A/N: Just thought I'd say... BTW, Goten is 13 and Trunks 14. I forgot to mention that... :D Just in case that lifts some confusion... I know, too close to Gohan's age, but hey, I'm allowing myself some creative freedom. ^^'

Gohan: *bounds in* So, wait, when was I born?

Cesna: The same time.

Gohan: Then when was Goten born?

Cesna: Uhh... Early?

Gohan: But that doesn't make any sense.

Cesna: Sure it does. Just shut up and read.

Gohan: Fine.

*************

The sun had come up an hour before at the Capsule Corp, but the inhabitants of it had been awake long before it, due to the tortured screams of Gohan, once again in pain. Quickly, Bulma gave him another dose of medicine. With a sense of worried curiosity, she noticed it took him longer to respond to the medicine this time than last night. Were they too late in giving it to him in the first place? Leaving Goku and Chi-Chi to their son, she made way to her computer, to see if there was any information on the disease that seemed to have a different effect on Gohan than Goku. She sat down and opened up the Capsule Corp search engine. She paused. What had they even called it...? Frustrated, she began to search for all viral heart diseases... She sighed when her information came up.

"This is going to take a lot longer than I thought," She murmured, seeing sites pull up about anything from heart attacks to heart transplants. It was then an idea came to mind. "Oh course, why didn't I think of that before?" She ran off into the depths of her lab, smiling brightly.

***********

Chi-Chi sighed deeply, attempting to relax. Bulma's mom realized that they would be spending a lot of time in there, and brought in a sofa, for comfort. They had been quiet since Gohan fell back into a relatively peaceful sleep. The two of them kept an intent gaze on Gohan's face, both of them noticing something was off.

"Goku..." She murmured. "He still looks like he's in pain..."

"I see it too," He whispered back. "Maybe not full blown agony, but discomfort at least,"

"It's almost like the medicine isn't working completely," She said, fiddling her fingers nervously. Goku wrapped his hands around hers to calm her.

"It'll be okay, honey, I bet Bulma's off right now trying to figure it out," He said softly in her ear, pulling her closer. Yet in all honesty, he was worried. /i worried. When he himself had the disease, he was able to resist it better. The only reason Goku collapsed when he got it was that he was fighting all out when he came down with it. Gohan had only been flying and he was felled by it faster... Something was definitely off about this, something that needed to be figured out as soon as possible.

"You're tense, honey," Chi-Chi whispered, not even looking at him. "Just sitting here is driving you insane, isn't it?" Now she looked to him, watching his oddly serious profile.

"Absolutely," He sighed. Chi-Chi began to laugh lightly. He tore his gaze from Gohan to look at her, eyes now wide and curious. "What is it?"

"It's just that..." She began to laugh again, now a little louder. Goku pouted slightly, having a feeling that he was being made fun of.

"Whaaaat?" He asked again, pulling his arms away from his wife so he could fold them over his chest defiantly. She pulled away a bit, still chuckling, and propped her legs on his lap. She ceased her laughing, but still held a large smile, amused by Goku's confusion. His brow narrowed, letting her know that he couldn't take much more suspense.

"I think it's funny..." She started. Then giggled again, but quickly decided to hurry and answer. "It's funny how you FINALLY know how I feel when you go off to fight some monster out to enslave or destroy the universe, while I sit at home, unable to do anything but wait and see if you come home alive. And you all have the NERVE to wonder why I'm so high strung!"

There was a moment of silence between the two. Goku looked at the ground, in deep thought. Chi-Chi's smile faltered; how would he react to being compared to her? Suddenly, he bust out in a fit of loud laughter. She was quite taken back from this reaction. Of course, Goku's laughter is well known for being contagious, so she joined him eventually.

"Wow, this is how you feel EVERY time I go off to fight? This is terrible!" He laughed. "I can't believe I've been DOING this to you!" He chuckled, looking at his no longer laughing, but still content wife. At the same time, they turned their gaze back to Gohan. It was small; Not a giant difference really, but they could swear their son was now smiling.

Laughter is the very best medicine.

**********

All morning, Videl fretted over what she was going to do once she got to the Capsule Corp. Would she bring a gift? What if he was actually awake? What if he was fine already, and he laughed at her for being so worried? Would she dress up, did it matter?

"I HATE THIS!!!" She screamed, throwing a fist into an innocent wall. "Okay... Normal clothes... Maybe a card..." She decided on finally. "Well, no card. I don't know what to write anyway... I hope just being there is enough for him..." She sighed deeply, realizing how odd her thoughts seemed. How could he care when he couldn't even open his eyes? At the same time, she felt like he just knew that she was there. How, she didn't know, and decided she wouldn't care.

Within ten minutes, she was dressed and her hair was done to her satisfaction. On her way out the door, she looked back to a clock. 6:45 am. Her first class would start at 9:35, so that would give her almost three hours to spend by Gohan's side. She smiled at the thought, wondering how she would make herself focus on schoolwork at a time like this. She decided to worry about it when the time came, and that for now she would focus on more imminent things.

**********

Goku and Chi-Chi had fallen asleep on the sofa after their little giggle fit. They hadn't gotten any sleep from the night before.

There was a knock on the door.

"Goku... Get the door..." Chi-Chi moaned. He opened one eye, yawning slightly.

"Come in..." He said, sitting up and rubbing at his face. Videl walked in, looking fairly awake, yet emotionally tired. Her eyes fell on Gohan, and a deep sadness filled her aura.

"You don't have to stay awake on my account," She said with a small smile. Just then, Trunks walked in.

"Hey, have you guys seen Goten?" He asked. Goku almost blinked one eye at a time he was so tired. Trunks sighed. "Mom said you guys need some rest... Come on, she has a bed for you two," Goku nodded slowly, and nudged Chi-Chi, who moaned and turned over. Grunting, he picked up his tired wife and walked out past Trunks. Trunks turned and looked at Videl.

"You a friend of Gohan's?" He asked. She nodded.

"I'm a classmate," She informed. "I just got here,"

"Okay, just checking," Trunks smiled and closed the door behind him. Videl turned back to Gohan and sat down next to him. He looked so serene sleeping there. If she hadn't seen him in so much pain the other night, she would have thought nothing was wrong and that he was simply napping.

"Hey, Gohan," She said lightly. "It's Videl,"

She sat there for a little, shifting in her seat, unable to think of anything to say. She was so bad at this! Gohan was usually the one to start a conversation, and here he was, unable to say anything. Thankfully, no tears came this time, for he looked like he was in such peaceful sleep. She hesitated, but reached out and held his hand, gripping tightly. "Get through this, Gohan. Beat it! I know you can!" She gripped tighter. "You're going to be in HUGE trouble if you die!" She laughed lightly as she said this.

She gasped as a very, very faint smirk appeared on Gohan's face. 'He knows I'm here...' She thought, unsure of how this made her feel. He tightened his grip on her hand slightly. This made her brow narrow. His grip was so weak...

Remembering how badly he was able to crush her hand the other night, this made her worried.

"Gohan, are you alright?" She asked him, bringing her other hand to his as well. "Even though you aren't screaming this time... You still seem... off..." She rubbed his hand with her thumb as his smirk faded. "Oh, Gohan, I wished you could talk to me right now," She laid her head down on the edge of his bed and sighed deeply. 'At least I feel a bit better,' She sighed inwardly. Videl laid there for a long while, simply staring at her hands on his, examining her feelings. Her mind was screaming. The logical part of it, anyway. Videl Satan, the very embodiment of fear for the thugs and criminals in the city. And here she was... She narrowed her eyes. Had this crisis really made her feel this way? Or magnify feelings that were already there? Oh, how she hated this. She closed her eyes, falling back into the recesses of her mind. Life was so simple in college, she didn't have to worry about the way she felt. Gohan choose a really crappy time to get so deathly sick.

(A/N: Sorry, once again time to intervene and explain some things. Some characters getting ready to pop up are people I'm sure you've never heard of. Because I made them up. BASICALLY... Veda, Runya, Satra and Luke are new friends of Goten and Trunks, and are all close with the Son and Briefs family. And Veda's Vegeta's niece. Long story. It would take too long to explain fully.... O.o And it's not *REALLY* important to the plot, it's an entirely different story... Sorry for all of the random fan characters popping up....)

*************

About two hours later, in the living room of the Capsule Corp, were Goten, Trunks, Satra, Veda, Runya, Luke, Gochi and Bra, all of whom were doing nothing but sitting around, absolutely silent. Satra fell asleep on Trunks, who was stroking her hair. Veda was in a corner hugging her knees, Runya sitting next to her, looking at the ceiling fan. Luke was in a chair off to the side, arms crossed, tapping one foot. Bra was sitting at the foot of his chair, sniffling every once in awhile. Goten was lying down on a sofa in an embrace with Gochi. Gochi would spontaneously cry, and Goten would soothe her by rubbing her back. He wouldn't allow himself to cry in front of all his friends. Eventually, tension broke.

"Why won't Bulma let us see him?!" Veda suddenly shot. "Trunks, do you have any idea?!"

He sighed. "She wants to make vaccinations for us all, so we don't come down with it. Goku already had it, so he's immune. Chi-Chi's taken a bit of the medicine, so has Goten and Gochi. She doesn't have enough for all of us yet,"

"What about that girl that keeps coming by?" Runya asked. This made them all pause. Veda smiled slightly, knowing which girl that was from previous conversations with him. She looked down to the ground; glad Gohan was coming out of his emotional barrier.

"I think Mom is going to give her some today, but she's been working on something since early this morning..." He murmured.

"AHA! I DID IT!!!" They heard a far off yell. Bulma rushed into the room, holding two small looking laptop type machines. Everyone gave her a blank stare. Satra's eyes fluttered open at Bulma's sudden outburst.

"What?" She murmured.

"Watch," Bulma said giddily, placing the two machines on the coffee table, and plopping herself down in front of them. "I hope I haven't moved the table in the future.... Or that I don't have coffee on it..."

"...Mom?" Trunks asked, getting up and moving by her side. Everyone else eventually followed his lead, surrounding Bulma.

"Alright, I'm going to communicate with Mirai in the future to talk about the disease Gohan has. Maybe they've done more research on it and he has more information,"

"Ummm," Trunks murmured. If this were to work, they would see his future self. "I don't know how I feel about this..."

"Don't be silly honey, it could save Gohan,"

"YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW IF THE MEDICINE IS GOING TO WORK?!?!" Veda screeched.

"It's affecting Gohan differently, so I'm concerned," Bulma said simply, not taking her eyes off of her creations sitting in front of her. "Okay, I'm going to turn them both on..." She did so, and her face appeared on both the screens. "Goten, get down here so we can do a test run,"

"What?" He asked, when she suddenly forced him down in front of the second machine. Now on Bulma's, it showed Goten's face, and on Goten's, it showed Bulma's.

"Okay, it does work. Now I'm going to send this one twenty years into the future...." She pushed a switch on Goten's, and it disappeared. Everyone stared at where the laptop was in disbelief. "It should be in the future... Wow!"

Instead of Goten on Bulma's screen, they saw a much darker version of the Capsule Corp that they themselves were in. They saw the couch, and in it, a very, very surprised looking Mirai Trunks, who just about spit out his coffee he was drinking.

"Hey Mirai!" Bulma giggled, waving. Mirai was blinking at the screen, eyes wide, trying to figure out what the heck was going on. "It's me, your mom from the past!"

Still in slight disbelief, Mirai got down on the ground in front of the screen, inspecting it closely. "...Mom?!" He exclaimed. "What in the world...?" On his screen he saw Trunks push Goten aside to get a look at his future self. He laughed a bit.

"It's great to see you again, Mirai!" Bulma giggled. "How am I?"

It took a moment for Mirai to figure out who she was talking about, but then he finally realized it. He smiled sadly.

"...You died about five years ago..." He murmured. Bulma's face fell.

"So... You're living there all by yourself?!" She asked.

"Um, not exactly,"

"DADDY!!! WHATCHA LOOKIN AT?!" A small child squealed and ran up to him. She looked about two, and had black pigtails and bright blue eyes.

"Oh, hey Aurora," He laughed. "Look, it's Grandma!" The small child inspected the screen carefully, making Bulma and the other gawk.

"I'M A DADDY!" Trunks exclaimed, jumping back.

"I thought you died," She said simply. "I'm confused,"

"This is grandma from the past," Mirai explained. "I'll tell you more later,"

"HOLY CRAP!!!" Bulma screeched. Aurora slammed her hands onto her mouth.

"Grandma said a baaaaad word!" She said. Mirai laughed lightly.

"Dad! Aurora stole my training capsule!" Another voice called out, but this one was more masculine.

"Oh, good morning Aleron..." Mirai sighed.

"ALERON!" Yet another voice called. Two more children appeared in the background, one girl, one boy. They looked about five and both had purple hair and blue eyes.

"My boy has been busy!" Bulma laughed loudly. Trunks just about had a hernia.

"AM I A FREAKING BUNNY IN THE FUTURE!?" He shouted. Aurora's eyes got wider.

"You said a bad word, daddy!" She exclaimed. Mirai laughed at this.

"Yeah, what potty mouths!" He sniggered.

"Wow, neat-o," The five-year-old girl giggled and started messing with the screen.

"Hey, don't touch that! Grandma worked really hard to get that working so she could communicate with us!" Mirai chided. "Sorry, Mom, but that's what parenthood does... I'm sure you're familiar with the feeling... So why'd you beep me up?"

Getting over the shock of seeing her grandchildren she never knew about, Bulma coughed and tried to remember why she DID 'beep him up,'. She looked off, thinking about it. Goten scowled, pushing himself back into view of the screen.

"GOHAN!!!" He screamed. Bulma cowered in fear.

"Right, right!" She laughed nervously. "Chill!" She smiled weakly. "Right, Mirai... You see, Gohan came down with the heart disease Goku got..."

"You need more medicine?" He asked.

"I was able to make more, that's okay," She laughed. "The problem is that it's... affecting him differently..."

"Hmm...." Mirai looked down, in deep thought. "Kids, I need to talk to Grandma right now, go play in another room for now, okay?" The kids scampered off, not taking long to start arguing. He sighed and looked back to the screen. "When did you get him the medicine?"

"About six hours after he first got severe symptoms," Bulma replied, lowering her gaze.

"He doesn't have the benefit of early intervention then..." Mirai sighed. "Six hours is too long,"

"I should have put together the medicine faster!" Bulma cried, slamming a fist into the table.

"Mom, calm down!" Trunks insisted, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Six hours is amazing for what you had to work with! You did the best you could..."

"He's right, you know. Gohan still has a fair chance of living,"

"CHANCE?!" Veda and Goten both wailed, Veda looking faint while Goten looked angry.

"..." Mirai didn't reply at first. He was apparently thinking of how to respond best to this. "Yes, chance. With each moment that goes by, his opportunity for survival dwindles. Six hours, you say? His chances at living are currently at approximately 25%,"

"...The odds are against him..." Runya whispered.

"Twenty... five..." Goten said, gritting his teeth and backing away from the others. "Why Gohan?" He leaned against a wall and slid down to a sitting position, and Gochi came over to him.

"Twenty five is good, Gotie-chan!" Gochi giggled and hugged him. He didn't respond to her, not wanting to steal away the ray of hope that she had. 'So naïve... Just like Dad...' He thought sadly. 'What would she do if Gohan actually...' He looked to the ground, the concept of Gohan actually dying becoming more real by the second. It would tear their family into pieces if it happened. The disease was a natural cause, so they wouldn't be able to wish him back! Death was death this time.

"You've got to be kidding me!!" Bulma screamed. "This is a sick joke! Gohan HAS to live!" Mirai smiled sadly.

"I wish there was something I could do... Man... Both our dimensions without a Gohan..."

"STOP SAYING THAT!" Veda screamed. "I DON'T CARE WHAT ANY OF YOU SAY, GOHAN'S GOING TO LIVE, CURSE IT! TALKING LIKE HE'S ALREADY DEAD ISN'T GOING TO HELP A RETCHED THING!!!! HE'S HALF SAIEN, HE IS SO MUCH STRONGER THAN THE REST OF US, A STUPID THING LIKE A HEART DISEASE IS NOT, REPEAT, NOT GOING TO KILL HIM!!" She turned heal and stormed off. All eyes watched her as she went into Gohan's room, slamming the door, with the exception of Goten's.

'If Gohan dies...' He thought sadly. 'It'll do more harm than Frieza, Cell, and Buu combined could do...'

************

To love someone is to give yourself entirely to them, even though you know
that one thing will eventually part you....

Death.