This is a reupload from another account. I decided I wanted all my DBZ fics in their own account.
This takes place before Goku is brought back during the Buu saga so Goten has never met him.
Disclaimer: I don't own or profit from DBZ or it's characters.
"Goten, what are you doing in here?" Gohan asked as he blinked sleep out of his eyes. He focused on the clock. 2:51 AM. It was way past Goten's bed time.
"My nightlight went out," Goten said seriously. "Can I sleep in here?"
"Why don't I try to fix your nightlight for you?" Gohan bargained, knowing that his brother snored.
Goten frowned. "Why can't I just stay in here?"
Gohan sighed. "Because...well...you're a big boy so you should sleep in your own room." He got out of bed and ruffled Goten's hair. "Come on. Let's go try to fix that nightlight."
Goten stayed close as he and his brother walked down the dark hallway to his room. Once there, Gohan flicked the switch on the wall to turn on the light.
"Why can't you just sleep with this light on?" Gohan asked.
"Cause it's too bright to sleep now," Goten said. "I can only sleep with my nightlight on."
Gohan walked over to the four-star dragonball nightlight, a gift from Trunks and Bulma for Goten's fifth birthday, and removed it from the wall. He carefully examined it.
"I think the light bulb in it just blew," Gohan said. "We should have this kind of bulb in one of the kitchen drawers. I'll go change it."
Walking towards the kitchen, Goten stayed close to Gohan again as they made their way through the house. Gohan flipped the kitchen light switch and began searching for the light bulbs.
"Ah, here they are!" Gohan said as he opened one of the kitchen drawers. Carefully, he took a bulb out of the package and replaced the one in the nightlight. He turned his head around when he heard the sound of the refrigerater opening. "Goten, what are you doing?"
"I just wanted some milk before I go back to bed," the young boy said as he pulled out the milk and retrieved a glass from the cabinet.
Placing the nightlight on the table, Gohan hurried to take the milk away. "Let me pour it. You're going to spill it."
The young boy extended his arms out to give his brother the carton of milk and his glass, however the glass slipped from his hand and shattered upon impact with the floor.
"I'm sorry!" Goten apologized, his head dropping in shame.
Gohan checked his mother's energy to make sure the sound didn't wake her. "Shh. Mom is still asleep. Let's keep it that way. Go back to your room. I'll bring your nightlight and a glass of milk. Okay?"
Goten nodded. "Okay. Thank you, Gohan." Quietly, Goten slipped back down the hall to his room.
Carefully, so as not to cut himself, Gohan cleaned up the shards of broken glass from the floor and deposited them in garbage can as silently as was possible. Then, he took another glass from the kitchen cabinet and poured Goten a half-full glass of milk. He placed the milk carton back in the fridge, grabbed the glass and nightlight and flipped off the kitchen light on the way back to Goten's room.
Goten was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for Gohan to get back.
"Here's your milk." Gohan said, extending the glass to his brother.
"Can you warm it for me?" Goten asked, tilting his head. "I want warm milk."
Sighing at the thought of walking back to the kitchen when he was still so tired, Gohan used a small amount of energy to heat the milk. When he was happy with the temperature, he handed it to Goten.
Goten thirstily chugged it in one drink and handed the glass back.
Gohan placed the glass on the nightstand so he could plug the nightlight back into the wall. Then, he tucked Goten back in before turning off the regular light in the young boy's room. The soft orange glow of the nightlight filled the room and a small projection of the stars from the fake glass dragonball lit up Goten's walls.
"Gohan?" Goten asked softly. "Will you tell me a bedtime story?"
"I guess I can," Gohan said, pulling the rocking chair in the corner of the room to the side of the bed. "What kind of story do you want?"
"Any kind," the young half-saiyan responded sleepily.
"Once upon a time..." Gohan thought for a moment before his mouth turned up in a smile. "There was a knight named Soku. He married a shrew who liked to hit people with a frying pan and they had a son named Sohan. Sadly, Soku died protecting the people he cared about, so Sohan was left without a father. Soku didn't know, however, that his wife was pregnant with their second son, Soten. Even though he had never met his father, Soten was a lot like Soku. He was pure of heart and kind and cared about all life. He even looked almost exactly like Soku. Now, Sohan, loved his little brother from the minute he was born and he vowed on that day that he would help his mother take care of little Soten as best as he could so he could turn out to be the best person he could be. Now, little Soten is five years old and Sohan can see that his brother is going to be exactly like their dad when he grows up..."
Gohan trailed off at the sound of Goten's even breaths. He pulled the comforter up higher over his brother and whispered a soft "goodnight".
Picking up the empty milk glass, Gohan stood up out of the rocking chair and quietly left the room. He washed and rinsed out the glass before placing it back in the kitchen cabinet.
It was 3:34 when Gohan finally made it back to his room. He crawled into bed, hoping to get some sleep before his mother woke him at seven to do his schoolwork.
At exactly seven o'clock, Gohan was woken up via frying pan to the head.
"What was that for?" He shouted, knowing this was going to be a bad day already.
"Goten relayed your bedtime story to me! That's for calling me a shrew!" ChiChi screeched. And then suddenly ChiChi became very calm. "Now get out of bed. That history paper isn't going to write itself, now is it?"
Hanging his head, Gohan tiredly got out of bed and went to do his work.
Gohan heard a soft knock on his door at about eight o'clock.
"Thank you for fixing my nightlight for me," Goten said and held up the glass in his hand. "I brought you some milk."
Gohan smiled. Maybe today wouldn't be so bad after all.
Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it!