It was 2:30 A.M. Tina and Bianca were sound asleep in Goten's bed. Tina was sleeping better than she had slept in a long time. She had no idea that, for tonight, she had a guardian watching over her. She knew he was there, but she had no idea he was watching over her. She had been sleeping ever since she was holding him under the stars. And he had kept a silent vigil, a watchful eye, over her.

Goten was floating in the corner of his room with a watchful eye on Tina. He was edgy, a bit jumpy. And he was questioning himself. He had followed his instincts right on the spot. He hadn't thought the situation through. But should he have done that? He didn't have time to think, right? Did he do the right thing?

I did the right thing...I did the right thing, thought Goten. There was no time to think. I just had to do what was right. Anyone would have done that, right? Bringing Tina here was the right thing to do. I did the right thing...

Goten wasn't sure about that. He tried to convince himself, but he wasn't really sure. All of this wondering and worrying was draining him. He needed to rest. There would be plenty of time to think about it in the morning. He floated down to the floor and sat in the corner. It took half an hour, but he eventually fell asleep.

********

The hallway was dark. And long. But Goten continued to walk through it. He walked and walked and still there was darkness. Suddenly something appeared in the corner of his eye. He looked up and saw somebody familiar coming toward him. Frieza fell from the sky and swiped at Goten with his tail. Goten moved his head to the side and dodged it. Frieza through repeated punches and kicks at Goten, who just dodged every attack. Frieza flew back and fired a huge blast. Goten caught the blast and repelled it. The blast flew back and incinerated Frieza's body until it was nothing but dust.

"Ha! No problem! Bring 'em on! I'm the man! I'm the man!" chanted Goten.

Goten continued walking through the hallway. He found himself walking into a large room that was just as dark as the hall he just came out of. Suddenly a green light appeared in front of him. He stared at the light and watched it materialize. It took form, and then he recognized it. Cell stood in front of him with his ki charged. He put his arms to his side and cupped them. Goten could hear him chanting the name of the Kame Hame Ha, and then the blast flew toward him. Goten jumped above Cell's blast and flew toward him. He extended his fist, charged ki into it, and rammed it through Cell's chest. The punch caused an explosion in Cell's chest, and then his entire body exploded. Goten looked back at the smoke that came from Cell's destroyed body.

"I'm insulted! Give me a real challenge!" said Goten.

Goten continued down the corridor. The hallway seemed to become narrower, and then wider again. Suddenly Goten could hear some kind of maniacal laugh. Buu appeared out of the ground right behind him and stepped toward him. Goten smashed the back of his fist into Buu's face. Then he turned around, hit Buu's legs with a foot sweep, sent him far away with a jab to the chest, and finally destroyed him with a ki blast.

"Look, this is just boring. I'm unstoppable, baby!" said Goten.

Goten heard laughing again. It sounded like the laughter of a grown man. Deep and gruff. It was further down the hallway, too far for him to see. He walked and walked as the sound of laughter became louder. Then it stopped. There was silence for a moment. Then he heard a new set of laughter. Two people laughing this time. A male's voice and a female's voice. And he recognized both voices. He walked further into the hallway, then he found himself in a new place. It was Hydro Island, the amusement park he had been to just yesterday. At first there was a big crowd of people, but then everybody seemed to disappear. There were only two people left: Goten and Tina.

Goten could see himself holding Tina and smiling. He could see them kissing. But he couldn't touch them. He reached out to them, but something stopped him. Suddenly he found himself paralyzed. And then it happened again. Tina, just like everybody else in the park, disappeared. Then everything changed.

Goten was no longer in the amusement park. Now he was in Tina's bedroom. And he saw two people yet again. Tina was there again, but the man with her was different. This time it was Harry, her father. Goten tried to step forward, but he couldn't move an inch. All he could do was watch. Watch as he raped her and beat her and abused her. He was on top of her, and she was fighting him off as best she could. But it wasn't enough. Goten tried desperately to get to her, but he was totally motionless.

"Tina, I'm coming!" yelled Goten.

Then it all stopped. Harry rose from the bed and turned to Goten. His eyes were blood red and glowing. There was a sinister smile on his face. He walked up to Goten and grabbed him by the neck.

"You're not doing anything, kid. You can't do anything. Don't you understand? You're helpless. So is Tina. For all that power you have, you still can't protect the person you love, can you? It really is pitiful," said Harry.

"You bastard! I'll kill you!" yelled Goten.

"You could do that. But you wouldn't really be doing Tina a favor, would you? So you kill me, and then everybody will look at Tina and say, 'There goes Tina, the girl who nobody wants because her father raped her'. And she'll hate you for it. Just accept it, kid. Accept that Tina is nothing more than worthless pussy that could get passed around like a bottle of liquor."

"Shut up! How dare you treat your daughter like that? Any man would be proud to have a child like that!"

"Oh believe me, I'm proud. That is, I'm proud of that pussy she's got. Besides from that, she's like dirt beneath my fingernails. And do you know what you do with dirt? You wash it away. You get rid of it. You destroy it."

Harry walked back to the bed where Tina lay. Harry grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up from the bed. Her scream pierced Goten's ears. He tried even harder to move, but he still couldn't move at all. Harry grabbed her by her neck and moved closer to Goten until he and Tina were face to face. They were just mere inches away from each other.

"Take one last look at her, Goten. Remember that there was no way you could have saved her. You're totally helpless," said Harry.

"Stop this! Let her go!" yelled Goten.

"Helpless..."

*********

Goten could feel somebody shaking him hard. He opened his eyes and saw Tina. Tina was saying something to him, but he couldn't really hear her. All he could think about was what had just happened. Tina held his chin in her hands and looked into his eyes.

"Goten, are you alright?" asked Tina.

"What...what happened?" asked Goten.

"You were just having a nightmare, Goten. Are you okay?"

"What? A nightmare?" Goten shook his head and realized that it was just a dream. "Oh man...what time is it?"

"About seven o' clock." Tina could tell that Goten was upset. "Hey, you were just dreaming. You'll be fine."

Goten leaned his head back against the wall and closed his eyes. He was still shaken up from the dream. What did it mean? He was shaking hard. He looked up at Tina. She was there for him. She woke him up. She helped him. Goten held Tina close and put his head on her shoulder. Tina rubbed Goten's back and rocked back and forth.

"Tina, please...tell me I'm a good man," said Goten.

"You know you are, Goten. Why would you think any differently?" asked Tina.

"I just...I don't know. I don't know..."

Tina cupped Goten's chin in her hands again and led his face to hers so that they were eye to eye. She kissed him softly on the lips and looked into his eyes.

"Goten, you did the right thing," said Tina.

"I did?"

"Yes, Goten. You did the right thing."

"Thank you Tina. You have no idea how much that means to me."

"Goten, I don't know what it is you were dreaming about. But believe me, it doesn't matter. Because what we have, it's real. This is real. We are real."

"Forever. You and I...this is real."

Tina and Goten embraced and held onto each other for the next hour. Goten was happier now. And he now knew the answer to what was bothering him. He did what he had to do. He did what any decent person would do. Goten was certain now.

"I did the right thing."

END OF CHAPTER 8