Where there is darkness, there is light. Where there is light, there is darkness.

Each is always competing with the other, but in the end, each must coexist in this strange world.

Whether there is more darkness than light, or more light than darkness, one can always find the complement in some hidden corner somewhere...

:-:-:-:

"Hey, Goten," I call, stepping inside his house, or what seems to be his house, since his ki is in it.

"What?" my brother calls back, obviously not knowing it's me. Smiling, I flare my ki up for a moment, then bring it back down. It takes only a few seconds for my brother to come tearing into the room, whereupon he stops dead.

Smiling at him, I wave and say, "Hey, baby bro. Where's Alice?"

Alice is Goten's current girlfriend. He told me all about her when I was medicated in that infirmary. My baby brother has had other girlfriends (six of them), but in each case, the relationship only lasted roughly three months and ended nicely. Goten seems to have found his mate in Alice, though, since they've been going strong for two years.

I'm so proud.

"S-she's out shopping," Goten responds. I raise an eyebrow at him, questioning his reaction, and decide to take the initiative.

"Come here, squirt." I step forward and grab Goten in a hug, one that a Saiyan could only give to another Saiyan. Goten starts to believe now that it's really me and squeezes me back, hard. My ribcage muscles scream in protest, but I ignore them. It's not like they've not been hugged this tight before.

I hear a rustle of cloth behind me, but before I can do anything about it, a feminine voice yelps, "Goten!"

We pull away and stare at the pretty girl facing us. She has shoulder-length blonde hair, is slender, and dresses conservatively. Knowing my brother's descriptions of his previous six girlfriends, I raise my eyebrows.

"Hello, Alice," I say. I place my hand on top of Goten's spiky hair and ruffle it, still staring at Alice. "Have you been taking good care of my baby brother?"

Alice's blue, blue eyes widen. "You're…Gohan?" she asks, the bags in her arms starting to tremble.

"I'm pleased to meet you," I reply, nodding my head. Stepping in her direction, I smile at her reassuringly and say, "Don't worry, I'm not insane." I hold out my hand for her to shake.

"Ah…! P-pleased to meet you, too," she fumbles. Setting a bag onto the nearby counter, Alice takes my hand and pumps it eagerly. Letting it go, she bows to me, a gesture that I return with a smile.

Turning away, I wink at Goten. My brother only blushes a cute scarlet in answer. Yes, he is quite taken with this girl. I believe there will be an engagement soon.

I hope so, for his sake.

Patting my brother's shoulder, I turn to leave. A hand tugs on my coat to stop me, making me turn back, a curious frown on my face.

"Yes, Alice-san?" I inquire of Goten's girlfriend, raising my eyebrows once more.

"Uh, w-will you have dinner with us? I want to apologize for thinking you were insane," Alice tells me, blushing ferociously. Hmm, two blushers in a relationship. This could get very interesting.

"So you did think I was insane. I wasn't quite sure," I tease, smirking mischievously. Goten elbows me in the ribs, a clear order to behave. I wince and rub the sore spot, glowering at Goten, but my grimace transforms into a natural smile a second later.

"If you or Goten don't mind, I would very much like to. I haven't eaten home-cooked food in a while…"

"Oh, of course not! You're welcome here anytime," Alice chirps. She turns and bounces away, leaving Goten and me to look after her. I shake my head amusedly and watch Goten out of the corner of my eye. Hmpf. This is very interesting, already. I will keep an eye on them, see how this relationship goes. I don't want for either of them to be hurt.

Swinging abruptly around, I set out for and sit down on one of the couches strewn around the room. Goten watches me, wide-eyed, reminding me so much of the brother I used to know. I only smirk at him and open my mouth to query,

"So, when are you popping the question?"

If possible, Goten blushes harder.

"I-I'm thinking—well, Alice's birthday is coming up in three weeks. I was thinking that I'd ask her then," he tells me shyly.

I nod approvingly. "Ah, yes, very romantic. I approve, baby brother."

Goten ducks his head. "W-would you stop calling me that? It—it makes me feel embarrassed," he dictates. I simply smile at him.

"All right," I acquiesce amiably. Goten shoots a quick look at me, suspicious already, even I though I didn't do anything. What fun it is to play with my brother's mind.

"You've changed," Goten relates suddenly. I blink in surprise at him, not expecting this development. "You're not the Gohan I used to know anymore. You're… you're more carefree, in a way. You're not so…"

"Awkward?" I supply. Goten nods, relieved that I'm not making him suffer. Really, what little faith he has in me now. Still, I can see where he's coming from. I thought of this subject myself only two days ago.

"You're right, I'm not so awkward," I start. "For some reason, being in the insanity ward has freed me from the chains that bound me. And I don't mean the manacles I had on when I was in there," I add, narrowing my eyes at my brother. Goten grins sheepishly, spreading out his hands to say, You got me. I smirk darkly at him in return: Yeah, that's what I thought.

"Now I'm unpredictable. No one expects anything of me, least of all me myself. I don't know what I can or can't do anymore… and the idea fills me with exhilaration," I continue. Smiling, I look over at Goten, whom is studying me with a startled expression.

However, I'm not finished. "Speaking of the insanity ward, how did your visit with my loony doctors yesterday go?"

:-:-:-:

A few weeks later, I stand in a graveyard not far away from my—well, what used to be my house. The people who made the house home are no longer here, and so it's just a house to me. That, and a memory….

It was such a promising house.

Kneeling, I brush my fingers over the names of the two tombstones in front of me. "Son Videl" is the first one my fingers find. "Son Pan" follows not long after. Tears drip down my face, the first time they do, and I let myself finally grieve properly for my family and its long-dead future.

I kneel there for what seems hours, crying without a sound. It feels good to let out all the pain, all the self-loathing, all the distress, at long last. All the emotions I ever felt about those deaths, including the blinding realization I had only a month and two weeks ago; they are flying away now, leaving only a determination to live on in its place.

I will keep watch over my brother and his mate; I will protect them as best as I can. I will join forces with my parents and my old friends and try to keep their world as whole and pure as I can for as long as I can. I know, eventually, that it will tear and crack, but until then, I'll not let anything get to them. And when it does happen, I will do my absolute best to help them both pick it up again.

I don't want them to be as alone as I was.

While I am at it, I will forge a new life of my own. I will go out into the world and shape my future for me; no longer will I blindly let other people influence me. I will meet new people, go new places, and taste new worlds. I will fling my arms out and gulp as much I can, then go questing for more. Never will I satiate myself; I will move on before I can do that. And when I get tired of my nomadic lifestyle, I will come home to my town, my family and my friends, and delight in nostalgia.

Perhaps I will even meet another woman, or several. Perhaps I will meet none. But I know that there is someone out there that I could grow to love, maybe not as much as Videl, but certainly enough to want to take care of as fiercely as I did Videl.

Mayhap I will even have some children. Who knows? Life will take me where it will; as long as I follow only my heart and not the wishes of others.

And when I fall into despair, as inevitably I will, I shall remember to simply step outside and let Mother Nature take care of me. I will remember that it hurts to keep my pain in, and will instead let it fly free.

But before all of that happens, I have to get used to life itself again. So much has changed in the twelve years that I was gone….

Do you think that if I visited the insanity ward where I was kept, they'd try to capture me again?

:-:-:-:

A/n: Gohan! (Scandalized) What a mischievous creature I have unleashed upon this world! (Gasps indignantly) Well, maybe it's all for the best. (Snickers) So, what do you think? Will Gohan doom the world with his brand of havoc? Or is this "wild child" going down? Review please! (LOL, this Gohan reminds me of the one in the aspirin incident with Doctor Uni.)

Four pages! ;) Thanks to DBZ Chick1, mainesthai, The General of Darkness, Shadow Dreamer 27, The Death Grip, MarshmellowDragon, Lucy Wood, and SSJMajinVegetaSaiyanPrince for reviewing last chapter!

(Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last ten chapters! Hope you liked this short and sweet little ficlet!)
Updated 09.15.05 (Sorry for the late update; my computer was frickin' up as per usual)
(40 pages and 11,101 words in all. Not bad! )

NB: Story was edited in full 05.29.07. Minor changes were made in grammar here and there, extra words added to enhance story flow, and pauses were added where needed. Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. Ta! --SP