A/N: I'm introducing an OC (well, actually two.) in this chapter, just so you know. Please don't be mad at me, it's just the way I had it planned. I haven't beat Lost Age yet, but I am just past Jupiter Lighthouse, so give me a break here. It doesn't exactly follow the game.

Ch 6: The First Attempt to Explain

Everyone was lounging around on chairs and sagging plush-filled bags in the main room of Kraden's cottage. Gohan sat in the middle as he gathered himself for the explanations that he knew they would demand.

But boy, was he ever surprised to find Felix here! Wasn't he supposed to be dead? Gohan's severely decreased ki abilities allowed him to sense life energy, and after the boulder he hadn't felt his best friend anywhere. "Felix," he said now, "how are you still alive? I saw you die!"

Felix grinned. "Hey man, I'm a survivor. A travelling pair named Saturos and Menardi saved me from the river when I was floating around."

Gohan's eyes suddenly blazed. "SATUROS AND MENARDI?!"

"Um...yes?" Felix answered, confused at the demi saiyan's violent reaction to the names.

Gohan said nothing, but his eyes narrowed with suppressed rage. "Are they still alive?" he whispered, his voice dangerously low.

"No," Garet piped up. Isaac gave him a warning glance. "We - I mean, Isaac, Ivan, Mia and I - killed them at the Venus Lighthouse."

Gohan gave an odd little chuckle. "Serves them right, the damn bastards."

"Um..." Ivan began, glancing around at the others, "call me crazy, but you seem to have a...shall we say...unreasonable hatred against those two. Why?"

Gohan snorted. "For one thing, it's not at all unreasonable. For another, it's not just Saturos and Menardi - it's all of that stupid 'Fire Clan of the North'. They all bugged me because all they ever wanted to do is light the damn lighthouses so they could rule the world. I've got the hero bit too deeply ingrained in me to let that slide." He laughed. "I heard that a few more from the clan actually manages to light all the main elemental lighthouses, but the fools will never be able to light the last and greatest, Sol Lighthouse."

Felix nervously scratched his head. "Well...Gohan? It wasn't the Fire Clan that lit the houses except the first two. We - Isaac, Garet, Jenna, Picard, Mia, Ivan, Sheba and I - lit Mars and Jupiter."

Gohan stared at him. "YOU did?!"

"Yes," Kraden piped up. "We wished to release Alchemy, to return Wayerd to its former glory under Alchemy's power."

"Sounds kinda like that weirdass scientist that wanted Dad's body (1)," the demi saiyan muttered under his breath, then said louder, "Did you notice that not everything was released? That in fact, you still had one more to go?"

"I did, after not everything happened that was supposed to happen. My research led me to the discovery of the final lighthouse."

"And you say this last one is where? The other side of Wayerd?"

"Yes."

Gohan nodded once. "Well, you may be pleased to find out that you're correct."

"What do you mean?"

"I've been there."

"WHAT?!" everyone shouted. Gohan winced as the sound hit his ears.

"I said I've been there. Jeez, I'll go deaf if you keep doing that."

"Start explaining right now!" Jenna snapped, glaring at him.

"All right, all right. For starters, I have a damn good reason for being a year or two late."

Isaac tugged Ivan's sleeve and signed something. "He says, 'Which would be?'" Ivan translated.

"I fell in love."

"NO WAY!" Felix shouted. Jenna fainted. Garet quickly ran over, picked her up, and put her on the couch, while Mia lightly sprayed her in the face. Jenna sputtered for a moment, then waved Mia away and resumed her merciless glare at Gohan.

A sweatdrop formed on Gohan's head. "Kami-sama, no reason to get all tissy like that. I fell in love, and stayed with her a while before returning here."

"You just left her?" Picard asked. "That's rude."

"No, I didn't leave her. She came with me. She's at the village inn now with." He trailed off, a light blush spreading over his face.

"With?" Kraden prompted.

Gohan grinned a Son grin and rubbed the back of his head. "Well, with our son!"

Jenna promptly fainted again. Gohan laughed again. "I guess I surprised her, didn't I?"

"Yes, you did!" Felix cried, staring at his friend. "By the gods, I never imagined you getting married and having children! How are you ever going to return to where you came from now?"

The grin on the young man's face fell away, leaving behind an unhappy frown and worried eyes. "To tell the truth, I don't think I can. I've been searching all this time, and never...well, almost never did I find any hints as to why I'm here."

Isaac caught the implication. He tugged Ivan's sleeve again and signed. "Almost?" Ivan asked.

"I was going to explain that part, when Jenna demanded to know why I've been gone so long."

Mia sighed and awoke Jenna. Jenna shook her head quickly and grabbed Gohan's shirt, glaring him in the eye. "We are going to the inn right now to met this girl and your son! Got it?!" She cast the evil eye around to see if anyone dared disagree.

Gohan nodded weakly. "Um...yeah. Sure." He led the way to the inn. The odd procession met with quite a few stares on the path they took to get there. Finally though, they were there. Up the stairs they went to the top room.

A little boy with spiky black hair and crystal blue eyes, and clothes strikingly close to Piers' ran out and hugged Gohan's leg. Gohan swung him up onto his shoulder and grinned at the startled adepts in the corridor behind him. "No need to be so surprised, guys," he said with a smile. "I did tell you I have a son." To the little boy, he added, "Where is your mom, Kuari?"

Kuari pointed in the room. "There," his sweet young voice answered in blithe happiness. "She wait for you an' you friends come back."

Gohan grinned and ruffled his son's hair. "Thank you, Kuari. These are my friends." He looked at Jenna and Felix. "That's Jenna, and there's Felix; they're my family from here."

Kuari gave them comically searching looks, then nodded. "They okay, I guess." Then he spotted Picard and pointed wildly at him. "Uncle, uncle!"

Everyone was puzzled. "Uncle?" Kraden asked.

Gohan rubbed his neck again, laughing. "I guess I forgot the mention that I married Picard's younger sister, huh?"

"YOU WHAT?!" Picard yelled.

"Picard?" a soft female voice said from within the room. A moment later, a beautiful young woman came to the doorway. She had wavy, dark blue hair flowing down her back, and the same crystal eyes she had bestowed upon her son. Her clothing, although simple, was nonetheless elegant with blues, white, and creams forming the patterns. Her face broke into a wondrous smile when she saw Picard. "Picard, it is you!"

"Aoi!" Picard cried, hugging her. "Oh Aoi, it's been so long!"

She hugged him back. "I know, big brother, I know." She stepped back and laid her head on Gohan's arm, who automatically let his arm slide around her waist. "I had no idea you'd be here."

Picard was worried. "Aoi, do you realize what you've done? You can never return home to Lemuria!"

"I know. It is a small sacrifice to make for the one I love." Aoi gave Gohan an adoring look. "Besides, after he left the first time, I figured out I couldn't live without him."

"The first time?" Garet demanded, eyeing him. "You'd done this before?"

Gohan rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Will no one ever allow me to explain?"

A/N: Not today, Gohan. All right, read and review please!

Extra note: (1)- A reference to a DBZ movie. Cyber cookies to anyone who gets it.

'Aoi' is a Japanese name, pronounced using the Japanese phonics.