Chapter 3: Confrontation
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters. They all belong to Funimation and Akira Toriyama. All my characters belong to me.
Note: I know this story makes no sense right now, but please be patient. I'll try to clear some things up by the next chapters. Thank You. Now, on to the fic!
Chi-Chi woke up as the sunlight poured in from her window. She sat up in bed and gave a slight stretch. She looked to her side to see her husband, sprawled out on the bed, snoring like a chainsaw.
"Goku? Goku, are you awake?" Chi-Chi shook her husband a little, but he just let out a yawn and turned over, falling over the side of the bed. Before she could even get up, she heard his snoring continue. **Typical Goku,** she thought. **He can come back to life twice, but he can't wake up. Oh well, he'll be up and about once breakfast starts.** With that, Chi-Chi went to change out of her nightgown, and started down the hall.
She stopped at Gohan's door, deciding to wake up her son as well. However, much to her surprise, she opened the door to see him crawling back into his room through the window. "Gohan! Are you hurt? Where did you go?" Chi-Chi asked in a big panic as she brought her son into a big hug. Of course, being Chi-Chi, she had again become extremely over-protective of her son, and was worried about him if even the slightest thing seemed wrong, which to her, happened 24/7.
"Mom, I'm alright. I just went out for an early walk," Gohan answered. His mother was shocked when she heard this. However, it was not at the fact that he had been out for who-knows how long. It was the way he said it. His voice carried no emotion. No attitude, no kindness, no anything. It was as if he didn't care. **He's been getting worse and worse since the Cell Games,** Chi-Chi thought. **I can't let him fall into this depression anymore. I have to keep up a light, kind disposition. Give him some more freedom. It's the least I can do.** As she broke from her train of thought, she looked down to Gohan. " I know. I'm sorry. I'm just glad you're safe. C'mon, let's go have breakfast." With that, they left the room and headed for the kitchen.
As they entered the kitchen, the first thing Chi-Chi saw was Piccolo, sitting at the table. She was going to start yelling at him for being anywhere near her house. However, before she even opened her mouth, she recalled a conversation she and the Namek had two weeks ago.
Flashback
Chi-Chi walked through the dark valley, searching for "the monster", as she called him. She remembered hearing from Gohan that he trains in this area. She wasn't searching long when she heard a gruff voice from above.
"What are you doing here?" it said. Chi-Chi looked up to see Piccolo, hovering in midair, arms folded across his chest. As he lowered to the ground, Chi-Chi began to fill with rage already. "Now you listen here you-" but she stopped herself, remembering why she was here. "I'm sorry. I'm here because I'd like to speak with you."
Piccolo gave a slight look of surprise, but hid it behind a cold look before she could notice. "Well then, what is it?"
Trying to keep her temper in check, Chi-Chi began. "As you know, Gohan has been in a very depressed state lately." Piccolo showed no reaction emotionally, but nodded. She continued. "As a way to try and help him, I have decided that I should allow him to be with his friends more often, people he can talk to other than Goku and myself. However, despite my personal wishes, you are one of his closest friends. Why, I'll never know…" she mumbled the last part to herself.
However, it was still loud enough for Piccolo's enhanced hearing. "So, get to the point!" He yelled gruffly. He was losing his patience.
"Alright, alright. Anyway, I have decided to let you…spend more time with my son. I figure if anyone can help, you can." Chi-Chi wasn't happy with this choice one bit, but she knew it was for the best.
Although he wouldn't show it, Piccolo was very relieved she had made this decision. He had wanted to try and help Gohan for a while, but she would not let him get near her son. He had felt horrible for not being there for Gohan, after everything he had given him. Now, Piccolo would try anything to help his broken-spirited friend.
"Thank you," was all he said. With that, he flew off before Chi-Chi could say another word.
End of Flashback
As Chi-Chi remembered this, she decided to wave her ranting for once.
" I was wondering if Gohan wanted to train today", Piccolo asked, without even a hello.
"Well, alright. But we're having breakfast first, so you'll have to wait." Chi-Chi said with a tone of annoyance. Although they made the agreement, they still hated each other. Gohan sat down next to Piccolo, not looking up, while Chi-Chi fired up the grill. As she placed some eggs on the grill, she thought to herself, **Three, Two, One**… and as she did, a rumbling was felt through the floor. Then, she pointed her finger to the doorway, and an cue, Goku came through the hallway, saying, "Is that breakfast? I'm starving!"
Chi-Chi gave a small chuckle, but stopped when she saw Gohan. He looked down at the table, away from his father. In a few minutes, Chi-Chi finished making twelve piles of pancakes, twenty eggs, and three pans of bacon, and they sat down to eat. Goku ate at record-breaking speed, shoving as much food as he could into his mouth, Chi-Chi ate normally, and Piccolo drank some water. All three of them kept glancing at Gohan, not making a sound as he ate, not looking back to them. He looked up to glance out the window. He froze.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure her wasn't seeing things. He wasn't. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. He dropped his fork with a clang, and didn't bother to pick it up. The adults looked toward him, and all gave a start. This was the first real expression they had really seen on his face in months. However, what had caused it was a mystery to them.
"Gohan? Are you alright?" Piccolo asked. However, the boy paid no attention to him.
**I can't believe it…**, thought Gohan. **There's no way…he can't be…**
However, he was. Sitting on a rock outside, at the edge of the forest, was Chris, the boy from his dream. Of course, he didn't know his name yet. He saw the same eyes, a reflection of his own, as they looked back at him. He gave a small smile and waved to Gohan. Gohan couldn't help himself. For the first time in two months, Gohan gave a smile. Unknown to him, Goku, Chi-Chi, and Piccolo all stared at Gohan, wide-eyed, from this small, yet unexpected gesture. Then, to Gohan's surprise, Chris turned around, and ran into the woods. With a sudden jolt, Gohan jumped from his seat, and bolted to the door. He opened the door, and ran into the trees, leaving the three adults to stare after him in puzzlement.
**This kid has some explaining to do. And I'm not going to let him get away this easy,** Gohan thought, as he chased after his rather peculiar "friend," his depression forgotten at the moment.
Gohan continued to run through the forest, dodging trees as he passed. This event reminded him of the dream he had barely a few hours ago. However, right now that was not important. To Gohan, what was important was finding this kid. As he pushed through plants and branches whipping at his face, he kept running, still seeing the slight image of the boy ahead of him, constantly weaving through the trees.
After some time, Gohan emerged-he hadn't even seen it coming-into a clearing. After looking around a moment, he gasped. He was in the same clearing he was in during his dream. "At least this time the forest isn't on fire," Gohan said out loud. He had been so absorbed in the irony of it all, that he jumped when he heard a voice say, "I agree. It gives the forest a more living, less-smoldering feel to it."
Gohan looked strait ahead of him, and saw Chris, standing with his hands behind his back. He looked to Gohan, and walked toward him. Gohan backed up from him, in case it might be a trick. Then, he stared as he walked right up to him, and took his hand.
"Greetings Gohan. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Or rather, to let you meet me." He gave a slight chuckle, still shaking his hand. "Forgive the little chase, but I wanted to see you earlier, before your parents woke up. Of course, I failed, so I was waiting until you had finished eating. It looks like you found me anyway. Oh well, this might make things easier to explain anyway."
Chris intended to say more, but by then, Gohan pulled his hand from Chris' grasp. He just continued to stare at the boy. When he tried to talk, he found himself at a loss of words. Finally, though later he thought he had been rude, the only thing he managed to say was, "Who are you?"
The boy, turning a little red, replied, "Oh! Please forgive me. It's just that I've been waiting such a long time for this day, this moment,** and here you are, standing right the-" **Ok, Chris. Now you're babbling, he thought to himself. **You sure sound like you know what you're doing. Just get strait to the facts**. "I'm sorry again. Here goes." As he started to speak, he looked to Gohan and said, "Uhhhh… you might want to sit down."
"I'd prefer to stand, thank you", he replied, eager for this kid to get started answering some questions.
"Alright", Chris said with a sigh. He stood strait in front of Gohan, and brought his hands back behind him. "My name is Christopher, Chris for short. I am the elemental guardian of fire."
With that, Gohan did sit down. Very fast.
Gohan just sat there in shock as Chris talked.
"As I'm sure you know, there are four elemental forces in nature. These forces are fire, earth, water, and wind." Chris stopped to see if Gohan was paying attention, and continued. "Just as there are four elements, there are four guardians. These guardians use the power of the elements to keep them under control."
Gohan stopped him. "Wait a minute. Did you say guardians? What about Dende? I thought he was guardian of Earth?" **Ok. This is getting too weird for me,** he thought. **I thought he was weird enough in my dream. But nooo, he has to be a fire guardian too.** Gohan gave a moment of thought. ** Although, it does make sense, somewhat. That thing he did in my dream shows he can control fire. Okay, so I know this much is true.**
Chris gave a small smile. "Yes, I thought you'd ask that question. Dende is the guardian of Earth, but only it's people. He watches over the people of Earth, while we watch over the Earth in general." He sat on the ground as well, across from Gohan.
"Well, what about that dream? I know you know what I'm talking about. Why were you in it? What was it supposed to show me?" Gohan looked at Chris with great anticipation. **This will help me clear up some things,** he thought.
Chris however, was impressed by Gohan's question. **Good. He's smart enough not to ignore clues thrown at him.** "The dream you experienced, and reason I'm here in fact, is based on one piece of knowledge; you, Gohan, have the ability to control the element of fire, just as I do."
"WHAT????" Gohan screamed his eyes bulging. He fell back in shack. To him, this didn't seem to fit well at all. "If I had the power to control fire, wouldn't I know it?"
"Well, you didn't know about your hidden power you used against Cell till right at that time, did you?" Gohan opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. ** He does have a point,** he thought, as Chris continued. "You were weren't supposed to be aware of you're power. Your body develops the power on its own. Then, you're body tries to reveal it to yourself subconsciously. In this case, dreams."
"Each part of your dream was supposed to represent something about your power. The forest on fire was a manifestation of your power. It symbolized the power you possessed, and what you could do with it. That hand… Well, that's something you'll need to learn in time. Did this clear a few things up?" Chris asked as he finished his explanation, with a smile on his face.
Gohan, still in a state of shock, ran all this through his head, to see if he understood. Of course, he didn't understand at all, but he realized that that explanation was the simplest one he was going to get. Then, he realized that Chris left out one detail. "Wait a minute. You were in the dream too. What was that about?"
Chris suddenly remembered that part. "Oh! Of course. I forgot. I was not supposed to be in your dream. However, I used a few little tricks to enter it. As you saw, I helped control the fire in the forest. My role in the dream was to show you that I could help you control your power. I did it hoping that by seeing that, I could earn you're trust." He stood up, and looked up toward the sky, with a solemn look. "I won't lie to you, Gohan. A vast evil is approaching Earth; greater than anything you and you're friends have ever faced, with you being their target. To make things worse, you're abilities will have no power against them. You are one of the only people with the power to stop it. Believe me, if given the choice, I wouldn't have let you get into another battle, so soon after you're last. But it wasn't my choice to make. "
He turned to Gohan. "I will answer any other questions you have, but I need to know if you are going to trust me." He extended his hand to him. "Please Gohan. You are this planet's last hope."
Gohan stood up as well, and turned away from Chris. His mind was in a raging war at the time of different reactions. This kid just came up out blue, telling him he needed to save the world! **I can't do this,** he thought. **Every time I try to help, someone I love gets killed. I can't just do that to my friends… or my father.** He looked back to Chris. **On the other hand, if what he said is true, they'll be in danger anyway, with them unable to fight back. I can't turn my back on them.** He turned to Chris and walked up to him. **I guess there's only one choice…**
Chris watched as a variety of emotions played themselves on Gohan's face, showing a slight window to his thoughts. **He has such little trust in his own abilities. Please Gohan. Please trust us.**
Gohan gave a smile, and held out his hand and shook Chris'. "Alright. I trust you. I'll do it."
Chris looked relived. "Thank you. However, before I can begin teaching you this power, there are several things we need to do first. First off, you need to meet the other elemental guardians. As I said, there are four. You need to meet those of wind, water, and earth. Although you will be learning your power from me, we will be training with the others, so I think it's a good idea I let you meet them."
"Ok. So, where are they? Are they far?" Gohan asked.
"Well, a little far. Our home is hidden. It can't be detected using ki, that's why you and the other Z fighters never found it. So, will be taking a different form of transportation. Is that alright with you?" Gohan nodded. "Alright. Come to me. I'm going to ask the guardian of wind to take us there."
Gohan did so, slightly confused at what he just said. He stood behind Chris, as he closed his eyes. A small, round, ruby gem emerged from Chris' skin, right in the middle of his forehead. It began to glow, as Chris spoke. "Guardian of the Wind, I call to you. Lend us your power. Bring us to our home, the Temple of the Planet."
With that, a sharp wind picked up by their feet. Gohan started to lose his balance from its force, but the wind gently lifted him off the ground without him falling over. Gohan still felt a little odd, unable to remain steady, even using his ki. He looked to Chris, and saw that he could be levitated without much trouble, extending his wings to keep him steady. With that, Gohan felt the wind spiraling around them, as if caught in a small twister. A huge gust of wind blew from below them, and they shot off into the sky.
Not long after they left, Goku and Piccolo came into the clearing. They looked around for a moment, having not seen Chris and Gohan leave. "This is where Gohan was last," Goku said, "but I can't sense him anymore. Where could he have gone?"
So, the two of them moved on through the forest, calling his name. "Gohan? Gohan?"
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z or any of its characters. They all belong to Funimation and Akira Toriyama. All my characters belong to me.
Note: I know this story makes no sense right now, but please be patient. I'll try to clear some things up by the next chapters. Thank You. Now, on to the fic!
Chi-Chi woke up as the sunlight poured in from her window. She sat up in bed and gave a slight stretch. She looked to her side to see her husband, sprawled out on the bed, snoring like a chainsaw.
"Goku? Goku, are you awake?" Chi-Chi shook her husband a little, but he just let out a yawn and turned over, falling over the side of the bed. Before she could even get up, she heard his snoring continue. **Typical Goku,** she thought. **He can come back to life twice, but he can't wake up. Oh well, he'll be up and about once breakfast starts.** With that, Chi-Chi went to change out of her nightgown, and started down the hall.
She stopped at Gohan's door, deciding to wake up her son as well. However, much to her surprise, she opened the door to see him crawling back into his room through the window. "Gohan! Are you hurt? Where did you go?" Chi-Chi asked in a big panic as she brought her son into a big hug. Of course, being Chi-Chi, she had again become extremely over-protective of her son, and was worried about him if even the slightest thing seemed wrong, which to her, happened 24/7.
"Mom, I'm alright. I just went out for an early walk," Gohan answered. His mother was shocked when she heard this. However, it was not at the fact that he had been out for who-knows how long. It was the way he said it. His voice carried no emotion. No attitude, no kindness, no anything. It was as if he didn't care. **He's been getting worse and worse since the Cell Games,** Chi-Chi thought. **I can't let him fall into this depression anymore. I have to keep up a light, kind disposition. Give him some more freedom. It's the least I can do.** As she broke from her train of thought, she looked down to Gohan. " I know. I'm sorry. I'm just glad you're safe. C'mon, let's go have breakfast." With that, they left the room and headed for the kitchen.
As they entered the kitchen, the first thing Chi-Chi saw was Piccolo, sitting at the table. She was going to start yelling at him for being anywhere near her house. However, before she even opened her mouth, she recalled a conversation she and the Namek had two weeks ago.
Flashback
Chi-Chi walked through the dark valley, searching for "the monster", as she called him. She remembered hearing from Gohan that he trains in this area. She wasn't searching long when she heard a gruff voice from above.
"What are you doing here?" it said. Chi-Chi looked up to see Piccolo, hovering in midair, arms folded across his chest. As he lowered to the ground, Chi-Chi began to fill with rage already. "Now you listen here you-" but she stopped herself, remembering why she was here. "I'm sorry. I'm here because I'd like to speak with you."
Piccolo gave a slight look of surprise, but hid it behind a cold look before she could notice. "Well then, what is it?"
Trying to keep her temper in check, Chi-Chi began. "As you know, Gohan has been in a very depressed state lately." Piccolo showed no reaction emotionally, but nodded. She continued. "As a way to try and help him, I have decided that I should allow him to be with his friends more often, people he can talk to other than Goku and myself. However, despite my personal wishes, you are one of his closest friends. Why, I'll never know…" she mumbled the last part to herself.
However, it was still loud enough for Piccolo's enhanced hearing. "So, get to the point!" He yelled gruffly. He was losing his patience.
"Alright, alright. Anyway, I have decided to let you…spend more time with my son. I figure if anyone can help, you can." Chi-Chi wasn't happy with this choice one bit, but she knew it was for the best.
Although he wouldn't show it, Piccolo was very relieved she had made this decision. He had wanted to try and help Gohan for a while, but she would not let him get near her son. He had felt horrible for not being there for Gohan, after everything he had given him. Now, Piccolo would try anything to help his broken-spirited friend.
"Thank you," was all he said. With that, he flew off before Chi-Chi could say another word.
End of Flashback
As Chi-Chi remembered this, she decided to wave her ranting for once.
" I was wondering if Gohan wanted to train today", Piccolo asked, without even a hello.
"Well, alright. But we're having breakfast first, so you'll have to wait." Chi-Chi said with a tone of annoyance. Although they made the agreement, they still hated each other. Gohan sat down next to Piccolo, not looking up, while Chi-Chi fired up the grill. As she placed some eggs on the grill, she thought to herself, **Three, Two, One**… and as she did, a rumbling was felt through the floor. Then, she pointed her finger to the doorway, and an cue, Goku came through the hallway, saying, "Is that breakfast? I'm starving!"
Chi-Chi gave a small chuckle, but stopped when she saw Gohan. He looked down at the table, away from his father. In a few minutes, Chi-Chi finished making twelve piles of pancakes, twenty eggs, and three pans of bacon, and they sat down to eat. Goku ate at record-breaking speed, shoving as much food as he could into his mouth, Chi-Chi ate normally, and Piccolo drank some water. All three of them kept glancing at Gohan, not making a sound as he ate, not looking back to them. He looked up to glance out the window. He froze.
He rubbed his eyes to make sure her wasn't seeing things. He wasn't. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. He dropped his fork with a clang, and didn't bother to pick it up. The adults looked toward him, and all gave a start. This was the first real expression they had really seen on his face in months. However, what had caused it was a mystery to them.
"Gohan? Are you alright?" Piccolo asked. However, the boy paid no attention to him.
**I can't believe it…**, thought Gohan. **There's no way…he can't be…**
However, he was. Sitting on a rock outside, at the edge of the forest, was Chris, the boy from his dream. Of course, he didn't know his name yet. He saw the same eyes, a reflection of his own, as they looked back at him. He gave a small smile and waved to Gohan. Gohan couldn't help himself. For the first time in two months, Gohan gave a smile. Unknown to him, Goku, Chi-Chi, and Piccolo all stared at Gohan, wide-eyed, from this small, yet unexpected gesture. Then, to Gohan's surprise, Chris turned around, and ran into the woods. With a sudden jolt, Gohan jumped from his seat, and bolted to the door. He opened the door, and ran into the trees, leaving the three adults to stare after him in puzzlement.
**This kid has some explaining to do. And I'm not going to let him get away this easy,** Gohan thought, as he chased after his rather peculiar "friend," his depression forgotten at the moment.
Gohan continued to run through the forest, dodging trees as he passed. This event reminded him of the dream he had barely a few hours ago. However, right now that was not important. To Gohan, what was important was finding this kid. As he pushed through plants and branches whipping at his face, he kept running, still seeing the slight image of the boy ahead of him, constantly weaving through the trees.
After some time, Gohan emerged-he hadn't even seen it coming-into a clearing. After looking around a moment, he gasped. He was in the same clearing he was in during his dream. "At least this time the forest isn't on fire," Gohan said out loud. He had been so absorbed in the irony of it all, that he jumped when he heard a voice say, "I agree. It gives the forest a more living, less-smoldering feel to it."
Gohan looked strait ahead of him, and saw Chris, standing with his hands behind his back. He looked to Gohan, and walked toward him. Gohan backed up from him, in case it might be a trick. Then, he stared as he walked right up to him, and took his hand.
"Greetings Gohan. It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Or rather, to let you meet me." He gave a slight chuckle, still shaking his hand. "Forgive the little chase, but I wanted to see you earlier, before your parents woke up. Of course, I failed, so I was waiting until you had finished eating. It looks like you found me anyway. Oh well, this might make things easier to explain anyway."
Chris intended to say more, but by then, Gohan pulled his hand from Chris' grasp. He just continued to stare at the boy. When he tried to talk, he found himself at a loss of words. Finally, though later he thought he had been rude, the only thing he managed to say was, "Who are you?"
The boy, turning a little red, replied, "Oh! Please forgive me. It's just that I've been waiting such a long time for this day, this moment,** and here you are, standing right the-" **Ok, Chris. Now you're babbling, he thought to himself. **You sure sound like you know what you're doing. Just get strait to the facts**. "I'm sorry again. Here goes." As he started to speak, he looked to Gohan and said, "Uhhhh… you might want to sit down."
"I'd prefer to stand, thank you", he replied, eager for this kid to get started answering some questions.
"Alright", Chris said with a sigh. He stood strait in front of Gohan, and brought his hands back behind him. "My name is Christopher, Chris for short. I am the elemental guardian of fire."
With that, Gohan did sit down. Very fast.
Gohan just sat there in shock as Chris talked.
"As I'm sure you know, there are four elemental forces in nature. These forces are fire, earth, water, and wind." Chris stopped to see if Gohan was paying attention, and continued. "Just as there are four elements, there are four guardians. These guardians use the power of the elements to keep them under control."
Gohan stopped him. "Wait a minute. Did you say guardians? What about Dende? I thought he was guardian of Earth?" **Ok. This is getting too weird for me,** he thought. **I thought he was weird enough in my dream. But nooo, he has to be a fire guardian too.** Gohan gave a moment of thought. ** Although, it does make sense, somewhat. That thing he did in my dream shows he can control fire. Okay, so I know this much is true.**
Chris gave a small smile. "Yes, I thought you'd ask that question. Dende is the guardian of Earth, but only it's people. He watches over the people of Earth, while we watch over the Earth in general." He sat on the ground as well, across from Gohan.
"Well, what about that dream? I know you know what I'm talking about. Why were you in it? What was it supposed to show me?" Gohan looked at Chris with great anticipation. **This will help me clear up some things,** he thought.
Chris however, was impressed by Gohan's question. **Good. He's smart enough not to ignore clues thrown at him.** "The dream you experienced, and reason I'm here in fact, is based on one piece of knowledge; you, Gohan, have the ability to control the element of fire, just as I do."
"WHAT????" Gohan screamed his eyes bulging. He fell back in shack. To him, this didn't seem to fit well at all. "If I had the power to control fire, wouldn't I know it?"
"Well, you didn't know about your hidden power you used against Cell till right at that time, did you?" Gohan opened his mouth to speak, but closed it. ** He does have a point,** he thought, as Chris continued. "You were weren't supposed to be aware of you're power. Your body develops the power on its own. Then, you're body tries to reveal it to yourself subconsciously. In this case, dreams."
"Each part of your dream was supposed to represent something about your power. The forest on fire was a manifestation of your power. It symbolized the power you possessed, and what you could do with it. That hand… Well, that's something you'll need to learn in time. Did this clear a few things up?" Chris asked as he finished his explanation, with a smile on his face.
Gohan, still in a state of shock, ran all this through his head, to see if he understood. Of course, he didn't understand at all, but he realized that that explanation was the simplest one he was going to get. Then, he realized that Chris left out one detail. "Wait a minute. You were in the dream too. What was that about?"
Chris suddenly remembered that part. "Oh! Of course. I forgot. I was not supposed to be in your dream. However, I used a few little tricks to enter it. As you saw, I helped control the fire in the forest. My role in the dream was to show you that I could help you control your power. I did it hoping that by seeing that, I could earn you're trust." He stood up, and looked up toward the sky, with a solemn look. "I won't lie to you, Gohan. A vast evil is approaching Earth; greater than anything you and you're friends have ever faced, with you being their target. To make things worse, you're abilities will have no power against them. You are one of the only people with the power to stop it. Believe me, if given the choice, I wouldn't have let you get into another battle, so soon after you're last. But it wasn't my choice to make. "
He turned to Gohan. "I will answer any other questions you have, but I need to know if you are going to trust me." He extended his hand to him. "Please Gohan. You are this planet's last hope."
Gohan stood up as well, and turned away from Chris. His mind was in a raging war at the time of different reactions. This kid just came up out blue, telling him he needed to save the world! **I can't do this,** he thought. **Every time I try to help, someone I love gets killed. I can't just do that to my friends… or my father.** He looked back to Chris. **On the other hand, if what he said is true, they'll be in danger anyway, with them unable to fight back. I can't turn my back on them.** He turned to Chris and walked up to him. **I guess there's only one choice…**
Chris watched as a variety of emotions played themselves on Gohan's face, showing a slight window to his thoughts. **He has such little trust in his own abilities. Please Gohan. Please trust us.**
Gohan gave a smile, and held out his hand and shook Chris'. "Alright. I trust you. I'll do it."
Chris looked relived. "Thank you. However, before I can begin teaching you this power, there are several things we need to do first. First off, you need to meet the other elemental guardians. As I said, there are four. You need to meet those of wind, water, and earth. Although you will be learning your power from me, we will be training with the others, so I think it's a good idea I let you meet them."
"Ok. So, where are they? Are they far?" Gohan asked.
"Well, a little far. Our home is hidden. It can't be detected using ki, that's why you and the other Z fighters never found it. So, will be taking a different form of transportation. Is that alright with you?" Gohan nodded. "Alright. Come to me. I'm going to ask the guardian of wind to take us there."
Gohan did so, slightly confused at what he just said. He stood behind Chris, as he closed his eyes. A small, round, ruby gem emerged from Chris' skin, right in the middle of his forehead. It began to glow, as Chris spoke. "Guardian of the Wind, I call to you. Lend us your power. Bring us to our home, the Temple of the Planet."
With that, a sharp wind picked up by their feet. Gohan started to lose his balance from its force, but the wind gently lifted him off the ground without him falling over. Gohan still felt a little odd, unable to remain steady, even using his ki. He looked to Chris, and saw that he could be levitated without much trouble, extending his wings to keep him steady. With that, Gohan felt the wind spiraling around them, as if caught in a small twister. A huge gust of wind blew from below them, and they shot off into the sky.
Not long after they left, Goku and Piccolo came into the clearing. They looked around for a moment, having not seen Chris and Gohan leave. "This is where Gohan was last," Goku said, "but I can't sense him anymore. Where could he have gone?"
So, the two of them moved on through the forest, calling his name. "Gohan? Gohan?"