A/N: Hey guys. Another update. Pretty good considering I have exams at the moment.
Anyway thanks for all your reviews, very appreciated.
Can't really answer your question, aeollis, cos I just throw exclamation marks
in here and there a lot of the time, sorry.
On with the chapter.
I don't own DBZ or Gohan (loud sobbing from gohans-girl), but I do own Benny (cheers from gohans-girl)
Chapter 8: Some answers, more questions.
Gohan woke up on, what he'd say, was his seventh day in the workhouse, but it was hard to tell as he was losing track of the days. He was finally settling into the strict routine at Greystones. He and Benny had become firm friends. Gohan had also befriended two of the other boys, Joshua, aged ten, and Harry, aged eleven, but spent more time with Benny, as they had become inseparable over the past week.
He pulled himself out of bed, just as the bell stopped ringing. Benny was, somehow, still asleep. Gohan shook his shoulder, gently, until he woke up.
"Wha…what is it?" Benny groaned, opening his eyes.
"Come on, Benny. Bob will be here in a minute." Gohan urged, remembering the rough treatment he'd received from Bob every morning since his arrival, especially in their fitness sessions.
"Alright. I'm coming." Benny muttered sleepily, rolling out of bed and falling heavily on the floor. "Ouch!"
Gohan helped pull Benny to his feet just as the door burst open and Bob stepped in, his expression reminding Gohan of Vegeta's just about every time he saw him, black as thunder.
"Johnsen! Son! Two extra laps of the field for not being ready. Now get your socks and shoes on, and hurry up." Bob barked at them.
Benny and Gohan looked at each other and silently groaned. They pulled on their socks and shoes, and followed the other boys out to the field.
After the usual routine of two laps, thirty press-ups, thirty sit-ups, and two more laps, the boys, as usual, were exhausted and looking forward to breakfast.
"You two." Bob shouted, pointing at Gohan and Benny. "Two more laps. The rest of you get cleaned up for breakfast."
Harry and Joshua gave Gohan and Benny sympathetic looks, before following the other boys inside.
Gohan and Benny started jogging, slowly, round the huge field for the fifth time that morning, their stomachs growling impatiently for breakfast.
Two very hard going laps later, Gohan and Benny walked, like zombies, to the washroom, already ten minutes late for breakfast. Both were silently cursing Bob.
"This sucks! I hope we get something decent for morning chores." Benny complained to Gohan.
Gohan just looked wearily up from the washbasin and nodded in agreement.
They left the washroom and entered the dining room, receiving many stares from people already eating. As soon as they took their seats they were called up to get their breakfast.
When Gohan and Benny had finished their cardboardy porridge and luke warm tea, they were the only ones left in the dining room.
"Bob's gonna give us an awful chore to do now." Benny predicted, a huge look of disgust on his face.
Gohan also pulled a face, but more because of his feelings about the porridge he had just eaten.
They walked, slowly, to the briefing room, savouring every last second of spare time, expecting Bob's sour face as soon as they got there, but instead were greeted by a tall, lean figure, Mr Broom.
Gohan immediately felt that they must have done something seriously wrong, and started racking his brains trying to remember what it was.
"Don't look so worried, boy." Mr Broom assured Gohan. "I just need you two to run an errand for me."
Benny immediately stood up straight, barely able to conceal a huge smile, as if he'd just won an Oscar or something. Gohan eyed him with confusion.
"I need you to take this letter to the address on the envelope. Do you know where it is?" Mr Broom asked, looking at Benny.
Benny looked at the address and nodded. "Yes, sir." He squeezed out.
"Okay, straight there and straight back, boys." Mr Broom dismissed them.
Gohan and Benny stumbled off, Benny clutching the envelope.
As they let themselves out of the great workhouse gates, Gohan spilled out his curiosity.
"Why'd we be trusted to deliver a letter?"
"Who knows and who cares! It's a great honour to be errand boys. It's exciting." Benny enthused, grinning from ear to ear.
Gohan just shrugged, still confused, and followed Benny down the street he hadn't seen for over a week.
They received quite a few stares as they made their way through one of the posh areas of London.
"What's they're problem?" Gohan asked Benny, getting annoyed at being a goldfish to these strangers.
"Don't worry about them. They probably don't see many boys in workhouse uniforms." Benny replied, laughing at Gohan's annoyed expression.
Gohan lightly punched Benny on the shoulder. "Hey stop laughing at me." He said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing miserably, and laughing along with Benny.
"Come on." Benny said, between bursts of laughter. "We better hurry. We're nearly there."
They walked down the street on the address.
"Gohan, look for No.21, okay." Benny said, staring at the address on the envelope.
Gohan nodded and started looking on both sides of the street.
"I found it!" Gohan shouted to Benny, who was a couple of metres away tying up his shoelace.
Benny ran up to meet him, nearly knocking him off his feet.
"Um…sorry, Gohan." Benny said, before sprinting up the path to No.21. "What is this place anyway?"
"Looks like a house to me." Gohan replied, sarcastically.
Benny glared at Gohan, but then started laughing again.
"Come on." Gohan said, knocking on the door.
Benny composed himself just as the door opened. An old woman appeared behind the door. She was small, but looked even smaller because she was slightly hunched over, standing about an inch taller than Gohan. She had grey hair, which fell down most of the length of her back and her eyes were emerald green..
"What can I do for you, boys?" She asked, in a voice that didn't really fit her body.
"We were told to deliver this." Benny replied, proudly thrusting the envelope forward.
"Ah! You must be from Greystones. You've had a long walk. Would you like to come in and have a drink?" The old lady offered, kindly.
Gohan and Benny exchanged ecstatic looks, before hastily accepting the offer, both dying to sit down and have a drink. They followed the old lady into the house.
They were greeted by with cream coloured walls and pale blue carpet, which felt soft under their worn shoes.
"Come straight through, boys." The old lady said, sauntering through the long hall.
Gohan and Benny followed her into a large kitchen, and watched as she poured out two glasses of milk, pure, undiluted, fresh milk. Gohan was starting to see the perks of being an errand boy.
"Here your are, boys." The lady said, offering the glasses to them.
"Thank you, mam." They said in unison, taking the milk.
"Oh, that's okay, my dears, call me Emerald. That's what everyone else calls me. My eyes I suppose." She said, her eyes sending a strange sensation through Gohan. "Follow me. We can go and sit down. I bet your feet are killing you."
"Oh, thank you, Emerald. They are a bit sore." Benny replied enthusiastically, beaming like a Cheshire cat.
Gohan just followed silently, wondering what it was about Emerald that reminded him of home.
They sat down on comfy chairs in the large front room. A fire was blazing in the fireplace, warming up the entire room. All was quiet until a knock on the front door echoed into the room.
"Would you get that for me, please." Emerald asked Benny. "My poor back won't let me get up again, yet."
"Sure." Benny replied, jumping up and going to the door.
As Benny stood talking to the milkman, Emerald beckoned Gohan to her.
"Come over here, Gohan."
Gohan stared at her, bewildered. "How do you know my name?" He asked.
"I know a lot about you, Son Gohan." Emerald replied
Gohan stared in disbelief, a thousand questions spinning through his mind.
"He's after you, Gohan." Emerald warned, her eyes piercing his.
"Who is?" Gohan asked, even more confused.
"I dare not utter his name. He has ears everywhere. All I can tell you is to be careful because he is very powerful." Emerald answered, her eyes now wide with fear.
"What am I meant to do? I've lost my abilities." Gohan asked, not liking this one bit.
"That bit I can help you with, but you have to use this wisely." She said, standing up, no signs of back problems anymore. "Just hold still, and clear your mind."
She placed her hand on top of Gohan's mop of black hair and shut her eyes.
After a few seconds, Gohan felt a strange, warm sensation, passing through his body. It was like how you would imagine a battery felt while it was being recharged. Then he felt weightless, as if he was outside gravity altogether. Then the featherweight feeling he got when he first learnt to fly.
He was so preoccupied with the changing sensations; he didn't notice Benny walk back through the door.
Benny walked back down the hall, carelessly whistling, having just had an animated conversation with the milkman about the cold weather. He walked through the doorway into the front room and gasped in shock. There stood Emerald, hand on Gohan's head. Both of them had a visible golden glow surrounding them.
Benny had a hundred things to say, but couldn't find his voice. So he just stood there open-mouthed, staring at the unbelievable sight in front of him.
Gohan started hearing his dad's voice in his head, then Piccolo's, and finally Emerald's. She was telling him to relax and let the power flow into him, not fight it. He did so, and immediately got the sensations flowing through him again.
Five minutes or so later, Emerald released her hand from Gohan's head and collapsed back into her chair, breathing heavily.
Gohan just stood there, frozen, like a statue, in the same position, a bright aura surrounding him. His regained power pulsated through every vein.
Benny also stood stock still, amazed and disbelieving at the event he had just witnessed.
Emerald finally broke the silence. "How do you feel, Gohan?"
"Like, like my old self, but even more powerful." Gohan replied, marvelling at his high power level. "How did you do it?" He asked.
"That, I can't tell you right now. Just be careful when he comes and you have to use what I have given you." Emerald warned, before looking at Benny, slightly worried. "You better take him out into the fresh air and fill him in on what he needs to know."
Gohan gave her a, what should I tell him? Look, and she returned it with a smile and a nod.
"Thanks for all your help, Emerald. I won't let you down." Gohan said, confidently.
He grabbed Benny by the hand and pulled him out, wondering how to explain everything to him without freaking him out even more.
End Chapter.
How was that then? You should be happy now; I gave Gohan his abilities back.
Anyway, I need some ideas for the bad guy's name, some thing to do with time travel. Let me know if you come up with a good name. Thanks.
Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please r&r.
