(The author notes are pretty long in this chapter, but I suggest that you read them in this one especially. Please read it/them.)
Super Saiyan Aragorn:
Thanks to Super Saiyan Aragorn, I think, 0.o for telling me the thing about Trunks and the future and Cell. Yeah, I did already know that, but, ya know how it is, when you're writing, you often times forget to put something in, no matter how many times you go back and read it over again. Anyways, thanks for reminding me, I went back and fixed it and some other stuff in previous chapters.
So, just cause Super Saiyan Aragorn is the first person, off the top of my head, to actually listen to me and criticize me in some way, besides Kerwin luv ya, I dedicate this chapter to him, or her. For being such a devoted DBZ fan, and for helping me in my story. Anyways......
Okay, first, thank you all for reviews, even if some of them weren't all that uplifting. Well, don't hate me for not updating as soon as I said I would. I kind-a went on a "surprise" vacation. Sigh -- I found out the day before I left and we were gone for what seemed like forever! Anyways, I know the last chapter was a little boring, all of the chapters in this story have been rather boring up to this point, but it had to be done. But I've noticed a good thing coming out of it, sort-of, my writing is developing more with every chapter to every story I write, so they will become more and more interesting to read and as a story. And, yes okay, so I lied in the fourth chapter, it's within the next couple chapters that things really start to pick up. I just had to do the boring recaps and get them all over with.
The story will really start to get better by the......oh......8th, 9th maybe 10th, chapter. But really, the big thing and the reason the story's kind-a boring, so far, is cause I'm doing a filler in a time of peace, not a lot of actiony like stuff, yet. So just, bear with me until the real part of the story develops. It probably won't be for a long while yet, but it will eventually come, where Gohan's in High school, Videl is in the picture, and a new threat is in sights. But it won't be the same old boring evil villains with a body structure similar to a humans. It will most likely and hopefully be more of a brain solver then a fight and fight and fight forever kind-a thing. Though I love DBZ, the long dragged out fighting scenes and always the same kind-of villain to face, really gets on my nerves after a while. I mean, seriously, not every bad thing or alien you face out there, most likely isn't going to have a human like body with two hands, two feet and what not.
Okay, ONE LAST THING! (or a few ) I am going to reply to some of you people in the next chapter cause since I'm making you all read this one, no sense in putting it in now. Also this chapter is over 20 pages long, that's a big number for me, so I would really appreciate a nice deep thorough review, if it's within your power and ability to write a descriptive one. And this is the first chapter to this story that really talks or hints about anything that might be inappropriate, besides the whole sex talk in the last chapter, to some of you. (There's a shower scene in this chapter, ooww. ) But, hey, it's PG-13, so, YEAH!
Disclaimer: Veener Veener Veener......Veeeeeeneeeeeerrr!......Wiggle-Chicken Dance, Oobaly, Ooobaly, Oobaly!......What?......
K, here we go, onward to the story!
AC My End
Chapter 6
Dream or Vision?
Krillen had been sitting and talking with Roshie, at Kame House, for the past 3 to 4 hours. They were talking about all that had happened at the Cell games.
Krillen had gone straight to Roshie's after leaving the look out and it only took him about half an hour to reach his place. He knew that everyone had left the look out at the same time, except Piccolo, and knew that Yamcha was planning on coming to Roshie's place too, but he wasn't there yet. Krillen was starting to wonder a little bit what was taking him so long.
"Gosh, what's taking Yamcha so long?" Krillen asked himself out loud.
He and Roshie were sitting on the floor at the coffee table in the living room, where they'd been ever since Krillen had gotten there.
"What?" Roshie asked. He'd heard something about Yamcha, and that was about it.
"What about Yamcha?" He asked more specifically this time.
Krillen quickly looked from his arm to Roshie's face.
"Oh," He started. "Nothing, it's just, I know Yamcha was planning on coming here after leaving the look out and he's not here yet. Not that I'm worried, he's probably just off somewhere celebrating and trying to pick up some chicks. It's just that we all left the look out at the same time and I was expecting him to be here sooner......Though he did go in the other direction when we finally did leave......" Krillen said, answering his own question.
"Oh," Roshie said sounding almost disappointed. "Doesn't he have anywhere else to go?"
Krillen was a little shocked, he'd never complained about anyone staying with him before. Why now, and Yamcha?
"What's wrong with Yamcha?" Krillen asked.
"Nothing." Roshie said reassuringly. "It's just I've got you, Oolong, Turtle and where ever Yamcha goes, Puar goes. That's a total of 6 people, including myself......well, three people and three talking animals. But it has nothing to do with Yamcha or Puar or any of you, it's just that it makes more people in "my" house."
"......Oh......" Krillen looked down at his arm, again, and started to feel a little guilty about staying with Roshie pretty much his whole life.
"But it's not that I don't want people here, I love the company, it's not like I get many visitors out in the middle of the ocean." Roshie kidded.
"I just wonder sometimes why Yamcha doesn't have his own place to roost. It's kind-a rude when you think about it, I mean, he switches from place to place, he used to live with Bulma, and now he lives with us. But I don't mind, it used to just be me and Turtle and that got kind-a lonely sometimes." Roshie took a sip of some, now very cold, coffee that had been sitting on the table ever since the Games had started, over 10 hours ago. He stopped mid sip and less then a second later spit it out all over the table, getting it on Krillen as well.
"Whoa!" Krillen yelled while trying to shield himself from the coffee that was splattering off the table and onto him. The splattering stopped and Krillen slowly put his arms down.
"Is it really that bad?" He asked with a smile and a chuckle.
"It 'was' good, about 10 hours ago, but now it's cold and icky!" He whipped his mouth, readjusted his glasses and looked at the table.
"Ah, look at the mess I made. I need to clean it up." He got up off the floor and went to the kitchen with his coffee cup in hand.
Krillen chuckled and decided to help his old master out a bit. He too got up and went to the kitchen.
"Hey ya need any help?" He asked.
Roshie was standing at the sink, rinsing out the cup.
"Oh, yes I'd very much appreciate it if you'd take that rag," He pointed to a small towel hanging on the handle to the refrigerator door. "And get started on whipping off the table. I'll be there in just a sec."
"Sure thing Roshie." Krillen took the rag from the fridge and quickly went back to the coffee table in the living room. He got down on his knees and started whipping the table with the kitchen rag, when he heard a knock at the door.
Krillen looked up and smiled. 'I bet I know who that is.' He thought as he got up and walked to the door.
He set the rag down on the couch near the door-and opened it. Sure enough, it was Yamcha, but there was something different about him.
"Yamcha, where have you been? We were starting to......" Krillen used a little miffed voice until he started noticing how weirdly Yamcha was acting.
Yamcha chuckled a bit and leaned against the door frame with sleepy eyes and a goofy smile and said. "Dude, jelly beans, gotta be like, the best thing ever created man......" He hiccupped a bit.
"......What?......" Krillen asked confused.
Yamcha stuck his hand about half an inch away from where Krillen's nose should be and pointed a finger.
"Jelly beans." He said forcefully.
Krillen looked at Yamcha's finger and wondered what the heck he was doing, and what was wrong with him.
Yamcha smiled and put his hand down as he walked inside.
"......Jelly beans, are good......" He said, followed by a burp. "They rule......haha, chicks......"
Krillen watched worriedly as Yamcha walked over to and plopped down on the couch. Roshie could be seen in the kitchen walking towards the living room.
"Who was it Krillen?" He asked as he stepped into the living room and saw Yamcha sitting on the couch.
"Oh." He said. "I should've known. So, where've ya been Yamcha?" He asked as he walked over to the coffee table with a washcloth and started to finish what Krillen had started.
"Hey Rooooshie." Yamcha smiled and quickly stood up, not too long later loosing his balance and falling backward onto the couch.
"Wooops......" Yamcha said.
Roshie quirked an eyebrow and looked over at Krillen.
Krillen shrugged.
"I only know as much as you do, but just from what I've seen, I'd say he's drunk." Krillen said, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"What?!" Yamcha exclaimed. "Oh I'm not drunk, I'm just......not......" He hiccupped and let out a laugh while rubbing his eye.
"I'm not though." He said with a smile. "I'm jus tier and all wooooo......" He slurred his words and said the last part in a higher voice.
Both Krillen and Roshie stared at Yamcha for a moment.
"Rrriiight......" Krillen said sarcastically.
"Well, if you're not then you can walk from the couch to the door in a straight line." Krillen was putting him to the test, and Roshie went back to cleaning the table while shaking his head with a smile.
Yamcha looked up at Krillen and slowly got up off the couch.
"This'll be a piece of cake." He wobbly walked over to the edge of the couch, which lined up with the door, and no sooner did he get there then did he collapse face first to the floor. He'd passed out.
Krillen smiled.
"I was planning on him doing that." He walked over to the unconscious Yamcha and flipped him over.
"I better get him to bed." Krillen picked up Yamcha and started making his way to the stairs.
"Man, he is so drunk." Krillen chuckled.
"I don't think I've ever seen him this bad off before." Krillen then remembered that Trunks was leaving the next day and that they had promised to see him off.
"Uh oh," Krillen said as he reached the stairs.
"What?" Roshie asked looking up from the table. Krillen turned around to face Roshie.
"Trunks is leaving tomorrow and we all promised to see him off, but Yamcha's gonna be having such a bad hang over......I don't know if he'll be able to make it. I mean, that doesn't effect me, but he probably wouldn't be to happy with himself if he woke up tomorrow after Trunks has already left." Krillen said informatively.
"Oh," Roshie started. "Well, that'll be his own fault if it happens, don't feel bad for him, it'll be his own lose." Roshie went back to scrubbing the table, Krillen smiled knowing that he was right and started to make his way up the stairs when Roshie continued talking.
"In fact, now that you mention it, I think I'll go with you tomorrow to see him off. Trunks has given us a second chance at life, and I've barely even met him. He deserves special thanks from all of us." Roshie smiled up at Krillen and went back to scrubbing the table once again.
"Great." Krillen said. "I plan on leaving sometime around noon. Unless we're given a specific time." He, once again, started walking up the stairs. He got to the top and slowly opened the first door on his left, he knew Oolong, Puar and Turtle were already in there sleeping and he didn't want to wake them.
He tip toed into the room with Yamcha flung over his shoulder. He laid him down on the first mattress he came upon, which happened to be right by Puar. Krillen smiled. 'There you go guys, this way when you wake up the first thing you'll see 'll be each other.' Krillen thought that the bond between Yamcha and Puar was cute and often wondered how they become such close friends in the first place, as did everyone else that knew them.
'I'll have to ask him some day.' Krillen smiled. He looked around at the other's all peacefully sleeping on soft mattresses and fluffy pillows. Another mattress, near the window, that he usually slept on started to look really comfortable. It had been a long day for him and probably everyone else in the world, and he was getting quite tired.
"I should start getting ready for bed myself." Krillen said quietly as he walked over to a dresser that was right by the window as well. He was planning on getting a pair a PJs from the dresser, but instead looked out the window and stared out at the dark calm ocean and far off horizon. It was a beautiful clear night, the stars were all shining bright, there wasn't a single cloud to cover any one of the stars, and the moon was a crescent and also shown bright.
"Wow......" Krillen whispered. He didn't often just look out the window and stare at the ocean. He barely even ever acknowledged that there was a big beautiful ocean right outside his window. The world brought them beautiful sun rises and sun sets and beautiful clear starry nights, like the one that he was currently witnessing.
Krillen let out a chortle. 'We take too much for granted.' He thought.
"And to think we could've lost this today......" He said quietly while reflecting back on the day.
'You sacrificed a lot for us today Goku......And Gohan, weren't for you, we'd probably all be dead, despite all that Trunks' done to help us......' Krillen thinking of Gohan and of Goku, wondered how Chi-Chi had taken the news, and how Gohan was handling it all. Krillen became sad, knowing that he would never again be able to see his best friend in person, and he felt even worse for Gohan. He was so young and had already lost his father, and he had to break the news to his own Mother. Krillen had never known his own parents, but better to have had no parents then to have them only to loose them, was what he thought.
'Unfortunately, I think it's gonna take some time to heal from all that's happened today......I wonder what's going on over there right now?......'
He was surrounded by darkness. He couldn't see or hear a thing.
Gohan was lost, confused and scared. He didn't know or understand what was happening. He didn't know if where he was, was where he really was. It was, a confusing feeling, he felt off balanced, a little dizzy, like he was falling, but at the same time as if nothing was happening. He felt as if, his actual body wasn't even really there, or even existed. It was as if he could see, but he couldn't feel, he wasn't even sure if he could see. It was still all darkness, was he really anywhere? And if so, where?
Suddenly, color appeared out of no where, it swirled like different paint colors being mixed together but not actually mixing together to form new colors. It was like being in the beginnings of a painting, like Van Gogh (He did the swirrly painting called 'starry night'). The colors started to spread; oranges, pinks, yellows, blues, reds, purples, greens all started to spread out and form surroundings of some sort. The colors swirled towards Gohan, he wanted to move out of the way if possible, but for some reason his body wouldn't let him.
He was momentarily engulfed and blinded by color, when the swirling mass left him he noticed that he was no longer in dark nothingness. He was surrounded by beautiful scenery; mountains in the distance, a far off body of water, trees, flowers, rocks, and he was standing in the middle of what looked like a valley. It was all very beautiful, he then looked down and noticed that he could see his hands. He brought them up closer to his face and inspected them, wiggling his fingers and turning his hands over to make sure they were real. He also noticed that the rest of his body could be seen, he felt his face with his hands and got a feeling of security and started to feel much better now that he could actually see something besides nothing. Though, there were still a few things that made him feel a little uneasy; though he could see his body, he still didn't quite feel like he was physically there, he didn't feel like he could feel anything. But what disturbed him the most, was that there was no sky, no colors in the sky, it was empty, black. But why was there land and no sky, it didn't make sense.
Gohan stared up into the dark sky wondering if it was just night, but it couldn't have been, the colors of the land were too bright to be night. The colors were all very warm and it was like the sun was there, but it wasn't. Gohan stretched out his hand, waved it from side to side and looked down to the ground. Sure enough there was a shadow, the only thing missing, was the source of the light that created the shadow.
In the middle of Gohan's experiment, he saw another shadow on the ground, this one in no way made by him, it was small. He looked up and saw a small ugly deformed bird hovering over him. Gohan looked at the bird in disgust but took pity on the poor creature as it tried to keep itself in the air. It slowly, still flapping it's wings, began to descend, until it grew so tired that it could flap no more and began to fall faster. Gohan having the quick reflexes that he did caught the bird as it fell and slowly brought it closer to his body to get a better look at it.
It was different from other birds, it was unlike any Gohan had ever seen before. It was green, and had patches of black speckles over certain parts of its body. The bird looked up at Gohan in almost an evil victorious way. Gohan paid no attention to it and attempted to try and pet the bird when it suddenly lunged at him and bit his finger. Gohan quickly jerked his hand away, he looked at his finger, it was bleeding, but surprisingly, he didn't feel the pain. While Gohan was occupied with his finger the bird pecked and tore away at the skin on his other hand. Gohan noticed right away, but not from pain, it was as if something had told him to look. Gohan was growing worried, if he didn't do something he would loose all the skin on his hand, not to mention blood. He tried to shake the bird off, but he couldn't, it had dug it's claws into his hand, and seemed to be hanging on for dear life. It continued to tare away at the skin, until it suddenly started to morph into something else, something bigger, something......someone, Gohan knew.
Gohan became absolutely terrified, and for the first time since the whole scene had begun, was able to feel. Though, it was not a good feeling, he felt as if he were going to wet himself, and for a moment thought that he had. In front of him now, stood the one creature that he forever more would be tormented by unwanted memories of. No matter how much he knew or would know that he had the power to defeat and had defeated it, the memories would always be there to haunt him and remind him of his stupidity.
The evil thing before him laughed manically with delight at seeing his victim overcome with fear.
"C-cell......" Gohan stuttered in a whisper. Cell smiled and gripped Gohan's bloody palm and squeezed it tightly trying to inflict pain upon him that would make him cry out. He loved to hear screams of agony and loved seeing the look's on people's faces when they were frightened, and loved it even more when the reason for their pain was him.
Gohan could feel the pain throbbing through his entire hand and felt the blood leaving his palm, it hurt him horribly. He wanted to cry out to try and slightly relive himself of the pain, but it was as if his body was being controlled in someway and wouldn't let him. And although Cell didn't know it and kept squeezing harder and harder still searching for a scream, Gohan was screaming inside.
Gohan got a pained reaction upon his face, and Cell let out a deep laughed at the sight of it.
"What's the matter Gohan? Can the Saiyan not handle a little......pain?!" He squeezed Gohan's hand tighter on the word pain, and Gohan was only now able to let out a scream for some reason.
Cell once again smiled, Gohan felt like crying and was just waiting for Cell to kill him and get it over with.
"You know what Gohan," Cell started. "You really should have listened to your Father and finished me off when you had the chance. Then maybe you wouldn't be having this little problem right now......maybe your Father would still be alive. Though, I do thank you for buying me some time to regenerate." He ended while rubbing it in.
Gohan felt all the pain and guilt come back to him, not that he had forgotten about it. But it came down on him harder this time and he felt tears trickle down his cheeks.
"Stop it! Just STOP IT CELL! PLEASE!" Gohan pleaded with more tears streaming down his face. For some reason, the only way he could fight back was through words, he couldn't move or anything for the same unknown reason.
"HA! "Please." Cell quoted Gohan. "Do you think that saying please will stop me?" He laughed, he continued to laugh and it grew louder and more sinister. Gohan didn't know how much more he could take. Suddenly, a whit blur came out of no where and hit Cell, causing him to fall and lose his grip on the child.
Gohan immediately sat up in a sweat and breathing heavily, trying to catch his breath. His mind was racing, what was going on, what happened, he was confused and frightened. He noticed that he was once again in an unknown dark place and started to panic and hyperventilate a bit before his eyes got adjusted enough to the dark that he was able to see objects and realize where he was.
'My room?......' He thought. He felt that he was wrapped in something and felt with his hands to figure out what it was. It was a blanket and a sheet, he was in bed and he had had a dream the whole thing had been a nightmare. Gohan was relived that that was all that it had been, but got a sudden sickening feeling in his stomach like he was going to vomit. He didn't know for sure if he was right or not, but he didn't want to take any chances. He quickly got up in the dark and stumbled over to the door, he ran down the stairs and across the living room and into the bathroom, clutching his stomach the whole way.
He turned on the light and hung his head over the sink with his hands on the edge. He slowly breathed in and out heavily trying to get his mind off his sick stomach. He stood there for about five minutes, waiting to see if he would hurl or not, but nothing happened. He was relived that he didn't, he hated throwing up, his stomach still hurt but not quite as bad as it had before. Though he thought it smart to stay there for a little while longer, just incase it came back.
He walked over to the toilet and sat down on it, putting his elbows on his knees and hanging his head low and stroking his hair with his hands. He let out a heavy sigh and lifted his head up a bit, thinking of what it could've been that made him feel so sick.
'It's the dream......it's gotta be, it's the only thing that makes sense. Ha, Guess it really scared me......' He thought.
After sitting there for another five minutes of waiting to see if he would be alright, he didn't feel any better. He was growing agitated at not being able to stop the pain. He thought that maybe getting up and walking a bit might help him feel better, he didn't know if it was good choice to make or not, but he was desperate and willing to take the chance. As he got up off the toilet and started to slowly walk around in the small bathroom he past in front of the mirror and stopped for a moment to look at himself init.
He noticed that he was still wearing his torn up gi from the Cell Games, he cringed at the thought of it. He took a good hard look at his face and realized for the first time just how much he really had changed. He'd known all along that he had really changed, inside and out, he just hadn't really acknowledged it yet. There were no mirrors in the Time Chamber and he hadn't really looked in any since he had come out either. He was taller and his face was a bit different, his hair was also different, but that was of no surprise to him.
Upon looking at himself in the mirror he also thought about how he felt, and at the time, minus his upset stomach, he felt rather dirty and sticky, and his head felt itchy too. He raised his arm and sniffed his arm pit only to regret it.
"I need a shower." he said a little disgusted with himself as his stomach started to churn a bit more from the smell of bad body odor. A shower sounded really nice to Gohan, warm water trickling down his entire body sounded rather soothing. The fact that he had a stomach-ache also made it sound like a smart thing to do, considering that warm water tends to relax ones body a bit and helps them feel better. And it was night, and there was always something about being/getting wet at night that made him feel good and comfortable. He didn't quite know why that was, all he knew was that he liked the whole feeling and atmosphere of it.
(Shower Scene )
He stood there for a little longer, thinking about the whole day and how he had ended up where he was in his present state. He hung his head low for a moment while rubbing the sleepy from his eyes, before he decided to start getting ready for his shower.
Since his hands were already up around his chest, he first removed his shirt by grabbing the torn part that diagonally went down his front and pulling it up and off over his head. He threw it on the floor, since it was already destroyed, he wouldn't have much more reason to use it, so he didn't really care. Next he removed his waist band, which he too threw on the floor, he then slowly pulled down and off his pants and boxers. He slowly took off the clothing on his lower body because it requires bending over, and bending over and making quick movements only made his stomach hurt more.
He slowly rose up from the near floor, and as he pulled his head up, he once again caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Only now, he was naked and could actually see how much his body had developed. And again, he'd known that he had changed some and that he had started going through the fazes of puberty, but he still marveled a bit at how much he had physically changed and matured. ()
He smiled a bit at himself and his changes before his stomach churned again and remembering that he was there for a shower, he slumped, walked over to the tub and turned on the faucet. Within a few seconds, water came from the shower head. The water sputtered at first but then became a nice and constant flow. Gohan tested the water with his hand, it was a bit cold for his tastes so he gave the nosel a slight turn to make the water a bit warmer. When he felt that it was warm enough he stepped in the tub and closed the sliding glass door.
He shivered a bit at the sudden change of temperature, but once his body got used to the heat he closed his eyes lifted his head and let the water fall on his face. That was a little uncomfortable for a while, but it eventually began to feel good. He brought his hands up to his face and ran them through his hair. (Or more ON considering that his hair is just one big tangled mass.)
He lowered his head and opened his eyes, looking for some shampoo to use on his poor untamed hair. He found a bottle of Head and Shoulders and put a nice pile of it in his hand before rubbing it all in his hair. In the middle of rinsing the shampoo out, he got yet another stomach churn. This one though, was worse then all the others. He slightly whimpered and hunched over and clutched his stomach until he eventually sank to the floor of the tub, landing on his knees.
'Oh god, what's wrong with me?' Gohan asked himself in all frustration. 'Is it really all because of that dream?......But......it was so......ah......I don't understand, it was so weird. Why did a bird morph into Cell, and if so, why did I relate Cell to a bird? It doesn't make sense......Then again, it was a dream, and they don't tend to make very much sense anyways......'
He sat there on his knees in deep thought, until the pain in his stomach subsided enough so that he felt like he could stand up. It took a while, but when it happened, it seemed that the worst of his stomach pains were over. He began to stand up but stood up too fast, his knees cracking a bit on the way. Feeling a little light headed he put his hands up to the wall and leaned against it to support his weight and to keep him from falling over. But after his light headedness left him, which wasn't very long, he went back to slowly finish washing himself with a bar of soap.
When he was finished actually cleaning himself, he decided that he didn't want to get out just yet and that he would spend the remainder of his time soaking in a bath. He spent about a half hour laying in the tub and bath water, just letting himself physically and mentally relax. And it did work, he stayed in there until his mind cleared a bit and his stomach-ache had almost completely disappeared. He decided that it was now safe enough to return to bed without having to worry about his stomach pains returning. He actually wanted to stay in longer but was tired and feared that he might fall asleep in the tub.
He got out, drained the water, grabbed a towel and dried himself off. It was then that he noticed that he hadn't brought in any change of clothes, but lucky for him, the last time that he had been there he had been a bit of a slob and had left one off his PJs in there. Though he was surprised that his Mother hadn't picked it up, then again it was practically behind and under the toilet. It wasn't the cleanest thing he could've worn, but it didn't really matter to him, even though he had just washed himself. He picked it up and through it on, it was a pair of checkered PJ bottoms and a tight undershirt.
He picked up his torn gi and used towel with the thought of putting the towel in the laundry basket in his room and just throwing his gi away. He straightened up the bathroom a bit before leaving since he had made it a little messy, he walked to the entrance of the bathroom and turned off the light as he stepped into the living room. His only problem now, was finding his way back to the stairs and up to his room. Since he had been in the light for a while now his eyes weren't adjusted to the dark, yet. So he would have to stumble and feel his way until he could see better.
He stumbled on his way over to and what he thought was the stair case, but on his way, tripped over something that made him ram into and over something that was even bigger, but it was softer and he was thankful for that. But what he landed on, on the other side of what ever it was that he'd run into, felt squishy yet hard at the same time, and it made an "oomph" noise and fidgeted when he made contact with it. What ever it was, it was alive!
Gohan quickly backed away and let out a small "Ah" of surprise, not expecting there to be a live......whatever it was, in the living room. The thing beneath him moved more and Gohan fell off of it and onto the floor, barely missing the coffee table.
Gohan's eyes had slightly adjusted to the darkness now, and when he looked back up at the thing he was able to see a faint outline of it. It quickly got up, as did Gohan, but he was too confused to anything but watch it, or try to watch it. And he figured that if it was any kind of threat that he could just beat it up, or all the above.
He watched it stumble around and mumble some, trying to figure out what the heck was going on, until he finally got the "bright idea" to turn on a light. He had figured out that what he'd run into must have been the couch, so he clumsily climbed back onto and crawled to the edge of it where there was a mini table with a lamp. He turned it on and was blinded a moment by the light, he then spun around and sat down on the couch, rubbing his eyes for a moment before opening them to see what "it" was.
"......Grandpa?" Gohan asked surprised that it was his Grandpa the whole time, though he did feel a little stupid for not knowing that it was him.
'Who else would it have been?' Gohan internally asked himself sarcastically.
"Hu, wha?" Ox King slurred, he had obviously been sleeping prior to Gohan falling on top of him.
Ox King was looking in the wrong direction for the voice that was calling to him. Gohan smiled and chuckled a bit before saying to him.
"Over here Granpa....."
Ox King turned around and squinted a bit while looking at Gohan.
"Gohan?" He asked in a raspy voice.
Gohan smiled.
"Yup." He responded with a hint of chipperieness to his voice.
It took Gohan's reply a little while to register in Ox King's tired brain, but when it did he sleepily smiled and his eyes opened up a bit more.
"Oh, Gohan......" He sniffed and stretched a bit. "What are you doing up?" He asked as his smile grew.
Gohan thought for a moment about what exactly to say, and his face became sad and he looked a little embarrassed, which he was.
"Oh.......I, a, I had a bad dream......" He said in a small voice, almost a whisper, as he looked down at his hands.
Ox King was a little lost at first, for he was still sleepy, but after he ran the words through his head a couple times, he understood.
"Oh." He said in realization as he walked over to Gohan and sat down next to him.
"Is that why you woke me up by throwing yourself on top of me?" He asked playfully.
Gohan smiled a bit and let out a chortle.
"Ha, no. Sorry about that, I just went to the bathroom after I got up and when I was going back to bed I......" His Grandfather interrupted him.
"Oh don't worry about it Gohan, I was just messing with you......So, is there anything that you wanted to talk to me about, it?" He asked sympathetically.
Gohan looked up to his Grandpa with a questioning look.
"You mean, about the dream?" He asked sounding a little surprised.
"Well, yeah. If you want to. If it bothered you at all, I'll listen to whatever it is you have to say." His Grandfather finished and put a giant hand on his shoulder.
Gohan looked at Ox King's hand for a moment before shaking his head with a slight smile on his lips.
"No, thanks for asking though. But, I do have question, for you; What're you still doing here?" He asked.
Ox King pulled his hand away and scratched his head for a moment.
"Oh, well, a......See, you know how upset your Mother was after you told her about......" Gohan physically interrupted with a vicious node of his head, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence or be reminded of it.
"......Yeah, well, I saw you run off to your room, and, after that she continued to cry for some time......I finally got her calmed down enough though, and when I did I helped her to her room, sat her down on the bed and had a little talk with her until she began to feel a little better. And after that, believe it or not, I took a quick bathroom break, but when I went back to check on her, she was asleep, I cheacked on you too and you were also asleep......" He finished and seemed to fumble around with his fingers a little bit, while Gohan thought about all that his grandpa had said. He then thought about his dream and what Cell had said to him about not listening to his Father and how he wouldn't be in the situation he was if he had just listened to him.
Gohan suddenly felt angered by the thoughts and quickly put a hand to his forehead to try and control his feelings of guilt and unhappiness. Ox King didn't notice a thing the whole time, he just stared at his hands before he continued.
"......I was planning on leaving after that, but then I thought about the both of you and what might happen if one or both of you got up. Not saying anything would. But, I just wanted to make sure that you both were okay before I left. And I wanted to be here incase either of you wanted to talk to me, about it or anything......" Ox King finished and looked down at Gohan who seemed and was a bit tensed up about something.
"Gohan?" His grandfather asked him a little worried. "Are you doing okay with all this?" He finished.
Gohan relaxed and looked to Ox King while letting out a "Hu".
"Are you doing okay with all this?" Ox King repeated.
"Oh, yeah I'm, I'm fine......I was just......" He didn't really know what to say. He knew what he felt but he didn't know how to turn his feelings into words.
"Gohan, are you sure there's nothing that you wanted to talk to about?......" He said softly.
Gohan stared at a coffee cup on the coffee table in front of him. Thinking of how it was his fault that his Mother had cried herself to sleep, that his father was dead because of him, that he had nightmares about Cell and all because of a stupid mistake he made, from not listening.
"......Yeah......I mean, no, a um, I me......"Gohan wasn't able to finish the stuttering that he had started, for he was interrupted by his own emotions and tears.
He sniffed a bit and blinked and some tears came down his face as he started to sadly moan some. Ox King noticed that he wasn't doing so well and began to wonder if it was something that he had said.
"......I just......don't know." Gohan said frustrated as he brought his knees to his chest and tried to bury his face in them. His sobs became louder and Ox King scooted closer to him and put a hand on Gohan's back and began to rub it soothingly.
"Sssshhh......" He said in almost a whisper. "It's okay......I'm sorry, if I said anything to upset you......" He continued to rub Gohan's back, even when Gohan lifted his head up to say with a few sniffs.
"Oh, it wasn't you......I just, I've just got lots to think about and sort out, ya know......I was just thinking back......" He rubbed his eyes with his right hand, trying to get rid of the tears and calming down slightly as he slowly dropped his knees.
"I know," His grandpa started. "You've had a hard day, and I know what you're going through right now......But how 'bout we get you back to bed......"
"No." Gohan said immediately. "I don't want to......" He was being stubborn, but Ox King wasn't going to try and argue with him over the matter.
"No, I mean, I, I don't, I don't care. 'Bout what happened today......I mean I-I-I-I, I do, I just, it's not that......It's what I did." He finished with a sniff.
"......What did you do that's got you all up in a bunch, if you want to talk about it?" Ox King asked a little interested to hear what he'd have to say. Gohan sniffled and coughed a bit before starting.
"I was such a dumb ass......"
Ox was a little shocked by Gohan's word usage, but knew that this wasn't the time to correct him in anyway.
"......I, I left it out earlier when I was telling you and Mom what happened, cause I was scared that Mom, or you, or both of you, might get mad at me and hate me and, and not want to......talk to me anymore, I guess.......What I did out there today, I, I......If I had just listened to everybody and killed Cell, then, Dad would still be here. And We wouldn't be having this problem......I was afraid of what you'd think......"Gohan finished and had calmed down quite a bit.
"Please don't tell Mom......" He pleaded.
Ox King's heart sank at hearing Gohan's words and story.
'He thought that we'd be mad and hate him, he didn't feel like he could trust us.' He thought sadly.
"Gohan," He began slowly. "Listen to me. You came home and told me and your Mother that your Father was up there, and that he wanted to and was happy to be there. That he was there to protect you and your Mother. And you said that you could feel him, and that he really was there. All of that yourself......"
Gohan looked up at his Grandfather, lips slightly parted, he thought back to when he'd broken the news to them and remembered that he really had said that.
"If you said that," Ox King started. "......then why aren't you listening to it, and the words you said?......"
Gohan realized what his Grandpa was saying, that he wasn't following and listening and trusting those words to be true, when he himself is the one that said them.
"......I know......" Gohan sighed. "I, it's just......" He stopped for a moment to get his bearings. "I just, miss him a lot......and it's only been, what, 6 hours or so? I mean, if I'm this bad off now, what's the rest of my life going to be like?" He asked despairingly.
Ox King let out a heavy sigh, as he remembered way back to when he himself was going through what Gohan was.
"Don't worry......things 'll get better as time goes on, trust me, I've been there before too..."
Gohan looked up at Ox King with a confused look.
"What'd ya mean?" He asked.
Ox King smiled, glade to see that Gohan seemed to be done with his emotional outburst.
"Your Grandmother" He said still smiling.
"Oh......yeah, I always, wondered about that......So, what happened?" Gohan asked still a little depressed.
Well, I won't tell you the whole story, but......your grandmother wasn't really......built, for child bearing. And when she had you Mother, she died shortly after having her......so......" He trailed off a bit, thinking of the short time that had to be with his wife before she was gone forever.
"Grandpa?" Gohan asked.
"What?" He said coming back to reality.
"What else is there, about our family history? I think I know more about Dad's side then I do about my human side." He joked a bit, he really didn't know all that much about his Saiyan side either.
Ox King smiled, happy that he was interested in learning about it.
"I'd be happy to tell you about it....." He said before starting the conversation of their family history that went long into the night.
After talking uninterrupted for a good two and a half hours or so, Ox King got a glimpse of the clock and noticed just how late it was.
"Whoa," He said a little surprised at the time the clock read, 2:18 AM.
"What?" Gohan asked as he looked in the direction his Grandpa was and too saw the time.
"Wow, we've been talking for quite a while huh?" Gohan said, much happier then he had been a few hours ago.
"Well," Ox King said as he stood up. "Well, it was a nice talk, but I think I best be going now, and you best be getting to bed." He told Gohan.
"Oh, okay......" Gohan said, almost sounding disappointed.
"......That is, unless you want me to stay longer." His Grandpa reassured him, making sure that his Grandchild's needs came first.
"Oh, no." Gohan fought. "Go ahead, I'm not stopping ya." He would have liked it if he did stay with him, just a little longer, but didn't want to keep his Grandpa held up.
"Okay, if you say so." Ox King replied. He headed for the door, opened it and walked outside while taking a capsule out of his pants pocket.
Gohan jumped up off the couch and went to the door to say goodbye. Ox threw the tiny capsule and it hit the ground before bursting into a cloud of some sort and turning into an older model of hover craft car.
Ox King went over to and got in the car, before closing the door he looked back to Gohan and waved and said good bye. Gohan too waved and mouthed the word bye as his Grandpa started up the engine and drove off. Gohan watched until he was out of sight, and even then, he stayed in the door way a little longer and listened to the sounds of nature at night.
Crickets and frogs, the sound swaying trees made in the slight breeze, and the sounds of some other nocturnal animals could all be heard. He really missed the sounds of night in the forest when he was in the Time Chamber, and he hadn't heard it in the past few days either. After he'd gone to the look out with his Father and Krillen to see Dende, he stayed there until the Games began. Now was the first time in a while that he was really able to enjoy the sounds that nature provided.
A cold breeze came and made Gohan shiver, that's when he decided to go in. But that wasn't the only reason he went in, he was also being attacked by mosquitoes and he didn't want to put up with annoying itchy mosquito bites.
Gohan shut the door and leaned against it, staring in at the quiet empty living room. Right then his stomach growled, and despite the fact that he knew all and well that he had just gotten over a horrible stomach-ache and that eating right after recovering from it probably wasn't the best idea, he hadn't eaten anything since long before the Games had ever started. Which was around 20 or so hours ago, and him being a half Saiyan, that was a long time to go without eating. It was a bit of a long time even for a human. So he was on the hungry side, and though his previous stomach problems had kind-of ruined his apatite for him, he was still going to go eat, he knew he needed to.
He smiled at himself and his Saiyan appetite, before going into the kitchen to get a "bite" to eat. After his snack, he went back into the living room, grabbed his gi up off the floor, it went flying when he tripped and fell on his grandpa. He then turned off all the lights, and walked back up the stairs, returning to bed.
Once in his room, he threw the towel in his laundry basket and was now standing over the garbage can with his gi in his hands, attempting to through it away. But he was thinking about and reconsidering his first idea.
'Maybe, I should keep it, just as a little reminder......' He thought. He didn't know why part of him wanted to keep it as a "reminder", when he wanted to forget. After contemplating for a while on what to do, he finally gave in and just threw it in his closet, hoping that now both sides would be happy. He had kept it, but in a place where he, hopefully, wouldn't be able to see it all that often. In the dark corners of his closet, where he would forget about it, but every now and then stumble across it again to remember all that the tattered clothing had to remind him of the day that he killed Cell, and his Father......
(Author's Note:)
Please don't hate me for making you read all this.
What happens next time?:
Gohan goes to the Brief's to say Bye and thanks to Trunks. He and Trunks, for some reason, appear to be the only ones there for a while and start to talk (yes, I know, more talking......) about, stuff......and there's a bit of a celebration for Gohan and Trunks! For Trunks to say farewell and thank you for planning out and giving us all a second chance (a new beginning, sort-of) and for Gohan for actually beating Cell and making the action happen. And partly a bit of a fiesta for Goku, if ya know what I mean.
What happens after that?:
Other stuff, for a while, and then he finally runs into Lime! Again! And that's where, things start happenen, fun things, cool things, a story is building! And I have outlined all of like, the next, 10 to 12 chapters and this will all happen within the next few! As in like, 2, or 3......most likely. (I'm a poet! )
Okay, to the real stuff......
Tell me what you thought please, I think I may have gone into a bit more detail then I needed to in certain places, but......was it boring? Sorry if it was, but it's kind-a hard to make peaceful times seem......exciting. I mean, they skipped 7 years there for a reason, cause nothing happened in there really that was very relevant to the story. And before anyone says anything, yes I know that when ever they show anyone in the Son family bathe that it's always in that really weird barrel thingy, but really I think that they have a tub. I mean seriously, it would always take forever to just bathe and you'd be exposed the whole time you'd be init, and what if it rained?
But anyway, once again I have gone back and corrected this story, mostly in the 2 and 3 chapters. Also, I'm once again going to slightly change the title of this story. Don't worry, it will still be AC My End, but I've realized that this story is really way too long to be just "one" story......Get what I'm saying? I'm going to split it into two parts and I'm eventually going to change the summary too. I've also come to realize, that the build up I have, for this particular story, takes for ever to get to the actual plot. It is and would be an even slower beginning to a story if I tried to fit it all into one story.
The title will now be "AC My End: New Beginnings" or something to that effect, and the sequel will say AC My End: "something" too, so, no worries. One more thing, this story will still be the same as I've had it planned for sometime now, but the point of it is going to change "very" slightly now that I'm dividing it into parts. This part, "AC My End: New Beginnings", will be about, as it says in the summary, how everyone deals with Goku's death. But it's not just like that; it's about healing old wounds, knowing and learning about yourself and others, helping one another as family and friends, forgiving and excepting forgiveness, how important and incredible love is, learning from mistakes, making and loosing friends, how much we take for granted, growing up, living life to it's fullest and for the moment, and how a gift from heaven can help you in so many indescribable ways......Basically, following Gohan and the others through some hard times in their lives and watching as they growe and all that stuff I already said. Kind-of a lesson in life story now I guess...
Wow! Maybe something like that should be the summary. But, yeah, originally I was just going to keep answering all the questions that I'm pretty sure popped into a lot of people's heads the first time they ever saw Goten, Marron, Krillen and 18 together, Lime not really being there or even mentioned anymore (not to mention Icarus ), and other stuff too that I can't think of right now, cause it's like 4 in the morning. And my brain is majorly farting. Anyways, it was just going to drone out for ever with out really having a point until it got to Gohan in Highschool and him with Videl. But then I realized that there was no point in writing the story if I did it like that, and that it didn't have to be that way.
So yeah, sorry for the really fricken long author's note and for making you read it, but I thought that it was kind-a an important one. R&R please! And don't be surprised if you find an e-mail from me that contains pictures, from this story. Really, I don't want to do it when people don't ask, cause I don't know if they like......but it's like, gerrs Veener! I don't know......I just need to get over what ever it is that's, kind-a holding me back.
Anyways, goodbye.
P.S: I just joined a sight called (Or at least I think that's what it is). Go join my Arts, Animation and DBZ community! And read my actual Journal! About my life and all my embarrassing things!