AN: I made Lime kinda insightful cause I thought that she had a good
handle on Gohan's character when they first met, so she's gonna be really
good at reading Gohan's emotions. Now it's time for our little meeting...SO
ON WITH THE STORY
Chapter 8 The Reunion
Gohan, Trunks, and Goten took off from the Son house, heading towards Capsule Corp. (AN: This time it's the main one in West City.)
"Hey Gohan," Gohan stopped and looked down at Lime, "You have to teach me how to fly..... when you get back." Gohan looked at her sadly and nodded. Both teens knew that he would not be returning, not soon anyway. Gohan flew away with the two boys, his heart heavy.
"Good, you boys are here." Bulma welcomed them at the door and then led Gohan and Goten into a private living room in CC, the others were already gathered. Krillin and Yamcha were sitting on couch talking happily. Piccolo stood near the fireplace leaning against the wall (in the normal Piccolo stance) and Android 18 stood up against the opposite wall in the same fashion. Tien and Chaoutzu (AN: Sorry if I spelled that wrong) were also there, to everyone's amazement. Gohan entered the room behind Bulma, eager, yet nervous, about talking all his old friends. As Krillin saw Gohan enter he jumped up to go welcome his old friend, Yamcha got up to do the same but stopped dead in his tracks a moment later. Goten had just entered the room. Yamcha, Tien, and Chaoutzu stared at the young boy.
"Gohan," Goten tugged at his brother's pants, "why are all those people looking at me?"
"Oh, my..... I can't believe it. He looks exactly like Goku!" Yamcha walked up to the boy and knelt down. "It's..... it's..... wow. Hey kid, did you know you look exactly like Goku did when he was your age." Tien and Chaoutzu continued to stare at Goten, and both nodded their heads vigorously in agreement with Yamcha's words. Goten lowered his head in shame.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"You have nothing to be sorry about Goten," Gohan said picking up his brother, "it's not your fault, it's not anyone's fault. Actually, if anything, it's a good thing you're like dad, he was a hero, and one day you will be too. Cheer up Squirt, when you meet dad, and you WILL meet him, he'll be really proud of who you are, and I know you two will get along great." Goten gave his brother a big hug and smiled at him. Every single pair of eyes in the room was now on Gohan, and they were all thinking the same thing. *What happened to Gohan? He has been blaming himself for Goku's death for the past seven years, yet now, all of a sudden he seems to have gotten over it. How?* Gohan just smiled at them all and put his brother back on the ground. "Go find Trunks and play, but make sure you get home by bedtime and tell Mom I'll be back sometime later. Ok Squirt?" Goten nodded and ran off to find his friend. Gohan looked at everyone *Ok, keep it cool, Gohan don't let on about anything. * He took a deep breath, "Ok guys, what have you got?"
"Dende has been kidnapped," Piccolo started the conversation causing shocked gasps from Krillin and Yamcha, "I don't know who took him, but I know he's not on this planet." Tien and Chaoutzu nodded knowingly.
"I sensed his disappearance last night, but it was too late to do anything." Chaoutzu said ashamed of his lack of action.
"There was nothing you could have done Chaoutzu." Gohan said blankly. Piccolo looked at him closely for a moment before continuing.
"He's not dead, so the dragon balls can help us find him fast. If we all go after a dragon ball we can collect them all in a few hours' time." Everyone on the room nodded in agreement, everyone that is, except Gohan.
"Is that the best idea Piccolo? I mean if you use the dragon balls to find Dende then something goes wrong with this 'new enemy' we won't be able to fix anything." Everyone looked at Gohan, defeated; they knew he was right. "How about you put some supplies in the space capsule, and we leave to find him in the morning?" Their eyes widened.
"Gohan that's prefect, but we don't know where they were headed and... and the ship was stolen. I think it was the guy who kidnapped Dende." Bulma said, once again managing to lower the hopes of all those present.
"Woman, even a weakling like this brat can follow a ki in space. And, in case you've forgotten, there is a backup ship here, only the one in Satan City was stolen, and you are considered a genius on this planet, pah." Vegeta had finished his training and was now standing in the doorway looking annoyed. They all stared at him, still amazed at the fact he would give his assistance, even after all these years. "But then of course maybe you can't, maybe you do need my help after all. And if I can get a fight out of it, my troubles will be worth it."
"Fine then it's settled, we leave in the morning." Gohan said, almost angrily and stood up, "Do as you wish Vegeta, I have to go. Goodbye... goodbye to all of you." Gohan walked out of the room leaving a surprised Vegeta and a confused group of fighters behind.
"Why do I have this odd feeling like he's not telling us something?" Krillin asked, still staring out the door after Gohan.
"Because, he is. But then again he has changed drastically; he seems at peace with Goku's death."
"Let the boy be," Vegeta growled, "He has his own path to follow, where ever it may lead. Woman, I suggest you load up that ship now." Vegeta turned and stalked out of the room.
"He's right I should pack the ship and get some sleep, we all should. We have an early day tomorrow. And don't argue with my coming with you, I'm the only one that knows how to operate the ship well enough to follow Dende." Everyone nodded and, after agreeing when to meet in the morning, went their separate ways. Bulma walked down the empty halls of CC and entered the hanger where the spare ship was. *It's a good thing that we have a backup ship, since the guy who kidnapped Dende stole the other one. But I still don't understand how he got in with out setting off the alarms, he would have had to known the code, but only my father and I know the code. Then there's Gohan... when I saw him last time he time he seemed so different than he did tonight. He seemed distant and sad, but then of course Piccolo was probably right when he said that Gohan was hiding something... but what, and more importantly why? Vegeta seemed to know something, but he always knows more then he lets on, he has a certain mystery surrounding him... Kami... * Bulma yawned, then noticed that she had finished packing up the ship (without even realizing she was doing it) and decided to go to bed. She yawned again as she turned out the lights, closed the door, and turned the security alarm on. She did not notice that she had locked someone in the hanger with the ship, someone by the name of Gohan.
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"How the hell did the ship disappear without me knowing it? Ships just don't get up and walk away by themselves!" Bulma was beyond furious, someone had taken the ship, and this time there was no sign of where it had gone. "I mean you can't lift off with out making a noise. And even if could move it without lifting off there is no way of getting it out of that hanger without opening the doors, something like that would have defiantly set off the alarms! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!!"
Everyone, with the exception of Gohan, was gathered to go after Dende, but when they opened the hanger door they had discovered ship had disappeared without a trace. No one knew what to make of this new development. They all stood at the hanger's outside door confused and shocked for only a few minutes though, before their thoughts were interrupted. A yellow cloud descended from the sky with one occupant on board, a young girl that only Bulma recognized.
"You're Lime right, Gohan's friend? Hey wait, where is Gohan?" Bulma became suddenly worried. Everyone scanned for his Ki but all were unable to locate it.
"Please, I was wondering are there any more space ships that can be used to go after Dende."
"No there aren't... but how did you...?" Bulma asked harshly as everyone glared at her suspiciously.
"I will explain everything... Um... can we go inside and sit down though... It's kinda a long story." Everyone continued to look at her but Bulma led the way into the private living room once again. They entered the room and were shocked to find Vegeta waiting for them
"Well it's about time you showed up; I'm losing precious training time."
Everyone took up a comfortable position and waited for the young girl to start her story. "Ok... since I don't know many of you I think I should introduce myself. My name is Lime, when I was a girl Gohan came to my village and destroyed a shelter, one that was made to protect the people from Cell. He returned to my village yesterday working on a project for school, one about Cell. Since I already knew about him being the real hero of the Cell Games... he told me what had been going on. He said that someone out there was overriding Dende's powers. Then he told me how Dende was kidnapped."
"You can't be telling the truth," Bulma screeched, "He didn't know of Dende's disappearance until I told him that night!" Almost everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
"That's not true. He knew about it right after it happened... you see... well..."
"Spit it out you annoying little human or I'll spread your molecules across the galaxy!" Vegeta was highly annoyed, "Tell them where the brat has gone and why so that I can get back to my training." Now it was Vegeta's turn to be stared at by the group.
"Gohan is gone, he... he got a letter from the guy that kidnapped Dende and he took the ship to go after them." Lime spoke rather quickly, not wanting to keep Vegeta in the room any longer than necessary.
"Fine, the boy has gone and you can all relax now. The GR needs to be fixed again, so hurry up and finish this." Bulma was too busy staring at the green-eyed girl to listen to what Vegeta had just said to her.
"He knew about this and he didn't tell any of us? Why would he do that?" Krillin asked still slightly of suspicious of Lime.
"Because the note said if he told you Dende would die, and he said anyone who could negate something Dende did could probably tell if he told one of you. But since I couldn't and wouldn't try and stop him, he figured it was ok to tell me."
"That's true," Tien began slowly, "But why tell us now?"
"Because Gohan asked me to... he wanted all of you to know in case... in case he didn't come back. That's why I asked if there were any more ships, I had to make sure none of you would follow him. He didn't want any of you to get hurt, or for Dende to die because he didn't do what the note said, but he said that he would probably be back in about two days with Dende and some answers." Lime still had a grim look on her face; she didn't believe any more of what she was saying than they did.
"Have a little faith in the boy, he'll return. The man who stole the ship is not the one we have to worry about." Everyone looked at Vegeta.
"What do you mean?" Piccolo asked.
"The person who kidnapped Dende was not evil. I felt his Ki for a moment when he broke open the hanger doors to launch the ship. It was not an evil feeling, although it was familiar somehow..." Vegeta shook his head in annoyance at not being able to identify the Ki. "I'm going back to my training, inform me when they return woman." Vegeta exited the room quickly. The rest of the group continued to discuss what Gohan had done and how they could help. But after hours of thinking they had gotten nowhere. Lime left them; she knew that Gohan was on his own on this one and that they would not be able to help him at all.
Lime climbed back on board the Nimbus, but she did not return to the mountains, she instead headed to Satan City. Nimbus dropped her off on the roof of the school building and she thanked the cloud for the ride, informing it that she would need his services again soon. Lime slowly descended the stairs and entered the crowded halls, determined to fulfill her mission, find Videl.
RANDOM FACT: Although every important character in DBZ has died at least once Krillin holds the record for confirmed deaths, he died three times though out DB and DBZ. Once when King Piccolo arrived in DB, once on Namek, and again when Buu destroyed the Earth. Goku died in the fight with Raditz and in the fight with Cell, but his death on Namek is highly debated and he can therefore not tie the record. It's kinda pathetic that he dies so much yet is supposedly the strongest human fighter...
AN: I can't believe all the reviews, I'm so happy!! Thank you all for them, and keep writing them, every chapter, for ever and ever and ever. If you have questions make sure I have your email to respond, or on the flip side if you have info in response to my questions make sure I have your email in case all you manage to do is confuse me even more. THANKS AND REVIEW!!!!
Chapter 8 The Reunion
Gohan, Trunks, and Goten took off from the Son house, heading towards Capsule Corp. (AN: This time it's the main one in West City.)
"Hey Gohan," Gohan stopped and looked down at Lime, "You have to teach me how to fly..... when you get back." Gohan looked at her sadly and nodded. Both teens knew that he would not be returning, not soon anyway. Gohan flew away with the two boys, his heart heavy.
"Good, you boys are here." Bulma welcomed them at the door and then led Gohan and Goten into a private living room in CC, the others were already gathered. Krillin and Yamcha were sitting on couch talking happily. Piccolo stood near the fireplace leaning against the wall (in the normal Piccolo stance) and Android 18 stood up against the opposite wall in the same fashion. Tien and Chaoutzu (AN: Sorry if I spelled that wrong) were also there, to everyone's amazement. Gohan entered the room behind Bulma, eager, yet nervous, about talking all his old friends. As Krillin saw Gohan enter he jumped up to go welcome his old friend, Yamcha got up to do the same but stopped dead in his tracks a moment later. Goten had just entered the room. Yamcha, Tien, and Chaoutzu stared at the young boy.
"Gohan," Goten tugged at his brother's pants, "why are all those people looking at me?"
"Oh, my..... I can't believe it. He looks exactly like Goku!" Yamcha walked up to the boy and knelt down. "It's..... it's..... wow. Hey kid, did you know you look exactly like Goku did when he was your age." Tien and Chaoutzu continued to stare at Goten, and both nodded their heads vigorously in agreement with Yamcha's words. Goten lowered his head in shame.
"I'm sorry," he said quietly.
"You have nothing to be sorry about Goten," Gohan said picking up his brother, "it's not your fault, it's not anyone's fault. Actually, if anything, it's a good thing you're like dad, he was a hero, and one day you will be too. Cheer up Squirt, when you meet dad, and you WILL meet him, he'll be really proud of who you are, and I know you two will get along great." Goten gave his brother a big hug and smiled at him. Every single pair of eyes in the room was now on Gohan, and they were all thinking the same thing. *What happened to Gohan? He has been blaming himself for Goku's death for the past seven years, yet now, all of a sudden he seems to have gotten over it. How?* Gohan just smiled at them all and put his brother back on the ground. "Go find Trunks and play, but make sure you get home by bedtime and tell Mom I'll be back sometime later. Ok Squirt?" Goten nodded and ran off to find his friend. Gohan looked at everyone *Ok, keep it cool, Gohan don't let on about anything. * He took a deep breath, "Ok guys, what have you got?"
"Dende has been kidnapped," Piccolo started the conversation causing shocked gasps from Krillin and Yamcha, "I don't know who took him, but I know he's not on this planet." Tien and Chaoutzu nodded knowingly.
"I sensed his disappearance last night, but it was too late to do anything." Chaoutzu said ashamed of his lack of action.
"There was nothing you could have done Chaoutzu." Gohan said blankly. Piccolo looked at him closely for a moment before continuing.
"He's not dead, so the dragon balls can help us find him fast. If we all go after a dragon ball we can collect them all in a few hours' time." Everyone on the room nodded in agreement, everyone that is, except Gohan.
"Is that the best idea Piccolo? I mean if you use the dragon balls to find Dende then something goes wrong with this 'new enemy' we won't be able to fix anything." Everyone looked at Gohan, defeated; they knew he was right. "How about you put some supplies in the space capsule, and we leave to find him in the morning?" Their eyes widened.
"Gohan that's prefect, but we don't know where they were headed and... and the ship was stolen. I think it was the guy who kidnapped Dende." Bulma said, once again managing to lower the hopes of all those present.
"Woman, even a weakling like this brat can follow a ki in space. And, in case you've forgotten, there is a backup ship here, only the one in Satan City was stolen, and you are considered a genius on this planet, pah." Vegeta had finished his training and was now standing in the doorway looking annoyed. They all stared at him, still amazed at the fact he would give his assistance, even after all these years. "But then of course maybe you can't, maybe you do need my help after all. And if I can get a fight out of it, my troubles will be worth it."
"Fine then it's settled, we leave in the morning." Gohan said, almost angrily and stood up, "Do as you wish Vegeta, I have to go. Goodbye... goodbye to all of you." Gohan walked out of the room leaving a surprised Vegeta and a confused group of fighters behind.
"Why do I have this odd feeling like he's not telling us something?" Krillin asked, still staring out the door after Gohan.
"Because, he is. But then again he has changed drastically; he seems at peace with Goku's death."
"Let the boy be," Vegeta growled, "He has his own path to follow, where ever it may lead. Woman, I suggest you load up that ship now." Vegeta turned and stalked out of the room.
"He's right I should pack the ship and get some sleep, we all should. We have an early day tomorrow. And don't argue with my coming with you, I'm the only one that knows how to operate the ship well enough to follow Dende." Everyone nodded and, after agreeing when to meet in the morning, went their separate ways. Bulma walked down the empty halls of CC and entered the hanger where the spare ship was. *It's a good thing that we have a backup ship, since the guy who kidnapped Dende stole the other one. But I still don't understand how he got in with out setting off the alarms, he would have had to known the code, but only my father and I know the code. Then there's Gohan... when I saw him last time he time he seemed so different than he did tonight. He seemed distant and sad, but then of course Piccolo was probably right when he said that Gohan was hiding something... but what, and more importantly why? Vegeta seemed to know something, but he always knows more then he lets on, he has a certain mystery surrounding him... Kami... * Bulma yawned, then noticed that she had finished packing up the ship (without even realizing she was doing it) and decided to go to bed. She yawned again as she turned out the lights, closed the door, and turned the security alarm on. She did not notice that she had locked someone in the hanger with the ship, someone by the name of Gohan.
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"How the hell did the ship disappear without me knowing it? Ships just don't get up and walk away by themselves!" Bulma was beyond furious, someone had taken the ship, and this time there was no sign of where it had gone. "I mean you can't lift off with out making a noise. And even if could move it without lifting off there is no way of getting it out of that hanger without opening the doors, something like that would have defiantly set off the alarms! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!!!!"
Everyone, with the exception of Gohan, was gathered to go after Dende, but when they opened the hanger door they had discovered ship had disappeared without a trace. No one knew what to make of this new development. They all stood at the hanger's outside door confused and shocked for only a few minutes though, before their thoughts were interrupted. A yellow cloud descended from the sky with one occupant on board, a young girl that only Bulma recognized.
"You're Lime right, Gohan's friend? Hey wait, where is Gohan?" Bulma became suddenly worried. Everyone scanned for his Ki but all were unable to locate it.
"Please, I was wondering are there any more space ships that can be used to go after Dende."
"No there aren't... but how did you...?" Bulma asked harshly as everyone glared at her suspiciously.
"I will explain everything... Um... can we go inside and sit down though... It's kinda a long story." Everyone continued to look at her but Bulma led the way into the private living room once again. They entered the room and were shocked to find Vegeta waiting for them
"Well it's about time you showed up; I'm losing precious training time."
Everyone took up a comfortable position and waited for the young girl to start her story. "Ok... since I don't know many of you I think I should introduce myself. My name is Lime, when I was a girl Gohan came to my village and destroyed a shelter, one that was made to protect the people from Cell. He returned to my village yesterday working on a project for school, one about Cell. Since I already knew about him being the real hero of the Cell Games... he told me what had been going on. He said that someone out there was overriding Dende's powers. Then he told me how Dende was kidnapped."
"You can't be telling the truth," Bulma screeched, "He didn't know of Dende's disappearance until I told him that night!" Almost everyone in the room nodded in agreement.
"That's not true. He knew about it right after it happened... you see... well..."
"Spit it out you annoying little human or I'll spread your molecules across the galaxy!" Vegeta was highly annoyed, "Tell them where the brat has gone and why so that I can get back to my training." Now it was Vegeta's turn to be stared at by the group.
"Gohan is gone, he... he got a letter from the guy that kidnapped Dende and he took the ship to go after them." Lime spoke rather quickly, not wanting to keep Vegeta in the room any longer than necessary.
"Fine, the boy has gone and you can all relax now. The GR needs to be fixed again, so hurry up and finish this." Bulma was too busy staring at the green-eyed girl to listen to what Vegeta had just said to her.
"He knew about this and he didn't tell any of us? Why would he do that?" Krillin asked still slightly of suspicious of Lime.
"Because the note said if he told you Dende would die, and he said anyone who could negate something Dende did could probably tell if he told one of you. But since I couldn't and wouldn't try and stop him, he figured it was ok to tell me."
"That's true," Tien began slowly, "But why tell us now?"
"Because Gohan asked me to... he wanted all of you to know in case... in case he didn't come back. That's why I asked if there were any more ships, I had to make sure none of you would follow him. He didn't want any of you to get hurt, or for Dende to die because he didn't do what the note said, but he said that he would probably be back in about two days with Dende and some answers." Lime still had a grim look on her face; she didn't believe any more of what she was saying than they did.
"Have a little faith in the boy, he'll return. The man who stole the ship is not the one we have to worry about." Everyone looked at Vegeta.
"What do you mean?" Piccolo asked.
"The person who kidnapped Dende was not evil. I felt his Ki for a moment when he broke open the hanger doors to launch the ship. It was not an evil feeling, although it was familiar somehow..." Vegeta shook his head in annoyance at not being able to identify the Ki. "I'm going back to my training, inform me when they return woman." Vegeta exited the room quickly. The rest of the group continued to discuss what Gohan had done and how they could help. But after hours of thinking they had gotten nowhere. Lime left them; she knew that Gohan was on his own on this one and that they would not be able to help him at all.
Lime climbed back on board the Nimbus, but she did not return to the mountains, she instead headed to Satan City. Nimbus dropped her off on the roof of the school building and she thanked the cloud for the ride, informing it that she would need his services again soon. Lime slowly descended the stairs and entered the crowded halls, determined to fulfill her mission, find Videl.
RANDOM FACT: Although every important character in DBZ has died at least once Krillin holds the record for confirmed deaths, he died three times though out DB and DBZ. Once when King Piccolo arrived in DB, once on Namek, and again when Buu destroyed the Earth. Goku died in the fight with Raditz and in the fight with Cell, but his death on Namek is highly debated and he can therefore not tie the record. It's kinda pathetic that he dies so much yet is supposedly the strongest human fighter...
AN: I can't believe all the reviews, I'm so happy!! Thank you all for them, and keep writing them, every chapter, for ever and ever and ever. If you have questions make sure I have your email to respond, or on the flip side if you have info in response to my questions make sure I have your email in case all you manage to do is confuse me even more. THANKS AND REVIEW!!!!