Chapter Five- Phone Calls

Trunks looked sadly out the window of their car as Bulma plowed them through the thick falling rain. He closed his bright aqua eyes and let out a deep sigh of worry. Bulma looked into her rear view mirror worriedly at Trunks in the back seat. He was leaned against the foggy window staring out at the bleak sky that was raining big thick tears about the size of a fists now.

"Trunks, honey?" Bulma said softly.

Trunks looked up at her. His round eyes shining with tears. He wiped them away quickly.

"I know you are worried about Goten, sweetie. But Piccolo will find him."

"Goten is acting strange. I just want him to get better." Trunks muttered softly, "I want the old Goten back."

Bulma stared at her miserable son forlornly. She was almost as worried as Trunks. Goten had never acted this way before. Whoever had killed Gohan had made Goten so disturbed that now he was scared and angry all the time, which Goten never had ever had done before. Most of the time he was happy and hyper…

Trunks let out another depressing moan and gazed out the window once more. Bulma turned her eyes back on the road but she still continued talk to Trunks,

"Don't worry. Goten is just going through a stage right now. Anytime now, I am sure he will be better."

"That's funny. Cause he just seems to be getting worse to me."

Bulma didn't know how to counter attack that so she kept quiet…

"Trunks-"

Suddenly a ringing came from her glove department. Bulma reached over and snapped the section opened. She pulled out a jet-black cell phone. She pulled the antenna up before she clicked a button to talk,

"Mushi Mushi. Bulma here."

"Woman! Where in the world have you been?!" Vegeta shouted from the other line, "I have been waiting for my dinner for a hour now!"

Bulma's frown turned into a sneer,

"I told you we were going to Chichi's house, Moran. But I guess you were too busy training to pay any attention!"

"Well, who is going to fix me dinner. You know what happens to Saiyans when they don't get anything to eat."

"Vegeta. Are you helpless? Don't tell me one of the strongest men in the universe can't make his own sandwich!"

"But-But-"

"We'll be home in about a hour once this traffic picks up. See you then, Vegeta."

"B-but- Bulma!"

"Goodbye Vegeta."

She clicked the off button and turned in her seat to face Trunks.

"Your Father is a very lazy man when it comes to house work."

Trunks had to smile on this one…

"Yeah…"


Gohan was pacing around the room making Goku dizzy to watch him.

"Gohan, sit down. You are making me nervous. Your mom does the same thing." Goku muttered relaxing in one of the waiting room chairs.

Gohan let out a moan and took a seat by his father. He then began to ring his hands in worry. Goku looked down at his son with a raised eyebrow.

"Gohan, you act as if the world is about to end."

"I'm just worried about Goten." Gohan muttered, "It's all my fault he is this way."

Goku's face ceased with worry. He put a gentle hand on his son's shoulder,

"Gohan. It isn't you're fault at all. You didn't intend to die. Anyway the Dragon Balls will soon revive you and everything well be back to normal."

"No, it won't." Gohan moaned covering his face in his hands, "By then it will be too late. Goten is getting worse and worse each day… if only I could contact him somehow…"

Gohan looked up and his dark brown eyes fell upon King Kai. Goku also turned to the blue kai with a friendly smile on his face. King Kai went a deep shade of purple.

"No! I refuse to be used as a telephone!"


They pulled up to the Capsule Corp. building. The rain was still pouring down on them as they ran out with their arms covering over their heads. They had just about reached the door when there was a explosion from inside. Trunks and Bulma watched in astonishment as the glass from the windows broke and shattered onto the lawn at the force of the blast. A black and sooty Vegeta climbed out of the broken living room window and marched over to them. The rain poured down over his hair making it tilt sideways. He was waving a bent frying pan angrily at them,

"It's about time you showed up!"

"What happened, Dad?" Trunks asked through his giggles.

"I tried to make dinner that's what!" Vegeta growled.

"You did all this trying to make a sandwich?" Bulma gulped.

"No! That's what I tried to tell you over the phone! We ran out of bread."

This was too much for Trunks or Bulma. They fell over, hunched in laughter. Vegeta scowled and walked back inside muttering, "Not a word of this to Karkarott."


Chichi paced around her kitchen looking out the window time to time. She was trembling with worry about her little Goten. Shouldn't Piccolo be back by now? Did the storm hold him up? Chichi slumped into her chair at the dinner table and gazed sadly at the family picture of her with the two boys… why did this have to happen? First Goku and then Gohan… Her eyelids began to feel heavy and before she knew it she had fallen asleep. The back down suddenly burst opened. Chichi opened one of her eyes lazily to see Piccolo there. She leapt to her feet immediately, "Oh! Did I doze off?"

"Yes…" Piccolo said slowly.

She finally took in what he held his arms…

"Goten!" She screamed, "Goten! Is he alright?!"

"He'll be fine." Piccolo muttered.

Chichi took Goten's limp body from Piccolo's arms. She hugged Goten tightly in her embrace, sobbing something terrible. Piccolo looked taken aback but he said nothing…

"Goten, hold on sweetheart."

Chichi slipped Goten in some dry pajamas and then tucked him into his bed. Piccolo stood off in a corner watching her as she sang to Goten's resting form. Finally when she was satisfied, she looked up to Piccolo,

"I can't lose him, Piccolo. He is all I have left."

Piccolo nodded respectfully,

"Gohan's death has had it's toll on all of us. Perhaps some more then others…" He added hastily starting at Goten sleeping peacefully in his bed, "But now I must go. For Gohan's sake."

As Piccolo exited, Chichi got to her feet and cried, "Wait, Piccolo…"

Piccolo turned…

"Thanks… and be careful."

Piccolo smiled his rare and small smile before disappearing down the hallway. Chichi let out a weak sigh and collapsed at Goten's side…

"Goten…please…hold on."


Goten flopped onto his back in the soft green meadow. He lay on his back staring up at the cotton clouds dance through the sky. The grass tickled his arms and legs in till he was laughing. He sat up and pounced off the ground landing on the nearest cloud. It felt like a warm cushion of fluff. He giggled with delight as he jumped from one cloud to the other. One of the clouds was a familiar golden color. He landed on it softly and the cloud took off with him on it. Goten squealed with amusement and hugged the cloud's fluffy skin,

"Nimbus! I missed you!" Goten cried.

Nimbus did a back flip through the air to show it was just as pleased. Goten threw his hands up into the air laughing with the joy he hadn't had in quite a long time. Nimbus took him higher and higher in till Goten didn't recognize where he was any more. Goten's eyes were wide with amazement. Suddenly his tummy let out a low growl. Goten smiled sheepishly and whispered,

"Hey Nimbus? Do you know of a place to eat? I am kind of hungry…"

The Nimbus bobbed up and down as if it were nodding. It took off faster catching Goten by surprise. He clutched onto Nimbus, laughing as the wind swept past them. The Nimbus finally slowed at the tops of the clouds revealing a small establishment made entirely of candy. Goten leapt off Nimbus and onto the soft grass made up of gumdrops and green cotton candy. Goten's eyes sparkled with happiness. He raced past all the people waving and yelling,

"Hey Goten!"

"Hullo Goten!"

"Waz sup Goten?"

Goten ran up to trees made out of cookies and grabbed some when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Hey Goten. Can I have some?"

Goten turned to see Trunks standing there smiling. Goten grinned and pulled off some more of the tree's cookie bark and handed it to Trunks. Trunks took it and laughed, "Everyone else is inside opening Christmas presents."

Goten's eyes went wide,

"It's Christmas?!"

"Yep!"

"Wow!"

Goten raced after Trunks stopping to examine the path made up of yellow lollipops…

"You dun wanna eat that, Goten." Trunks giggled, "People have all walked on it."

"Good point." Goten nodded.

Trunks began skipping off again. Goten followed closely behind. They never reached a house but instead were walking up a long way of stairs. Goten's legs began to tire in till he saw all his friends and family around him encouraging him to keep following Trunks. Cause if he did he would get a surprise at the top. Goten felt as though extra energy had surged back into his legs. He continued to chase after Trunks. 18 was there waving a big flag that said,

"Go Goten."

Krillen and Marron stood by her side grinning. Then suddenly they changed into his mom and his dad. They stood there waving and pointing to the top of the stair case. Trunks vanished from view. Slowly the figure in front of him came into focus…

"Gohan!" Goten laughed tripping over his own feet trying to reach his big brother.

Gohan got down to one knee his arms wide to take Goten into a big bear hug. Goten's eyes filled with tears of joy racing to his brother. Suddenly everything went dark. Goten froze. A familiar laughing filled the air. Gohan stood up looking around just as Goten had… But Goten knew the source of the laughter…

"Gohan! No! LOOK OUT!" Goten wailed sprinting towards his brother.

Suddenly the stairs vanished leaving Goten standing on one little brick. Goten looked down at the pitch black that was bellow him…Goten looked up to see Gohan powering up to Super Sayian. He was coming to rescue him…

"Gohan, no! Look behind you! I'm not in danger!" Goten screamed in protest.

Gohan didn't listen. He was about to race to Goten's side when someone came up behind him and punched him painfully in the gut. Gohan stumbled backwards and fell down into the dark abyss below. Laughter… more laughter…

"Gohan!" Goten screamed, "No! Gohan!"


Chichi woke up to screaming from Goten's room. She raced in her night gown to Goten's room. She rammed open the door to see Goten kicking and flaring every which way. Chichi flung her arms about Goten, crying,

"Goten, calm down! It's only a bad dream."

Finally Goten stopped. Tears still spilled down his red cheeks making Chichi even more worried. She felt his forehead. He was still burning up with his fever… Chichi sighed lightly and clutched Goten's tiny hand in her own.

"Please." She whispered, "Please, give me Goten back. I just want him to smile and call me mom again the way he used to. Please…"


Goten dropped to his knees and cried softly into his arms. All around him was the darkness of his empty nightmare. There was a sudden voice from above him,

"Wow. This is a depressing place."

Goten looked up to see Gohan standing a little ways from him. Goten blinked and began to cry again. After a few minutes Goten muttered, "This is how my dreams always end."

"Man. That's horrible."

Goten wiped away his tears and stood up on his weak legs.

"You dun have to act like my brother cause I know you aren't. You're just another person in my dream."

Gohan cocked his head to a side and looked at Goten with a kind smile on his face.

"Bummer. And all this time I thought I was the real Gohan."

Goten blinked. He let out a soft snicker, "You're funny for a piece of my ima-imag-"

"Imagination?" Gohan offered.

"Yeah." Goten nodded and wiped more of his tears away on his sleeve.

Suddenly a new light filled into Goten's eyes. He looked up at Gohan as if he was looking at a ghost,

"Hey…How did you know that?"

"Maybe I am real…" Gohan shrugged.

Goten took a closer look at Gohan. He looked just like all the Gohan's in his dream… except he had a halo over his head. None of his Gohan's had halo's… then…

"You're really Gohan?" Goten whispered excitement flooding through him.

"I would hope so…" Gohan grinned.

Tears of joy filled in Goten's eyes. He bit his lip and grinned ear to ear.

"GOHAN!" He cried jumping into Gohan's arms.

Gohan laughed and hugged his brother close.

"I missed you, Goten."

"You won't believe how much I missed you.' Goten smiled through the tears shinning down his face.

"Oh. I think I can picture it." Gohan beamed.

"Gohan… So you really are dead…" Goten said sadly slipping out of Gohan's arms.

Gohan let out a deep sigh, "Yeah. It surprised me too, little bro."

Goten looked as he were about to cry again. He drew back his tears and whispered, "I want you back…"

'Let me tell you something." Gohan smiled placing Goten on his knee, "Soon the Dragon Balls will be found and I will come back. Everything will be as it was before."

"Really?"

"Really." Gohan nodded, "But in till then I need you to do something for me."

"What?" Goten asked.

"I need you to be brave." Gohan whispered, "I dun want you to be moping over me any more. Believe me, you have cried much longer then I am worth."

Goten shook his head, "But… I want to see you again."

"I want to see you too, bro." Gohan smiled, "But if you enjoy life while it is there for you, you will be very happy. Trust me. Even if the dragon balls don't bring me back, Goten. You'll have eternity with me up here. You only have one chance on earth. Use it Goten."

Goten nodded.

"Now… Let's change the decoration round here." Gohan grinned.

He snapped his fingers and they were back in the candy land world. Goten scowled,

"Gohan! The lollipop's on the path are supposed to yellow! Not red."

"Oh." Gohan blushed, "Well, what's the difference?"

"The red lollipops make my tongue do this," Goten said sticking out his tongue, "Blah."

Gohan laughed and said,

"Well, I always liked the red ones…okay…"

"Wait… Gohan."

"Hum?"

"If you like the red lollipops you can keep them that way." Goten smiled kindly.

Gohan's surprised look formed a smiled,

"Thanks Goten."


Chichi turned over in bed. The alarm clock went off. This time she ignored it. There was no real need to get up… not with Goten sick… Suddenly someone jumped into her bed. Chichi opened her eyes to see a kind face looking at her, "Rise and shine sleepy head."

"Goten?" Chichi yawned. She pulled back the covers and stretched. Before he sat Goten. He cocked his head to a side watching her.

"Am I dreaming?" Chichi gulped.

"Nope. You okay, Mommy? You don't look so hot."

Chichi's eyes filled with tears,

"I- I can't believe it."

"I'm hungry. Can we make those cakes in a pan shape?"

"Goten! You're alright!" Chichi cried flinging her arms about him.

"Mom! You're choking me!"

"Oh Goten! You're gonna be okay! You're all better!"

"Not if you don't let go!"

"Oh my baby!"

"MOM!"


Goku double over with laughter,

"Are you serious, King Kai?" Goku laughed, "Is that what happened at Vegeta's house? That surge of energy was him trying to make a sandwich!"

King Kai nodded and looked over to Gohan who was sleeping peacefully at his side.

"I can't believe I was used as a telephone." He groaned.

Gohan finally let go of King Kai's hand and yawned softly.

"Hey Gohan? How did it go with Goten?"

Gohan yawned again and blinked opened his eyes, "Great…"

"What was his dream world like?"

"A candy world with yellow lollipop paths."

"Yellow huh?" Goku muttered, "Not red?"

"Nope. That's my dreams, Dad. Turns out Goten doesn't like red."

"Strange." Goku murmured.

"Not really. His world looks like every other kid's dreams." King Kai shrugged.

Both Gohan and Goku cast King Kai a suspicious glance. The North Kai sweat dropped and laughed, "Hey! It gives me something to do!"

"Looking into other kids dreams King Kai?" Goku scolded.

"Better then looking into yours." King Kai muttered.

"What?!"

"Nothing."

"Well, in my dreams the paths are always green lollipops." Goku stated

"Whatever you like, dad-"

"But I can't stand green lollipops!"

"Oh… well…"

"You hate some kind of food? Ha." King Kai laughed, "I never thought I would see the day!"

"I do have taste buds you know." Goku smiled.

"Really? With what you put them through?"

Gohan let out a small sigh and leaned back in his chair looking up at the ceiling.

"So Gohan… What exactly did you do?" Goku asked curiously.

"I gave Goten something better dream about…"


"Wanna spare, Goten?"

"Sure Chibi Gohan!" Goten laughed…


To Be Continued…
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