The Way He Is
It was a beautiful day at Mount Pazou. The temperature was a nice 70 degrees, birds sang their best songs, and the clouds seemed to dance across the sky. All of this, and yet Son Gohan was not happy.
He sat in his room doing crazy hard algebra, and the more problems he did, the more unfocused he became. His mind simply refused to read the problems on the page, much less solve them. Gohan just couldn't focus.
Instead of math problems, Gohan's mind was on his father, Goku. Goku, who everyone loved. Goku, who saved the world more than once. Goku, who had died for his home. Goku, who had refused to come back to that same home, a home that his family needed him in. It made Gohan angry.
After his died had died, Gohan had blamed himself for his father's death. After about a year though, guilt had been replaced by anger. The reason? Because Gohan thought about some of his father's last words to him.
"Things might be safer if I'm not around."
"Everyone has to go eventually!"
"King Kai says there are super strong warriors all over Other World! I can train here!"
The first line was complete bullcrap to Gohan. During the one year his father had been in Other World, Gohan had to face one of the strongest enemies to ever have come to Earth, Bojack.
The second line is where Gohan knew his father was right, but still he argued with him. Sure everybody had to die at some point, but if you had the opportunity to be alive a little longer to stay with your family and friends, shouldn't you take it?
It was that final line that had set Gohan off. Ever since Gohan had been little, his father had trained more than he spent time with his family. When the Saiyans were coming to Earth, Goku had stayed dead to train in Other World instead of with his friends. He had been so badly injured that he was bedridden for six months, during which time, Gohan, Bulma, and Krillen had traveled to Namek. After Namek had exploded, the Z-fighters had tried to bring him to Earth, which Porunga couldn't do, due to the fact that Goku didn't want to return. He was training on Yardrat. When he got back a year later, it was back to training again, this time to fight the androids. Now, Goku had died again, and he'd rather train than be with his family and friends for a few more years. It was stupid.
Gohan heard a loud 'SNAP' and realized he had accidentally broken his pencil in half. Getting up to get a new one, Gohan saw his mother, Chi-Chi in the hallway, and decided to ask her about his father.
"Hey Mom?" Gohan started. He wasn't sure how to ask about his dad. "Yes Gohan?" Chi-Chi asked. "Is there something wrong? Do you feel sick? Are you hurt?" Chi-Chi fired off the questions like a machine gun, feeling Gohan's head and checking his limbs after each one. "No Mom, I'm fine. I just wanted to know if Dad was always like this," Gohan said. "Like what?" Chi-Chi asked. "If he always preferred training over his family. If he would always leave like this," Gohan said, tears welling up in his eyes.
Chi-Chi looked at her son, then put her hands on his shoulders and said, "Go to the kitchen table and sit down. I'll be there after I check on Goten," she said.
Gohan went downstair and sat at the table like his mother asked. What did he expect her to say? That his father didn't abandon them, or maybe he was doing this to protect them? Gohan didn't want her to say that. He wanted his mother to speak her mind, to say what she really thought.
When Gohan's mother got to the table, she held up a hand. "If you want me to answer your question, you're going to have to be quiet," she said. Gohan closed his mouth and said,"Yes, ma'am." Chi-Chi nodded and smiled. "Good."
Chi-Chi pulled out a chair and sat down. "I know how you feel Gohan, because I felt the exact same way when you were born. When didn't have a name for you, and after an hour of sitting he wanted to go fish and train. I was so angry, I just let him have it," Chi-Chi said, seemingly lost in her memories. "I started yelling how his Grandpa, Gohan should of taught him better, and asked how he could do something as pointless as fish while his son sat in his crib nameless. I was about to get my frying pan, but then your Grandpa Ox spoke up."
"He pointed to you, and you were laughing. You laughed every time we said the name 'Gohan', so that's what we named you." Gohan interrupted then, "What does this have to do with Dad, Mom?" Chi-Chi glared at him. "Please don't interrupt me Gohan." Gohan bowed his head. "Sorry Mom." Chi-Chi nodded. "After we named you, Goku played with you and held you all night. He never said anything about fishing or training that whole time." Chi-Chi looked at her son's confused face. "You may be wondering why I told you that story Gohan. I told you that story so you would understand what I'm about to say. Your father is like smoke, he can never stay in one place, because it's just impossible. He can hurt you when he stays, but the world looks so different when he goes."
Chi-Chi smiled. "But there is a big difference between Goku and smoke. Goku leaves because he wants to protect you. He leaves because he doesn't want to hurt you more than he already has. Goku leaves because he loves you." Gohan stood up, his eyes filled with tears. "If he loved us so much, why couldn't he see that leaving just made things worse! Why didn't he see that we need him Mom!" Chi-Chi stared up at he son. There was no rage in her eyes, just sadness. "He knew that we needed him, but he also knew that evil people needed him too. He saw that we loved him, but he also saw that trouble loved him as well. He saw that he had a son that could take his place to protect his family, so he had the confidence to leave, though truly, he never really left ." Gohan was silent. Then he'd started to sob.
His mother was right. Gohan thought back to when Bojack attacked Earth. When Gohan was in danger, his father had moved him out of the way of Bojack's attack, saving him from certain death. Before Gohan had saved the Earth from cell, his father had done it first when he sacrificed himself to keep Cell from blowing up the planet. He had told Gohan he was proud of him. Way back before the Saiyans arrived, Goku stayed dead to train, but he knew he could train with his family and friends. He only stayed behind so he could better prepare himself to protect the ones he loved.
Chi-Chi started rubbing Gohan's back. "See, Gohan? Your father did everything he did for us. He did the stupidest things for the ones he cared about, and he stayed dead because he thought he was protecting us, because that's the way he is. He leaves just as quick as smoke, but it's because he just can't sit still. That's how he is too. He left not just because he loved us, but because there was an new adventure too."
Gohan nodded. "Yeah. That sounds like Dad. That's the way he is."
That night, Gohan didn't feel angry at his father. He felt thankful, but slightly guilty. He felt guilty because he had tried to be mad at his father for just being himself. Now though, Gohan knew that his father had loved his family very much, enough that he died to keep them safe.
That's just the way he is, Gohan thought. This was the last thing he thought before sleep overtook him. When his mother came to check on him, she found a smile on his face.