An Extraordinary Boy and His Son

by J.R.Chills

After the Cell Games Gohan was broken. He struggled with the death of his father for months until Shenron the Eternal Dragon was summoned and he was mysteriously thrust 20 years into the past. Join Gohan in his emotional journey of healing through the original events of Dragon Ball as his now 12-year-old father unknowingly works to rebuild his son's self-esteem and confidence.

19. Chapter 19: A little Adventure

"Daddy help me!" Gohan cried as he floated downriver on the slippery log, his grip loosening by the minute.

Only just moments ago he was lost, blindly wandering around the forest. Stumbling along an old dirt path, searching for Goku or Chi-Chi or anyone that could help him. And that's when he saw the little blue bird, sitting elegantly upon the edge of a log at the river's side. Her beauty comforted him, compelling him to say hello. Gohan crawled onto the log to closer observe her, but his weight off-balanced the log, sending him barrelling down the rapids.

Goku, who had been above the forest searching for Gohan after losing him almost an hour ago, quickly flew the nimbus over to where he heard his son's distant cries. He flew just above the river and caught a glimpse of Gohan, who moved faster and faster as the river grew more violent. Goku got as close to the edge of the nimbus as he could and ordered it to lower itself to just above the water. When he caught up with his son, he stretched out his hand as far as he could. He was inches, just a few inches away from being able to grab onto the collar of his jacket

"Give me your hand Gohan, I need you to reach for me!" he said concernedly.

"I can't, I'm too scared!" Ghan screamed after nearly losing his grip on the log. "P-Please help me, Daddy!"

Goku saw they were rapidly approaching a waterfall and feeling that he had no other choice, he jumped in after his son. "Hold on Gohan I've gotcha! "

He then threw Gohan up onto the nimbus and grabbed onto a nearby boulder that peaked out from the rapids. Using his iron grip, Goku pulled himself up onto it and hopped back onto the cloud, only sitting down for a moment before Gohan jumped into his arms.

"Thank you so much, Daddy, I was so scared! I-I was following this pretty bird a-and the log it-it..."

Goku laughed and cleared the tears from his son's eyes. "Hey, it's okay Gohan! There's no need to explain, I understand."

"You do?" Gohan asked confusedly.

"Of course I do! You got lost, but It's fine because I found you. Look, see? I even got your hat!" Goku gently placed the hat, brandishing the four-star ball, back onto Gohan's head.

Gohan stretched his arms out and Goku instinctively picked him up. "Thanks, Daddy... and I'm sorry. I never meant to get so lost, I promise I won't wander ever again!"

"Hey don't worry about it Gohan you just wanted to explore. Now, whaddya' say we go drop by Master Roshi's later today like I said we would? You can meet him, Krillin and Bulma too. That sound good to you little man?"

The little boy smiled. "Yeah, I can't wait to meet all your friends!"

With the slow opening of his eyes, Gohan focused his vision on the nearby alarm clock, stopping it just before it had the chance to beep. Another night without reliving the battle with Cell. Sure, the dream he had was stressful for a few moments, but overall, it was pleasant compared with the usual. He remembered that river. How scared he was, helplessly floating down it, hoping for his father or anyone to save him. Yet he didn't remember him actually jumping in. Maybe his brain was filling in the details because the only concrete thing he could remember was that at some point he made it out of the river and onto the nimbus with his father.

Moving the covers to the side, he sat up and stretched his arms before stepping onto the slightly cold wood floor of the modern-looking guest room. Bulma allowed Goku and him to stay the night at capsule corp so long as they agreed to stay for breakfast. A proposal which neither could refuse. Seeing that he woke up a little earlier than expected, he opened the closet and got dressed in his purple gi. He was a little unnerved when he couldn't find his pouch of senzu beans which forced him into the sudden realization that he didn't remember having them when they got to the city.

Ugh, I must have lost the senzu beans when we were trapped in that stupid swamp. Looks like at some point I'll need to take another trip back to Korin's. Hopefully, he's not too upset with me for losing them.

Gohan crept silently by Goku while he still slept, and exited quietly into the hallway. He mosied through the halls and was surprised to see the layout was nothing like what it was in the present; there were fewer floors, and many were labeled far more clearly than in the even larger modern-day capsule corp building. He stepped into the elevator and pressed the button that took him to the first floor. As he stepped off the elevator he smelled all the different types of food that the robotic staff had been preparing, following the scent he found his way into the dining room where Bulma was already seated and working on one of many gadgets she had sprawled across the table. She lifted her safety glasses as she heard him enter.

"Hey Jack, you're up a little early."

Gohan drew up a chair, sitting on the opposite side of the table. "Sorry Bulma, I hope that's okay."

Placing the soldering iron into its station and moving all of her projects onto the floor she set the table for breakfast. "It's perfectly fine and as a matter of fact, I have a question for you: How would you feel if I joined you and Goku on your search for the dragon balls?"

"You wanna come find the dragon balls with us, Bulma?" Goku asked as he walked into the room.

Bulma who seemed to be getting more excited by the second said, "Yeah, it'll be just like old times, remember?!"

Goku scratched his head contemplatively. "I don't know Bulma...it's been really dangerous and you might slow us down."

Goku regretted saying that almost immediately.

Bulma screamed across the table. "Slow you down?! I'm the one you gave you the dragon radar to begin with! Without me, you'd still be living in your grandpa's little hut in the middle of the wilderness, so show a little gratitude!"

Goku forked as many waffles as he could onto his plate as the robotic servers brought out breakfast. "Okay Bulma you can come, but remember, if things get dangerous, you asked for it!"

She crossed her arms. "Yeah, yeah I get that it's dangerous, but you two are literally some of the toughest guys on the planet. I doubt anything could take you both down."

The three enjoyed the massive breakfast planned out by the staff and exited Capsule Corp just as rush hour was hitting. The roads were packed with cars, completely congested by the massive population of West City. The group walked to the edge of Capsule Corps massive lawn and saw the sidewalks were no less busy, as thousands of men and women hurriedly rushed to their office jobs.

Goku took in a deep breath before calling for his cloud. "FLYING NIMBUS!"

The cloud materialized and dove by the skyscrapers, halting immediately as soon as it was in front of Goku. He sat on the cloud and picked Bulma up after she shrunk, promptly stuffing her into his shirt. He could tell by her audible sigh, that she was not happy about it.

"Sorry Bulma, but I've got nowhere else to put you. You're too small to sit on my leg, you'll just fly right off in the wind."

Hanging onto the v-neck portion of his gi she responded unusually cheerfully. "That's okay Goku, flying is the fastest way to travel so I don't expect this to be that bad."

Goku extended his hand to Gohan and pulled him onto the cloud, and commanded it to lift them up further into the air.

"So Bulma, which ways to the next dragon ball?" Goku asked.

She activated the radar seeing that the closest one was far into the ocean nearby Master Roshi's island.

"Oh great, the closest ball is far off to the south-east near Master Roshi's island." She knew Goku wasn't the best with directions and pointed him the right way. "So it's that way."

The group swiftly flew out of the massive city and into the countryside surrounding it. They passed by countless fields of corn and rice before finally making it to the ocean. The wind was unnaturally calm, causing the sun's heat to be extremely brutal as they flew further south. After hours of air travel, Bulma finally rechecked the radar and realized they were right on top of the ball.

"Goku stop right here!" she said.

Goku squinted and tried to read the tiny radar Bulma was holding. Turning a little nob at the top of the radar, she tuned the device and made it far more accurate. "Okay...according to the radar it's directly beneath us by about 300 feet."

Goku peered over the side of the cloud and only saw the blue water of the ocean below. "But there's nothing but water down there."

Bulma turned off the radar and looked for any land in the surrounding area. "It's probably underneath the water Goku, and I know just how we can get it. Land us over there." She pointed to a nearby island that hosted massive sandy beaches with plenty of trees. It only took a second to get there, and Bulma was the first off the cloud followed shortly after by Gohan. She grew back to her normal size and stretched before taking out her container of capsules.

"See I'm already proving my worth. We can use a capsule corp submarine to get the dragon ball." she said with a smile.

She opened the pink container to find only one capsule in an unlabeled compartment.

"Oh that's just fantastic, I grabbed my father's box. I don't even want to know whatever he's got stored in this capsule considering it's unmarked."

Goku innocently objected. "Well...what if it's something useful? Or what if it's even the sub-a-thingy we need?"

Bulma had her doubts but listened to Goku anyways. She picked up the capsule and threw it out in front of them revealing dozens of adult magazines. Gohan blushed and looked the opposite way as Bulma scrambled to pick each magazine up. Goku walked over to the pile and picked one up at random, Bulma could see the look of concern on his face.

"How sad, these girls don't have any clothes. They must be really poor." he said, frowning.

"They aren't poor Goku! Now gimme' that!" She snatched the magazine from his hands and shredded it. "Ugh, my father is such a pig."

Goku was slightly disappointed that whatever they needed to get the dragon ball wasn't in the capsule but decided diving for it might be worth a try. "Maybe the water isn't too deep. I think I'll try to swim for it and if I can't get it then we'll go to Master Roshi and see if he has one." Goku untied his power pole and tossed it over to Gohan. "Here, take this in case any of those Red Ribbon people show up around here, I've got a funny feeling about this place. Oh and don't worry, I shouldn't be gone too long."

Gohan waved goodbye as Goku flew off into the distance.

Bulma had finally shredded the last magazine in her father's massive collection. "C'mon Jack let's go see if there are any civilized people on this island. Maybe there will be a store that sells capsules instead of that printed garbage, and we can get a submarine that way."

Gohan tied the pole around his back. "Bulma I don't know if that's the best idea. The Red Ribbon Army are some really bad guys, and I don't really want to put you in any unnecessary danger."

"Oh puh-lease, like these Red Ribbon people even have anything anywhere near as accurate as my dragon radar."

Gohan reluctantly followed Bulma as she led them into the forests of the island. Eventually coming upon a clearing, they both heard the distinctive whirring of helicopter blades before being shot at as soon as they walked out in the open. Gohan grabbed onto Bulma and threw her into a nearby ditch. Being mindful that he couldn't just fly and disable the helicopters himself, he decided to use the power pole. After all, he had never gotten the chance before. He ran towards the incoming gunfire and leaped into the air

"Powerpole extend!" he commanded.

The red pole grew to twelve times its normal size and Gohan used it to swat the choppers from the air, sending them crashing into the island below.

Landing a little ways off from where the two vehicles now burned, he saw that one of the two pilots had survived the crash and crawled out on a nearby patch of grass before falling unconscious. Gohan walked over and saw the Red Ribbon's iconic logo printed onto its side. Seeing it frustrated him but did not surprise him. He took off the pilot's helmet and walked back over to Bulma, who still was covering her head; unaware that the battle was over.

"Sorry about that, but you see what I'm talking about?" He held the helmet out in front of him with the ribbon clearly visible. "This is the Red Ribbon Army's logo and those two helicopters were probably a scouting party. Goku and I have run into them more than a couple of times on our search for the dragon balls. I took a look on the radar a while back and they seem to be collecting them too, most likely for something awful."

Bulma took the helmet and threw it on the ground. "Well, in that case, we can't let that happen. Who know's what they'll wish for?"

The two were surprised as Goku reappeared and jumped off the nimbus cloud that was still mobile.

"Is everybody okay? I came back as soon as I heard the explosions." Goku asked anxiously.

Gohan calmly responded, "Yeah, everything's fine Goku, we just ran into some Red Ribbon scouts. Were you able to get the dragon ball?"

Goku rang out one of his soaked spikes of hair as he explained, "No the water is definitely too deep. I think we'll have to go to Master Roshi's after all."

Bulma wasn't thrilled about the idea, but she had a newfound desire to help the boys, especially if she could be the key factor in whether or not they got the dragon ball. "All right guys let's get there quick. If the Red Ribbon Army is as dangerous as you say they probably have more troops on the way here."

The group quickly mounted the cloud and made their way over to Master Roshi's house which was, conveniently, not very far from the island. Goku felt an unusual calmness as they approached the island, almost as if Kame House was his home away from home. They all stepped off from the cloud as they reached Roshi's little sunny haven.

"Oh boy, what a treat! You guys came at the perfect time, Master Roshi is just finishing his aerobics now." Turtle said, overjoyed they had come to visit.

Goku walked up the front steps of the porch and opened the screen door to see the turtle hermit with his eyes glued to his tiny television. "Hey, Master Roshi!"

The old man quickly turned off the tv. "Oh!..uh Goku! Haha, what a pleasant surprise!...Please, for next time, d-do knock before entering the house. These ladies' techniques are very intriguing and I am studying them to learn some new moves if you know what I mean, hehe."

Goku didn't understand what he was talking about, but by the looks of it, nothing important was going on. "Bulma, Jack, you guys can come in." He let out a giggle. "I don't think he's very busy."

Roshi scrambled to make himself presentable. "Goku d-did you say Bulma?"

Gohan and Bulma walked in, shutting the screen door behind them. Knowing how the old man could be around pretty, young women, she decided she was going to be direct and upfront with him. "Hey, Master Roshi long time no see. Say you wouldn't happen to have a submarine capsule would you?"

The turtle hermit swooned, he hadn't seen Bulma since the tournament and he took note of how exceptionally beautiful she seemed today. "Oh of course, of course...but you know I can't just give it out for free. Perhaps, if you gave me something in return, I could lend you it, hm?"

Goku seemed upset. "Aw, but master we really need it! We're going after a dragon ball that's too deep underwater."

Roshi dropped his interest in Bulma when he spotted Gohan standing silently to the left of Goku. He thought for sure the boy would have returned to his own time by now, but apparently collecting the dragon balls had proved to be more difficult for him than he expected. Roshi pursed his lips and reluctantly decided that this was probably a little more important than his desire to get a date with Bulma.

"Oh all right, you can take the submarine as soon as Krillin and Launch get back from their shopping trip, they used it to get into town. It could take a while so in the meantime feel free to enjoy the island. It's not very big but it sure is beautiful."

Bulma saw some promise in the old man's words. Since going back to the city, she thought she grew a little paler with each passing day, and this seemed to be the perfect opportunity to get in a good tan.

Goku and Gohan couldn't have chosen a more different approach as they decided that splash fighting and building sandcastles would be how they passed the time. Eventually, the two were joined by Bulma who couldn't resist the childish fun she only could experience with Goku around.

The hours passed quickly, and before they knew it, they saw the submarine in the distance. Goku was puzzled as the submarine flew through the air and landed on the back half of the island. He nudged Gohan. "Hey, Jack isn't that an airplane? How is it supposed to go underwater?"

Gohan, knowing that most of capsule corps machinery was specially built for multiple purposes, explained, "Yeah I think it works both as a submarine and an airplane Goku."

Goku gawked as the top of the airplane-submarine hybrid opened. "Oh wow, that's amazing. And we don't even have to hold our breath?"

Gohan shook his head, which brought a massive grin to Goku's face. Inevitably, Gohan smiled too as his father's giddiness and wonder over a simple submarine delighted him.

Krillin and Launch exited the vehicle carrying multiple bags of groceries as large as their torsos.

"Hey guys, it's so good to see you both!" Goku said, waving at the two.

Krillin nearly dropped his bags as he ran over to Goku, it felt like ages since he'd seen him. He excitedly climbed down the ramp and stomped over the sand to get to Goku, but struggled to get a look at his face as the bags he carried obstructed his vision. "Hey, it's great to see you Goku...but what are you doing here?"

Bulma had set up a map with the coordinates already marked on it inside the house. "Bring the groceries inside Krillin and we'll show you."

Everyone headed inside and Bulma explained the situation to them. Krillin was particularly interested in the area where the dragon ball was located. Roshi could see the desire for adventure in the boy's face and could tell what he was going to ask.

"Hey master, isn't that nearby the missing pirate's treasure you told me about?"

The old turtle hermit cleared his throat and attempted to spin his tale with as much intrigue as possible. "Ah yes, legend tells of a secret treasure lost beneath the ocean waves during a massive battle between two legendary bands of pirates. Whoever can find this treasure is said to become richer than all their wildest dreams."

Those words were enough to convince Bulma they had to find the treasure. "How exciting, what do you guys say we look for the treasure while also looking for the dragon ball? I mean, it couldn't hurt could it?"

Krillin excitedly asked, "Do you guys think I could come? I've been hoping for a little break in my training."

Goku was excited that his adventure seemed to bring all of his friends together once more. He felt it was destiny that Krillin was there with them. "Sure Krillin you can come, we need all the help we can get!"

Roshi laughed as his house emptied out as fast as it filled up. He waited until everyone had cleared out except for Gohan. He tapped the boy's shoulder just before he could walk out the front door. "So, Gohan, how are things going? Have you found whoever sent you to the past?"

Gohan was happy he could drop his facade, even if it was just for a moment. "Yeah I did, it's this guy named Doctor Gero and he's been sending androids to try and kill me. I'm hoping that after we collect all the dragon balls I can wish him and me back to the present but things are proving" Gohan paused as he felt a shift in Roshi's ki. "Proving really difficult."

The old man stared at him for a moment, loosely holding onto his wooden staff. Then, slowly, he brought his hand to his beard and slowly ran his fingers down its sides.

"Still carrying that guilt with you I see." He said.

Gohan looked beyond Roshi's dark sunglasses, he could feel the wise master was looking into his eyes and beyond them.

"There's less of it, but I can still feel your sadness. You're lucky Goku can't feel ki just yet because your emotions tell the whole story...and more."

Roshi let his hand slide down his staff as he crouched down to Gohan's level. "You lost him didn't you?" he asked softly.

Gohan's lips quivered and he struggled not to break down right there. He couldn't believe he was already this close to tears, especially because for the past few days he'd been proud of how well he'd kept his emotions in check. "Master Roshi I-"

"And you blame yourself don't you?" he asked, watching the amazingly powerful warrior be swallowed whole by the small child within.

Roshi pulled Gohan in close as the boy started to give in to the unavoidable tears. "It w-was all my fault." he cried.

"I know how it can be, losing a father." Roshi said. "I lost mine twice; once was when my real father passed away, and then again when my teacher, the great Master Mutaito, died fighting to save the world from a long-forgotten foe. Tell me... did Goku lose to some...some powerful enemy?"

Images of Cell's bloated body flashed through Gohan's mind. "No, he had to sacrifice himself because of my stupid mistakes!"

"Ah, I see." Roshi said, his mind working diligently to put the whole story together. "Gohan, you can't blame yourself for making mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, especially in the heat of battle. You must learn, as I did, to let go of these negative feelings rather than bottle them up. The only way for you to find peace is to forgive yourself."

He patted the boy's back as he calmed down. "Now go, spend some time with your father and try to enjoy this little adventure. And don't let all your feelings be devoted to this Gero business; he'll still be here when you get back so there's no point in putting your mind to work dwelling on him."