A/N: Hey hey! Happy father's day to everyone!

This has been an eventful day for me: I was visiting my brother at his new apartment and my parents and grandmother came up for father's day. It was definitely a good time and I'm thankful to have such an amazing man to call my father.

This chapter is a continuation of the last one pretty much. Some really important events take place in this chapter so I hope it keeps everyone's interest. It's also the longest one for this story so far at over 12,000 words.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last chapter! Now without further ado, here is chapter 3!

"dialogue"

thoughts/mindscape

"telepathic communication"

~change in setting~

*action*

flashback

Chapter 3: Meetings, Greetings, and Feelings

~Demon Realm, Underworld, Age 771~

The Demon Realm: not a pleasant place for most.

This is a realm in an alternate plane to the normal universe that cannot be traversed by normal beings known as the Underworld. Some of the most vile, terrifying creatures live in this plane; a place built off of hate, a place built off of violence, a place built off of evil.

It's the perfect place to recruit a cold hearted warrior.

A small creature wearing a dark brown cloak that covers all of his physical features makes his way across this realm. He travels a trail of blood red earth that leads to a city. Inside that city on top of the tallest plateau lays a gigantic castle built off of pure black stone. It is a sight to see from a distance as the castle appears to stand over the entire city and sticks out in contrast to the dark orange skies of the Demon Realm making it appear as if it were burning. The figure underneath his cloak smirks at the sight.

He will definitely be able to find him there.

A tall humanoid man suddenly meets the cloaked figure. This man has an obvious intimidating appearance. He has dark red skin with frighteningly yellow eyes that could send the bravest of souls running for their lives at the sight of them. His head is shaped in a vertical oval shape with a very pronounced, clean-shaven chin, but there are also horns that protrude out of the top of his head right above the temples, and in the middle of his forehead is a strange black tattoo of a cursive "M." He also has very pointy ears that are more sensitive than even a Namekian's that help him pick up even the slightest of movements and vibrations.

The most intimidating aspect of his appearance however is his extremely muscular build. Every one of his muscles shows definition that would make the most hardcore of body builders jealous. Obviously he is a fighter or warrior of some sort.

He is so tall that the cloaked figure only goes up to his knee, yet despite the obvious size advantage, he gets on one knee and bows to the cloaked figure.

"Master Babidi," the creature greets in a deep, dark voice, his head bowed looking at the red soil. His voice is laced with utmost respect as he continues. "My father is right in that city."

The cloaked figure looks down at his demon servant, scowling. "I know that you nitwit!" he berates his charge in a high pitched squeaky voice. "It's completely obvious with the way he presents his castle. What I want to know is how I get into the castle?"

"My apologies master," the much larger servant quickly apologizes, "but the only way to enter the castle is to fight off and kill his guards. Even I'm not allowed in without doing this."

An evil grin spreads its way across the face of the cloaked figure. "Splendid! What a perfect way to test out your abilities my pet. You can get through can't you?"

"It would be like taking candy from a baby my master. Next to my father, I am the strongest being in the universe," the demon proudly states.

"Excellent!" the short, cloaked figure responds with a feral grin. "Alright Dabura, take me to your father. Once we have him we will finally be ready to start the process of resurrecting Majin Buu! Muhahahaha!"

The demon servant bows his head once more and gets on his feet to lead his master to the king of the Demon Realm. While he might be incredibly strong in his own right, he couldn't hold a candle to his father. Even with his power boost from Babidi's magic, he still would be no match for him in a fight. His strength is what they need on this particular quest.

The creature 'Babidi' smirks under his cloak. That's right. My plan is coming into place. That saiyan won't know what hit him! He may be powerful, but not even he will stand a chance against the king of the demons! With his ki I would be able to resurrect Buu in no time and that blasted Kai that killed my father will be begging for his life, which of course I won't give him. What a fun day that will be! Muahahaha!

~Satan City, Planet Earth~

"Hey! Get back here! I'm not through with you two yet!"

"Yikes! Let's book it Goten!"

A rather comical scene is taking place in downtown Satan City. The owner of the buffet that Gohan took Goten to for his birthday is chasing both Son boys out of the building with a wooden spoon ready to give the two a piece of his mind for basically robbing him of all of his food. The two demi-saiyans in question meanwhile are running at a fast enough pace where they stay ahead of the rather scary owner, yet slow enough where it seems somewhat normal. In order to make sure it's a realistic pace, Gohan is carrying Goten as he 'sprints' out of the restaurant, barely containing his laughter from the scene that just took place.

~Earlier at the buffet~

"Geez Goten! That's gotta be like your twentieth plate of food!" Gohan exclaims while chuckling good naturedly. He himself had already eaten a good thirty plates and could eat more if he wanted, but Goten is only three years old!

The chibi stops inhaling his food for a split second and grins at his daddy. "Yeah, but the food is so good!" the toddler excitedly replies to the elder. "Plus it's all you can eat!" He then goes back to devouring the food at an incredibly fast pace.

The serving staff looks on at the two demi-saiyans with wide eyes. All of them are wondering the exact same thing: how can they possibly eat so much?! They're only kids… and one of them doesn't look any older than four!

Soon the owner comes out to see how everyone is doing only to see everyone in the restaurant staring at the two demi-saiyans, who show absolutely no sign of stopping soon. He then looks at the remaining food and finds that there is hardly anything left! The owner is flabbergasted at this discovery only for a moment before anger takes over. He's losing so much money to these two! He has to do something before they rob him blind!

"You two!" he shouts at the two brothers. They both pause from what they were doing and look up at the owner with matching curious expressions. Upon catching a glance at the pure innocence of their expressions, the owner's resolve to scold them both fades a bit before he remembers how they are losing him valuable profits so he strengthens his resolve once more. "You have both eaten more food than you're welcome and are hereby ordered to leave the premises at once!"

Both demi-saiyans look at the owner incredulously. Is he actually kicking them out for eating too much at an all you can eat restaurant? Gohan quickly protests the owner's unjust demand. "Sir, with all due respect, I don't think we can eat too much. You advertise 'all you can eat' which is why we came here in the first place. We should be able to eat all we can eat."

Goten quickly nods his head in agreement before continuing on his rather large plate of food.

The owner's patience runs thin upon seeing the two children ignore his demand and continue to eat despite it. A vein becomes apparent protruding from one of his temples as he tries not to just run over there and physically throw the two out. After all, that could be considered child abuse.

"HEY!" he yells again, immediately catching the attention of the two demi-saiyans once more. "I'm the owner of this fine establishment and I have the right to refuse service to whomever I chose! I said GET OUT!"

Despite his earlier qualms about child abuse, he takes one of the wooden spoons from one of the food servers and advances on the two demi-saiyans. Both immediately look at each other and get up from their table, Gohan quickly grabbing Goten.

The owner continues to advance on them as Gohan starts backing away from the owner. "Don't you dare think you can walk away from me!" he yells at them, increasing the pace of his advancement to a run. Gohan quickly turns and starts running for the exit.

"Hey! Get back here!" the owner yells, now sprinting while waving his wooden spoon around threateningly. "I'm not through with you two yet!"

"Yikes!" Gohan quickly yelps, now trying to outrun the owner at a realistic pace. "Let's book it Goten!"

The two demi-saiyans quickly exit out of the restaurant, making sure to keep themselves a good distance away from the irate (and somewhat crazy) restaurant owner.

~Present time~

Gohan chuckles internally as the restaurant owner continues to chase them down the street. He knew that he would be upset about how much the two of them ate, but this reaction is priceless!

Goten looks back at the owner over Gohan's shoulder and is confused by why the mean man is chasing them. His daddy told him the restaurant was all you can eat, and his daddy never lies, so he doesn't understand why the guy is so mad at them for eating all they could eat (at least before he started yelling at them).

Finally after a few blocks, the owner's endurance finally runs out and he stops chasing the two demi-saiyans. He huffs out a gigantic sigh of frustration before shaking his head and walking back to his restaurant, wondering the whole time how those two were able to run so much after eating basically the whole buffet's worth of food.

Gohan looks back to see that the restaurant owner has finally given up chasing after them. Knowing that the chase is over, Gohan slows down to a normal walking pace and finally lets out his laughter that he kept bottled up inside the whole time.

As he continues to laugh and walk, Goten looks up at his daddy even more confused than earlier. Why is his daddy laughing? What's so funny? "Daddy," Goten asks out loud, causing Gohan to force himself to stop chuckling for a moment to look at his son. "What's so funny?"

Gohan looks at Goten trying his hardest not to burst out into laughter again. "I'm just laughing at that guy's reaction to how much food we ate," he answers.

The birthday boy looks at his daddy even more confused. "But why did he react that way? Doesn't everyone eat as much as we do?"

Gohan finally is able to completely contain his laughter now after hearing what Goten had to say. That's right, he silently realizes. He has never seen how much a normal person has eaten before and last year the waiter was all too happy to keep bringing out food despite the amount simply because it meant more money for him.

Gohan becomes a bit saddened at this realization as this means that Goten really has had no outside contact with people other than himself and shows just how secluded they both are.

"Well Goten," Gohan starts, only to be interrupted by something running into him… or rather someone.

"HEY!" the person shouts, trying to get back to their feet. The voice is pretty feminine and sounds rather young. "Watch where you're going buster before I – GOHAN!?"

Gohan is taken aback at the shout of his name. He wasn't expecting to meet someone who already knows him in this city of all places. Once he catches a glimpse of the person who he ran over his eyes immediately widen as he suddenly realizes who he ran into:

Videl.

He can't believe his luck! He wanted to talk to her earlier after the robbery, but her fiery exit left him so speechless and shocked that he completely forgot about it! Now he has that chance to talk to her again!

However, he is taken aback when she throws her arms around him in an embrace and starts crying into his chest, making Goten retreat to his daddy's shoulders. This leaves the teen utterly confused, yet he accepts the hug and immediately tries to comfort the girl.

Goten is even more confused than Gohan. He recognizes her as the lady from the crime scene, but last time he checked, she was mad at his daddy! Why is she crying now? In order to get his answers, he pulls on Gohan's hair to get his attention. "Daddy, why is that Miss Satan girl crying? Wasn't she mad at you?"

Gohan immediately stiffens at Goten's question. He just basically gave away that he's Junjoubu! However luck seems to be on the demi-saiyan's side as it seems that Videl was so caught up in her crying to notice what he said.

"Goten," he whispers in a voice quiet enough for Videl not to hear him, yet loud enough that his son can pick it up with his sensitive hearing. "She doesn't know about me being Junjoubu so please be quiet about it! I don't even know why she's crying in the first place so let me ask her and find out okay?"

Normally Goten would question why he has to keep his daddy's super hero identity a secret, but the seriousness of Gohan's tone makes him just nod in reply. His daddy only uses that tone of voice when telling him extremely important instructions, so he doesn't question it this time.

After a few more minutes of crying, Videl finally pulls away from the teenaged demi-saiyan. Gohan puts a hand on both of her shoulders and looks down into her eyes with a gentle smile. "You feel better?" he asks her.

Videl looks away to the side, a slight blush staining her cheeks from embarrassment of how she reacted to the boy. She's just so relieved! Even though she believed Gohan to still be alive, when he never showed his face ever again in public she started to lose hope and was fearful that he might have been one of the finalists from the Intergalactic Tournament that got killed by the earthquake.

Seeing him alive in person though made her belief come true and her body was flooded with relief that he is alive and well. Little does she know that he actually did get killed that day, but was brought back with New Namek's dragonballs.

She didn't however expect to have such a strong reaction to the discovery. She just met him once at the Intergalactic Tournament! However, she realizes that despite the fact that they only met once, she really wanted to see him again. She was going to ask him if he would be her friend after the tournament, but with the earthquake canceling the tournament along with the fact that he was one of the finalists that could possibly be dead, she never got the opportunity to ask him. She's suddenly filled with happiness that she now has the opportunity.

…but first she has to answer his question. She forces herself to look him in the eyes and smiles. "Yeah… sorry about that."

Gohan just gives her a reassuring smile as he asks her the question he's been wondering about the whole time. "Do you mind telling me why you were so upset?"

Videl once again looks away. "I-I kinda thought you had died at the Intergalactic Tournament three years ago… They had said that two finalists had died and when I hadn't seen you in forever… I had assumed the worst… So when I ran into you, I realized that you were still alive... and I couldn't help but feel relieved. I'm actually really glad to see you." A light blush covers her cheeks as she says the last sentence.

Gohan is clearly shocked at that news. How did they know that two finalists had died at the tournament? Sure he and his dad did die at the tournament, but he had no clue that the public knew anything about it. Thankfully though it sounds like they didn't know exactly who died otherwise he would be in serious trouble right now.

He still however is surprised by the reaction Videl gave him. They had only met once before in their lives. Why did she care so much that he's alive? Sure, he would expect her to be happy, but he never expected her to react so strongly…

As if he's a close friend of hers.

Not understanding what the two teens are talking about, Goten lightly tugs on Gohan's hair to get his attention. "Daddy, what is she talking about?" he asks, pure curiosity in his voice.

After hearing another voice, Videl looks up towards the source of the sound and notices the three year old sitting on Gohan's shoulders for the first time. Her eyes widen as she looks at him and sees that he looks exactly like one of her favorite martial artists, Goku Son.

But... did he just call Gohan... 'daddy?'

Obviously Gohan's not old enough to be able to have a kid that age. The kid looks to be at least four, making Gohan a mere 9-10 years old when he was conceived… yet he does look incredibly similar to Gohan as well. No, he must be his brother or cousin or something.

But then why does he call Gohan 'daddy?' She goes over the many possibilities. Gohan must be the main male role model in the chibi's life if he freely refers to him as his father, but if that's the case, then that means that his actual father isn't around. That could mean only one of two things: the father had left shortly after he was born, or his father had died when the chibi was still either in his infancy or before he was even born.

Videl then concludes that the kid has to be Gohan's little brother. He just looks too much like Goku Son not to be his child, and as she thinks about the matter deeper still, she suddenly recalls that Gohan had told her that he had a younger sister almost a year younger than him, a younger brother who was three years younger, and another younger brother that was only a week old at the time.

But if that's true and he considers Gohan his dad, then what happened to their father?

Gohan, completely oblivious to Videl's inner thoughts answers the curious chibi. "Well Goten, about three years ago, there was a tournament that I participated in. Do you remember my story about the big green monster that I told you about?"

Goten thinks for a moment before he recalls a story that his daddy told him about the big green monster and a tournament. "Do you mean that Cell monster?"

Gohan shakes his head. "No the other one," Gohan replies. He now realizes how Goten could think that he was talking about Cell from what he said.

A look of understanding suddenly dawns the face of the newly turned three year old. "Oh, you mean that mean Bojack monster? Yeah, you said that he attacked you and the other finalists at the tournament and he did a lot of really bad things and that made you really mad and you became really strong and you ended up beating the Bojack monster! Is that what she's talking about?"

Gohan nods at his son. "Yep, that's the same tournament," he replies, causing Videl's eyes to widen. She thought that it was a deadly earthquake that affected the tournament. A monster attacked them? "I met Videl at that tournament," he continues still oblivious to Videl's reaction.

Videl suddenly feels a headache come on. This is too much for her to take in. She first finds out that the person that she wanted to see for three years, yet thought was probably dead, is alive and well, then she learns his youngest brother thinks that he's his dad, and to top it all off she finds out that a monster of some kind ended up attacking the same tournament that it was said he died in, and not only did he survive, but he's the one who actually defeated it! She knew he was strong and that he's one of those mystery fighters from the Cell Games, but she still finds that hard to believe.

She wants answers and she wants them now!

"Hold on a minute!" Videl shouts, causing both Son boys to jump and turn their attention to the girl. "What are you talking about!? What monster?" She glares at the teen, demanding that he answer her question truthfully.

Gohan pales as he realizes that Videl never knew about Bojack. He now remembers that as far as the public knows, all of the destruction at the tournament was all from an extremely powerful earthquake. In a way they're right, but they didn't know that Gohan caused the earthquake when transforming into an ascended super saiyan and that he actually was fighting a ridiculously powerful space pirate and his gang of minions.

How's he going to explain that an alien attacked them?

Then again, he may have a believable way to. He gulps before he starts to explain the whole Bojack scenario. "W-well Videl…" he starts. "You remember how they said that we would be fighting against aliens from across the galaxy?" Videl gives him a confused nod, her eyes narrowing in suspicion not knowing where this is going. This makes Gohan internally gulp. "W-well… let's just say that they weren't lying…"

Comprehension dawns on Videl as she takes in what Gohan said. Aliens attacked them? "So you're telling me that this Bojack monster that the little boy keeps talking about was an alien? From across the galaxy?" she asks, keeping her eyes narrow.

"Y-yes…" Gohan replies. He looks at her and wonders if she believes him or not. By her expression though, he can tell that she didn't.

Great…

Now how's he going to go about explaining this? He really isn't lying to her, but the vast majority of the Earth's population doesn't believe in the existence of aliens. He figures that Videl is one of those people, especially considering who her father is.

Suddenly he gets an idea! He figures that he can get her to believe him if he can prove that aliens actually do exist and he has very solid proof. He quickly regains his composure and hopes that this works.

"Videl, do you remember the attack on East City nine years ago?" He asks her.

Videl thinks for a moment and then nods her head, wondering where this is going. "Yeah, the whole city was blown up! People said that…" she drifts off just now realizing why Gohan brought it up.

It was widely known that mere minutes before the city blew up that two strange spherical pods fell from the sky and crashed in the middle of the city. At first it was thought that they were satellites that fell from orbit, but then they opened up and two humanoids got out.

Aliens.

Gohan sees the understanding in Videl's expression and smiles. He can tell that she just figured out that he proved to her that aliens exist and that his story isn't so farfetched after all. He mentally lets out a breath at this.

"See Videl?" he starts, now a whole lot less nervous about the whole thing now that he can prove that Bojack was indeed an alien, "Aliens do exist, and Bojack was an extremely powerful one."

"Yeah, but daddy beat him!" Goten adds, pride filling his voice at how amazing his daddy is as he jumps off his shoulders and back into his arms. The little boy is now hanging from Gohan's neck.

While Videl figured that Gohan was the one who took out the alien, she still wants an explanation of how. She knows that Gohan is capable of becoming one of those golden fighters, but she also knows that if the alien was strong enough to generate an earthquake similar to what Cell was able to do that this alien is also extremely powerful as well. "Well, not that I don't believe you, but how on Earth were you able to defeat this alien when he could do stuff that Cell could do?"

Gohan already has his explanation for this question. He just hopes that Goten goes along with his story. The chibi knows that Gohan's the one who actually defeated Cell and that he let someone else take his credit, but normally Goten goes on and on about his accomplishments and how awesome he is.

The teen hopes that the chibi can hold his tongue for once.

"You remember how I fought Cell?" he starts. He figures that she put together that he was the 'delivery boy' from the Cell Games since she saw how good he was at the Intergalactic Tournament when she fought him and she also saw him transform when he fought Pan in the semifinals. "Well you weren't able to see the majority of my battle since the TV feed went out after I ascended… that thing I do with the golden hair." He explains further upon realizing she wouldn't know what he's talking about.

"But what happened is I fought Cell with everything I had," he continues. "Now I wasn't able to beat him, but with the help of my friends, I was able to weaken him considerably. That is what allowed your father to step in and finally finish him off." Gohan finishes her, praying to Dende that Goten won't try to correct him.

His prayers aren't answered. "But daddy, I thou–" Goten is suddenly cut off by Gohan's hand being slapped over his mouth. Gohan then subtlety makes a signal that only Goten can understand to tell him to stay quiet for now. The chibi is confused at why his daddy wants him quiet, but complies nonetheless, much to Gohan's relief.

Videl on the other hand is trying to comprehend exactly what Gohan had said. So her father actually had defeated Cell? For some reason, this information doesn't make her happy. Instead she feels… disappointed? Was she actually expecting Gohan to say he was the one who defeated the green android?

He's lying. She concludes silently. I saw at the Intergalactic Tournament that those things that dad calls light tricks are real. I saw so with my own eyes, not to mention that when he and the other mystery fighters went at it in the semis every punch they seemed to throw had the force of a truck. Even if Cell was weakened I find it incredibly hard to believe that dad defeated him. Not only that, but he has been acting even more suspicious since the Intergalactic Tournament, becoming even more defensive when people question him. This just doesn't add up…

Gohan, oblivious once again to her internal struggle, continues with his explanation. "Well that sort of happened with Bojack too, only instead of me weakening him and your father finishing him off, my father and my friends all weakened him and I was the one who finished him off."

Videl narrows her eyes at the demi-saiyan. She doesn't believe his explanation on what happened at the Cell Games one bit. She still doesn't think that her father defeated Cell and has a hunch that the true hero is actually standing in front of her.

She however decides to let it slide for now. If she gets her way, then she will be seeing a lot more of the demi-saiyan in the future, so she can just guilt the information out of him then.

She does find his story on how he defeated Bojack plausible. If that is the case though then he's a hero! He saved the world just like her father supposedly did and he deserves to be recognized for his accomplishment as well as those that helped. Realizing this, she gets excited for the demi-saiyan.

Perhaps he can finally get the recognition he deserves.

"Gohan, if this is true, then you're a hero!" she suddenly exclaims. "You should tell everyone! You could be almost as famous as my dad!"

Gohan internally gulps at the suggestion. He should have figured that she would want to tell everyone, but for some reason he felt he could trust her with the information. Surely now she will notify the press on what really happened. Not only will that give him tons of unwanted attention, but it will also notify the Z-gang on his whereabouts, and that is something he definitely doesn't want disclosed anytime soon.

However, perhaps he can get her to keep this a secret…

Gohan immediately rejects her notion. "Videl, if I wanted to tell the world about it, I would have done it already. I don't want the credit, just like I don't want credit in helping the defeat of Cell. Please don't tell anyone about what I just told you!" Gohan pleads with the girl.

The daughter of Mr. Satan raises an eyebrow at the teen demi-saiyan. Why doesn't he want to keep this a secret? Although she can understand that he doesn't want the constant media attention, she still thinks that he should get some recognition. After all, this would definitely end up clearing his name, along with the other mystery fighters at the Cell Games since this would prove that her father is lying about them being frauds.

Then again, would the world actually believe the story? When she first heard the story, she didn't believe it at all. Gohan had to go out of his way to explain to her what exactly happened. However, she figures that the fact that this all happened right after the whole Cell incident would help people believe.

Still, even if it got out in public that this actually did happen, her father could just play it off again like he has everything else, blaming everything on light tricks. To Videl, this notion is absurd and she really wonders how the people of Earth are so naïve to believe that explanation, but as of now, they do and her father has everyone wrapped around his pinky. They will believe anything he says, which is sad really.

She really wants to show the world who the true heroes are, but upon seeing Gohan's desperate plea, Videl internally decides that she will keep his story a secret. She figures that he must have some reasonable explanation to keep it a secret if he's willing to beg her not to tell anyone, so she will respect his wishes.

However, that doesn't mean she can't have some fun with the poor teen.

"I don't know Gohan, the world deserves to know the truth…" she finally answers, internally smirking as she sees Gohan's eyes widen to the size of dinner plates.

"Videl!" Gohan desperately pleads now. "Please don't say a word!"

Videl is giggling internally. This boy really must be shy if he doesn't want the world to know he's a hero. Outwardly however she smirks. "Wow, you really don't want everyone to know that you're a hero huh… alright I'll keep quiet on one condition."

Gohan sighs. He should have figured she'd want something in return. "What do you want Videl?"

The smirk that is on Videl's face turns to a genuine smile. "You have to promise to be my friend."

Gohan lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding, much to Videl's amusement. He knows that he can do that. "Well I guess I have no choice, you have my word. I guess we're friends."

He was trying to go for the sarcastic reply, but he ends up smiling at the end of the statement, completely ruining the delivery. That's what he wanted anyways: to ask her to be his friend. He didn't know she had felt the same way.

"You bet we are." Videl replies. She's glad that she now made friends with the boy she fought in the prelims. "And I'll keep your stories a secret. I would ask you some more questions, but I have to get going home before my dad starts worrying about me, but I'm most definitely not through with you yet Gohan! You better come and visit again soon!"

"Haha aright Videl," Gohan replies, somewhat glad that he doesn't have to explain anything else right now. He has a feeling what questions she has, and that they most likely pertain to Goten and him calling him 'daddy.' Now that he knows that she wants to be friends with him, he doesn't mind telling her about his father's death, but he'd rather not explain it to her in front of Goten. He doesn't want Goten to know that he's not his actual father yet. "I'll drop by sometime soon. We can meet up and have lunch or something."

Videl smirks at the demi-saiyan's suggestion. "I'll hold you to that Gohan," she replies. She then suddenly realizes that she never introduced herself to Gohan's little brother. She walks up him and says in a sweet voice, "Hey there, I don't think we've met. What's your name?"

Not expecting to be addressed, Goten shies away from the girl, curling up a bit into Gohan's chest. "I'm Goten…" he replies softly.

Videl is amused by Goten's sudden shy attitude. He's so cute! Videl really loves little kids; she really can't help but think that they're all adorable, but she thinks Goten's especially cute, especially since he looks so much like Gohan. "Hi Goten, nice to meet you. I'm Videl. I have to leave now, but you stay out of trouble for your daddy okay?" she tells him. She figures that if Gohan hasn't corrected him in calling Gohan his dad, then she won't either. She'll let Gohan decide when to tell him.

Goten nods weakly and buries his head in Gohan's chest, causing said demi-saiyan to raise an eyebrow at his little boy's reaction. Goten's never been that shy. In fact, Gohan thought that the chibi demi-saiyan was one of the most outgoing kids he's ever seen so he's confused by his reaction to formally meeting Videl, but he keeps silent for now.

Videl smiles at Goten before bringing her eyes up to Gohan. "I'll see you later Gohan!" She waves before she starts running down the street in a hurry to get back home.

Gohan waves back at her with the one hand that's not supporting Goten while grinning. He's glad that she will keep his secret, but he's even more glad that he now has a friend his age.

~The Lookout, Korin's Tower~

Both demi-saiyans are on their way to The Lookout in order to see Dende and Piccolo with Goten riding on Gohan's back with his tail wrapped tightly around the chibi's waist to make sure he doesn't fall from his perch. The birthday boy has been relatively silent up to this point, a rare sight to Gohan as the chibi is usually very energetic and talkative, especially when he's going somewhere new and exciting.

Eventually though Goten's curiosity breaks the silence. "Daddy, why did you lie to Videl about the Cell monster?" Goten asks hesitantly. "I thought you said that it's bad to lie and to never do it."

Gohan sighs. He figured that this would eventually happen. Gohan figures that Goten was silent because he was thinking about what happened earlier when they ran into Videl. He contemplates what to tell the chibi and how to justify his lie. After all, he's emphasized how important it is to tell the truth and never lie about anything all of Goten's life. Truthfully, Gohan wonders if Goten would understand the concept even if he did give a legitimate reason for the lie simply because the chibi's brain is too young to be able to cognitively put things together logically yet.

But then he remembers what Goten had said earlier while walking to the crime scene about the bad guys going to jail and leaving their families. That is something that a normal three year old probably wouldn't be able to put together yet. He realizes that Goten, despite his young age, has cognitive function beyond his years, probably due to his mixed saiyan and human blood. After all, Gohan is a prime example of how smart a young demi-saiyan can be.

Despite the fact that he looks like a Goku clone, Goten seems to have a lot more mental potential than his biological father.

Gohan finally decides that he's going to give explaining his logic to Goten a shot. "Goten, do you remember what I told you about what happened after I beat Cell?"

Goten looks down at the eldest demi-saiyan as he answers. "You said that you were really hurt so you had to leave and then that Mr. Satan guy told everyone he beat Cell and when you found out you let him keep saying that."

"That's right Goten," Gohan responds. He knew that the chibi would know that right away since he has been telling him that story for the last three years as a bedtime story. "And do you remember why I let him keep saying that he beat Cell?"

"So that you could live a peaceful life with your son," the chibi answers once more.

"Good, it looks like you've been paying attention to my bedtime stories," Gohan replies, chuckling a bit.

"Of course I do!" Goten indignantly replies. "You tell the bestest bedtime stories!"

Gohan continues to chuckle. "I'm glad you think so squirt. But anyways, back to what we were talking about. If I told Videl that I was the one who beat Cell, then she will tell everyone that I beat Cell. If that happens, then everyone will give me attention all the time and I don't want that attention."

Goten tilts his head to the side a bit. "But why didn't you just tell her you beat him and then tell her to keep it a secret then like you did with the Bojack monster?"

Dang. It looks like he definitely has those cognitive skills. *sigh* "Well Goten, that situation is completely different. The world doesn't know that Bojack was actually around since I fought him away from everyone. Another thing is that Mr. Satan is Videl's daddy. If I told her that he's lying about beating Cell that would make her very sad and mad at her daddy. I think he should be the one to tell her the truth."

"But daddy, why does she have to find out from her daddy when she could have found out from you?" Goten is confused. Either way she's going to find out that his daddy beat Cell so why does it matter if it's his daddy or her daddy that tells her?

Perhaps he still is too young. Gohan ponders for a second. "It's complicated Goten," Gohan finally answers, diverting back to his scapegoat; Goten's age. "You'll understand in a few years. Just trust me when I say that what I did might not have been the best thing, but I was only thinking about what was best for Videl."

Goten lets out an exasperated sigh. "Okay daddy…" He pouts. "Why do I have to be so little?"

Gohan chuckles good-naturedly at Goten's comment. The expression on the chibi's face just adds to the demi-saiyan's amusement. His face is all crinkled up in a pouting expression that makes the kid look that much more adorable. "Hey cheer up squirt! You're already a year older today! After all, it is your birthday!"

Upon realizing this simple, yet significant fact, the birthday boy immediately perks up, a beaming smile on his face. "Yeah! I'm three today!"

"You sure are squirt," Gohan replies, glad he can make the chibi happy once again. He found the uncharacteristic silence a little out of place; he's glad to have his energetic, enthusiastic three year old back. In fact, the timing of it couldn't be better as Gohan lands on The Lookout at this particular time.

Gohan swings the chibi into his arms using his tail as he touches down on the white tiles of The Lookout, causing the chibi to giggle in amusement. Gohan then proceeds to look around for his sensei and best friend. At first he is surprised to see that neither of them are out and waiting to greet him but he then realizes that they probably didn't even know he was coming thanks to the ki inhibitors that he and Goten have on their wrists.

Goten, confused as to where everyone is, voices his concerns out loud. "Daddy?" the young boy asks, looking around the place in search to find someone. He thought his daddy was taking him to meet two of his friends at the top of the world; while he figures that they are most certainly at the top of the world since they basically flew upwards for a long time, there's nobody around! "Where is everyone? I thought you said I was going to meet some people."

The teenage demi-saiyan smiles as he looks towards the white temple that resides on the platform that looks over the world. "Well squirt, my guess is that they are in that big house over there since they didn't know that we were coming to see them." He then ruffles the little demi-saiyan's hair, making him giggle as he looks at him. Gohan grins at his son. "You wanna go in and say 'hi?'"

In response, Goten squeals in excitement. "YEAH!" he shouts enthusiastically. "I wanna meet your friends! They sound really awesome from your stories!"

Gohan chuckles at his boy's enthusiasm. "Well let's head inside then."

"That won't be necessary," a deep voice suddenly sounds from out of nowhere. Goten jumps in Gohan's arms at the voice as it sounds scary to the three year old, but the sound just makes Gohan grin wider. He knows that voice better than anyone's.

The voice of his sensei.

"Mr. Piccolo!" Gohan enthusiastically shouts, sounding more like the chibi that the Namekian trained long ago than the fourteen year old dad that he has become. Soon enough, the tall Namekian makes his way out of the shadows of the building and makes his appearance.

Goten, forgetting his fears of the green man now that he knows that it's the guy his daddy talks about so much, jumps out of Gohan's arms and runs over to the Namekian in excitement. Gohan, seeing this, shakes his head at the chibi's energy before grinning once again and soon joining the toddler in his trek.

Piccolo on the other hand is quite surprised to see his gakusei. Wasn't he hiding from the Z-warriors for the last two and a half years? He knows that Gohan went through great lengths to make sure that he wasn't found if he has been able to stay hidden from him as long as he has.

The Namekian wonders what caused the sudden change of heart. Has he finally come to his senses and realized that everyone misses him dearly? Or is it something worse and he's here to ask for help against a new enemy or something? He knows that he definitely will have to talk to him about this later.

He then looks over his gakusei and sees just how much he's grown. Now Piccolo is a tall guy, but before, Gohan barely was tall enough to go up to his waist. Now Gohan could probably reach his chest if he stood next to him. He also notices that he grew out his hair again, and can't help but notice just how similar he would look to Raditz if he didn't have so much hair going over his forehead.

He definitely has grown up over the years.

Piccolo is also astounded by the appearance of Goten. The little baby that was barely a half a year old the last time he saw him is now running towards him looking almost like a smaller version of the chibi Goku that his father Piccolo Daimao fought so many years ago. If he didn't know any better, he would have guessed the chibi demi-saiyan to be Goku from the past. He wonders how life has been for the chibi with just Gohan as company as well as the only one raising him, but judging from his excited greeting that he's getting from him, despite never meeting him before, Piccolo can't help but think that he's been in good hands.

He would admit that he's had some doubts about the whole thing. Piccolo feared that Gohan was far too young to be raising a demi-saiyan on his own–a belief he still holds to this day; however mature Gohan appears to be on the outside and no matter how mature he acts to everyone else he still is a child. He needs someone to raise him as well.

However, the wise Namekian can tell that despite all odds, Gohan has proved that he can handle raising Goten on his own… at least for the last two and a half years he has.

Piccolo is brought out of these thoughts by an extremely energetic chibi. "Wow! You're green!" Goten exclaims, causing Gohan to burst out into laughter. Out of all the things for Goten to say, the first thing he mentions is the Namekian's skin color.

Piccolo on the other hand scowls, a bit annoyed at being laughed at by his gakusei, but he admits to himself that it is somewhat funny.

"You must be Goten," Piccolo answers the chibi, ruffling the kid's hair in an attempt to drown out his student's laughter. Honestly it wasn't that funny was it?

Goten looks at Piccolo with wide eyes, astonished. "You know who I am?"

Piccolo smirks at the chibi. "I've known you since you were a week old kid."

"Oh," is the chibi's simple reply. He then tilts his head to the side with his index finger on his chin. "Then how come I've never seen you before?"

This causes Gohan to stop laughing in his tracks. He's never told Goten that both of them are hiding from the Z-fighters. As far as he knows, they're all people that Gohan knew at one point and lost contact with. He doesn't know about the fact that he's technically a member of the Briefs family and that Gohan is technically his older brother. Eventually he'll reveal everything to Goten, but now is not the time; not when he's only three years old.

Gohan is about to speak for Piccolo when a new voice makes its presence known. "Piccolo, is everything al–Gohan?! Is that you?!"

The teenage demi-saiyan swivels around upon hearing a voice he didn't recognize, only to set his eyes on another Namekian. He's not too much shorter than himself and his eyes widen when he suddenly realizes who it is:

Dende

Gohan and Goten aren't the only ones who have grown over the years. The once pint-sized Namekian that was brought to Earth to take over Kami's role as Guardian of the Earth is now a good foot taller than he was three years ago. In fact, he has grown so much that Gohan didn't even recognize his voice! It has dropped a few octaves since the last time he heard it, yet it still holds the pure innocence and gentleness that the young Namekian is known for, unlike Piccolo's gruff tone.

"Dende, is that you?" Gohan asks, aweing at the transformation Dende has gone through. He then grins and runs over to the young Namekian and catches him in a brotherly embrace.

Dende is Gohan's closest friend. They went through a lot together on Namek long ago. Gohan actually saved Dende from being killed by Dodoria on Namek and ever since then they have been the best of friends. He's somewhat saddened by the fact that it's been so long since the last time he's seen him and he's already glad that he made the decision to at least let him and Piccolo back into his life at this time.

Goten, suddenly aware of the new presence, and seeing his daddy react to him in that fashion, wants to go over there and meet this new person as well. He's green just like the first guy, but he looks nicer.

However, he quickly reassures Piccolo that he's not forgotten. "I'll be right back! I gotta say hi to this new guy!" Goten quickly waves to Piccolo and rushes over to his daddy and the new green guy.

As soon as they break the embrace, both friends size each other up. Both have undergone some changes during their time apart and both are trying to take in their old friend. Finally Dende comments, "Man, you're still taller than me!"

"Haha yeah, I guess but not by that much." Gohan replies. "You've really grown Dende! I didn't even recognize you at first."

Dende is about to reply when a small orange blur runs up to him. "Hi!" Goten chirps energetically. "My name is Goten Son! This is my daddy!" He then excitedly points to Gohan.

The guardian of Earth chuckles good-naturedly at the little boy's antics. He really is adorable. "Ah, I thought I recognized you. I met you when you were really little, although I must say it's sad that we had to wait so long to meet again."

"Hey Goten," Gohan interjects, getting the chibi demi-saiyan to look right up at him curiously. "Why don't you go with Dende and have him show you around The Lookout for a little while. I'll catch up to you two in a bit, but first I have to discuss something very important with Mr. Piccolo over there," He continues as he gestures towards Piccolo.

Goten is hesitant about leaving his daddy for a moment, but eventually nods his head and grins. "Okay!" he quickly replies and then turns his attention to the current Guardian of Earth. "Mr. Dende sir, can we please see The Lookout?"

Dende smiles at the polite gesture. Apparently Gohan has been good at teaching his brother about politeness. "Of course Goten!" he responds enthusiastically. "Come with me and I'll show you around!"

As Dende leads Goten away from him, Gohan watches their retreating forms as Piccolo walks over towards Gohan.

"Gohan, I know that you didn't just come to visit," Piccolo states. As usual, the Namekian avoids beating around the bush. "Not with as persistent as you've been to stay hidden. What's on your mind kid?"

Gohan sighs. He knew that Piccolo would know that this isn't an ordinary visit. He's way too observant for that, not to mention he's known him for basically his whole life. He slowly faces the Namekian, all evidence of joy that he had earlier gone. Knowing that Piccolo would only get impatient if he tries to avoid the topic, he gets straight to the point.

After all, that's the reason he came here in the first place.

"Piccolo… I think I'm starting to hate my dad…"

The Namekian's eyes widen at that statement. He'll admit that Goku wasn't the most attentive parent over the years, but he also knows that Gohan looked up to the man like no other. Something must have seriously been eating at Gohan for the past couple of years in order for him to start hating the pure-hearted saiyan. The bond they had was something that the Namekian could only wish he had with Gohan.

"What makes you think that Gohan?" Piccolo asks, showing rare concern that he only shows to Gohan.

"Well…" Gohan starts. "It all started right after my mom died. That night, I had a nightmare about my dad's sacrifice that he made in order to save me from Bojack, and for the first time since my training in Other World, I started blaming myself again. It was so obvious that I could have prevented his death if only I would have been stronger, and the thing is that I was! I just was too afraid to bring it out.

"Then, I started feeling guilty every time I saw anyone that was close to my father… and the day after that nightmare was the first time I noticed it. Sure, everyone was trying their best to hide it, but I could see it in their eyes: the sadness that they had whenever they looked at me. I knew right then I was a reminder of the one that they cherished dearly and that every time they looked at me they could see the one who was responsible for my father's death.

"That's when I planned to run away." Gohan continues with his tale on why he went to such great lengths to stay hidden these past two and a half years. "I knew I had to get away to not only ease my own suffering, but everyone else's as well. But I couldn't just leave Goten without his big brother. Unfortunately he was too attached to me and me to him so I couldn't leave without him. Not only that, but I couldn't get over the fact that he would remind everyone of my dad even more than me for obvious reasons.

"Finally the conditions were right for me to make my move. I found out the secret to how these ki inhibitor wristbands could conceal ki while allowing the wearer to use their ki at will. I never told Bulma I figured it out, otherwise she would have known that I was undetectable and figured out a homing device before I could leave. With that extra time, I was able to figure out a way to make sure that she can't track me by it.

"With this plan in mind, I took Goten and slipped out in the middle of the night. The first night we stayed in one of the caves I used when we were preparing for the saiyans and camped out there with Goten until morning. That morning, we went into town and bought a capsule house with the money I received from my mom's medical malpractice case and settled in a remote area where none of the Z-fighters would ever find us.

"I thought that being by myself would help ease my burden since no one else has to suffer for my misdeed, and for a while, it was working just fine. With just Goten and I, it was like I was getting a fresh start on life. I had a chance to make things right by caring for Goten just as my father told me to.

"It was the return of the nightmares that brought everything cashing back down. At first it was just reliving my dad's death again and again, and then it turned into my mother's death. That was scarier than my dad's death. Unlike my dad, mom died of natural causes so I couldn't wish her back.

"That's when I started thinking about how my dad could've come back, but refused. I started having dreams about our conversation in Other World and his reasoning for staying in Other World and every time I kept reliving it his reasoning seemed less and less credible and it sounded more and more like an excuse to stay dead.

"Soon after that, I started resenting him. Sure, he died saving me, but he could definitely have come back. He may have died more than once, but he still could have been revived with the Namekian dragonballs. Heck! You guys already were on Planet Namek in order to revive him!"

Gohan takes a moment to calm himself down at this point. Retelling his thoughts and decisions to Piccolo has been making him angrier and angrier over time. He needs to keep his cool in order to finish this. Besides, it was recently found out that Goten can feel his emotions and the chibi might get worried if he feels his daddy in such an emotional state.

Piccolo patiently continues to wait for Gohan to continue his story. So far he has been listening silently to the teenager go on about his reasoning for hiding from everyone and he is seriously contemplating what he's going to say to help his gakusei.

Finally, Gohan regains enough of his sense to continue with his thoughts. "After that, I couldn't get what Vegeta told me about the bond that Saiyans have with their mate out of my head. He told me that when a saiyan dies, their mate becomes devastated beyond anything they ever knew; that breaking the bond feels like getting stabbed in the heart.

"That is why my mother was so depressed: my dad refused to come back. Sure it may have been the induced high blood pressure from her medications that actually killed her, but she was on those meds in the first place because my father was too selfish to come back to his family.

"That leads to how I feel about him today. I can't help it now but to blame him for mother's death. He is the main reason that this all happened. I really don't want to, but I feel that there is more and more evidence pointing to the fact that he stayed in Other World just so he could have another adventure.

"Can you believe that he told me to raise Goten? To be his father? Sure I know I might be mature for my age, but I was not even 12 years old at the time! He said that he thought I would make a better father than him, saying that he could tell by the way that I handled Pan and Goken when they were here, but now I think that was just crap! I think he was just trying to make an excuse to pass the responsibility on to me so he could stay and train!"

Once again, Gohan has to take a minute to calm himself down before he gets too angry. He takes a few deep breaths in and out and eventually calms himself down enough to continue. This will be his biggest case for resenting his father and he knows that he will have trouble keeping control, but he has to get it out.

"And you know what the worst part is?" He continues, already starting to anger again. "He knew about how close Goten and I were so he knew that I would look after him like my own son rather than just a brother. That bastard knew that I would gladly take care of Goten, even though he didn't want to.

"What I want to know is why he didn't want to?! Goten's probably the best thing that's ever happened to me! How could he not want to raise him himself? Sure, I may have deserved not having him come back since I was the reason he gave his life up, but Goten definitely didn't deserve to not have his own father raise him! I-It just makes me sick thinking about how he just abandoned him! That, Piccolo, is why I hate the man I unfortunately call my father!"

Despite all of his efforts, Gohan ends up getting so angry by the end of his rant that he transforms into a super saiyan without even realizing it. Piccolo is blown backwards from the sudden efflux of power since he couldn't even feel it coming due to the ki inhibitor in place on Gohan's person.

The Namekian actually is blown away both physically and mentally. His gakusei is suffering much more than he initially realized and the extent if it is incredibly shocking to the older Namekian.

In all honesty he never thought Gohan would take the blame this far. It seems to the Namekian that his initial self-blame is what started this whole mess, leading to thoughts about causing others his father was close to pain and the need to run away. This then lead to his reoccurring thoughts about his father and how he could have come back. This much he understands.

However, the Namekian wasn't aware that Goku had actually told Gohan that he should raise Goten since he would be a much better father than he would. With this new information, Piccolo now can understand how Gohan can feel the way he does about Goku and his parenting, or lack thereof. Indeed, like Gohan had told him, it sounds like Goku is more or less abandoning the tiny demi-saiyan, and with how close those two are, Gohan will not take that standing down.

Piccolo realizes that Gohan had come to him to help him ease this loathing of his father, but he seriously doesn't have a clue of how to do that at this moment with this new information. How is he going to convince the kid to forgive his father when he believes that he abandoned Goten?

The only way he figures he can do this is if he can somehow convince Gohan that he's not abandoning Goten, and to do that, he'll have to reshape his whole way of thinking about Goku's decision to stay in Other World and help him accept it. After all, before the death of his mother, he had accepted it and was alright with it. He somehow needs to get him back into that state of mind and it starts with ridding his self-guilt over his father's death.

Déjà vu.

One thing's for sure: this will definitely take a while.

Meanwhile, Dende is currently showing Goten around The Lookout giving him a grand tour. The chibi demi-saiyan seems very excited about seeing the huge building that is on top of the world. He has heard stories from his daddy about how gigantic it is and about how there are many very interesting rooms in it. He's heard all about the room that can transport you through time and even about a room in the palace that lets you spend a year inside while only a day passes on the outside! He really hopes that he'll be able to see these rooms!

Dende on the other hand has an ulterior motive. He knows that Gohan has been hiding himself extremely well–well enough to stay hidden from him, Guardian of the Earth! He wouldn't just show up out of the blue for no good reason, so when he had suggested that he show Goten around, he knew right away that the teen wanted to talk to his sensei in private, away from Goten. He figured that what they had to discuss was extremely important for him to come out of hiding and see them so he just let him talk it out with Piccolo. He knows that the older Namekian will tell him everything after Gohan and Goten leave anyways.

The young Guardian however can't help but wonder what they're discussing. Is it some type of new threat? But the Namekian reasons that that probably isn't the case since he didn't see anything suspicious on Earth. He may be new at this Guardian of the Earth thing, but he still doesn't miss much. No, this must be a more… personal matter.

What could be wrong that caused Gohan to suddenly show up after two and a half years of absence?

Goten meanwhile suddenly feels cold feeling wash over him. It's faint, but makes him shiver nonetheless. He's felt that before and it was when he had a bad dream. He remembers that he would feel the same thing from his daddy when he would wake up, yet he didn't understand why.

However, being the three year old he is, he quickly is distracted from the feeling when Dende shows him the kitchen. The young Namekian even tells him that Mr. Popo, the black genie guy, will make him a feast for when the tour is over. This makes the demi-saiyan even more anxious than he was previously and he urges Dende to quickly show him the rest of The Lookout, much to the Guardian's amusement.

However, a little bit further in the tour, Goten gets that cold feeling again, this time a bit stronger. He now remembers where he felt that before: when his daddy got mad at Videl. That was the only other time in his life when he felt this feeling that strong before and now he suddenly is worried about what is happening with his daddy. Is something wrong? Is that scary green man being mean to his daddy? There is so much that the demi-saiyan doesn't know, but he gets worried nonetheless.

He quickly asks Dende if he can go back to his daddy, but before Dende can reply to the chibi, he feels the strongest feeling of them all: it's so strong that he almost yells at Dende for asking him why he wants to go back to Gohan. The chibi has never felt anything so strong before and he never felt so…

angry...

Goten now is very worried about what is going on and why he suddenly feels so angry. He quickly turns around and sprints down the nearest hallway in the direction that he can feel Gohan. His daddy always knows how to make him feel better! However, the poor demi-saiyan soon gets lost in the maze of The Lookout and is now desperately trying to navigate his way back outside.

Dende meanwhile has no clue why Goten is acting so strangely. If something happened, he would have clearly felt it since he can sense ki, and he hasn't felt a single increase in ki yet. Suddenly though he remembers that he couldn't feel neither Gohan nor Goten for the past two and a half years and figures that they have some kind of ki blocker on.

That's when he feels a sudden increase in Piccolo's ki. It is up, as if he is preparing for a fight. He hasn't sensed his fellow Namekian's ki level this high since the Intergalactic Tournament three years ago and that's when he realizes that Gohan must have powered up. He quickens his pace to catch up to Goten and get outside as soon as possible to see what the heck is going on!

Back with Gohan and Piccolo, the teen demi-saiyan is still transformed in his super saiyan state. His teal eyes show rage that they haven't shown in years. He didn't know that talking about his father would bring out such strong emotions. He knew that he wasn't fond of his old man, but he never would have even thought that the resentment and dislike went this far. Now he's not sure if it was the right decision to come here so that he can just drag Piccolo into this.

Piccolo now has raised his ki to his normal battle strength just trying to stay standing with Gohan enraged. This is something that definitely will need to be worked out, but he needs to calm the demi-saiyan down. However, before he even has the chance to say anything to his gakusei, Gohan very suddenly regains control of himself and drops the transformation, panting exhaustively.

The older Namekian is clearly stunned. His gakusei was completely enraged just seconds ago and now all of a sudden he calms down? What is going on? How is that possible? Piccolo is able to ponder this for only a moment before he hears a terrified shout fill the air which most definitely catches his attention.

"Daddy!"

He turns around to find a terrified Goten sprinting towards the older demi-saiyan, desperately trying to get to him as fast as his little legs will let him. He sees Gohan quickly make his way to the chibi with open arms, eyes full of concern.

Piccolo blinks. His gakusei again amazes him with his ability to quickly adapt to the situation. He was just utterly exhausted from his outburst earlier and now all of the sudden he has plenty of energy to console Goten when he needs it.

Goten leaps into Gohan's outstretched arms, scared of what's going on. He's never felt this way in his entire life! He comes close to crying but Gohan's warm, calming ki signature that the chibi can feel through their bond is already doing wonders to quell his fears. The fact that his daddy is comforting him by running his hand through his hair and whispering reassurances is helping too and soon he starts to really relax.

His daddy's here.

Gohan on the other hand is confused. What happened on the tour of the palace that caused Goten to react like this? He really wants to go over to Dende and ask him what this is all about but right now his little boy needs him. He continues his comforting gestures while keeping a tight hold on Goten. It breaks his heart every time he sees his little boy scared, which is very seldom, especially during the day.

Finally, after a few silent minutes where Gohan continues to comfort Goten, the chibi finally falls asleep in Gohan's arms. There is a small frown on the tykes face, but he seems peaceful thankfully. Gohan smiles a relieved smile at that. After reassuring himself that his son will be fine, Gohan lifts his gaze back to The Lookout and realizes that Piccolo and Dende have been observing him this whole time, making a slight blush stain his cheeks. He didn't expect to turn that little scenario into a show.

"Well, I guess I should be leaving now guys," Gohan says quietly in order to not wake up the slumbering chibi in his arms. "Thanks for letting me get that out Piccolo. It really helped. I will be coming up to see you guys again very soon. Take care you two!"

"Gohan!" Piccolo exclaims, boldly, but not too loudly, stopping Gohan in his tracks as he was about to jump off of The Lookout. The teen turns to face the stoic Namekian, awaiting what he has to say. "Be careful kid. You take care of yourself. We'll start working on your… problems next time you come up."

Gohan smiles at his sensei and nods before turning around and jumping off of The Lookout, falling towards the Earth at a slow pace in order to not disturb his sleeping son.

Piccolo and Dende both watch Gohan leave The Lookout with a sense of awe. Dende can't believe that that kid–no man he amends–is the same little boy that saved him from that fat pink guy on Namek and kept him safe for the remainder of their time together. He seems so mature, so wise, so… grown up. He is somewhat sad for that since the demi-sayian is only fourteen, but at the same time, he can't help but be impressed with what he's done over the last two and a half years.

This makes his thoughts wonder back to what happened earlier. It's completely obvious that something happened to him earlier if Piccolo had his ki raised to a level that hasn't been used in years.

What happened to make that happen?

He figures that Gohan must have powered up, but he doesn't think that the teen demi-saiyan came up to the Lookout after all of these years just to have a spar. Something else must have triggered it, but the young Namek doesn't have a clue as to what it might have been.

Piccolo on the other hand continues to think about what just occurred. Gohan just told him that he hated his father, a concept that thought was impossible to take place. As Gohan explained his feelings more in depth however, he suddenly realized that his dislike isn't as farfetched as he originally thought.

Now, he doesn't think that Goku deserves the amount of resentment that Gohan showed, but the wise Namekian believes that Gohan has some legitimate concerns. Goku has proven in the past that he hasn't exactly been the most committed father, and what Gohan had said about Goku abandoning Goten really struck home with the Namekian. Suddenly Goku's decision doesn't seem as 'noble' as it did before. He can see how Gohan came to the conclusions that he did.

After putting all of this together, Piccolo isn't surprised anymore by Gohan's angry outburst of power. It's widely known among the Z-fighters that he inherited his mother's temper, and although it doesn't come nearly as easily and is only triggered by certain things, it's 10 times more explosive when it does occur. No, that's not what is throwing the Namekian for a loop:

It's how he was suddenly able to regain control.

Even thinking about it still baffles the old Namekian. Gohan has never shown control like that before, at least not when enraged like he was. What was it that made him revert back to his normal, calm demeanor so quickly and suddenly? At the time, he hadn't felt anything unusual about the situation only that about ten seconds later Goten had come out screaming. It was at that moment that it clicked.

It was Goten.

His realizes that somehow, Gohan was able to sense Goten's approach, despite the ki inhibitor, and, knowing that the little boy needed him, was able to completely snap out of his rage and compose himself just in time to calm the pint-sized demi-saiyan. It is absolutely incredible how he was able to switch from being absolutely livid with his father to calm and comforting to Goten.

He wonders just how close those two are. He knows it's more than just the normal sibling relationship. He didn't fail to notice Goten referring to Gohan as 'daddy' and he didn't fail to notice just how much Gohan cares for the tiny chibi. His impassioned rant about his father gave him enough for that.

However, the strength of the bond that is between them seems to be inconceivable! It is like that they can feel each other, even through the ki inhibitors!

This leads Piccolo to think back about the current predicament: Gohan's hatred towards his father. Seeing how deep the bond runs between the two demi-saiyans, he will be very hard pressed to try and resolve the notion that Goku stayed dead to abandon his second son. That will have to be the first step if Gohan is to ever forgive his father. He also sees a lot of self-resentment as well in his gakusei and realizes that if he is to forgive his father, he first will need to forgive himself.

"Dende," he calls out to his fellow Namekian. "We have some very important things to discuss. Sit down, this may take a while."

Translations:

chibi- cute child, dwarf

ki- energy

sensei- teacher, master

gakusei- student