A/N: SONGFIC!

Takes place after the Cell Saga. It follows a bit of it. But in this story, Gohan doesn't have a TV and doesn't know what's out there in the world at the moment. So obviously he doesn't know that Hercules took all the credit. In this story, he meets Videl at the age of 12 instead of during the Buu Saga. The song name and singer will be at the very bottom of the page.

*CRACK*
Tiny pieces of glass shattered into the hands of the teen; Gohan looked surprised, yet disappointed as he stared yet again at another glass broken from his own strength. Somehow, from just the soft sound of glass clunking onto the table, a loud wail emitted from a room adjacent from the teen's own.

"Not again! Gohan!"
/Oh no…/ Groaned the demi Saiyan. His mom was going to get mad at him again. This was the fourth glass he had broken this week, and many more times he had woken Goten from his sleep. It had only been two years since the Cell games and Chichi just gave birth to the little boy currently crying his lungs out. Once his mother told him the news, the teen was shocked and guilt clutched at his throat attempting to strangle him to death. His baby brother would have to grow up without the love of a father, the worst feeling known to any child and it had been all his fault. That faithful day, as his mother broke the news to him, she began to cry while hugging her son. Worries about money and Goku began to come pouring out of her mouth, unaware she was still holding Gohan. They were all indeed fighters, saving Earth again and yet again, but that didn't bring in the cash to sustain a living. His mother was unemployed and, of course Gohan was just a minor, there was no way he could work. The only breadwinner was his grandpa – the Ox King, but even then, no one stays young forever, and his grandpa was clearly getting exhausted little by little, yet the old man never complained. He loved his family dearly.

Gohan watched his mother's face and statue as her shoulders shook violently. When was the last time he ever looked at her as closely as he did now? Stress had taken its toll on the woman, and now her once rich black hair had lines of greyness, and purple bags under her eyes were showing clearer as the days went by. Squeezing his eyes shut, the Saiyan looked away desperately, praying to Dende to make him disappear. Alas, nothing happened. But somehow, Gohan had to clear the tense atmosphere. Whether or not the family could afford it, his mother was going to have a baby, there was supposed to be a celebration or at least a joyful laughter coming from them all.

"Mom?" He put his hands on her shoulders as he watched Chichi slowly looked up at him. "Mom, don't cry. Hold on a bit, I'll go get you some water. It's going to be alright." The Saiyan smiled and made his way towards the glasses on the kitchen table. Suddenly a grand idea popped into his mind, causing Gohan to smile.

/This will surely ease up the tension!/ Discretely spilling a small puddle of water on the floor, Gohan proceeded to fill up the cups and walk back to his mom. Positioning himself to make it seem almost natural, he slipped on the puddle. "Woah!" A yell quickly came out of the boy as he fell hard onto the floor. Swiftly managing to catch the two cups perfectly upon a single finger, Gohan let out a forced laugh. "Oops!" He grinned, hiding a wince that came out so quietly no one but him heard it. The fall had hurt, but if it made his mother feel better, he'd do it as many times as it took.

It's alright It's alright
I'm the one playing the fool for you

Even if I fall I'll do it nicely
For it's my job to make you smile so happily

Immediately Chichi stopped crying and let out a hearty laugh. Her son could be so clumsy sometimes. Standing up Chichi took the containers, helped her son up and gave him a great hug.
"I'm going to name your little brother, Goten."

But that was then, and this is now.

"Gohan! I told you to be quiet! Why do you never follow my directions?!" Screeched his mother over Goten's own cries.

Gohan rolled his eyes. Right now the situation is completely ironic. Chichi had told him to be as quiet as possible; he was until he broke the damn glass. Right now he was still silent while his mother was screaming her head off at him; the only result would be the baby crying even harder. He sighed. This was ridiculous.

Footsteps gradually got louder as Chichi rushed into the kitchen glaring daggers at her son.
"I told you to stop breaking everything in the house!"

"I'm not, it was an acc-"

"No excuses young man! If your father was here he wouldn't do such a thing!"

Heavy silence quickly fell between the two people. Slowly realizing what she had said, Chichi gasped and covered her mouth with her hands, a rag still in one of them.

/I made her upset…/ Gohan looked away, not wanting to look at her mother at the moment. How could she say such a thing? The topic was delicate enough, but she was right, the tiny bit of noise was his fault. Looking back, the demi Saiyan forced a smiled to reassure his mother that what she said didn't hurt him in the slightest.

"I'm sorry mom. It's alright. I'm going to go take a walk." He pushed himself off his seat and briskly walked out the front door, tears threatening to spill. He didn't look back.

An hour past since he last left the house and Gohan didn't know where to go. He had absent mindedly walked through East District into a whole different area that he didn't know at all. /Where am I?/ In the end, Gohan didn't cry, he just couldn't. Goku's last wish bestowed upon him was to be the man of the house, to take care of the family that his own father left behind. He had to be strong. Turning his head in every direction, looking for a familiar tree, bird, anything, Gohan slowly started to feel despair course through his veins. It would be sensible to just fly above the trees and back home, but for some reason he just didn't want to do that. Honestly, flying to him was something the teen loved to do when he was happy or when he was frustrated and just wanted to clear his mind. A walk like this was best for when he was down, and he wasn't going to break that streak – well not yet anyways.

Slowing his pace to the bare minimum, Gohan carefully threaded past a river and into an opening. A small cozy cabin was just sitting in the middle of the area. It looked clean, so maybe some people lived there. It didn't matter though; whoever lived here obviously didn't want to be disturbed by strangers if they built a log cabin in the middle of nowhere. Carefully retracting his steps, Gohan was about to turn his back towards the stream until he heard a soft sobbing sound.

/I-i-is someone crying?/ He hated that noise. He really did. It was too sad and he just couldn't handle that right now.

"H-hello? Is someone there?"

"G-Go away." The sobbing stopped, but only for a brief moment before it ensued again. The voice definitely belong a girl, a young one to be exact.

Gohan walked to the corner of the cabin where he heard the voice. There, sat a girl in two pigtails. Her head was down and knees up to her chest; she looked so sad. The moment Gohan turned the corner, her head shot up immediately. The young child's face was streaked with tears as she squinted to get a better view on the visitor.

Smiling, in an attempt not to scare the girl away, Gohan walked towards her and bent down to her level.

"Hey." He extended a hand towards her, a harmless gesture really. "My name is Gohan. What's your name?"

Sniffing, the girl eyed the hand and the teen's face warily before replying. "M-my name is Videl. What's that got to do with you?"

Gohan chuckled. She was nice. "Hi Videl. It's alright. I heard you crying and I was wondering what was wrong? How old are you?"

"12. And nothing." Came the vague reply.

/Okay../

"That's great! We're the same age!" Grinning from ear to ear, Gohan waited for a couple minutes before starting up another conversation. "Well, it's getting a bit chilly don'tcha think Videl?" He brought up his hands to his shoulders and shook intensely to prove his point. The sunset was coming soon, and it was obvious as the sun's rays painted the sky with beautiful warm colours. But that didn't stop the wind from blowing in their direction since they were right next to an actively running river. "Let me make a fire for us. Can I use those logs over there? I'll cut them." Pointing to the stack of uncut logs, Gohan waited for Videl's confirmation before climbing to the top of the pile. Waiting until the perfect moment, where the fall would look as normal as it could be, Gohan stuck his foot into the crack of the log and fell down dramatically, causing all the logs to roll out and scatter across the field. With a heavy thud, he practically flew and landed right in front of the girl. Just before a log was about to land on the boy's head, Gohan sent out three chi blasts, successfully cutting the log into equal parts and catching them perfectly as a juggler would with his objects.

Videl watched the entire display with surprise before she took shook her shoulders, in an attempt to contain her laugher. She failed. Laughter erupted from the girl as she desperately clutched her sides to keep from falling over.

It's alright It's alright
I feel no pain nor discomfort
If you would just laugh for me I will be okay
It's alright It's alright
I'm the one falling clumsily

They instantly became friends that day.

Days to weeks past, and every day Gohan would do something to anger his mother. And sadly, everyday Chichi would shout a hurtful phrase to her son and apologize. Things weren't getting better and probably will never be, but it was too early to tell. And every day, Gohan would run to the cabin where Videl was staying. What he learned from his friend was that she came with her father, but her father was a famous celebrity that loved the attention. One day he found that he wasn't spending enough time with his daughter, thus explaining the cabin in the middle of the woods. Regrettably, even though Videl's father's intentions were good, he always abandoned Videl in the house for more than half the day just to spend his time with the press. They were supposed to spend time in isolation for four months, but so far, not much time was spent together with her father. It was an ongoing cycle day by day until Videl and her father ran out of food.

On that Friday, Gohan had come to hang out with Videl. Due to his frequent visits, the father, Hercules, was already accustomed to the strange boy visiting his daughter and welcomed him warmly. They invited him into town to help buy groceries, but once again, Mr. Hercules was swarmed by the press. Not even trying to get out of the way, the arrogant man stood in a flamboyant pose spouting nonsense about who knows what. Gohan ignored the man and pushed his way through the crowd trying to find Videl. Almost at once, he saw her, but her saddened face told him everything he needed to know. Little by little, droplets of her tears began to slide down her face as she walked away from the mob. Rushing after her, Gohan skidded to a halt just a foot or two in front of the girl and smiled.

I saw you in the crowd
Why are you so sad?
I can tell by your tears that something must be wrong
Even if your mom and dad don't see it
I can't just stay there and don't believe it
I just have to wipe them away

"Videl! Don't cry, it's alright! Look at this!" Quickly grabbing three apples from the grocery bags, the Saiyan threw the fruits up into the air and successfully began juggling the apples. After a couple seconds of keeping the fruits in pristine order, Gohan timely let one fall, causing the other two to fall on top of his head. Falling to the floor while swatting the apples away from his face, he twitched a smile as he heard a giggle come from the human girl.

Days past, but this time, things just got worse in the Son residence. Goten contracted a high fever, causing Chichi to freak out and this time, she blamed the entire situation on Gohan for not shutting the window in the morning. It had indeed been a chilly morning, but the teen didn't know it would easily affect his little brother. A small argument broke out between mother and son. Although Gohan tried to apologize numerous amounts of times, Chichi interrupted him at every word, until within a split second, she slapped her son across the face.

Stunned silence, a norm now, filled the house. Even Goten stopped crying and stared at his mother and big brother. Chichi's face remained in a tight lipped glare that burned holes into Gohan's body as a lone tear slid down her cheek. Shocked riddled the teen's entire body as he stood numbly there, trying to digest the fact that his own mother had hit him. Eyes downcast, Gohan gave her a lopsided smile. "It's alright. I'm sorry." Without any other words, Gohan walked out the front door and instead of heading to his friend's house, he stopped by the stream and sat down, head hung low and chin propped up against his bent knees. Hours went by and Gohan sat at his initial spot, unmoving. He was strong, he had to be strong. His mother didn't mean it, he wasn't going to cry. It was alright, everything was going to be fine.

"Gohan?" Videl stuck out her head from the nearest tree. She expected Gohan to visit today, but since he didn't show up, she pretty much went out to look for him. "Are you okay? What happened?" She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, trying to comfort the demi Saiyan, a frown on her face.

Gohan stole a glance at the young teen's face and noticed her expression. Forcing a grin, Gohan turned around to face Videl. "Haha, nothing. Just you know a usual busy day back at home." Giving his friend a thumbs up, Gohan stood up and leaned against a large rock.

Even if Gohan never noticed Videl standing outside his house during the days he didn't come to visit, she always heard the cries and screams of his mother at her son day in and day out. No, it wasn't fine. Gohan wasn't fine. Videl would always tell the teen her problems and the Saiyan would always make her laugh at his expense. For the nights Gohan would sit alone on the rooftop, eyes distant, she knew he was slowly dying inside, but he always had a mask so that no one would worry. It was heartbreaking.

Remembering all that she saw, Videl began to cry. Surprised, Gohan rushed to the girl's side and began asking her what was wrong. She paused.
"Why would you lie? The lies you tell me are really sad…That's why I'm crying. Please tell me what's wrong Gohan." Begged the girl.

Cocking his head to the side, Gohan just stared at her.
"Eh? I haven't lied."
Without another word, Videl brought up a hand to wipe away her tears making room for more as she continued to cry.

You paused from crying then you tried to tell me
"You know that your lies are quite saddening"
"But I haven't told a single lie"
And at those words you stop and then you start to cry

The next day, while her father was gone once again to do whatever he was doing with the press, Videl journeyed over to Gohan's house. The human girl was determined to set things straight. She let out a sigh of relief as she saw him sitting alone outside the house, leaning against a wall. The family car was missing, so she assumed Chichi must have gone to town to pick up supplies.

Feeling another body of chi approach him, Gohan snapped out from his daydreaming, looked up and forced a smile. It had been another rough day. Even though his mother had apologized last night for hitting him, she still continued to blame him for the mishaps, and just now she had blamed him for Goku's death. This hurt him more than anything but he was strong. There was nothing to worry about; everything was going to be alright.

"Gohan. We need to talk." Videl padded over and plopped down right next to the demi Saiyan in a huff.

"When those other weird adults come over, you always smile. But I know it's forced. When you pull those stunts to make me laugh, you're not happy." She took a deep breath and looked into Gohan's eyes. "You need to stop wearing this mask. You're unhappy. Please show me your true face." Videl's face soften as she saw the teen's eyebrows knit together, his eyes glistening. She too began to tear up.

"When you're hurt, it's alright to be in pain." A tear fell out of Gohan's eyes.
"When it's hard, just start screaming…" More tears began to flow out. Now, Videl was starting to cry.
"T-there's nothing to be ashamed about Gohan. When things go wrong, it's alright to cry."

You don't show it to the crowd what's under that mask
Please let me see the face that you were hiding from me
When you are hurt be in pain
When it is hard start screaming
There's nothing to be ashamed about

She squeezed his hands. By now, the teen began to sniffle; trying desperately not to cry, but it was too late. Tears were coming down by the dozens and Gohan's eyes began to sting. When was the last time he cried? It had been way too long.

"It's alright Gohan. Everything's going to be alright. Promise me you won't lie about how you feel again." Videl cooed. The demi Saiyan forced out a strained chuckle that sounded more like a strangled cry.

It's alright it's alright
It doesn't matter if you laugh it right
So that you'll never lie again, never ever

Gohan's sobbing intensified, lifting both his hands from Videl's grasps. He shoved them onto his face, frantically forcing the tears back into his eyes. He wasn't going to cry, he mustn't cry. He couldn't cry. He had to be strong; he had to be strong for Videl, Goten, his mother, his grandfather, and the rest of the Z-fighters. What would Piccolo say to him if he saw him now?

But…but it hurt. Everything hurt, all the suffering, all the hiding, everything was hurting. He was hurting. He was so unhappy, he just couldn't stand it anymore. His resolve was breaking.

A choked wail shot out of Gohan's mouth as he finally let everything out. Leaning forward into Videl's embrace, he sobbed openly onto her shoulder, every last drop of restraint – gone.

It's alright It's alright
It doesn't matter if you can't stand it
I will cry along with you don't be afraid

After finally seeing her close friend cry, Videl let lose her own willpower and cried with him. Her life so far hadn't been that great, but it was nothing compared to Gohan for the amount of emotions he had kept to himself. She had cried, and every time she did, it felt great – a relief, it was must better than holding it all in like she did in the past. It was all thanks to Gohan that she felt this free since her mother's passing.
Burying her face into Gohan's neck, she squeezed her eyes shut, letting the tears flow.
"It's alright Gohan. It's alright." She rubbed his back and looked up. It was a beautiful day. No matter the hardships they all had to deal with, the sky was always bright and full of hope. It wasn't going to go away anytime soon.

Gohan coughed as he bit back some sobs. There was something he had to say. Right now would be the perfect time to do so.
"T-thank you Videl. Thank you." He let out a shaky breath. "I hid my face for so long that I almost forgot. Thank you for finding it again. Thank you."

It's alright It's alright
You're the one who found it for me
My own face I hid away I almost forgot

End

A/N: When I heard this song last year, it's gotten to me to the point where I fell in love with this song. I just feels that it matches me perfectly, and I'm sure it matches everyone out there too. For a fact I'm sure everyone has had this feeling at least once in their lives. It hurts doesn't it?

Anyways the name of the song is called "Pierrot". The oringal singer was Miku (Vocaloid), however Miku's version was too happy, and I love angst, so I decided to do the one sung by SENKA. He's an amazing singer and the way he sung it, held every emotion possible. This song made me cry and I thought it would relate to Gohan PERFECTLY. To find this song just go to Youtube and type in: Pierrot Eng Sub

There are many versions to this song, but the one with the beautiful coloured art with the circus background is where I based this fic off from.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Please R&R! *7*

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!