So this has definitely become AU and I bumped the rating up for some swearing. No biggie. This is also become my first multi-chapter project and is set to continue. I'm thinking of following closely to the plot, however with my changes. So enjoy and let me know what you think!
I don't want this kid to grow up. Ever. His innocence and trust…it's just astounding. Even as we fly towards Capsule Corp. for him to spar with a ruthless killer, he's yammering on about how great and how much fun this is going to be.
"This is going to be so awesome!" Gohan exclaims, flying spirals around me as we fly. "I can't wait to show Vegeta what you taught me!"
"Calm down, kid. We're flying this slowly for a reason," I say.
"Yeah, I know. To save my energy."
"Just relax and focus on your training," I say, and thankfully the kid slips into thought and is quiet, mindlessly following in my wake.
Last night the kid had spent the night with me under the guise of being with Krillin at Kame House, for his mother would never had agreed to let him stay with me, let alone spar with Vegeta. The kid was ecstatic when I brought it up, but promised to stay quiet about it for the whole day. Shockingly he kept his cool, but when Krillin dropped him off with me, the kid was all over the place.
"This is going to be so cool! We haven't done this since you were training me! Can I start a fire tonight? Can we go hunting? What about fishing? Oh! And swimming?" the kid went on and on and I just nodded my head absently.
"All right! Can we go now? Please?" The kid was bouncing up and down now, his ki flaring just so slightly in his excitement.
I grunted. "Sure kid. But don't bother me when we get there."
Gohan let out a yell and raced off to my waterfall. By the time I had situated myself under a nearby tree to meditate, the kid had stripped down to his underwear and was in the water already. I kept one eye slightly open to keep watch of him, making sure he didn't get snagged down by a particularly large fish.
"Mr. Piccolo, come swim with me!" he called.
Absolutely not. "I don't swim, kid."
"Oh. Well then will you come sit by the bank then?"
"No."
The kid shot a small ki blast into the water, effectively shooting water straight out at me. I flared my own ki a little, evaporating the water before it could touch me. "Knock it off, brat," I warned. Gohan went under the water and I shut my eyes. Suddenly water washed over me. The kid had managed, in record time, to summon enough ki to make a fairly large wave to splash over top of me before I could set up a defense.
He was in hysterics in the water, laughing so hard tears were mixing with the water on his face. I stood and stalked over to him. He tried to dive under, but I grabbed his arm before he could and lifted him out. I raised him to eye-level, growling at him before wrapping my arms tightly around his waist, pinning his arms at his sides, and diving into the water. He let out a startled yelp as we hit the water.
Under the water I released him and stood, the water only reaching my chest. Gohan surfaced next to me gasping, but I put my hand on his head and dunked him back under. He surfaced again and I repeated the gesture, as he shouted "no fair" as he sank under again. This time he didn't come up though. I stood still, searching out his ki, but couldn't sense it. I started to get slightly worried until my feet were pulled out from under me and I fell back into the water.
We surfaced at the same time and Gohan jumped out of the water before I could retaliate in some way. I followed him out and we flared our kis to dry off. Gohan watched me with a sheepish look on his face before ultimately announcing he would go find firewood. I went out I search of something for the kid to eat before spying some nameless little creature and killing it with a small ki blast. Thing didn't even know what hit it.
When I came back to camp, Gohan already had a little fire going and was sitting done beside it, concentrating hard on something. He didn't even look up when I approached, so I tossed the animal down by the fire and assumed a lotus position beside him. I watched him intently as two fingers came up to rest against his forehead. I was taken aback as a little spark came from his fingertips as his ki began to steadily rise higher and higher. When he finally hit his maximum, he moved his fingers from his head and with a yell, shot a small spiraling yellow beam into a rock a couple feet away.
Holy shit.
The kid just made a special beam cannon.
He effectively recreated my most advanced move, albeit a small one.
He's six.
Gohan was ecstatic, jumping up and down making little victory whoops. "YES! It worked! Did you see that, Mr. Piccolo?"
"How the hell did you do that?" I asked, astounded.
"Easy! All—"
I cut him off. "EASY? What do you mean easy? Do you have any idea how complicated that blast is?"
Gohan cocked his head to the side quizzically. "You mean you can't feel my ki blasts and how I do them when we fight?"
I stood up straighter. "Explain."
"Well, you know…when we fight it's like I can see into your body and see how you can summon every shot. You practice this one so often that I just kind of memorized it and… well I tried it and it didn't work for like a week and then just a few days ago I started to make the spark! Today was the first day the beam actually worked!"
Oh I see. Those thoughts I had been having, the hyper-sensitiveness to his emotions and fighting, that all made sense now.
"Kid, we have developed something that doesn't really happen too often."
"Oh yeah? What is it?"
"We've formed a Namekian Bond."
A Namekian Bond usually does not occur outside of the Namekian species, and rarely is it created even then. It only happens between the closest of individuals and I guess Gohan and I were as close as any two could get.
The bond allows the bonded to see into one another's thoughts. It also makes them hyper-aware of the emotions felt by the other. That would explain why when Gohan was happy, I felt it too. When he was sad or hurt, I could feel his pain. We were always aware of each other's ki readings, allowing Gohan to practically feel every step it took for me to make my blasts and why I could easily recreate a Kamehameha if I really wanted.
If the bond developed enough, soon we would be able to perform telepathy. While this whole situation made me somewhat anxious, Gohan was positively beaming with happiness.
"This is so cool!" he exclaimed. "So pretty soon we can talk to each other in our minds?"
"Yes. And you had better not annoy me every two seconds. It's hard enough to keep you quiet now."
When we land at Capsule Corp, Gohan races to the door and rings the bell. Bulma answers and smiles, waving us both in. I shake my head and signal to Gohan to just find Vegeta and get this thing started. I want to get out of here as soon as possible.
"No thanks, Bulma. We're just here to get Vegeta. I get to spar with him!" Gohan says excitedly.
Bulma frowns slightly. "He's in the gravity room. Don't get hurt kiddo. Promise me you'll be careful, okay?"
"Okay! Besides, Mr. Piccolo is going to be there too so he can watch me," he says reassuringly before bolting to the gravity room out back and knocking on the door. The Saiyan walks out, nods slightly at the boy in recognition, and takes off. Gohan is quick on his heels and I follow behind. As we fly Gohan is chattering happily to Vegeta, falling back to me to circle up and under me with a goofy grin on his face, before darting forward again to Vegeta. By now I'm far used to this, but I can tell the Saiyan isn't sure whether to be annoyed or just ignore him altogether. Suddenly he stops, whips around, and grabs Gohan by the front of his gi. I shoot next to him, growling in anger.
"Would you shut up? God, you're as bad as your idiotic father and that incessant woman! You keep that up and I'm going to punch you right into another dimension. Do you understand?" Vegeta snarled the last part, giving Gohan a little shake.
Gohan's head is cocked to the side in question, not sure to treat this situation as serious or not. When he smiles reassuringly at Vegeta, the Saiyan releases him and turns to fly again. Gohan flashes me a brilliant smile and I relax slightly, and follow the two to our fighting grounds.
Oh…low blow Vegeta. Low blow.
We land in the exact spot we all had first met; where I died for the kid. I can tell Gohan does not like it here by the wide-eyed look he gives me and the flash of sorrow I feel emanating from him.
"It's fine kid. The surroundings don't matter. Put it behind you and just fight," I say, sending the Saiyan Prince a nasty look. He smirks triumphantly, pointedly glancing at the giant rock formation to his left.
Well damn. There it is. Gohan follows his gaze and I feel his ki jump slightly before steadily rising as his anger washes over me. For on those rocks, the singes have not gone, the cracks magnified by time. They outline a tall form, arms stretched. I hear Gohan's thoughts, my own voice amplified in my head: screaming. Flashes of Gohan's frightened face. My body on the ground, burned and bleeding. Gohan screaming in anguish…
I furiously try to shake his thoughts from my mind; they are so painful. Vegeta laughs cruelly and with a yell, Gohan lunges at him. I stand rigid, waiting for this to go wrong. I understand now why he brought us here: he wanted to get a rise out of Gohan for a good fight.
Well now is a better time than any to try this telepathy.
Gohan, calm down, kid. This is what he wants. You're going to tire way too fast. Slow down and think now. Punch, block, kick, block.
It worked. Gohan's eyes widen as he hears me and immediately he slows, his blows becoming methodical and planned. Vegeta calms down in turn, taking each blow in stride, easily blocking without effort.
"Come on kid. Where's your Saiyan flame? I know you can fight better than this, you little punk. Let's go. Prove you're a better fighter than your worthless, disgrace of a Saiyan, father."
"My father is not worthless! And he isn't a disgrace! He's a Super Saiyan Vegeta! And you aren't!" Gohan retorts, throwing a ki blast at his head, which Vegeta swats away with his hand, though a look of pain crosses his face immediately after. You don't anger Gohan and then just brush away one of his blasts without getting burned somehow.
"And you, his half-breed son, you couldn't even save yourself when that great oaf Nappa tried to kill you. Your friend died for you."
That was it. He crossed the line. Gohan stops dead, hardly breathing, his face becoming blank and empty. My mind was barraged with images and pain. Goku dying with Radditz. A dinosaur dying. Nappa flying at him, he frozen in fear. My death. Frieza killing Namekians. Dende killed. Vegeta killed. Myself killed again. Krillin exploding. Goku's voice stating he didn't want to come back…
His ki began to skyrocket, wind exploding around him, pushing both Vegeta and me back, almost to the ground.
"Do you see what you've done?" I yelled at the Saiyan. "Do you realize what kind of damage you're about to unleash?"
Vegeta's face was frozen in shock.
"Gohan—" I begin to say before suddenly, his little body is surrounded in gold, his hair blonde and spiked, eyes blue. His ki explodes one last time.
Gohan has ascended to a Super Saiyan.