How much I care (DBZ fanfic)

Chapter 1

Upon the foreign feeling of a few bits of hair brushing against his chin, Gokou woke with a start, but he was not in the familiar bedroom. No, there was a bed, but no room. In fact, there seemed to be no beginning or end to this place he had suddenly found himself in.

He was lying down, and yet nothing was underneath him. He almost panicked to glance down and see that it was as if he was floating about in space. Infinite black hung below.

Carelessly pushing himself up with his hands, he finally noticed to form on him that had caused the waking in the first place.

"I've been waiting for you."

Gokou squinted down, but all he saw was long and flowing raven hair. Cocking a brow to the familiar voice that he could not exactly place, he ignored the words.

"Who are you? Where am I? What...are...you...doing?"

The form shifted in his lap, moving up to rest her head against his chest. The top of her head barely touched under his chin, but the feeling of comfort he took in from the form's gesture caused Gokou to shift again, just slightly. The curious woman was not heavy, close to weightless by his standards. She was also very, very naked.

Gokou swallowed.

"Shh, shh, so many questions. Calm down, Gokou, you act as if you've never seen me before. I am your wife." A girlish giggle is emitted from her little mouth and it gathers in the air, travelling to his sensitive Saiya-Jin ears.

"Now, as for where we are, there are certain rules-"

"Chi-Chi?"

The disbelief in his tone and his interruption mildly agitated the woman, who looked up so that he could finally see her face.

Yes, it was certainly Chi-Chi's face, but her dark eyes were a bit rounder; she seemed happier, more human now. Her face was the same, coupled with the same look of annoyance and her familiar lips, but what confused Gokou the most was her hair.

No longer was it in the quick bun she'd normally tied it in. It wandered without direction down her shoulders, and Gokou had to look again just to make sure it was she.

She giggled again, twirling a strand of her raven locks about a thin, painted finger. It was undoubtedly Chi-Chi though. Something just told him that she was not telling a lie, although another part of him couldn't believe that the same flirtatious woman sitting on top of him in this bizarre place was the one he'd married years before.

The woman had been waiting for him to finish looking before she rested her head against his jaw, closing for eyes and starting her speech once more.

"You're very lucky. Not all people get this chance, you know. But you always seemed to do well with luck. She's not the only woman that you've charmed, is she?"

She did not wait for her husband to respond, she went on. Her voice was Chi Chi's and her tone was informative, but Gokou doubted it was her. She rarely spoke so much. In a quick movement, the woman that was his wife was gone, and he was standing in his normal clothes.

"You don't need to worry about your silly training here. You see, this is not reality, Gokou. We are in a place very far from it-this is a dream. There are rules that must be abided by. The consequence of breaking them is waking up without remembering. But everyone has to wake up from dreams sometime, so everyone eventually breaks the rules."

This time, this voice was that of a male. He smiled calmly as he leaned against the oblivion behind himself, waiting for every question as if he knew exactly what to expect.

"How can there be rules in my own dream?"

"You're lucky that We even give you the rules. It's not done often."

"We?"

"Yes. We are a force that is hard to explain. Dreams are hard to explain and setting guidelines for them is almost impossible. In fact, doing this was very controversial for them, because this, to some of them, is considered breaking rules as well. But here the rules are: One, dreams reflect several things."

"So this is a... dream? Really?"

"They can reflect anything. Pay attention, Son. They said you were sort of dim-witted, but try to keep up."

"Hey!" Gokou nearly whined, "I take offense to that!"

"These reflections are usually rather typical or obvious. What you want in life, random thoughts drifting in and out, sometimes they're based on memories, or what you last thought about before you fell asleep."

"Yeah, so?"

"Now, sometimes we intervene. There are a very rare few that have received such treatment, and I assure you it's always only for a good reason."

"Why is this happening to me?"

"I won't go into that now. Listen: in your dream you should have a right to control it because it is in fact produced by your own minds. Our job is not to provide dreams for you, but to provide dreams such as this that are special."

"But how is it special?"

"I know a lot of questions are left unasked, but I must go on. We don't have a lot of time."

"Oh."

"Thirdly, even though in dreams like this you can decide some things, you cannot decide all. This is what makes this different from a normal dream."

"So I'm dreaming but you're..."

"We sort of encourage thoughts, it's entirely benevolent, Son Gokou." The voice said to Gokou's tightened fist.

"I don't like the idea of my thoughts being tampered with!"

"You don't have a choice. You cannot make people say or do certain things the way a you could in say, a lucid dream, but you can change settings or attire, etcetera. There's a fine line between the two but I think you'll do well. You don't seem so creative anyway."

"Hey! You're kind of rude."

"Your mind naturally will try to take control or recreate what's normal to you, so you need to try to control your thoughts carefully."

"Control my thoughts?"

"Now, there is one last thing, but Chi-Chi will tell you about that. You're in her hands now."

"But wait-what-"

Gokou was lying down again. Perched on his chest was his wife.

"I am real and yet a figment of your imagination all at once."

...

How was it?