(Deep space)

Goku stared at his son for a short while after Gohan's new aura faded. Gohan felt different and yet the same, it was a new and unfamiliar sensation that made Goku worry. He could transport them both to Earth right now, but Goku decided to wait for Gohan to wake up, just to be safe.

Gohan's eyes opened a short while later. The sensation of surviving in space was very strange – the cold and radiation felt like a slightly tingling cloth rubbing against his skin, and his lungs seemed to expand and contract normally despite the lack of atmosphere. In addition to that, his ki sense was greatly increased, even more than the initial boost after the god ritual. He could feel the large concentration of mortal life on the distant Earth, with Vegeta, Buu, Piccolo, Trunks, Goten and even his baby daughter showing up as beacons of powerful light in an ocean of candles.

His senses extended further than the solar system, much further. He could feel the weight of the empty, endless void that surrounded him, with tiny pinpricks of mortal life flickering in the darkness as if they were about to go out. He could instantly feel Freeza far away in space, his oppressively powerful aura making it difficult to sense other life forms nearby. Even farther away than Freeza, Gohan could sense the slumbering God of Destruction and his angel, two unimaginably powerful auras obscured by the distance.

Only then he realized his father was nearby, hovering there in his blue form. No, not hovering, they were both moving through the void at great speeds, but relative to each other they seemed to be stationary. Goku had repressed his aura until now, probably letting Gohan stretch his new senses, but it was time to go back home.

"Are you alright now?" asked the saiyan telepathically, looking worried.

"Yeah, dad," smiled Gohan. "This is amazing. Is this how you look at things all the time? I never realized..."

"Yeah," Goku smiled and nodded, "It can be pretty overwhelming at first. When I transformed for the first time I had to focus on Beerus, so I didn't have time to enjoy it at all."

Gohan looked around again. "How did I get here?"

"It's a long story. How about we go back home and I'll tell you all about it?"

Father and Son both looked at each other for a few moments. Gohan never realized exactly how powerful Goku was, but now he could see it clearly. Once he sensed it, his father's repressed power stunned him. Lurking beneath the surface of Goku's smile were a million burning suns, waiting to be tapped.

"Uh... Gohan? Why are you staring at me?" transmitted Goku.

"Oh?" Gohan snapped out of his trance and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, dad, I'm really not used to this thing yet."

"Well, enjoy it while you can," Goku said, "you'll get used to it really soon and then it will just feel normal."

"That makes sense."

"Anyway, before I run out of air, you ready to go back?"

"Sure, dad."

Goku approached Gohan and raised two fingers to his forehead, but to his surprise Gohan flew back, avoiding him.

"What's wrong?" asked Goku. "I was going to bring us both back home."

Gohan smiled. "How about we make it a race?"

"Wait," transmitted the confused Goku, "you want to race instant transmission?"

"Sure."

"Heh, alright", Goku smiled back at his son and nodded. His arm dropped back to his side. "Whoever gets to the door of the house first is the winner. We go on three."

Gohan nodded and began stretching his limbs as his father counted.

"One, two, THREE!"

Gohan vanished. Goku could sense him flying through space towards Earth, but his speed was so ridiculously high that it momentarily surprised the older saiyan. After a fraction of a second he came back to his senses, concentrated and vanished as well.

(Goku and Chi Chi's house, afternoon)

Goku and Gohan appeared outside Goku's house, accompanied by the sound of instant transmission and a distant thunder. As the others came to meet them, they could see Goku laughing and tapping Gohan's back. The younger man looked disappointed for a few moments, but then smiled when he saw Videl running towards him with baby Pan.

Gohan reached Earth even before the surprised Goku had time to concentrate on his technique, but like Shenron said, once he reached Earth's atmosphere his flight speed returned to normal. It took him less than a second to reach his father's house from the upper atmosphere, but that was enough time for Goku to make it back before him.

After a long session of hugs, kisses and congratulations, it took Gohan and the others almost two hours to go over everything that happened during the ritual. Gohan didn't tell anyone about his encounter with the nameless entity, still thinking it might have been a dream. Goku didn't say a word about Gohan's distressing aura, sensing that his son's mind was unchanged and not really wanting to make everyone worried. The saiyan still intended to find out what happened, but it could wait for later.

During those two hours Hercule began getting a lot of phone calls, and eventually he muted his phone in embarrassment. Goten and Trunks, who took a break from the boring conversation of the adults to watch some TV, returned to the gathering and began to pester Hercule about being "Earth's greatest hero" and "mightier than a rogue sun" like they called him on the news. To get them to stop, the utterly embarrassed champion had to bribe the two with several all-day tickets to one of the theme parks he was sponsoring.

Eventually the attention turned to Majin Buu, and Mr. Satan asked if Buu can let Seventeen go. Buu shrugged and went outside, saying "I don't know, let's try."

The sun had begun to set and the cloudless sky started getting dark. Buu stood under the same tree as before and concentrated while the others watched. Eventually his form began to shift, his features became indistinct and his entire body turned into a shapeless pillar of pink mush. A large pink blob grew out of the pillar, plopped down to the ground and began to crawl away.

After reaching a certain distance, the blob suddenly expanded, fell back and contracted again, leaving behind a surprised Seventeen. The blob then crawled back merged with Buu, causing the shifting, featureless pillar of pink goo to turn back to Buu's large, rotund form.

Buu wasn't feeling good. All those memories and ideas that Seventeen brought with him vanished like a forgotten dream. Buu's mind became dull again, slow and frustrating. Earlier he could speak quickly and with precision, but now it became harder to express himself. Seventeen felt so many things, like a desire to protect nature, specific animals he loved more than others, his connection to his wife and children, and endless other memories and feelings... Buu felt all that rich inner world fade away, leaving nothing behind but loss and endless hunger. For the first time in his existence the pink majin didn't feel angry, happy or hungry. He felt sad.

Eighteen approached her brother, wanting to ask him if he was alright, but they both turned to look at Buu along with the rest of the gathered friends. Buu sat down heavily with his legs stretched out, raised his hands to his eyes, and started crying. Huge tears fell down his cheeks as his shoulders heaved, and the sad, high whine of his cries could be heard for miles around.

The others were stunned by this show of emotion from the normally good-natured Buu, and it was Hercule who reacted first. Mr. Satan ran to his friend, crouched down and started rubbing Buu's back. "Buu, what's wrong? Come on now, I'll fix you a huge meal and everything will be alright."

After a while the cries became sniffs, then stopped. Buu was still sad, looking at the ground with his shoulders bowed down, but the majin followed Hercule back to his massive plane without further incident. After Mr. Satan gave Videl and Pan a last hug, the two departed.

After watching Hercule's plane fly away, the others started saying their goodbyes as well. Eventually only Gohan, Goku, Vegeta and Piccolo remained outside the house, enjoying the evening breeze. The Ox King left back to his village, and Goten and Chi Chi went back inside. The big tent was gone now, leaving the area outside Goku's house empty.

Vegeta had been containing his impatience the entire time, annoying Bulma with his indifference to his family until he promised to make it up to her later. Kakarot was obviously holding back as well. Vegeta could see his rival squirming for hours now, but the big oaf most likely didn't want to annoy Chi Chi with inappropriate sparring requests. Vegeta's annoyance continued to rise after Bulma and Trunks left along with the others, until at last the prince couldn't hold it in any longer.

"Alright, Gohan." He looked at the young man. "It's time we continue our fight. I can sense you've become much stronger, but I want to see by how much."

Goku intervened immediately, sensing that all the social restrictions have been lifted. "Hey!", the saiyan complained loudly, "Wait a minute, that's not fair! You already had your chance, it's my turn now, Vegeta!"

"What!" Vegeta responded angrily. "You've got to be joking, Kakarot, that wasn't a fight! Your son's little episode ended it prematurely, it still counts as the same sparring session!"

Piccolo sighed internally while Gohan looked at his namekian mentor apologetically. The young half-saiyan stepped between Vegeta and Goku, cutting their budding argument short.

"I'm sorry, guys, but I can't fight either of you. We'll have to postpone it until I return."

Vegeta stood back and crossed his arms.

Goku looked at his son. "You want to go home now? Can't you wait a little longer?"

Gohan shook his head. "I'm not going home, there's something else I need to do. I'll be back in a few days, probably."

Vegeta nodded. "Fine. We'll continue this after your son returns, Kakarot. Don't you dare fight him before me!"

The saiyan prince's aura flared, and a moment later he vanished into the distance. Gohan, Goku and Piccolo remained behind.

"Gohan," Piccolo asked, "What are you planning?"

Gohan shook his head. "I can't tell you, I'm sorry. I'll come back after I'm done. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine."

Piccolo nodded, looking slightly worried. "Alright, if you say so. Contact me if you need any help." The namekian started to rise into the air.

"Alright, Piccolo," Gohan nodded. "Thank you for everything."

Piccolo nodded once, then flew away towards Dende's lookout.

"Gohan," Goku said after a slight pause, "did... did something happen? Are you sure you're alright?"

"Yeah, dad, I'm fine," Gohan looked up at his father. "We'll talk about it after I come back, ok?"

Goku sighed. He sometimes had to remind himself that Gohan was a grown man, a father and a powerful warrior, because Goku could still see that little child who came with him to Kame House all those years ago. As always, the older saiyan knew that coddling Gohan will only stunt his growth and prevent him from reaching his full potential.

"Wait," Goku said. "Before you leave, can you at least power up for me? Like you did back on supreme kai's planet before your fight with Buu?"

"Sure, I can do that. Let's fly up, it's not safe here."

(Space, outside Earth's atmosphere)

Goku and Gohan hovered in space some distance away from Earth. The blue-green planet gleamed below them, about as large as the moon appeared to be from ground level.

Goku was back in his blue form, holding his breath. Gohan was a few dozen feet away.

"Ready, dad?" Gohan asked telepathically.

"Go ahead," Goku nodded.

Gohan began powering up. Goku's eyes immediately opened wide as Gohan's ki surged, impressed by his son's huge increase in power.

Back on Earth, Vegeta was watching TV with Bulma, relaxing after the turbulent afternoon. Sensing Gohan powering up, he tuned out the prattle of whoever was speaking on TV, his face gradually settling into a surprised frown as Gohan's ki rose higher and higher.

Without transforming, Gohan's white aura expanded more and more until it shone as bright as the full moon in the night sky. A few thankful wolf-men found themselves transforming back into their human form for as long as this strange new moon remained shining.

Out in space there was no wind to threaten the surrounding environment, but Goku could feel a massive surge of divine ki flooding into Gohan's body, far eclipsing his son's power as a super saiyan god earlier that day. Eventually Gohan stopped, his energy reaching its peak.

Goku was stunned. His son looked completely at ease, not even slightly winded and his mood as peaceful as ever – but the massive power flowing inside him approached that of Goku's own blue form. It distracted Gohan as well, who did not expect to become so powerful. The young half-saiyan looked down at his own open palm, and slowly clenched his fingers into a combat-ready fist.

It felt like the universe was holding its breath, anticipating the upcoming strike.

"Dad..." transmitted the surprised Gohan, "this... this is absolutely insane."

Goku nodded, still too shocked to respond. Gohan's new power was massive, and he was still completely at peace, untransformed and losing no stamina at all. Who knew how much more powerful his son could get in the heat of battle?

"Gohan," Goku said after a few moments, "can you still transform?"

"Huh," Gohan responded, "I'll try."

Gohan's aura started flaring, but his ki remained at the same level. Goku expected his son's aura to become that angry shade of pink and red, but after a few moments of deep concentration Gohan gave up, looking disappointed. His aura remained white.

"I guess I can't, trying to transform only gets my ki up to its limit." Gohan considered what he was feeling for a few moments. "I think my ki is too different now, I need to train a little bit if I want to transform again. Not sure transforming would do anything, though."

Gohan turned away for a few moments and looked at the distant stars. He then looked back at his father and smiled.

"Dad, I have to go. See you later, ok?"

Goku smiled. "Sure, Gohan. Good luck."

Gohan started flying towards deep space, and after after a few moments shifted into the increased speed of his new space flight power.

Goku sighed, forgetting he was in space. The saiyan choked a little bit in surprise and then teleported back home.