For a long time, Goku stared at the empty space where Kibito had disappeared with his son. He didn't say anything because what was there to say? Though faintly aware of Supreme Kai saying something behind him, Goku stayed silent otherwise.
A hand finally grazed his elbow and he turned.
Supreme Kai gazed at him with what could only be described as pity. "Goku. Are you alright?"
Planting a smile on his face, Goku nodded. "'Course I am! And you just wait, my Gohan is gonna mop the floor with Buu!"
Nodding, the deity withdrew and rejoined Elder Kai, sitting on the ground.
Goku wrapped his arms around himself, almost like trying to warm himself even though it was more than comfortable. He'd no way to describe it except his arms felt empty. Heavy.
Until Gohan had lived out his life, he wouldn't see him again.
Wouldn't see him marry. He bet it would be beautiful and unless he missed his guess, that girl Videl might be the one. Good. She had a good fire in her, a lot like ChiChi. She'd help keep Gohan on the right path and safe. Weird as it might sound to say that about Gohan, Goku knew all too well what a strong willed wife was capable of.
Wouldn't see his grandkids. ChiChi used to say all the time, even when Gohan hadn't even turn ten yet, that there was going to be a special magic when she got to "hold my baby's baby." Goku'd never really thought about it but the prospect now that such a thing was out of his reach dampened his spirit.
Wouldn't see him achieve that scholar dream. Or advance in martial arts. Or maybe a combo of it or something else entirely. The fact was that he wouldn't get to see it, no matter what he chose.
Wouldn't see him inspire others. Hard to imagine because Goku was convinced just being in Gohan's company had the ability to change hearts. Piccolo was living proof of it.
Wouldn't hear him laugh as he ran around the mountain. That boy could be happy no matter what the weather was. The rainy smell under the trees, the cool water of the lake in summer, the wide open spaces in winter, the different colors in autumn. Gohan lived for it.
Wouldn't get to hold him when he wept over an animal that has succumbed to the cycle of nature. For all that Gohan understood and even appreciated the importance of nature's cycle, he still wept for it when animals died.
Goku sighed, walked over and flopped next to the two Kais.
So much had happened since he'd died. He'd, rather foolishly, gone to the World Martial Arts Tournament as if expecting time to have frozen. When he'd left earth, his son was a child, though an overly mature child.
Now, he was a man.
And he'd missed it.
Smiling to himself, deep in thought, Goku pondered what those years had been like. He remembered his growth spurts when he'd been training with Kami. Had his son had similar? Did he have anger spurts like it seemed all teenagers had? It was hard to picture but then he did get heated about that girl Videl...
All of this...he'd missed all of it and now, just like that, his son was gone from his world again, this time for keeps. For longer than Goku could imagine.
Seven years had been an eternity and yet the blink of an eye, all at once. When he'd left, Gohan had been a strong boy but a boy. With a child's laugh and a child's smile.
Now, he had a man's chortle and a man's grin. So much lost in that brief heartbeat of space. Now, now, he was going to lose so much more. For him, for ChiChi, for Goten.
Goku cursed fate. Cursed Cell, cursed himself. He'd done so many times over in the past few years. Everyone told him not to dwell on his living life. Told him to devote himself to his new afterlife. It was too painful, they said, to linger on what you'd left behind.
But he couldn't forget. He wasn't able to. He didn't understand how anyone could. How could you just cast away people that had become so ingrained in your lives? He could not. He would not.
So, Goku sat and he watched.
He was oddly quiet, watching his son triumph and prevail. Saw that raw power he knew Gohan always possessed come out in pure, unfiltered glory.
But he also saw the arrogance that covered that self doubt rear its ugly head. The more Buu taunted, the larger it grew. And when he took Piccolo and Gotenks...
Goku's heart sank. His son...both his sons...
Dead or not, he had to go help them! He couldn't just sit here.
He'd sat here, on the sidelines, for seven damn years! Maybe he wasn't SUPPOSED to return to earth but damn it all, his kids were more important than the rules, even rules set by deities!
But just when he was ready to seek out Gohan's energy, the Kai started talking about the earrings. And of him going back. He heard fusion and a chance of success and a few other scattered words but what he heard the most was
"I'll give you what's left of my life."
Goku was sure he said something. Positive even because he felt his lips move but everything seemed to be caught in time, a freeze and pause that dragged on for days. Maybe he questioned how such a thing was possible but he truthfully would never recall entirely.
Then the old Kai collapsed.
Goku felt breath enter him again. The old thud of blood in veins. The familiar thump of a heart working to send nutrients through the body.
He was alive.
He was alive.
Maybe he should have been focused on his he could defeat Buu. Maybe he should have been considering the strategy or at least a means of giving them an advantage.
But all he could think of was that if they beat Buu, he could go home.
Hug his son again.
Kiss his wife again.
Throw his second son up in the air for a game.
LIVE.
What Cell had stolen from him, Buu, in a sense, was giving him back.
He probably would have sank under the pressure, the realization if his adrenaline wasn't already pumping.
He was alive. That only meant one thing to him.
Get to his son.
Duty as a father took precedence over all else. Goten was trapped. Gohan was in trouble.
He barely bothered to say farewell to the Kais.
"Hang on, boys. Daddy's comin'."