Chapter Twenty-Five: Eyes

"You mean that you had a hard time becoming a fighter too?"

The elder man smiled and eyed Trunks, gently. He was almost a man now, his voice was starting to break and Gohan's had finally become steady and deep. Bulma had commented on his last visit that it reminded her of his father's, if more serious. The young man took that as a great compliment. It was a great comfort to Gohan, it gave him strength.

To Trunks, he smiled "Yeah, at first. Piccolo had to break the crybaby out of me."

"You were a crybaby?"

"At some point, yes."

The small teen laughed out loud. " I can't picture that."

"I was."

"What happened?"

"Piccolo dropped me in the wilderness and then trained me after six months. Then the Saiyans invaded."

Trunks rolled onto his belly and hoisted himself up by his elbows. "What happened?"

"Everyone but Krillin, Daddy and I died."

He stared. "You said the Dragonballs were tied to Piccolo and Kami though. Then you said everyone died when the Androids first showed up."

"They did."

"But…you just said everyone died but Krillin and-"

"We revived those lost."

"How?! Is there something more powerful than the Dragonballs?"

"Probably but that's not how we did it."

"how did you then?"

"Earth Dragonballs aren't all there are. We went to Namek."

"Namek? Are the Dragonballs there more powerful?"

"In some ways, yes."

Trunks eyed him "So, why didn't you use that when all your friends died?"

"Your mother and I were too busy trying to stay alive."

"Oh…"

The boy fell silent a moment. "So…what about now? Can't you risk it?"

"And leave Earth without someone to protect it?"

"I could protect it!"

Gohan rolled over, smirking. "I don't doubt you'd try."

"So…yer never gonna try and get them back?"

"As soon as I can…"

"Why not now? Mom can do it you know."

Gohan nodded "I know but I don't know if that would do any good right now. What good would it do to resurrect them if the Androids are going to kill them again?" he remarked, eyes downcast. Secretly, he envied those already gone from this world. They were probably training in the Afterworld with Daddy. Their good deeds, except Vegeta, had certainly earned them the right to keep their bodies. He cursed Krillin, Yamcha and Tien silently. While he was here, fighting for his life and the life of earth, they were probably sparring and training with Daddy. He wondered many times if they could see the earth from there…

If they could, was he doing them proud? Or was he seen as a pathetic failure? After all, he'd been fighting these Androids since he was about eight and half and he had yet to kill them yet. Surely Daddy, Piccolo, Vegeta…any of his friends and family would have figured out how to kill them by now. Yet he was getting stronger only bit by bit. Lately, he had been improving a lot. It was no longer a one sided battle. It was becoming more and more of a draw. If there was only one Android (while rare, did happen) then Gohan could almost kill them.

Still, almost wasn't good enough.

"Gohan?"

The older half-breed turned "hmm?"

Trunks grinned at him "How did you first become Super Saiyan?"

"It wasn't easy."

"When did you start trying?"

"As soon as I saw Daddy transform into one, the first time, on Namek, I wanted to do the same thing."

"How long did it take?"

"I was eight and a half."

"Tell me!"

With a hefty sigh, Gohan obliged.

Trunks' Time, Nine Years Prior

The screaming had stopped as had the blasts. Dust was starting to settle. Gohan peered out from his hiding spot, a few miles from the city. He clutched the bag of senzus in one hand. Krillin had told him to run and he had. Now, though, he saw the destruction settling and the screaming dying down. Scurries of survivors were rushing from the rubble, running for the forest or anywhere but where they were.

Gohan was the only one who was pushing to get into the city, not out of it. He fell on his face once and was nearly trampled. Normally, someone would have helped him up, simply because of his age but in a time of panic and fear, people forgot everyone but themselves as a general rule. He scrambled back up after having gotten about five sets of feet pounded into his back. Irritated, he wasted some ki he had left and took to the air. It was easier to find him way into the city that way.

The remains of the battlefield could be seen miles away.

Feet crunching into the rubble, Gohan started his slow walk into the bloodied mess. He knew that Tien, Yamcha, Chaotzu…well, it seemed everyone was dead. Only Krillin hadn't been ripped apart. There was a slight chance he was still alive although his body had been convulsing bafly when Gohan had last seen him. Sweat gathering in his hands, he opened the bag, finding twenty or so senzu in there.

"Krillin!"

The boy's voice echoed throughout the abandoned city. He made his way slowly across the stoned littered battlefield. He froze, crossing the remains of Chaotzu's body. His eyes were empty of life and blood formed a pool underneath his body, courtesy of Eighteen's action of ripping his very beating heart out. His skin was pale, more so than normal and that paleness was not natural, it was the coldness generated by one who no longer has any life giving blood in him. Every drop of it had flowed out and onto the ground. But the eyes were still wide open in a silent look of horror.

Dropping to his knees, the pants of his gi as well as the skin of his legs and feet sank a good few inches into the ocean of red. He gathered the tiny yet older warrior into his arms, his hair falling into his eyes as tears flowed down his cheeks. Unable to do anything else, Gohan brushed the warrior's eyes shut, granting him that peace. Moving him from that final spot, he carried the cold carcass, seeking out the other warrior he knew would not yet be at peace.

He found Tien easily. It didn't surprise him that Tien was close by. He was never too far from Chaotzu. He had heard and seen Tien's neck snapped. He would be dead, there was no doubt about that. When he saw his body, those suspicions were confirmed. He glanced down sadly at the tiny white warrior he cradled in his arms, his young eyes dotted with tears. "It's the best I can do Chaotzu, to have you two together."

The young warrior knelt down by the remains of Tienshinhan, one of the strongest warriors he had known. He was rather fond of all his father's friends and Tien had always seemed to have a natural talent with him, most likely because of his involvement with Chaotzu. He remembered several times Tien offering him advice or simply being a comforting presence.

Gohan laid Chaotzu down, pressing him against his knees as he knelt to keep the fallen soldier from lying in the blood drenched ground. He eyed Tien's still form, tears in his eyes again. Wiping the back of his hand across his eyes, he left a smear of Chaotzu's blood across his face but he ignored it. Gingerly, he grasped Tien's twisted neck and straightened it, setting it right about his shoulders again. He could hear the shattered bones protest when he did it but he wanted the warrior to have as honorable a death as he could. Reaching out a shaking and blood splattered hand, the son of Goku brushed those three eyes shut and then looked down, lifting Chaotzu up, lying him beside Tien, wrapping the warrior's arm about him.

He stared at them a moment more before heading off across the shattered ground, seeking out the rest of his comrades.

Yamcha was the next he came across or what was left of him.

The Androids had shattered his skull into his torso so it was mainly a bloodied mess that Gohan came across, not much else. There were no longer any eyes to brush closed. All that remained of his body above his neck was splattered into red, flesh and white pieces. For the longest time, Gohan stood there, staring at the remains, remembering well Yamcha's cheerful and playful attitude. He usually would show up with some kind of present for Gohan, even if Mother despised what he always brought. Gohan was appreciative of it. In a lot of ways, Yamcha would remind him of those playful ways of his father. After he had died, Yamcha had shown up and just taken him out on whims, trying to cheer him up.

Gohan stripped the top part of his gi down and took off his white undershirt. Kneeling down, tears raining down his face, he covered the warrior's upper half with it, pausing a moment, head bowed.

"Sorry I wasn't there Yamcha. I should have helped you…"

After a moment, Gohan stood, eyes fixed on the landscape again. He didn't fly now, his heart wasn't feeling up to it. Taking careful steps, he ventured onward, seeking out the rest of his friends. His eyes he kept focused downward, tears running. It was hard to see because his eyes were so full of water. It was by walking in this way that he found Vegeta.

Or to be more accurate, he found Vegeta's head.

The Saiyan warrior's eyes were still full of anger and pride and there was no look of fear on his face. That was good. Vegeta would have hated to die looking like he had anything resembling fear in him. Gohan stared at that proud face a moment more and fighting the urge to vomit, he brushed the warrior's eyes shut. He could now see Vegeta's body not far away, tattered and drained of all its blood, as Chaotzu's had been. He had bled out.

Gohan shuddered at the mere thought but he couldn't leave the body maimed like that. He ripped the top of his gi from the slacks and gingerly wrapped the Saiyan Prince's severed head in it before standing and carrying it over to lay it by his body. He couldn't do much else but he could afford to do that. He pause,d walked away a few feet and then collapsed to his knees, panting, trying not to throw up. Oh how he wished Daddy was here! Daddy would know what to do, he could have been able to prevent this.

Get up. He scolded himself. The others…you owe them this!

The last two were the hardest to face. Piccolo and Krillin.

Piccolo he found first.

All the pieces of him.

They had ripped him apart, limb by limb. Normally, Piccolo could regenerate anything, so long as his head stayed in tact. The Androids had been planned and programmed with this information. Gohan gathered his limbs and found his shattered skull, staining the landscape. A normal person would not have even know what they there looking at. Gohan however, would never be able to forget Piccolo.

He had awoken who he was.

He had become the second father.

His first friend.

Yet he had failed to save him.

Staring at the running blood, Gohan let the tears run unchecked. It was a horrible sight. An honorable warrior yet Gohan had no means to reattach any of his body parts. The only thing he could do was put them together. It wasn't much but it was all the small child could offer. He remembered him well enough as he was, with that cold but still kind lecturing, training, insulting voice.

"PICCOLO!"

The boy collapsed to his knees, buried his face into his blood coated hands. Red and green blood dripped off the boy's wrists. He stained his cheeks with it. Tears ran free in rapid torrents. He slammed his small fist against the ground, erupting small blood puddles into ripples but he just cried, sobbed and cursed Fate, cursed his own weakness, cursed the Androids.

How long he sat there he would never be able to recall except that the sun had dipped nearly completely down when he finally stood and resumed walking. He knew Krillin was dead though his heart had prayed and prayed and prayed it not to be. He could still smell the burnt flesh and he cursed his Saiyan sense of smell for it. He did not want to accept it…his last friend, the one he was closest to beside Piccolo and his father.

He was gone too.

Krillin's eyes were already shut but his skin quivered and smelt of fire. Gohan stood there over him, staring at the warrior lying face down in the dusty ground. He knelt and gently grasped the shoulders, rolling him right side up. The burning skin was turning cold but several flakes of it broke off in the child's hand. He hiccupped a surge of vomit down.

How long Gohan sat there, watching that still form, he wasn't sure.

"I'm sorry…" he finally said. He looked down at the bag of senzu Krillin gave him. Tucking it into his slacks, he stood, setting his sights towards the woods. "This is the least I can for you…"

Log after log he drug back to the crumbled metropolis. Log after log, he stacked and sealed with mud.

First one, then two and finally five small makeshift piers were made. Gohan surmised that Tien and Chaotzu would have wanted to go out together, not separate and he was prepared to honor such a request. Vegeta's he made far off from the others. The sun had long since set when he had finished the piers. Then, it was one after another.

He strained his strength to move first Tien then Chaotzu up to the wooden frame. It had held, though barely. He hoped he'd made them strong enough. Then, he had tied the undershirt he had laid over Yamcha tighter to maintain the coverage and lifted the warrior slowly into the air and laid him onto the frame next to Tien. Krillin he had moved next. He was the easiest aside from Tien. Though he was about his own height and weight, his smaller size made him easier to carry up to the frame. Vegeta was the next he had moved though it was difficult. He didn't want him to jostled much, lest his head be moved from the position Gohan had laid it in. He purposely laid Vegeta on the frame furthest from the others, almost subconsciously.

Piccolo was the hardest, both physically and mentally.

He was in many pieces and as hard as it was, Gohan forced himself to move them all at once, tearing material from his own clothes and using the remains of Piccolo's cape to make a temporary type of sling which he struggled to lfit because of the weight of it and the weight on his own heart.

That accomplished, he had stood there, staring at the bodies of his friends for the longest time.

Tears running, he had conjured the last of his ki up and forced first one then two and finally five small blasts into the base of the woodn piers and stood there, watching, as the flames rose up and consumed flesh. He had torn the last of his slacks apart, leaving him in only his small boxers, to make make shift bags to transport their ashes in.

Warmed by the flames, he had gone to base of each burning mound and gave a submissive bow, pressing his face completely to the ground.

Each time, he s aid the same thing ,the flames drying the tears on his face.

"I'm sorry."

As the flesh burned and the night grew darker, Gohan kept his nose pressed to the ground, his mind swimming with memories. Happy memories, sad memories, memories that haunted his soul.

Memories of this horrible day forever burned into his memory.

But mostly…

Eyes.

It was the eyes he kept seeing over and over in his mind.

Tien's horrified, Chaotzu's frightened, Krillin's saddened, Piccolo and Yamcha's distressed and defeated and Vegeta's angry.

And the Androids…

Ice cold.

"Damn you…" the boy ground his fingernails so hard into his hands that blood dripped down his arms. "DAMN YOU!"

Lifting his head to the heavens, the boy screamed, a cry of pure anguish and loss, the cry one makes when their world has been ripped from its foundation and shattered about them with them helpless to resist. His black hair stood up, his darkened eyes turned bright aqua and gold erupted all about him as the legendary transformation, the second one in thousands of years, the son of Goku achieved the rank of Super Saiyan.

"DAMN YOU TWO TO HELL!"

Present Day

Trunks screamed, his muscles erupting far beyond even his father's transformation.

The half-Saiyan blinked, opening his eyes. His father had achieved the first step beyond Super Saiyan weeks ago. Trunks, off alone had been pondering his past and Gohan's memories. Gohan had told him of the first time he had achieved it when he was younger. The Gohan in this time period had achieved it much earlier but it was achieved by the same measure.

Raw, unchecked rage.

Goku had achieved it when Krillin was killed and his son was threatened.

Gohan had achieved it when his father was close to death.

His Gohan had achieved it when realizing everyone he cared for, save a choice few, were gone forever.

He had achieved it when finding Gohan's tortured body.

He had achieved the second powered stance of Super Saiyan now, remembering full weel Gohan's rage and the revenge he never got to fulfill.

The Half Saiyan stared at the bulging muscles, double what they were in the first powered up stance of Super Saiyan and then let them slip away.

He'd finally surpassed his father.

And the year was up. It was time to return to the outside world.

OOO

"On the Lookout? Where's that?"

Doctor Briefs paused, tapping his chin. "Now, where did Bulma say it was?" The doctor fumbled through several notes. "Ah, yes, up, past the top of Korin Tower."

The red haired woman blinked, her hair bound back in a low ponytail. She addressed her glance up, "Eighter, I know where that is!"

The tall Android nodded "Sir, have you any vehicle we may borrow, please?"

"You're friends of Goku, you say?" he lit a cigarette and took a puff before leading them down to the hangar. "Bulma's gone crazy with revamping these things. Any of them should take you up there."

"Thank you, Doctor Briefs." The red haired woman smiled. "We will return it as soon as we can."

That said, she and her companion climbed into the contraption and within minutes, were in the air.

"Don't worry, Son Goku will defeat them, Eighter."

OOO

"Gohan! You're alright!"

Gohan winced, gagging slightly as ChiChi deeply embraced him. "Mother…air…"

Goku laughed, greeting his group of friends before telling them what had transpired. Bulma frowned, thinking. "I'll have to see what I can find out. Maybe Trunks knows about this thing."

Piccolo frowned; he had his doubts about that. He regarded Kami with a dark look. The power of this Cell was making him consider things he would usually not even fandom. Perhaps it was Nail's influence within him but whatever the reason, he wasn't liking it.

"Speaking on Trunks," Goku interrupted. "Are he and Vegeta out yet?"

Tien shook his head "not yet."

"It's already been a day!"

Yamcha nodded. "No doubt Vegeta's taking his sweet time."

Goku groaned. "C'mon…"

There conversation was interrupted when the sound of one of Bulma's airplanes broke the silence. Seeing as all their group and then some were already there, the group turned, baffled. Gohan stood between his parents as Bulma walked out to see what was going on. The top opened and a red haired woman leapt down, followed by a large lumbering man.

The woman blinked, looking around before sighting him,

"Son Goku!"

She broke into a run and flung her arms around the warrior in a friendly gesture although ChiChi still gave her a dark look.

"Goku…" she tapped her fingers on one of her arms. "Who's this?"

The Saiyan winced, laughed nervously and gently pulled her off. "Uh…"

"It is us, Goku."

The Saiyan looked up "Eighter!"

Gohan blinked, "Eighter?"

Goku nodded "Android Eight."

"Another android?!" Gohan panicked, his arms going up but Goku stilled him with a hand.

"He's good, Gohan. One of Daddy's friends."

The Saiyan blinked then, realization coming to him and stared at the red haired woman who had clutched him so tightly. "SNOW?"

She grinned now. "Exactly!" She looked around, recognizing a few faces but then she settled on ChiChi. "And you're-"

"Son ChiChi." The woman said clearly, putting a strong emphasis on her family name, "Goku's wife."

"You married Goku?" Snow asked and then settled her eyes on the younger version of Goku who was standing next to him. "Who's this?"

"Oh, this is my son, Gohan."

ChiChi nudged Gohan, despite her initial dislike of this woman, "Gohan…your manners!"

The boy bowed slightly. "Pleased to meet you. I'm Son Gohan."

"Oh, he's adorable!" Snow beamed, smiling at the boy, meeting his eyes. Gohan stared at her, entranced by her eyes. No way…he mentally thought.

Bulma spoke up "Snow, what are you doing here?"

She looked up, standing "Eighter and I heard about the Androids, saw the destruction of them a bit. Thought maybe Eighter's make up might be able to help you."

Bulma grinned "Worth a shot!"

Gohan still hadn't taken his eyes off of Snow, even as the group spoke and discussed. He watched the way she walked, the way she spoke, even the way she moved her hands, at least until Mr. Popo interrupted the group.

"They have finished."

Goku turned, breaking the conversation, "Finally!"

Trunks and Vegeta walked out, aged, torn and dirty but determined. "Sorry for the wait, everyone." Trunks said politely.

Goku smiled "you certainly look like you've gotten stronger."

Trunks nodded. "It was possible to surpass Super Saiyan. Father did it in only weeks but-"

"Enough Trunks!" the Saiyan Prince snapped. "There's no need to tell them anything. After all, I'm going to be the one to defeat those Androids."

Goku merely smiled tolerantly. "Feel free if you can. They aren't all we have to deal with."

Now, faint surprise triggered in the cold warrior's face. "What?"

The talk of Cell not only surprised Vegeta but their two new guests as well. Bulma seemed more determined than ever to try and find some way to give them an advantage against the Android's and Android Eight was more than willing to give her all he could. She fussed over Trunks only a few minutes, as much as she would have liked to have longer before telling the android if he was ready.

"Eighter, will you be okay?"

"Of course Snow." He replied. "Will you be coming or staying here?"

She blinked, considering. "I think I'll stay here to help any other way I can."

He nodded.

Vegeta snorted. "There will be no need. The Prince of All Saiyans will kill these machines and this…Cell with my own two hands."

That said, he took to the air and vanished. Krillin rolled his eyes, "Arrogant hothead."

Trunks shook his head "Mother, I should go after him."

Bulma nodded "be careful son. And don't get too crazy. He's crazy enough for both of you."

He nodded. The long haired youth regarded Goku. "Good luck in there, Goku, you too Gohan."

Goku nodded but Gohan was still staring at Snow. He did so until Goku pulled him by the arm to the side.

"Ready, Gohan?"

"Huh?"

"Ready to train?"

"…right!"

But he turned his attention to Snow once more.

The way she moved, the way she spoke, the way she even looked, her build…

But her eyes…they were almost identical.

He had seen those same eyes, if only smaller, stare back at him from Android Twenty-One's face.