Pre-Story Blah: I do own DBZ, nor do I own the song "With You In Your Dreams." I'm
not mentioning the artists, for fear of objects being thrown at me. I'm sorry I haven't put
up anything in a while, but I've been working on a side project that I hope will become a
movie. A warning to everybody: This is a strong tearjerker. Extra-sensitive Vegeta fans,
please turn away. Extra-sensitive Goku and Gohan fans, please do the same. Get the
tissues! You're gonna need 'em!


Gohan awoke to the sound of his father crying out in pain. This was about the
fifth attack he had in two days, and he was starting to worry a lot about his father. "Mom,
he's in pain again!" he screamed as he ran into the sickened Saiyan's room. Chi-Chi ran
in, with the cold cloth and a glass of ice cold water. She was pale as a ghost, and it did not
look like she had slept in a while. "Here, Goku," she said as Goku sipped the water slowly
from the glass. He stopped screaming, but he was still in great physical pain, his
breathing rapid and ragged. "Daddy..." Gohan uttered, trying to stifle the worry in his
voice. "Gohan..." his father managed to reply through a gasp for air. "Daddy." "Go and
study, Gohan. I'll keep an eye on him." The hybrid sadly nodded his head and left the
room. "I'm calling the doctor today," Chi-Chi said to herself, then slapped herself in the
forehead, "No, I'm going to call him now!"

About one hour later, a relatively small man with a white beard pulled up outside
the Son house in a Capsule Car. The little man carried a huge bag and wore a white lab
coat. "Oh dear, I hope this isn't about that virus that's going around," he said to himself
as he knocked on the door. Chi-Chi was there to answer. "Ohayo, Miss Chi-Chi. You
called about your husband?" They bowed to each other. "Yes, please come in, Dr..."
"Dr. Kennedy." "Please come in, Dr. Kennedy." Chi-Chi closed the door behind the
doctor as he entered. "So, what's up?" "Follow me. I'll take you to the room where my
husband is resting." Dr. Kennedy followed, and the entered the room where Goku was
staying.

The Saiyan was now asleep, snoring lightly. Dust was flying around at a
quickened pace. Chi-Chi sighed, while the doctor sneezed repeatedly. "Te'non! (Bless
you.)" "Arigatou. For a light snore, he's snoring up a storm." "Well, at least we know
he's conscious." "That's good. First things first. I'm going to take his vitals." The
doctor put a thermometer in Goku's mouth. Normal. He then opened the resting man's
eyes and checked them with a light. They were badly bloodshot and swollen. Next came
the pulse. "Interesting." "What is it, Doctor?" "His heart rhythm is abnormal. Normally
it goes beep-bump, beep bump, but in this case it's going bump-whirl-crash-drip." "He's
been like this for the past two days." "Two days? Just gouka! (wonderful, obvious
sarcasm.)" "What is it?" "I'm afraid to say that your husband has Cardiodiripiosis, or,
literally 'heart tear.' It's a radical new virus that's been going around, and I'm sorry to
say that your husband will be its next victim. What happens is that the virus attacks the
heart cells, ripping them apart, and thus causing the coronary tissue to collapse. There is
no cure, and currently no treatment for the stage it is in. Unless the virus weakens, he will
die within four to seven days. If it mutates, anything could happen. He's in Kami's hands
now."

Chi-Chi collapsed onto her husband and broke down crying. "Oh Goku!" she
yelled to sky, "Why Kami!? Why Goku? Why now!?" Gohan ran in. "Mom? Are you
okay?" "Gohan, come here!" He obeyed and went over to his mother, who hugged him
the moment he was at her side. "What's going on? I heard you scream." "It's sad news,
Gohan. Very sad news." "Well, what is it?" "Your father is going to die in four to seven
days. He has a heart virus, and there's nothing we can do about it." "I was afraid of this."
"What are you talking about, Gohan?" "I read about it in the newspaper. Dad did show a
loss of appetite, as well as some weakness, dizziness, and sleeplessness. They're all very
early symptoms of the virus. A few days after showing these symptoms, the symptoms
disappear. Only three weeks later, the real damage gets done. When caught early, they
say there's a 70% survival rate, but it's often misdiagnosed as a seizure." "Well, why
didn't you tell me?" "I was afraid you would just tell me to be quiet and go back to the
books. That's exactly what you would've done. 'Don't worry, Gohan, your father will be
fine, now get back to your school work!' That's just what you would've said." Chi-Chi
then realized something. All this time, she had put her son's education before her own
husband's welfare. She cried some more as a slightly angered Gohan left the room.

"If I'm gone when you wake up, please don't cry,
and if I'm gone with you wake up, it's not good-bye.
Don't look back at this time as a time of heartbreak and distress.
Remember me, remember me, cuz I'll be with you in your dreams."

Three days had passed since the doctor's diagnosis. Goku was looking and sicker
and sicker every day. He had a fever of 115, which was considered somewhat high for a
Saiyan, but spelled death for any human who got it. Chi-Chi was thanking Kami that the
fever alone had not killed her husband, but Gohan knew that just a fever wouldn't kill his
father. Now the other Z fighters had gathered at the Son house every night to see if Goku
would in fact beat the odds...and the virus, but no such luck throughout the many days
they saw their friend dying. Gohan tried his hardest to keep his father off his mind by
training with Piccolo, but just couldn't pull it off. Vegeta, in a surprisingly out of
character move, was caught praying for his fellow Saiyan by Bulma. "Are you same
Vegeta who lives with me?" "I always had emotions for Kakarot, baka onna, I just didn't
show it. He's like a brother to me. To lose him would be devastating." The two
embraced, comforting each other. Krillin chanted a mantra every night for his fallen
friend. "Chiyu (healing), senninriki (strength of a thousand men), goutan (boldness),
bojou (longing)..." He'd go on for hours and hours, chanting many words that some did
not even understand, but those that did could relate.

"If I'm gone when you wake up, please don't cry,
and if I'm gone when you wake up, don't ask why.
Don't look back at this time as a time of heartbreak and distress;
Remember me, remember me, cuz I'll be with you in your dreams."

That night, Gohan had a dream. He was fighting a strange looking monster, and he was
all alone. He had achieved Super Saiyan power, but no one was there to witness his
victory...until Goku appeared, almost out of nowhere. "Dad!" Gohan cried out. "Just
finish him off, Gohan!" his father replied, and Gohan did just that. However, the monster
soon regenerated. Neither father nor son could believe it. Gohan constantly fired blasts at
the weird looking creature, but it just didn't seem to work. The monster was preparing a
powerful blast, and Gohan was about to pass out from exhaustion. Just as the creature
fired the shot, Goku stepped in front of Gohan to take the blast for his son. Gohan then
woke up. He was sweating bullets, his hair had turned gold, and his eyes were an emerald
shade. He got out of his bed and went into the bathroom. The moment he flickered the
light on was the moment he broke down. "I'm sorry, Dad... Sorry that you couldn't see
this..." he mumbled to himself as he cried. After spending a good two hours in the
bathroom, Gohan went back to bed. "4 AM... Shit..." he muttered as fell asleep.

***

"Don't cry, I'm with you
Don't cry, I'm by your side.
Don't cry, I'm with you.
Don't cry, I'm by your side."

Now, seven days had passed since the diagnosis, and Goku was hanging onto life
by a practically microscopic thread. The Z gang now called the Son house their second
home because they were worried about Goku so much. Krillin's mantras got longer,
stronger, more powerful, and more demanding. "Binshou! (quick!) Sousou! (hurry!)
Kami! Shounin! (saints!) Iesu! (Jesus!) Buddha! Allah! Zeus! Jupiter! Whoever!
Please! Sousou! Sousou!" He was now praying and chanting to every possible divine
power that a human could think of. Vegeta, meanwhile, was praying to himself in the
corner. No one but Bulma seemed to notice him. Piccolo was meditating and saying
something to himself in Namek. Yamcha and Tien could only sweat and watch their
friend. Chi-Chi had leaned down beside her husband, and start crying on his chest again.
Goku then woke up, letting out a horrified scream. He was having another attack.
"Daddy!" "Goku!" "Kakarot!" "Oh, honey!" Then, he calmed down and spoke, leaving
many in awe. "Gohan, Chi-Chi, Vegeta, Piccolo, everyone... My time has come. Take
good care of the planet for me, you guys. Good-bye, my friends." "Daddy, don't go!"
"No, Kakarot!" "GOKU!" His body then disappeared, and his energy disappeared from
everyone's senses. Gohan bawled right into Piccolo's broad chest, while Vegeta wiped a
tear from his eye and took off. Krillin was cursing at the gods for being ungrateful, while
Yamcha and Tien were comforting each other. "You'll be back, just wait'll we find those
Dragon Balls," Bulma said as she saw Goku's spirit disappear.

"And though my flesh is gone,
I'll still be with you at all times
And though my body's gone,
I'll be there to comfort you at all times."

***
"I don't want you to cry and weep
I want you to go on, living your life
I'm not sleeping an endless sleep
'Cuz in your heart, you have all of our good times."

Gohan could not get over the death of his father, no matter what he did, whether it
be studying, training, sleeping, or whatever. Vegeta was the only one who could not stand
it at all. One night, Bulma found his body lying on the floor, his wrist slit open, and a note
nearby. "Kakarot is gone. I can not go on. He was my inspiration, and I am with him
now. - Vegeta." What made it worse was that Bulma was pregnant with Vegeta's first
child. 'I'm going to have a bastard,' she thought to herself, 'just wonderful.' Piccolo and
Gohan soon came to realize something: There were no more full-blooded Saiyans left.
Gohan, Goku's only son, was the only one of Saiyan blood still living on the planet.
Vegeta committed suicide, and Goku died of the virus. Gohan was all that was left of the
Saiyan race, at least until Bulma's baby was born...

***
Many years later...

"C'mon, Gohan, please!" a purple-haired teenager begged, pulling on the older
hybrid's pant leg. "Alright, Trunks, I'll train you." Trunks was the only child of Bulma,
and the son of Vegeta, who had done himself in many years before. Two androids who go
only by #17 and #18 had now destroyed most of what Gohan and Trunks had come to
know of as their home. Trunks and Gohan were now the only beings of Saiyan blood left
on the planet, and they had to make the best of it. Trunks was trained for a very long
time, until one fateful night...

"Gohan! Gohan!" he cried out, looking through piles of rubble and debris. The
rain was pouring down, the lightning was flashing, and the thunder was rolling. Trunks
was in his mid-teens, and he was already faced with an adult situation. He called out his
master's name many more times before he discovered Gohan's body lying on the ground,
motionless. "Gohan!" He ran over to the body, hoping that Gohan was just unconscious
or asleep. "C'mon Gohan, you can't leave me! You just can't! C'mon, please! Gohan!
Gohan! GOHAN!" Trunks let out an angered yet saddened cry. He coughed many times,
and he underwent a transformation. His eyes flickered a shade of emerald, and his hair
was glowing gold. He pounded the ground a few times in outright anger, but was truly
saddened.

***

Bulma and many others had finished working on a time machine that could go into
the past and the future. Trunks was reluctant to use this at first, but after Gohan's death,
he had enough of the suffering he saw every day in his world. He finally decided to go
back into the past and save Goku from his terrible fate. 'Well, at least I'll get to know my
father,' he thought as he got into the capsule, 'and I'll find out what Gohan was like as a
child.' Many times he had refused to go back into the past, and Bulma threatened to do it
herself, but Trunks knew that was an empty and idle threat every time she mentioned it.
As he entered the river of time, Bulma looked up at him as he disappeared. "Good luck
Trunks! I'm counting on you!" she shouted. This trip would prove to be one of the
greatest things to happen to the Z fighters of the past... EVER.