Bent and Broken by Jolly Rancher

Chapter 2- Chi-Chi

Gohan flew towards his home, thinking about how to break the news of his fathers death to Chi-Chi. He knew that she wouldn't take it too good; she had been devastated when Goku didn't return from Namek. He clenched his fists as he thought of that painful year. His mother had always cooked for three, always forgetting that Goku wasn't there. She would start doing it again, and then start to cry when she realized that Goku wasn't there.

Gohan hated to see his mother cry; it broke his heart. His mother was Chi-Chi, daughter of the Ox-King, the strongest woman on the planet; she never cried. After he had come back from Namek, he had seen his mother cry for the first time. At that moment he had sworn never to let her cry again. Looks like you failed in that promise, Gohan; just like you failed in keeping your father alive. You've condemned your mother to endless nights of crying herself to sleep.

He landed outside his home on Mt. Paoz. He looked at his surroundings sadly, remembering all the good times he and his father had shared. He turned back to his small, cozy home, and sighed in resignation. He really did not want to be the one to tell his mother of Goku's death. This must be how Krillin felt when he was charged with the task of telling Mom about Dad's death after the fight with Radditz. And to think, I laughed at his cowardice when he told me the story. Now I understand how he felt.

He took a deep breath and opened the door. He found his mother cooking; she always cooked when she was worried.

"Mom?" said Gohan.

Chi-Chi jumped in surprise. She whirled around and saw her son standing near the door. She dropped the spatula she was holding and rushed and Gohan. She fell to her knees and embraced him tightly. As Gohan hugged her back, he reveled in the feeling of his mothers love for him. She might be a little strict, and a little crazy when it came to his studies, but she was his mother, and she loved him.

Chi-Chi stood up and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. "Oh Gohan, I was so worried about you! Where have you been? You should've come back right away! And where is your father? I told him not to let you fight, and what does he do? He lets you fight! He's going to get an earful, and no dinner for him tonight!"

Gohan looked up at her sadly and said, "Sorry, mom. I fell unconscious on the Lookout, and Piccolo took me to one of the rooms." He shifted uncomfortably. "And about Dad… Mom, dad's-"

Chi-Chi went into mother-mode when she heard Gohan say that he fell unconscious. "You were unconscious? Why?" She demanded. "Didn't Dende heal you?"

"Yes, he did, Mom. But I powered up too much and fell unconscious."

Chi-Chi frowned and asked, "Why did you power up on the Lookout?"

Gohan winced. He said in a quivering voice, "Because Dad said that he didn't want to be brought back to life."

His mother laughed uneasily. "What did you say, Gohan? I thought I heard you say that your father is dead."

Gohan looked up at her, eyes glistening. "I did say that, Mom. I did say that. He doesn't want to come back."

Chi-Chi gasped. She shook her head in denial. "No! My Goku would never do that! He would come back to me! Why didn't he come back to me?" She started crying softly. She went to the kitchen table and took a seat and put her head on her hands.

Gohan was heartbroken. The tears that had been threatening to fall finally fell to the floor. He went to his mother and gave her a hug. Chi-Chi stiffened for a moment, then put her hands around Gohan, and hugged him for all she was worth. I failed her.


(3 Months Later)

Gohan yawned and stretched his arms. He had just had a nice nap in front of the lake by his home. He had finished his homework for the day, so he took the time to rest at the place he felt most comfortable. He smiled as he looked at the lake, remembering all the times he had spent here when he was younger. He frowned when he remembered Goku taking him here to fish. He had gotten over most of his guilt, but Goku was still a sore point for him.

He turned his head around as his mother came up behind him. "Hey, Mom."

Chi-Chi smiled at him. "Hello, Gohan." She lay down next to him and admired the view of the mountains. They lay there for a few minutes in companionable silence when Chi-Chi spoke. "Gohan, I have something to tell you."

Gohan turned his head and looked at her quizzically. "Sure Mom. What is it?"

Chi-Chi sighed inwardly. She didn't know how Gohan was going to take the news, but she couldn't keep him in the dark, she had to tell him sometime.

"Gohan…I'm pregnant."

Gohan swore he felt his heart stop beating for a second. "You're…you're…you're what?" he stammered quietly.

"I'm pregnant, Gohan."

Gohan slowly got to his feet and stared at his mother. She's pregnant. Oh man, she's pregnant. She's pregnant and the baby won't have a father because of me. I've already screwed up my mothers life, now the baby's life is screwed up.

A tear trickled down Gohan's face. Chi-Chi got up to comfort him, but Gohan backed away and took to the air. He never even heard his mother cry out his name. Chi-Chi sighed in defeat and walked back to her little home. He would come back…eventually.


Gohan instinctively flew towards the place that he considered his second home – the island where he had trained for the arrival of Vegeta and Nappa. He landed in front of his cave and went inside, where he immediately sat down cross-legged, trying to meditate. It was no use – the thoughts of his little brother or sister kept coming back to him. I failed my mother…now I failed my unborn sibling. How can a person go even lower?

I have to get out of here. Maybe I can just stay here for the rest of my life. No worries, no more guilt. The perfect life. No, that won't work, they'll just come after me. I have to go somewhere where they can't sense me…I have to get off the planet.

With his mind made, Gohan got up and exited the cave. He flew off towards West City, towards Capsule Corporation.

Gohan landed in front of CC and quietly entered the code to get in the door. He walked in and stealthily made his way to Bulma's lab. He passed the kitchen and froze as someone started speaking.

"What are you doing here, boy?"

Without turning around Gohan said, "Nothing Vegeta. Go back to your training or whatever you do around here."

Vegeta grunted. "I was about to before you came barging in here. Now what the hell do you want?"

"I would hardly call opening the door slowly barging Vegeta. You obviously need to work on your vocabulary."

"Pah, my vocabulary is fine. All Saiyans have universal translators planted in them at birth, even third-class filth like Kakkarot." said Vegeta.

Gohan frowned a little when Vegeta mentioned his father, but said nothing.

Vegeta frowned at Gohan's silence. "What do you want boy? Don't make me ask you again…"

"What are you going to do about it Vegeta? I'm the strongest being in the universe, remember?" Gohan said tauntingly.

Vegeta's gaze grew smoldering. "Power does not necessarily equate superiority, boy! You will do well to remember that!"

Gohan sneered and said, "Yeah, and I suppose all that experience in battle led you to the conclusion that it was right to let Cell absorb Number 18? Shut up, you damn hypocrite."

Vegeta roared with fury and flew across the hall to pound Gohan into a bloody pulp. Unfortunately for him, Gohan had seen this coming, and countered with a swift chop to the back of Vegeta's neck. Gohan stared down at Vegeta's body and smirked a bit. It wasn't really hard, seeing as Vegeta had probably spent the whole day training. The guy had to learn that there was more to strength than training.

He continued his walk through Capsule Corporation, weaving through the many stairways and halls. He found himself in front of Bulma's biggest lab, the lab where she kept her biggest inventions, including her spaceships.

He looked through the Capsule boxes to find the right one. He got a capsule out and opened it with a bang. He admired it, from the outside. It was its usual spherical shape, with CAPSULE CORP written in big letters on the side. Hopefully Bulma wouldn't mind too much that he took it. He knew she had the blueprints, and the money, to make another one, so he didn't feel that guilty.

Without further ado, he typed in the code to make the door open. He opened the hangar door, and entered the ship. He blasted off with a last thought directed towards his mother. I'm sorry.


A/N: I normally don't do this, but I'm going to respond to a reviewer. It annoys the hell out of me when someone makes half their story review responses or author notes. I will only write a review response if I feel that I have to make a point.

To daisuke-hieiXXX: It might have seemed uncharacteristic, but people react to their loved ones deaths in different ways. Have you lost your father? Would you know what it feels like? People who were once outgoing and energetic might become withdrawn and moody. And anyways, I found that the original Japanese anime does have cussing. Funimation just dubbed it, and took out all the profanity and gore so children could watch it. And if you don't like swearing, don't read the fic. I did say that there would be profanity in the summary. By the way, it's called FanFiction, the authors usually take a different approach from canon.