Disclaimer: I don't own DBZ. The question is: do you?

A/N: YAY!!! I get to write more about my hot man!!! Mirai Gohan is a very awesome hot man. (Ey, Rin-twin, there's just something about those Mirai boys, huh? ^^ ) He is very hot and very awesome and… ok, enough about that. ^^ This is a sequel of sorts to "End of Innocence," which was my first fic. You don't really have to have read it to understand this, I guess, but you could always read it anyways. And review it. ^^ Aaaaaaaaaaanyways, this one covers the thirteen years Gohan spent fighting alone against the androids.

And thanks Rin-twin for offering up ideas for a title! *hug*

Rin: Hug!

Mr. Piccolo: …

Kao: …alrighty, thanks to Mr. Piccolo, too, for your… insight (that you only shared w/ your girlfriend and not me) ^^

Rin: lol

Mr. Piccolo: …

Losing the World

"And there's no time left for losin'; when you stand they fall." ~the Goo Goo Dolls

Ch.1: Under the Sapphire Sky [Grave Thoughts]

Tears fell from Son Gohan's eyes, leaving trails on his grubby cheeks as he put the last headstone in place. The earth still lay fresh atop five new graves. Piccolo-san. Vegeta. Krillin. Yamcha. Tenshinhan. There was a headstone for Chaozu, too, but it was more of a memorial than a grave, seeing that there was no body.

The wind ruffled the boy's scruffy black hair as he knelt wordlessly in front of the graves. The sun disappeared behind the mountains, giving way to a strikingly clear night sky. A slight chill could be felt in the air, but Gohan barely noticed. There were no distinct thoughts in his mind, only a swirl of emotions and memories.

Gohan had awoken in the bloodied ruins of South City around mid-afternoon. The memory of why he was there came back and hit him full-force, like a mighty blow to the gut. Seeing the endless number of corpses lining the street, he fell to his knees and vomited until his stomach was empty. Normally he wouldn't have done so – he had seen more than his share of death on Namek – but at this moment it was more than he could handle. When he was sure there was nothing more, he picked himself up off the ground at set about the painful task of finding his friends' bodies.

Before he knew it, Gohan found himself at Capsule Corp. How he had managed to fly there with five bodies in tow remained a mystery, but somehow he had done it. His body felt numb as he rang the doorbell. A rather stressed-out Bulma pulled open the door. The look on her face told Gohan she was about ready to bite his head off, but then her gaze fell on the bloody corpses. Her hand flew up to her mouth, and he watched as the horror and shock registered on her face. "Oh, Kami-sama!" she gasped. "Gohan… how?"

The boy looked up at her, his eyes a black void. "T-there were two of them," he said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. "Androids. Piccolo-san… and the others… everybody tried, but they were so much stronger…" Gohan clenched his fists. "They died one after another… first Piccolo-san… then Vegeta… and the others… Chaozu, too. He blew himself up for Ten… They all fought, but it wasn't enough. I'm all alone now… and the androids are still out there…"

Tears now ran freely down his face. A very pale-faced Bulma stooped down to Gohan's level and hugged him tightly. "Hey, don't say that," she said shakily. "You've still got me… and your mom… we're not going anywhere, I promise." Gohan nodded, choking back more tears. Bulma glanced over his shoulder and stood up. She swallowed painfully. "W-well, we'd better get these guys cleaned up…"

Gohan slung the lifeless form of Piccolo onto his back and followed Bulma inside. "ChiChi," Bulma called softly as they entered, "Gohan's here."

The boy heard his mother's voice long before he actually saw her. "Gohan! Do you have any idea how worried I've been?! You just taking off like that, and those reports on the news about South City—" The black-haired woman sped 'round the corner, and Gohan's eyes met hers. "Oh, Gohan," ChiChi moaned at the sight of her soul-weary son. And with that, she promptly passed out.

An hour later, Gohan stood in the hallway arguing with Bulma. "Oh, come on. Do you really think I'm going to let you do it by yourself?" the woman snapped impatiently. "Think again, kid."

"But you don't get it," Gohan argued. "It's something I have to do myself."

"No. You are not burying them all by yourself. I am going to help you. End of discussion."

"But—"

"No buts! We'll bury them next to your father together. Got it?"

"NO!" Gohan yelled, his head bowed. "I have to do this myself," he insisted. His gaze met Bulma's, eyes pleading. "You don't understand. You weren't there… you didn't see them die…"

The mechanical genius stared at the boy in silence. After a moment her expression softened. "Alright," she responded gently, "go ahead. Do what you need to do."

The tears continued to flow as Gohan knelt in front of the graves. Dozens of stars twinkled overhead in the pure sapphire sky. The boy childishly crawled over to the space between Goku's grave and Piccolo-san's. He lay down on the grass and curled up in a fetal position. His body racked with sobs, and a single thought ran through his mind: Why did it have to turn out like this? As he lay there under the heavens, dirt mixed with the tears that ran down his cheeks.

And for the first time in years, Gohan cried himself to sleep.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Gohan? Gohan!"

"Ugh…" The boy groaned sleepily. His eyes gently cracked open. He blinked several times, and the familiar concerned face that loomed above him came into focus. "…Mom?"

A shadow of relief crossed ChiChi's worried features. "Oh, sweetie, thank goodness you're alright!" she exclaimed. "What were you thinking, staying out all night like that? Anything could have happened, you could've caught cold, you could've been hurt—"

Gohan slowly brought himself to a sitting position, his body stiff from being curled up all night. "I'm sorry, Mom," he said, his voice apologetically sincere. "I guess I must've fallen asleep out here. I didn't mean to worry you." He looked up at the refreshingly blue morning sky. There was hardly a cloud in sight, and he could see the gentle play of sunlight as it fell through the leaves of the trees. "It's a really nice day, isn't it?" he commented. His gaze fell on the graves around him. "It's hard to believe that just yesterday…" The child's voice trailed off.

ChiChi sank to her knees with a sigh. She reached out and hugged her son tightly. "Oh, my poor baby…"

It would have been so easy for Gohan to bury his face in his mother's chest and cry. He was a child. That was his right. But his tears had been soaked up by the earth the night before. Right now he felt nothing but a dull weariness, one that was ill fitting of a boy just a few days shy of ten years old.

Gohan looked up as ChiChi released him from her embrace. She picked the grass from his unruly black hair with a small smile. "It's about time we got you home and cleaned up," she said. "Honestly, just look at you! You're a mess!"

Gohan glanced down. He was indeed in need of a good wash. His fingernails were gritty; his hands, caked with mud. Dirt and dried blood marred his blue gi, and grass clung to him in random places. "Umm, yeah… cleaning up might be a good idea…"

Back at the Son residence, Gohan sank down in the tub. The dirt made dark swirls in the water as it detached from his skin. The young boy smiled bitterly. The warm water might be able to wash away the dirt and grime that blackened his body, but it could not wash away the pain that blackened his heart. Closing his eyes, Piccolo-san's dying words came back to him…

"Promise me… that you will live… to fight… another day…"

He leaned back and looked toward the clear blue sky. If he was going to keep his promise – and there was no doubt in his mind that he would – then he would have to do some serious training. Somewhere in the back of his mind he vaguely recalled that he was now a Super Saiyan.

Yeah, well, so was Vegeta, pointed out a little voice in the back of his head.

Gohan sighed. This was not going to be easy. He would have to train harder than he had ever trained in his life if he hoped to be any sort of match against the androids. And since they had no ki, it would be nearly impossible to figure out where the deadly duo would strike next. Gohan would have to be ready to face them again at any time.

Daddy… Piccolo-san… Krillin… Gohan thought desperately, why did you leave me alone?

He soaked in the tub a while longer, completely lost in thought. Finally he noticed that the water had grown cold and hopped out. He wrapped a towel around his waist and proceeded to empty the wooden tub. The filthy water flowed through the grass, where it was soaked up by the earth. Gohan set the tub down and turned to go inside.

When the boy entered the house, he found Bulma watching TV on the couch and ChiChi cooking something on the stove. "Good morning, Gohan," Bulma greeted him. "It's good to see that you're alright."

Gohan offered a small smile in response as he wandered behind the couch to see what the blue-haired woman was watching. He was greeted by news coverage of the previous day's attack. "Here we are live at the ruins of South City," announced the reporter. "As workers clear up the wreckage, authorities are still on the lookout for the pair behind yesterday's attacks…"

Gohan had no interest in listening further. Instead, he headed straight toward his room. Once there, he closed the door behind him. He didn't want to hear the media's twisted version of what had happened. He already knew what he needed to know – that his friends and hundreds of other innocent people had died yesterday, and the androids were to blame.

He dully pulled a clean blue gi from his closet and put it on. Daylight poured in through his window unnoticed as the boy numbly fell back onto his bed with a plop.

I'm all alone now…