Now, this is my first DBZ fic ever. I'm not new to fiction writing though. I've been reading for a shit load of time. I've written before, but I haven't posted anything in a LONG while.
Title: Something Worth Fighting For
Rating: M for violence and language
Pairing: Gohan/Videl
Genre: Romance/Adventure (angst, mostly in this chapter)
Word Count: 2,930
Chapter 1:
Our Hero
He turned in bed for what had to be the 1000 time that night. He didn't know why he bothered anymore; he knew very well that sleep was something that he wasn't fortunate enough to have every night. Only on those days he really trained, from dusk to dawn, was he able to sleep at night, if even for the shortest amount of time.
No child should have insomnia, especially one at the young age of 13. 13 year olds should fight with their parents for 13 more minutes before they had to turn in, but not Gohan, he fought with himself for sleep.
But Gohan never had been a normal kid. Well, that wasn't fully true. He once, way back before he could even remember, was just like any other child. He would play with his Dad; play with the animals in the yard, his whole day would evolve around playing, just like any other little boy.
13 Years Old. He knew it was true but he couldn't grasp that concept completely. He had been on this earth for 13 years, for 12 years actually. He always counted the time he spent in the time chamber with his father, because those were some of the best times of his life that he could remember. Not the fighting, not the constant worry in the back of his mind of the earths appending doom. No, it had been the time he had spent with his Father, when they weren't throwing punches at each other. When they took a break, had an overly large meal and just sat around in peace. He couldn't ask himself enough how one of the most peaceful times in recent memory was in a room with no end in sight.
Sometimes, mostly on nights like this, where he lay in his bed and was forced to remember all the horrible times in his life, all the pain, sometimes, Gohan wished that he never got caught up in all this. He wished that instead of staying to fight Vegeta and Nappa, he would have taken Piccolo's yelling more seriously, and had gone home to his mother. Then maybe his life would have been… normal.
He didn't know what his obsession with that word was. Maybe it was because he felt he hadn't had a choice. That he was thrust into a life where it wasn't out of the ordinary to see his Father's painful death, to watch as each of his friends gave their all just to be brought down to their deaths. To a world where he, just a young child, had seen everyone he loved dearly hurt beyond pain, beyond conscious thinking, not to mention to have also experienced that pain himself, countless times.
What bothered him more was that if he had had a choice, would he have turned away from that life? There was something in him, deep down that would have liked to say that he would have, but he knew he wouldn't. For he was a good soul. He was a loving soul. He loved his family and friends and wasn't going to let them go fight with their lives on the line. He felt it was a must; he had to be there, for what if he could help? True, he was just a boy, a boy who wanted nothing more but to play with a dragon he named Ikirus, to just be normal, but what if he could do something? He always had the need to contribute something, though sometimes he wondered if he was just a nuisance cense, more than a valuable fighter.
It was a wonder that he hadn't broken down yet. So much pain, so much pain….. Pain in every way possible. Fear, regret, hatred, pain, pain, pain.
And then suddenly, he was the hero. He went from watching his father defeat all the evil to he himself surpassing that and going on to become a even stronger fighter. It was insane to him. To him, his father would always be the hero, the one that always came, even if it was late, and saved the day. It was unreal for him to be pushed forward by his father. 'Here son, I'm done being the hero. Save the world yourself.'
And he had. He had tapped into one the hugest powers the universe had ever seen. A power that had been laying dormant inside him his whole life. In that moment, it made sense. With something like this, a POWER like this, he wasn't meant to be a normal boy. He was not meant to play outside and grow up having tone of friends his age, and crying over a simple cut. He was meant to become this, this…. Fighter. And all the doubt he had ever felt about his decision to fight were blown away.
Even with all that power, he had managed to fail. Maybe the earth was safe, maybe billions of people that would otherwise be dead were alive today. But his Father, the most important person in his world, was not. Even with the power he was born to bring out, he could not save his Father or Trunks. He had watched as the both perished, perished right in front of him and his power. What good was his power then? What good was it as Trunks lay there bleeding, dieing? What good was it if his father still had to be the hero, had to sacrifice himself because it had gone to his own head? The power had gone to his head. Was it the powers fault then?
A yell escaped him just then. A yell from the frustration he felt surging through him almost 24/7. A yell filled with the regret and the 'what ifs' that haunted him ever moment of his life.
Even before it was out, he regretted it. It would surely waken his mother, and the sudden change in his power level would defiantly get Piccolo's, Vegeta's and the others attention. He sighed, knowing it was only seconds before his mother would come into his room, worried. She didn't need this; she had gone through enough already.
"Gohan? Are you alright?" Gohan sighed, turning over to see just how well he knew his mother.
"Oh no…" Gohan thought, looking towards the mountains that were on his right. He could feel Piccolo's energy getting closer. He knew what this was about. All Gohan wanted right now was to enjoy a nice mid afternoon fly around the country side. He didn't need to hear his sensei's questioning.
"Hello Gohan." Piccolo said, slowing down and coming to a stop right in front of the golden haired boy. His mother had pretty much forced him into 'disguising' himself while flying around their home. She didn't want the people that lived in the surrounding houses to see Chi Chi's son up flying around. Gohan just went into his super Saiyan form, to save himself from arguing with her.
"Mr. Piccolo." Gohan said, slightly bowing to his older friend. Another thing an ordinary child would not have, green, alien friends that were more than 4 times their age.
When Piccolo went to speak again, Gohan held his hand up, beating him to it. "Listen, if this is about last night, don't worry about it. Just had a bad dream, that's all." Piccolo eyed Gohan from head to toe, knowing very well that his young friend was lying. He decided not to push the matter, and went on with the real reason he had made the journey.
"It's Ikirus." It took Gohan a couple seconds before the face finally came to him. His dragon, his pet dragon he had in the peaceful times of his life. That name brought happiness to him; he almost smiled, until he saw the saddened expression on his sensei's face.
"Take me." Gohan said, powering up and getting ready for the flight to the area Ikirus lived. Piccolo nodded, also powering up and tuning around, with Gohan following close behind him.
As Gohan and Piccolo approached the forest, Gohan searched for the energy of his old dragon friend. He found it, only to find that it was weak, and weakening more as every second passed
Wonderful. More death. More pain.
"Dammit!" Gohan forced his fist into the nearest tree, sending it crashing down into the earth. Still not satisfied, he turned to the next tree and sent it down as well. He went for another, but was stopped when Piccolo stepped in front of the tall oak.
"Gohan, this is not helping anything." The tall Namek explained, looking down at his young friend. He watched as tears swelled in the boys face. His breathing became faster and he looked to the sky, letting a yell into the forest.
Crashing to the ground, hands held out, Gohan kneeled in front of Piccolo. Piccolo had dealt with Gohan like this before, and knew it was best to let the child get it out. And let it out he did, he rapidity sent his fist into the ground, shaking the ground around them. Soon enough, a hole, that grew larger and larger, formed and Gohan was left staring at it, just another reminder that he wasn't normal.
He looked over to the body of his childhood friend. He and Piccolo had landed, to find the small dragon lying in the middle of the forest, in a slowly growing pool of blood. He had a long steel pipe sticking out of his side, an injury that had taken his life only minutes after they arrived.
Gohan got to his feet and walked over to the dragon. He wasn't a baby anymore, but he surely wasn't old enough to die. He was a mid aged dragon, and for all they knew, he could have a family somewhere out in this large forest. Gohan put his hands on the pipe and easily pulled it out. He eyed the piece of metal, before tossing it to the side.
"This is those stupid humans fault." He said, clenching his fists together at his sides. A city was rapidly growing, taking down the forest as it expanded. Only a short way from where they stood, were construction sites where a pipe just like this one could be found. "Can't they see they're destroying this forest? Can they not see the animals that are losing their homes and lives?" Gohan spoke.
"Stupid humans? Last time I check Gohan, you were half human." Gohan turned to the Namek, his face set.
"Why do we fight so hard for this race, Piccolo? We've gone to our deaths to save them. This race is killing itself, killing others without a second thought…" Gohan looked to his hands. They were soaked with the blood of the dead dragon that lay beside him.
"This is not something that would have come out of your mouth a couple months ago, Gohan. Why are you so angry?" Why was he angry? Because he was an 11 year old, no 10 year old boy that was the strongest fighter on this planet, maybe the universe. No 10 year old boy should have that kind of power, but he did. He wasn't normal and never would be.
Gohan left that question unanswered. He aimed his hand to the ground, making a hole for a grave. He lifted Ikirus up and placed him inside. With on last goodbye, Gohan covered the hole and let out a sigh. He turned to Piccolo. "I'm going home" Without another word, the young fighter took into the air and headed home.
Fishing was something that he and his father always did together. It was those peaceful times when they weren't training for an upcoming battle, or away on some other planet, when they just needed a large fish so their family could eat a decent meal. His father would take him to the river, and they'd both catch a fish. Gohan's was never as big as his fathers, but all the same, his mother would cook both of the fish and congratulate her boys on a good catch.
It was Gohan's job now, to catch the fish. It was easy enough, it took him a short amount of time and he enjoyed taking a short swim. It was his daily routine. He would get up, train, fish, train some more and then eat the dinner his mother prepared. He didn't know why he trained, but there wasn't anything else to do.
A new change in his life was the lack of studies. After the cell games, Chi Chi had stopped bothering Gohan about it. Sure, she would come outside and express how she'd rather have him inside reading a good book than see him out there training his days away. I guess she realized that Gohan was going to do what he was going to do. He secretly, or at least he thought it was secretly, would take out his books late at night and do some work, because most normal kids did that, and he never hated studying much anyway.
Today, once getting home with the overly large fish he had caught, Gohan came into the house to find everything on the floor. It looked as if someone had torn the kitchen apart. He would have been worried, but he knew that no one had been here since he left. Though the lake was a good ways away, he always kept the corner of his mind locked onto his house, he had felt nothing or no one enter while he was gone, and it was just his mother wondering around.
This mess must have been her searching for something. When she was set on finding something, she would tare the house down to find it. Gohan quickly washed away the fish stink from his hands and started looking around the house for his mother. The halls were littered with items that had been taken out of the closets.
Gohan turned the corner and walked into his mother's room. He found his mother sitting on her bed with her back to him. Gohan approached her, putting his hand on her shoulder.
"Oh! Gohan. You're back." Her hands went straight to her eyes, where she quickly rubbed them and turned to her son. "I was just looking over this." She said, holding up the photo album that was in her hand. "Looking over all these memories..." Gohan titled his head slightly to see the writing that was engraved on the album. It read 'Wedding'.
Gohan sighed; his mother had taken his fathers death hard. Any other time there was that hope, that will inside her that he would come back to her somehow. But this time was different; Gohan knew that, she knew that. They knew he was watching them, but he wasn't with them like they both so desperately needed.
Gohan gave his mother a hug and led her to the kitchen, where they silently started to clean the mess. It took them a good hour before they put the last towel away in the closest. Gohan went outside to train, leaving his mother inside to cook their dinner.
The night went along normally. Gohan was brought inside by the amazing smell of his mothers cooking. The two quietly enjoyed the meal, Chi Chi watched as her son finished his 3rd course, and then took the plates to the sink where she ran the water and started to wash them.
Gohan excused himself, going straight to his room to lay down. Once there, he stared up at the ceiling and let the day's event run through his mind.
He wasn't accustomed to this type of days, Days where there was no danger, no force out there to fight. He couldn't remember a time like this in recent memory. He didn't know what to do with himself, which is why he trained. He knew that eventually there'd be something to fight, something evil.
What kind of life was that though? Training for an evil that has yet to come. He had always thought that as soon as there was no more evil to fight, he would live the life of a normal child, until evil came once again. He knew he wasn't normal, but he would have liked to pretend in between saving the world.
Gohan sighed and turned over in his bed, reaching underneath for the photo album that he had stuffed under there earlier this evening. Sitting up, he sat the album on his crossed legs and opened the first page. The first picture he was met with was one of his father, still young, and Gohan as a new born.
'Gohan, 2 months' read the caption underneath. Gohan smiled and skipped to the middle of the book. He smiled as he looked down at himself, maybe 5 years old, with his father and Krillin. They must have been on some sort of a camping trip, for there was a tent and a fire in the background. He tried with everything in him to remember when this was taken, remember what had been going through his mind then. Because he was almost positive that the memories that went with this photo were joyful ones. He would give anything to have another night like that, so he could take the memories and save them, make sure that they never left him like all the other had. He wouldn't let them be replaced with the memories of fighting and death anymore.
AN: How dark, eh! It won't be like this throughout the story. It's actually... a lighter story. There's some humor.
Let's get some things down, shall we?
-I don't like Goku! Well, I like him. But he's not my favorite. I won't bash him or anything. But he won't (at least I'm not planning it) make an appearance in this fic.
-There'll be NO saiyaman. I don't HATE him... He's funny. And there will be some funny parts in this story... but not saiyaman funny! ...am I making sense?
-I like reviews. I won't threaten for them. But I do like them. Good or bad, I would love to know that there's someone out there reading my story. I really hate when people PUSH for reviews. So I'll just put a nice friendly reminder at the end of each chapter!
IF ANY OF MY DBZ FACTS SEEM... untrue/a little off! please tell me in a nice way. I'm pretty new to liking DBZ. I think I know my shit, but I could be wrong.