The first thing I noticed was how dark it was outside. The second was the throbbing pain in my head. I took a look around, rubbing my palm on my forehead as I did so. Why was I sleeping on a cliff? Then it him me all at once, the flood of memories. Gohan. The Androids. My eyes darted to the billowing cloud of smoke in the distance, reaching up to the sky from where part of West City used to be.
"No! Gohan!"
The air screamed all around me as I flew faster and faster towards that big cloud of smoke. Please be alive, Gohan. Oh God, please be alive. I choked back the tears already threatening to escape, my stomach twisted in painful knots.
The flight to the city was the longest I can remember. The worry in my stomach was excruciating now and I felt as if I might vomit at any moment from the nerves. All I could think about was Gohan, lying dead somewhere, while I had been powerless to stop it. Why wouldn't you just let me come with you? I wondered out loud. I can't lose you, too...
By the time I reached the city it had begun to pour. The rain came down in sheets around me, instantly soaking my skin and clothes. My eyes darted all around, searching for the one thing I hoped I wouldn't find.
When I found him he was lying on his stomach, face down in a puddle, his one arm reaching out in front of him as if he had been fighting all the way down.
I knew as I ran towards him that he was dead. I knew as I screamed his name, as I kneeled beside him to wake up. Please wake up. I can't lose you, too..
And then I was screaming. All of the frustrations, the pain, the work I had been doing rolled into one huge scream. And I felt rage. Pure, unholstered rage, burning me hotter and hotter until I felt something inside me snap, like a rubberband stretched to its limit. And I felt my ki surge as I closed my eyes tighter, screaming a the sky.