Chapter 1

"Kamahamaha!" A massive blue ki wave shot out and collided with another wave. The boy who had fired it was at a severe disadvantage with only the use of one arm but his father taught him never to give up, so he had to go on. The gigantic energies were at a standstill, neither one losing or gaining ground.

The evil creature known as Cell pushed forth as much power as the android could muster in a final attempt to finish the boy off. He had full confidence that his power was stronger than this boy despite being almost defeated by him earlier. He would not lose a second to a mere child and with that thought he gave it everything he had.

The boy, Gohan, fell to one knee. His energy was gone. He was exhausted by all measures. The massive waves began converging closer to him. He was losing the battle.

"Gohan?" Could it be possible?

"Gohan it's your father, you can't give up son! You have to go on."

He couldn't believe his eyes but he knew it in his heart it was real. His father, Goku, was standing next to him.

"Dad….?" Gohan sputtered out still in shock and disbelief.

"It's me son, but you have to finish this. You have the power within you I know you do. You can do this Gohan!"

"But dad….. I can't I'm not like you, I'm not a hero. I let you die when I could have killed Cell before any of that happened."

"Gohan, listen to me that doesn't matter to me right now. You have it in you to save everyone on earth and everyone else you love! Are you telling me you're going to just give up? Gohan you can do this, dig deep and finish this monster!"

"I'm sorry dad but I can't. All I do is let people down I'm too weak to do this. I let you die."

The Kamahama waves were inching closer to Gohan and now it seemed like a matter of a few seconds before it was all over.

"Gohan, you are not weak! Time after time I have seen you fight the most powerful beings in the universe without fear because you believed you could. This is no different! Be the hero you were born to be son."

Goku moved to stand behind his son and added his power to his sons. Gohan looked at his father,

"I love you dad." He smiled at his father.

"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Gohan forced everything out he could. He thought of all of the people Cell had wrought death upon, all of his friends who had been hurt. He would end this.

With one more final surge Gohan pushed the waves back at Cell and before he knew what hit him he was destroyed.

Gohan immediately dropped to the ground completely at a loss of energy. He had done it. He had defeated Cell.

He turned over to see his father but there was no one there. His father was gone. Reality hit the boy. His father was dead and it was his fault.

With one final wave of emotion the boy screamed out for his father. Over and over again he screamed in agony of his father's death. The boy's friends dared not to approach him yet, waiting for it to go all out.

The boys cries were deafening. A son's cries for his lost father.

Before he blacked out from exhaustion the boy cried out one last time,

"I'm sorry dad; I wasn't good enough to save you."

The boy fell to the ground and his friends rushed over to him to see a boy full of tears and blood but they knew that what really hurt the most were the tears.

5 years later

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Gohan rolled over cursing to himself. He told himself every morning he needed a new alarm clock. Its 6 in the morning just like every other day he wakes up to the same beeping and just like every other day he asks himself the same question, do I really want to go on today?

He sighs and hops into the shower. He knows the answer to that question and the answer is yes. The only reason that this is, is because of his responsibilities to his little brother, Goten. Goten is the only family he has left. His mother, Chi-Chi was taken by an illness two years after Goten was born. His tough as nails mother was defeated by a heart disease. He had found her lying face down in the kitchen dead. His mother had seemed perfectly healthy up until her death. She had been the person who he could talk to. Now that she was gone he had to deal with his pain and his little brother alone.

Since that day he had sole responsibility for his little brother although he had just begun his teenage life. Thinking back he did have a lot of help from Bulma when Goten was younger but now that he's older he could handle things himself.

He finished up in the shower and began making breakfast for himself and Goten who would be waking up soon.

He had been isolated from the world for 5 years. The only other people he talked to was the Briefs but that was because of Goten. Goten loved hanging out with Trunks. The two had become fast friends and Gohan didn't have the heart to tell his brother he couldn't see his only friend.

Goten didn't know but before their mother died Gohan hardly knew his brother and didn't talk to anyone unless he had too. Remembering back caused him pain. After his father's death he went into a shell. He left for two years where no one could find him. He didn't even know he had a brother. He went as far north as he could and spent those years training day after day punishing himself for his mistakes.

No one could find him because every time Piccolo or Vegeta got close to his position he hid his power and made sure he couldn't be found. He learned to survive on his own in the cold northern mountains. Every day he would push himself farther and farther relying on his pain and anger to give him strength. He had become cold just like the mountains on which he resided. His only drive was that he had to gain more power so he could never feel the pain he felt when he had let his father die.

The power he discovered there came almost at the expense of his life. Those days up in the mountains were a blur to him now. It was unusual for him to be able to walk back to the cabin he built for himself. He usually had to crawl or wait until he could stand and drag his body though the snow. Some days he wouldn't have the strength to get up and would just lie in the snow thinking he was going to die but for some reason it never happened despite how long he was out there.

He remembered his last day on the mountain when he trained the entire day without food or rest. He had exhausted his body behind repair. He thought this was the day he would die. As he lay in the snow preparing for his death a person came into his vision.

It was Vegeta.

He scooped Gohans' torn and broken body up and flew to Kami's lookout where he was rescued. He had been too weak once again and needed someone else's help. As soon as he recovered and without a word he left and went to his long lost house out in the woods where he found his mother and his little brother.

He and his mother rarely talked in the beginning. She would always try to strike up a conversation with him but he hardly ever responded to her or acknowledged her. He just went through the motions but above all else he continued training and worked as hard as he could almost bringing death to himself again.

Once his mother got wind of what he was doing she locked him in his room telling him he could never leave again. She would come in every day and talk to him about anything she could think of. He would never talk back but she always kept on going never losing faith.

The only time he smiled was when he was with his brother. His brother meant everything to him. He cared for the boy and played with him. Slowly some of the coldness gripping the boy's heart began to fade and he would even start talking with his mother again. He told her where he had been the last two years but left out the almost dying parts. After that she hugged him viciously telling him to never leave again and he didn't.

It wasn't until his mother's death that those thoughts of leaving occurred to him again. Once again he had been too weak to do anything about her death.

At the funeral he saw his friends again for the first time in years. He remembered not really being there that day. His head was somewhere else. The only part he truly remembered was Bulma screaming at him. He had told her he was considering leaving again.

"GOHAN, DAMN YOU! You can't leave again! Do you have any idea what you put us through when you left? Even Vegeta was worried," As she said this Vegeta snorted in the background.

She could see that this didn't matter to the boy so she threw out her ace in one final attempt to keep the boy here.

"Gohan, what about your brother? Who will take care of him if you leave? You are the last of his family and this is how you're going to treat him?" She could tell but the look on his face she had won the fight.

"I'll stay." That was all he said as he took off with his brother before the tears in his eyes became noticeable. He had been numb for so long with pain and just when he was opening up again a new wave crashed on top of him.

His only purpose in life now was to take care of his little brother. Never again would he let himself be open to the pain again. He would live his life numb just like he had been. That's what he promised himself on that day.

Several years had passed and nothing strange had happened. He had the same routine down for every day. Wake up, shower, eat, play with Goten, occasionly take him to Bulma's, and train whenever he could.

Gohan snapped back out of his thoughts when he heard movement coming down the stairs.

"Morning Gohan, what's for breakfast?" His brother called out to him.

Here was his sole reason for still living. His little brother.