Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z. Period, dot, end of statement.


Chapter 7: Heart to Heart

Shin had gotten in trouble with Kibito for bringing Gohan to the Kai planet, just as he had predicted. After a particularly strident lecture about protocol that left even Gohan's ears burning, Kibito had rounded on the hybrid. "If the Supreme Kai was unable to extract the sword, how can a simple mortal like yourself—" And his jaw dropped as he spotted the naked sword in Gohan's hand. His consternation at the sight allowed Gohan to escape the same kind of lecture the Supreme Kai had received. When the older man regained his ability to speak, he once again began lecturing Shin, this time about how the Kai needed to think things through and consider the consequences of what could have happened. Gohan took the opportunity to disappear from the Kai planet, reappearing back in his and Goten's room and startling Goten, who was lying on the floor coloring.

"Gohan!" the little boy cried, leaping up and latching on to his older brother's leg. "Where did you go?" His eyes widened as they landed on the sword that Gohan was still gripping. He was oblivious to the fact that had Gohan not lifted the sword in time, he would have been skewered thanks to the lack of a scabbard. "Where did you get that?" Goten's voice was reverent.

The demi-Saiyan's arm was shaking under the strain as he held the sword above his brother's head. Transferring the hilt to the other hand, he gently let it come to rest on the floor, trying not to let the tip gouge a hole in the comparatively fragile wood. A scabbard was definitely needed. "I went to the place where Piccolo trained me," he answered. "I got the sword from the Supreme Kai."

Anything else Gohan could have said was cut off by the door flinging open and a sobbing Chi-Chi launching herself at her oldest son, who hurriedly lifted the sword above his head again lest she impaled herself. Goku came in more sedately, carefully taking the sword from Gohan's trembling hand. His eyes widened at the weight, but he grinned at the teenager's half thankful, half panicked gaze.

"Gohan, I'm so sorry!" Chi-Chi wailed. "Oh, my little boy! I can't believe you had to go through all that! And now you're back and you aren't the same little boy I remember and you just up and disappeared and I didn't know where you had gone and don't you worry because I'm here and Mommy will make everything better! Don't you worry! I'll take care of you!" The three males blinked in consternation as the mother abruptly began bawling again.

Gohan gingerly patted her on the back. "Mom, I'll be okay. Don't cry. I'm sorry I disappeared like that; I wasn't thinking straight. I'll try not to do that again, okay? Can you please stop crying now?" Goku picked up Goten and backed slowly out of the room, waving cheerily at Gohan's glare as he left his eldest to deal with the tears.

Gohan sighed in frustration at his childish father and hugged his mother closer, putting his chin on top of her head as he let her cry herself out. He supposed that he owed this much to her after putting her through hell for the past seven years, even if it was not really his fault. Of course, she put him through hell for eight years when it came to schoolwork…

The hybrid stiffened slightly at that thought, shocked that he had actually thought that. He should be grateful that his mother did that – she was only looking out for his future. Thanks to her occupation as a housewife and Goku's occupation as a hero that didn't get paid, the little family lived off the remnants of Goku's winnings from the World Martial Arts Tournament and the Ox King's remaining wealth from his days of marauding. She was just trying to make sure that he would be able to find a "real" job where he would actually get paid.

Gohan, you are not infallible, the Supreme Kai's voice suddenly sounded in his mind. There is no shame in thinking things like this. It is only when you act on them in a negative nature that it becomes a problem. Acknowledge what you have thought. Do not push it away and forget.

Gohan scowled again. 'Why were you looking in my head again?' he demanded silently, ignoring the advice.

Shin's reply was cool. While you were in the coma, I delved into your consciousness many times, so many that a connection of sorts was formed. It is not unlike the one that you have with Piccolo, though I keep my side blocked off. A mortal mind, even one as extraordinary as yours, could not handle all that I deal with on a constant basis. I felt your emotions and knew that if I did not intervene, you would push this memory away and we would be back at square one, as you Earthlings put it.

The demi-Saiyan suddenly felt very small and chastened. 'Oh,' he replied eloquently. 'I see.'

I know. The Kai's voice softened. Gohan, you have been through much. You have changed greatly from the young boy who was taken seven years ago, and your family and friends must understand that. That means that you need to truly talk to your mother. Do not act how you did seven years ago, repressing every negative thing that you thought. Let her know how you feel. Make her understand how much you have changed.

'Easy for you to say,' Gohan grumbled mentally. Shin laughed and his presence faded from the teenager's mind. The hybrid looked down at his mother and was surprised to see that she had managed to cry herself to sleep despite the fact that she was standing up. He gently picked her up, easing out of Goten's room and into his parents', laying her on the bed.

"She hasn't cried herself to sleep since you disappeared," Goku commented from the doorway. He was leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed, looking so much like Bardock that Gohan's throat tightened painfully. The teenager swallowed hard.

"It nearly killed her when we couldn't find you," the older man continued. "If it hadn't been for the fact that she was pregnant with Goten, I think she might have killed herself. You were her life from the second she found out that she was pregnant."

"Why are you telling me this?" Gohan snapped softly, covering Chi-Chi with a blanket. "I feel guilty enough already; you don't have to make it worse!"

"I'm not trying to make you feel guilty," Goku replied evenly, eyes narrowing. "No one is out to get you in this time, Gohan."

"Yeah, well, old habits die hard," the teenager said, brushing past him. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go train." He disappeared, reappearing yet again at the site of the Cell Games.

Goku arrived a second later. "Gohan, we need to talk," he said sternly. "I don't know where all this anger is coming from, but you need to stop taking it out on us. We can't help you if you don't let us." He fell silent as Gohan whirled around, golden flames whipping up into a frenzy as the stress of the past few days finally hit him.

"I don't need any help!" the demi-Saiyan shouted, teal eyes wild. "Don't you understand? Ever since I can remember I've been nothing but a burden to everyone! All I've ever been able to do is cause trouble! I have to do this by myself!" Tears rolled down his cheeks, evaporating in the sheer heat his power put out.

Goku shielded his eyes from the flying rocks and dust his son's power was kicking up, but otherwise remained unmoving. He merely waited, letting Gohan take his pain out on the landscape around them. Though he wanted nothing more than to go to Gohan and gather him in his arms like he used to do, he sensed that Gohan would not appreciate this anymore. He had changed so much from the open, trusting little boy he had been seven years ago.

"Kakarotto, what's going on?" a voice next to him demanded. "The entire planet is shaking!" Goku smirked slightly at the Saiyan prince's stubborn refusal to call him by his earth name. Same old Vegeta…

"Honestly, I don't know," the younger Saiyan replied. "He thinks that he has to take care of himself, but I don't understand why. He's back home. We can take care of him."

Vegeta had been sorely tempted to roll his eyes at the other man many times in the thirteen years or so since they had first met, but never had he been so tempted as right now. "Kakarotto, he had to take care of himself for the past seven years. Why would he want anyone to take care of him now?"

"But he's home now!" Goku protested. "Why wouldn't he want to relax and not worry about anything?"

"Kakarotto, he probably doesn't even remember how to relax," the prince pointed out. "I know it's hard for you to do, but try to think about it. He's been on guard constantly for such a long time that he couldn't let it down even if he wanted to."

The younger Saiyan blinked as he let this information soak into his head. "Oh."

"'Oh,' he says," Vegeta scoffed, scowling at his sometimes rival, sometimes ally. He looked back at the demi-Saiyan, who had finished with his power up and was on his hands and knees, crying. The prince sneered at the display of weakness before he spoke again. "Kakarotto, get out of here. I want a word with the boy."

Goku sputtered for a few seconds before he finally replied eloquently, "What?"

"You heard me!" Vegeta snapped. "Go away. Leave. Or do I need to use smaller words?"

The other man let the insult slide for the moment in lieu of the more pressing matter. "Why would you of all people want to talk to Gohan?" he pressed. The next thing he knew, he was on the ground rubbing his jaw where Vegeta had hit it.

"Because I want to, you idiot," Vegeta replied, and walked off to approach Gohan, making sure to do so loudly so he did not get disintegrated from that lovely Final Spirit Cannon of his.

Goku watched him go, still on the ground. He knew that Gohan would shove Vegeta's Final Flash up the Saiyan's ass if he tried anything, but that did not mean that he was not worried. But… something had flashed through the prince's eyes, so brief that Goku had barely seen it. If he did not know better, he would have believed it to be empathy. But this was Vegeta, right? He did not feel anything for anyone, save, perhaps, Bulma and Trunks. Oh, and Goku himself. But hatred was a far cry from empathy.

Deciding that Vegeta knew better than to do anything to Gohan, Goku stood up and dusted himself off before Instant Transmissioning back to the house.

'I hope you can talk some sense into him, Vegeta.'


Vegeta waited until his rival was back at home before he made another move. He knew very well what the Saiyan would to do him if he thought that the brat was being hurt. He refocused his attention on the blubbering mass of patheticness that was in front of him.

"Boy, stop that useless shit and stand up," the prince commanded. He was only slightly surprised when Gohan did what he was ordered to do immediately. Being on the run with Bardock for seven years had that effect, it seemed. From the stories that Vegeta had heard about the man, Bardock was a strict taskmaster. He would have had to be, if even half the total amount of purges he had gone on were true.

"Good," Vegeta said. "Now, what's your problem now? And don't even think about getting angry at me," he added, spotting the thunderous look growing on Gohan's face. "I'm not your idiot father. Unlike him, I actually know what it's like to go from watching my back all the time to barely having to at all."

Gohan nodded sharply, jaw clenched as he obviously tried to rein in his temper. 'Well, there's one problem right there,' the Saiyan thought, watching. 'He still hasn't gotten used to that Maze part of his personality. That's something he'll need to get under control, and soon, if he doesn't want a repeat of that whole Buu fiasco.' When he was satisfied that the brat was calm enough to continue the conversation, he did so. "I'm not doing this out of the goodness of my heart, you know. If you keep up like this, Kakarotto is going to be worthless as a sparring partner. I'm not about to humiliate myself trying to fight you either. So I'm only going to ask one more time: what's wrong with you?"

The teenager's face revealed his internal struggle, though Vegeta had no idea as to what the struggle was. Finally, Gohan admitted, "I don't know… All I know is that there's been someone around me almost the entire time I've been back, first when I was in the coma and then when I woke up. I feel smothered, and I have no idea what to do about it. I'm so used to being alone and all this… this company is too much. But I can't up and leave after I disappeared for seven years. That'll send everyone into a panic, no matter that they can feel me…"

Vegeta stayed silent for a moment, mind reeling. When he was finally able to speak, he spluttered, "That's it? You're throwing a temper tantrum because you feel smothered?" Whatever he had been expecting, it certainly was not that.

Gohan blinked at him. "Um… yeah," he replied, sounding confused and slightly embarrassed at the "temper tantrum" comment. Vegeta threw his hands up in exasperation.

"You need to get out of that house, boy. You're 18. Tell your idiot father and harpy mother that you're moving out," the Saiyan ordered. "I'm getting you one of Bulma's capsule houses and you can set it up wherever you want. I don't want to play shrink if all I'm going to hear from you is that you're feeling 'smothered.'"

"But how am I supposed to tell Mom that?" Gohan protested. "She'll kill me!"

Vegeta shrugged uncaringly. "Tell her what you told me," he said. He rose into the air, then turned back to his companion. "Go talk to Piccolo, too. You need to meditate and get your emotions under control. Or didn't you know that you could have destroyed the planet if you'd thrown your tantrum for much longer?" That said, he blasted off before the demi-Saiyan could say anything else.

Gohan watched him go. "Asshole," he grumbled, bringing his hand to his face and rubbing the bridge of his nose. He sighed, knowing that the older man was right. He needed to get out of his parents' house, or rather his mother's constant presence. It was oppressive, and he knew that it was just a matter of time before she started trying to force homework on him again. It would be a cold day in hell before he would pick any of that up at this point in time.

"Come on, Gohan, it can't be harder than dodging mercenaries, right?" the teenager chastised. "It's just one person – Dad'll understand. I think. Still, I'm going to go see Piccolo first."


Piccolo was meditating when he felt Gohan's power skyrocket for a moment. He rushed over to the side of the Lookout, searching for his student. When he saw first Goku and then Vegeta appear, however, he sighed and went back to meditating. They would take care of it. Of course, then, he was interrupted by Gohan appearing next to him.

"What do you need, runt?"

"Runt?" Gohan repeated incredulously. "I'm almost as tall as you!"

Piccolo smirked. "Exactly."

Gohan grumbled for a moment before deciding to sit down next to him. Piccolo watched him out of the corner of his eye. The teenager fidgeted with his hands, eyes darting to and away from his mentor's face. For some strange reason, this soothed Piccolo more than anything else since Gohan had returned. This was a mannerism that stemmed from the boy's childhood, when the Namekian was more of an angry authority figure than a beloved uncle and the boy was nervous about asking a question. It was good to know that some things had not changed.

"Out with it, kid," Piccolo ordered.

Gohan look at him fully, startled. Then he sighed. "Vegeta told me to ask you to help me meditate and get my emotions under control," he finally said. "He said that if I'd gone on for much longer, I could have destroyed the planet." He did not elaborate, as Piccolo would know exactly what he was talking about.

The Namekian stared at him. Vegeta had told him to ask for help? What was this world coming to, if Vegeta was giving advice to a teenager in a strop? He mentally shook himself, then lowered to the ground. "Have a seat," he ordered. "We may as well start right now."

"Just a second. Let me tell Dad I may be up here for a while." Gohan disappeared and reappeared in just a few moments. He settled in front of his mentor, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his thighs. "Okay, I'm ready."

"You already know how to meditate – I taught you how to do that a long time ago. You need to learn how to acknowledge your emotions," Piccolo lectured. "It's fine to feel negative emotions. What's not fine is to let them control you, either by letting them cloud your mind and reason or by pushing them away and not thinking about them. Sooner or later, you'll explode."

Gohan reddened. He remembered very well that by pushing emotions away he would explode, thankyouverymuch. That was why he was doing this in the first place.

Piccolo went on, ignoring the teenager's discomfort. "I would suggest meditating every night before you go to sleep. Just think on what happened during the day, particularly anything that caused a negative emotional response. It's going to be hard," he admitted, "but almost everything worth doing is. It will get easier the more often you do it. Eventually, you may not have to meditate any more, although it wouldn't be a bad idea to continue anyway.

"Let's practice. What got you so mad today?"

"Wait, we're actually going to do this now?" Gohan sputtered. "I thought you'd just tell me how to do it and then throw me in the deep end like you always do."

The Namekian snorted. "I think we've both moved on from that point, kid. But if that's how you'd like to do it…"

Gohan sighed in resignation. "No, that's fine. This works." He was quiet for a moment. "I came back home from Shin's home planet and my mom gave me a hug and wouldn't let go. She was crying because of the things I told everyone about what happened during the past seven years. She cried herself to sleep and I put her on her bed. Dad followed me, telling me that she hadn't cried herself to sleep in years and how if she hadn't been pregnant with Goten she might have killed herself. Stuff like that. I know he wasn't trying to make me guilty or whatever – that's not something that he would do."

Piccolo listened in silence. Son was an idiot. He really was.

"He kept trying to push me into talking about things and telling me that I should let everyone help me with my problems. Vegeta told me I was just having a temper tantrum," the teenager added, rolling his eyes.

Piccolo snorted in amusement.

Gohan scowled at him. "Maybe I was, I don't know. But I went from being on a planet with a maximum of two other people on it to Earth. I had a bounty of 50,000 soms on my head only two and a half months ago. I guess I'm… lost? I don't know what to do any more. I've trained for seven years straight, and I'm not going to stop training, but…" He shrugged helplessly. "I don't know."

The Namekian look over his student critically. Though his face was still perturbed, his shoulders were not as hunched as they had been before their conversation. Quite frankly, the meditation aspect in this regard was a bunch of crap in his opinion. Meditation was important, of course, but it would not help Gohan right now. It was more important for him to be able to talk his feelings and problems out to someone who was neutral, or at least someone who could reasonably put their emotions aside and focus on him. Piccolo was about the only person who would be able to do that; Kami learned it very early on during his tenure as god of Earth. Dende would be able to do it one day, but not yet. He was still young.

"Huh," the teenager's voice intruded. Piccolo looked up. Gohan looked amazed. "I don't know what just happened, but I feel better about things already." He smiled shyly. "Thanks, Mr. Piccolo."

"No problem, kid."


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