A/N- This chapter is 5421 words. Review response and a note at bottom. Enjoy!
Gohan lay in bed still trying to come to terms at what had happened earlier that day. Scratching his eyes from the irritation of dried tears from earlier, he got on his feet and looked out the window at the serene view from his window. It was calm in West City because of what had happened earlier. Most people had taken the day off from work to get back to their loved ones in case anything else dangerous happened. So far, there were no other attacks yet but it had only been a few hours since the lsdy catastrophe. An entire city reduced to rubble with death toll estimates were over a million as almost everybody in the bustling city was killed. The monsters left little time to escape.
Gohan stared out the window as if it were a window to the past. He once remembered going to a party on the Capsule Corporation lawn with all of his friends and family. Everybody was having fun, laughing over good times, and enjoying the there and now. It was after Freeza was finally defeated and there was peace. Gohan looked out the window as a tear began to form. Rubbing his eyes, he knew he had to keep a clear mind and not dwell so much on the past to lift his heavy heart away. There was something in his chest, a heavy feeling, a feeling of sadness that he couldn't shake off which made him think of all the fun times he had with his family and friends and how he will never get to see them again. Trying very hard to shake off these feelings, he walked out of his new room at Capsule Corporation and walked down stairs.
At the bottom of the stairs he could hear the television on in the other room. Curious, Gohan went to see what was on. Every channel was talking about what had happened earlier. He stopped in front of the television and watched. They had the picture of the battlefield, the once busy city now reduced to rubble. He decided to listen in.
"As you can see, East City is no more. This is not a joke ladies and gentlemen. Even the outskirts of the city are no more. The suburbs of the city are heavily damaged and some of them are completely destroyed."
The camera showed a 360 view of the barren waste land. All one could see was a flat endless view of destroyed buildings all the way to the side of the mountains off to the west.
"We have no idea what has happened here but there are sketchy reports that a huge fight occurred here. One report told us that those same explosions that happened today happened four years ago when two objects from space came down in a bustling city near Papaya Island which leveled the city. The city has since been rebuilt yet there is still no explanation to what happened."
Gohan listened realizing that they were talking about when Vegeta and Nappa came to Earth. Apparently, Nappa had destroyed the city they landed in, Gohan watched as they replayed the explosions that had happened prior to the battle that took place in which all of his friends and family were killed in.
"How are you doing kiddo?"
Gohan turned around to see Bulma with a meek smile on her face. She was trying really hard to keep things positive even after what had happened.
"I don't know." Gohan questioned. He wanted his father and Piccolo to be here to tell him what to do. All of his nine years, he had people beside him to help guide him. "I don't know what to do. I wish dad were here."
Bulma sighed and got closer to Gohan. "I wish he were here also. What an awful past year. Everything and anything that could go wrong did."
"What do you think dad would do?" Gohan asked.
"Even to this day, I still don't know how he managed to pull off what he did. Even in hopeless situations, he would figure out a way to make everything okay. If he were still here, I know he would train so hard right now!" Bulma explained with a smile.
Gohan sat down on the couch. Bulma did as well. They needed to remain together and keep what was left alive. Gohan still thought back to what Vegeta had said. He wondered if now was the time to tell Bulma what he said. Gohan thought that if he told her now, Bulma would do everything in her power to not let Trunks train. Gohan knew this and decided that now was not the time.
"Why did dad die?" Gohan asked out of the blue.
Bulma looked down at the boy. Why did he die? Don't good things happen to good people or do the good die young? She most certainly wanted to believe that good things happen to good people, and Goku was the kindest hearted truthful person she knew. He would only do what was right no matter what happened. Why did he have to die?
"Bad things happen to good people. There is no reason he died so soon." Bulma said. The notion that good things happen to good people no longer was true. Goku was the definition of good.
Gohan thought back to his days with his father. Things were so wonderful as if nothing bad could ever happen. It just didn't seem possible that within a year's time, everything bad that could happen did. He thought back to those last moments with his father. Those moments that he will always remember.
Gohan, age 8, nearly one year ago from today, walked inside his house with a big fish he had just caught. Normally he would go with his father to catch a big fish, but his father wasn't feeling too well at the moment which was a surprise to Chi Chi and Gohan. Since when did Goku not feel well? Since when did he fell sick? He walked inside to the kitchen and put the big fish on the counter.
"There!" Gohan said with pride. He had caught a bigger fish than normal. Chi Chi smiled yet slightly annoyed that she was going to have to gut such a huge fish.
"Is dad still not feeling well?" Gohan asked without a worry.
"I don't know. Why don't you check on him?" Chi Chi said as she got to work with the fish.
"Okay!" Gohan said as he went into the other room to go upstairs. Once he reached his dad's and mom's room, he walked in and saw his father lying in bed. He walked over to see how his father was doing. At a closer look, Gohan could tell that he wasn't feeling any better but was he feeling worse? He saw that his father was putting pressure on his chest even though he appeared to be asleep. He could tell that his father was in pain because of his facial expression. Last time he checked on his father, he didn't see this, so he thought he was doing worse. After a few moments of watching his father, he could hear him moan.
Gohan's ears perked up as he heard his father moan in pain as he clutched his chest tighter. He began to move his whole body a little bit. Gohan began to feel nervous not wondering what was causing this. With another louder moan, Gohan thought he should get his mother up here. He ran out the door downstairs.
"Mom! Dad is getting worse!" Gohan said in a frantic voice.
Chi Chi put down her tools to gut the fish and ran back upstairs behind her son. Once they reached the room they could hear Goku moaning in pain. Chi Chi saw that her husband was sweating and immediately went to the bathroom to grab a washcloth. She turned on the cold water faucet and began to soak the washcloth. Quickly she squeezed the excess water and ran back into the room. She went to the bedside and laid the cool damp washcloth over her husband's forehead.
"It's ok Goku, everything will be okay." Chi Chi said trying to calm herself, her husband, and her son down.
"Wha- What's wrong with daddy?" Gohan asked in a worried voice as he began to sob a little.
"I'm, I'm not sure, but I am going to find out" Chi Chi stuttered a little as she went over to the night stand. She picked up the phone and dialed in a number. After a few moments somebody picked up.
"Hello?" the voice said.
"Oh hi Mrs. Briefs, do you know if Bulma is around?" Chi Chi asked in worry free voice.
"Oh, shes working on one of her gadgets again." Mrs. Briefs said in a very perky voice.
"Can you get her? It's quite important." Chi Chi said with a more worried voice.
"Of course dear, one minute." Mrs. Briefs said.
After a few minutes of waiting, Chi Chi was tapping her foot slightly impatient. She could tell that the pain had subsided a little as Goku was relaxing again however he was still clutching his chest. Finally after a few more minutes, Bulma finally picked up.
"Hello?" Bulma said with a little surprise. Chi Chi never called saying something was important.
"Bulma?" Chi Chi asked.
"Yeah, is something wrong Chi?" Bulma asked over the phone.
"Goku is feeling really sick and we are not sure why."
Bulma gasped. She was really surprised. Vegeta had made it clear that saiyans were superior to humans in every single way and one of those ways was that saiyans never got sick. When she thought about it for a second, she had never seen Goku or Vegeta sick before in her life.
"Bulma?" Chi Chi asked.
"Yeah, sorry. Vegeta always makes it clear to me that saiyans never get sick. Are you sure he is sick? What symptoms is he showing?" Bulma said over the phone.
"He is moaning in pain and grabbing his chest like it hurts or something. Just a minute ago he was tossing and turning in bed and sweating. I put a wash cloth over his head to cool him down." Chi Chi said.
Bulma frowned for a second as she thought. She swore she has heard about these symptoms before but she couldn't remember.
"Woman!" Chi Chi could hear over the phone. It was Vegeta. Just great.
"Vegeta, I don't have time for you right now!" Bulma yelled. The fury of her voice could easily be heard over the phone. Chi Chi to this day could still not understand why her friend was putting up with him.
"Well then make time! One of the bots you made has malfunctioned!" Vegeta said angrily.
Bulma ignored him as she went back to thinking. She opened up a medical magazine lying around wondering if she read something about this recently. Being a great scientist, she also had vast knowledge on the human, and to some degree saiyan, anatomy. She flipped through the pages and then stopped. She saw what she was looking for. The title of the article was An Unknown Heart Virus.
She looked at the side of the page where it listed the symptoms. She dropped the magazine on the floor in disbelief. She had a very blank look on her face. Could it be? Does he really have that virus? Not wanting to start any commotion, she thought it would be best if she went to see Goku.
"Woman! Did you hear me?"
Ignoring him once again, she picked up the phone again.
"Chi Chi?" Bulma asked.
"Yes Bulma?"
"I am not sure what is wrong, but I will come over immediately" Bulma said in a worried voice.
"Okay, thanks Bulma"
Bulma hung up the phone and sighed. Those symptoms are exactly what the article said. Bulma feared the worst and decided she would need to educate herself more about this virus Goku possibly had. She ran down the hall of the living wing of Capsule Corporation toward the science wing. She walked by some of the scientists who were surprised to see her as she was usually busy working in her own office and lab. She walked down another hall and then turned left. Finally after 5 minutes, she made it. Out of breath, she walked inside a large room which was labeled Library.
She went down a long isle of books and finally saw what she was looking for. There were some medical books about the anatomy of human beings but she was looking for a book that just arrived a few days ago. There. She grabbed the book and ran back to where she came from.
Once back in the living wing, she grabbed a sweatshirt and ran outdoors. She saw the spaceship that contained the gravity room that Vegeta used daily. What she didn't notice was Vegeta standing in front of her speed plane till she got to it.
"Vegeta! I don't have time for you!" Bulma said with venom realizing he was in the way.
Strangely enough Vegeta got out of her way. Even Vegeta could tell something was not right. He had never seen her so frantically trying to do something. She jumped into her plane and took off as fast as she could. Vegeta stood there in the dust annoyed that he got all dirty, but wondering what was going on. He killed that meaningless curiosity of his and walked back towards the gravity room.
Once at a high enough altitude, Bulma set the plane on autopilot straight to Goku's house which was far out of the way. Normally, it would take nearly two hours even with Capsule Corporation's fastest jets however Bulma had her own jet that she put a lot of time and energy creating which could get there in 30 minutes. She took her eyes off of the mountains in the horizon and opened up the book. She immediately went to the area which talked about this new virus that she heard of.
Over the next 30 minutes, she was reading up on this unknown virus. Apperently it had just come out of nowhere which meant there was little knowledge about it. She wasn't sure if this was what Goku had, but she didn't want to take any chances. She finally got to the end of the article. There is no cure for this new virus. To date, anybody that has got in contact with the virus has NOT survived. From what little we know now, it cannot be transmitted from human to human but that can change with time as the virus duplicates and becomes smarter.
She closed the book as she was nearing Goku's house. The plane automatically began to descend into the valley. She put the book on the passenger side of the jet using the last few moments to think. What if he does have that virus? Does that mean he is going to die? He is a saiyan after all, so perhaps he might survive. She stopped her thoughts for a second. Hold on Bulma, you don't even know if he has this particular virus. Don't jump to conclusions. Bulma thought but she couldn't shake that feeling inside of her that this was really bad.
She landed right outside Goku's house. She didn't even knock and ran right inside upstairs. She knew Goku's family very well and was welcome anytime. Chi Chi was fanning Goku while Gohan watched his father fight whatever was happening to him.
"Thank Kami you are here Bulma!" Chi Chi cried as she hugged her long time friend.
"Yeah. Let me see what is up with Goku!" Bulma said as he walked over to her best friend. She sat on the bed and felt his pure heart. His heart rate was erratic which is another symptom of this unknown virus. All other cases of this virus had a very specific heart rate the article and book said which she was searching for. The other cases had hearts which would beat very fast for 10 seconds, and then it wouldn't beat at all or a very low rate for another 10 seconds. She felt Goku's heart and it was doing exactly this. She was losing hope that this could be something else. How could this happen to Goku?
She stepped back out of fear. How can Goku succumb to a virus? She could tell Chi Chi wanted answers. She was looking straight at her.
"Gohan dear, can you let me talk to your mother alone?" Bulma said in the sweetest voice she could muster.
Gohan looked at her a bit peeved. "But I want to know what is wrong with daddy too." Gohan said sadly.
Much to Bulma's surprise, Chi Chi didn't say anything. She assumed that she wanted Gohan to know what was wrong also. She sighed not sure if the kid was capable of taking such news. She thought for a second then realized Gohan should know. Who am I kidding, that kid has been through more than any human has.
"I did some research about what Goku has while on the way over. I wasn't certain, but now I am pretty sure I know what he has. This is really hard for me to say." Bulma said as a tear began to form in her eyes. Gohan and Chi Chi looked on really worried about what Bulma had to say.
"He-" Bulma began but was having a really hard time saying this. "He has a radical new heart virus which attacks the heart basically suffocating it from the inside. If I am right about this, he-" She stopped. The tear forming in her eyes were now flowing down her cheeks. She decided to go on. "He will die." She clasped her hands on her mouth.
Realizing she needed to stay strong minded, she went over to hug Chi Chi and Gohan. Both Chi Chi and Gohan were begin to have tears in their eyes. All three of them embraced each other trying to comfort each other. Gohan was now sobbing almost in disbelief at what is happening. Chi Chi also began to cry. How could the strongest person in the world, and possibly the universe, die from a virus?
The three of them shared the hug for nearly five minutes not wanting to give up their comfort. Finally after breaking the hug, Bulma had to ask a question.
"When did he come down with symptoms? When did he get sick?" Bulma asked while sniffling.
Chi Chi closed her eyes wondering if this morning was the last time she would be able to speak to her husband. "This morning." ChI Chi said then paused. "He began to feel sick right before lunch."
"I-" Bulma began to talk but she couldn't form her words easily. This was just too painful to witness and not be able to do anything to help her friend. "There are very few cases, but in every case the subject has died within six to twelve hours of symptoms."
Chi Chi choked and looked up to her friend. "What? You are saying he's going to die today!" she said a bit loudly scaring her sobbing son.
"I think." Bulma whispered quietly.
"How? How could this happen to Goku. How can a virus take him out?" Chi Chi asked looking towards the ceiling not directed to anybody in particular.
"I- I just don't know. We have to stay strong and hope for the best. That is what Goku would do. He always has a way of getting out of tough situations and this is no different." Bulma said trying to comfort them and her when she really knew that Goku probably wouldn't make it.
Chi Chi realized that she needed to remain strong for herself and Gohan. "Let's hope for the best. You are right Bulma."
Gohan's worry was still there, but he knew that they were right. He had to hope for the best. That is what his father would do. He looked back towards his father watching his chest go up and down in his breaths. He didn't look to be in as much pain as before. He was still gripping his chest.
"Do- do you think we should call the others?" Bulma asked.
Chi Chi paused for a moment and thought. What would Goku want in this situation? She thought for a moment. "Yes. I believe Goku would want his friends near him."
Bulma nodded. "I don't think I have everybody's phone number. In fact, I don't think a lot of them have phones."
"Well we have Master Roshi's number. Maybe Krillin is there." Chi Chi said as she walked over to the phone.
After an hour had gone by, several of Goku's old friends had shown up. Master Roshi, Goku's first master had shown up because of the news. Along with him, Krillin, Goku's old time sparring partner and good childhood friend. Oolong and Yamcha also showed up. Gohan went out to find Piccolo and much to everyone's surprise, he showed up to see his old rival. Everybody was in utter disbelief that Goku could die from a virus.
Krillin, Yamcha, Oolong, Gohan, and his mother all stood at Goku's bedside getting anxious every time he began to moan in pain. Piccolo was sitting in the corner of the room not willing to show the care and love Goku's friends would. Hour after hour, Goku's friends stayed at his bedside. By now it was nearly 9:00 PM and Goku's condition had worsened. He was in constant pain moaning and tossing and turning in bed. Chi Chi, Gohan, and his friends tried to calm him down, but nothing was working.
Finally after Chi Chi hugged her husband once again, he calmed down a little bit. Now he was breathing a bit more calmly now. Everybody gave a sigh of relief.
All of a sudden after a quiet ten minutes, Piccolo got up and everybody looked over to him. Piccolo walked towards the door. "Piccolo, where are you going?" Gohan asked. He didn't want his master to leave. He needed him to help comfort him. Not everybody was fond of Piccolo, but Gohan sure was.
"I sense Vegeta coming." Piccolo said.
Everybody's eyes widened. Bulma stepped forward. "What? Why is he coming?"
"I don't know." Piccolo said as he walked out of the room. Everybody assumed he was going to talk to him.
Vegeta had enough. The woman had not only ignored his order to fix the broken bots, but she had not come home to cook dinner for him. Not only that, but he had to fly all the way out in the middle of nowhere. Vegeta didn't have a clue of why everybody was out here, but he could feel the Namek, the woman, Kakarot's brat, and some of Kakorot's other friends. He couldn't feel Kakorot at all till he got very close. He assumed he must have lived out here.
He saw a light in the distance. It was dark moonlit sky which helped him guide his way during the night. He landed outside the house but he felt something. He turned to his right and saw the Namek standing there.
"What are you doing here Namek?" Vegeta demanded to know. Piccolo walked over to the saiyan prince. Vegeta wasn't sure what was going on but he could feel that something was not right.
"Gohan wanted me to come." Piccolo said.
"That doesn't answer my question Namek!" Vegeta said forming a fist. He hated when people tested his patience.
"Goku is dying" Piccolo bluntly said.
"What!" Vegeta yelled wondering if this was some joke.
"He has come down with a heart virus and will probably not make it through the night." Piccolo said.
"That's absurd!" Vegeta yelled totally surprised. "Saiyans don't get sick, even a low third class saiyan like Kakarot!" Vegeta said.
"You can see him if you want. Bulma, Gohan, Chi Chi, and some of Goku's friends are watching him at his bedside" Piccolo said.
Vegeta narrowed his eyes at the Namek and decided he needed to see this for himself. He opened the door nearly tearing it off its hinges. Not caring around where Kakarot lived, he walked upstairs and sensed out his rival. He came to the bedroom door which was closed and stopped for a second. Why am I here again? I came here to bring the woman back home not to see a disgrace of a saiyan who is sick. How pathetic. He opened the door and everybody looked in his direction. Vegeta walked in ignoring the glares.
"What! You aren't welcome here!" Chi Chi screeched.
Ignoring the woman's screechy voice, he walked over to see Goku. Everybody moved out of the way to let him see his rival however they were on guard. They weren't sure what Vegeta's intentions were. Did he come to strike down his enemy while he was defenseless? That was on everybody's minds. Bulma stared at the saiyan prince surprised to see him. What could he be doing here? Why would he come here to see Goku?
Vegeta eyed the only other full blooded saiyan in the universe. He could feel his unstable power level as he gripped his chest in pain. How pathetic. I have never known a saiyan to get sick before. This must be because he is a third class warrior. I don't recall a saiyan ever getting sick before. He narrowed his eyes at Kakarot. He better not die. He can only die at my hands alone! He turned around and walked towards the door.
"Woman, I demand that you quit this display of emotions and fix my bots and cook me food!" Vegeta didn't say too loudly yet in his typical voice of anger. Bulma had the look of disgust on her face.
"What! How dare you insolent-"
"Vegeta."
Everybody turned back towards where the voice came from. It was Goku who said that. Even Vegeta turned around to see what the other saiyan wanted. Everybody was speechless. Goku had been out for hours and now he said something. His eyes were still closed but Vegeta looked at the saiyan with curiosity.
"What do you want Kakarot?" Vegeta said with his arms crossed. He didn't really care that the saiyan was in this state, a state of nearing death. Everybody waited to see if Goku would respond. After a minute, he did not respond and that was enough for Vegeta to leave. He began to turn away to go to the door.
"You are the father, right?" the voice said slowly and softly as he gripped his chest harder because of the pain.
Vegeta didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. How did that no good third class idiot know? Bulma was thinking the same thing yet not as rudely. How did he find out? Everybody continued to look at Vegeta waiting for an answer. He didn't like this attention.
"What is he talking about?" Krillin asked too surprised at what Goku was saying. Father? What father? Vegeta was actually going to be a father? A father to whom? None of this made sense.
Vegeta ignored him and walked out of the room. He didn't have any reason to be there. He left and everybody could hear that he left as the front door shut. Everybody was just too surprised wondering what Goku was talking about.
"Bulma, please tell me, is he?" Goku asked very slowly with his eyes closed. Everybody then stared at Bulma.
Bulma thought for a second. She had been wondering how to tell everybody that she was going to have a child, Vegeta's child. Well I guess it's now. I don't really have a choice. Goku deserves to know. I was going to ask him anyways what I should do about it.
"Yes." She whispered.
She stared at Goku wondering what his reaction would be or if he would even have a reaction. A smile began to creep on his face. A smiling Goku at impending death. How could he be smiling at a time like this? Did he not know what was about to happen to him?
"You will make a wonderful mother." Goku said with his eyes shut. "I can feel him inside of you. He is going to be very strong warrior some day."
Everybody was stunned. Was it true? Was Bulma really about to mother a child of Vegeta's?
"Wait, you are telling me Vegeta is the dad?" Krillin said with his eyes wide open. Everybody stared back at Bulma waiting for an answer.
"Yes" She said while nodding.
Yamcha grunted. Everybody else was just too surprised. For now, everybody put aside their surprise and focused at the problem on hand. Everybody stared back towards Goku, a smiling Goku. Who would have thought that Goku would be smiling at his death? Goku couldn't have been happier. Here he was about to die with his friends at his side and he now knows his long time rival who has affected his life, once his enemy, and considered by many, still their enemy was going to have a son with his friend.
Goku now knew that Vegeta couldn't have been just a cold hearted killer and must possess some feelings even though he would never show them. He had means of getting of this planet, yet he was still here and had impregnated a woman, Goku's best friend. He continued to smile as he slowly drifted to death.
"Son come here" Goku whispered.
Gohan heard this and walked got down to his father's level.
"Yes dad?"
"Make me proud" Goku said after a few minutes. Another few minutes went by and Goku managed to say one last thing.
"Thanks."
That was his last word he said. Gohan remembered it, every second of it. Those last few words of his father played in his mind over and over again. He sat on the couch of Capusle Corporation along with Bulma as they remembered those last moments with Gohan's father. Even to this day, Bulma was really happy that Goku found out about Trunks. She would have never forgiven herself if she didn't let Goku know about her son.
Bulma got up and decided it was time to make something to eat. "Are you hungry Gohan?" she asked.
"Yeah."
"Okay, I will be in the kitchen." Bulma said and walked towards the kitchen.
Gohan got up on his feet and walked over to Trunks. He was crawling on the ground in an area in the family room which was designated as his spot. He bent down to reach the baby's level. Trunks stopped and looked up to the older boy. Gohan let out his finger to see if Trunks would do anything. Trunks in fact did do something. He grabbed Gohan's finger and pulled it closer. Gohan could feel the tug on his finger, much stronger than any baby he's ever felt. He is going to be strong. Gohan thought as he was playing a little tug of war with the baby. Unbeknownst to Gohan, Bulma was standing there watching them. They will become close one day. I don't know if that's a good thing. Do I want him to get strong like Goku said? hmm.
A/N- Hey… Thanks for reading this chapter. This chappie is a bit longer than the others, but it had to be this way in order for the long flashback. There will be far less flashbacks and the story will begin to develop. I have not seen too many stories, if any, that tell the story of Goku's heart virus death. I hope you enjoyed it but now the story will focus more on Gohan and Trunks.
-review response-
TeamAlecVolturi- Oh man… I am not even close to being a "natural." I really didn't enjoy writing in school, but I have grown to like it a bit more over time. I am getting better each time I write something (although I enjoyed my writing more on the last two chapters.) I am looking forward to writing this fanfic, even though it doesn't seem that popular. One of my favorite subjects, the Mirai (future) timeline of an uncertain future living in fear. I hope you enjoyed this chappie. Thank you so much for writing a review!