Disclaimer: I don't own Dragonball Z. How could I? I'm not Japanese. :D I'm not making money off this story. How could I? Akira Toriyama's the brains behind this outfit.
A/N: Originally completed in January, 2009, and exclusively written as a Christmas present for my twin sister. (We exchanged presents in January that year.) Set during the Cell Saga, before Cell arrives. So, how did I do? Is everyone in character? Review, please!
The long line between blocks of text represents time change, location change, or change in point of view.
Warning for length. Yep, this one's pretty long.
Rated T for violence.
Power Within
"Twee-eet! Twee-eet!" The tiny mechanical bird atop the alarm clock chirped incessantly. Gohan's hand poked out from beneath the covers and tapped the correct button, bringing the annoying peeps to an abrupt halt. The ten-year-old boy threw back the blankets and sat up, yawning. He slipped out of bed and put on his orange gi. After pulling his wild black hair into a rough ponytail, he padded out of his bedroom.
Gohan's father Goku was an extremely sound sleeper, and Gohan had made it his habit to wake him up each morning. Though Goku had an alarm clock, he rarely remembered to set it; besides, he usually slept right through the ringing anyway. Gohan pushed open his parents' bedroom door to find his father lying flat on his back in bed, clad only in a pair of white boxers and snoring loudly. Gohan grinned and tiptoed closer. Peering at Goku's sprawled form, he wondered if his father was really asleep—after all, the snoring sounded awfully loud. On the other hand, Goku usually snored anyway. Weighing the options on a mental scale, Gohan finally decided that his father was truly in slumbering mode and moved to shake him awake.
"Gotcha!" Goku cried gleefully. In a lightning-quick move, his arm shot out and grabbed Gohan around the waist. Gohan squealed with laughter as his father tickled him playfully. He squirmed in an effort to free himself, even though he knew it was futile: Goku was the strongest being on the planet Earth—and maybe even the entire galaxy.
"GOHAN! GOKU! STOP FOOLING AROUND AND GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW!" came an angry yell from below them. Goku immediately released his son and leaped lightly out of bed, scurrying around in search of his clothes.
"Better hurry," Gohan warned him, trotting to the door. "Mom sounds pretty mad..."
"I wouldn't miss it for anything!" Goku joked, slipping on his martial arts clothing with movements almost too fast to be seen. Gohan exited the room and hurried downstairs. Goku slid down the banister behind him, skillfully leaping off at the bottom of the stairs.
They met up at the table, where Trunks was already sitting. Chi-Chi set before them plate after plate piled high with eggs, bacon, and toast—one trademark of the Saiyans was their ability to consume vast amounts of food. They began eating with eager relish. Chi-Chi watched them for a few moments, then began shouting again.
"I slave all morning to cook enough food to feed an army, and you aren't even stopping to taste it! You're inhaling it! You've got no manners at all, none of you, always fighting all the time, it's nothing but 'training' this, and 'training' that. There's more to life than martial arts, you know!"
Goku winked at Gohan and Trunks, pushed back his chair, and stood up. He walked calmly over to his wife, who was still raging on.
"—rude, selfish, you don't give a thought to the work I put into this! Can't I at least get a thank-you?"
Goku wrapped his muscular arms around her and planted a kiss on her lips. Chi-Chi, taken by surprise, went rigid and limp again in the space of a moment. After a few seconds, Goku pulled away.
"Thank-you," he said simply. Chi-Chi blushed deeply, a delighted smile on her face as she returned to the sink. Goku slipped back into his seat, grinning at the boys. Successfully smothering their laughter, Gohan and Trunks went back to eating.
Once they had finished, Chi-Chi's fiery temper reasserted itself, and she demanded that they help her wash dishes. However, Goku, not knowing his own strength, broke two plates by scrubbing too hard. It wasn't long before Chi-Chi angrily shooed them outside.
It had snowed the night before, and the ground was thickly blanketed with the feathery flakes. Goku let out a whoop, pumping his fist into the air and declaring, "Snowball fight!"
"Dad, don't you think we should be training?" Gohan reminded him.
"Oh, come on—we can take a day off!" Goku cried enthusiastically.
"Besides," said Trunks with a grin, "this is training. We can improve our aim, strategy, charging, retreating, fort-building, snowball-making. . ."
Gohan laughed and quickly agreed, not needing much convincing.
"First, rules," Goku announced. "Every man for himself. No sparring or throwing chi—only snowballs allowed. Let's see . . .you can make forts or snowball stashes, and you win by getting your opponent to surrender. Sound good?" Trunks and Gohan nodded in agreement. "Great!" Goku affirmed. They trotted back into the house to get on mittens, hats, and coats, and were soon outdoors once more.
"SNOWBALL FIGHT!" came the cry from the three Saiyans. Goku sprang away from them in a scattering of snow. Scooping up a handful of snow on the fly, he packed it into a ball and threw it expertly at Trunks. The violet-haired boy took to the air, swerving and diving to avoid Goku's next attacks. Before Gohan knew what was going on, he was peppered with snowballs as well, and landed on his back. He pushed himself to his feet.
"I don't know which one of you threw those, but you're both gonna pay!" he promised with a grin. He scooped up an armful of fluffy snow and rushed at his father with a shout.
Trunks dived behind a snowbank just in time to escape a barrage of snow from Goku. He poked his head around his protective wall just in time to get a faceful of slush. Goku hooted with laughter from the protection of his fort.
"Oh, yeah?" Trunks called challengingly, rubbing his face clean. "Well, see if you can handle this!" He hefted a snow boulder he'd made earlier, and shot at Goku's fort. He was moving too fast to be seen, and Goku, who didn't react quickly enough when Trunks hurled the frozen missile at him, was buried under the frozen mass. Trunks grinned and zoomed up to the eaves of the Saiyan dwelling, breaking off an icicle roughly the size of his sword. He flew back toward his target, holding the icicle not unlike a baseball bat. Goku was still recovering from the previous deluge of snow—he was completely unaware of the coming attack. Trunks smirked, raised his weapon, and struck the black-haired Saiyan on the back of the head. Goku's screech mingled with the crack of the icicle. He collapsed into the snow like a felled tree. Trunks landed neatly, tossing the broken chunk of ice away. Goku moaned and sat up, massaging his head.
"Ooooh, ow! Who said ice was allowed?" he asked indignantly.
"Who said it wasn't?" Trunks pointed out smugly. "You just won't admit that I got the best of you."
"We'll see who gets the best of who!" Goku shouted, leaping up and tackling Trunks. They wrestled for a bit in the snow, before breaking apart and rapidly firing snowballs at one another. Their movements were smooth—whirling, leaping, and throwing with speed far superior to any mere earthling. Goku eventually got the upper hand, steadily forcing Trunks to back up. A well-aimed shot hit Trunks squarely on the jaw, throwing him back. Goku flew at him with a mock war cry, and Trunks chose to retreat. He flew into the nearby woods, dividing his focus between weaving through the trees and avoiding Goku's snowball assault from behind. It was then, as he came into a clearing, that he saw it.
A glowing energy blast sliced through the sky.