excitedly conversing with her father. The little girl was chattering away, asking the questions one would expect of a little girl. "How big is the police station?" "When do you start?" "Did they give you your own car yet?"

She smiled a bit and peeked in through the crack in the door, hovering gently to avoid detection via creaky floorboard. Her small husband had their tiny daughter on his lap as she stared up, absolutely awestruck.

"Not yet, sweetheart. I have to start out small before getting my own patrol car." He poked her belly, and she giggled. "But once I do get it, you and me are goin' for a ride, okay?"

"'Kay!" the little girl beamed. "I bet mommy was super happy when you told her, huh?"

Krillin's smile faded and Marron's grin soon followed. "Mommy... wasn't terribly happy, no." Eighteen felt her emotions rise a bit, but knew Krillin could never lie to the girl, neither could she.

Marron cocked her head a bit, confused. "Why not?"

Krillin set his daughter down on her bed and covered her lap with her blanket. "Well hon, you gotta understand something about your mom. When she was younger, she-" he paused, searching for the proper phrase. "Well, remember how mommy explained she doesn't remember a whole lot from when she was younger?"

Marron nodded. "Mhm. That mean doctor made her forget everything."

"Almost everything, yeah. Well some of the fainter memories your mom has involve some-ah, 'run-ins' with the police. And that's why they sometimes make her uncomfortable, even in public. They remind her of both unpleasant memories and that she can't recall many of them."

"But then, why would you want to be a police man, dad?" the little girl seemed more confused than ever, though Eighteen felt slight relief that she hadn't been the only one to see the issue at hand.

Krillin gently patted the top of their daughter's head. "I guess I thought that maybe... if your mommy knew I was an officer and could see that things aren't like that anymore, maybe she'd be able to get better and not have to be so upset whenever she sees them."

Eighteen's eyes softened a bit. He'd actually done this to, in his own way, try to help her, and she'd snipped at him for being dismissive of her.

"Well, that's part of it, at least. The other reason," he booped the area Marron's nose would normally be, "is to protect you. And mommy too."

Marron giggled. "But you're already super strong, daddy." She held her arms out and flexed her tiny arms. "And mommy's super duper strong! You already protect me from bad people, and mommy protects you."

Krillin chuckled. "Yes, but not... not quite strong enough, sweetie." He sighed. "Sometimes some really, really bad people come, and they're stronger than mommy and daddy could ever imagine. Sometimes we're just not enough. That's something really only Uncle Goku can handle these days.

"But there are other kinds of bad people, Marron. Some of them don't have any powers, but they can still hurt other people really bad. Sometimes with weapons, sometimes by stealing their money or things." He allowed a tiny ball of light to glow in his hand. "Your daddy might not be as strong as Uncle Goku, or Vegeta, or even mommy or Mr. Piccolo. But daddy's got these gifts for a reason, Marron." He heard the door slowly creak open as his wife walked in. "And that reason is to keep people safe, little one." She leaned down and pecked their daughter on the cheek.

"Now you get some sleep," she looked over and eyed her husband as he stood from the bed. "Daddy and I need to have a small talk.

The little girl yawned and laid down. "Mmkay. Night mom, night daddy."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." Eighteen gently shut the door and gracefully twirled to face her husband, already seated on their bed across the hall. "So," she began, entering their room and shutting the door. "You've decided to appoint yourself my therapist, it seems."

Krillin looked down rather sheepishly as his wife sat down beside him. "I-I didn't mean it like that at all, hon. I just thought that..." He stopped short and rested his head in his hands. "I just wanted to try to help you, is all."

Eighteen placed a hand on his shoulder. "Krillin, I'm not mad at you. Well, not anymore at least. But you could have talked it over with me first, you know?"

He picked his head up to look her in the eye. "I just hate seeing you have to live with that is all."

"Well," she said, fingers toying with his hair. "It's certainly very sweet of you to want to help me. Just... please talk things like this through with me and don't spring them on me, okay? Gives me time to adjust." She ran her hand back through his hair as he nodded. A small smirk graced her features. "So, about this 'big strong man' needing to protect his women folk..."

Krillin groaned and fell back on the bed, his face turning beet red. "Eighteen, I didn't even mean it like that..."

She fell back next to him and giggled. "I know what you meant, silly. It's very sweet of you. And honestly, it's very responsible of you to not waste your talent as well." She snuggled close to him. "In fact, I'm proud of you." She pecked him on the cheek and smiled as he turned bright red and squirmed.

"Now let's get some sleep."

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"C'mon Marron, we're gonna be late. Dad's dropping you at school on the way to work!"

"Coming daddy!" Marron bounded down the stairs, bookbag in tow, one shoe in hand. She was halfway out the door when she stopped to look at her dad in his new uniform. "Oh WOW, you look super cool!"

Krillin smiled and patted her head. "Thanks sweetheart. You go hop in the car, I'll be there in a second." He turned to his wife. "Well babe, we're off. Wish me lu-hey, are you feeling okay?" He noticed a faint tint of red in her face. "You seem flushed."

"I'm... fine." Eighteen replied. She lowered her gaze. "Aren't you supposed to give your wife a kiss before going to work?"

Krillin smacked his forehead. "Oh right. Forgot. Still not used to the whole work routine thing." He trotted over and gave her a peck on the cheek. "Love you ba-MMF!" He promptly found his wife's lips pressed against his in a slow, lingering kiss. When she finally released him, they were matching shades of red. "Wow. Where'd that come from?"

Eighteen bit her lip. "Let's just say... that uniform didn't take as long to get used to as I thought it might. Looks good on you." She leaned over and whispered in his ear. "And maybe, if you're lucky, we'll let Marron stay at a friend's house tonight and find an 'alternate use' for those handcuffs."

Krillin turned an even brighter shade of red and giggled like a fool as he made his way out the door, their daughter giggling about daddy "looking like the big red doggie".

Eighteen smiled. Her husband always seemed to feel the need to be the hero, was always a dopey romantic, ever easily flustered... but despite that, she couldn't help but find him...

"...So cool."