Age 770, 32 Months After The Cell Games

The day started just like any other. Gardening- something he mastered- training, studying etc. Usual stuff for Gohan.

As expected from a mountain in January, the entire landscape was covered in snow. The lack of many wild animals made the hibernation period evident, most of the trees had absolutely no leaves on them. It goes without mentioning that it was freezing cold. Approximately -12 degrees Celsius

For a normal 13-year-old, this might be the worst time to go out to exercise or do hard labor for their family. But if you consider the fact that the 13-year-old training outside was born 12 years ago, the word "normal" goes out the window.

Punch met punch, kick met block—incomprehendable amounts of might met their kin. The world's 3 strongest picked the freezing landscape of Mount Paozu to train that day. "Our enemies will not wait for a sunny, peaceful day to attack us." as Piccolo put it. There was no condition that will not be conquered.

Gohan, Vegeta and Piccolo did this once every month. A free-for-all between them to both increase their multi-tasking capabilities and show off during the process. They always chose lands devoid of humans because the earthquakes they cause can easily shatter entire mountains.

Three months after The Cell Games, Gohan began training with the Saiyan Prince. Vegeta strictly refused his offer, claiming Gohan was "Trying to humiliate the prince of all saiyans with his ridiculous shiny new form." and that he could do without "The brat showing him up repeatedly." Though Gohan insisted that he had no ill intentions with his offer. Soon after they became regular sparring partners.

Vegeta broke through the wall of super saiyan around 2 years after The Cell Games, him and Gohan weren't that far off in power. He would never admit it of course, but his assumption was the hybrid to be around 25% stronger than him.

The brat and him got along well, as funny as that sounds. He was the first example saiyan puberty among his wife and Kakarot's group of misfits, excluding the deceased clown himself, who spent his years of puberty in the wilderness. And he happened to be the only person who has any idea how to handle a saiyan teenager with a crapload of hormones to influence his actions.

Their relationship went beyond sparring. Every now and then he would take the hybrid and have a private talk with him. His above-average violent urges, the way his body will be growing rapidly during these years and of course; he did not shy away from giving his half-saiyan ass The Talk.

He also could clearly see his own effect on the boy, as Gohan grew more and more rebellious and confident. He also developed a bit of a dark sense of humor, courtesy of both him and the Namekian. The more the two spent time together, the more they respected each other and got close. He actually cared about the changes in the hybrid's life, though no one can say it loudly without a nice galick gun to the face.

Piccolo simply couldn't compete with such a power, so they trained without their ascended super Saiyan forms. Even though it sucked that neither Vegeta nor Gohan could go all-out, fighting a master tactician in a 3-man FFA had many fruits to reap.

All 3 of them were covered in blood, their clothes battered and ruined, it was clear the spar was nearing it's end. Vegeta retracted his fist from Gohan's palm and barely managed to dodge Piccolo's ki blast headed for him. Unfortunately for him, this gave Gohan the opening to cruelly knee Vegeta in the gut. Vegeta of course, not one to be left in the dust, give the halfling a nice left hook right before pulling his head and kneeing his skull, nearly blinding Gohan during the process.

Gohan growled in fury, "Hey 'Geta, how about i take off your arm?! Would you enjoy that?!" Vegeta simply smirked and opened his mouth but the answer never came, as Piccolo exploited his opening by giving him two powerful blows.

Gohan laughed at his senior Saiyan's pain, ignoring his head absolutely throbbing in pain with great difficulty, Vegeta swore loudly. "You find this fucking hysterical, do you not?" Gohan crossed his arms as did Piccolo, both wanting to see the end of this, "I'll give you something to laugh at, you randy runt."

Piccolo and Gohan looked at each other and nodded, wicked smirks never once leaving their faces, both understanding the clear implications. And with that, the trio started their respective chants.

"FINAL-"

"KAMEEEEE-"

"MASEN-"

Determination evident in their eyes, the trio of warriors finally shot their attacks at each other. All using everything they still had.

"FLASH"

"HAMEEEEEHAAAAAAAAAAA"

"KO"

3 beams found each other; the sky darkened, a wind powerful enough to take buildings down appeared out of nowhere. A tree even flew into the center of their beams, completely erasing itself in a split put more and more into their attacks, but it was clear who could sustain it more than the others.

Piccolo and Vegeta looked much more tired than Gohan, thanks to his superior Ki reserves. And the moment they had the tiniest slip, they felt the air knocked out of their lungs. It was clear who won this fight.

Vegeta and Piccolo were both lying in their newly formed craters, breathing heavily and covered in crimson blood.

Gohan landed in the middle of them, put his bloodied hands on his hips and grinned. "Looks like you experienced warriors," Gohan quirked with an innocent voice, like he was nothing more than an observer to the fight, "could not defeat a teenager, eh? Gift of youth, I suppose." And he grinned even wider, helping his comrades out of their craters. Earning a pair of growls in the process.

Both of them glared deeply at him, cursing that they didn't have the energy to discipline the disrespective runt. That didn't mean they didn't enjoy today's session though, this was their favorite time of the month.

After Vegeta snarling a few choice words at Gohan and Piccolo silently agreeing with the Prince, they figured it was time to go back to the Lookout and have Dende heal their wounds. They were surprised, however, as Gohan seemed to have no intention of doing so.

"Gohan," Piccolo addressed, his voice mirroring his annoyance. "Are you planning to come with us or are you planning to freeze to death?" He finished as Vegeta yelled through his long-since gone patience, "That harpy mother of yours won't allow us to forget that so get that pubescent ass of yours here at once!"

Gohan looked at his fellow saiyan with venom in his eyes and addressed him with the same amount of anger, "Stop calling my mother "the harpy" Vegeta!" Gohan pinched his nose, in an attempt to subdue his anger,"Believe me, I will have you swearing, tenfold next time." Gohan huffed and turned his attention to his master.

"I will be exploring the area a bit, we did not hold back as much as we should've today," he stated, ignoring Vegeta's claim of burying him six feet beneath the surface the next time."I will be searching to see if someone was harmed by us." His features still very serious.

Piccolo sighed in understanding, "Alright, you are on your own, kid." He prepared himself to launch behind Vegeta who has already left. "I still think you should come back after your little search, you too are as injured as us."

Gohan nodded at his longtime friend and master, "I will, Piccolo. See you in a few hours." And with that, Gohan began his search as Piccolo began flying to his home. He had no idea that today would hold one of the most memorable encounters of his life.

Please, please not be him. 18 was terrified, tremors of that magnitude in that area were not reassuring.

She spent the last 3 years with the same goal in mind, find 17. The Cell Games Arena was naturally the first place to check, though in vain. Her brother was not present, nor was he on the island in which he was absorbed in. She even checked the old doctor's bunker to see if he had a crazy idea and might go there.

17 was nowhere. She checked every single important place and then continued searching the globe after that. Her efforts slowed down, of course, she had her personal life and needed money. But 17's absence did not leave her alone for even a single day.

He is all I have-had. was a depressing line of thought that she came back to quite frequently. She truly had no one in life. Sure; she made a friend or two and even tried dating, but her attemps were all in vain. 18 was alone, and 17 was lost. Lost in a world where a particular group of warriors/enemies might find him by chance and slay him on spot. She doubted they forgot about the powerful twins.

This was why she was so incredibly terrified when the news broadcast explained that an area with little to no tectonic activities in the past suddenly harbored an earthquake of 7.7 magnitude. 18 was almost certain her brother had been discovered and was attempting to defend herself.

Hang on 17, Big Sis' is on her way. She reflected, as she increased her speed toward the tremors stopping a while back certainly did not help with her paranoia, as it was quite possible that the reason why they were over is because a troublesome experiment was no more.

She hugged herself, not because the cold of January affected her or anything, but to stop her body from shaking from sheer fright. 18 prayed to every god ever to have them help her brother in this time of need. All she could do was to get some answers, she supposed.

18 finally reached Mount Paozu, and gasped. A great battle took place here, recently. It was so clear. The craters, trees being cut from their roots and the very subtle blood red on the snow. No one else could've seen that little red, but an artificial human easily can.

The Blonde was trembling, her baby brother was dead. And why? Simply because she did not have the courage to ask Goku's folks to give her the dragon radar. Of course the magical wish-granting dragon came to her mind, but for her selfish fear of death, 17 paid the price.

Once stoic and serious woman could not stop herself from sobbing, her eyes were filled to the brim with tears. Then she let go. She fell to her knees, crying uncontrollably. 18 knew, without a doubt, this was her fault. And it was only a matter of time before the same warriors would come for her.

18 could not care less about death, anymore. If the afterlife was the only way to reunite with her only loved one, she was ready to pay the price. She had nothing to lose.

Gohan was still searching the area for anyone that might've been affected by their fight when he heard a voice. Not just a voice, but someone crying like there was no tomorrow. It was gut-wrenching, painful. The voice sounded like it belonged to a lady, what could've happened to have her cry this badly?

Gohan felt a feeling of dread as something dawned on him. Maybe she was with someone and a wild animal attacked them, killing or severely injuring her companion? Damn it, this was the reason why he patrolled the forest in the first place.

The half-Saiyan rushed to the voice immediately. He realized that he was nearing the stage of their three-way. Did an aftershock happen and hurt someone? He certainly hoped not.

Gohan was shocked to see the truth. The crying woman was not any person, she was Number 18 herself.But why was she crying like this? He didn't know the woman well, but the few interactions they'd had showed him that 18 was not the type of person who would cry her soul out in the wildernes.

His gentle nature was a bit worried about her. Gohan could easily relate to 18 in many ways. Thrown into a life he or she did not choose, with few by his or her side through thick and thin.18 was even worse than him. She had no one but her brother.

He floated over her, obverving her cry for a while. The hybrid thought that giving her some space was proper. He waited until she stopped crying and sat down next to an old, withered log of wood. Her eyes were bloodshot, Gohan had the hunch that the reason why she stopped shedding tears was that there were none left.

Gohan landed just a few meters away from her. Their last encounter was nearly 3 years ago, and it wasn't a very happy one. She has not caused any havoc like Piccolo implied for 3 years, but they were still far from the best of friends.

18 lifted her head and couldn't stop a muffled gasp. Everything matched her assumptions. They were here, after 3 years; they were found. And by the single strongest one, no less.

18 hid her face behind her arms and cut the silence, "Just do it. I know why you are here." She hid her face even deeper and her voice grew quieter, "Just end my suffering. It'll make both of our lives easier." She couldn't look at her soon-to-be-murderer, she was too numb for that.

Gohan was dumb-founded. What was she talking about? 18 clearly thought he was going to kill her, but why? What dots did she connect to reach a conclusion like this?

He frowned his eyes in confusion "Um, 18?" The atmosphere was thick and awkward. "Sorry for making you uncomfortable after all this time, but, what are you implying?"

18 was still too afraid to lift her head and look at him. His soothing voice helped her nerves slightly, but not completely. What if this was a game? What if he wanted to see her suffer as he suffered after the Cell Games? She knew nothing about the teenager after all, he might've grown up enjoying torture for all she knew.

Taking her silence as a sign to continue, Gohan spoke again. "I'm not here to harm you, 18." Gohan took another step towards her. "I just want to learn what has upset you this much." His caring voice was both genuine and intentional. He had to be helpful to her.

18 finally raised her head and looked at him, the young man who had saved her life from the big green bug was wearing a black sweater, a black wooly hat and a white coat . He also sported a pair of brown winter boots and blue pants appropriate for snowy days like this. He didn't look as intimidating as the blonde remembered. Though she reasoned that might be because he was wearing his battered and bloodied gi the last time she saw him.

His eyes expressed nothing of the ill kind. He was genuine, she knew that. But she was too paranoid to relax completely. That didn't stop her from explaining a thing or two. She took many deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down. The cold entering her body wasn't pleasant but helped her blood pressure.

Gohan got a bit closer when she began her explanation. "Since Cell," she snarled the name, "I have not seen 17. I've spent the last 3 years searching for him but to no avail." Her eyes moistened again, when she saw Gohan opening his mouth, presumably to offer his sympathies; she lifted her hand to silence him. This was not what she wanted.

Instead, she continued her explanation. "This area is not known for tectonic activities. After learning of the earthquake here, I…" she grew quite. And Gohan had a really good idea why. "I assumed you found him a-and k-killed..."18 could not finish her sentence. And Gohan was touched by her story. He was wrong. 18 didn't even have her brother's company.

In fear of 18 starting to cry again, Gohan got even closer, around 1 metres from her. He found someone like him, someone who lost a part of their family with no signs of gaining them back. But unlike him, 18 lost all of her family. He could not even imagine her pain.

In an attempt to comfort her with his best skill, Gohan began talking. "18, I'm so sorry we made you feel that way." Gohan waited 18 to finish wiping her fresh tears to continue. "This place was our training ground. I can assure you that none of us have even seen your brother, let alone harmed him."

18 was relieved by this. If the only people who can kill 17 never even saw him, he must be alive. This was the second time the young warrior helped her with something traumatic. The artificial human-no Lazuli needed to thank him. Something long overdue.

"Gohan," Once she got his full attention, she continued. "I want to t-thank you. "Both for what you did today and for what you did, three years ago."Her eyes shone with genuine emotion and gratitude.

Gohan was taken aback to see 18 of all people thanking him and becoming emotional over his actions. Gohan only did what he thought was right, he was happy someone else shared the sense of righteousness.

He smiled softly at her, "I'm only happy that I could be of some help to you, 18." He stopped for a bit as his smile became wider. "There is no greater happiness than helping others."

Those words, "helping others" hit her in the feels. She was desperate for assistance in one subject and wanted to take her chance. Worst-case scenario? Gohan refuses and they go their separate ways. An unhappy ending, she decided.

18 opened and closed her mouth a few times, like she was trying to say something. Gohan encouraged her to ask whatever she wanted, and in a very quite and shy tone that was not like her at all, she asked the question:

"Then… Would you help me find my brother?" The cat was out of the bag. Might as well be blunt.

Gohan had no issues with helping her in theory, but how? He couldn't help but ask. "Sorry, but if you can't find him after 3 years 18," His features became somber, "I don't think I'll be of much help."

18 berated herself for not explaining it thoroughly. Of course he didn't get it, he can't read minds or anything. "I was talking about the Dragon Balls." Gohan's eyes grew wide and his face very serious. "If you allow me to use the radar to find him, I'll be eternally grateful. You can come with me, if that'd make you feel safer."

Gohan had no idea what to say. 18 didn't seem deceptive, but using the Dragon Balls was too big of a deal to decide on a whim. He had to be careful, but he had no intentions of making her upset either.

Gohan's features still very stoic and serious, he closed his eyes and sighed. "Alright, but," he lifted his point finger, "I'll accompany you along the way. Sorry for my distrust 18, but the dragon balls are too important."

18 was a bit hurt by this, but didn't know why she expected anything less. Of course he would be wary of her, it was a given. As long as she didn't go berserk against him or something 18 had no intention causing harm, even if she had the power.

18 finally stood up, threw her hair back and offered her hand. "Alright, partner. We're in this together then?" Gohan nodded and shook her hand. "That we are."

Dear reader, hello! Thanks for reading the chapter. Please feel free to point out my mistakes, I'm doing my best to improve and I think this chapter shows it. Please review!