Worlds Apart
Pairings: Mirai Trunks/Gohan
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters from Dragonball Z. They are the property of Toei Animation, Pony Canyon, FUNimation Entertainment, and creator Akira Toriyama. I make no money from the writing of the story.
WARNING: This is about male pregnancy (possibly) and male/male relationships. I'm letting you know now what the relationships WILL contain. So, if you are AGAINST such pairings, please find something else more to your liking, you have been WARNED.
Notes: Okay, so it has been an extremely LONG time since I've updated this fic and others and I DO apologize for that. Real Life just kicked me in the teeth and I'm still trying to recover from it. Hopefully, this will tie everyone over until I get my muses back from their vacation in lala-land. I also would like to thank everyone for being patient for this long-awaited post. Thank you.
Those who are waiting for A Mate for Sesshoumaru and Give Me One More Chance, those updates are coming. Please be a little more patient as I have not had access to Microsoft Word in quite some time, which was why I haven't been able to post. I still hand write my fics before typing up the final draft before posting.
ArchNemesis
Enjoy!
Flames will be ignored.
Summary: Mirai has left his mate and child. Gohan is at his wit-ends on where Mirai could be, not to mention his on-going struggle with his soon-to-be ex-wife, Videl.
Chapter 16: If Only I'd Listened
Several weeks had gone by since Mirai vanished from the Capsule Corporation's compound like a thief in the night.
Gohan was now living with Bulma and her family as he didn't want to take Chibi away from his grandma. Plus, Chibi was now old enough to go to school (well, pre-school), so Bulma went ahead and enrolled him at the local primary school that was only a half an hour away, and five minutes away if they flew.
Coming out of his ruminations when someone knocked on his office door. Gohan was at work today trying to finish-up some of his motions that needed filing with the courts and phone conferences with prosecuting attorneys.
"Yes?"
"Sorry, to interrupt, sir, but…" his personal assistant paused unsure of how to finish her announcement.
"If it's that one client, Mr. Griszell, tell him that we can't help him-"
"No, sir. It's not him. It's your ex-wife," she stated.
CRACK!
Gohan broke his cell phone in his bare hands, again. It was lying in bits and pieces on top of the legal pad that he was using to jot down notes for an upcoming court appearance.
Videl was a very sore subject with his support staff and they knew full well that she wasn't allowed anywhere near their employer. Gohan was honest with them and told them of his (at the time) pending divorce and his relationship with Mirai.
What surprised Gohan the most was that they knew of him being a Saiyan. They recognized him and Mirai along with Vegeta and his father during the Cell Games.
"Did she say what she's doing here?" Gohan asked, trying to calm his heavy breathing.
"She didn't say, sir. Only that she wanted to speak with you."
"Okay, let her in but leave the door open. If anything unsavory happens I need witnesses. Oh, also can you call my dad and tell him what's going-on?" Gohan instructed. "And see if he or Vegeta can pick-up Chibi from school as well, please?"
The girls adored Gohan's son. They all knew the full story and they met Mirai and Chibi quite by accident when Gohan forgot his lunch one day and they brought it to him, so he wouldn't starve, or Kami forbid, he had to eat fast food.
They preferred Mirai to Videl (he was so welled mannered and handsome) causing Mirai to blush even more; and told Gohan as much and promised that if he did anything to hurt the other half-Saiyan that they would all quit and let everyone know what a horrible employer Gohan was, and Chibi…
He just ate up all the attention Gohan's staff was giving to him, even as far as to send both him and Mirai out to lunch while they babysit the little guy.
"Right away, sir, and order you a new phone," his assistant replied taking notes smiling.
Gohan chuckled. "And order me a new phone. Thank you."
"You're welcome, sir."
A few minutes later Videl entered, and as ordered, his assistant left the door wide opened for the rest of the office staff, some even openly stared at Videl with distain as they never liked her. She was rude and treated them like they were peasants.
"Hi, Gohan."
"I'm pretty busy at the moment, Videl. What do you want?"
"I wanted to see how you were doing and see maybe I can have my daughter back!"
"You have supervised visited every other weekend as stated in our divorce judgment and you are to stay away me and my family unless accompanied by an officer of the law and right now, I don't see one; so, I'm going to ask you again: What do you want?"
The week following Mirai's disappearance, the judge moved up their divorce hearing date. Videl thinking that she could get the hearing dismissed because of her family name, but it turned out that Gohan made a name for himself as a high-profile defense attorney.
The judge preceding over their divorce knew Gohan, not that it mattered anyway. The judge also knew Videl's father as well. Gohan (about a year ago) represented a relative of the judge—kept the young man from going to prison. Only getting six months' worth of probation with some community service instead of five to ten years in state prison.
"After carefully hearing arguments from both parties—it is this court's decision to grant the divorce degree and award legal custody of minor child, Pan Son, to the custodial paternal parent, Gohan Son."
"What?!" Videl shouted, outraged.
Banging his gravel to regain order, the judge was livid. "Ms. Satan, another outburst from you like that and I will have you removed from this court room and hold you in contempt! Do I make myself clear?"
"Yes, your honor," Videl meekly answered, taking her seat once again.
"As I was saying… Mr. Son has given up all titles, properties, and monies that was allocated to the both of you during your four years of marriage. The only intangible assets that will remain his, is his law and his last name.
"Now, as Mr. Son is the primary caregiver, alimony would be paid to him. Since Mr. Son has waved his right to receive it, this court grants alimony to be paid by Ms. Satan to minor child, Pan Son, to be put in a trust fund for a period of two and a half years."
Videl was sitting in her chair livid. She couldn't believe that she had to pay Gohan alimony!
"Ms. Satan, you are allowed supervised weekend visits as requested by Mr. Son, every other weekend. You are allowed two-over-night visits at Christmas and Mother's Day as well as two weeks during summer break from school.
"And lastly, you are hereby ordered to stay 500 feet away from Mr. Son and future spouse and any children that they bring into their marriage. Should you need to speak with Mr. Son regarding the welfare of minor child, Pan Son, you may do so in the presence of Law Enforcement unless in an emergency.
"If for whatever reason should you violate any of the terms that have just been outlined and set forth, you will face a penalty with a minimum of five years in jail and a fine and/or both.
"The court would like to address Ms. Satan."
Videl stood, practically in tears.
"Ms. Satan, you have allowed your prejudice against your ex-husband's decision to leave you for another person fester in your heart, that you allowed yourself to become emotionally unstable and mentally unfit to raise your child. It is not a crime for Mr. Son to be in a relationship as he sees fit.
"You're not the first person this has happened to nor will you the last. With that being said: this court recommends psychiatric counseling for twelve months with once a month re-evaluations until this court deems you mentally capable of caring for your minor child as per Mr. Son's request.
"Further proceedings are terminated—court is adjourned…"
Standing behind his desk, Gohan looked at Videl. Her shoulders were sagging, her hair was in a bit of disarray. Plus, there were deep dark circles underneath her once vibrant blue eyes. He almost felt pity for her, almost, but whatever she was going through now was of her own making and none of his concern.
He still fostered the idea of them remaining friends and he would even reconsider giving up legal guardianship of Pan if she accepted the fact the he left her for Mirai.
Mirai…
He wondered (and not for the first time) where his mate ran off too, however; he couldn't let himself be sidetracked with thoughts of his wayward mate.
"You know, Videl, maybe a while ago, I would have accepted your apology, but now? All I hear is the loathing in your voice. I tried to be amicable and honest from the very beginning. But you wanted to get married so badly that you didn't even bother to ask me if marriage was something that I wanted and like a dummy, I gave into your persistent demands to get married. I went along with my mom and Bulma, knowing how this was all going to end.
"We could have stayed friends and not jump through hoops of getting a divorce—but you forced my hand and you thought suing Mirai was going to get me to change my mind," Gohan ranted for a spell.
Videl stood there accepting all that was being hurled at her, she deserved it. Eyes welling up at the hurt she caused her one true love.
Maybe she fell in love with the notion of being in love with Gohan that she lost focused of him being happy with her—didn't he break-up with her numerous times in order to be with Trunks?
Didn't he leave for a romantic get-a-way with Trunks for nearly three months without as so much as a good-bye? Didn't Gohan share his first intimate experience with Trunks? And to add insult to injury, Trunks came back (possible for good) toting his and Gohan's four-year-old son.
She knew it was possible that Trunks could conceive, she did but she just chose to ignore it. She couldn't stand the thought of Gohan having kids with anyone but her.
Sighing in defeat, Videl came to realize that she forced Pan upon Gohan, after he repeatedly told her that he didn't want kids.
Laughing now to herself, Videl also realized in that moment that Gohan had wanted kids, he just didn't want any children with her. The signs were all there—even Bulma pointed it out and yet Videl refused to heed the scientific genius' warning. Hell, even that psycho maniac, Vegeta warned her.
Sniffling, Videl wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.
If only I'd listened, she thought darkly.
"I… for what it's worth, Gohan, I just wanted us to be a family," she admitted.
"I wasn't happy, Videl," Gohan truthfully answered, not having the strength to argue with her any longer. Picking-up the discarded case file, Gohan turned his back to Videl, dismissing her without another word.
Having enough common sense to know when to leave well enough alone, Videl quietly left, nearly running out of the one-story building. She didn't see the pitying looks or negative head shakes of her ex-husband's staff—her tears blurred her vision, flowing unchecked down ruddy cheeks as she climbed into the awaiting limo to take her back home to her father's house.
The finality of his words made Videl cry even harder.
oOoOoOo
The muted noise of police sirens and dogs barking and on occasion a glass bottle shattering far below on the streets, did nothing to ease the ever-growing headache that had been Mirai's constant companion for the last month. The hotel suite he was now living at was only a few stories tall, no matter the height though, Mirai's heightened hearing picked-up every little sound: including the couple two floors above him fucking like rabbits almost every single night for a week straight.
He was so thrilled when they checked-out yesterday, Mirai wanted to have a party.
But the mere thought of food, had him gagging and dry heaving yet again.
He prayed to the porcelain god nightly, taking what offerings Mirai could give with little to no food on his stomach—he now wished he hadn't run from his family's compound. He was making the same mistake all over again by not telling Gohan of their next child.
By him running way, he made things worse between them.
His cell phone rang non-stop. Gohan would call (of course he would) wanting to know if he was alright. His young mother would call wanting him to come home to see about Chibi and making sure he was alright. Even his father called telling him to get his shit together and bring his ass back home to fix his relationship with Kakarott's brat.
"No, I'm not alright! I screwed-up," Mirai lament out loud as his phone screeched for him to answer.
It was still dark outside. Gohan usually called around the same time, two or so in the morning. He was probably just getting home from work.
The ringing stopped only to start again.
The caller i.d. displayed: Son, Gohan
Gohan would call twice leave a message then try again the following day. On the second to last ring, however; before going to voicemail, Mirai finally answered.
"Trunks! Thank goodness. Are you okay?"
Mirai remained quiet.
"Whatever is going-on, babe, you can talk to me. I promise not to get upset… Just—…I miss you and our son misses his mother. Please (sniff) just ell me where to find you, babe," Gohan pleaded, almost in tears.
It was in that moment that Mirai's resolve crumbled. How could he have been so selfish? Only thinking about himself, not caring if his parents were worried, not to mention Chibi! Mirai felt like an absolute bastard and the anguish in his mate's voice! Oh, it was just too much to bear.
"Gohan…" Mirai whispered, but Gohan heard him nonetheless.
"Mirai, where—"
"I-I don't, Gohan, I just kept flying until I ran out of energy," Mirai said, voice shaky and trembling with anxiety.
Mirai knew he shouldn't upset himself, but under the circumstance, he was well within his right to panic.
"Okay, it's okay, babe, just raise your ki and I'll come get you and then we can talk," Gohan soothed as if he was talking to a scared animal.
"Okay, Gohan."
Within minutes of hanging up the phone, Gohan was able to pin-point his mate's location. Since his father and Vegeta went back to England, Gohan was going to have get to Mirai the old fashion way: by plane.
Letting out a deep cleansing breath of air, Gohan made his way to Bulma's downstair's lab.
Knocking on the door, he stuck his head inside gaining his friend's attention immediately.
"Hey, Gohan, come-on in. I'm just finishing up here. What's up?" Bulma cheerfully greeted.
He sat down next to her workstation while she went through the stages of shutting down some of the terminals that where not part of whatever test Bulma was conducting.
"Noticing the tension in his shoulders and the redness about his eyes (not to mention the dark circles underneath them) Bulma stopped what she was doing.
"What happ-"
"I talked to Mirai," Gohan said bluntly.
"Oh, my gosh, Gohan! Is he alright? Where is he? Have you told Vegeta?"
Bulma caught herself, she almost blurted out Trunk's pregnancy, which was what caused her time traveling son to flee in the first place.
"He doesn't know exactly where but I've located his ki signature somewhere along the West Coast of the U.S.," he answered.
"He's where?" Bulma could have sworn Gohan said that her son was in North America.
"He's in California or further south, Bulma, I'm not sure," he replied. Gohan was still trying to wrap his head around the whole situation. He didn't understand what could have made his love just take off like that—it didn't make any sense to him. "I don't know, Bulma. He must have hopped along the smaller islands across the pacific until he couldn't fly any longer. I gotta pack and book a flight and a hotel," Gohan explained sounding more tired than usual.
"Gohan, I know that you don't want to hear this, but Trunks had a very good reason to leave," Bulma said carefully.
Sighing in frustration, Gohan replied, "I don't care, Bulma. This is straining our bond and I don't know if we can survive another separation. Just do me a favor, please?" Gohan asked, getting up to ready for his trip.
"Yeah, Gohan, anything."
"Keep an eye on Chibi. He's been upset since Mirai left. And don't worry about Pan. Since it's Videl's weekend to keep her, I'll call her and tell to keep Pan for the month or until I get back."
"Gohan?"
Holding up a hand to fore stall any arguments, he ploughed on, "I don't know how long I'm going to be gone and maybe this will give Videl the opportunity to get back her custody of Pan, but she still has a long way to go before that ever happens. Anyway, let me talk with Chibi and I'll come see you before I go. I still have to call mom and tell her. Plus, send an owl to Vegeta and my dad."
Gohan turned, walking back upstairs to his room, leaving Bulma alone. The scientific genius just stared after her friend.
There was nothing she could do except pay for Gohan's expenses—all after it was her son he was going to bring back home. With her mind made up, Bulma logged back into her computer and called her travel agent, Gohan would have one less thing to worry about.
oOoOoOo
After packing his bag and a small one for Mirai, Gohan crossed the hallway to his son's room. Opening the door, he spotted Chibi on the floor playing with his Legos building blocks. Sitting down in front of him, Gohan waited for his son to acknowledge him.
Chibi stopped playing and silently climbed into his father's lap. Gohan held onto his son in a secure hold. Chibii seemed so small within his embrace. He wondered how Chibi was when he was an infant.
Not dwelling on the past for too much longer least Gohan would get mad all over again, he was about to say something when Chibi spoke, "When is daddy coming home?"
It broke Gohan's heart to hear such sorrowful emotion from his four almost five-year-old son. Keeping his own emotions in check, Gohan replied, "Well, man, that's what I came in here to tell you. I spoke with him not too long ago and he's stuck and can't come back home on his own, and it's up to me to go get him."
Chibi perked-up immediately.
"Can I go with you?!" Big wide cerulean orbs stared at him with such hope. Gohan hated disappointing his son; but he and Trucks needed to have a row and they wouldn't be able to do that with Chibi there.
If Chibi come with him, Gohan felt that he would be making a difference between his kids. Chibi and Pan got along like fire on a house. The little guy cried when Pan left to visit with her mother. Videl called later that night two weeks ago to complain because Pan wouldn't stop bawling her eyes out for Chibi, which Videl then accused Gohan of turning her daughter against her.
What followed was the same argument of them being family and how Pan should have siblings with the same parents—until finally Gohan couldn't take the berating and hung-up the phone.
"Gomei, Chibi, but you're gonna have to sit this one out. But I tell you what, once I come back with your dad, we can take a trip. Anywhere you want, okay? How does that sound, hmmm?"
"Yippy!" Chibi surged upward to hug his father.
Gohan smiled that he was able to appease his son so easily. Once he got Chibi to settle down, Gohan went back to his room to finish packing. He still needed to make reservations, looking at his laptop, he sighed.
A short time later, Bulma came in after gently knocking on the door.
"Oh, hey, Bluma. I was just coming to you," Gohan said, a little distracted. He was on-line searching for flights and hotel rooms (with no luck).
His friend dropped a manilla folder on the desk.
Blinking in surprise, Gohan opened the folder asking, "What's this, Bulma?"
"It's not much, Gohan, but I don't want you to have to pay a small fortune flying there and back," she said.
"Huh?"
Gohan couldn't believe it—there inside the folder were his departure ticket (for a flight leaving in three hours) and returning tickets for four weeks out. Plus, hotel accommodations.
"Bulma, I can't accept this, this is-"
"Yeah, you can, Gohan. Just bring my knuckleheaded son back home," Bulma cut-in getting misty eyed.
Nodding his head in acquiesce, Gohan hugged his long-time friend, whispering, "Thank you."
"Let's go if you're ready, Chibi is waiting downstairs at the door—I'm driving you to the airport."
With that said and done, Bulma grabbed her purse and keys while Gohan loaded his bags into the hover-car's storage compartment.
Gohan was going to get his mate.
oOo TBC oOo
A/N: Wow! My muses had a lot to say about the situation with Gohan and Mirai. Did Videl get the message yet? Not sure. Will Gohan succeed in brining Mirai back home? Don't know? Well, stay tuned for the next chapter.
Chapter 17 preview: The silence was uncomfortable to Mirai and he was beginning to panic again. Gohan stood abruptly and walked-out the door, slamming it in his anger.