Prologue

Thirteen year old Gohan lay reclining on the front lawn of the Son property. Although he appeared to be nearly asleep, if one were to look closely they would see a vigilant obsidian gaze follow the delighted shrieks of the two year old currently jumping about a few meters away. It was flabbergasting, he concluded, how utterly enthralled one could be with a mere bumblebee. Indeed, as the bee would move to another flower to collect the pollen, Goten would clap and giggle delightedly.

"Hoo, boy. This has been a long day."

Gohan gazed up at the orange-tinged sky where the setting sun kissed the horizon, and gave a bored sigh. He wished he could do something, anything, other than this, for while he loved his brother dearly, he wasn't very entertaining at the moment. He had no choice however, so simply hoped that his mother returned soon. Yes. Gohan was stuck with the dreaded task that all older siblings must endure:

Babysitting.

He idly watched a few birds fly overhead singing joyfully, wishing he were up there with them.

'That cloud kinda looks like Piccolo...' Gohan thought with a tiny grin.

A sudden shriek and the following wails that followed caused Gohan's head to snap forward, cursing himself for his momentary inattention. Gohan flung himself into a standing position and raced over to where Goten sat cradling his hand and sniffling pathetically.

"Goten! Goten, what happened?"

Goten held out his hand, lower lip trembling.

"Ah, I see. Shh, it's okay, c'mere, lemme see."

Gohan gently cradled Goten's hand where a large, angry looking red welt was swelling. Apparently Goten had finally become bored with simply watching the bumblebee and had tried to grab it. It, quite obviously, had stung him. He gathered the toddler into his arms and went inside to gather the first aid kit. Gohan retrieved the pair of tweezers and sat his little brother on the kitchen counter. As the tweezers came closer to Goten's hand he whimpered and Gohan looked up to see Goten watching him with wide, frightened eyes.

"It's okay, Goten. I won't hurt you. It'll all be over in a few seconds."

Goten still didn't look terribly reassured and a few tears leaked down his face.

"Don't you trust your niichan?" Gohan gave him a wounded look, hoping it would work.

At this, Goten gave one last sniffle and closed his eyes, waiting for it to be over. Taking this as a 'yes, but I don't have to like it', Gohan quickly removed the stinger with only a quiet sniffle from his charge. Gohan then quickly finished tending to the sting, washing it with soap, and then applying a paste made by mixing baking soda and water to make it a little less painful. Kami knew Gohan knew how to deal with bee stings by now, he liked to explore when he was younger just as much as Goten did. Back when he still had some innocence left...

"Wan' Kaasan!" Goten sniffled.

'Kaasan,' Gohan started, 'Yes, where is Kaasan? She left early this morning to do the grocery shopping and now it's after sunset.' Gohan's brow furrowed, beginning to feel a tinge of worry. It wasn't like Chichi to be gone for this long without letting Gohan know she'd be back late. In fact, Gohan didn't think she'd ever been out late. Just a few hours here and there, shopping sprees with Bulma.

Gohan returned his attention back to Goten as his sobs renewed with vigor, "Ssh, Goten, I'm sure Kaasan will be back soon." As if that was the signal, he heard the whir of a jet copter outside. He plucked Goten off the counter and hoisted him on his hip. As he started for the door, his step faltered, 'But wait a second, we don't have a jet copter.' He reached the door, cautiously opened it and stepped outside, turning slightly sideways so that Goten was partially shielded from view by Gohan's body. As the copter settled on the ground, his muscles tensed and his eyes narrowed suspiciously. Goten sensed the tension in his older brother and wisely remained silent. His booboo forgotten and body shaking, his eyes would have been almost comically wide were it not for such a potentially dangerous situation. Gohan's eyes narrowed further and was ready to defend his little brother from danger as the door hissed open and out stepped...

"Bulma!" Gohan gaped at the blue haired woman emerging from the jet copter, and indeed, now that he perceived no immediate danger, he recognized the Capsule Corps logo on the side. Gohan breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed, putting the terrified two year old at ease. 'Geeze Gohan, to many battles to the death with super powerful aliens for you. Paranoid much?' he berated himself.

"I haven't seen you in a few weeks! How are you, Trunks, and Vegeta doing? Kaasan's not here right now, she's out–"

"Gohan!"

Gohan looked closer at Bulma after being interrupted mid-sentence. Her eyes were red-rimmed and she looked near frantic (though trying to hide it), and seemed to be barely holding herself together in their presence. Gohan stared at her, an unwanted lump of fear forming in his belly that spread a numb chill throughout his body.

"Bumma?" Goten's confused face looked between her and Gohan, not understanding.

"Come here, Gohan, we have to go." Bulma's voice wavered as she beckoned to Gohan.

"W-what happened? Where is she? She didn't come home – she didn't call – you never cry – what – she – oh Kami – she – what – Bulma!"

Bulma's composure seemed to slip with every word Gohan spoke, confirming for him that which he had suspected. Something had happened to Kaasan. His grip on Goten increased. Oh Kami, not her too...

As a few tears leaked their way down Bulma's cheeks, Gohan came back to himself. His face turned to stone and he stopped his panicked babble. 'I am a warrior. I do not panic, I do not cry. I must be strong. I must be strong for Goten.'

"Come, Gohan. Hurry. We must g-go–"

"Tell me."

Bulma appeared to be taken aback for a moment at his abrupt change of demeanor. One moment he was borderline hysterical, the next he was emotionless; impenetrable as steel. Bulma silently mourned for this extraordinary young man. He had to deal with so much. He was only thirteen, for Kami's sake! He had battled aliens, saved the world, risked his life, lost his father, and now...

She gazed into his obsidian eyes; eyes that showed wisdom beyond his years, eyes that had seen too much, eyes that once glittered with joy and innocence, eyes that now stared through her soul, bored into her and demanded the truth. Eyes that dared her to lie...

"G-grocery shopping." She finally stammered after a pause. She watched him for a moment and haltingly continued when she saw his jaw clench. She didn't want to make him angry, the last one who did that was Cell...

"She was grocery shopping. A...a group of men. There were a lot of people shopping there today, Gohan...they were looking for a large crowd of people– take hostage...they had guns. They locked down the store, no one could get in or out. I don't know what they wanted, when I saw it on the news my mind shut down and I could only hear...I-I think it was something to do with money...they started to get angry when they weren't getting what they wanted so they started shoo–" Bulma gave a choked sob,"There were a lot of police outside...I didn't know...I only just found out about it on the news..."

"Bulma."

Bulma immediately quieted. She was babbling, she knew it. She looked down at her feet, not wanting to be pierced by that unwavering gaze any longer.

Outside he appeared unflappable, but inside he was struggling to breathe. 'She's not making any sense, what is she talking about? I don't understand...' Or perhaps he didn't want to understand... Gohan started and loosened his grip on Goten when he heard a small whimper come from the toddler still on his hip. He had unconsciously tightened his grip on him the tenser he became. He glanced at Goten's face which still appeared slightly red from all his earlier crying. He looked confused, but the look of absolute trust on his face nearly took Gohan's breath away. How he could be worthy of such devotion, Gohan would never know, but he resolved then and there to strive to be worthy with every fibre of his being. He didn't realize it then, but it was at that moment that Gohan made a decision that would change the next five years of his life.

Gohan squared his shoulders and looked at Bulma.

"Bulma," he repeated once again.

She looked up into his eyes and took a deep breath.

"Your mother, Gohan," she said, "She was shot."