The Power Within
It was night. The stars were twinkling in the sky, and the nocturnal animals were up and about in the woods. Gohan sat at his desk, finishing up his science homework for his mother. Science always interested him; he loved learning about how nature worked, and Bulma always lent him equipment for his own experiments.
'Hmm, how can I finish this off?' he thought, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 'It needs to be something that concludes the essay properly…..aha!' His pencil scratched furiously at the paper. The black-haired child had just finished the last sentence of his lab report when his eyes could remain open no longer, and he nodded off to sleep.
(In his dream)
A soundless wind blowing. A rustle of leaves. A soft material on his skin. Gohan opened his eyes to find that he was lying in the middle of a field in the forest. He sat up and looked around in awe.
The forest was…shimmering?
Indeed it was; the trees were sparkling in the sunlight and, on closer inspection, he realized that they were made of silver. The leaves made pretty chiming noises when they moved, and the soft yellow sun seemed to be winking at him through the cotton-ball clouds. It was all so…surreal.
"Wow…" he breathed, taking a couple of steps forward. The grass tickled his bare feet as he walked around. There was a faint, alluring melody in the background that seemed to beckon to him. His slow steps sped up to a jog, then to a run as he chased the song.
'Where is it coming from?' he thought. 'It sounds like it's coming from every direction.'
The melody became louder, but for some reason it sounded foggy, as if his ears were clogged. It sounded so mesmerizing…he had to catch it. Why couldn't he catch it?
'Gohan…'
What was that?
'Wake up, Gohan…'
Mother?
'Gohan!'
His eyes snapped open, and with a start he realized that had fallen asleep on his desk. His mother was standing above him, glaring at him.
"Gohan! I told you to leave your homework for tomorrow, not stay up all night doing it." She brushed his bangs away from his face. "Now wake up, breakfast is almost ready."
She left the room. The Saiyan half-breed pushed his chair back and sighed. The beautiful melody was still ringing in his ears, but when he tried to hum it, he found he couldn't.
'Life's too short to worry about a silly dream,' he thought, trying to shrug it off. He got up to wash his face and brush his teeth.
A short while later, the young boy was dressed and ready for the day. He went downstairs to the kitchen and took a seat at the table, drooling as he smelt the delicious scents of breakfast.
"Good morning, mom!" he chirped. "What's for breakfast?"
"Just some pancakes and fruit," she replied, piling them onto a plate and placing them on the table. She took a seat herself just as Gohan dug in. Chichi was reading something while eating.
"What's that?" asked Gohan, after he chewed and swallowed a mouthful of pancakes. She glanced at him from around the paper.
"Oh, it's your science lab report. I picked it up from under your head while you were sleeping; when I realized it was finished, I decided to mark it," she said. Chichi scanned the paper once more. "It's really well done."
Gohan beamed. "Thanks."
His mother sighed and put the report down. "Now sweetie, I have an important matter that I must discuss with you," she said. The hybrid looked at her, confused.
"I got a letter from the Ministry of Education today." A pause. He was still confused. "They said that you're lacking an arts credit. Without it, they can't graduate you to the university level."
He gaped at her. "W-what? Art? But mom, I suck!" he exclaimed. Chichi glared at him, effectively shutting him up.
"You know, there are different kinds of art," she said. "There's drama…"
A sound of disgust.
"Art…"
A shake of the head.
"And music."
His eyes brightened up. "Music? You mean, like playing an instrument?" he asked. Chichi nodded.
"Of course, what else? You'll have to pick out an instrument, and then we'll need to get you some sheet music, and then we'll need to get you a tutor…"
He tuned her out, his thoughts drifting back to his strange dream. Maybe if he took music lessons, he might be able to finally catch the tune.
'Yeah, this is perfect! It's like killing two birds with one stone' he thought, ecstatic. 'I'll get my art credit and figure out what that song sounds like!'
"So, mother…" he began, interrupting her. "When can I get my instrument?"
She thought for a moment. "Well, we'll need to get the paperwork done first, and then they'll give us a place to pick one out. You can go tomorrow, okay?"
He jumped out of his seat, ignoring the disaproving look his mother gave him. "Yes!"
Tomorrow was going to be a great day.
Yes, I know...you're probably thinking this has nothing to do with the story. The plot might go slow for a bit, but don't worry! You'll realize the significance of this soon. Also, the rating is K+ now, but it will be T soon. So, for any kiddies reading this, be warned! There's swearing up ahead! It's going to be a while, though. Stay tuned for the next chapter, review, and don't hesitate to point out any flaws!