Chapter 15: Picking up the Pieces
AN: That took longer than I expected. I did want to warn everyone that we will be facing our first timeskip soon. I don't think it will happen in the next chapter but it will happen soon. It won't be seven years, but maybe just one year as I still want to keep writing about Gohan's adventures as a father. A couple people have been asking me about Videl; she will be playing a very minor role in the next saga (mostly a background character) until we get to the High School era. I want to thank everyone that took the time to review the last chapter; it certainly motivated me to continue and finish this chapter.
I also want to thank DarkVoid for taking the time to beta this chapter and fixing a lot of my mistakes.
Aside from the voices emanating from the television, the only other sounds heard in the white-painted sterile room were soft rhythmic beeps. The two demi-Saiyans rested in their own bed within the same room, and each had all sorts of equipment and tubes attached to them. Neither had regained consciousness, so their allies and family sat in chairs awaiting any kind of movement from either.
Gohan and Trunks had certainly been cleaned up of most of the dried blood, but the bruises from the battle remained extremely evident. Purple blotches marred the bodies of each demi-Saiyan in all visible areas of their hospital gown. All open gashes had been sowed or covered with gauzes to the doctors' best abilities.
Bulma had her chair right by Trunks' bed. She held on to his hand while passing her thumb over his bandaged knuckles. It was all the bluenette could do at the moment as she watched his chest rise and fall with each breath taken. Bulma looked down at her watch for what seemed like the umpteen time, and she clicked her tongue while turning to glare at the sliding door.
Her line of sight turned to the other side of the room, where the other hurt occupant laid. If it were a contest of who looked closer to death's door, then Gohan took the win by a landslide. His color had yet to return, making his bruises even more noticeable in contrast to his pale skin.
She watched as Pan continued to hiccup, even in her unconscious form on top of her father. The poor girl was a mess following the events in the Megadome. Bulma rubbed the arm Pan kept pulling on to speed up their pace as soon as Chiaotzu informed them that Gohan and the others were coming to the surface. There was even a moment that Chiaotzu had to bind her in his psychic hold when she was ready to blast a wall to make a path towards her father.
Thankfully the medics took the two through isolated corridors where the attendees of the park could not see the state of the young men following the battle. Both demi-Saiyans were airlifted and taken off the island, alongside Krillin and Tien, to the nearest hospital on the mainland. Bulma and her group also requested an emergency leave to the control tower and took off in her personal airship to follow the hospital-bound aircraft.
At the hospital, they were directed to a waiting room until an update was ready. As soon as Bulma was given the okay to enter the hospital- room by the nurse, Pan nearly unhinged the door. To Bulma, the sight of both Saiyans hurt was not a new one, not that it made it any easier for her to see her future son unconscious, but Pan clearly was out of her element. She slowly walked to her father's side and pulled on the hand hanging off the bed. She slowly calling out to him, but Gohan was too far gone at the moment to answer. Bulma thought she had cried as they waited, but the moment Pan got a good look at her father's state she really released floodgates.
Since that moment, Pan had attached herself to his chest and did not let go. When the nurse came by to check up on the two, she tried to pull Pan off Gohan, but Bulma eventually had to convince her that Pan would not let go even if she brought all the security guards. Begrudgingly, the nurse left but warned that if anything happened to Gohan, then Bulma would be ultimately responsible. With time, Pan cried herself to sleep and had remained in her current position since then.
Krillin and Tien also moved into the room where the two Saiyans rested during this time. Each had many areas bandaged as well. At the moment Krillin was laughing something Chiaotzu said and doing his best to scratch under his neck brace. Tien simply meditated to pass the time.
It came as a shock to both Krillin and Tien when they set their eyes on the young Pan. Though they had been warned by Chiaotzu, it still took them a moment to accept Pan for who she was.
Although no one was watching the television, it continued to provide background noise. It was set to a local new station.
"Welcome back folks, we are still following the big story of the day. There is still much mystery surrounding the events that took place on Cash-Land during the Intergalactic Martial Arts Tournament. A day of exceptional displays of fighting prowess turned grim as an undetermined amount of people took over the third stage of the tournament and began seriously hurting or even killing off the competitors. We still do not know how many, but at least one death has been confirmed," reported the male behind the news desk.
His female peer continued, "While the number of people has not been determined, one source tell us that at least three of the four semi-finalists were taken to a nearby hospital, but their state has not been released yet. The same source went on to say that there were also eliminated competitors from the previous rounds in the Battlezone when security breached the compound. This raises the question of whether these eliminated competitors could have been in league with the blue-skin intruders? With this we turn to Satoru Kouda in the Sports Corner for any new updates."
Bulma scoffed at what the newscasters were implying about Tien and the others that went to help Gohan. She had turned to watch the news at least to pass the time.
The onyx-haired man in a three piece suit began, "Thank you Natsumi Suzuki. It is a tragic day indeed, and one that will surely live with us for the live with us for a long time coming. There is no new update on the condition of the competitors that were fighting, but Mr. X. S. Cash has released a public statement which reads: 'We here at Cash Inc. and its subsidiaries are deeply hurt by the events that took place under our own roof. A full investigation will take place, and I will not rest until we have uncovered everything that happened today. We will be holding a small press-conference later this afternoon to discuss all that we know at the moment about these trespassers, and urge anyone with information on these killers to step forward and help put them behind bars.' I really hope someone out there knows the location of these intruders."
This puzzled Bulma because from the way they spoke, it sounded like they thought the aliens were still alive and on the run. She turned to ask the others about it, but she noticed the others were not even paying attention to the television. 'Well I guess if Gohan left no bodies, then they would assume that they must have escaped,' she concluded.
Satoru finished, "That is all we have for now, but join us tonight as we bring you the latest on this tragedy. Katashi Tanaka, it's back to you."
The male anchorman named Katashi shuffled his papers before talking. "Thank you Satoru. It might be bad timing for the joke, but it's a good thing you didn't join the tournament after all, huh?" After getting a shake of head from both in-studio, he turned to address the people. "In a little while we have Rika Tamiya, who is on Cash-Land right now, waiting to hear from Mr. Cash himself, and rumors are that Mr. Satan will also be present."
Bulma exhaled as he settled back into her chair. She just couldn't wait to get out of this place. It was at that moment that a knock was heard. Every conscious person turned to the door, where a second later it slid to reveal a tall individual in a white coat. His grey untamed hair showed a man who was almost at the end of his shift for the day, or maybe just nearing the end of his career. Still he smiled for a moment before clearing his throat. "Good afternoon," he greeted before taking the chart at Trunks' bed. After flipping through some pages, he set it down and moved to Gohan. "It seems like the little girl just won't let go of him," the doctor commented while attempting to pull on Pan's hand. Her unconscious form only gripped tighter when she felt the doctor's hand.
"Yeah, you're wasting your time," Bulma replied.
The doctor began listening to Gohan's heart, doing his best to just work around the sleeping Pan. Once done with Gohan, he just ruffled her hair. "It must have been a great shock for her to see her brother in his current state."
"…Yeah," drawled Bulma, making no attempt to correct the doctor. "Anyways Doctor Ituo, I had asked the nurse if I could speak with you."
"Right," he nodded. "You marked yourself as being the guardian to both of them, correct Ms. Briefs? I needed to speak with you as well. Let's go to the corridor so we may speak freely," he suggested as he held the door for Bulma.
Once outside, Bulma and the doctor waited for the other to speak, but neither made an attempt in the first minute. In the end the Bulma began, "I just wanted to know when I can take both of them home."
Doctor Ituo rubbed his stubble beard as he responded, "I know that Capsule Corp has the best facilities in the world, but I highly suggest we don't move either of the patients yet. Honestly, I'm surprised by how fast they are recovering, but I would like to keep them for observation. After we got the call about both patients' status, I thought we were looking at a pair of dead-on-arrivals, but thankfully it wasn't as bad as the emergency workers initial reported. Maybe in the heat of things, the workers thought it looked worse because of all the fluids on their bodies, but after cleaning them up we noticed that there weren't a lot of openings."
Bulma knew that they had Senzu beans, but they needed to take both Saiyan out of the hands of the human doctors to give them the medicine. "I understand the risk in moving them, but like you said, Capsule Corp is better equipped to handle this lot. Our medical facility has been taking care of both of them for years, so I would really appreciate it if you could sign the release papers. Hopefully we can leave before nightfall. I have already called my Medi-copter to make the transfer go smoothly if that is what you are worried about."
"I understand Ms. Briefs, but please see it from my point of view. If something were to happen to them, then it would be best if they were here because we know what we did to each of the boys," countered the doctor while adjusting his coat.
"Look Doctor Ituo, I promise you, the boys will be in better hands with my team. I'm sure you are a very capable doctor, but you have a hospital of sick people, while I can have a team overlooking each boy at all times. Plus, I would like to leave before the media gets whiff that my boys are here, and then they begin harassing your staff to get into this room," Bulma said while pointing at the door behind her.
The older doctor slumped as he sighed. He scratched his head while mulling over her words. "Alright Ms. Briefs. I'm only agreeing because you bring up a good point about the media, and the last thing this hospital needs is to hire security against those looking for a good story. At least the boys will be properly attended to."
He smiled as he continued, "They are lucky to have you Ms. Briefs. I will sign the papers, but I want updates on their condition throughout the whole ordeal. That way I feel that I didn't just turn away a patient, can you promise me that?"
Bulma chuckled, "That is something I'm more than willing to do. Also about the other thing we asked for…?"
"That is what I wanted to speak with you," he recalled. "I got your father's request for all information and data on the boys to be transferred to Capsule Corp. by tonight. It states that all files and even blood samples should be turned over, and no copies should remain. It made me wonder why he would make such a request."
Bulma hugged herself. She rested against the wall as she spoke, "Those boys are very special to us. More than you can imagine, and we can't have pivotal data about them in a place that doesn't have the security that we do. We are asking you to please turn over all data to make sure that it doesn't fall in the hands of the wrong people."
"It's against hospital policy to expunge records, but because this is a request from your father, and I owed that old bat a favor, I'll do it this one time," the doctor declared with a laugh. "Seriously, he acts like he is not all there, but I'm surprised that he still remembers I owed him from back when we were kids in school. Give your old man a hello, and maybe I might someday drop-by to reminisce." He dug his hand into his pockets and walked away.
When Bulma entered the room, she was greeted with a chirpy Krillin, "So, can we go now? This brace is itchy as HFIL and I can't wait to get it off. Plus, I have the Senzu beans that Piccolo dropped off right here." He continuously threw the small sack up only to catch it when it fell.
"Yes, in a few minutes we will be able to leave," responded Bulma. She was about to turn the television off, when suddenly a podium came on display. She pulled her hand as X. S. Cash took his place in front of the microphones. The portly man preceded the Champion of the world, Hercule Satan. The flashy fraud took his place standing behind the owner of the park with a smug grin plastered across his rugged feature.
Both men were bombarded with flashes from the photographers in attendance. The reporters also spouted out their questions until X. S. Cash raised his hand to quiet them. "Now I know most of you have a lot of questions, but unfortunately I don't have all the answers yet. As I stated before, there will be a full investigation into all of the events and what exactly happened here today. What we do know is that today a group of five individuals entered the restricted zones and killed at least five people down there.
"Until we can notify the families of the deceased, we will refrain from revealing the names of these poor souls. Also thanks to the quick work of Mr. Satan, he managed to stop them from committing more murders, but they also managed to escape and their whereabouts are still unknown."
The voice of a male reporter cut through Cash's speech. "How can no camera have caught the direction these villains escaped from?"
Mr. Cash responded, "Because we had to turn off all cameras, as most worked on live stream, in order to stop the transmission of what happened down there. The audience was already subjected to graphic images, and we feared that it would become worse, so they were taken down."
This time a female closer to the podium stood up. "Why did it take the security so long to get to the Battlezone through the corridors, and if Mr. Satan arrived there in a few seconds by taking a pod, how come the other security didn't do the same?"
"Most corridors leading to the Battlezones were heavily damaged; we don't know by what but assume it might have been the intruders. This made it almost impossible for our security to charge downstairs and restore order. The pods were supposed to be primarily for the tournament, and the pods were created in only moderate numbers. Mr. Satan took the last pod, and for that reason he got there faster," he calmly answered.
"What about those that were hurt? Is there an update on their condition? Where were they taken?"
Mr. Cash sighed as he kept answering their questions. "Nothing for certain, but I have received word that all will live. As for where they were taken, I'm not at liberty to say. Listen, I think that is all—" Mr. Cash tried to curb the amount of questions but another shout pierced the conference room.
"How can we be sure that those blue-skinned murders won't come back?!"
Hercule took it upon himself to step forward. "I'll handle this, Cash. People of Earth! There is nothing to fear as long as I'm here. Those so-called killers will be apprehended; I will make sure of that myself! And if you are listening you blue-skinned freak, I'm coming for you!" he boomed. Cheers erupted within the room of reporters. From that moment he went into some ridiculous poses for the cameras.
Krillin chuckled, "It's kind of hard to 'apprehend' someone that is dead, but all the more power to you. Can you believe this guy, Bulma?"
Bulma continued to glare at the small screen in front. She did not respond to Krillin's question until he began calling out her name a couple of times. "They should check that guy for a concussion because he is seriously delusional."
The heavier man took back the podium while gesturing someone on the side. "Since there was no clear winner, and in light of the Mr. Satan's action, Cash Inc. would like to thank him by offering the prize money as a reward." He passed the larger check to the bumbling fool, who was thrilled at seeing all the zeros in large print.
"YEAH!" Hercule screamed while holding the large cardboard over his head.
The light of the television went out, as Bulma punched the 'power' button. She twitched and growled while looking over her shoulder at the two unconscious demi-Saiyans. In a low voice she said, "They sacrifice everything, and that idiot reaps the rewards. Where is the justice there?" She got louder with each word spoken, "They almost died today, but those sheep are too blind to see the reality!"
"Calm down, Bulma," the short fighter attempted to pacify.
"Why…just WHY?! Why should I calm down?! My son almost died today, but I'm supposed to accept that with a grin and just let this fool take the credit?! Give me one good reason why I should not destroy him right now!" she yelled at Krillin, getting in his face while she let her anger pour out.
In many situations Krillin might have just backed into his chair, but this time he took what valor remained and plainly pointed at Pan. "Gohan said that he didn't want the credit for Cell, and I'm sure he would say the same thing in this case. Plus, this little girl doesn't need to drag into the spotlight. If Gohan wants to be acknowledged, then he must do that himself."
Bulma took a step back but her demeanor had not changed. "It was Chichi that said Gohan didn't want it, and honestly I'm beginning to doubt her word."
Tien, who had been a silent spectator, decided to chip in to the conversation. "That may be true, but we have to honor her word until Gohan tells us otherwise. Believe me Bulma we don't like it either, but what's done is done. Don't worry, all that lying will catch up to him, and what he doesn't know is that he is digging a deeper hole with each lie; eventually it will cave in on him."
There was another knock on their door, followed by the entrance of the nurse that had been attending to the boys and a couple other male nurses. "Ms. Bulma, your copter has arrived and is waiting at the helipad, so we will begin the transport." After that, all hospital personnel began disengaging the teens from the machines and prepping to take them on Bulma's Medi-copter.
Krillin had a big smile in the background as he could almost taste the Senzu bean and freedom of the neck brace.
Bulma on the other hand was still fuming, but stood a short distance away to let the nurses do their work uninterrupted.
As soon as the copter was en route to Capsule Corp., Krillin took his magical bean gleefully while removing patches and neck brace. "It feels so good to be out of that thing," he announced while cracking his neck from side to side.
The aircraft flew its choppy path, making everything inside sway from side to side as it blazed through the skies at full speed towards the home of Bulma. Thankfully the only people inside the copter that weren't part of the group were the pilots that remained in the front. Their responsibilities were to fly the copter and not bother the other occupants or ask questions, so they focused on their mission.
The short monk guided himself along the wall towards Bulma and the demi-Saiyans. The Capsule Corp. heiress was treating her son by persuadinginducing him to swallow the grinded bean. Tien had taken the moment to stretch his previously-bandaged muscles to see if there were any limitations after the Senzu bean. All that remained was the young Pan, who like Bulma, was trying to grind up the bean for her unconscious father. Krillin decided to help the young girl, so he could at least feel slightly useful.
With every shake of the plane Pan struggled to remain in her current position, but that didn't stop her from attempting to accomplish the goal set out by her aunt Bulma. Although she was skeptical, Pan was told that the single bean in her hand had the power to cure any lesion and awaken her sleeping father. She was willing to try anything to bring her father back, so the daughter of Gohan worked quickly; using her thumb, she continuously broke apart the dried kernel into small bits like her aunt told her. After a particularly strong turbulence, Pan fell from her sitting position on her father's stomach and released the smashed bits.
With a horrified expression, she desperately tried to reach for the medicine that could save her father, while berating herself for letting it go. After a moment, Pan watched as a hand came into her line of sight and picked all the pieces from the air with great speed and another one stopped her descent and pushed her back. She turned to face the shorter of the bald men that accompanied them. Pan didn't know who they were, but his warm smile calmed her fear as he passed the bits back into her hand.
"Careful there," he stated with a chuckle. "I know you Saiyans have a hard head but let's try not to break the ship." He watched as she gave him a short nod before getting back to her job of breaking part the bean. "I think you grounded up that bean well enough. I'm sure Gohan can work with this. Do you know how to make him swallow it or do you need help?" He once again attempted to connect with the little girl.
The daughter of Gohan shied away from him after he deposited the small pieces of the bean into her hand. She bowed her head so her hair could cover her eyes.
He didn't take offence when Pan failed to respond. If she was anything like her father, then he understood that she must view him as a stranger, and all she wanted was to hide behind her father, like Gohan had done all those years ago. Instead he took the lead and slowly pulled on Gohan's chin to open his mouth. "Now, put the grains of what you have in your hand into his mouth. Try to make sure everything gets in there, but don't worry if a little bit doesn't fall in. Watch what happens," Krillin finished while revealing one of Gohan's gashes.
Pan slowly pushed most of crumbs into his mouth, but a small amount did miss its target and fall. Krillin continued to reassure her that it was okay, so she kept going until everything was inside.
"Now that everything inside, all you have to do is take two fingers and massage his throat like this and see," he said as Gohan unconsciously ingested the Senzu bean. "In a few minutes he will be all better, just you wait."
Pan watched as her father's skin color turned from the sickly grey to his normal tan complexion. She anxiously placed her hand on his pectorals to give herself some leverage to stare directly down to his face. For the next few minutes she watched for any sign of life, but aside from the change in skin color and the exposed cut reforming and sealing up completely, he didn't move.
A frown formed as she turned to the bald monk for an explanation, but she found an equally perplexed Krillin looking down at Gohan. Pan looked back at her father and began shaking him while calling out to him. It didn't take long for her tears to come back as her pleas came back unnoticed by her father. She felt two hands on her shoulders, and Pan turned to see her aunt sitting on her father's bed. Behind her, she could see Trunks in the background sitting on his bed as he gathered his bearing.
"Aunty, it dint work. You said that he would wake up, but he is not opening his eyes," she cried as she turned to hug her midsection.
"It's okay honey," Bulma soothed while patting her back. The Capsule Corp heiress turned to the monk who continued to stare at the fallen Gohan. "Krillin, what happened?"
"I don't know," Krillin responded with a slight nervous undertone. "I've seen the Senzu bean bring someone back almost from the dead instantly, but Gohan is not waking up."
"Can you feel if there is anything wrong with him?" Bulma asked. Her blue eyes roamed the young boy's body for any visible problems but could find none.
Krillin shook his head. "His Ki is okay, in fact, it's great. I just don't know why he is not waking up."
Trunks stumbled to his mother's side while rubbing the side of his head. He looked down at the sleeping Gohan. "Maybe he needs someone to kiss him to awaken the sleeping beauty," he jokingly remarked only to be rewarded with punch to his gut, courtesy of his mother.
"We are being serious here Trunks," she barked while her hand resumed its previous activity of consoling Pan.
The unprepared time traveler rubbed his stomach. "Don't get me wrong mom. I am just as worried about Gohan as anyone here, and it gives me an immense pleasure to know that he is alright, but he is just resting right now. You said, and in the time I've been here I've seen, that he has not been able to get some proper sleep for very long. As I look at him right now, I don't sense that dark shadow I mentioned to you. He is probably getting the first real rest in a long time."
Tien chipped in, "I agree with Trunks." To his side Chiaotzu nodded as Tien continued, "I sense a calm demeanor from him, nothing like what I sensed before I was knocked out of the fight. He seems different now, like something happened in that fight when we were all knocked out. I say we let him rest for the time being."
Pan wiped her tears by pulling on her Gi and passing it across her eyes, as she listened to what Trunks and the others talked about. She scrambled to take one of her father's hands and close her eyes, while Trunks had enough foresight to grab her mother and pull her back from the bed. Within seconds, both father and daughter were engulfed in their respective auras.
Krillin and Tien took a step back as this was their first time witnessing such event. They could not make heads or tails about what was happening, but Bulma and Chiaotzu watched impassively, having seen it back on the island.
After a few minutes Pan opened her eyes with a smile etched across her face. She could not sense one bit of the darkness in her father's aura. As before, her father's warmth made her drowsy and eventually she rested her head on his chest and accompanied her father in his slumber, effectively cancelling the aura in the mean time.
Tien was the first to ask. "Okay, what was that?"
Trunks laughed, "I keep forgetting to ask Gohan about that. I think it has something to do with the fact that we are part Saiyans because I've never seen any human do that. It only seems to work between parent/child, but I haven't tested my theory because …well you know father." He moved to take a blanket and covered both Son members.
"Pan told me that it feels like they have a connection, where she can feel where and how her father is doing," Trunks finished.
Krillin laughed while rubbing the back of his neck. "You Saiyans never fail to find something new huh? So it's kind of like a parental bond?"
"That's my theory," Trunks responded while taking a seat on his bed.
Chiaotzu turned to Bulma. "So, that's what happened back there. She was communicating with her father." The small mime emperor continued, while facing the others, "Back on the island, I thought Gohan had died, but then she did the same thing that she did a couple seconds ago. After that, Gohan's Ki began to skyrocket."
"Ms. Briefs, we will be landing in a few seconds. Please take a seat," came the announcement from the pilots, ending their conversation abruptly.
Upon landing, Krillin bid the others farewell, stating that he left Master Roshi and Oolong back on the island, so he had to go back for them. Likewise, Tien and Chiaotzu also took their leave, but promised to be back for Trunks' departure party.
Bulma, for her part, exchanged a couple words with her father, who informed her of what Vegeta had done to his room. When she asked where he was at the moment, he responded that he took back the Gravity Room and had been in there since his return a few hours ago.
Trunks took it upon himself to transfer Gohan and Pan to their room, where he placed Gohan under the covers of the bed so he could rest. He didn't even need to move Pan separately as she had attached herself to Gohan once again. After making sure that everything was in order, he passed his mother, who was entering the room, and told her that he was going to work on the Time Machine while Gohan was out.
For the next few hours, Bulma walked in to check on the two, but neither of them had shifted in the slightest. It was late at night when she made another hourly check, but she came with a tray of food this time. The whiff of the warm food seem to have an effect on the young girl as Bulma heard a rather loud roar before Pan slowly pushed herself up.
Pan kept blinking while looking around the room, trying to find where exactly she was this time. Her eyes eventually came to rest on the tray one the table next to the bed. The young girl was about to move towards the delicious food when she remembered who was resting under her. Tugging at Gohan's current hospital gown, she tried to see if he would wake up, but once again he made no attempt to move.
A voice pierced the silent living quarter. "It's okay honey. Why don't you eat for now?" it said.
Pan turned to see her aunt Bulma sitting in a comfy chair by the bed. It was one she had not seen before, but she figured it must have been added recently. Slowly she crawled towards the tray and pulled it to rest on the large mattress in front of her and began picking from the variety of foods on it.
Bulma smiled as she saw the little girl picking up speed until she was wolfing down the food. "I was worried since you didn't want to come down and eat lunch with us, so I figured you were probably starving by now."
There was no response aside from the occasional nod and sounds of food being devoured. Even for Pan's restrictive diet, too much time had passed since her last meal, and she was enjoying every crumb of it.
Bulma, respectfully, chose to save anymore comments and decided to check on Gohan while the little girl continued her frenzy. There had been no change since the last hour she was there, but that didn't mean it was a bad thing. Gohan just appeared to be resting, so after removing her hand from his forehead, Bulma pulled the chair closer to sit and wait for Pan to finish.
The daughter of Gohan took the napkin provided to at least seem courteous in the face of such disregard for common manners. She could almost hear the voice of her grandmother reprimanding her for the way she ate her dinner, but in her defense she had been too long without food.
Bulma on the other hand chuckled at the little girls actions. The way she calmly dabbed her face to clear any food that remained on her cheeks brought her endless amusement. Once the little girl was done she made her way back to her father. Bulma watched as the little girl laid her hand on his expanding chest and looked up at her.
"Aunty, he will wake up, right?" she asked with a certain amount of worry in her tone of voice.
The blue-haired inventor stood up and bent over Gohan to place a small kiss on Pan's forehead. "Of course he will," she stated while lifting Pan into her arms and sitting back down. "You might not know this, but your father is one of the strongest people I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. He has gone through so much, and he has been able to power through those traumatic events, so I know he will get better." Bulma ran her fingers through the small girl's hair. "He is just resting now sweetie, something he has not been able to do for a long time, but soon he will be up and running all around, just you wait." 'I hope,' Bulma added the last bit internally.
Pan nuzzled her face into Bulma's side. It was moments like this that she wished her grandmother was here.
"Now, how about we go to sleep and maybe tomorrow things will get back to normal," suggested Bulma as she rubbed the girl's back.
With a nod that Bulma felt in her side, Pan separated herself from her aunty and made her way back to her father's side. Just as Pan was about to reach the edge of the bed, Bulma placed her hand on her shoulder. "How about you sleep in your bed tonight?" she suggested while trying to lead her to the bed next to the one Gohan was sleeping in, but Pan would have none of that.
She shook her head and disengaged from the bluenette's hand while crawling back to Gohan. At this moment she wanted to be as close to him as possible on the chance that he woke up in the middle of the night.
With a small sigh, Bulma knew this was a lost cause. In the first few nights she tried, alongside Gohan, to coax Pan to sleep in her own bed, but she vigorously opposed the idea and instead always hopped into Gohan's bed. At this point, and after a day like today, Bulma didn't want to make a scene and allowed the little girl still in her Gi to curl up alongside her father. Her little mop hair poked out of the covers as Pan had placed herself in between Gohan's side and his arm, using said arm to secure herself to his side.
Bulma was going to leave to her room, but decided instead to take Pan's bed, having a similar idea to be close by on the off chance that Gohan woke up during the night. Not to mention that Vegeta would probably be training most of the night anyway, now that he had recovered his drive, so rather than returning to an empty room she could at least sleep here. Letting the weariness of the day overcome her, she too didn't make any attempt to get any sleepwear and just decided to sleep in the clothes she had on. However, she did at least take her pants and yellow head band off that she had been wearing all day.
She reached over and turning off the lamp on the nightstand, the room was engulfed in darkness, and not long after that all three occupants were asleep.
The sun's rays shone bright through the half open curtains of the window to the outside world. It provided sufficient light for Bulma as she continued to scribble in the small notebook. Being the type of genius that she was, the Capsule Corp. heiress never slept for very long and today was no exception. When the first rays came through from the morning sunrise, Bulma awoke to see no change in the other two occupants' positions, not even Pan who Gohan swore always moves around when she is asleep and ends up in strange positions.
Bulma, for her part, took a moment to get dressed and pull the same chair from last night over to watch the other two. To pass the time she found a small notepad on Gohan's nightstand and began working on the ideas knew it might be considering prying into Gohan's inventions, but she rationalized her actions to herself by thinking that his ideas held promise and she could make them work more efficiently.
While some of the ideas appeared to be unorthodox and too theoretical to work in real life, she continued to be genuinely impressed with Gohan's intelligence. They had not talked about his possible employment after the morning that she proposed the job, but after looking through this notepad, she knew she would have to redouble her efforts in trying to convince the young man.
However before she continued, she spotted a small movement from the corner of her eyes. Closing the small book, Bulma gave her whole attention to the peculiar movement, hoping to spot the cause of her distraction. Finally, she saw something moving under Gohan's covers. Reasoning it was probably Pan, she set to return to her work until she remembered that Pan was sleeping on Gohan's other side. Bulma lifted the covers to peer under them, seeing that Gohan's hand was starting to move. First, his fingers moved, and eventually his whole hand clenched and opened repeatedly. Letting the piece of cloth fall once again, she directed her gaze at the face of the young man to see his eyes slowly open.
Gohan stared at the familiar ceiling of his room at Capsule Corp. He blinked a couple times as he tried to get his bearing, but his dry throat and nauseating headache kept him grounded. He turned his head when he heard Bulma's voice to his side.
"Hey kiddo, good morning. How are you feeling?" Bulma inquired as she sat down on the bed.
Gohan tried to get the words out but only managed to let a cough escape. He took one hand and began rubbing his neck to help alleviate his tender windpipe.
Bulma, catching on, reached for the pitcher of water she had brought the day before and added some to a small glass helping administrate the water to the young man. Since Gohan didn't get up from his resting position, the water began to overcome the amount he could take at the given moment and he coughed up a little of it back. Bulma took the moment to use the napkin close by and dry up Gohan's cheek and neck where the water managed to roll down to.
"I'm okay," Gohan assured her while clearing his throat. He placed his hand over hers as a small show that he was doing better. "How long have I been out, and how did I get here? Bojack didn't return, did he?"
"Easy there tiger," Bulma said with hint of amusement. "You've been out for about a day now, we brought you back home as soon as we could, and finally, no, they did not come back. Bojack is gone thanks to you."
Gohan laid back down; he was about to pass both of his hands through his face but noticed one of his hands was currently occupied. He saw Pan gripping that arm tightly to herself, so he let it be for the time being, and used his one free arm to rub his eyes free of any gunk.
"She has been like that since the moment she first saw you. Always trying to be a close as possible and nothing could separate her from you," announced Bulma.
"I'm sorry I worried you," Gohan whispered to Pan while planting a small kiss on her hair. All she did was stir a little, but didn't wake up yet.
"We were all worried Gohan, but I'm glad to see you are doing well." Bulma stood up and made her way to the other side of the large bed, where Pan had left the dishes of the dinner Bulma brought. She picked up the tray and made her way towards the door. "How about you wake her up? I'm sure she will be thrilled to see you, and when you are done, come down and eat breakfast. Don't even start with me Gohan that you are not hungry. I expect you downstairs and eating as much as everyone else, got it?" she commanded after seeing Gohan about to say that he was not hungry.
Gohan's words died on his lips, so all he did was nod and look at the little girl that was beginning to stir. Before he could wake her up though, Bulma spoke once again from across the room.
Bulma placed on hand on the open door. She was contemplating whether or not to say the one thing that had been on her mind, or not burden the young man when he had just gotten out of the last ordeal. In the end she chose to let him know what she knew and let him make his own choices. "By the way, Piccolo said he wanted to speak with you as soon as you got better and…" she didn't want to finish the last sentence, but knew it was inevitable, "and your mother also called."
Bulma continued, "She also wants to talk to you, BUT I want you to know that if you don't want to speak with either of them then you are welcome to stay here for a long as you want. As long as you are with me, no one is going to make you do anything you don't want to do. This is your home as much as it is mine, so don't feel obligated to go see them." She was serious when she told Piccolo and Chichi that she was willing to fight them off if they tried to have their way with Gohan, but knew that keeping their request a secret could potentially harm the connection and trust Gohan had with her, and that was the last thing she wanted to do.
Gohan gave her a puzzled look before looking up to the ceiling. He pondered what she told him and eventually he found his answer. "Thank you Bulma, but I think I would have to face the music eventually, both with Piccolo as well as with my mother. I can't keep avoiding them, and the faster I deal with them, the faster I'm free of this guilt. The only thing I ask of you is that you look after Pan while I go talk to mother. I get the feeling it will turn into a shouting match again, and I rather not have her see that."
"Of course," Bulma quickly stated. "I'll look after her." With that, the Capsule Corp. heiress walked out of the room and left the father and daughter to get reacquainted.
Gohan passed his free hand through her hair. He bent down and softly spoke, "Pan, it's time to get up. It's morning already so come on, sleepyhead." He shook her a little to make his point get across.
In her half-asleep state she groaned, "fiv mhore minut." She snuggled back into the crook, between Gohan's arm and his side, and pulled the sheets up to cover the invading sunlight. Suddenly her eyes opened in alarm and she pushed herself up, letting the blanket roll off her. She saw the smiling face of her father, and she could not contain her emotions as she wrapped her little arms around his neck.
Gohan felt the moisture on his cheek, provided by Pan, as she babbled incoherently about how much she missed him. In the end Gohan hugged her as tightly as possible and said, "Thank you sweetie."
Pan pulled herself back and asked, "Why papa?"
"You pulled me back from the abyss." Gohan rubbed the pads of his thumbs to wipe the trails of tears that marred her face. "I was so sure that there was nothing left to fight for, but your voice came to me in the moment I needed you the most. It reminded me of what, or rather who, I'm fighting for, and that is a lesson I will never forget. I promise you." He pulled her back into his embrace and Pan accepted his warmth as he laid her head on his shoulder.
"Now, how about we go get breakfast?" he said while swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and standing up while still holding Pan. The Son duo was about to make their way to the kitchen when Gohan noticed a slight breeze. It was at that moment that he realized that he was still in his hospital gown and had nothing underneath it. The blushing Gohan pushed Pan outside the door, asking for a moment of privacy while he got dressed. It was an action that slightly annoyed Pan as she was resting on his shoulder, but she let it slide for the aforementioned reason.
Breakfast was coming to an end as most of the present individuals sat talking about anything but the events that took place yesterday. As far as most were concerned, it was just another chapter to put behind them, so they only briefly mentioned it before moving on to other topics.
Trunks continued to relate about some of the ways Pan had woke them up in the future. He was trying to give the others tips on how to avoid her tricks, while the little girl in question continued to eat, but sometimes took the time to glare at Trunks before returning to her frenzy.
Bulma took the responsibility of feeding baby Trunks as her mother had sat down to eat, at times giving an 'oh my' when she heard a particularly harsh prank of Pan's.
"I'm telling you guys, this one is one to be wary of," Trunks retorted while playfully patting Pan's head with enough force to push her face into the mash potatoes she was consuming a few seconds ago.
Pan lifted her face from the bowl and she had the fiercest glare she could muster. The daughter of Gohan licked the mush around her mouth before turning to her older brother.
The amused Trunks lifted an eyebrow in question. "That's a nice look Pan."
"I liked my mash potatoes," she growled.
Trunks shrugged, "Well in that case you got an up close and personal encounter with your food."
Pan threw a fist at her closed-eyed, shrugging brother. Trunk however knew what was happening, so he quickly parried the first one and the ones that came right after. His hearty chuckle echoed in the kitchen as he blocked the blows from the infuriated Pan, who was getting angrier by the minute.
Gohan took another sip from his coffee before sternly saying, "That's enough Pan." The two bickering time travelers, who by now were pulling on each other cheeks, immediately stopped.
Pan groaned before whining, "But daddy, Trunks started it."
Gohan placed his cup down on the small plate once again before regarding both Pan and Trunks. "Don't worry about who started it, Pan. He will get his later on, when he spars with me, right Trunks?"
The older demi-Saiyan flinched before weakly nodding. Yet Pan was all smiles at the look her older brother was carrying.
Any further comments stopped when the individuals around the table heard a loud knock. Everyone turned to see, through the window of the door, part of the person. He wore a purple Gi and one of his green arms could be seen. It didn't take them long before everyone realized that it was Piccolo at the door, and Bulma instantly made her displeasure known.
She handed little Trunks to her mother before stomping her way to the door. She swung it open with enough force it seemed she was ready to pull it off its hinges. "I thought I told you that Gohan will come see you when he is good and ready!" she barked.
The tall Namekian stood his ground against the yapping Bulma. "And I said I would be back when he regained consciousness. I know he is up, and I wish to speak with him."
Bulma was ready to swing the door in his face but heard Gohan speak up. "It's okay Bulma." He wiped his mouth before turning to Pan and quickly adding, "You can have whatever is left."
He walked over to the door and placed a hand on Bulma's shoulder. "I said that I needed to talk to him anyways. Thanks for the sentiment Bulma, but I'll take it from here."
Pan wanted to follow her father, but Gohan quickly put an end to that. "Don't worry Pan. We will just be outside. Go ahead and finish breakfast and we can go play." Even though everything within Pan told her to ignore her father's order and personally make sure that he would be okay; at the same time she remembered how fondly her grandmother would speak about Piccolo and knew he would never intentionally harm her father.
Bulma watched with narrowed eyes as former student and mentor walked away from the kitchen area.
"You were right about Cell." Gohan broke the comfortable silence between the two. "The moment I realized I was fighting for Pan… everything became clear. Hell I even got my power back under control, but tell me, how did you know that was the thing that was holding me back?"
The stoic man remained stationary for a few moments. He ignored his former protégée question and instead launched himself into his own monologue. "For months I have been watching and studying to find a reason behind your outburst. Yet for months I came back empty. I knew you were under stress and the loss of your father must have placed a certain amount of burden on you, but no amount of self-loathing could have taken you to the extremes you reached. Do you know why you lost control?"
The demi-Saiyan responded, "Because I lost my purpose, right?"
"Like I said, it's not something that simple. That was just something that I knew you could fix at the moment, but there was more to it than just a general loss of purpose." Piccolo's imposing figure towered over the smaller Gohan. "A loss of purpose would not have caused your power to go haywire, it wouldn't have given you feedback in the form of those red bolts that severely damaged you, and it certainly would not have allowed your self-doubt to manifest itself in the form of Cell. So what caused the others?"
"It seems you have the answers, so why don't we end this dance and you let me know what I did wrong," Gohan bit back. He respected Piccolo but he hated at times his ambiguity.
Piccolo snorted, "What was the one thing I taught you all those years ago, or have you forgotten the lessons I imparted on to you when you were a boy?" Upon getting no response Piccolo scowled before shouting, "Your mind!"
He continued in his reprimanding voice, "Over that year I showed you the importance of having a stable balance between mind and body. You can't have one without the other, but as I look at you now I find myself disgusted with your mental barrier, or rather the lack thereof! I was disturbed when I saw you on that island and I saw almost no mental defenses. At first I thought it was because of the mental connection between you and I that I got free reign on your thoughts, but as the day progressed I realized that my disturbance was because you had no defenses at all, and I could have entered your mind even if we didn't have the mental connection!
"It always comes to me as ironic that the strongest being on this planet suffers from low confidence. Since I've met you, Gohan, you have never believed in yourself and instead think that everything you've done was only accomplished thanks to the help of several others but not yourself, or you will shift any victory to someone else. For years you believe it was Goku that took care of Garlic Jr. all those years ago, but it wasn't until I showed you that it was in fact you that defeated him, that you began accepting that. Now you're doing the same thing now with Cell.
"That weak mind of yourself thinking that you are lesser has provided you with a nice cushion to fall back onto if you fail, but it also imprinted the idea that you will never rise to the occasion and allowed your doubt to run rampant across your mind. The nightmares, all because you have no control over what is happening within your mind; Gohan you've trained your body, but your mind training, that I worked so hard to provide, has deteriorated to nothing!" Piccolo huffed after the last stretch. "'Cell' managed to make it through because there was nothing to stop him from letting your darkest demons through."
"How about red bio-electric field, was that also a result of my imbalance?" inquired Gohan.
Piccolo nodded, "Yes, but it wasn't only your mind. It wasn't until recently that Trunks told me about your lack of eating. Gohan, this is serious. Saiyans, and pretty much everyone, needs nutrients to keep up their energy, and I believe that your body began attacking itself in its confusion. You were trying to force power through an imbalance and instead you got one of the two extremes; either too strong and out of control or no Ki at all and defenseless.
"In conclusion, your low confidence allowed your doubt to form the image of the one person you hated, Cell. Your low mental barriers allowed this manifestation to present itself when you were awake, and only you saw him because it was an image your mind was creating. I could see him because of our connection. Finally the red bolts came from the imbalance between mind and body as well as a hungry body that couldn't properly channel your Ki. Do you understand now?"
"A little," Gohan answered. "Then why ask me to find my purpose?"
Piccolo began pacing. "Like I said before, it was the only thing I knew you could fix at the moment. A hungry body and low mental barriers were not something that could be fixed in a minute, but I placed a bet that if I were to break your low confidence, then it would allow you to function once again, and I was right."
The large Namekian leveled his strongest glance to get his point across. "Kid! I need you to take care of yourself because I don't want to ever see what happened in the last few months, happen again. I don't want to ever consider the dark thoughts that I had again. At some point you were becoming a danger to yourself and everyone around, and for a brief instant I began seeing you as a threat."
"I know," Gohan whispered. "I wouldn't have faulted you if you had taken me out."
"Take care kid," Piccolo announced, not paying any heed to his whispers, as he began walking away, only to be stopped by his former student's words.
"Piccolo, you said that my mind is not trained at all. I was wondering if you would consider becoming my teacher once again and re-teaching me what I have lost," pondered Gohan. "You're right; I've been focusing so much on becoming stronger that I allowed my mind to deteriorate, so I want you to help me bring it back to what it once was and maybe even more."
Piccolo crossed his arms. "I won't be as easy as I was when you were a kid."
"That was easy," Gohan quickly muttered before Piccolo continued.
"This time we will be focusing on bringing you back to speed and making your mind an impenetrable fortress. We will make it so that not even the greatest of foes can ever even attempt to take control of your mind."
AN: Unfortunately I was not able to add Chichi's scene in this chapter. When I looked at my word count, I noticed it was almost 10,000 so I decided to just add it to the next chapter. At least Gohan was able to speak with Piccolo, and it seems like Gohan is going to be his pupil once again. I hope Piccolo's explanation into Gohan's power makes sense, and if someone is still confused then I invite them to PM and I'll try to explain it.
So what did you think about this chapter, and what do you think will happen when mother and son meet for the first time in quite some time?
Dear Look what Jesus did,
I know what you mean about Pan or a small child always getting the short end of the stick. Initially I had Pan watching her father fight, but I thought it served no purpose for her to see Gohan obliterating someone. I'm glad you liked when Gohan 'awoke'.
Dear zZ Sky Ninja Zz,
I believe I left you a PM and if not then the top AN should clear up your question. Thanks for reading.
Dear RikudoNaruto1,
Thanks you :)
Dear Harpy81,
I agree wholeheartedly.
Dear feral creature,
I guess we will have to wait and see, won't we. I can honestly say that I have a general idea of how that scene will take place.
Dear Djberneman,
While I can't say that I will do everything that you mentioned, there are a few things that I will be doing. Gohan, by no means, will ever return to the canon adult Gohan.
Dear Sakurada Kiritsugu,
You and I are bother glad that he is finally over that period of self-doubt.
Dear Lightningblade49,
There was a scene during the WMAT, where someone asked Yamcha why he wasn't participating, and he stated that he had given up fighting. While I knew what made him turn away from training, I always wondered what was the straw that broke the camel's back for Yamcha. And so the final scene was born.
The dragon balls are theoretically an options, but I don't think even the dragon has to power to change someone's biological make-up.
Dear Shigure Toshiro,
Thank you. I'm also very glad that Gohan is finally on the good path. Let's hope he stays on it.
Dear Aaron Leach,
Thank you very much :)
Dear KiwiS92,
I know that I answered this question in a PM, so I will just be pasting my response here:
Oh I see where you got confused. In chapter 5 there was a scene where Bulma said that Krillin and the others wanted to confront Hercule for his lies, but Chichi called them and told them that Gohan didn't want the credit and that he would hunt them down if they went public. A scare tactic ChiChi used in order to make sure that Krillin and Yamcha didn't go public and in her eyes risk the public knowing about Gohan's true nature.
This however is very contrast with Gohan because he doesn't even know who Hercule is, so Chichi made up the threat, but Krillin doesn't know that.
I'm glad you liked that chapter, and I'm happy to hear that my take is still in-character. I guess the confrontation will be happening in the next chapter.
Dear eroticlad11,
Thank you very much. I hope you continue enjoying the story.
Dear dbzgtfan2004,
Glad to hear that the first chapter is to your liking.
Dear SinisterofRAGE,
I am very happy with how that last chapter and fight turned out. It took a few rewrites and tweaks, but I was damn proud of that chapter and how Gohan overcame that hurdle. It's made me tremendously happy to see all the support that chapter got.
Dear Guest,
Oh I'm sure Goten being younger that Pan will certainly create a couple comedic moments. As for Chichi and Gohan, they will be meeting in the next chapter, but I don't think Goten will have a chance to be born before the next time these stubborn Son relatives clash horns.
Dear Haxler,
Well I'm happy to hear that you didn't think there was too much angst. I guess it was my imagination.
Dear calcu22,
The Mirai timeline was a very sad time, but it was one of my favorite scenes to write because it allowed to me to really invoke certain emotions. Even when I read those chapter, I can't help but tear up a little at some of the moments in that timeline.
Trunks seems to have a theory in this chapter about the Aura thing. I wonder if he is write.
Dear la reina de la luna y el sol,
No tengo planes the dejar esta historia por un gran tiempo. Talves me tome un poco mas de tiempo para actualizar con un nuevo capitulo, pero esta historia es mi prioridad. Muchas gracias por leer mi historia.