Alright, I didn't get 32 reviews but I did get 27 (yay!) my highest number yet! I wasn't really expecting even 25 reviews, but you've all made me terribly happy! All of your emails were wonderful and some were incredibly sweet. Thank you all! Since I was satisfied with the reviews, I was going to post on Friday as soon as I got back, but the site wasn't working Friday or Saturday so I couldn't post! Then yesterday I was so busy. . . But anyway I was really glad to be welcomed back by so many reviews! At present I have 192 reviews and I'm so excited about how close I am to 200. . .Anyway, a couple of you have asked me to read your fics and I would really love to, but you didn't sign your review! I really have no desire to search for a fic whose title and author I do not know, so please at least sign in so that I can click on your screen name and read your fic.
Well anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. I'm proud of it and I hope that you all enjoy it!
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"Brother?" Goten asked as he approached Gohan, who was sitting at his computer desk, ordering some books online.
"Yeah Squirt?" Gohan questioned as he absentmindedly ruffled Goten's hair.
"I have some papers for you to sign." Goten presented Gohan with a small stack of papers. Gohan tiredly turned his attention to the papers Goten handed him.
Ever since Piccolo's 'talk', Gohan had been agonizing over what to do. Piccolo had produced some good points, but Gohan did not know if he wanted to face all the others yet, if ever. The indecision was constantly floating around in the back of Gohan's mind, giving him no peace.
Normally Gohan payed careful attention to the papers from Goten's school, but Gohan was tired, besides, when had he ever read anything worth merit amongst the papers he had to sign?
"What are these about Goten? You haven't gotten your grades yet, have you?"
"No Gohan, this is for a field trip."
"A field trip. Sounds like fun. You won't be going anywhere dangerous will you?" Gohan quipped as he tweaked Goten's nose.
"No," Goten sighed with disappointment, "We're just gong to some business or something."
"Hmm. . . That should be educational." Gohan nearly chocked after hearing himself say those words, he had sounded just like his mom! Repressing a shiver, Gohan flipped to the last page and signed without bothering to read anything. "You never know, they might give samples or something!" Gohan winked at Goten who perked up a little and giggled. "Is there anything else I need to know Squirt?"
"No brother. The company will provide a meal. We'll be back before school gets out."
"Alright then. Now. . . It's time for you to go to bed!" Gohan screamed as he caught the unsuspecting Goten up in his arms and dashed towards the bedroom.
"No!" Goten shrieked as he giggled and struggled to escape from his brother's grasp.
"Ha ha ha! You'll never escape from my grasp you puny monkey!" Gohan spoke in a fake deep voice as he dropped Goten on his bed and began to tickle him ferociously.
Goten was laughing uncontrollably now and after a few minutes he finally managed to gather enough breath to shriek 'stop' between laughs. Nevertheless, Goten was still giggling as he changed into his pajamas and Gohan tucked him into bed.
"Tell me a story Gohan!"
"Which one?"
"Tell me about how Daddy fought Piccolo when Piccolo was evil!"
"Okay Squirt. Dad was going to fight in the World Martial Arts Tournament. He arrived there with Krillin. . ."
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As soon as Gohan left the bedroom, he could feel the depression settling over him again. When he was around Goten, who was, ironically the root of Gohan's problems, the depression lifted. In fact, there were only two times when Gohan did not feel the oppressive weight on indecision: when he was with Goten, and when he was with Videl.
Gohan loved the time he spent with Videl. He was able to thrust all of his problems aside and just talk with Videl about fictional things or things long gone. He greatly enjoyed her company and was thrilled that she kept agreeing to meet up with him. It did not bother Gohan that she was Hercule's daughter. Hercule was not a strong fighter, but that was no reason to despise the man. Gohan did not know Hercule personally, he would not judge the man. Gohan suspected that Hercule had made a mistake by saying that he had defeated Cell, and was regretting it every day of his life. The 'World Champion' was most likely always living in fear of discovery or being beaten and losing the respect he had received. But then again, Hercule could just be a jerk. Gohan did not know and would, until he met Hercule, assume that he was an okay guy.
Vegeta, of course, would not share Gohan's opinion. . .
Vegeta.
There is was, the problem again. Gohan sighed and rubbed his forehead where he could feel a headache forming.
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The bus ride to West City gave Videl plenty of time to think. There was so much to think about! What did Gohan and Goten's father being one of the greatest martial artists in the world mean? Goten had said that his father died before he was born, which would mean that Goku had been dead for eight years. Gohan was nineteen years old, so he had been eleven when his father died. That was around the age when most children began to train if they wanted to pick up martial arts, but then again Goku himself had been a martial artist at a very young age. He probably would have trained Gohan before he died, and the Gohan would have taught what he knew to Goten. So did that mean that Gohan and Goten could fly and shoot energy out of their hands like their father could?
Videl wanted to ark Goten this question, but felt that it would almost be going behind Gohan's back and prying into affairs that were none of her business. She would just have to keep her eyes open.
The bus stopped and Videl was abruptly reminded of her surroundings. She looked out the window and saw the dome shaped Capsule Corporations building immediately to the front. They had arrived.
(A/N: I was very tempted to stop there and leave you all hanging. . . but I decided to be nice and keep going!)
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Goten looked with awe at the large building that they had traveled to. It was big! He had thought the school was big, but it was the size of Goten's house compared to this! He waited in line with the rest of his class, content to simply look at the building. After only a few moments, however, a blue haired woman stepped out of the door and walked towards the class, smiling.
"Good morning everyone!" She announced once she had reached their group. "My name is Bulma Briefs and I'd like to welcome you to Capsule Corporation! I'm going to give you a tour of our facilities. Please head on into the foyer!" The lady held the doors to the building open as all the students filed in. When Goten reached the door he paused for a moment and looked up at the lady who smiled back down, and then, without explanation, let go of the door, took a step back and whispered, "Oh my gosh!" before promptly falling over.
Goten was extremally confused. He stood there, staring at the lady, wondering my she had fallen over.
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Vegeta felt Bulma's presence unexpectedly leave his mind and halting in his training. What had happened to that woman this time? Had she hit her head and been knocked out? Vegeta sighed. He had probably better go find out. Vegeta grabbed a towel as he exited the gravity room and wiped the sweat off of his face as he headed to the spot where he could sense Bulma's small ki.
She was laying on the grass in front of the building with a small group of children and a couple of adults around her. She must have been giving another of those school groups a tour again. Vegeta pushed his way through the crowd surrounding her and looked down at his mate. It did not look like she had fallen on anything, what had caused her to faint?
Vegeta looked up at a boy standing next to Bulma and snapped, "What happened?"
"She just fell down."
Vegeta snorted. That was helpful. Something dawned abruptly on Vegeta, he could not feel a ki signature from the little buy he had just questioned. Vegeta shifted his gaze from his mate to the boy and was momentarily startled. Black eyes. Black, spikey hair. He looked just like a saiya-jinn. Vegeta frowned, the boy could not be a saiya-jinn. Was he an android? Just as this though crossed his mind Vegeta spotted a chain around the boy's neck. It could be a ki-blocker. Without any forewarning, Vegeta ripped the necklace off of the boy. Bingo.
It had been a ki-blocker. But before Vegeta could ponder why a boy had a ki-blocker on, he noticed the ki-signature and was nearly startled out of his spandex. It was high. Too high for a human. Not only that but it was almost, familiar. Just as that naïve look on the boy's face was similar.
Vegeta smirked. Gohan had been hiding something all these years.
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Videl was confused when Bulma Briefs fainted and was even more confused when a short but built man shoved his way through the people around the scientist and knelt down beside her. There was a sense of presence about this man. Something about him commanded fear and attention. This 'presence' kept Videl and all of the other chaperones silent as the man questioned Goten. Videl was shocked when the man ripped off Goten's necklace and was only beginning to re-gather her wits when the man began questioning the boy.
"What's your name brat?"
"Goten."
"Do you have a brother?"
"Yes."
"What's his name?"
"Gohan."
The man let out a dry laugh and stood up, lifted Ms. Briefs into his arms.
"Boy, you stay with me until your brother gets here." The man then looked around as if just noticing everyone else. "GIRL!" he called out and another woman in a business suit scurried out of the door.
"Yes Vegeta?" she questioned, quivering with fear.
"Take these people and give them a tour or whatever the woman was going to do with them. I'm taking her inside."
"Yes Sir." She answered, looking relieved. "If all of you could follow me inside. . ." dumbfounded, the rest of the group and chaparones followed the woman inside. Videl, however, was determined not to be intimidated.
When the man noticed that she did not followed the others inside, he glared at her. "What do you want woman?"
"I'm staying with Goten." Videl stedialy proclaimed, determined not to wither under the man's glare.
The man snorted and walked around to another entrance and headed inside. They were in what was obviously the family's part of the building. The man, more gently than Videl had expected, put Ms. Briefs down on the couch. He then stood, evidently waiting for something, not giving Videl, Goten, or Ms. Briefs another glance.
Goten was looking rather confused, but after just a moment, walked over to the man and pulled gently on his leg.
"What do you want brat?" the man questioned harshly.
"Are you Vegeta?"
The man smirked down at Goten and spoke, "Did your brother tell you about me?"
"Yes. He said you were a prince and never called anyone by their names expect my Daddy, but you called him Kakkarot."
"What else did he tell you?"
Just as Goten was about to answer, a young boy with purple hair entered the room.
"Dad, I felt a new ki pop up." The boy guestured to Goten. "Is it his?"
"Yes, this is Kakkarot's son. He's third class. A demi saiya-jinn like youself."
"Oh." The boy then looked at the couch for the first time. "What happened to Mom?"
"I assume she saw the boy and thought he was his father."
"Oh."
Goten walked over to the boy and smiled. "Hi. My name's Goten."
"Trunks." The boy replied.
Videl was now terribly confused. How did Gohan know this man, Vegeta? Was he married to Ms. Briefs? What was a saiya-jinn? And what did Goten mean when he said that Vegeta was a prince? Videl was preparing to demand answers when Gohan walked in the door.
"Vegeta. Trunks. Videl. Goten." He greeted them all stoically.
Gohan sighed. "What are you doing here Videl?"
"I'm a chaperone and when this man took Goten and decided to stay with him."
"Thank you Videl. Everything's fine now. I need to talk with Vegeta. Why don't you go back with the rest of the group. I'll drop by your apartment tonight and explain."
The pleading look in Gohan's eyes was what convinced Videl to join the rest of the group. Videl nodded reluctantly and exited the way they came in, hoping that she could find the rest of the kids.
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Gohan was reading when he felt a new, powerful ki pop up out of nowhere. Gohan knew what it was immediately despite the fact that it was shadowed by a larger one. Vegeta had somehow found Goten. Gohan groaned, if only he had read that packet of information about the field trip! He would have seen that they were gong to Capsule Corp. The accident could be considered a blessing, however. Now Gohan would not have to decide whether or not to meet back up with the rest of the Z fighters. Circumstances had forced him to go and meet Vegeta, and through him the rest of the gang for the first time in eight years.
Gohan placed a bookmark in is book and burst into super saiya-jinn, heading towards Capsule Corp. Gohan walked into the room where he could sense Vegeta and Goten. Gohan was momentarily startled to see Trunks. He had forgotten about Vegeta and Bulma's son. Gohan wondered idly if Trunks had reached super saiya-jinn like Goten, and if he had, what Vegeta thought of it. Gohan greeted them all and asked Videl to leave, it wouldn't do for her to hear they things that would be talked about. Videl looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded and left.
"What happened to Bulma?" Gohan asked, noticing the scientist stir on the couch and wishing that she would not wake up for a while yet.
"She fell down." Goten answered and walked over to Gohan.
Gohan chuckled at Goten's answer and picked up his brother, placing him on his hip.
"He is his father's son." Vegeta said, "I just came and saw the woman had fainted. I assume she saw the brat and fainted."
"Goten did you meet Vegeta?" Goten nodded into Gohan's shoulder, he was shy in the presence of the strangers. "And this is Trunks. Not the Trunks that killed Frieza, he went back to his timeline. Trunks is a year older than you are. Come on Squirt, you need to get down!" Gohan whispered into Goten's ear, "Show Vegeta that you're a saiya-jinn!"
Goten nodded and dropped out of Gohan's arms, now standing beside his brother. Just as this happened, Bulma woke up. The first person she saw was Vegeta.
"Oh Vegeta! What happened? Where did that school group go? For a minute there I thought I saw Goku again. . . Oh my gosh!" Bulma ended as she saw Gohan. Instead of fainting again, however, Bulma froze for a moment, but after the delayed silence jumped up and gave Gohan a hug. She was crying. "Oh you're back!" Pulling herself together Bulma let go of Gohan and screamed, "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS MISTER? I WAS SO WORRIED ABOUT YOU! YOUR MOM WANTED ME TO LOOK AFTER YOU AND BEFORE I CAN EVEN OFFER YOU CONDOLENCES FOR HER DEATH YOU JUST BLAST AWAY! I BET THOSE TWO CRUMY NAMEKS KNEW ABOUT THIS TOO, DIDN'T THEY? WELL I'LL HAVE THEIR GREEN HIDES!"
As Bulma paused to catch her breath, Gohan cut in gently. "Bulma, this is Goten, my brother. The baby didn't die."
Bulma looked down at the little boy and eased back down onto the couch. "He. . . he. . . looks just like Goku."
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Yay! Well, I hope you all liked it! I have already started on the next chapter and the beginning is from Bulma's POV. I do like Bulma and made her seem like a jerk in earlier chapters so I've given her a little soliloquy in the next chapter as she thinks about how Gohan has changed and sees Goten. Also, the rest of the Z-gang will show up and Goten and Trunks will get to know each other. Gohan will be stopping briefly by Videl's apartment to do a little explaining. . . Anyway, this chapter should be up within a week, I may put off posting it to try and get some reviews.
I love you all!
-pd
