Age 768, 14 Months after The Cell Games
"You are always like this," Gohan yelled. "You disregard my opinion on everything!" His patience with his mother long since gone.
"I am your mother! "You stop this rebellious act at once and return back to your studies, young man!" This, of course, served only to get Gohan even more angry.
This had been a recurring occurrence since The Cell Games, as their approach to training was black and white. Chi-Chi never liked her son training even before her husband's death, but now things were much worse. In the past Chi-Chi let Goku train Gohan since even she knew that his power was needed, and also she wanted to respect the boy's father's decisions. She once did not and that resulted in the Raditz incident. She felt quite guilty back in the day.
It was completely different from today where Chi-Chi, the matriarch and the only adult in the house, deemed her will to be the absolute and unquestionable. Though she would never admit it, Chi-Chi knew very well that behind her mask of "I want my son to be a respectable member of the society, not just a musclehead." she was terrified of her son sharing the same fate as her Goku; should Gohan follow his father's footsteps.
Gohan on the other hand, found it necessary to train to uphold his father's legacy and protect all Goku once protected himself. After all, his father had entrusted him with the safety of the entire world, and Gohan had no intention of betraying that trust.
Gohan was certainly not the "spoiled brat" as Piccolo once put it, anymore. He practically grew up on the battlefield, partaking in the most important events of the recent universal history. He matured a lot and knew, without a doubt, he had a responsibility. He was, is and will be a protector through and through. He just wished his mother understood that.
With dealing with grief and all, the first few months weren't so arguments started around 4 months after The Cell Games, shortly after they found out that Chi-Chi was pregnant. His scientific mind initially believed that pregnancy hormones were to blame for her outbursts, and he still believed that to be the original cause, arguments grew more heated as the months passed.
Goten, his younger brother, was born and changed everything. Not only he smiled wider than he had for years but also helped him truly comprehend his new role in life. He thought he needed to uphold his father's legacy, to protect what he did.
He was wrong, his baby brother's very existence taught him that. He has his own legacy to create. His duty wasn't to preserve the old, it was to protect everything there was, is and will ever be. And naturally to do that, he needs to train. And he will die on that hill, if needed.
Their arguments never went to this wavelength however, usually they were just glorified versions of "You wont train, you need to study." And "I need to train to get stronger." It was obvious to anyone that today was the day that their lives will be altered in some way. Though since neither side backed down it was impossible to predict what this change will be.
"You've been acting like this for almost a year now!" Gohan cried, "You know why i want to train, you know why I need to train; and you certainly know that I can easily find a balance between studying and training if you gave me a sliver of time to do so!"
Sometimes they both caved in with the demands of the other but not today. Usually at least one of them is too tired to argue, thanks to the 5-month-old Goku clone. Today said clone slept much earlier with less hassle, so they both had the energy to protect their ground.
"It always starts like that. Sooner or later you'll spend more time around that green alien than with me and your brother." All the cards were on the table today, someone will sleep soundly whilst the other in anger. " Plus you very well know that we need someone to take care of the garden and I don't have the time to stratch my hair let alone do that."
Gohan closed his eyes to calm himself and avoid waking up his brother, who would undoubtedly cry at the sight of his family arguing. Though he couldn't help but to see his mother's point. They indeed were struggling and no farm may very well mean they will be sleeping hungry.
For a second, Gohan thought because of their financial issues he truly wouldn't have the time to train, but then something dawned on him. He was now sure that, if he stays calm and plays his cards right, he can end this argument with both sides satisfied.
"Mom," Gohan began, though he was very calm this time, "We need speed and time, and I happen to be the single fastest entity in the world. Give me 2 weeks to schedule everything, and I can guarantee you the farm will be taken care of and I will have 5 to 6 hours a day to study at least."
It was Chi-Chi's time to go silent. He too had valid points. Their farm wasn't the single biggest one in the world, but enough that it can take her hours to get enough take care of the crops, not to mention harvest them to feed her 2 kids. She was concerned because, while Gohan understood the general concept of crop cultivation, he was far from a master, and with a baby in the house, even the slightest quality drop could be disastrous for baby Goten's digestive system.
She figured she might as well tell him the truth, as it was clear he was trying to find the perfect solution. "Gohan, do you know why I'm so stressed about all this? I never explained that did I?" Gohan shaked his head as Chi-Chi continued, "It's because your brother. Even if his digestive system has all the saiyan benefits to it he's still a baby. I'm afraid if you try to hasten things a quality drop may hurt him."
Gohan felt incredibly selfish after his mother's explanation. How could he not think of this before? And he was supposed to be the smart one in the family. If anything happened to his brother because of him, he would never forgive himself.
"Then… would you teach me more about gardening?" Gohan asked, quietly this time, with less confidence. "Huh?" Chi-Chi was surprised by this. Though even she didn't understand why she expected anything less from her responsible baby boy.
"You heard me," Gohan spouted, " teach me the advanced parts of gardening, observe my work for a while and then decide if I should take things slower. I'm sure the two of us can find the perfect pacing in a short while." Chi-Chi contemplated this, Gohan was right that the two of them can work this out. She was somewhat happy that this argument went as long as it did. She believed they had finally found the perfect middle ground.
She sighed softly but accepted his offer. "Alright, tomorrow I'll wake you up early and we'll start. But I want you to take this very seriously for a few days, and cancel whatever you were planning to do. We can't take this lightly. Your brother 's well-being is on the line." This was the most she was going to give Gohan, and for a second he looked emotionless which worried her. But that changed quickly as his empty face was replaced with a happy demeanor and somewhat cheery eyes. She was sure Gohan found this enough.
"Alright mom! Thanks for opening an ear to me. I'm not gonna lie, for a while I thought you would've refused this too. I apologise for that." He was genuine too, this was his mother after all. He should've known she would see things his way sooner or later.
Chi-Chi on the other hand, was affected so emotionally by this. She didn't even realize she made him this nervous before. And apologizing for something he merely thought of? Her boy was truly something else. She decided that she was going to be more open to her son's decisions, Chi-Chi will not be repeating the same mistake she once made during the 4 years after her firstborn's birth.
Without saying a word, Chi-Chi pulled him into a fierce hug; as her eyes moistened slightly. They were a family of three and excluding her enormous father they had no one else. They needed to stay together, first and foremost.
The morning after their agreement and 20 more consecutive mornings, Chi-Chi and Gohan woke up quite early. She took the time to both breastfeed her second son and teach Gohan the advanced parts of gardening. Something he, thankfully, took very seriously. Going as far as borrowing a laptop from Bulma to see if he can get even better at gardening, Gohan was ready to go to very extreme lengths for the well-being of his brother, he showed it here.
The problems arose in the scheduling department, as both Piccolo and Vegeta, the two people Gohan sparred with regularly, weren't happy that "the brat" was changing their plans permanently. They both chewed him out but honestly, Gohan could care less about their opinion. He got his priorities straight.
After around 2 months of learning advanced gardening and his mother correcting his mistakes, Gohan became a successful gardener. Both Chi-Chi and himself were over the moon to see that he barely made any basic mistakes anymore, though he still reported to his mother what he did to see if there were still some glaring issues. There were, but nothing that can't be fixed. Chi-Chi kept checking the garden regularly after Gohan leaves the house after breakfast anyway.
She was actually quite happy with how he juggled everything in his life. Her fear of Gohan sharing the same fate with his father never abandoned her, though she reasoned that the stronger he is, the less likely that outcome becomes. His schedule was simple: tend to the garden early in the morning, have breakfast with mom and Goten; leave to train with either Piccolo or Vegeta, comeback around 15.30 to study for a few hours and then sleep. Simple, easy to follow and both of them were happy with it. He didn't have any friends who weren't old enough to be his parents so social life didn't take any time.
Chi-Chi was saddened by this, though it wasn't something to discuss since she couldn't do anything about it. It was like everyone but her Gohan had friends, even little Goten had Trunks and they were practically growing up together. Everyone but Gohan.
'A lifetime of struggles does that to someone, I guess' she mused, knowing that her son did not have an easy childhood and yet was content with what he had. Never questioning what could've been. She figured having no one to compare himself to would do that. Chi-Chi simply hoped Gohan would find a friend group one day, a group of people who would laugh with him.
Most kids his age went to school of course, and that was their primary way of socializing. But they simply did not have the money to have Gohan go to school. Oh, how much she wished they did; her son deserves that much. If they ever gained significant amounts of money, sending him to school would be her first thing to do; as that topped her "To-do when rich" list.
And what about when both of of her sons grew up? When Gohan is 17 and Goten is 6, for example. If they don't gain a stable income until then, they might need to ask Bulma for some money. She found no greater shame than that. Even if their long-time friend won't think any bad for it.
Chi-Chi abandoned this dark train of thought immediately. Her future self will probably struggle with these anyway, no need to ruin her today.
She sighed heavily as Gohan entered the kitchen, "Good morning, mom!" He was as happy as usual, like the world hadn't robbed him of practically everything the other kids had. Gohan's happy mood changed instantly as he saw his mother trying to mask her worries behind a happy smile. He knew her too well to fall for that.
"Mom, are you feeling okay?" Gohan asked, worried. Chi-Chi just pulled him into a powerful hug and said, with watery eyes that Gohan did not see, "Good morning to you too, sweetie."
Dear readers, hi! Thanks for reading the story. Please feel free to point out my mistakes, this is my first story and I'm hoping to improve as i go along. Also sorry for the chapter lengths, I feel them to be too short and I am trying to improve in that area too.