Shoutei Junryou

--

Foreword:

The title of the fic roughly translates into My Brother's Innocence, which is actually a fairly bad title, but I've never been one for titles. Takes place in 773 AD, before Kaioushin and Kibito travel to earth. Gohan is sixteen and Goten is six.

Not everything in this fic is factually correct - the geography, to be more precise, is a complete fabrication, so don't quote me on any of it.

Dragonball Z, its characters, and the rest of our universe belong to Moloch.

C&C is welcome. Special thanks to the few people who've reviewed it already. It is my first submission, and I wasn't really expecting much to come of it.

Anyway.

--

Gohan stood, looking over the horizon. The sun was setting, blanketting the landscape in its golden light.

"Niichan?"

Gohan smiled to himself. "Hey, Goten. What are you doing all the way up here?"

"I was looking for you, niichan," Goten responded, and blinked. "What are -you- doing up here?"

"Look out there," Gohan said, gesturing to the land far below. The peak of Mount Paozu was some fifteen hundred meters above sea level, and the view it provided was, particularly in the light of a setting sun, magnificent.

"It's really pretty," Goten said happily.

"Yup, sure is," Gohan replied, plucking his brother from the ground and sitting him on his back. "The city's way over there, to the east. The sea's to the west, and further inland is the desert."

"What's the desert like?" Goten asked.

Gohan gazed out at the sandy plain. "It hardly ever rains there, so it's always hot during the day, and there are barely any plants. It starts a few miles from here and goes on for another hundred. On the other side of it is what's left of Frypan Mountain. 'Kaasan used to live there with Ox ojiisan, you know."

"Wow! Have you ever been there?"

"Haven't been anywhere beyond the desert," Gohan said, and sighed. "'Tousan had, though."

Goten picked his words carefully. "Do you still miss otousan, niichan?"

"Yeah, I do," Gohan said somberly. "He was a good man, you know. Everything he did was for someone else. If I was half the man he was, I'd be happy with myself."

"You're good too, niichan!" Goten exclaimed.

Gohan smiled at his brother. "You're going to grow up to be just like him, I can tell."

"I am?" Goten asked.

"Yup. He'd be proud of you, Goten. I can't imagine growing up without a father. You're a very strong person."

Neither of the pair said anything for a long moment.

"You're... like otousan, you know, niichan," Goten said. "I mean, you are to me."

A drop too much moisture pooled around Gohan's eyes, and a pair of tears were pushed overboard, tumbling down his cheeks. "Thanks, Goten. That... that means a lot to me," he said, a little shakily.

Goten smiled again. "You mean lots to me, too, niichan."

Gohan set the young boy down and wiped his eyes. "It's getting late," he said softly. "Race you down the mountain?"

"Yeah!" Goten exclaimed happily.

"I'll give you a head start, okay?" Gohan said. "My legs are longer than yours. It's only fair."

"Alright, niichan," Goten said. "See you at the bottom!"

Gohan watched the young boy take off, and glanced back at the setting sun. Shrouded in the golden light, one of the passing clouds had -almost- looked like...

Gohan shook his head, turned, and followed after his brother.

And somewhere over the dry plains of the desert, it began to rain.

--