Summary: After witnessing the murder of his brother, Goten feels like someone is watching him. He's right, but the person watching him is not who he expects.
One Shot AU
Note: Okay I'll try my hands at another AU that's one shot. This just popped into my head one day, I don't remember when but I just got the courage to actually write down my thoughts and post it. The ages don't really matter. I'll try to cover everything in the story, but any problems just leave it in a review or e-mail me . . . whatever on with the story.
Don't Worry, Little Brother
It haunted him like eating ice cream left out in the sun, then after you eat it you find out even more that it was long expired. That was the kind of feeling, like you can't get rid of. This little image of a portable TV, stuck in the back of his mind like gum in your hair. As much as he wanted it out, tugged and pulled, yanked and ripped, it just refused to leave.
That's exactly how he felt, yeah. He remembered so exact it was almost sickening. He thought that such of a bad memory would just, I don't know, go away like poof. Wrong. When he slept, it was in his dreams. And he felt the pain, too. Somehow, he felt Gohan's every bit of pain like he was apart of him. But . . . it was too late. See, if he could've just stopped them . . . or someone stop them . . . Gohan would be alive. Gohan would be holding him and wiping away his tears, telling him it would all be okay.
"I'll be okay, Ten. We'll make it home. I promise . . ."
Goten snapped out of his trance, hearing footsteps moving toward his room. 'Kassan,' he thought and turned over, pulling his covers up to his chin to hide his jeans and t-shirt. The door opened, cracking in a light to the almost pitch black room. Goten shut his eyes, trying to pretend at the least that he was asleep. His kassan walked over and kissed his cheek. He struggled not to reach up and hug her as tears transferred from her cheek to his. She was crying again, no doubt over Gohan. He also remembered the day he had to come home and tell her . . .
"Kassan? Kassan, are you there?" He had yelled, and his kassan had run from the room she was in and hugged him in a bear hug.
"Where have you been?" She had asked him, and he had to choke back his tears.
"I was with . . . my friends, Kassan."
"Where is Gohan?" Goten hadn't been expecting that at that time. He broke down into her arms and cried. The realization had hit her and she cried on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a good five minutes.
"I'm sorry, Kassan. I'm sorry. Kassan, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry . . ."
"Sorry . . ." He mumbled without warning. He suddenly regretted it, when his Kassan realized he wasn't sleep and smacked him on the shoulder.
"Ten! You're supposed to be asleep by now! What are you doing up?"
"I'm sorry, kassan." He said sadly, turning over and sitting up. Kassan sat on his bed and smoothed his hair down.
"You need your sleep." She mumbled and pulled him to her and hugged her. Goten didn't hug back, just stared at the empty bed near him.
"Kassan . . . don't do that. Please. Don't do that." He said very loudly to her. She continued to cry on his shoulder and he sighed. He leaned his head on her and closed his eyes. Soon, he fell asleep so she put him down and walked out, unaware of his haunting dreams.
"Are you Son Gohan?"
"Who wants to know?"
"I am Yuan of Flock 47, I am here to take away a 'Son Gohan'. I believe you are he."
"Flock 47? What would they want from me? I paid all my dues and charges and bets! Just leave me and my little brother alone. I want to start my life over without them."
"You owe Zen your life! So I've come to take it!"
"There's no way you can beat me now!"
"Ah! But you don't train, and your mind is vulnerable to anything, smarts. And I could simply to this!" Yuan took out a big shiny metal gun and pointed it straight at Gohan. Gohan picked Goten up and threw him out the way, just as the blast connected with him. Gohan was air-bourn for a while then he fell right on his head. Goten blasted to him and charged at Yuan.
"I refuse to fight a young boy." Yuan said simply and threw Goten aside. Gohan charged at him, but Yuan yawned and threw Gohan into a tree. He landed on a branch, and it pierced the back of his head, and it started to bleed. Goten looked at his brother with horror . . .
"Honey . . . wake up. We need to go to CC and announce . . . you know."
Goten heard his mother's voice and nodded. He called the Nimbus and both got on to go to CC. Once there, Kassan told them everything and Goten just went off with Trunks.
"This is like a Ferris Wheel or something. It's all going around and around and around . . . Goten? . . ."
"Goten!" Trunks yelled and ran off to his room. Goten nodded, but looked behind him.
"Hello? Someone there?" He asked. He sensed someone's presence, not a ki sort of sense. But like . . . someone was watching him. "Anyone?"
"Baka! Come on, I'm the only one here with you but you have to keep up!" Goten shrugged and ran after Trunks, missing the flash of flesh by the window.
Gohan's funeral was that day. All Goten heard in his mind was every word that Gohan used to say.
"Kassan, going to the park will give us a scientific observation of the animals! That'll be GREAT for our studies!"
"I got this itch Goten, my back. Grab it for me?"
"I wish I had a pony."
"Oh Mr. Piccolo! We just came to say HI!"
At first, Gohan got into gambling. One day, he went out to a casino with his friends and after that he was hooked. His favorite place was a casino called Flock 47. He went there nearly every day. Soon everyone found out his gambling secret and forced him to get a job to pay off all his debts. He promised to never, ever, again do gambling.
"Gohan!" Goten yelled, running over and touching the top of Gohan's head softly. The teen winced and Goten apologized. "You're really hurt! You're gonna die! You're gonna die! Oh Gohan!"
"I'll be okay Ten. We'll make it home. I promise little brother, we'll go home."
"Sorry to interrupt but a got a teenager to kill." Yuan said politely then shot Gohan's shoulder with a regular gun. That blast had done something to severely weaken him, and not training all these years really didn't help.
"Stop hurting him!" Goten yelled. The blood from Gohan's wound was overwhelming. It was bleeding way too much for average. Two more shots went out, both on the same arm. Yuan had some good aim, but Gohan was screaming at the top of his lungs. Goten fired a Kamehameha wave and blasted Yuan all the way back into the forest . . .
"Son Gohan was a great boy. Throughout his whole life, he put others before himself. Kami knows, he was too young to die."
Goten sat next to Trunks in the graveyard and stared blankly at the coffin. Krillen went up to talk. But all he heard was "Blah kid blah friend blah die blah, blah, blah!" He didn't really care what Krillen said, since he didn't even know who he was. Then Bulma went up, but Goten was SURE he didn't want to hear Bulma. She was already a wreck, crying like it was Trunks who had died. Trunks, on the other hand, was trying to be like his father but was choking sobs.
When his kassan went up, he just looked down at his feet and kicked all the dirt. He put the hood off his jacket on his head and tried to drown out his kassan voice. That's all he needed, to see his mother cry. All those times she cried on his shoulder or when he wasn't there so he didn't actually see it. But if he looked up, he could tell he would loose it.
"Goten . . . we're going to go up now." Trunks said and they walked up slowly. Their mothers had arranged for them to speak about him, since they were just about the closest to him. Goten kept on his hood and Trunks put on his.
"What do we say?" Trunks asked. He cleared his throat and looked at his feet. "Gohan was . . . big brother I never had. Um . . . yeah."
"Gohan is my big brother. He is a sort of father figure to me. He is my best friend other than Trunks and the first person I ever saw. All of you mourning, don't know what happen."
"Only me and Goten know the real. Gohan doesn't know half of you. Half of you just here to see my mom or anybody else famous here. Gohan never liked people like that! Do you really want to know what happened! I'll tell you what–"
"Trunks don't. It's okay . . . I'll bet you would feel sorry right now more you knew the truth. This isn't worth it! None of this is worth it! None of you, sans Trunks, will EVER KNOW HOW I FEEL RIGHT NOW! EVERYONE IS HERE CRYING TO SAY GOODBYE AND STUFF! YOU HAVEN'T KNOWN HIM YOUR WHOLE LIFE! I KNEW HIM SINCE I WAS BORN! SINCE! I! WAS! BORN! YOU CLAIM TO BE CLOSE YET YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THE HALF OF HOW HE WAS FEELING HALF THE TIME! HE DIDN'T TELL YOU! ALL YOU THOUGHT ABOUT WAS OTHER! HE TOLD US SO NONE OF YOU WILL KNOW!" Goten paused and took a deep breath. Tears ran down his face. "You want your friend and son back!" Goten nearly yelled. He took a breath again. "Well I want my brother back." He whispered and walked away from the graveyard. Trunks ran after him and both of them shot into the air, lowering their ki as far as they could while still flying. They lowered down then laid down and cried themselves to sleep.
"Thanks, Ten. You want to go home now? I'm sure tired bout now. Get kassan to tend these wounds, ya know?"
Goten squirmed in his sleep. He sensed it again. He felt someone smoothing his hair. Goten shot up and looked around . . . no one was there again . . .
"Kay, Gohan! Glad you're okay though. You had me scared!"
"Don't worry, little brother! See? I'm fine! Strong as Kassan's pan!" Both of them laughed. Suddenly, Gohan jerked foward on Goten. Goten stayed up and held Gohan in the air. He pushed him over, to get the weight off, and saw a shadow grinning with pearly white teeth, then it left. He glared at the spot it was, then gazed back to Gohan. "GOHAN!"
Gohan's shirt had red stained and the stain kept growing. That shadow had shot Gohan from behind, right where his heart would've been. Goten knelt down next to his brother and felt his neck and arm for a pulse. He found none.
"He's gone . . ."
"Gohan . . ." Goten mumbled, then remembered that they never got the body for the funeral. He shot up, once again, and looked over. "Gohan!" He exclaimed and launched onto his brother's neck. There was Gohan, his shirt free of any blood as well as the rest of his body. He looked . . . alive . . . like before the whole thing happened.
"Don't worry, little brother! I'll be here when you wake up. Just go back to sleep, and don't wake Trunks! They should find you soon. Sleep, Ten." Gohan hushed him and laid him down. He smoothed his hair and then disappeared in the air when Goten went to sleep.
"What!" Goten yelled and jumped up out of his bed. He looked to Gohan's bed, to find Gohan still in it! He scratched his head for a while, then shrugged and jumped on Gohan to wake him up. Just like old times.
So it was just a dream!
In the window, the ghostly Gohan that Goten saw before looked in the window smiling at the both of them.
Or was it?
Confused? Good! That's how you're supposed to be . . . just to keep you sitting there like . . . "The hell?" Well anyway I think I should keep up with the one shots instead of stories. Ah well. REVIEW!