The Corridor of Time
BY MARA ROBERTS
With a whoosh of displaced air, Gohan found himself on Kami's lookout. And Kami was there to greet him. But where were the others? They were probably at the island, he guessed. He looked up. The sky was clear blue; it was a beautiful day. Wait a minute – BLUE? The sky should be black! And there should be storm clouds, and… Gohan shrugged it off. Maybe his revival had been the last wish and the clouds dissipated really, really fast.
Kami and Mr. Popo headed towards him, warily. Gohan, in his innocence and shock at being alive, didn't notice.
"Hello Mr. Kami-sama, Mr. Popo-sama." Gohan bowed respectfully. "I hope you don't mind my abrupt departure, but I really want to go home right now."
And with that he took off, leaving a very shocked and confused God and His assistant behind.
Popo sputtered, "Who… was that?"
"I've no idea," Kami replied.
The Stratosphere
Gohan decided to head for the island; that was where the gang usually gathered, especially if they were summoning the dragon. The city would be shocked at the sight of the giant lizard, and their home was too far out of the way to assemble there easily, even considering most of the gang could fly.
"Hey, there's the old man," Gohan said excitedly to himself. It wasn't the usual island, why was he out here? It didn't matter, though. He could sense Roshi's Ki very clearly. So where were the others? Perhaps Roshi would know. He waved at the island, hoping that some of the people there would see him. Two people were sparring down below. Krillian and Yamcha? They seemed kind of different, but he couldn't place his finger on it. He materialized between them.
And they attacked… him?
Without even thinking about it he blocked their blows and whipped them into each other before tossing them into the shoreline. It was shallow water, only a couple of inches deep.
The two looked shocked; they were after all, Master Roshi's pupils and among the top fighters in the world. The strange boy's arrival had surprised them and they attacked, fearing evil intentions. When they came to enough to see a small boy, about five years old… They were humiliated at having been defeated single handedly by a toddler! Both of them! At once!
Just inside the doorway, Roshi, who was watching his students, fell over anime style.
But their shock was nothing compared to Gohan's. Krillian and Yamcha… were kids. He hadn't realized from the air, but there were definite differences. Krillian would grow a couple more feet and Yamcha's face would mature a bit. The only explanation Gohan could conceive was that he was in the past. But how? He decided to play along with whatever was happening. He had nowhere else to go, so he might as well stay with Master Roshi, Krillian, Yamcha and Dad. But where was his father? He decided not to ask any questions or act like he knew them. So what would he say? Maybe he could ask to be made a pupil of Master Roshi… but that could wait. He wanted to make sure his future friends would be okay.
"I'm sorry I attacked you. You two startled me, and I just reacted," Gohan apologized, helping them out of the water.
Krillian gave him a funny lucky, and said, "Hmmm."
His clothes are funny, Krillian thought. He wore a blue body stocking and some sort of armor over that. Black boots and white gloves completed the ensemble. Krillian had never seen the like of it before.
"That's okay, uh… kid. You startled us, too. That's why we attacked in the first place. I guess all our reflexes are overly taut."
"Yeah, I guess." Gohan put his hand behind his head in a classic Son™ gesture.
Krillian and Yamcha exchanged a glance. Except for his age, this kid looked just like Goku!
"Say, kid, what's your name?"
Gohan stammered. "It's, uh, Gohan."
"Really," Yamcha asked. "Y'know, you kinda look like our friend Goku."
"R-really?"
"Yeah, man. It's freaky," Krillian replied.
"Well, maybe we're related, or something."
"Maybe, what's your full name?" Yamcha asked.
"S- Son Gohan."
"Yeah, I'd say you're definitely related. Goku's full name is Son Goku, so, I guess you're cousins or something."
"Yeah, I guess so…"
At that moment Roshi recovered from his faint and opened the porch door.
Roshi's Island
Year 752
"Welcome to the island. Well, kid, you look exhausted. Why don't you come on in and we'll fix you up something to eat," Roshi invited Gohan into the house.
Gohan perked up at the mention of food. He hadn't eaten since… since, well, before he died. His stomach grumbled happily and he pranced on into the house and turned into the corridor leading to the kitchen.
Krillian and Yamcha exchanged a glance. They hadn't finished their training yet, and Launch was taking a nap so lunch wasn't ready… oh. Of course, Roshi would be the one to go wake her, and he probably hoped that by surprising her with the little change in routine he'd catch her in something he shouldn't see… The two students shook their head in weary dismay, well used to the tricks the old pervert used to try and satisfy his frisky side. His only decent attribute was that he was a martial arts master. They grinned and headed in.
" 'K Gohan, I'll show you to the…" Yamcha started to say 'kitchen' when he stopped. The kid was already there, seated at the table. Had he been here before?
Gohan saw the odd look Yamcha was giving him, realized his mistake and spoke up. "Umm-hum. That soup smells delicious!"
Yamcha nodded in agreement. Of course, Launch had left the soup to warm while she took the nap. The kid had a good nose, just like… Goku. Yamcha wondered. Yet another trait that runs in the family. Those two must be closely related.
As he was passing by Gohan, a thought struck him. Glancing to see his Gohan had a tail he sighed in relief when he realized if he had had one, it was gone now.
Krillian eyed Yamcha him curiously, until he saw where Yamcha was looking. Panicking himself, he checked over to make sure that, yes indeed, their new friend was tailless.
Gohan, oblivious to their looks, contentedly sniffed the air, waiting for the pot to boil.
Just then Launch entered the room, yawning, followed by a disappointed Roshi. Gohan looked at her and asked, "What's your name?"
Launch started at the question, and smiled sleepily.
"Oh, hello there," she said in all politeness. "My name is Launch. What's your name?"
"Son Gohan. It's a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Launch."
"Oh, wow. I just realized that we didn't introduce ourselves. My name's Krillian, kid. And my buddy and sparing partner over there is Yamcha. And behind Launch is our master, the Turtle Hermit, Master Roshi." Krillian finished his little speech with a, "and Goku isn't here but I can't wait until you meet him. It'll be like looking into an older version of yourself!"
Gohan chucked wryly. They didn't know the half of it.
"So, boy, what are you doing here? Did you come to receive my training?" Roshi inquired. "I don't take just anybody, but you seem very strong for your age, and you're young enough not to have been taught incorrectly. You're the perfect student to mold into a master."
"Well, not really. I have been trained, but I wouldn't mind learning from another sensei." He had considered turning the offer down, but it wasn't a bad idea to learn new techniques. He'd just have to be careful not to hurt anybody.
"You've been trained? But you're just a kid!" Krillian exclaimed.
"Well, you're never to young to start learning. I should have known, after seeing how you knocked those two into the water." Seeing, Roshi thought to himself. I barely even saw a blur. I must have been distracted, Roshi mused.
By this time Launch had moved over to the stove and turned up the dial. She faced Gohan and gasped. "Oh, my. You have a tear in your shirt. Take it off and I'll fix it for you. It will only take a second."
"Hmm…" Krillian realized Launch was right; he should have noticed it earlier. A martial artist should always be aware of everything, so as not to be taken by surprise.
"Okay," Gohan said, taking off the armor and body stocking, handing her the torn pieces of clothing.
"That's nasty!" she exclaimed, taken by surprise at the black and blue mark that had formed on Gohan's abdomen. She bustled over to the medicine cabinet and starting searching through the supplies before finally selecting an ointment and swabbing at his bruise.
"Does that hurt?" she asked, concerned.
"No, not really."
"Good." She left with clothes in hand, intending to fix and wash them.
Krillian, however, was in slight shock. Thos Gohan kid had a very defined physique for anybody, but for a child…? Just what kind of training could give someone who's still supposed to be mostly baby fat such an imposing set of muscle?
"Hey… uh… Gohan? Just who was your sensei?"
Gohan turned to face him before replying (babbling, really), "He prefers to remain anonymous. He only trained me to fight in a battle, after I almost killed my uncle who was torturing my dad because Dad wouldn't kill for my uncle, and Uncle had kidnapped me so Dad went after him, and some friends of my uncle were going to show up in a year to get revenge on Uncle's death so he – my sensei – kidnapped me (for the second time that day) and trained me for the year."(1)
All this was said in a breathy rush. Krillian could only nod, dumbly, pretending to understand all of what was just said. He understood something about a Dad… wait a minute, a Dad?!? This kid had family, and they had to be worried. This kid had been kidnapped for the past year…?
"Your dad has got to be worried about you, Gohan. What's his phone number?"
Gohan's mind raced. "Um, no need to call him. He died protecting me from Uncle."
"Oh. Sorry," Krillian apologized.
"Don't be; it wasn't your fault."
"What about your mother?"
"She's… kinda… gone, too," Gohan stumbled through his reply, unsure of what excuse to make, when he realized he had just implied her death. At least he wouldn't have to be returned to any family, if there were a way to get back to the future. I really need to learn how to lie.
Krillian grimaced, aware he had probably evoked a painful memory, and decided to drop the subject of family for now.
Yamcha sidled up next to Gohan.
"Hey, Gohan," he said, to get his attention, and his mind off his mother, "Just what is that armor made of, anyway?"
It worked like a charm, or so he thought. Actually, Gohan was relieved there were no more prying questions to answer. "Um, I don't know. A… friend… gave them to me, and I never asked."
"Yeah, oh well. You have a nice figure, so you really must practice the martial arts pretty seriously huh?"
"Yeah. Mom wanted me to be a scholar, but sensei kinda put a dent in that plan."
"Did you really fight in a battle? With the men who wanted to avenge your uncle?"
Krillian looked up. He hadn't realized Yamcha had listened to their conversation, and had apparently made more sense of it than he had. He looked at Yamcha, appraisingly. He would have made a decent fighter even without Master Roshi's tutelage. He pays close attention to his environment. I'll have to work on that myself, so I don't fall behind.
Roshi had been listening all the while, too. People could learn a lot if they'd only shut up. Just who was this mysterious sensei? He doubted he had been very kind to the boy. Gohan must have been hard pressed and constantly pushed to the brink of exhaustion to be so muscle-bound within a year. He sighed to himself. On the other hand, it did seem to be a matter of life and death, so the sensei may not have had much choice on the matter. Gohan's uncle sounds dangerous, after what he did. No doubt his friends were, too.
Gohan prickled a bit, picking up a little of Roshi's thoughts. Yeah, he said to himself. They were deadly. They killed Yamcha and my sensei and Krillian was hurt really badly. And then he survived, only to die on Namek. I wonder if Piccillo and Bulma have made it to Earth yet? And if my dad is safe. He shook off those thoughts. They didn't help him at all. Besides, Bulma would have come to after a while and taken care of Mr. Piccillo, if only to save the dragonballs. Anything could be fixed with them, no matter what else went wrong. Anything, he said sternly to himself.
But he knew, deep inside, that things had gone wrong, drastically so. Somehow the dragon had revived him in the past, and he didn't even know if his friends were aware of it.
As he sank deeper into his thoughts, something pulled his mind back to the surface. Mmm-Hmm. That smelled good.
Launch was placing a bowl of chicken noodle soup before him. He dug in, forgetting the unpleasant possibilities. Gohan stopped trying to figure out how things had gone so wrong to land him in the past, or how to get back home. He ate his fill, providing Krillian with another similarity between Gohan and his best friend, Goku. It really was beginning to get freaky. When Gohan's stomach was satisfied, he let out a yawn and sighed contentedly.
"Well, you've had a busy day. Boys, why don't you show Gohan to your rooms and let him sleep? Then, back outside for training."
"Yessir," Yamcha replied, getting up.
"This way, Gohan."
After tucking him in under the covers and wishing goodnight, even though it was just after the middle of the day, the two returned outside and practiced their lessons from the day before.
Tomorrow, Roshi decided, he would see how much this boy knew about martial arts, and see to his education as well. A mother's wishes should always be observed, after all.
So Krillian and Yamcha baked away in the hot sun, and Gohan curled his feet beneath him and dreamed happily of days to come. His last thought was of Yamcha and Krillian. It's just as well I gave my real name. I wouldn't have been able to hide the similarities between my dad and me.
(1) For any grammar geeks out there like myself (ok, I'm not so great concerning grammar. I'm dependent on spell/grammar check), 'Dad' and 'Uncle' are not capitalized when following a possessive pronoun, such as 'my'.
Oh, and if you've seen dragonball, you know Roshi took his students to a bigger island to train.