A/N: Hello everyone! Oops, has it already been 17 days? Hehe… *bowsdowninfrontofherreadersandbegsforforgivness* Please, forgive me, forgive me, forgive me!! I admit it, I'm completely guilty for the delay! You know how it is… There are always things that get in the way of writing and this time it had been mainly my new story idea for a story and the fact that I had no idea how to start this chapter! Please forgive me!!! This chapter is even again one of the longer ones in this story to make up for the delay and I promise that I will definitely try to get the next chapter out faster than this one!!!

But thanks to all of you who've reviewed the last chapter and special thanks to ChunkyMunky241! Chunks is my new beta-reader of this fic and I'm glad to say that it finally works. We already tried this beta-thingy before, but we somehow had some problems with receiving the other's emails. Again, thanks a lot Chunks for your help and I hope I didn't put you through too much trouble with this chapter, but I think I didn't because I compared your proofread one with my original and was quite surprised that the number of mistakes had been quite low… So, thanks a lot and keep up the good work!

Chapter 20: Unexpected Occurrences

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Gohan let out a deep sigh. He was sitting on a barrel that was standing on the deck of the Kintoun, his legs dangling down, watching Krillin and Yamcha spar, but this spar wasn't that interesting since they were mostly fooling around. Both knew that they had to save their strength for the inevitable encounter with the Saiyajins some time soon. His mother was with Chao-Zu under deck, most likely in the galley to show him some recipes for meals that could be easily made while at sea and Dende was in his cabin, getting some rest. To put it simply – Gohan was bored.

About half an hour had passed since his father had left the ship along with Piccolo and Tenshinhan. He wondered what was so important that his father had to send Piccolo and Tenshinhan to get the Dragonball and couldn't go with them. He hadn't said a word about where exactly he had to go. But even thinking about that didn't hold his interest for that long. He hadn't known his father as long as most of the others on this ship had, but he trusted him and believed him that this thing he had to do was really important to him.

So, there he was, sitting on that barrel and bored out of his mind. He could, of course, study to please his mother, but he had studied all the other days, so she had given him today off. But just sitting there and watching the others wasn't what he wanted to do. It was itching in his fingers to do something and the fact that he hadn't been able to leave this ship in a month didn't help him much. He needed to get off that ship, to feel again the hard and steady ground under his feet. 

Suddenly an idea crossed his mind and a mischievous grin was plastered on his face. He knew he would get into trouble because of it, especially with his mother, but he had to do it. Besides, he wouldn't go too far, so what could happen to him?

He slowly slid down the barrel, not making any noise, and looked around carefully. His mother, Chao-Zu and Dende were still under the deck and Krillin and Yamcha were still too occupied with their sparring match to notice anything around them. He warily walked over to the plank, looked back one last time and then sneaked off the ship without anyone noticing.

Wow, that was easier than expected, he thought when he was walking down the street at the harbor, which was leading to a small beach he had seen when they'd arrived. While Gohan was strolling down this street he received, of course, many strange glances and glares from the other sailors and people there, wondering what a small kid like him was doing there all alone and unprotected, but he ignored them. He knew from the sparring matches with his father's friends and Piccolo that it wouldn't be so easy to take him down, so he wasn't worried about that. The only thing he wanted was just getting to the beach to have some fun, anyway. Hopefully the others wouldn't find out that he was gone too soon. Hmm, maybe he should've left them a small note telling them where he wanted to go…

~*~

Zarbon and his men stopped in front of a small wooden house in the middle of the small city. He took a look at the map Frieza had given him before he left and let a satisfied smirk appear on his face. "Okay guys, this is the house, and it seems that we're the first ones here." Saying this he knocked at the door and waited until somebody answered.

When someone opened the door - a smaller, elderly Human man with gray hair - Zarbon grabbed him by the neck and shoved him into the house, followed by his men. The last one closed the door so that nothing that would happen within those four walls would get outside. An elderly white-haired Human woman that had been sitting at a table jumped up and screamed when she saw the intruders and what they were doing with her husband.

"Shut up!" Zarbon demanded. The woman whimpered, but obeyed. She knew who these men were and she hoped that if she did what they wanted her to do, she and her husband would get off lightly. "Much better," he said turning to the man. "Listen old man, we're looking for a small orange sphere, a part of the legendary Treasure of Power and we know that it's here. Give it to me and nothing will happen to you and the woman."

"I-I don't… know what you're… talking about," the man choked out bravely. Zarbon was still squeezing his neck and cutting of the blood circulation, as well as the air supply for his brain. He started to feel lightheaded, but he didn't want to and wouldn't give up what had been in his family for three generations already.

"Don't lie to me old man!" Zarbon tightened his grip, letting the man gasp for air. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Where. Is. The. Sphere?"

"Even if I knew…" the man spat out, having to use a huge amount of strength to do that. "I wouldn't tell you."

Zarbon raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? Okay, tell me when it hurts." He pulled out a knife and just wanted to stab the man with it, when the woman started to scream again.

"Stop!" she cried, "Don't hurt him… I'll give you what you want… Just don't hurt my husband…"

"Smart woman," he said, while he was loosening the grip on the man's neck, but still didn't let him go. "So, where is it?"

"It's upstairs," the woman sniffed. "In the bedroom on the chest of drawers…"

"Dodoria?"

"I'll go," Dodoria said and went to the stairs that led to the upper floor. It didn't take him even a minute until the pink being appeared again, holding the sphere in his hand. "The woman told us the truth."

"Good. As I already said you're a smart woman," Zarbon told her again. "Quite the contrary to your husband. I'll let you live, but him…?" Before he even finished the sentence the blade of the knife embedded itself in the lower abdomen of the man, letting him cry out in pain, before he collapsed. A silent scream erupted from the woman's throat when she saw this and she would have run over to her now dead husband if it weren't for the fact that the body came flying at her, crashing on the table, destroying it. Crying quietly the woman bowed over her husband's body, not once looking up to the murderers, who were right now leaving the house.

~*~

It was just a few minutes later that Piccolo and Tenshinhan arrived at the house and stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the crowd of people standing in front of it. Having a bad feeling, Piccolo turned to his companion. "Look at the map, now! Where is the sphere?"

Tenshinhan quickly took out the map and unfolded it. "Shit. We're too late. The sphere is moving away from us."

"I knew it. We have to go after them." Piccolo just wanted to leave, when Tenshinhan grabbed his arm.

"No. We have to see what has happened," the three-eyed man said.

"Fine," the Namek grunted reluctantly before they fought their way through the crowd into the house together.

But they weren't prepared for what they saw. An old crying woman was lying over the body of an old man. Shattered pieces of wood were lying everywhere and a pool of blood was spreading from under the body.

"Who was that?" Piccolo wanted to know. "Has anyone seen what has happened here?"

Much to the two warriors dislike everyone in the crowd shook their heads.

"Damn," Tenshinhan mumbled and slowly walked over to the woman. "Ma'am? Please, who did this? We need to know so that we can get him," he asked softly.

"Zarbon," she sobbed without even looking up. "Zarbon killed him…"

"Zarbon? I've heard that name before…" the Namek said thoughtfully.

"Me too…" Tenshinhan agreed. "Can you tell us, who this Zarbon is?"

This time the woman looked up, her eyes full of anger and sadness. "Zarbon is Frieza's right hand man," she hissed. "He, his partner Dodoria, and some of their henchmen have been here. They wanted the sphere, one part of the Treasure of Power… my husband didn't want to tell them, so they threatened him. I couldn't bear seeing him like this, so I told them, hoping that they would spare our lives, but they killed my husband anyway, after they got the sphere and then left."

"Those bastards." Tenshinhan clenched his fists. "Come on Piccolo, there's still a chance to get them."

"No," the Namek told him. "We won't follow them. They're too many – we wouldn't stand a chance against them. It would be best if we go back to the ship and wait for Son Goku."

Tenshinhan sighed. "Okay, waiting is it then…" He kneeled down to the woman and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, we will get them and avenge your husband. I promise…" He smiled at her and then got up again turning to a few people. "Please, someone should get her out of here…" One woman nodded and immediately went up to the old woman, when Tenshinhan and Piccolo left the house again, walking back to the Kintoun. 

Halfway back they saw in the distance again a large gathering of people on the other side of the town, near the forest where the Jinzoningen should live in. Alarmed that Zarbon and his men might have something to do with it, they went there and, when they got nearer, they heard the people shouting something. Throwing each other strange glances, Piccolo and Tenshinhan decided that it wouldn't hurt to see what was going on, but what they saw surprised them once again.

A muscular man was standing on a pedestal, his arms raised in the air and the crowd was cheering at him. "I promise," he yelled, "that I, Mr. Satan, strongest man on this island and maybe even on the whole world, will take care of the Jinzoningen and their monster that has killed so many people lately."

The crowd cheered again, calling again and again, "Mr. Satan! Mr. Satan!"

"Yes, that's me! I will defeat them!" he let out a triumphant laugh, before he jumped off the pedestal and landed more or less gracefully on the ground. But the landing didn't seem to bother the people at all, because they just kept on cheering, making way for their savior. Still laughing, he walked through them and disappeared in the woods.

"What was that?" Tenshinhan asked confused, when the crowd was still shouting out his name. "Or better, who was that?"

Piccolo shook his head. "Some fool who thinks that he can take on the Jinzoningen and whatever monster they were talking about… I don't think that he will get out of the forest alive, though…"

"But shouldn't we follow him and save him?" Tenshinhan asked thoughtfully.

"No, we have more important things to do… Maybe this fool is lucky enough and they spare his life, otherwise it's just one less idiot on this planet…" Without saying more, Piccolo turned around and walked away. Tenshinhan followed him shortly after taking one last look into the forest, where this Mr. Satan had disappeared in, not really knowing if he should hope that Piccolo was right with him being lucky or the other way around.

~*~

Goku swallowed a huge lump down in his throat when he had finally arrived at his destination. Nothing had changed in the last seven months – the bar looked still the same. He nervously clenched and unclenched his wet fists, fighting with himself as to whether or not he should really go inside. As hard as it was to admit, this was the first time in his life as sailor that he was truly scared. He had faced storms, pirates, but never did he have to face his past like this. He suddenly didn't know anymore if he really wanted to know more about his past, but something deep in his mind told him that he had to do this. He had to do this for his family, for ChiChi and Gohan and also for himself. He needed to know more about the Saiyajins, more about his true self before he could stop hating and maybe even start trusting himself again. And yet it was a huge step he had to take. What if she didn't live here anymore? What if she was dead? Goku shook his head. He should have thought about questions like that earlier when he was standing a few meters away from the answers. He had to do this! Taking one last deep breath, he opened the door and went inside.

There weren't many people in the bar, understandably so since it was still afternoon, but some were still there, most sailors, relaxing after having just arrived from a long travel on sea. Hesitating, he walked around, carefully eyeing each table in hope of finding her.

"Can I help you?"

Startled by this voice Goku jumped around, coming to face with the owner of this bar, a middle-aged man with blond hair and a mustache. "Uhm…" Goku sheepishly scratched the back of his head, just now realizing how weird his behavior must have looked like for the others. "Maybe… See, I'm looking for someone… An old woman to be precise. I've already been…"

"Oh my god, you're Son Goku, aren't you? Now I recognize you! Haven't you and your crew already been here about seven months ago?" the man asked excitedly.

"Uhm, yeah… you're right… The woman I'm looking for was sitting in that corner over there then…" He pointed to a table in the farthest and darkest corner of the whole bar. "Do you maybe remember her?"

"Of course," the owner said smiling. "That was Kyna. She's been sitting there at exactly that table every night since she moved here about twenty-five years ago until…"

"Until what?" Goku wanted to know, feeling the knot in his stomach tighten.

"Until she fell ill," he now heard another voice saying. He turned around a saw a young woman with chocolate brown hair and blue eyes coming down the stairs. "Who are you and what do you want from her?"

"My name is Son Goku and I think that she can tell me something about my past…" he told her.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let any visitors to her. She's extremely weak and…"

"Please," Goku interrupted her. "I need to talk to her…"

"Listen, Son Goku, I'm sure that Kyna has never mentioned your name, so I doubt that she knows you or anything about your past," she said, slowly getting angry at this young man in front of her. "Believe me, she has told me about many people she knew in her life, but you haven't been one of them…"

"Has one of those persons been someone called Kakarotto? Or Bardock?" Goku asked, holding onto his last straw to get to the person, who could tell him what he needed to know.

The young woman's face suddenly paled considerably. "How do you know those names?"

"She called me those names when I met her about a half year ago. I didn't know why then, but just recently I found out that my true name, my birth name is Kakarotto and that Bardock was my father. And now I'm here because I think she can tell me more about me, my family, my people…" Goku hesitated for a few seconds, before he continued in a whisper. "Please, let me talk to her… It won't be long, I promise…"

The young woman looked at him. Could this be Kakarotto, the Saiyajin child Kyna had saved so many years ago? Should she really believe him? She didn't want to, but the look in his eyes was so sincere and she also knew that Kyna always wanted to meet the man the baby had become. She sighed. "Okay, come with me…"

Letting out the breath he had been holding the whole time, Goku followed her to the upper floor. Now he would finally get his answers…

~*~

Krillin and Yamcha had just finished their sparring match, when Krillin suddenly noticed that something was wrong. "Um, Yamcha… do you have any idea, where Gohan is?" he asked worried.

"No, maybe he's under deck… If you want I'll go and check it out…" Yamcha answered and got up, walking through the door that led to the cabins. Krillin didn't need to wait long until Yamcha came back up, followed by ChiChi, Dende and Chao-Zu. "He isn't here…"

"Krillin! Where is my baby?" ChiChi demanded to know.

"I don't know…" he said honestly, but suddenly his face lit up. "Wait a minute… I think I have an idea where he might be. Yamcha, stay with ChiChi and tell the others what has happened, when they come back. I'll go and look for Gohan. I'm quite sure that he hasn't gone that far." Without waiting for an answer, he ran off the ship, holding onto his only hope that Gohan was really there where he thought him to be. He had noticed how the boy's eyes had lit up, when they had passed this one beach on their way to the harbor. He really hoped that he was there, even though this wasn't the safest place to be, because directly on the beach was bordering the forest of the Jinzoningen and he had no idea what they would do with little boys like Gohan. Otherwise, when Gohan wasn't there, he was in deep shit.

~*~

The boy in question was indeed at the beach. He had been swimming a bit, sunbathed and was now playing with a stick in the sand, when he suddenly heard a small noise behind him. Startled, he turned around but just saw a squirrel sitting in front of him. He smiled broadly. "Hello little one," he greeted it. "My name is Gohan… Do you want to play?"

The Squirrel just looked at him strangely, cocked its head to one side and then disappeared into the forest.

"Wait!" Gohan yelled and followed the animal, just to find it seemingly waiting for him a seconds later.

"So, you really want to play. Wait 'til I get you!" he said, laughing, and started to chase the squirrel through the forest.

Krillin was lucky to arrive at the beach just in time to see how Gohan disappeared in the forest. He sighed.

"Gohan!" he called out, but the boy didn't react. Shrugging he decided that he had no other choice but to follow him and also disappeared at the same place Gohan did. He followed the boy's laughter, hoping that he wouldn't lose him in those woods.

Gohan was still chasing after the squirrel when suddenly something caught his eye. He stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes went wide, when they rested on a small clearing. "Gohan!" he heard a voice calling out for him and turned around. It was Krillin.

"Shh," Gohan just said and looked back to the clearing, when his father's friend had arrived. "Krillin, look there…"

"What?" he asked, but his eyes went as wide as the ones of the boy, when he spotted what Gohan had seen and swallowed hard. "Shit."

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Again the end of a chapter and I think I'm really slowly becoming my old self again with all those cliffies… (about three in one chapter, not bad, not bad…) I just hope you don't hate me too much… *smirks evilly*

But anyways, I'm again sorry that it took me almost three weeks to update and I would be glad if you somehow showed me that you're still out there, waiting for me to update *hinthint*…

Eternally yours

ChibiChibi